North Stars’ 20-year-old’s going out on top

The prototypical top-line centerman, imperative on any championship team: Sinclair brought size, skill, and intangibles to the table, leading all Stars’ players in scoring this season. He finished sixth overall with 72 points in just 57 games.

To follow up his regular season performance, Sinclair then added another 11 in 16 playoff games, and six points in five games of the Anavet Cup.

Earning Team MVP honours at the season-end awards banquette, while the stats were no-doubt impressive on the scorecard, the value the Irma, Alta., product provided to the team went far beyond the stat sheet.

In addition to his faceoff prowess and matchup capabilities, Sinclair featured in as a prominent fixture on both special teams’ units. The veteran’s 11 power play goals 20 points with the man advantage led the team, as did his four short-handed points, proving the centerman to be dangerous at all times and in all game situations.

Sinclair is committed to Canisius College of the NCAA to continue his hockey career. He will play Division 1 hockey next fall.

Owen Lamb

Intangibles personified, with a heart the size of a lion, Owen Lamb grew up in the Battlefords before playing all 165 games of his junior career with his hometown team.

In addition to holding primary roles on both the power play and penalty kill, Lamb led the team in goals this season, as one of only seven players in the league to hit the 30-goal plateau.

Lamb said the prospect of graduating from the junior hockey level with his second championship in three years is one he will relish for a long while.

“I can’t think of a better way to win than in your hometown in front of a sold-out crowd,” he said. “It was the best way to top off the season, and I am thankful for all the opportunity I was given this year, and proud of what I was able to do in my time with the team.”

Braydon Buziak

A true power forward if there ever was one, Braydon Buziak returned to the North Stars this season, embracing his role on the team as a veteran presence after spending the last two seasons in the WHL, split between the Regina Pats and Victoria Royals.

Buziak, who was one of three alternate captains for the Stars this year, (along with Sinclair and Lamb), finished third in team scoring this season with 20 goals, and 54 points. He played a number of games at centre through the first-half of the year, before shifting to the wing alongside a mix of Sinclair and rookie Quintin Loon-Stewardson.

No doubt a clutch performer, Buziak produced five game-winning goals over the regular season, good for tops on the team and third league-wide. He then led the Stars – and league as a whole – with another four game winners in the playoffs.

Buziak finished the playoffs with a team-leading 19 points (eight of them goals), while proving instrumental in his team’s championship run.

Ryan Gil

The California Kid, Ryan Gil returned to the Battlefords this season after playing just four games with the club part-way through last season.

Feeling at home right from game one of the campaign, Gil opened the season with goals in each of the first-two games. Then he went on a sizzling eight-game point-streak lasting from late September to late October.

Gil’s contribution over the stretch played a large hand in his team’s turnaround after an early 1-3 start, to help right the ship as the Stars suffered just one regulation loss over the eight games.

Finishing fourth in team goals (19) and fifth in points (39), Gil not only possessed an ability to dazzle with the puck on his stick, but also exemplified true leadership through a win-at-all-costs mentality.

Gil returned in the seventh-game with the season on the line after blocking a shot off the boot in triple-overtime of Game 5 against the Flin Flon Bombers that held him out of Game 6 of the series.

In the Anavet Cup series, the forward then finished just a single point back of Sinclair for the team lead in points, picking up two goals and four points in the five-game champions’ series.

Regan Doig

A rough-and-tumble winger from Olds, Alta., Doig was officially acquired by the North Stars on the opening day of the season (Sept. 14), and by the next night – before the veteran had even had his name stitched on his jersey – was already dressed and in the lineup, providing his team with added spark, hustle, and physicality.

At 6’1″ 185 pounds, Doig spent time on each of the team’s four lines, shifting from center-ice to the wing, before ultimately landing on the team’s “grind line,” alongside fellow veteran, Dayton Heino, and youngster Kaden Boser.

Doig takes pride in closing out his junior career by making the AJHL championship final last season.

“I think for the whole team it’s something special,” Doig said. “It doesn’t come around very often, and I’ve been lucky enough to [have been] to two finals. Obviously winning here is 10 times better than last year, and being 20 it’s even more special. Ending on a championship and going out as champs; it’s an unreal feeling, and with this team it’s even better.”

Dayton Heino

Dayton Heino, like Doig, began the 2018-19 season elsewhere, moving from Melville of the SJHL to Neepawa of the Manitoba League, before ultimately becoming a mid-season acquisition by Stars’ coach and GM, Braydon Klimosko in early December.

Moving from the wing position early in his tenure with the team, to the pivot role on the aforementioned energy unit, the Minnedosa, MB., product, Heino carved out a niche as a tenacious forechecker.

Heino also proved to be a defensively-responsible presence to the point of often being used throughout the post-season as the ‘shutdown’ center-iceman, matching up head-to-head with the opposition’s top players.

Heino’s presence on the fourth unit provided the team with four capable lines that would allow for no bad matchups on the road. He contributed largely to the team’s dominant 5-1-1 record away from the Civic Centre on their run to the Canalta Cup.

Chad Duran

The consummate professional and glue guy in the room, Duran, a Littleton CO., product, began his first season of Canadian junior hockey in La Ronge this year with the Ice Wolves.

After playing seven games for the club up to late-November, the Stars then acquired the 6’0 back stopper, giving him the chance to show what he could do on a contender.

Duran responded by posting a 6-1-1 record, along with a shimmering .923 save percentage over his eight starts with the team. He provided the Stars with a strong option to turn to while allowing starter Joel Grzybowski an opportunity for additional nights off over the second-half.

Standing tall against some top opposition, of Duran’s eight starts, two were against the defending-champion Nipawin Hawks, while an additional two were played against the league’s top-ranked offence in Yorkton.

Over the four games mentioned, Duran stopped 104 of 112 shots total, giving the goalie a .929 save percentage against top opposition as well.

Duran is committed to SUNY Canton in Canton, New York to continue his hockey career playing NCAA Division III hockey next fall.

Cody Spagrud

The captain and leader of the group both on the ice and off, Cody Spagrud closes out his junior hockey career as the longest-serving North Star of this graduating class.

Spagrud, who finished third in defenceman scoring this season, notching a career high 10 goals and 42 points in 56 games, was the recipient of SJHL Top Defenceman honours for his efforts.

In doing so, Spagrud became the first North Star to win the award since Fraser Allan over a decade ago in the 2006-07 season, and just the third Stars’ blue liner since the award was first established back in 1976.

While born and raised in Gull Lake, Sask., Spagrud is truly – if any – the Battlefords’ adopted son. He ended his four-year tenure with the team third on the franchise’s all-time games-played list with 238 career contests to his credit. He also had first all-time in Stars’ blue line scoring, having amassed 117 points over the span.

In addition to the offensive contribution, Spagrud’s poise with the puck and ability to thrive in all areas of the game against the opposition’s top players make the captain a tough act to follow for the next wave of Stars’ blue liners.

With as many as 17 players from the North Stars’ championship roster eligible to return, there will be big shoes to fill when it comes to those left by the 20-year-old’s from the 2018-19 campaign.

As Stars’ coach Brayden Klimosko, put it:

“The 20-year-olds did an unbelievable job of leading on the ice as well as in the room, and that bodes well for years to come,” Klimosko said. “The 19 and 18-year-olds know what it takes now to be a leader and help, so hopefully we can just keep progressing and keep improving.”

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Martin.Martinson@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: MartyMartyPxP1

by Martin Martinson

North Stars’ 20-year-old’s going out on top

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