The home opener didn't go as planned for the Battlefords North Stars, but they did spoil Kindersley's home opener the next night, earning a split in the home-and-home series to start the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League regular season.
Kindersley went up 3-0 12 minutes into the game Friday and never looked back. Former Battlefords Midget Star, Jordon Hoffman, started the scoring, as he banged the puck by Graham Hildebrand from the doorstep on the power play.
The power play was a result of Grayden Turner earning a fighting major, his first of two on the weekend. He came to the defence of Jared Samborski, who suffered a concussion on the play.
Nearly three minutes later, on another power play, the Klippers' Casey Rogers beat Hildebrand. Rogers scored again four minutes later, this time while the teams were playing four-on-four and coach Kevin Hasselberg pulled Hildebrand hoping to spark his team.
That didn't quite work, as the Klippers scored two more goals in the second period and led 5-0.
The North Stars' couldn't generate many scoring chances besides a few power play opportunities. Their defence appeared to be almost overwhelmed by the Kindersley lineup, which appeared to be more polished and aggressive on the fore-check.
Tim Rollins broke the shutout with six minutes remaining, as Blake Tatchell and Tanner Schwab drew the assists.
Hasselberg assessed the first game, simply as the first game, which was a sloppy start to the season. But he said there were things they can take from that game.
"I thought our kids obviously learned a lot in that game," said Hasselberg. "It wasn't a lack of caring or a lack of preparation, the kids wanted to do well and really cared about what they wanted to accomplish in that game, but things just didn't go right for them.
Connor Creech made 18 saves in a relief effort in the North Stars' net and it was good enough to earn him the start in Kindersley Saturday.
Creech proved his coach right, as they both earned their first SJHL wins.
"It is always special to achieve success and win our games," said Hasselberg of his first win with the North Stars. "More importantly, we were more concerned through the pre-season and that first game about the confusion in place with regards to the expectations in place and how hard we have to work to be rewarded."
In Kindersley, the North Stars hung around long enough and kept the game close until capitalizing on two Kindersley mistakes in the third period, earning a win in the final seconds.
Tanner Kissick started the scoring for the Klippers, who led 1-0 after the first.
In the second the teams each scored twice. Dillon Forbes netted a point shot on the power play from Tatchell and Nikolas Rogers. Rogers drew into the lineup for the first time.
Later in the second, on a scramble around the goal mouth, Braeden Johnson slammed in a loose puck with Brett Miller earning the assist.
In the third, Schwab got a break for his team, as he stuck his stick out to intercept a pass in the Kindersley zone. The Klippers' defenceman hit Schwab's stick and the puck jumped up off the crossbar and into the net to tie the game.
A couple of goal posts and good scoring chances later, and it appeared the game was heading to overtime. Then Johnson intercepted a pass along the boards. He centred the puck to Boyd Wakelin, who moved in on a three-on-one. Wakelin shot from the top of the circles and his wrist shot found away through Kindersley's Justin McDonald.
The winning goal was scored with 6.6 left, as the North Stars moved to 1-1 on the season.
"The game itself was relatively sloppy for both hockey teams," said Hasselberg. "We came out a little bit slow and got behind the eight ball early, but they stuck with it. Our kids didn't change a lot, as far as the fundamentals go and the way they executed the fundaments, they just started working harder and going to the tough areas of the ice. We were rewarded for the change in effort."
The North Stars will now look to keep that momentum rolling, as they prepare for the Melfort Mustangs, who lost their first two games of the season and could be hungry coming in.
Samborski and Connor Allison, both sidelined after suffering big hits, will both be out of the lineup Wednesday.
Hasselberg said this could mean Jesse Gerbig, who has been recovering from a minor injury, could draw into the lineup for the first time or Jared Kambeitz, who was practising with the North Stars this week. Kambeitz is from Red Deer, Alta. and was brought in by Hasselberg Monday. He is a big-body forward who could possibly fill the forward spots of the injured rookies.
Game time is 7:30 p.m. at the Civic Centre Wednesday night, and the North Stars are at home again Friday to the La Ronge Ice Wolves.
