Make it Eight Straight on Home Ice.

*** No pictures tonight unfortunately. Julie had to cover the Civic Election for the Town of Battleford.


The Battlefords North Stars improved their record to 11-5-1-0 with a 5-3 win Wednesday against the Humboldt Broncos. It was the third consecutive win for the Stars against Humboldt, and eighth straight win for the club on home-ice.


The Humboldt Broncos scored first at 2:29 of the first period. Shawn Hunter received a pass beside the net on the power-play, walked out in front, and caught Kyle Birch cheating too hard to one side, and roofed the puck over his left shoulder.

The Stars would bounce back at 8:51 thanks to Brett Miller. Miller tied the game on a back-hand in front of the net. Mitch Wall did a lot of the dirty work to create the chance in front.

After one period of play, the Stars were outshooting Humboldt 12-6.

The North Stars grabbed a 2-1 lead late in the second period when Shay Neufeld one-timed home a cross-crease pass from Mitch Wall on the power-play.

Less than three minutes later at 18:39, Humboldt tied it on two-on-one opportunity made good. Steven Taylor made a nifty pass through a defenceman, right to the stick of Calum McCloud who made no mistake.

The shots were 25-20 for the Stars after 40 minutes, and the wide consensus was that the Stars deserved better than a tie. Andrew Bodnarchuk was outstanding for Humboldt, especially in the final two periods.

Ward Szucki put the North Stars up 3-2 at 3:25 of the third period. Dominic Perrault made a fantastic pass, when it looked like he'd be shooting, and Szucki had the whole net to shoot at.

Coleman Brodbin made it 4-2 a minute and fifteen seconds later with a soft wrist-shot from the right point that snuck it's way through traffic to beat Bodnarchuk.

Spencer Baht would score mid-way through the third to give Humboldt a chance, but a last-minute empty-netter from Ryan Andersen sealed the deal for the North Stars.

The win moves the North Stars three points ahead of the Flin Flon Bombers for first place in the Bauer Conference. Humboldt stays tied with the La Ronge Ice Wolves for third in the division.

After the game, Ken Pearson commended his team for their hard-work in the third period.

"I thought we were really 'lax' for the first two periods, but I felt we really did a good job in the third at chipping pucks off the wall, and controlling the play down low," said Pearson afterwards.

Up next for the Stars?

A weekend off, before heading to La Ronge and Nipawin on Tuesday and Wednesday of next week. Both of those games will be broadcast live on CJNB/CJNS.

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The Stars wrap up the month of October with an excellent record of 8-3-1-0. In that span they defeated Humboldt twice, Weyburn twice, Flin Flon once, Melville once, Nipawin once and Notre Dame once.

In total the Stars have won five games in a row, and are obviously feeling pretty confident about the way things are going.

It's great to walk into the dressing room after a game like tonight and see the guys high-fiving each other, blaring their music and embracing their success. This team continues to proove their doubters wrong, and the great part is: They haven't even truely hit their stride yet.

Anybody that has watched this team so far this season will likely agree that the Stars are still a long ways away from being a "Championship Calibre" team. They've certainly got some of the tools in place, but league championships aren't won in October. Here's hoping the Stars can carry this momentum forward into November.

The month of November is going to be a tough one:

They face La Ronge twice, Nipawin twice, Humboldt twice, Kindersley twice, Melfort twice, and Yorkton and Estevan once.

Against teams in the Bauer Conference, the Stars have a staggering record of 6-0-1-0 to start the season. The only loss came courtesy of the Melfort Mustangs in overtime.

What does this mean?

It means the team is winning the games that they NEED to win, and still maintaining a promising record against teams from the south. The only team in the Sherwood Conference that has yet to beat the Stars are the Weyburn Red Wings. And yet, the Stars are still the number two team in the SJHL Power Rankings.


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Only 600 fans at the Civic Center tonight.

Was it because of the election?

Was it because of the World Series?

In all seriousness, I'm a little concerned. The Stars were averaging close to 850 fans a game for the first six, and the past two games have had much smaller crowds.

I hope this changes in a hurry, because fans are truely missing out on a entertaining, affordable product.

Come on Battlefords, your team is in first place!


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Finally I'd just like to congratulate the new Mayor of North Battleford Ian Hamilton on his successful campaigning, and I would like to welcome him as our new Mayor. I'm glad to see the man I voted for won!

Goodnight.