North Stars hold year-end banquet
The Battlefords North Stars honoured their eight graduating players at their year-end banquet on Monday night at the Civic Centre, handing out jerseys to each of those who won’t return.
The team also handed out two awards: one for leading scorer, which went to graduating captain Layne Young, and one for playoff MVP, which went to returning forward MacGregor Sinclair.
But the evening wasn’t about any hardware. Instead, it was about saying farewell to those that have given all they have to the program, some for three straight seasons. The eight graduating players are captain Layne Young, Keith Anderson, Chaseton Braid, Troy Gerein, Conor Jensen, Taryn Kotchorek, Garan Magnes, and Connor Manegre. Young, Gerein, Jensen, and Kotchorek played their entire three-year careers with the North Stars, while Manegre spent both of his two seasons here.
“Look at the win percentage of all these guys,” North Stars head coach Brandon Heck said after the dinner. “We talked about character and culture and desire. These guys live and breathe it. I know they’ve led the way and that it’s going to follow suit next year and carry on after that. You’re not going to be able to replace guys with one player but we’ve definitely got to address character and leadership after losing the eight guys.