The Canalta Cup isn’t engraved in September.
However, a team can make its first small steps towards hoisting the trophy as fall nears.
As they gear up for the opening game of the 2016-17 Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League season against the Kindersley Klippers at the Civic Centre Friday night, the Battlefords North Stars will have some extra confidence as they went 5-0 in exhibition play over the last week.
“It’s been a good learning experience for us,” North Stars defenceman and captain Kendall Fransoo said. “We’ve found out what works and what doesn’t work, and that should help us a lot as we go into the regular season and try to execute our game plans.
“Our physicality is probably the biggest thing that we can take out of the pre-season. We’re a big team that can push around our opponent and we have the skill to back it up. I think that will be a huge part of our team this year.”
The North Stars were one of two teams to have perfect pre-season records. The Flin Flon Bombers, who upset the North Stars in the semifinal last year, were 4-0.
They concluded their exhibition slate with a pair of wins over the Kindersley Klippers. After a 5-2 triumph in Kindersley on Friday night, the North Stars followed that up with a 4-1 victory at the Civic Centre.
“Overall, I’m happy with the effort that our guys have brought so far,” North Stars associate coach Braeden Johnson said.
“We can pinpoint a lot of that to the leadership on the team. We had around 40 guys here at the start of training camp and the guys that have been here in the past really helped our new players get used to the culture that we’ve built here over the past few years.”
A pair of new faces to the North Stars led the way for the team on offence during the pre-season.
Connor Logan, who was acquired in the off-season from the BCHL’s Prince George Spruce Kings, and Tysen Smith both had seven points in five games, which was the most by any SJHL player in exhibition action.
Smith, who had 67 points for the Delisle Chiefs of the Prairie Junior Hockey League last year, scored five goals in the pre-season and found the back of the net three times on the weekend against the Klippers.
“I’ve just had good chemistry with the guys who have been on my line,” Smith said. “I’ve felt pretty good out there with them, especially after our practices and knowing more of what to expect in the last few games.
“It’s a nice confidence boost, especially with two wins in a row over them (Kindersley).”
The North Stars and Klippers will do battle with each other in a home-and-home series to start the regular season.
Following Friday’s curtain raiser in North Battleford, the two sides will head to Kindersley for a rematch Saturday.
“We’ll see them 10 times in the regular season and that doesn’t include any matchups in the playoffs,” Klippers head coach and general manager Geoff Grimwood said. “Familiarity breeds contempt and there’s no love lost between these two teams.”
The rivalry between both sides has especially built up in the last two years following consecutive meetings in the SJHL quarter-finals.
The Klippers swept aside their foes in 2015 but the North Stars prevailed in five games in the rematch this past spring.
“With them being just down the road and the Rivalry Cup we have, there’s a ton of passion involved in every game against them,” Johnson said.
“When we have a chance to play in front of our fans, we don’t want to let them down. Our goal against them, and every other team we face this year, is to outwork them like we did in the pre-season.”
