Former Battlefords North Stars' captain, Ryland McNinch hoists the ACAC championship trophy with the RDP Kings. (X/@ACAC_Sport)

By Martin Martinson

ACAC Champs

North Stars alums reflect on repeat championship with Red Deer Polytechnic

Apr 12, 2024 | 6:00 AM

The Red Deer Polytechnic men’s hockey team recently took home a second straight ACAC championship, with four former Battlefords North Stars playing an integral role in the team’s title defense.

Jaxon Steele, who played two seasons with the North Stars from 2019-20 to 2020-21, scored the clinching goal on the team’s championship run, in double-overtime to sweep Concordia in the league finals and defend their title as champs.

“I was carrying the puck up the ice and [former Flin Flon Bomber] Chase Haygarth was driving the middle, and then my other linemate, [former Melfort Mustang] Dawson Leroux was coming in a little bit later,” Steele recalled of the winning tally.

“I dished it over to [Leroux], he shot the puck off the goalie’s pad and when it came out to me; the puck kind of popped up into the air and I batted it in from there. It was super cool and a great job from both of my linemates doing their jobs on the three-on-two, and I’m the lucky one who got to put the puck in the back of the net.”

events

Council awards $10,000 in community grants

40m ago

Growing program

North West College's Meadow Lake campus excited to open new Luxe hair salon

46m ago

Heart Failure

North Battleford woman shows she's all heart for upcoming speaking engagement at Legislative Assembly

1h ago

From there… Steele said the rest is just a blur of jubilant celebration.

“Honestly, after I put it in, I kind of blacked out, I don’t really remember too much,” he said with a laugh. “I just remember chucking my gloves and celebrating with the boys which is the most fun thing to do in hockey, throw your gloves when you win a championship.”

Fellow North Stars’ alum and fifth-year RDP King, Regan Doig, who played one season in the Battlefords back in 2019, said while it’s always special to win a championship, there’s something made even sweeter doing so as a graduating player in his final year, just as he did as a 20-year-old with the North Stars to close out his junior hockey experience.

“This was my final year [of college hockey], and it’s probably my final year of hockey as well, so there’s a lot of emotions wrapped up in it, and it’s hard to describe,” Doig said, reflecting on the feeling.

“You don’t get to go out as a champion very often, and I’ve been lucky enough now to do so two times thinking my hockey career was going to be over, so I’m just excited, happy it all went really well, and there’s no better feeling than winning a championship.”

The Red Deer Polytechnic Kings, 2023-24 championship team. (Submitted photo/Ryland McNinch)

While the 2024 title win serves as a fairytale ending to the year, the Kings’ journey to repeating as ACAC champs wasn’t without overcoming adversity.

Entering the season returning all but three players from last year’s championship squad, the team had high hopes heading into the year, which hit a bit of a hiccup early, in the form of a 5-7 start to the campaign.

Sitting fifth overall in the conference standings at the Christmas break, Doig said the real turning point came in the form of a players’ meeting held by the team’s veterans, that got the group back on track.

“We got everyone together right after Christmas and kind of just kind of talked about how we’re a better team than we’re showing and we’ve got to prove it here in the second half,” Doig recalled.

It was a message well-received, as from there, the Kings rattled off a dominant 15-2 run the rest of the way, including the playoffs, with back-to-back series sweeps over the University of Alberta, Augustana, and Concordia University of Edmonton.

“We basically ran the table from there,” Doig said. “We went from fifth place at Christmas, to finishing second to get a bye [in the opening round], and once we got into the playoffs, we knew we could win it.”

Ryland McNinch, who was a rookie on last year’s championship team and now has back-to-back titles to open his collegiate hockey career, was amongst the Kings’ biggest breakouts this season, setting career-highs across the board to finish tied for third in team scoring with 25 points (11 goals, 14 assists) in 24 games, before adding another four points in five playoff games.

“I think the experience from last year, being a first-year guy and having some of those veterans to lead the way, really helped,” McNinch said. “Coming back this year, just having that experience we gained was huge.”

Playing alongside not only fellow North Stars alums Steele, Doig, and Kristian Lyon, but familiar linemates, Nolan Doell and Holden Knights from his AAA days with the Beardy’s Blackhawks, McNinch said it’s something special to win alongside good friends from throughout his hockey journey.

“I think having guys that I’ve played with before makes it even more special winning with them,” McNinch said. “I lived with Doell in [U18 AAA], and played with Knights there too, and then obviously we’ve got all the Battlefords guys, so I think it just makes it even more special winning with guys you’ve played with before and come up [through the ranks] with.”

—

Martin.Martinson@pattisonmedia.com

On X: @MartyMartyPxP1