When the Battleford Midget Stars beat the Saskatoon Blazers 10-1 Sept. 13, it seemed unlikely they could somehow top that performance, but they did.
Thursday night, the Blazers came into the Civic Centre and weren't exactly welcomed with open arms. The Stars dominated from start to finish, led by hat tricks from Graham Gove and captain Layne Young. And, in case two hat tricks weren't impressive enough, Gove scored all three of his goals in the first 12-and-a-half minutes of the game. Young scored his third three minutes before the second period ended. Meanwhile, Josh Bly, Bryce Neufeld and Spencer Bast each put up three points of their own.
If Saskatoon had plans of getting revenge for the blowout the week prior, they were quashed early. Just 27 seconds in, the Stars scored on a goal from, not surprisingly, Gove. Bly fed him the puck from behind the goal line and Blazers' goalie Brett Pongracz had no time to react as the puck came off Gove's stick as fast as it went on it.
Six minutes later, Keifer Hintz blocked a point shot and was sent the other way on a breakaway. With just the goalie to beat, Hintz made a quick move to the backhand and slid the puck between Pongracz's legs.
It took only 10 seconds for the Stars to add a third tally. With the puck in the corner, Young set himself up in the slot, ready to shoot, and the puck found him. He ripped the wrist shot home on an assist from Bast.
A little more than a minute later, Bly rushed the puck up the ice and, as he did most of the night, made a beautiful pass to Gove, who hit it home for the short-handed goal.
Four minutes after setting up Young's goal, Bast registered one of his own. Coming down the right side of the ice, the Stars' forward let go a hard wrist shot with a lightning-quick release to beat Pongracz over the shoulder, sending the water bottle flying. Young and Neufeld got assists on the team's fifth goal of the period.
With seven minutes left in the frame, Gove completed his hat trick. Tick-tack-toe passing from Bly to Kaleb Dahlgren to Gove set up a breakaway. Gove split two defenders and went in alone and scored a goal similar to Hintz's, beating the goalie five-hole.
The period couldn't have ended fast enough for the Blazers. The club went into the dressing room trailing 6-0 on the scoreboard and 16-8 in shots after one.
However, the intermission did nothing to slow down the Stars. They came out flying in the second period, scoring 33 seconds in. Bast set up Young's second goal of the game on a pass from below the goal line.
Battleford slowed down a bit and didn't score again for 11 minutes. Neufeld came down the left wing and used the Blazers' defenceman as a screen, letting a wrist shot go between his legs and beating Pongracz, He was pulled following the goal, but put back in two minutes later. Dawson Bacon registered an assist on the play.
Three minutes after coming back into the game, Pongracz was beat by Young, who completed his hat trick. Neufeld slid him the puck on the rush and Young made no mistake on the play. Hintz had the other assist.
The second period was more physical than the first as frustration began setting in for some of the Blazers' players. Saskatoon trailed 9-0 at the break and were being outshot 30-12.
Aside from a few big hits and some penalties, the third period was relatively quiet in comparison to the first two. Logan Nachtegaele scored 12 minutes in after jamming the puck in from the side of the net, but that was the lone goal in the frame. It was assisted by Jadyn Trimble.
The goaltending tandem of Ryan Rewerts and Rylan Toth were unbeatable when tested, stopping 25 shots, which seemed low in comparison to the Stars' 47.
This marks the end of preseason play for the Stars, who don't appear to need any more practice. They went 3-0 in exhibition play and outscored their opponents by a whopping 27-5 margin. The regular season starts on the weekend when the Stars host the Regina Pat Canadians in back-to-back games at the Civic Centre Saturday and Sunday.
