By Nathan Kanter

AAA Stars edge Legionnaires in barn burner

Oct 16, 2017 | 12:00 PM

There were quite a few times in Saturday’s AAA Stars game when head coach Norm Johnston had his head in his hands because he didn’t like what he saw.

It was an exciting 6-5 win for the fans, but for him and his coaching staff, the sloppy play was all too evident.

“We have to be better…defensively, got to be better,” Johnston said after the game, which was what he told the players too. “We didn’t play the system after we got the lead. We [started] playing individually and didn’t play the system, and when you start not going wide, not driving the net and not getting two guys on the puck, that bothers me big time.

“But a win’s a win…right now all that matters is getting these kids to win and score goals.”

The Stars did well to get out to a quick 3-0 lead on the Swift Current Legionnaires, but they saw it disappear. Before the second period was halfway done, it was 3-3.

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Then, the Stars struck twice right before the second intermission. They even added an early third period goal to give them a 6-3 lead. But Swift Current scored two quick goals of their own to once again get within one.

Lucky for Battlefords, 6-5 was the final score.

Johnston said holding a lead in AAA midget hockey is tough.

“They’re kids. They’re 15,16,17-year-olds,” he said. “So we’ve got our work cut out for us. It’s a long winter. It’s going to be a tough winter.”

Johnston said when the team had the lead, the individual play drove him nuts.

“Toe drags just inside the blue line drives me crazy,” he said. “Because 1-on-1, you lose the puck, and our ‘D’, we’re down to five, we haven’t got the quickest ‘D’ in the world and so the best thing to do is get the puck deep. We didn’t do a very good job of that.”

Then, there was the officiating.

“Not very good,” Johnston said. “Both sides. It took the game away from the kids. Didn’t let the kids play.”

Each team scored two power play goals on the night.

Battlefords was handed seven minor penalties, while the Legionnaires were handed six minors and a double-minor.

Damon McKenzie’s third period power play goal held up as the game-winner for the Stars. McKenzie, who also added an assist, was one of six Stars to record a multi-point night. Tye Scherger and Luke Fennig each found the back of the net twice, while Ian Hillis, Ty Mosimann and Trey Stocker each added two assists.

“We absolutely got going [offensively],” Johnston said. “Got some shots on net and scored some goals and won a contest.” 

With the victory, the Stars are now 2-4 this season. It means they are still near the bottom of the standings; one of five different teams with two wins so far.

Goaltender Carter Serhyenko picked up his second win of the season for the Stars. 

The team’s next game is on Thursday in Saskatoon against the 2-5 Saskatoon Blazers. The team has the weekend off before hosting the Blazers at the Civic Centre on Tuesday, Oct. 24.

nathan.kanter@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @NathanKanter11