By Nathan Kanter

AA Barons not worried by slow start

Oct 27, 2016 | 10:00 AM

An 0-4 start to the year doesn’t have Barry Belak worried about his young squad.

The head coach of the AA Barons has coached in the Battlefords for roughly 30 years, from peewee to bantam to midget AAA.

He’s been in charge of the midget AA Barons team for the last several years and said he’s not worried yet because his players are still catching on.

“It’s a learning curve. We’re young,” he said after practice on Wednesday night. “We’ve got some boys who haven’t played developmental hockey and so it’s a matter of them learning the new systems and getting to where we can become a team. It’s coming. I don’t expect big things until after Christmas.”

So far this year the Barons have lost two one-goal games and lost two not so close games.

Fond Memories

North Stars' 20-year-olds reflect on junior hockey experience: Part 2

Apr 19, 2024

Fond Memories

North Stars' 20-year-olds reflect on junior hockey experience: Part 1

Apr 18, 2024

Trades in Sask.

Skilled trades need not limited to building homes

Apr 17, 2024

Their opener was a 7-0 loss to the Saskatoon Screaming Eagles but they followed that up with a solid showing at home the next week, falling narrowly to Humboldt 3-2. This past weekend they lost 7-1 to North East and 3-2 to the Prince Albert Dairy Queen Chill.

The biggest issue for the Barons has been a lack of goal scoring.

They’ve scored five goals in these first four games, which Belak explained is all you need to know.

“We’re having a hell of a time scoring goals,” he said. “We don’t have any prolific goals scorers.

“Our goalies are pretty good and our defence isn’t that bad so its just a matter of gelling and some of these kids getting confidence like shooting the puck – that’s how you score goals.”

Last season, the Barons were in the middle of the pack in the 15-team league and lost to the Meadow Lake Stampeders in a round robin to open the playoffs.

With 15 teams, it’s surely a competitive league.

It’s also about development.

“We’re trying to get them ready for the next level,” Belak said. “It’s a fast learning curve for the kids and we try to push them as hard as possible and not to overload them with information.”

Belak said his younger players have stood out to him so far – specifically Jared Nachtegaele, Luke Fennig, and Carter Cammidge.

“They all seem to be catching on to the systems,” he said. “We just have to be patient with the boys. As long as we keep working hard and we get a work ethic that is second to none, we’ll achieve.”

Nathan Kanter is battlefordsNOW’s sports reporter and voice of the Battlefords North Stars. He can be reached at Nathan.kanter@jpbg.ca or tweet him @NathanKanter11