North Stars end record setting regular season

The Soo North Stars have once again rewritten the Great North Midget League record books.

The North Stars ended the regular season over the weekend in Kapuskasing with a 5-1 victory on Saturday night before scoring a 6-1 win on Sunday afternoon.

Last season, the North Stars dominated the GNML to post several league records. This season, the North Stars proved to be even more dominate in the regular season.

On Saturday, the North Stars, who finish the season with a 26 game winning streak, jumped out to a 3-0 first period lead and cruised to the 5-1 win.

Nick Minardi led the North Stars with two goals while Jake McClelland added a goal and an assist. Paul Dupont and Zac McNally scored once each while Ryan Dube recorded the win in goal.

On Sunday, the North Stars broke open a scoreless game in the second period with five goals before adding another in the third.

Tyler Gendron scored three times and added an assist while Dupont and Michael Quesnele each scored once and setup another. McNally also scored and Travis O'Brien picked up the win in net.

The North Stars will begin a best-of-five quarterfinal series against the eighth place Sudbury Nickel Capitals next weekend at the John Rhodes Community Centre. Game one is scheduled for Saturday at 7 p.m. and game two on Sunday at 10 a.m.

With the two wins, the North Stars finish the regular season with 33 wins, a loss, a tie and one overtime loss for 68 points and seal the league's regular season championship over the New Liskeard Cubs by 16 points.

The 33 wins eclipsed the GNML's old record of 32 wins in a season held by last year's North Stars, the 1992-93 Soo Legion squad and the 1996-97 New Liskeard Cubs. With 68 points, the North Stars beat the old record of 66 points in a season, again set by last year's edition of the North Stars.

Another record for the North Stars is the mark for fewest goals allowed in a season. Last year, the North Stars allowed 87 goals to beat the 92-93 Legion mark of 96 goals. This year, the North Stars destroyed their own record by allowing a minuscule 65 goals in 36 games.

The goaltending duo of O'Brien and Dube set the mark for the best combined goals against average in a season with a 1.80 GAA. O'Brien teamed with Michael Maulucci last season to set the record with a 2.42 GAA.

On an individual level, O'Brien beat Willie Ciccone's record for best GAA in a season by posting a 1.58 GAA. Ciccone set the mark at 1.82 with the 2000-01 Timmins Majors.

In 19 games, O'Brien recorded five shutouts while Dube finished with a 2.04 GAA to go with two shutouts in 17 appearances.

Gendron, with 33 goals and 45 assists for 78 points, secured the league scoring title by 10 points over Dupont, who finished with 30 goals and 38 assists for 68 points. Jason Bird finished sixth in the league scoring race with 17 goals and 34 assists for 51 points.

*** NORTH STARS VS. SUDBURY:

Game 1 - Sat. Feb. 19 - Sudbury vs. Soo - 7 p.m. Game 2 - Sun. Feb. 20 - Sudbury vs. Soo - 10 a.m. Game 3 - Wed. Feb. 23 - Soo vs. Sudbury - 7:30 p.m. * Game 4 - Thurs. Feb. 24 - Soo vs. Sudbury - 7:30 p.m. * Game 5 - Fri. Feb. 25 - Sudbury vs. Soo - 7:30 p.m.

(* if necessary)

*** PLAYOFF MATCHUPS:

1. Soo North Stars vs. 8. Sudbury 2. New Liskeard vs. 7. Timmins 3. Kapuskasing vs. 6. Kirkland Lake 4. Valley East vs. 5. North Bay

*** FINAL REGULAR SEASON STANDINGS:

(wins-losses-ties-overtime losses-points)

Soo North Stars 33-1-1-1-68 New Liskeard 23-7-3-3-52 Kapuskasing 19-13-2-2-42 Valley East 17-14-2-3-39 North Bay 14-15-5-2-35 Kirkland Lake 11-18-6-1-29 Timmins 14-22-0-0-28 Sudbury 11-24-1-0-23 * Rayside Balfour 9-25-2-0-20

(* did not qualify for playoffs)