The North Stars play four games in six days this week, starting tonight vs. the Melfort Mustangs at the ACC. (Byron Hildebrand/Facebook)

By Austin Mattes

Four games in six days

Important week ahead for the North Stars

Jan 7, 2025 | 1:38 PM

After winning their first two games of 2025 this past weekend against the Nipawin Hawks, the Battlefords North Stars’ record improved to 17-10-3-2 on the season for 39 points, keeping them at their spot which is fifth overall in the league.

Coming up this week, the North Stars have their biggest stretch of games this season, playing four games in just six nights, starting tonight against the Melfort Mustangs at the Access Communication Centre with puck drop at 7:30 p.m.

This will be the third time Battlefords will take on Melfort this season and looking back at their other two matchups, the North Stars have had a hard time containing the Mustangs, losing the first game 4-0 and the second game 8-1.

Melfort is currently the #1 ranked team in the SJHL with a 28-4 record and the #2 ranked team in the entire CJHL, and on top of that, they come into Tuesday night’s game riding a 17 game win streak.

That being said, the North Stars have started off 2025 very strong and have been known to be the streak killers this season, as they ended Weyburn’s 13-game point run and Flin Flon’s 10-game win streak earlier on this season.

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Looking ahead to the rest of the week, the North Stars will take on the Notre Dame Hounds Wednesday night at 7:30 p.m. at the Access Communication Centre. The Hounds are currently tied for last place in the league with a 8-19-1-2 record, but they have beat the North Stars in two of their five matchups this season.

The North Stars will then have a two day break before they head on the road for back to back games on Saturday, Jan. 11 and Sunday, Jan 12.

On Saturday, the North Stars will head to the CN Community Centre to take on the Melville Millionaires for the second time this season and puck drop for that game will be at 7:00 PM.

Sunday’s game will be an earlier start with puck drop at 3:00 p.m. at the Westland Arena in Yorkton and the North Stars will look to get their first win over the Yorkton Terriers this season after losing their first two games against them back in November.

With the North Stars only four points behind second place in the standings, all four games this week will be crucial for the team to try and solidify a playoff spot. They will need to play their best hockey of the season, and they will also be without leading scorer Nikita Ivaschenko as he is gone for 12 days representing Ukraine at the World Junior Championships and captain Jackson Allan as he is out of the lineup due to injury.

Fans can tune into all the games with the Napa Auto Parts North Stars Hockey Broadcast on CJNB/CJNS, starting with the Ultra Print pregame show half an hour prior to puck drop all on all four nights.

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austin.mattes@pattisonmedia.com

On X: @AustinMattes