Justen Maric stopping a shot against MJHL Red at the Showcase in Winnipeg. (Ryan Sawatzky/Website)

By Austin Mattes

SJHL/MJHL Showcase

North Stars get notice in Winnipeg

Jan 30, 2025 | 2:23 PM

It was two days of action and opportunity as the top players from the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL) and Manitoba Junior Hockey League (MJHL) were in Winnipeg on Tuesday, Jan. 28 and Wednesday, Jan. 29 for the SJHL/MJHL Showcase.

Jordan Grill, Nikita Ivashchenko, Linken Fisher, Justen Maric and Rylan Williams were all in attendance to represent the North Stars, as well as head coach, Martin Smith. Throughout the weekend the three SJHL teams went 2-2-2 against the MJHL teams and overall, the North Stars had a great showing and even got notice and some attention for their performances.

Smith talked about the showcase and mentioned that some of the team’s play brought interest from some colleges.

“The showcase was an opportunity for our players to get some added exposure to college and pro teams. I felt our players played well and did a great job representing our organization. I have had a couple of colleges reach out and would expect more communication in the coming days. The speed of all the games was incredible and really intense and physical. Players wanted to show whose league was better.” Smith said.

Even though the North Stars didn’t score points throughout the games, Grill, Williams and Fisher’s presence on the ice was clearly felt and noticed. Then for Maric, he also performed well, starting the second game against MJHL Team Red and stopping 26/31 shots and a save percentage of 0.838.

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The only downside to the two days was that unfortunately, North Stars leading scorer Ivashchenko was unable to play in the tournament due to an illness he got on the first day.

“It’s unfortunate about Nikita as he was really looking forward to the opportunity, but the good thing is he’s getting healthy and should be good to play against Humboldt this weekend.” Smith said.

The North Stars get back in action tomorrow night as they take on the Humboldt Broncos at the Access Communication Centre with puck drop at 7:30 p.m.

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Austin.mattes@pattisonmedia.com

On X: @AustinMattes