Stars Grab Two of Four Points at the SJHL Showcase.

Another chapter of the Battlefords North Stars - Kindersley Klippers rivalry was written last night at the Civic Center, and for North Star's forward Ryan Andersen, this may have been the most meaningful game of his tenure with the North Stars.

It appeared as though Ryan Andersen was benched early in the third. He did not get a shift in the third period until the half-way point. The coach's message clearly got through. Andersen scored the overtime winner, and gave his team two points instead of just one. The Stars prevailed 7-6 over the Kindersley Klippers.

The Stars quickly jumped out to a 3-0 lead in large thanks to Josh Daley. Daley opened the scoring 51 seconds in, and then added his second of the game at 4:40 of the opening frame. Daley then used his craftiness to set up Woody Klassen for the third North Star's goal of the game.

The Stars had a 3-0 lead after one period, but given Kindersley's knack for offence, everybody seemed to understand that this game was far from over.

Mid-way through the second period the Klippers found the score sheet on a powerplay. Taylor Duzan tipped home a Justin Perraulx point-shot. 66 seconds later, Andrew Dommett scored his first of four goals for the Klippers. Dommett would add another goal 31 seconds later, and all of a sudden it was 3-3.

Blake Peake took matters into his own hands off of the next face off. He got the puck off the draw, skated wide, and threw a shot towards the goal. Josh Baker made the initial save, but Shay Neufeld was 'johnny on the spot' to tap home his first of the night. Stars led 4-3.

Andrew Dommett struck again for Kindersley late in the second period. His hat-trick goal was greeted by a chorus of cheers from the many Kindersley fans in attendance.

Through 40 minutes the score was 4-4, and everybody inside the N.B. Civic Center was feeling the nerves.

Shay Neufeld got the Stars back on top at 2:19 of the third period thanks to some alert play by Woody Klassen.

The Stars were then given a power-play, and an opportunity presented itself for the Stars to (possibly) put the Klippers away. But for the second straight game, the Star's powerplay unit surrendered a short-handed goal. Kevin Clark tied the game at five with a fantastic individual effort.

Less then a minute later, it was Blake Peake who took the North Stars on his back. He brought the puck across center, fed Brett Miller with a quick pass, and then rifled home the 'give and go' pass to give the Stars a 6-5 lead. At this point, the Civic Center is going absolutely berzerk, and the fans started to realize that they were watching a classic.

It was only fitting that Andrew Dommett would score again late to tie things up at six. Overall, Dommett scored six goals in two games at the Strike Energy Showcase.

Lost in all of the offence, was the fact that goaltenders Josh Baker and Kyle Birch were both making ludacris saves. I lost count of how many breakways Baker stopped, and Kyle Birch made some saves late in the third period that kept his team in the game.


Both teams had a number of chances to put the game away in overtime, and North Star's captain Mitch Wall missed on his first breakaway opportunity against Josh Baker.

With 35 seconds left, Jesse Lebreton grabbed the puck in his own zone and ripped one high off the boards right to the stick of Mitch Wall. It was his second breakway of the shift! He raced in on Baker, deked and was robbed! The rebound came loose in front, and there was Ryan Andersen to knock home the most important goal of his SJHL career.

The Stars finish the weekend with one win and one loss, and will now take to the road for three straight games. They'll take on Melville, Yorkton and Humboldt in succession coming up next weekend.

Overall, the SJHL STRIKE ENERGY Showcase was a raging success, and a big 'thank-you' is in order for the many board members, sponsors, and volunteers that all got on board to help bring back this event.