North Stars enter playoffs with a bang

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 10/02/2023 (867 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Ryan Butterfield couldn’t keep the smile off his face after the Ile des Chenes North Stars dismantled the Altona Maroons 13-3 in their final regular season game of the year.

While the result on the ice was nice, the head coach was more excited about what is to come.

“It’s the most fun time of the year,” Butterfield said, anticipating the start of playoffs later this week.

While usually the playoffs are what every team looks forward to the most in any given season, for the North Stars, the start of this season was special as well. The town made a return to senior hockey after years without a team, with COVID-19 postponing planned debuts in the now-defunct Carillon Senior Hockey League.

The final game of the regular season got so out of hand, the teams agreed to a running clock in the third period, but Butterfield said he was taking both positives and negatives from the result.

“It’s more about how we’re playing, than worrying about the final score in this game,” he said.

“We had some good things come of this, had some bad things. (It’s) stuff we need to figure out before game one.”

After picking up the victory against Altona, Ile des Chenes still didn’t know who they would be playing in the first round. They got their answer, and their opponent later that night.

The North Stars will be facing the Morden Bombers in a five-game quarterfinal series.

The two teams split their season series, with Ile des Chenes picking up a 3-2 shootout victory Nov. 20 at home, before the Bombers got their revenge in a 7-2 victory Dec. 8.

“We’ve got a pretty young nucleus and core, which is local,” Butterfield, who spent six seasons playing on the Springfield 98’s in the senior circuit between 2007 and 2014, said.

“I grew up playing senior in this area for years, it’s nice to see a senior team back in this town, thriving and supported by the local community.”

For senior hockey, playoffs are the true test for every team. While other commitments mean a team might not be bringing their top roster to any given regular season game, when it comes time for the playoffs every team comes loaded and ready to battle.

“(The playoffs) are a different animal than the regular season,” Butterfield said.

“You’re going to get team’s best every night, you’re going to get team’s full roster every night… We’re going to have to come with everything we’ve got.”

The North Stars will be opening up their playoff campaign in Morden Feb. 10, before returning for game two of their five-game series Feb. 14 in Ile des Chenes. If a game four is necessary, that will be on Feb. 18 in Ile des Chenes.

In other quarterfinal action, the Red River Wild and Ste Anne Aces will be facing off in their series, with the first game set for Feb. 11 in Ste Anne. Red River plays their home games in St Jean.