By Nathan Kanter

North Stars make blockbuster deal on deadline day

Jan 10, 2017 | 10:38 AM

The Battlefords North Stars have made it abundantly clear they’re gunning for nothing but a championship this season, after they traded for Ice Wolves lead scorer Jared Blaquiere on Tuesday.

Along with 20-year-old Blaquiere, the North Stars have also acquired veteran defenceman Zach Nedelec. In exchange, La Ronge receives a 2017 first round pick, prospects Austin Shumanski, Mackenzie Donovan, and Shane Hounsell, plus a player development fee.

Blaquiere has 23 points in 31 games this season, and had 50 points 56 games last year. The Edam native may only stand 5’10”, but he also has 71 penalty minutes this year and had 103 last season, showing he’s not afraid to go to the dirty areas and mix it up.

“He’s a competitive kid,” Bedford said. “”He was almost a point-a-game guy last year. I think with a bit of a better supporting cast around him I think he’s going to be a good two-way guy. He’s going to be able to kill penalties, he can be on the power play and above all else he’s a tough kid.

“Out of all the guys who have played against us, he’s the one who has made the most impact.”

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Bedford said he’s not sure where Blaquiere is going to fit into the lineup at the moment, but he may start with fellow Edam native Reed Delainey.

“I know he and Delainey are familiar with each other,” Bedford said. “It might be easiest for him to start with Delainey, just being responsible and making sure he’s starting with someone he’s comfortable with. That’s kind of where I’m leaning right now.”

Nedelec, meanwhile, is a stay-at-home defenceman who has recorded four points this season. The 20-year-old is also from Edam and played a full season of AAA hockey for the Battlefords Stars in 2011-12.

“He’s a good leader,” Bedford said. “He’s not going to be flashy. He’s not going to blow by you. He’s just going to play a steady game for you. He’ll eat some minutes up for you.

“It creates a competitive situation for the other ‘D’. It was a tough six ‘D’ to get into yesterday, it’s even harder today. So I think it’ll bring out the best in our guys.”

As far as the prospects given up by Battlefords go, two of them are 17 and one is 16 years old.

Shumanski, a 6’6” defenceman, played in four games for the North Stars earlier this season before being re-assigned to the Yorkton Maulers in midget AAA. Donovan is currently a member of the AAA Stars and has 14 points in 30 games this season. Hounsell has 12 points in 25 games for the Saskatoon Blazers as a 16-year-old rookie.

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