Thursday’s Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey League contest between the Battlefords Stars and Prince Albert Mintos is one that would take quite awhile to describe for those who weren’t at the Art Hauser Centre.
Down 3-0 early in the second period, the Mintos would then score four times in the middle stanza to take the lead and would hold on for an 8-6 triumph.
Down 3-0 early in the second period, the Mintos would then score four times in the middle stanza to take the lead and would hold on for an 8-6 triumph.
“I thought we got off to a pretty good start, but we had some tough breaks to fall behind early. We stay focused and we were able to rebound with a strong offensive effort.”
Although the Mintos were able to fire 55 shots on Stars netminder Joseph Young, their defensive play left a bit to be desired as head coach Ken Morrison watched his squad give up six goals on 27 shots.
“We’re not going to beat any of the good teams in our league if we’re giving up six goals a night,” Morrison said. “It looked like shinny out there at times and to give up that many goals was hard to take.”
Klassen, a first round pick by the Portland Winterhawks in the 2018 WHL Bantam Draft, led the way for the Mintos on offence as he scored two goals and had three assists.
“I felt like he was holding on to the puck a little bit too long against Moose Jaw as he was looking to make the pass instead of taking a shot on goal,” Morrison said.
“He took advantage of his chances tonight and he had another strong game for us.”
Andrew Schaab had a pair of goals in the win, while Dawson Springer and Cooper Chisholm both had two assists on the evening.
Cohner Saleski had a goal and an assist each for the Mintos, who improved their record to 16-14-1-0 and are tied with the Notre Dame Hounds for fifth place in the standings.
Jake Huska, Logan Cox and Chase Bertholet also scored for the hosts, who received a 21-save showing from Spencer Welke.
Shayde Peterson had two goals and an assist for the 9-18-2-0 Stars, who are in 10th place in the league table and are eight points back of the Beardy’s Blackhawks for the final playoff spot in the league.
Luke Fennig, Carson Dobson, Josh Groenwold and Eric Robbie also found the back of the net for the visitors, while Young turned aside 47 shots.
With the 2019 New Holland Canadian Junior Curling Championships coming to town, the Mintos will now be out of the Art Hauser Centre for the rest of January.
They will start off a five game road trip Sunday as they’ll visit the Tisdale Trojans.
