Even though the Norman Northstars have had a rocky start to their 34th season, the team picked up their first win on Oct. 19 when they faced off against the Central Plains Capitals on the road.
The Northstars' offence really took the Capitals to task throughout those 60 minutes of action, tallying a grand total of five goals courtesy of Richard Ducharme, with a pair, as well as Keistin Saunders, Henry Muchikekwanape and Jamie Valentino.
The Capitals could only muster two goals in response, which provided the Northstars with a decisive 5−2 victory in the end.
Goaltender Braedin Melsted kept the Capitals at bay (for the most part) will an impressive catalogue of around 50 saves.
The Northstars couldn’t continue their winning ways during their next two match-ups against the Southwest Cougars and Parkland Rangers Oct. 20-21.
On Saturday, the Cougars scored four times in the opening 20 minutes, and the Northstars were simply never able to break that threshold, resulting in 6−3 loss.
While Sunday’s game started out competitive enough, the Rangers took over in the last 40 minutes of play and buried six unanswered goals to provide the Northstars with a crushing 8−2 defeat.
The Northstars are sitting at a 1−9 win-loss record and are still ranked dead last in the Manitoba Midget AAA Hockey League, one point behind the Interlake Lightning.
Their next home series in Thompson will take place Oct. 27−28 against the Winnipeg Thrashers.
*A previous version of this story reported that Richard Ducharme picked up three goals during Friday night's game. This is due to incorrect information being posted on the Manitoba Midget AAA Hockey League website. The Thompson Citizen apologizes for the error.
