North Star Report Card..

Through 12 games this season, the Battlefords North Stars have a record of 6-5-1-0 and are presently tied for first place in the Bauer Conference with the Flin Flon Bombers. I thought it would be fun to critique the North Stars through their first 12 games, similarly to the way that a newspaper critiques their team after every game.

Lets break this down, and tell me if you agree or not.


BATTLEFORDS NORTH STAR'S 12-GAME REPORT CARD

OFFENCE: B+

Through 12 games, no team has scored more goals than the North Stars. Perhaps the biggest surprise has been the extraordinary depth that the Stars seem to have up front. Six different players (Daley, Miller, Wall, Peake, Andersen, Neufeld) have more than 10 points through the first 12 games of the year. Of those six, four (Daley, Miller, Neufeld, and Wall) are averaging at least a point-per-game if not more.

Some other pleasant offensive suprises:

- Cody Folstad leading all Stars D-Man with 9 points.

- Three goals from Boyd Wakelin

- Two goals from Troy Watt

- Through 12 games, there is not a single North Star that has not recorded a point.

WHAT NEEDS IMPROVEMENT UP FRONT?

- The Wingers have been caught being lazy a number of times early on in the year. Nothing frustrates a defence-core more than not having a winger in place to move the puck too, and several players have been inconsistent in that regard.

- Faceoffs. Need I say more?


DEFENCE: B -

Hot and Cold would be the best way to describe the Stars D-Core so far. I personally don't feel like the entire defence-core has hit their stride yet, and the Stars need to dwindle their goals against down big time.

The Stars have only held their opposition to less than 3 goals twice this year. That simply isn't good enough through 12 games.



WHAT NEEDS IMRPOVEMENT:

The Stars D needs to get meaner without becoming more undisciplined. Too many goals have occured because of too much time for the opposition in front of our net.


GOALTENDING: B

IMO the North Stars goaltending is the least of our worries moving forward. That being said, I think both Kyle Birch and Graham Hilldebrand haven't even come close to hitting their potential either.

Graham just can't buy any type of break whatsoever, and Kyle is probably a big save-or-two away from an even better record to start the season.

The Stars need to give better support to both of their goaltenders (Graham in particular) and I promise you, once Graham gets his first win, they will start coming in bunches. Then the other teams are in for a real struggle. Goaltending is all about confidence, and right now both guys are getting there, but they are't quite at the A-level yet.


POWERPLAY: C +

The Stars are currently ranked 8th in the SJ in terms of their powerplay success rate of 18%.

How do you improve:

- More bodies to the front of the net?

- Faster passes.

- The D-man get their point shots through. This team seems to miss a lot of nets.

PENALTY KILL: C -

A penalty-kill percentage of 71% is a glaring weakness for this team. Given the Star's size and aggressiveness, it's only natural that they are going to take a lot of penalties - but they need to figure out a better way to approach their penalty-kill because righ tnow it's just not working.


COACHING: A -

I'd love to hear any objections to this letter grade. The only critique that I could possibly give the coaching staff is that this team has blown a lot of leads early in the season, and perhaps the boys are falling into a trap of being "over-confident." This is where the coaches need to strut their stuff, and guide the guys through protecting a lead while staying aggressive. Small adjustments clearly need to be made to turn this team into one that can get a lead and keep it.


INDIVIDUAL LETTER GRADES:

I'm not going to critique every single player for obvious reasons, however I will single out a few players every 12 games for their 'A' performances.


Brett Miller: A

He leads the team in goals, and has only started to tap into his enormous potential. Miller has really taken off playing alongside Mitch Wall and Ryan Andersen. It's been a ton of fun watching he and Josh Daley battle back and forth in the goal-scoring race. It seems when one scores, the other is soon to follow.

Josh Daley: A -

When Josh is on, he's on. He's incredibly difficult to check off the puck when he wants to be, and his touch around the net rivals the best in the league. He needs to play with a little more 'edge' on occasion, but he's getting there.

Woody Klassen: A -

For an 18-year-old, he has a unique ability to calm the rest of his teammates. Woody leads by example everytime he's on the ice, and the Stars are a much better team with him in the lineup.

Shay Neufeld: A -

Shay has shown to be an extremely 'opportunistic' player since his arrival. He puts himself in the right position on the ice, and he usually buries his chances. 12 points in 12 games is an impressive statistic.


To me, those are the four that have stood out with A performances so far this season. Don't get me wrong, there are numerous players that are in that 'high B' range and are knocking on the door. We'll have to see what the next 12 games bring.


OVERALL TEAM GRADE: B -

I'd have to agree with the majority on our blog poll right now that suggests that this team is underachieving. Yes, they are a first place team, but if this team had been willing to pay more of a price, they'd have 9 wins. No doubt about it.


Your thoughts? Who else deserves to be an A-grade?