Having lost five straight Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey League games, the Battlefords AAA Stars were desperate to stop the bleeding and keep pace in the race for the league’s final playoff spot.
They did just that over the weekend at the Civic Centre as they picked up 6-1 and 3-0 victories over the Notre Dame Argos and now sit one point back of the Beardy’s Blackhawks and Saskatoon Blazers for eighth place in the standings.
“We badly needed those wins and looking at the standings now, we’re only three points out of sixth place,” Stars head coach Jean Fauchon said.
“It’s a good confidence booster for us ahead of a tough grueling week, and hopefully we can build off of these two wins.”
Saturday’s 6-1 win came in large part from the play of forwards Adam Beckman and Mackenzie Donovan, as they both had a goal and two assists.
“We changed the lines up about a week ago and Mackenzie and I have formed a good chemistry with Tyson Meyers,” Beckman said.
“We all have left-handed shots, which is a little interesting, but we’ve been able to work well with it and create good chances for each other.”
Meyers finished up the game with a goal and an assist, while Dylan Esau, Ian Hillis and Matthew Flodell also scored.
Sunday’s 3-0 triumph was a memorable one for Joseph Young, as he turned aside 49 shots for his first career SMAAAHL shutout.
“Late in the second period I started to think about getting the shutout, but I tried to get that out of my mind as soon as I could,” Young said.
“My teammates did a really good job of allowing me to see the puck, and we were all communicating well during the entire game.”
Beckman, Jordan Mish and Parker Gavlas all had a goal and an assist in the win.
The Stars will begin a stretch of five games in eight days, at home Tuesday night when they will go up against the Saskatoon Contacts.
They will then visit the Prince Albert Mintos Thursday before hosting the Yorkton Maulers at the Civic Centre next weekend.
The Mintos will travel to North Battleford to face the Stars next Tuesday night.
“Prince Albert and Saskatoon are two very good teams and Yorkton is in the same spot as us right now where they are battling for a playoff berth,” Fauchon said.
“I think sometimes being busy helps a team out a lot,” Beckman added. “We got to focus on getting rest to make sure that we are ready for each game, and we need to make sure that we stay out of the penalty box.”
In other news, the North Stars have announced that their annual spring camp will take place from March 31 to April 2.
