Battlefords North Stars seek retribution vs. Hawks

The experienced trio of grizzled veterans in center, Braydon Buziak between Sioux Lookout, Ontario’s Elijah Loon-Stewardson on the left and Owen Lamb over his right shoulder has also shown some serious chemistry. The defensive acumen of all three players has resulted in allowing the defencemen they share the ice with at any given time to pinch in aggressively to hold the offensive blue line and continue the attack, knowing they have support from the forwards if they do get beat along the wall.

Ryan Gil will shift to his natural centre ice position for tonight’s match, and will see a return to action from Brett Gammer, who will draw onto Gil’s right, and forward Austin Becker on his left. This unit will supply the black, silver and white with a multi-faceted utility line, equally as adept at working the puck down low on the cycle game to generate offence as they are at developing scoring chances off the rush.

Tanner Robin, suiting up for his third-straight game, will be joined by wrecking ball, Kaden Boser and Quintin Loon-Stewardson each of whom draw back into the Stars’ lineup.

Logan Spence, the North Battleford native who scored his first goal and first two points of his SJHL career Sept. 28 vs. Estevan, will not be available to play in tonight’s game. Spence was on the receiving end of a devastating body check from Hawks forward, Jordan Simoneau in Wednesday night’s contest.

The 6’5″, 230-pound Simoneau, towering over the much smaller Spence, charged hard into the 18-year-old local product against the right-side boards. Spence skated off under his own power but did not return to the game. At least for the time being, the forward will join defencemen Noah Form and Jacob Bayne, who remain on the North Stars’ injured reserve.

Fortunately for the Stars, despite the injuries to two of their top four defencemen out of camp, their depth on the backend of guys who can move the puck and play a fast-paced transition game has allowed the club to continue to play an up-tempo style with quick puck movement.

On the back end, Cody Spagrud, who continues to impress with his ability to transition the puck up quickly from defence to offence, and also quarterback the power play from the point position with the best in the league, will see support from shot-blocker extraordinaire, Tanner Scott once again on his left.

No changes are expected to be made on the second pairing either, as defensive stalwart, Matthew Fletcher, who scored his first goal of the season Wednesday night against Nipawin, will line up next to Seth Summers, the agile defender who has thrived in his position next to Fletcher amongst the team’s top four defensive-core.

Austin Shumanski, the colossal defender from northwestern Saskatchewan, who made his North Stars’ debut last game, will suit up again as an absolute defensive obtrusion for the opposition, not just with his size, but also his sweeping reach that opponents must be mindful to maneuver around. Ryan Graville will play alongside Shumanski, and the pair should continue to bear a nice compliment to one another with Granville providing good offensive instincts to compliment his stay-at-home partner.

Goaltender Joel Grzybowski, who was without question the team’s best player last game against Nipawin, making 34 saves of the 35 shots he faced, will get the start once again for the Stars.

Here’s a look at the North Stars’ lineup at a glance:

Forwards:

M. Urbanski, M. Sinclair, R. Doig

E. Loon-Stewardson, B. Buziak, O. Lamb

A. Becker, R. Gil, B. Gammer

T. Robin, K. Boser, Q. Loon-Stewardson

Defensemen:

T. Scott, C. Spagrud

S. Summers, M. Fletcher

A. Shumanski, R. Granville

Goaltenders:

J. Grzybowski

A. Dmyterko

Martin.Martinson@jpbg.ca

On twitter: MartyMartyPxP1

by Martin Martinson

Battlefords North Stars seek retribution vs. Hawks

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