With the Christmas break in the rearview mirror, the Battlefords North Stars are gearing up for the home stretch of the 2016-17 Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League regular season.
After four days of practice in the chilly Don Ross Arena this week, the North Stars will begin a three game road trip Friday night against the Estevan Bruins.
They will then visit the Weyburn Red Wings Saturday evening before taking on the Notre Dame Hounds in Wilcox Sunday afternoon.
“The guys are pretty amped up to be playing once again,” North Stars head coach and general manager Nate Bedford said. “They’ve been skating on their own here for the last couple of weeks and they're ready to go back to work.
“What better place to get ready than at the coldest rink in Canada this week.”
The North Stars, who lead the SJHL and the Finning Division with a 30-7-0-0 record, last took to the ice Dec. 18 when they cruised to a 5-1 win over the Melville Millionaires.
After that game, the players headed back to their hometowns for the holidays before returning to North Battleford shortly after the calendar switched over to 2017.
“This is a very disciplined group and we rewarded them for their hard work by giving them some extra time off to be with their family and friends,” Bedford said.
“We also wanted them to stay away from hockey for a couple of weeks. They didn’t contact us and we didn’t contact them, and I think that’s a good thing to have that break before everything gets going once again.”
The North Stars will look to keep their nine game road win streak intact Friday against the Bruins, who lead the Viterra Division with a 25-12-0-1 record and are nine points back of the North Stars for first place in the SJHL standings.
In their last meeting on Nov. 19, the Bruins won a wild 8-6 affair at the Civic Centre, which brought an end to the North Stars 13-game win streak.
“That was a bit of a regrettable game for us and there were a lot of areas where we could have been better,” Bedford said.
“Going into their rink, we want to clean things up in the defensive zone and we want to be a lot more disciplined. We’re ready for the challenge, and I’m sure they are ready to face us as well.”
Friday’s encounter will mark the first time the North Stars have visited Affinity Place since a dominant 10-3 win over the Bruins on Oct. 15.
The Bruins lead the season series over the North Stars 2-1, which includes a 4-3 victory in North Battleford on Sept. 24.
Saturday night will mark just the second time that the North Stars have faced the Red Wings all season.
Their previous meeting resulted in a 4-3 win for the Red Wings on Oct. 14 at Crescent Point Place, which marked the last time that North Stars have lost a game away from home.
“Three of our next five games are against the Red Wings, as we’ll be playing them at home next weekend,” Bedford said.
“They had a big win over Estevan a couple of days ago and they’ve beaten us in their rink, so we’re looking forward to having another chance to play them.”
The Red Wings are in second place in the Viterra Division and sit in sixth place in the SJHL standings with a 17-16-1-4 record.
Sunday’s encounter with the Hounds will be the fourth battle this year between the divisional rivals.
The North Stars lead the season series 2-1, but lost their only trip to the Duncan McNeill Arena on Oct. 13 by a score of 4-2.
Heading into a road game Wednesday against the Millionaires, the Hounds are in third place in the Finning Division and sit in ninth spot in the league standings with a 15-14-3-1 mark.
Once the North Stars return home, Bedford will be gearing up for the Canadian Junior Hockey League trade deadline, which occurs Tuesday.
“Some teams will be buyers and some teams will be sellers, and we’re buyers right now,” Bedford said.
“With that said, we’re very happy with the group that we have here. If we don’t do anything ahead of Tuesday’s deadline, I’m very confident that we are still going to be successful.”
