Justen Maric was the named SJHL Goaltender of the Week (Byron HIldebrand/Facebook).

By Austin Mattes

North Stars Week Preview

Maric named Goaltender of the Week ahead of matchup versus Bruins

Feb 25, 2025 | 12:38 PM

It was a huge weekend for the Battlefords North Stars as they grabbed back-to-back wins over the Kindersley Klippers, beating them 3-2 on Friday and then 5-2 on Saturday.

The North Stars have now jumped back up to sixth overall in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL) and first in the Nutrien Division with a 25-20-3-2 record for 55 points. On top of that, Justen Maric was also named the SJHL Goaltender of the Week for maintaining a 2.00 goals against average and .950 save percentage in the wins over Kindersley.

(SJHL/Website)

Now with just six games remaining in the regular season and the North Stars only two points behind Melville and one point ahead of Humboldt, their two games this weekend against the Estevan Bruins will be crucial to maintain a solid playoff spot.

The games against the Bruins will be this Friday, Feb. 28 and Saturday, March 1 both at the Access Communications Centre with puck drop at 7:30 p.m.

DISCRETIONARY USE

City approves funeral home near new proposed spray park

43m ago

Arena Upgrades

Battleford Arena getting facelift

5h ago

FIRST QUARTER

Patrols expanded as fire crews target unsafe properties in North Battleford

Apr 08, 2025

This will be the third, fourth and final time the two teams will face off this season, with the Bruins leading the season series 2-0, beating the North Stars 3-2 and 1-0 back on Nov. 22 and 23.

Estevan is currently the 10th overall team in the league with a 15-27-5-1 record for 36 points, but despite practically being out of a playoff spot, they still have been giving teams a hard time as of recently, especially since new head coach Drew Kocur has taken over the squad.

SJHL standings as of Feb. 25, 2025 (SJHL/Website).

The biggest weapon on Estevan has been one of their newest additions, 2007 born forward, Steven Steranka, who came from the Red Deer Rebels of the Western Hockey League (WHL) earlier this season and in just 16 games with the Bruins has 12 goals and 10 assists for 22 points. Ewann Rennie and Kent Moors are also players to look out for as they have led the charge for most of the season, being the top two point getters on the team. Rennie has notched 16 goals and 29 points for 46 points this season, while Moors has been averaging just over a point a game with 40 (19 goals, 21 assists) in 39 games.

For the North Stars, they have been playing some of the best hockey they’ve played all season in the past few weeks, and they will need to continue doing the same this weekend if they want to see some success. Everything seems to be going right for Battlefords from goaltending to offence and special teams, but that being said the North Stars can’t go into this weekend expecting a win.

The biggest mistake the team could make this weekend is taking their foot off of the gas at any moment. Looking back at some of the most recent games, the team has almost been playing a full 60 minutes, but it’s been the three or four minutes where they let up is when things start to break down. As long as the North Stars just continue on with how they played against Kindersley, don’t let up and clean up the details, four points should be easily attainable this weekend.

Tune into the games this weekend with the Napa Auto Parts North Stars Hockey Broadcast on CJNB/CJNS, Ultra Print Pregame show starts at 7 p.m. on both nights.

The North Stars will also be auctioning off their grey jerseys this weekend in the Charabin Seed Farm Lounge.

—

Austin.mattes@pattisonmedia.com

On X: @AustinMattes