By Nathan Kanter

Defence stands out at North Stars spring camp

Apr 10, 2017 | 5:00 PM

Unlike last year, the Battlefords North Stars had the whole weekend free for spring camp this past weekend, thanks to their sweep of Estevan that has them waiting for their Canalta Cup finals opponent.

And unlike last year, over 70 players took part this time around, which included 41 forwards, 20 defenceman, and 10 goalies.

They were split into five teams and got to play every other squad once, in addition to practices and skills sessions on Friday.

“I thought it was well run,” North Stars head coach Nate Bedford said following exit interviews that wrapped up camp on Sunday afternoon. “One of our scouts, Wylie Riendeau, who does a lot of the communication with our players, I think he did a great job of setting up a five-team tournament. I thought it was very competitive. I thought it was physical at times. I thought guys came out here not just for a skate but to make a hockey team and to make the next step.”

Bedford said he was impressed with what he saw from the defencemen, particularly Beardy’s Blackhawks rookie Jayden Cantre, Saskatoon Blazers defenceman Matt Fletcher – who has been travelling with the team in the playoffs and was acquired in the Brett Horn trade to Humboldt – Saskatoon Contacts defenceman Turner Rea, Blazers defenceman Noah Form, Barons midget AA defenceman Landon Buziak, and Contacts defenceman Austin Wieler, who was called up to the North Stars and played in their final regular season game.

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“I think the ‘D’ were exceptional,” Bedford said. “We have a lot of ‘D’ that are coming to camp that have the potential of making this team and we’re excited about that.

“Our ‘D’ is always our strength in this organization or has been our strength. We’re really happy with how the ‘D’ played.”

Of the six ‘D’ that Bedford singled out as having impressed the coaching staff, three are born in 1999: Cantre, Fletcher, and Wieler. Two are born in 2000, Form and Rea, while Buziak is just 15 years old, born in 2001.

It’s obviously a big plus to have a plethora of defenceman who might be ready to crcak next year’s squad, but it’s also clear the biggest holes in the North Stars lineup this off-season will be up front.

Kendall Fransoo and Zach Nedelec are the only graduating blueliners, but Jared Blaquiere, Reed Delainey, Coby Downs, Keaton Holinaty, Connor Logan, and Logan Nachtegaele all will not return.

“As far as forwards go, there was a lot of grit,” Bedford said. “We didn’t have guys that scored a ton but there was a lot of grit. There’s a lot of guys we can win with here at camp. I just think the defence stood out here a little bit more than the forwards. But there are probably eight or nine forwards that can make our team next year.”

Among the forwards were Blake Fennig, who played in the North Stars final two games of the regular season and scored two goals, and his younger brother Luke, who played midget AA this season for the Barons and had 14 goals in 28 games. Zac Horn, the younger brother of former North Stars forward Brett Horn, was also in attendance, along with Jayden Nachtegaele, the cousin of North Stars assistant captain Logan, and AAA Stars forwards Logan Spence, Tye Scherger, and Dylan Esau.

Blake Fennig was one of only six of the 71 players at camp born in 1998, making him one of the older players.

That, plus the confidence he gained after suiting up for two North Stars games, helped him stand out.

“I was definitely relaxed and wasn’t tense,” Fennig said. “I thought [spring camp] was going to be a lot slower. It was a lot faster than I thought…and not bad for how young the guys were.”

“Fennigs were both real good,” Bedford added. “Colton Adair was good, one of our list guys…Logan Spence was running around hitting everything that moved. I thought he was real good. I think there were probably eight or nine guys that played extremely well and it’s going to be a tough decision come August.”

One player who participated in spring camp is automatically guaranteed a spot on next year’s team.

That player would be Connor Sych, as the North Stars assistant captain decided to take part in camp to help out the younger kids.

“Sych is probably one of the better leaders I’ve ever been around,” Bedford said. “He asked if he could come out and skate and at first I said ‘No way, I don’t want you to get hurt,’ and he said he promised he wouldn’t get hurt. He just said he remembered what it was like when he was their age trying out and how fun it was when current players were part of it and he just thought it was better for our organization if he was there.

“You’ve got a 6’4″… defenceman that can skate like the wind that wants to be part of a spring camp in the midst of one of his best playoff runs ever – how special is that? He’s such a good kid.”

In total, there were players from North Carolina (Horn), Alberta, and Manitoba, in addition to all over Saskatchewan.

Bedford said attracting players is easier when your club has a winning pedigree and also when you treat your players well.

“Players sell your program better than anything else,” he said. “No one cares too much about the coach, no one cares too much about the money side of things. They care about what the players experience was. Our guys enjoy playing here and I think if you have guys that enjoy playing here it just spreads. It spread down to Carolina with Horn liking it here and it spread out to the east with some eastern guys liking it here.”

The North Stars will find out who they play in the finals on Tuesday night, as that is when Flin Flon and Nipawin will play their deciding game seven.

nathan.kanter@jpbg.ca

@NathanKanter11