The Battlefords Midget Stars started the 2011-12 regular season on the weekend by travelling to Wilcox to take on the Notre Dame Argos.
The Argos out shot the Stars 108 to 30 while out scoring the Stars 20-4 in two games.
The Stars did draw first blood on the weekend when Brody Tatchell scored on the power play with Zach Nedelec and Travis Roszell earning the assists. From that point on, the Stars were under fire. The Argos led 5-2 after the first period Saturday, 9-3 after the second and 12-4 at the final buzzer.
Tyson Empey scored a power play marker for the Stars while Carter Danczak added two shorthanded goals in the loss. Blair Mahon played 49 minutes while stopping 31 shots. Nigel Rempel played 11 minutes, stopped seven of eight shots and was ejected from the game for a kicking penalty.
Rempel received a suspension, so Sunday it was all Mahon. He did what he could in the Midget Stars' net, stopping 50 shots in the 8-0 loss.
On the plus side, the Argos are expected to be the better of the two Notre Dame teams once again this season, meaning the Stars can take some comfort in knowing the Argos may beat other teams by similar scores this season.
The weekend power plays percentages were equal, as the Stars were 2/14 and the Argos were 3/21, but allowed two shorthanded goals against.
The Stars will look to rebound from the opening weekend on home ice Saturday and Sunday against the Tisdale Trojans. The Trojans lost 3-1 to Prince Albert to start their season.
Along with Rempel out of the lineup, the Stars will be without Jordan Braun, who received a checking from behind penalty in the final 10 minutes of Sunday's game.
