Wednesday night marked another accolade for the Battlefords North Stars in their stellar 2016-17 Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League regular season campaign.
Thanks to a 5-1 road win over the Kindersley Klippers, the North Stars improved their record to 45-8-1-0 and broke the single-season win record set by the 1995-96 team that went 44-17-3 in a 64-game schedule.
The North Stars took control of the game in the first period as they scored four goals in the opening frame.
“Everything that they put on net ended up going in,” North Stars general manager and head coach Nate Bedford said. “We came out flying.
“We did take a few too many penalties tonight, which slowed down our pace a little bit, so having that good first was really important.”
The North Stars had some extra drive in their effort during the first period after captain Kendall Fransoo left the game following a hit by Klippers blueliner Tate Page after only a couple of minutes of actio.
“Any time a guy like Kendall is down on the ice for as long as he was, there’s going to be a bit of concern,” Bedford said. “He’s a tough kid, so if he’s staying down, you know that something isn’t right.
“The guys don’t like that too much when one of their teammates gets hurt and they filled in for him.”
Bedford said after the game that Fransoo’s status is day-to-day at this point, though they don’t plan to rush him quickly into the lineup if he isn’t ready to play as the North Stars have already clinched the SJHL regular season title and will have home ice through the playoffs.
On the day that he announced his commitment to the Norwich University Cades for next season, Coby Downs led the way for the North Stars on offence with two goals and two assists.
His linemates Ben Allen and Layne both had two point nights. Allen set up two goals while Young had a goal and an assist.
“Those guys are flying right now and it was nice to see them capitalizing on their opportunities,” Bedford said. “I was really proud with how they played tonight.”
Blueliner Ryan Rosenberg also had two assists while the North Stars’ other goals came off the sticks of Connor Manegre and Keaton Holinaty.
Taryn Kotchorek turned in another stellar effort in goal as he made 32 saves for his 25th win of the season.
Carson Pickett had the only goal of the night for the Klippers, who have lost two straight games and are in ninth place in the SJHL standings with a 24-28-3-0 record.
The next game for the North Stars, who have won eight games in a row, will be on Friday night as they visit the Nipawin Hawks.
