Dear Editor
It’s time for play-off hockey. The Battlefords North Stars are currently engaged in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League post season and what a rocking rolling coaster it may be.
After a rather tumultuous regular season, the time is now for our young lads to focus on the little things that make a championship team successful. Grit and determination need to be displayed on each and every game day.
Coaches Kevin Hasselberg and Braeden Johnson have guided these players through 56 games with a goal of being successful at playoff time. The team was victorious in an arduous five-game set with the Estevan Bruins, and now they are squaring off against Kindersley and will try to clip their wings. The blood and guts they displayed against Estevan shows, once again, their ability to be a championship team.
The success of a Junior A hockey club is not just measured by wins and losses. At the start of each season, the majority of these young men range in age from 16 to 20 years. For a number of them, it is their last year of hockey at this level. For others, it could be their last crack at any form of organized hockey.
Many of these players will move on scholastically and play in university or collegiate hockey in Canada or the United States. And that is where Hasselberg will have his proudest moment as a coach and general manager. To see his young warriors move on to be stable and contributing members of society has to give him and the organization a sense of satisfaction.
The burden lies in the balance that needs to be attained through a positive win-loss record, and advancing the careers of aspiring young hockey players. To put excited people in the stands at the Civic Centre, you arguably need to have an enviable record at home. The current season has seen the team to be a very good road team, while at home they have been inconsistent. But, this is now a different part of the season. Now, focus and will to win prevails and those who do not abide by those qualities will have an early vacation.
Attendance at junior hockey in many venues has been slowly decreasing. The Weyburn Red Wings had indicated a financial crisis earlier in the season. Attendance at our North Star games has averaged in the range of 800 fans per game. The writer would argue their record at home may have had an impact on that figure. However, now is the time when the club truly needs the support of the community.
The lads need your support. The coaches have done about all they can do in terms of preparation. Now, it is time for the hockey players to dedicate themselves to each other and focus on advancing through the playoffs, one shift at a time, and play a full 60 minutes each and every game. They do have the players to accomplish this, if they continue to believe in each other.
We have seen tremendous effort from the players this year, especially in the latter part of the season and the first round of the playoffs, when there was an extraordinary amount of injuries to key players. To their credit, they have not used the loss of their teammates as an excuse. This club has shown they have the grit and determination to overcome many obstacles.
Hockey at this level, and at this time of year, can be the spark that ignites a community. So as each game day arrives, throw on your North Stars jersey at work. The business community should show their support and members of the community should make their way to the Civic Centre and pack the stands in their support of these proud young men. Let’s be supportive of our team and of our community.
Be loud and be proud. The Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League has been around for decades. Let’s continue to enjoy the brilliant tradition of the league. Go and enjoy North Stars hockey. Let’s go get ‘em boys.
Garnet Elmer
North Battleford
