Last night in Flin Flon the Stars worked hard. They blocked shots, played physical and had numerous scoring chances. But when your team is struggling offensively the bounces never seem to go your way.
The Flin Flon Bombers shutout the Battlefords North Stars 3-0 last night, but I can say with the utmost honesty that the Stars deserved better. Blake Peake had three point-black chances to score, so did Ryan Toporowski, Alex Leclerc and Dane Meunch. Yet Ryan Kerpan shut the door when he had to, and the Stars end their season with five straight losses.
Before the game I asked Star's coach Ken Pearson whether he considered this season a success. He replied, "Not really. I would have liked to have seen more wins, but the bottom line is that we got to the playoffs and that was our main goal coming in."
I contemplated that very question to myself yesterday too, and I will agree more-or-less with the coach.
But if you were to tell any coach, GM, or fan that your team would get 10 more wins this season compared to last season, you can't be too dissapointed. Let us not forget that 365 days ago, the Stars were a five-win team. 15 wins doesn't look a ton better in the grand scheme of things. But considering the personel changes both on and off the ice, and the season that felt like a four month training camp; I'm walking away feeling pretty positive about the direction of this team.
From day one I've believed in Ken Pearson and Blair Atcheynum. I believe in the board members and volunteers that help run this organization, and the fact that we're entering the post-season tommorow night should make everybody in the Battlefords breathe a little easier.
Are we going to beat Nipawin in the Survivor Series? Statistically we don't have much of a chance. Historically we're even more screwed. But if the North Stars have shown me anything this year, it's that they will never give up or down without swinging.
I think back to some of the victories this year. The 8-6 win over the Estevan Bruins where they trailed 5-2 after 40 minutes. Or what about the 4-3 win in overtime at La Ronge when they trailed 3-1.
This team has proven to be gutsy, exciting and fun. And even though they are far away from championship material, I firmly believe that the pieces are in place to make this organization successful again for years to come.
And if the Nipawin Hawks are expecting an easy series, they're sadly kidding themselves. The Stars have been an underdog all year. But any fan of hockey knows that the underdog can often surprise everybody.
I'm so thankful for playoff hockey in the Battlefords. Even if it's just one game, I hope the fans can see what's happening here and get behind this team. 15 wins is a whole lot better than five, and if they crash the net hard and play well on the powerplay. We could very well have a Stars/Broncos second round playoff series.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment