North Stars’ forwards Owen Lamb and Logan Spence were born and raised in the Battlefords, attending Stars’ games growing up. (Martin Martinson/battlefordsNOW Staff) 

By Martin Martinson

Hometown proud

Hometown boys live childhood dream with North Stars

Mar 13, 2019 | 5:02 PM

In the world of sport, there is nothing quite like a hometown product living their dream in front of the community crowd they grew up a part of.

For North Stars’ forwards Owen Lamb and Logan Spence, that dream of playing on the big stage in the Battlefords at the SJHL level, has become not merely a dream, but an opportunity as well; an opportunity both players take great pride in.

“It’s pretty cool,” Spence said of suiting up with the North Stars’ crest. “I grew up watching the North Stars, so it’s always been a dream to play for them; it’s nice to finally be able to get that chance.”

Spence grew up a Stars’ fan attending games with his family, while also spending hours of extra time at the rink with behind the scenes access to the team.

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“[When] Kevin Hasselberg and Blair Atcheynum were coaching, they brought me around the rink a lot when I was just a young kid, so that helped out, and it made me want to play here more and more.”

Hasselberg was head coach and GM of the Stars for five seasons spanning from the fall of 2011, to spring of 2016, while Blair Atcheynum served as assistant coach with the team.

For Owen Lamb, this season has been the perfect end chapter to a storybook junior career.

Lamb, like Spence, grew up playing his minor hockey here, right from the time he first learned to skate, through Bantam, onto Midget, and eventually to the SMHL with the Battlefords Stars.

After two seasons with the Saskatchewan Midget AAA League, Lamb made the jump full time with the North Stars’ big club in 2016-17.

Playing 50 games with the Stars his rookie year in the SJHL, Lamb picked up nine goals and 19 points in the process. Providing an energizing presence to the team’s bottom six, Lamb served as one of just a handful of rookies on a North Stars’ roster that would win 48 of their 58 games over the course of the regular season, to clinch top spot in the Global Ag. Risk Solutions Division, and first overall at year’s end.

In the postseason, the Stars continued to assert their dominance as a hockey club, winning 12 games-straight, as the team swept their opposition in all three rounds to take home the Canalta Cup as league champions.

“Well I couldn’t have asked for a better rookie year than to win the Cup,” Lamb said. “I came onto a team with a lot of veterans – there was only four of us rookies on the team, and a couple of them were in their 19-year-old year – so there were only a few of us young guys and they made me feel very welcome. With their leadership I was able to grow as a hockey player I feel, playing under them.”

Now in his third year with the team, Lamb has an opportunity to pay it forward as one of those leaders and an alternate captain on the team this season.

Lamb is coming off a regular season campaign that saw the forward pot 30 goals and 57 points in just 56 games this year, good for first in goals, and second in points on the team.

As for the ride so far, Lamb said he’s especially grateful to have played his junior career with the team he grew up rooting for.

“I think it makes it extra special,” Lamb said. “It’s nice just being a guy, local in the community, all summer I get asked what the team’s looking like and how we’re going to do that year, and it just feels great to be a role model too for the young kids.”

Lamb’s linemate on the Stars’ top unit Braydon Buziak is a bit of an honorary hometown boy, who was born and raised in Kindersley, but moved to the Battlefords five years ago.

Stars’ forward, Braydon Buziak finished third in team scoring with 52 points in 56 games this year. Buziak clinched the Stars top spot in the division, scoring the overtime game-winner on the final night of the regular season. (Martin Martinson/battlefordsNOW Staff)

Buziak played for the Stars of the SMHL before playing the bulk of his SJHL career with the Battlefords, also picking up 121 games in the WHL split between Regina and Victoria.

Buziak said although he hails from Kindersley, he considers himself more of a Battlefords’ product, a community the forward is proud to be a part.

“We come to the rink every day and have fun, and the games here are fun too. The crowd we get out is awesome and the sponsorships we have are great. This is a top class organization and it’s just fun to be a part of when you come to the rink every day and have fun.”

Fans can catch the North Stars in action Friday as the team welcomes the Flin Flon Bombers to town for Game 1 of their quarterfinal series with the Flin Flon Bombers at the NB Civic Centre.

Ultra Print Pregame Show begins at 7 p.m. with puck drop at 7:30 p.m. on 1050 CJNB.

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Martin.Martinson@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: MartyMartyPxP1