The first of 2010

First and foremost I would like to wish all of you a Happy New Year. I hope that everybody was safe and enjoyed their holidays.

I'm greatly looking forward to our trip to Kindersley on Sunday. It's been awhile (December 16) since I got to call a hockey game, and the fact that the Stars will hit the ice against their rival Klippers makes the start of 2010 exciting.

If you're like me, and you feel a little bit out of the loop, here are some of the headlines from the SJHL that occured during the holiday break:

- Estevan acquires Matt White & Tanner Lange from Ice Wolves for futures

- Estevan ships Devin Mitzner to Dauphin for futures.

- Three team deal: Aaron DeCorby traded to La Ronge in deal involving Melville and Winnipeg Saints (MJHL).

- Major Junior Update: Clarke Breitkreuz (PG), Joel Danyluk (Regina), Marc-Andre Carre (Lewiston).

- Wings get Drew George from Cowichan (BCHL) for Chris Daniels and futures.

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Now that you're caught up, it's time to talk about the Battlefords North Stars. In my opinion, the month of January is incredibly important for the North Stars. You ask the fans, the coaches, and the players if they feel like they belong at the top of this league with Flin Flon, Weyburn and Notre Dame? The answer is an astounding yes. Well now it's time for the Stars to proove it.

Ken Pearson acquired 20-year-old defenceman Grant Fahnhorst from the North American Hockey League on December 17, and his presence should help the Stars on the back-end.
Given the fact that Fahnhorst hasn't played a game yet, it's tough to indicate what type of impact he'll have on the team this season.

Ken Pearson has made it no secret that he's looking to improve the team heading into the January 10th trade deadline. With injuries to Troy Watt, and Mitch Wall, the Stars are now seemingly in need of more toughenss up front.

Here's what we're dealing with right now as 2010 begins:

20-year-olds:

F - Mitch Wall
F - David Lawrence
F - Troy Watt
F - Blake Peake
D - Jesse Lebreton
D - Brody Malek
D - Coleman Brodbin
D - Grant Fahnhorst

19-year-olds:

F - Tony Oak
F - Ryan Andersen
F - Shay Neufeld
F - Josh Daley
D - Myles Cameron
D - Cody Folstad
G - Kyle Birch

18-year-olds:

F - Nathan Tomac
F - Blake Tatchell
F - Ward Szucki
F - Boyd Wakelin
D - Woody Klassen
D - Dominic Perrault
G - Graham Hildebrand

17-year-olds:

F - Dane Muench
F - Justin Waskewitch

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So now that we know the age breakdown of the team, what are Ken Pearson's options?

1) You stand pat and do nothing.

I strongly doubt it.

2) You add one or two two more 20-year-old players to your club. A team in the SJHL can have up to ten 20-year-old players on their team, but can only dress nine for a game.

Knowing Ken's desire to win this year, this would seem like the most likely scenario. But the Stars have lots of great players who are 18 and 19, and any deal that Pearson makes will have to be well worth it.


3) You trade a few of your 20-year-olds for more depth at the 19 and 18 year-old spots. Simply Put? You make a run this year without fully compromising your future.

An intriguing option when you consider that currently the North Stars have four active defenceman who are 20 years old. The question you'd have to realistically ask yourself is: Are the four 20-year-old defenceman in place right now all better and more dependable than any younger options out there?

A tough call, because some nights the North Star's defence has been tremendous. Yet for the most part, defensive inconsistency has been the biggest downfall of the Stars this season.

I'm not blaming the defence core. In fact, there is equal blame to be spread between the forwards and the defence for hanging their goaltender out to dry on some nights.

Scoring goals has not been the issue for the Stars this season. If the Stars can keep scoring goals at their current pace, while cutting down in their goals against, they should have the horses in place to at least finish second in the Bauer Conference.

What do you suggest they do? Do you keep the eight 20-year-olds that are currently in place? Is there an active SJHLer playing for another team that you think would be a good fit?

I'd expect a busy ten days upcoming in North Star Nation.

Right now the team is taking the ice for their first practice of the New Year. I wonder who'll be the first to use the puke bucket that'll be hanging out at center ice.

Thanks for reading, and here's to an exciting start to January in the Battlefords.