What's new in the SJHL?
Well, a lot and unless you have been living under a rock you would know the Battlefords North Stars are the hottest team in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League.
The hot streak for the team was capped off with some individual praise, as four players were mentioned among the SJHL players of the month for October.
The SJHL goaltender of the month was awarded to two players, one of those being the Battlefords' Graham Hildebrand. Hildebrand was 6-1-0-0 for the month with two shutouts and was a key reason for the North Stars' current nine-game winning streak.
The other winner was Alex Wakaluk of Melville. Honourable mentions included North Stars rookie backup Connor Creech, Nipawin's Davis Jones and Kindersley's Fraser Abdallah.
Blake Tatchell, the league's third highest goal scorer, earned an honourable mention for the player of the month award. Tatchell capped off his impressive October with back-to-back hat tricks and had a nine-game point streak going through October.
The winner of the player of the month award was Humboldt's Andrew Johnston, who sits second in the league in points. Riley Storzuk of Flin Flon, Robbie Ciolfi of Humboldt, Jesse Ross and Weyburn and Dylan Smith of Estevan were the other honourable mentions.
In the defenceman category, Humboldt's Josh Roach was named the SJHL's defenceman of the month while the Battlefords' Travis Sparrow, La Ronge's Matt Weisensel, Weyburn's Carter Struthers and Melville's Tyson Newell earned honourable mentions.
Sparrow was the defenceman of the week once in October after an impressive weekend at the SJHL Showcase in Estevan.
The rookie of the month honour went to Weyburn's Jack Kennelly, while Wakaluk, of Melville, Carter Struthers of Weyburn, Ryon Sookro of Yorkton and Brandon Millin of Notre Dame were honourable mentions.
The Battlefords North Stars players were not only among the league's best, but the team is, rightfully so, ranked first overall. The North Stars lead the SJHL and lead the current league rankings, which were released last week.
"I've never been on a team that has been doing this well this soon in the season," said Sparrow. "It means a lot to us, but we can't get too high. It is a tough job to stay number one so we know we have to keep working."
The North Stars have proven that if a team continues to work and continues to win, they should continue to move up the rankings, and that is exactly what the Battlefords North Stars have done on the Canadian Junior Hockey League top 20 rankings. The North Stars are on the list for the third straight week and moved from 12th last week to sixth, as they remain the only SJHL team to crack the national list.
The final news from the SJHL this week is that four players have made the CJHL prospects games' roster. Justin Lund, a former Battlefords Midget Star and current Kinderlsey Klipper, along with Jared Iron of La Ronge, Dawson MacAuley of Yorkton and T.J. Reeve of Melville will participate in the prospects games in Langley, B.C. Saturday and Sunday.
