It was like watching two different teams wearing Battlefords North Stars jerseys in the final Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League game of 2012 at the Civic Centre.
The North Stars looked to snap a losing streak Dec. 21 at home against the Humboldt Broncos, but a 20-minute effort against the second best team in the Bauer Conference wasn't enough.
The game started with speed and hits from both teams and the North Stars capitalized after Graham Hildebrand turned away a shot from Matt Glowa with a good pad save. Tanner Schwab went in on the forecheck for the North Stars and Tim Rollins picked the puck up along the boards and centred it to Brett Miller. Miller showed good patience and good hands, as he made a move to his backhand at the edge of the crease and fired his 11th of the season by Humboldt's Matt Hrynkiw.
From that point on, it was all Humboldt to end the first period, as they outshot the North Stars 15-6 in the first, but Hildebrand kept the North Stars in front 1-0.
The second period was more of the same, as the Broncos continued to pressure the North Stars and finally beat Hildebrand. Adam Antkowiak beat Hildebrand with a long snap shot off the rush to tie the game five minutes into the second period. Three minutes later, Andrew Herle broke in alone on a shorthanded breakaway and beat Hildebrand with a shot to his glove side making it a 2-1 game.
Throughout the period, North Stars coach Kevin Hasselberg could be heard from the bench saying, "battle through it," and the North Stars tried to do that, but many of the 990 fans in attendance knew they were lucky to be down just 2-1 after 40 minutes.
The third period was a much better period for the North Stars. After some line juggling to start the period, Blake Tatchell had two good scoring chances on his first two shifts - he rang a shot off the crossbar from the slot, and later, he was denied after a good move to the backhand. Tatchell also set up Braeden Johnson in the slot, but Hrynkiw made a good save on the point blank opportunity.
The North Stars rallied behind the momentum shift in the third period and Kyle Hall sniped the top corner with a wrist shot from Roger Tagoona. Zach MacLellan made a strong played along the boards to keep the play in the Humboldt zone that led to the game-tying goal.
Unfortunately for the North Stars they took their foot off the gas pedal and were shorthanded just once in the third period, but Humboldt capitalized with Josh Roach scoring on a point shot four seconds into the man advantage.
The Battlefords couldn't score the equalizer and lost 3-2 after being outshot 37-31.
"The 15 minutes we played in the third period was North Stars' hockey," said Hasselberg. Adding "it certainly puts a statement on what the team is capable of doing."
The loss makes it four straight for the North Stars, but they still hold the best record in the SJHL heading into the New Year. That's something the team is proud of.
"You really have to take a step back and look at the big picture, this team is 28-9-2 heading into the Christmas break and leading the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League. We know we can compete with those teams. Other people might not believe that, but in this dressing room, we believe that. I think that with the third period that we just played, these players now know that fully," said Hasselberg.
After being outscored 20-3 in their final four games of December, the team is expecting the break will give them a fresh start once they return to practice Friday.
"Coach Atcheynum says it best, 'midnight'," explained Hasselberg. "We learn from it, we think about it and when that clock strikes midnight we put it behind us and we get ready for the next opponent. We aren't going to start getting ready for our game against Flin Flon (Jan. 3) yet, our kids have worked extremely hard, our staff has worked extremely hard and we are all deserving of a break and take some time with our families and our loved ones in our lives."
Despite being first in the SJHL the North Stars hold the fourth spot on the recent SJHL Power Rankings behind Humboldt, Weyburn and La Ronge.
The fact is, if you have the top record, top scorer in Tatchell, top scoring defenceman in Brody Luhning and the top goalie in Hildebrand there shouldn't be anything to be upset about with the on ice product of the Battlefords North Stars. Everyone in the locker room believes this is an talented team that can be as productive in the second half as they were for the first four months of the season.
North Stars' captain Travis Sparrow served the first game of his four-game suspension and will be back in action Jan. 15 against Humboldt, five-days after the SJHL's trade deadline.
