CSHL grows as North Stars join loop

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 25/09/2020 (2087 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

As hockey leagues in the area await the green light from the province and Hockey Manitoba to begin planning their seasons in earnest, the Carillon Senior Hockey League has announced that they will add a fifth team this coming season as the Ile des Chenes North Stars have joined the fold.

Rounding out the league this year will be the Steinbach Huskies, Red River Wild, Grunthal Red Wings and the three-time defending champion Ste. Anne Aces.

The Aces were gunning for their fourth straight crown when play was halted last March. At the time, the Aces and the Grunthal Red Wings were tied at two games apiece in the best of seven championship series.

The North Stars were a force in the former Hanover Tache Hockey League, winning several championships along the way. But when the HTHL ceased operations the North Stars did not join the new start-up league at the time in 2005, the Carillon Senior Hockey League.

Instead, as the North Stars new general manager Gaetane Beauchemin explains, that is when the organization turned their focus to just icing a ‘AAA’ senior squad that would compete for and in the Allan Cup playdowns.

As many of you will recall, it was in 2003 that the North Stars won the Allan Cup Senior ‘AAA’ national championship, becoming the first Manitoba team to do so in decades.

Beauchemin was part of the executive and training staff during that time and has remained with the organization in the subsequent years. The North Stars did not ice a ‘AAA’ squad the last couple of years and instead Beauchemin was assisting with the Ste. Anne Aces.

CSHL president Stacey Neufeld says it is great to add another team. “They approached us, it was a surprise, we knew Springfield was interested at the time, but we are very pleased to add Ile des Chenes to the league.”

Although there was expressions of interest from Springfield, they will not be icing a team this year. “Hopefully next year we can have six teams,” Neufeld added.

Beauchemin says there was a group of players in Ile des Chenes that wanted to form the team, which will be coached by Jesse Pelletier, who has spent the few seasons behind the bench for the HTJHL’s IDC/Lorette Comets. And he says longtime former manager Roger St. Laurent is also helping to get the team off the ground.

It is hoped that the CSHL can begin their season sometime in November.