Tempers flared several times in Friday's Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League game in Nipawin between the Hawks and the Battlefords Friday. (Clark Stork/northeastNOW Staff)

By Clark Stork

HAWKS CAN'T SOLVE STARS

Stars shine over Hawks

Nov 20, 2021 | 10:47 AM

The Nipawin Hawks were unable to solve the Battlefords North Stars power play and for the second time in a week it cost the club two points.

The Stars scored three times with the man advantage on Friday at the Centennial Arena allowing the visitors a 5-2 win over the Hawks. Last Saturday Nipawin gave up four powerplay goals in a 4-1 loss.

Head Coach Doug Johnson said he was happy with the way his team played at even strength against the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League’s third place team, but the Hawks need to find ways to generate wins.

“There’s no more what ifs. Its results based right now and we’re not getting the results we need,” he said on the postgame show of Nipawin Rona Hawks hockey. “Yeah, we liked a lot of things, I thought we generated more five-on-five than they did, we outshot them. We were also on the penalty kill more than they were, but at the end of the day we have our chances we don’t bury, they get their chances and their chances are right in the net.”

The Battlefords opened the scoring in the first period, Zane Florence beat Chase Hamm making the game 1-0. Nipawin responded before the first was over as Brody Wilson notched his fifth goal of the year knotting the contest at 1-1.

Made in Saskatchewan

Find My Plus One: The Canadian App for Getting Out and Living Your Best Life

Mar 09, 2026

Riderville

Ask Not for Whom the Ed Hervey Tampering Window Opens!

Feb 02, 2026

Seniors Scene

New Year - New Habits

Feb 02, 2026

The Stars opened a 2-1 lead early in the second period off the stick of Dylan Esau. Penalty problems later in the frame posed the Hawks the most trouble. The team gave up goals to Holden Doell and Kevin-Thomas Walters during a double minor high sticking infraction which essentially gave the Stars a cushion the Hawks couldn’t rebound from. Johnson said the team needs to build off the mistakes that are happening far too often.

“Adversity is going to build some character but right now we’re not dealing with the adversity very well. Our third period, our penalty kill there, it’s excellent. We get our feet moving, we have good sticks we get on top of them. We’re not taking guys at the net in the second, we’re getting on the wrong side, we’re not fricking jumping, it’s been the same story for five games,” Johnson said.

Esau added another in the early portion of the third period making the game 5-1. Nipawin’s Jake Smith capped the scoring with his second of the season with just over 11 minutes to play.

Hamm suffered the loss in net giving up five goals on 26 shots. Harmon Laser-Hume came on in relief and stopped both shots he saw down the stretch. Michael Harroch backstopped the Stars with 33 saves.

The Hawks record dipped below .500 again as the team sits 9-10-1-1 through 21 games. The club is in a playoff spot, but no where near the normal for the team that’s been a perennial powerhouse for most of Johnson’s 12 years behind the bench.

“We demand better of our players. We expect better of our players as our fans do, our alumni do,” he said. “We have the best fans in the league, we have phenomenal alumni, we have to play for them and we’re not right now.”

The Hawks finish a busy week Saturday in Humboldt against the first place Broncos. The teams have yet to face each other this year. Johnson said he’s looking forward to the litmus test and seeing how his team competes.

“I’m looking forward to it, everyone says how good they are. I want our guys to experience that, a little David versus Goliath, maybe that’s what our team needs right now,” Johnson concluded.

Faceoff is 7:30 p.m. at the Elgar Petersen Arena.

–

clark.stork@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @ClarkStork