Battlefords North Stars set for semifinal action at Centennial Cup

The successful season for the Battlefords North Stars continues at the Centennial Cup.

The Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League champions finished atop the Group B standings and automatically advanced to a semifinal Saturday at the Canadian junior A hockey tournament in Portage la Prairie, Man.

After a 3-1-0 record during the preliminary round, the North Stars finished with nine points, tying the host Portage Terriers for first place. But because the North Stars won in the teams’ head-to-head matchup, they claimed first in the group and the automatic spot in the semis.

“The competition’s been strong. There’s been no easy games, and it’s only going to amp up during playoff time,” North Stars head coach Brayden Klimosko said.

On Wednesday, he said he thought the team would end up in second place in the group, but that only would’ve happened if Portage lost to the Collingwood Blues in the final game of the round-robin. Instead, Portage won 4-3.

“That’s the crazy part about the tournament format, but that’s the fun part about it as well,” Klimosko said. “It’s all part of the tournament.”

Klimosko is no stranger to the Centennial Cup. He won it as a player with the Humboldt Broncos in 2008, but said he hasn’t been able to pass down everything he learned during his run to his current players.

“Sadly enough, I kind of forget. It was so long ago that you don’t quite remember what you did back then,” Klimosko said, explaining some of the details have faded over the past 15 years.

Although Klimosko hasn’t been able to draw from his own past experience, he’s been pulling all of the right strings this season. That’s been recognized by the Canadian Junior Hockey League, which selected him for the Darcy Haugan/Mark Cross Memorial Award for coach of the year.

The head coach wasn’t the only one picking up hardware this week. Josh Kotai was named as the top goaltender during the Centennial Cup on Thursday afternoon.

The Stars are taking advantage of the extra time to rest, the coach explained.

“You’re trying to get your guys prepared as much as possible, but I think what’s more important is rest and recovery (and) making sure you’re as fresh as you can be going into some grueling, tough playoff games,” Klimosko said.

The main goal for the Stars is to finish the tournament as Centennial Cup champions, but the coach said he knows there’s a lot to be grateful for even if they don’t end up lifting the cup.

“You want them to take it all in a little bit, too. You’ve got to remember it’s a chance-of-a-lifetime type of event,” Klimosko said.  “You want them to enjoy it and experience it and remember it, so you don’t want it to be business all the time.”

Quarterfinal action starts on Friday and Battlefords’ semifinal game is set for Saturday.