North Stars Nachtegaele feels community support

For Nachtegaele, there is nothing quite like it.

“It’s crazy, just to know that this has been my life,” he said. “I’ve followed them my whole life. So now that I’m on the team, basically [of] my dreams, the team I’ve wanted to play for, It’s pretty awesome.

“It’s awesome to see [my family] and know that they support me.”

Nachtegaele — who’s earned the nickname ‘Stammer’ because of his favourite player Steven Stamkos — is currently in his final year of junior eligibility.

He’s not the most prolific goal scorer, with just 14 goals in over 100 career SJHL games, but that doesn’t mean he’s not valuable to the team.

“He does little things that people don’t realize and notice,” North Stars head coach Nate Bedford said. “He’s probably one of the better guys in the dressing room. He prepares for games the right way… [and] on the ice, he’ll block any shot that he can get to. It’s one thing that I’m big on, obviously. He loves it. If he could score five goals or block 10 shots, he’d block 10 shots.”

“I go 1,000 miles an hour and I hit people and I try my hardest,” Nachtegaele added about how he plays on the ice. “I’m not the most skilled player, but I’ll make sure I’m working my bag off until I get the job done.”

Nachtegaele owes a lot of that work ethic to former North Stars coach Kevin Hasselberg.

Hasselberg was a big role model for him during his team with the team, which rubbed off on Nachtegaele beyond just game situations.

“He was an awesome person,” Nachtegaele said. “He was really big on the fine details and growing as a person. He took hockey as more than just a game. He taught us life lessons. He taught us how to be great in the community and to respect everyone around you.”

When Hasselberg left for a pro-coaching opportunity in Florida with the Pensacola Ice Flyers of the Southern Professional Hockey League this past summer, it was tough.

“I was excited for my 20-year-old year to come in and have Kevin here,” Nachtegaele said. “He built this team. This is what he wanted. He got us this. It sucked to see him go, but I was happy for him to see him go on to professional things. That’s his goal.

“To have Nate come in, he’s a great coach and everybody loves him. He’s tough and it’s good for us.”

A big part of what Hasselberg taught Nachtegaele was to give back to the community.

That’s important to the 20-year-old, because without fans and local businesses supporting you, nothing would be the same.

“Just knowing, from growing up here, how big this team is for our [community],” Nachtegaele said. “Everybody around here loves the game, right? They’re the people that fund us to play. We get to play our favourite game for free, basically. We get to do it in front of so many amazing fans.”

That’s just part of why it would be extremely special to make this year the year.

The other reason it would be special is because Nachtegaele has been close before.

In Midget AAA, the Stars swept the eventual Telus Cup champion Prince Albert Mintos in the playoffs but bowed out in the league final. The Mintos were hosting the west region qualifier for the national championship tournament, so even though they didn’t win the Saskatchewan league, they still won the qualifier and then the nationals as well.

“It was pretty heartbreaking,” Nachtegaele said. “Getting that close and beating the team that wins the Telus Cup and just knowing how close we could have been if we had got through the league, [was tough].”

Nachtegaele doesn’t want to have that feeling again and he’s pretty confident he won’t.

“We just know this is the one. The community is backing us on it and it’s what we need,” he said. “This is the year for the boys to get ‘er done.”

Nathan.kanter@jpbg.ca

Twitter: @NathanKanter11

by Nathan Kanter

North Stars Nachtegaele feels community support

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