The Battlefords North Stars are officially in rarified air.
Following a pair of victories over the Kindersley Klippers over the weekend, the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League team has won their last 11 games heading into a home game against the Nipawin Hawks Tuesday at the Civic Centre.
With a 19-5-0-0 record, they also have a five-point lead over the Estevan Bruins for first place in the league standings.
“It’s always nice to go on a run and to build confidence like we have been over the last few weeks,” North Stars head coach and general manager Nate Bedford said.
“We have to be cognizant of the fact, though, that we’re not going to win every game of the regular season, and I’m interested to see how they respond once things don’t go our way.”
One of the keys to the North Stars’ success has been their overall depth, with different players contributing on a nightly basis.
“All four forward lines are rolling right now, and our defence and goaltending have been very solid,” North Stars forward Brett Horn said. “Everyone’s creating a lot of energy at the moment, and when you’re putting up almost 60 shots per game, that’s pretty tough to play against.”
Layne Young had a goal and two assists while Coby Downs dished out three helpers in Saturday night’s 5-2 win over the Klippers at the West Central Events Centre.
Despite the win, Bedford was left wanting more from his side.
“It was one of those games where we couldn’t get going in all three zones,” Bedford said.
“There were times that we were great on defence, great on offence and great in the neutral zone, but as a whole we were struggling a little bit and we didn’t have that complete effort.”
Ben Allen scored two goals in the victory while Troy Gerein and Connor Logan also found the back of the net.
The sluggishness that Bedford saw Saturday wasn’t there at the Civic Centre Friday night as the North Stars fired 60 shots at Klippers goaltender Nick Trenciansky in a 5-2 win.
“That was probably the most complete game that we have played against Kindersley so far,” North Stars forward Reed Delainey said.
“We were working hard on both sides of the ice. We just made simple plays and weren’t trying to over complicate things on offence and defence.”
Young found the back of the net twice while Delainey had a goal and an assist in the win.
Conor Jensen and Horn also scored for the North Stars.
The North Stars have also moved up two spots in the Canadian Junior Hockey League Top 20 rankings, as they now sit in 11th spot in the weekly poll.
Following Tuesday’s meeting with the Hawks, the North Stars will host the Melfort Mustangs Friday night and the Bruins Saturday evening.
All three games will start at 7:30 p.m.
