Bring on the Weekend.

Things are seemingly starting to turn around for the Battlefords North Stars. After two straight victories against La Ronge and Humboldt they'll begin a difficult stretch of road games this weekend, starting in Weyburn tomorrow night. The last time the Stars and Red Wings faced one-and other, it was ugly. The Wings beat the Stars 7-1 at the Civic Center back on October 1st.

"We know it wasn't exactly a high-point in our season thus far, and it was a pretty embarrassing loss at home. And we need to redeem ourselves down there firstly for ourselves, and secondly for the people who were at the game here in North Battleford and show them that that's not the type of team we are," said Pearson yesterday morning.

The Stars are in Weyburn tomorrow followed by a Saturday showdown in Estevan. Sunday the Stars play an afternoon game against Notre Dame. A quick note regarding the start time - It has been changed. The game now starts at 1:30 instead of 2:00. The SJHL announced that change via e-mail on Tuesday afternoon.

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Brett Miller was my first intermission guest during Tuesday's win in Humboldt. Miller says that he could have played then, but didn't feel 100 percent ready. Here's hoping Miller can draw back into the lineup sometime this weekend. I'm of the opinion that the Stars would become exponentially better with Miller back in the fold.

My question is: What do you do with him? Do you put him back on a line with Blake Tatchell and Colin Phaneuf? Or do you keep Keith Grondin with those two, and put Miller elsewhere to help spread out the offense?

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Boyd Wakelin is still roughly two weeks away from returning from his shoulder injury. Getting Wakelin back will be a big boost for the team, who could use his grit. Wakelin also has a nose for the net. Lets not forget that he did score seven goals last year as a rookie.

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So much of the focus recently has been on the play of Graham Hildebrand, and rightfully so. But lost in all of the recent success has been the defensive improvements. I know he's only played two games with the Stars, but I feel that Chris Neurauter has been a tremendous addition. He's calm, confident and scored a huge goal for the Stars Tuesday to get the ball rolling. The addition of Neurauter has also seemed to help Cody Folstad. Folstad's play over the past two games has greatly improved since he's started playing alongside Neurauter.

Brody Luhning is another player that continues to get better by the day. Not only did he contribute in the shootout, but he did a fine job killing penalties on Tuesday, and plays with a maturity beyond his years. The Stars have a real keeper in Luhning.

The tandem of Woody Klassen and Zach MacLellan continues to play well. So far through the first nine games, MacLellan continues to contribute at both ends of the ice and his counterpart Woody Klassen has taken his play to an even higher level than in years past.

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Graham Hildebrand has been nothing short of outstanding during the past two games. It's obvious that Hildebrand's return to the lineup has given the Stars a boost, and the sky is the limit for what Hildebrand can accomplish this season statistically. I like Graham both as a player and a person, and it's great to see him achieving some early season success. It's definitely well deserved. That being said, I want to weigh in on some of the recent comments suggesting that Kyle Birch should be dealt. Before the season started, we had a lot of debate on this blog as to what the future of North Star's goaltending would look like? Would both Birch and Hildebrand start the season in the Battlefords? Would both be willing to platoon again? If not, which way would the Stars go?

Given Kyle's early struggles(statistically speaking) and Graham's early success, I can see why fans are siding with Hildebrand. But let me take a minute to remind you of what type of player and what kind of person Kyle Birch is.

Last season the playoffs, Graham Hildebrand won four straight games against Melfort and helped lead the Stars to round two of the playoffs. Kyle Birch never sulked, never whined, and remained a positive teammate and a supporter of Hildebrand and his success. After a Game one loss to La Ronge, Kyle Birch started in game two, and promptly shut-out the Ice Wolves 4-0.

For fans to place blame squarely on Birch for the bad start is unfair. Admittedly Birch did not play his best, but neither did the forwards, defense and special teams. Collectively the Stars were bad, and I think more than anything Birch was a victim of circumstance.

You watch. I can all but promise you that Kyle Birch will be stronger, faster and better when called upon next. Birch has shown over the years
that he responds well to competition, and has the ability to raise his game - Especially on the road.

The Stars have three games in days coming up, and it's almost a certainty that(barring injury) Birch will start in at least one of those games. Fans need to stop demanding and expecting trade and instead they need to enjoy this goaltending tandem while it's here. Numbers aside, we all know that the duo of Graham Hildebrand Kyle Birch is one of the top tandems in the SJHL. You need two great goalies to win a championship, and right now the Stars have that.

The wild-card in this scenario is Alex Sirard. The next few weeks will be very important for Sirard. Ken Pearson does have the option of giving all three goalies a game this weekend to prove themselves. Either way, it's nice to have options.

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As always, your comments and feedback are appreciated. What do you expect from the Stars this weekend? Do you think they can win all three? What would you classify as a success?