There was plenty of celebration throughout the 2016-17 season for the North Stars, as the team won a franchise-best 48 of their 58 games. (File photos/battlefordsNOW Staff)

By Martin Martinson

North Stars brightest

A winning tradition (Part 3): Looking back on the 2016-17 North Stars

Apr 12, 2020 | 2:00 PM

The Battlefords North Stars have had a number of successful seasons throughout their nearly 40-years as a franchise.

This weekend, battlefordsNOW is highlighting the top three winningest seasons by the organization, in a countdown format from number three to number one, with the 2016-17 North Stars taking the final spot on the countdown this afternoon. (Click here to read Part 1, about the 1995-96 Stars; and here to read Part 2, about the 2019-20 team).

The 2016-17 North Stars’ season was nothing short of brilliant, serving as the ultimate benchmark for team greatness to this day in the Battlefords’ sporting community.

The Stars’ 48-9-1 record set a new high-water mark for the franchise (eclipsing the previous 44-win season from ’95-96), while the club’s 97 points were 14 more than the second-place, Flin Flon Bombers.

Background

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The North Stars entered the 2016-17 season as a well-oiled machine. The team had already established themselves as a title contender with a first-place finish the year prior, before falling just short of their ultimate goal in a five-game defeat at the hands of the Bombers in the semi-finals of the playoffs.

Returning to camp in the fall of 2016, that experience only made the group hungrier to bring home their first championship in nearly two decades (17 years).

Offense

The North Stars’ 223 goals were third-most in the SJHL, as the team boasted an offensive arsenal headlined by one of the top duos in team history.

Veteran forward, Coby Downs led the Stars and finished fourth overall in league scoring with 72 points in just 46 games, while 19-year-old, Layne Young placed fifth with 71 points in 53 games.

Together the pair cleared their next closest teammate by nearly 20-points – forward Connor Logan, who was just under a point-per-game player in his own right, having racked up 53 points in 58 games.

Defence

While the North Stars’ offensive output was elite by all metrics, it was the team’s commitment to defence that set them apart as an all-time group. The Stars allowed just 103 goals over the course of the season (or 1.77 per-game), a number that still stands as an SJHL record for fewest allowed in a season.

With 20-year-old veterans like Kendall Fransoo and Connor Sych leading the way on the blue line, the team also boasted a pair of young superstars in the making, in 19-year-old Levi Kleiboer and 18-year-old future Defenceman of the Year, Cody Spagrud.

From top to bottom, the team’s blue line was chalked full of two-way rearguards capable of shutting things down with the best of them on the backend, while also collecting a combined 35 goals, 162 points as a unit.

Goaltending

Taryn Kotchorek and Joel Grzybowski split duties in goal for the Stars, playing 32 (Kotchorek) and 26 (Grzybowski) games respectively over the course of the season.

Together the pair finished first and second in virtually every goaltending statistic including goals-against average (GAA), where Kotchorek sported a 1.61 GAA and Grzybowski a 1.66 GAA.

The 2016-17 North Stars, pictured here with the Canalta Cup, as SJHL champions, following a historic playoff run. (File photo/battlefordsNOW Staff)

Path through the postseason

As dominant as the team had been over the course of the regular season, the Stars ramped it up an additional notch for a flawless record in the playoffs. The Battlefords swept Weyburn in the quarterfinals 4-games-to-0, before doing the same to both Estevan in the semis, and Flin Flon in the Finals.

The monumental run was just the third time in SJHL history a team has gone undefeated in the playoffs on their run to a championship, and marked the first time in 35 years the feat had been accomplished. Coby Downs was named playoff MVP, leading the team with 25 points in 11 games.

With multiple franchise and league records set along the way, the 2016-17 season will remain a classic in the Battlefords for years to come.

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Martin.Martinson@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: MartyMartyPxP1