Ile des Chenes North Stars shooting high in SEMHL playoffs

The Ile des Chenes North Stars certainly made an impression heading into the South East Manitoba Hockey League playoffs.

With third place in the league standings up for grabs, they crushed the Red River Wild 11-1 on home ice, clinching the spot ahead of their former Carillon League rivals.

The Wild had played the night before, with the North Stars jumping all over their opposition early to put away any doubts on the result.

“What a performance,” head coach Mike Martens said.

“We’ve had some good games where we’ve played fairly solid, but we haven’t dominated a game like we did tonight.”

It’s not often in a 11-1 game a goalie can steal the show, but Matthew Radomsky might have done so. The Ile des Chenes goalie made one of the best saves you’ll ever see in a hockey rink, diving from right to left at a full stretch to get a glove on what looked like a sure goal and keep the game 2-0 mid-way through the first period.

The entire crowd could only gasp in shock at the save before beginning their applause, including most of the contingent of Red River fans.

“That save was unbelievable,” Martens said.

“When I saw the guy getting the puck in the open I thought, ‘oh boy, here we go.’ When the puck didn’t hit the mesh I’m going ‘how did he make that save,’ it was a phenomenal save.”

Ile des Chenes only trails Winkler and Springfield in the standings, having lost just a single time on the road this year in a shootout. The nine-team SEMHL plays a balanced schedule of home and away games against each other.

NAME said he likes where the North Stars are at heading into the playoffs, which start this weekend. Since joining the SEMHL in 2022, Ile des Chenes has yet to win a playoff series.

“We’re aiming higher, or at least I am,” Martens said when asked if the team would be satisfied by winning a quarterfinal series and bowing out in the semis.

“There are a lot of good teams out here, but I truly believe we’ve got a team that can really shock the league… If we’re going to play every game like we did tonight, any team is going to have a tough time.”

The final game of the SEMHL regular season was actually played in Ste Anne, as the North Stars hosted Notre Dame. The game meant nothing for Ile des Chenes, but the Islanders were hoping to leap from eighth to sixth, but fell 4-2.

Red River is playing Morden in the quarterfinals, with home games Feb. 15, Feb. 19 and Feb. 24 if needed. Ile des Chenes is matching up against Warren, with just one game (Feb. 14 in IDC) scheduled as of press time.