Pictured L-R: Jesse Borschneck of the Battlefords AAA Stars, and Sawyer Norman and Mikayla Christmann of the AAA Sharks. (Martin Martinson/battlefordsNOW Staff)

By Martin Martinson

Weekend preview

AAA Stars, Sharks in action this weekend

Nov 25, 2022 | 4:21 PM

It’s a busy weekend ahead for the Battlefords U18 AAA hockey teams.

The AAA Stars and AAA Sharks are both in action this weekend. The Stars will play a pair of games Saturday and Sunday at Notre Dame, while the Sharks travel to Swift Current for their final game of the month against the Swift Wildcats.

AAA Stars

For the Stars, their weekend back-to-back with Notre Dame will be the team’s third and fourth straight against the Sask AAA League’s defending champs.

Coming off consecutive 6-4 and 4-3 (in OT) defeats to the Hounds last weekend, head coach Dale Grayston said the team has been right there and now has a chance to answer back in another measuring stick matchup.

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“[Notre Dame] have a really good team again this season and we’re looking forward to seeing just how much we’ve improved over the last couple of weeks,” he said. “Hopefully we can see some good improvement this weekend.”

Grayston added that heading into the back-to-back, the team will need to bring their skating legs and play to their strengths as a fast and tenacious team.

“We have lots of good team speed and that would be our main identity is that ability to play with quickness,” he said. “Like the old saying, you want to be quick but you don’t want to be in a hurry, and I think when we use our speed properly we can be a really effective hockey team.”

Following their back-to-backs in Wilcox, the AAA Stars will return home to close out the month, Nov. 30 against Saskatoon at the ACC.

AAA Sharks

The AAA Sharks have just one game Saturday to close out the month.

Facing off against a Swift Current team third overall in the Sask Female U18 League, head coach Ricci Girolami said it’s a great test for the team, which has been playing well even if the bounces have been tough to come by of late.

“Our team’s playing well, we’re just having some troubles finding the back of the net,” Girolami said. “We’re outshooting teams and we’re just not capitalizing as much as we’d like, but the girls are coming along well. They’re playing strong and hopefully this weekend we can pull off a couple of wins here.”

Girolami said heading into their weekend matchup, the key to the team’s success will be finding a way to bear down on their chances and convert against a good Wildcats team.

“We switched up the lines a bit in practice, and right now it looks like things are gelling pretty well, so hopefully we can keep getting pucks to the goal and it pays off for us,” he said. “Right now I think the league is pretty tight and anybody can beat anybody on a given night.”

Following the Sharks’ game in Swift Current, the team will return home for back-to-backs with the Wildcats next weekend to kick off their December schedule at Battleford Arena.

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Martin.Martinson@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @MartyMartyPxP1