By Greg Higgins

New Stars coach holds fall selection camp to fill holes

Aug 21, 2016 | 4:44 PM

When the new Stars coach got to town and looked at the team he realized there was one big problem — the team only had one goalie.

The AAA Midget Stars had their fall selection camp and first camp under new Head Coach Darren Martens on Sunday, Aug. 21. The team didn’t have many spots to fill from last year as most of the team is returning but according to Martens one thing he didn’t inherit was two goalies.

“We’re not sure where we are going to go with our goalie decision yet,” Martens said. “We had one returning goalie out today and four others. I have a guy in mind I really liked so I’ll be inviting him out to some practices and maybe some exhibition games.”

Martens said games aren’t necessarily won or lost by the goalie but admitted the position is one of the most important calling it the “backbone of the team.”

Aside from the lack of a second goaltender, Martens said he didn’t see any weaknesses on the team and felt positive after camp wrapped up.

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“It’s a little bit overwhelming but it’s been a really good camp,” Martens said. “This is the first time I’ve been at a level where I get to pick a team. In this case the team was kind of laid out for me so I guess I’ll have to wait until next year to recruit more of my guys but the guys they have are great and I was happy with the turn out.”

Martens spent last year as an assistant coach with the Briercrest Clippers in Caronport, Sask. out of the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC). Martens admitted the team didn’t do too well last year but attributed that to the coaching carousel at the school.

The college went through four coaches in five years and according to Martens it is tough for a team to have success without a coach in place that can really implement their game plan.

“It can be tough starting to a new team,” Martens said. “I want to go over all my philosophies with the guys but some are still off at Junior Hockey camp so I’ll have to wait until they all get back.”

The Stars don’t have their first official practice as a full team until Sept. 6 which is when Coach Martens plans on implementing his system.

–-EDITOR’S NOTE: This story was corrected on Aug. 22 at 6:21 a.m. to reflect an error. The AAA Midget team is the Stars, not the North Stars.

Greg Higgins is battlefordsNOW’s city municipal affairs and health reporter. He can be reached at ghiggins@jpbg.ca or tweet him @realgreghiggins.