Ty Bahm (top left), Riley Little (top right), Jake Southgate (bottom left), and Mason Richey (bottom right) have each scored their first career SJHL goals already this season. (Martin Martinson/battlefordsNOW Staff)

By Martin Martinson

First goal memories

Milestones coming early and often for North Stars this season

Nov 17, 2020 | 3:48 PM

Three games into the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL) season, the Battlefords North Stars still await their first victory of the new campaign. However, that doesn’t mean the team hasn’t already experienced some moments to remember.

Three games was all it took to see four different players score their first career SJHL goals, with three of the four notching their first goal at the ‘Junior A’ level, altogether.

Riley Little scored his first career SJHL goal in his Stars’ debut, Nov. 6 versus Kindersley. (Martin Martinson/battlefordsNOW Staff)

Nineteen-year-old defenceman, Riley Little scored opening night, to tally his first in the junior ranks in his first game wearing the Stars’ black and silver.

Prior to being acquired by the team late last month, Little had played a combined 42 games split between the Weyburn Red Wings, and Waywayseecappo Wolverines of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League.

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Little said it was a great feeling to get his first goal, right off the bat this season.

“It’s always exciting getting your first one out of the way,” Little said, reflecting on the experience. “I mean in your first game with the new team, there’s no better feeling I think, so it was pretty exciting.”

Ty Bahm scored his first career SJHL goal in his Stars’ debut, Nov. 6 versus Kindersley. (Martin Martinson/battlefordsNOW Staff)

Kindersley product, Ty Bahm also added the first of his junior career, in his first game with the team.

Bahm’s first came on a highlight-reel effort shorthanded, busting in on goal. Adding to the moment, it also came against his hometown team who had originally drafted him back in 2017 — the Kindersley Klippers.

Bahm said scoring his first goal is a feeling he’ll remember for some time.

“It felt cool getting it in the hometown there,” Bahm said. “We didn’t get the outcome we wanted [as a team] in that one, but it was still pretty special to get that one.”

Jake Southgate scored his first career SJHL goal, Nov. 13 versus La Ronge. (Martin Martinson/battlefordsNOW Staff)

Jake Southgate’s first of his career came over the weekend versus La Ronge, giving the Battlefords’ boy his first of what looks to be many for the hometown team he grew up cheering on.

Southgate said he can still recount the details of how the play developed.

“It was a big moment,” he said with a smile. “The power play had just expired and [Ryland] McNinch got the puck off the wall and gave it to me for a one-timer, so it was a big goal.”

Southgate’s tally pulled the Stars to within a goal heading into the third period Friday in La Ronge.

Mason RIchey scored his first career SJHL goal, Nov. 14 versus La Ronge. (Martin Martinson/battlefordsNOW Staff)

Veteran Mason Richey’s first of the season came against La Ronge over the weekend as well.

With over 60 games of prior experience in the British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL), Richey’s tally was not his first at the junior level, but did serve as his initial strike in the Saskatchewan league, which still made it a milestone to remember.

Asked about the goal, Richey was pretty nonchalant, but said it was still certainly nice to score that first one with his new team.

“It had been a while since the last one,” Richey said with a laugh. “But it was good. It was nice to get that one early, for sure.”

The North Stars will return to action this weekend, with a back-to-back versus Flin Flon at the Civic Centre. The NAPA Auto Parts North Stars Hockey Broadcast will be held on 1050 CJNB. The Ultra Print Pregame Show will begin at 7 p.m., with puck drop to follow at 7:30 p.m.

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Martin.Martinson@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: MartyMartyPxP1