By Nathan Kanter

With Bombers in town, hold on to your hats

Dec 13, 2016 | 5:39 AM

Every year, in every hockey league, certain matchups are circled on the calendar.

Sometimes, a standout player is facing his former team for the first time. Other times, the two top players in the league are going head to head. Perhaps it’s a key divisional matchup at a crucial time in the season.

Or, it’s something else entirely.

Sometimes, as is this case with Wednesday’s (and Friday’s) game against the Flin Flon Bombers, you’re facing the team that knocked you out of last year’s playoffs in the first home game since dropping that series, in overtime, in front of your home fans.

Even better, both teams are now surging in the 2016-17 season, with the North Stars having won 19 of their last 20 games and the Bombers having won 10 of their last 11.

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“I think fans here remember what happened last year,” North Stars head coach Nate Bedford said. “I think they were disappointed last year with the outcome and rightfully so, but it’s two different teams. You can’t really compare last year to this year.”

Well, actually, comparing last year to this year does help illustrate Bedford’s point that these are two different teams.

Last year, the North Stars had given up 88 goals through 33 games. This year, just 67. It’s clear their defence is significantly stronger.

Last year, the North Stars lost to Flin Flon three times before the month of December began. This year, they’re 2-0 against the Bombers so far, thanks to consecutive road wins at Whitney Forum in early October.

And some of last year’s top scorers – Igor Leonenko, Jake McMillen, and Dustin Gorgi – are all obviously not on Battlefords this year.

Case in point: this North Stars team is different.

Likewise for the Bombers.

Alex Smith, Brandon Switzer, and Joel Kocur, all point-per-game players for Flin Flon last year, are all gone.

Instead, Greyson Reitmeier sits second in SJHL scoring with 44 points, after posting nine in two games last week. Forward Jason Lavalee is just outside the top-10 in league scoring, and only a few points back of North Stars winger Layne Young. And, let’s not forget new Bombers defenceman Eric Sinclair, who committed to Alaska-Anchorage last week, a Div. I NCAA school. Sinclair is one of only two SJHL defenceman at the moment with over a point-per-game; 21 points in 19 games.

Another difference?

Last year, the Bombers were extremely slow out of the gate, going 3-7-3 in their first 13 and not winning their fourth game of the season until Oct. 27. This season, they won their fourth game of the year a month earlier, on Sept 27, and began the season with a 6-1-1 record.

This Flin Flon team is different a well.

But there’s one thing that is guaranteed to stay the same: the physicality.

Bedford is well aware of this. In fact, it’s one of the things he’s focusing on heading into Wednesday’s game.

“The first thing that we have to be ready for is make sure that we outwork them every shift,” Bedford said. “The next important thing is making sure we’re not intimidated by how physical they are and weather the storm. We’re not going to be as physical as them, that’s just the honest truth, but that being said we don’t have to shy away from it either. I think that’s going to be really important.”

Another key could be goaltending, which favours the North Stars so far this season.

Battlefords’ team save percentage is .916, while the Bombers is only .896.

Plus, each North Star goalie has won against Flin Flon this season, with Kotchorek winning 4-3 in a shootout and Gryzbowski shutting the door on every puck that flew his way en route to a 3-0 shutout.

What will make it easier on Kotchorek and Gryzbowski is if the North Stars take care of their own end, as they’ve done in 90 per cent of games this season.

Taking care of their own end and “letting the offence take care of itself” is something that has been said a thousand times around the Battlefords locker room and it’s something that needs to happen if they’re going to be victorious.

“I think you’re going to see Wednesday night is going to be a playoff type game,” Bedford said. “If we’re able to stay alert in the games and make sure we compete for two straight games, we should be alright.”

Nathan Kanter is battlefordsNOW’s sports reporter and voice of the Battlefords North Stars. He can be reached at Nathan.kanter@jpbg.ca or tweet him @NathanKanter11