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North Stars toss out Nipawin

The North Stars had a tough opponent back at home on Tuesday in the Nipawin Hawks.

The North Stars had a tough opponent back at home on Tuesday in the Nipawin Hawks.

It was the first game for the North Stars’ newly-hired assistant coach Rob Holoien, who comes to the Battlefords after spending the last couple of years coaching with Carrot River Outback Thunder in Jr. B hockey.

The game was played on “Teddy Bear Toss” night at the Civic Centre, with all the stuffed animals donated to the WPD Ambulance “Cram an Ambulance” campaign. It’s fun, but also pressure-packed for the home team.

“The one thing as a coach – you want to make sure you score one,” said Coach Brayden Klimosko. “There’s nothing worse than you don’t score a goal, and then what do you do with the teddy bears? You throw them out at the end of the game or what do you do?”

Fortunately, it did not take long for the fans to let loose the teddy bears, as Ryan Gil scored just 1:14 into the first period, with Cody Spagrud and Tanner Scott assisting.

That would be all the scoring through one; shots favoured the home North Stars 12-9.

That score held up into the third period as the North Stars went ice-cold on the power play by going 0/5 on the night.

In the third period the North Stars caught a break as Nipawin was called for a bench minor for too many men on the ice. But the North Stars almost gave up a short-handed goal instead, as Nipawin’s Tremblay hit the crossbar.

The North Stars managed to hold off the Hawks as MacGregor Sinclair scored into a empty net with 1:45 to go to secure the win. Joel Grzybowski earned himself the shutout in net.

Coach Brayden Klimosko was happy with the North Stars performance.