A season of destiny: Reflecting on the 2019 North Stars championship

Following a middling start to the season, the Stars sat third in their division with an 18-9-6 record heading into the Christmas break. However, as fans in the community would soon find out, the team was just getting warmed up.

Playing just three of their final 22 games at home at the Civic Centre, the Stars used their lengthy road swing to bound together for a late-season surge. The team finished the year 11-1-1 record over their final 13 games, to lock up top spot in the Global Ag. Risk Solutions Division, and earn the second seed overall heading into the playoffs.

For goaltender Joel Grzybowski, the team’s scorching play down the stretch, leading into the post-season, is among the things that stand out most looking back a year later.

“I think just the time that we peaked made a big difference in our run,” Grzybowski said. “We peaked right at the end of the year to take first in our division and that set us up awesome heading into the playoffs. Then with playoff hockey we never gave up; we battled every game and I think that’s why we won.”

The pinnacle of the late-season dramatics featured a 4-3 overtime victory over the rival Kindersley Klippers at the Civic Centre, in the final game of the regular season. Separated by just a single point in the standings, with top spot in the division on the line, the win clinched the Stars a top-two finish. Kindersley fell to fourth overall in the league standings.

Braydon Buziak, who scored the winning goal in extra time, said he still remembers the moment fondly. He told battlefordsNOW, “to get that overtime goal against Kindersley is definitely something that I’ll remember for the rest of my life, for sure.”

While the victory in their final game earned them home ice throughout the playoffs, the road to a championship was not without its bumps along with way.

Playing the seventh-seeded Flin Flon Bombers in the opening round, the North Stars jumped out early to a 3-0 series lead, thanks to a pair of back-to-back overtime wins in Game 2 and Game 3. However, it didn’t take long until the Bombers would come storming back with three-straight wins of their own, also taking two in overtime (including one triple overtime), to force a winner-take-all Game 7 back at the Civic Centre. Seemingly in the blink of an eye, the pressure was on the North Stars.

Grzybowski still remembers just how quickly the series was flipped on its head.

“I think after we won Game 3 in overtime I kind of remember thinking to myself, ‘Holy man, we’ve got four chances to wrap this thing up.’ Then next thing you know, it felt like a day later we were playing Game 7 in North Battleford. It was really an eye-opener to how quickly things can change in the playoffs.”

Owen Lamb added though, that despite the adversity, the group was able to find success in the end because of teammates’ self-belief within the locker-room.

“We came back home and we just knew that this was our game and nobody could beat us four games,” Lamb said. “We went in there with confidence and we found the energy we needed and were able to pull out a win.”

Ultimately topping the Bombers 4-1 in Game 7, the North Stars’ momentum propelled them forward, with the team losing just a single game over the next two series. Following a four-game sweep of the high-flying Yorkton Terriers, the Stars then trounced the Melfort Mustangs in just five games as well, to cap the campaign as champions.

Turning in one of the greatest goaltending performances in league history on his team’s run, Grzybowski took home Playoff MVP honours with a league-best, 1.68 goals-against average and .950 save percentage.

The Hafford, Sask., product’s play was headlined by a league record of over 240 minutes-straight of shutout hockey. That included three-straight blankings from Games 2 through 4 versus the Yorkton Terriers — the owners of the league’s top offence.

Grzybowski, who announced his junior hockey retirement following the end of the season, said he will still look back on the memories from that run from time to time.”

“There were a couple of games there, a couple in the Flin Flon series and the Yorkton series [in particular], where I just kind of knew I don’t think these guys can put one passed me and I think they knew it too,” Grzybowski said with a smile. “With the way the year played out, just getting the MVP trophy, then getting to raise the Cup one more time; that was when I really realized I don’t think it could end any better way.”

No better feeling: Eighteen different North Stars chipped in with at least a single goal through the team’s 16 playoff games, as it truly was an all-hands-on-deck effort by the black and silver to win the championship. (Martin Martinson/battlefordsNOW Staff)

Battlefords’ products, Lamb and Buziak echoed their goalie’s sentiment, saying what made the championship even more special was the chance to win the Canalta Cup at home and share the celebration at the Civic Centre.

“It was really great,” Lamb said. “I know I had lots of friends and family and coworkers there to support me, so it was definitely a memorable moment for me. When we won the championship, just looking around and seeing the crowd, while having all my [supporters] there is something I won’t forget.”

“We [also] have some of the best fans in the SJHL for sure,” Buziak added. “So to win it in front of them, and to win it in front of friends and family was definitely something that you’ll never forget for the rest of your life. You give those people a chance to see what you go through and give the fans something to remember.”

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Martin.Martinson@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: MartyMartyPxP1

by Martin Martinson

A season of destiny: Reflecting on the 2019 North Stars championship

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