He no longer wears a Battlefords North Stars jersey, something he did at the beginning of his Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League career, but goaltender Adam Bartko is anything but forgotten around the Battlefords.
Bartko's player profile from 2008 when he played with the North Stars said his career goals were to, "Get a scholarship and play hockey as long as I can."
Mission accomplished.
Bartko has committed to playing hockey with the SAIT Trojans next season and will join former North Stars captain Cris Neurauter, Yorkton's Brant Remenda and Flin Flon's Cory Tyrell.
Bartko, a two-time SJHL champion, shared the playoff MVP honour this past season and was the backbone of two championships in La Ronge's first two championships. During the 2010-11 championship run, Bartko was 12-5 in the playoffs with one shutout and a 2.52 goals against average.
With a full roster of goalies that included Adrian Lemay and Ryan Kerpan at the beginning of the season and Kyle Birch and Graham Hildebrand at the end, Bartko was released from the North Stars after appearing in four games and found a home in Notre Dame during the 2008-09 season. From there, the La Ronge coach Bob Beatty took a chance on Bartko and he didn't disappoint in two seasons with the Ice Wolves. Bartko had a 2.93 GAA in 33 games during the 2009-10 season and a 2.96 GAA last season in 42 games and cemented his spot as one of the league's best goalies and perhaps the best goalie to ever play in La Ronge.
