*All photos taken by Julie Larson.
Woody Klassen nets his first of the season on a breakaway.
And still the undisputed heavyweight champion of the SJHL... Tony Oak!
It wasn't always pretty, but the Stars win it!
Well deserved Player of the Month Award for Ryan Andersen.
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Friday's win was a big one for the Stars. The pessimist will tell you that the Stars have no business blowing a 4-0 lead, and I'd tend to agree. But at the end of the day, a win is a win, and the Stars are 3-0 at home.
It was another tough night for Graham Hilldebrand, and it's tough because everybody knows what he is capable of, but confidence is clearly lacking right now, and something's gotta give sooner or later.
In Graham's defence, the North Star's PK did not do very well on Friday night. Yes, saves need to be made, but the Star's penalty killers haven't done a good enough job at keeping players to the outside. The Stars aren't blocking any shots, and whenever they do get a chance to clear the zone, they seem to fumble the puck and the opposing defence always manages to keep the puck in. To me, it seems as if the four penalty killers simply need to bear down a little more and execute better.
It's great to see that the Stars keep scoring in bunches. Nine goals scored, with eight different players scoring. I'd way rather have a team like that then a team that relies on two or three players to light the lamp.
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Saturday's game in Melfort was outstanding. It was very entertaining from a broadcast perspective, and in my opinion I think the Mustangs were darn lucky to get two points.
The Stars certainly played well enough to win that game, and both goaltenders )(Pogue and Birch) both deserved their 3-Star Selections. That being said, it was a quiet bus ride home, and the Stars seemed to realize that they let one slip away. The Mustangs were missing a ton of their regulars due to injury etc, and on paper the Stars had the better lineup.
It was a big win for Melfort, and one would think that they'd be filled with a ton of confidence moving forward.
I think both teams can take a lot of positives moving forward, and it makes Tuesday's game against Humboldt all the more fun because a win against the Broncos could potentially lift the Stars into first place.
Estevan and Yorkton did the Stars a big favor last night by beating Flin Flon and La Ronge respectively. Check out the standings on the SJHL home page, and you'll see why those losses were so key to the North Stars.
Tonight Nipawin is playing Humboldt, and boy would it be nice if Nipawin could upset the Broncos.
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