With five games completed in the Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey League regular season, Battlefords AAA Stars head coach Jean Fauchon has a good read on what his team needs to work on.
At the moment, the most pressing item is actually seeing a strong effort from his squad from the opening face-off until the final buzzer.
鈥淲e鈥檙e not competing for a full 60 minutes,鈥� Fauchon said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 something we鈥檝e been stressing here over the last couple of weeks, and even in practice it shows.
鈥淲e need to pick up the intensity out there. We鈥檙e showing flashes, but then we give up, and you can鈥檛 do that in this league or the other team will make you pay.鈥�
The Stars dropped to 1-3-0-1 for the season over the weekend after a pair of losses to the Moose Jaw Generals at the North Battleford Civic Centre.
The Generals prevailed in a 1-0 shootout affair Saturday and completed the weekend sweep with a 5-2 result Sunday.
Penalties played a key role in the results for the Stars as they were on the penalty kill on nine occasions in both games.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 a result of not working hard out there,鈥� Fauchon said. 鈥淲hen you let up and find yourself in a bad position, that鈥檚 when you take bad hooking or slashing penalties.
鈥淭hat comes from not taking that extra stride and we鈥檝e been telling them that over the last few weeks in practice.鈥�
One of the few positives from the weekend was the stellar play of the Stars鈥� netminders.
Lance Alm made 41 saves in 65 minutes of action Saturday while Joseph Young turned aside 45 shots Sunday.
鈥淲e鈥檝e been lucky to have both guys playing well, but we can鈥檛 allow as many shots as we have been,鈥� Fauchon said.
鈥淭here are days where the best goalies aren鈥檛 going to be on their game, and we have to be ready to help our netminders out. We haven鈥檛 done that yet.鈥�
The Stars had a chance to steal the win in overtime Saturday, but Luke Reid鈥檚 breakaway attempt was turned aside by a great glove save from Generals netminder Matt Lenz.
It took until the fifth round of the shootout for someone to find the net, as Portland Winterhawks prospect Reece Newkirk solved Alm to give the Generals the victory.
The visitors were able to take control of things much earlier a day later, as they scored two goals in the first period and outshot the Stars by a 21-3 margin.
Jeremy Bisson led the way with a goal and an assist, while Evan Thomas, Nolan Jones, Tanner Manz and Newkirk also scored for the Generals, who are second in the SMAAAHL standings with a 5-2-0-0 mark.
鈥淵ou鈥檙e always happy to get four points on the road during a weekend, but we still aren鈥檛 where we want to be yet,鈥� Generals head coach Ray Wareham said.
鈥淲e always seem like we want to force things. We鈥檙e going three or four bodies instead of trying to make the simple outlet pass. We were able to get away with that this weekend, but that won鈥檛 happen against the strong teams in this league.鈥�
Dylan Esau and Matthew Flodell both scored their first ever Midget AAA goals for the Stars in Sunday鈥檚 defeat.
Following a trip to Saskatoon Wednesday for a contest with the Blazers, the Stars will return to the Civic Centre this weekend for a pair of games with the Tisdale Trojans.
Both games will begin at 2 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.
The Stars will be without one of their key players this week, as Reid will be representing Saskatchewan at the Western Canada U16 Challenge Cup tournament in Calgary.
