North Stars look to round out the roster as the preseason continues

Logan said many players on the current roster attended the game to show their support, reinforcing the culture the coaching staff has worked to establish over the past year.

“We start integrating these players into our culture and what our expectations are. Just get through the hardship of transition. Going from triple-A to junior is hard. So we try to use our vets, getting these guys up with our group to try to ease that process. It’s worked pretty good so far.”

After the opening preseason game, Logan plans to use a more experienced lineup through the remaining exhibition schedule as he evaluates the team heading into the season.

“You got three kicks out of here to start figuring out your lines and your D pairings and where everything is sort of going to fit,” Logan said.

“We have a plan in place. We’ll have some younger guys getting into some games here and just evaluating the workload and where things are at. There’s a little bit tighter competition this year than we expected. You got to make some hard decisions, and you really got to put the stress on through these three games and figure some things out.”

Logan said that as a first-year head coach last preseason, he focused too much on winning games. His mentality and approach are different this year.

“You want to see the trenches, you want to see the adversity, you want to face that now and start figuring out how guys handle it and how we can correct that,” he said.

“Last year, I wanted to win all the games and that was my ego talking. Now, it’s about really figuring out the group, figuring out our identity. You’re not going to be a finished product on day one.”

The North Stars’ next preseason game is their only one against a non-SJHL opponent. They will face the Lloydminster Bobcats of the Alberta Junior Hockey League at Thunderchild Wellness Centre on Sept. 8. Puck drop is at 6 p.m.

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Ryan.Lambert@pattisonmedia.com

by Ryan Lambert

North Stars look to round out the roster as the preseason continues

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