(Pictured L-R): Back Row: Allan Frank (coach) Aron Frank , Lyndon Antoine, Shae Kiryk , Bryce Fiske, Connor Macintosh, Gino frank, Blair Pewapisconias. Front Row: Nick Shumlanski, Luke Frank, Connor Manegre, Taryn Kotchorek and Daylin Smallchild. (submitted photo/Taryn Kotchorek)

By Martin Martinson

Stick and Puck

Former North Stars win rec tournament in Sin City

May 31, 2019 | 8:00 AM

Former North Stars’ goalie Taryn Kotchorek is a household name in the Battlefords after playing all three years of his junior hockey career with the Stars, highlighted by a Canalta Cup Championship in 2017.

Kotchorek, along with two of his former North Stars’ teammates Connor Manegre and Connor McIntosh, can now add Gambers Cup champions to the resume as well.

The Crimetown Braves were one of 12 teams from across North America to enter the rec hockey tournament hosted in Las Vegas by Canadian Hockey Enterprises.

The Braves won two of their opening three games of the round-robin format to advance to the finals, where the team took home the championship with a final victory.

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All three currently play hockey in the college ranks, with two of the three – Kotchorek with Portage College, and Manegre with Concordia University – playing against one another in the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC).

Macintosh meanwhile, plays NCAA III hockey with Anna Maria College.

Kotchorek said he was happy for the chance to reunite with his former teammates in the tournament.

“It was nice,” he said. “I played against Connor Manegre in our college league all winter, and I hadn’t seen MacIntosh in about a year and a half.”

In addition to the three North Stars’ alumni, the team featured a number of former SJHLers. Nick Shumlanski of the Bombers and Broncos; Bryce Fiske of La Ronge and Humboldt; and Shae Kiryk, who split time between the Ice Wolves, Klippers, and Red Wings, also played on the team.

“It was pretty cool,” Kotchorek said. “You get used to playing against guys, like Fiske, and Shumlanski – I played against them for three years in junior. You ask if they want to come play with you and it’s a blast; it’s always nice to get together again.”

As for what it meant to win the tournament, Kotchorek called the experience, “pretty sweet.”

“We didn’t really know what to expect heading into the tournament, [and] we didn’t think we’d be playing in the Finals on the last day, but we did,” he said. “It was a pretty cool thing to experience.”

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Martin.Martinson@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: MartyMartyPxP1