GAME OF THE WEEK RECAP (Flin Flon - Battlefords)

--PJ Musico didn't have his best game last night.  Still, he made a couple of fantastic stops.  Musico plays the puck like no other goalie I've seen in the SJHL in recent years.  Russell Abbott, from Notre Dame, is an active stick handler outside the crease and Melville's Zach Rakochy likes to play the puck too; but neither do nearly as much as Musico, who's also not afraid to come out almost to the blueline to make a play.  The last goalie I can remember that was this active was Chance Gieni, and Musico might even be more busy than Gieni when it comes to puck handling.

--Dillan McCombie has a future in this game.  Wow.  He doesn't turn 16 until December 29th.  He scored a nice goal last night and made lots happen whenever he was on the ice.  He's only 5'7", but plays a lot like 6'1" and if you didn't know any better, you'd think he was 19 years-old.

--The bad news for Flin Flon last night was that the Riley Storzuk-Doug McLeod-Jay Young line was their best.  That's supposed to be their checking line.

--Tyler Mah impressed me on defense.

--The Bomber powerplay is not good at all.  They are ranked 12th for a reason.  I'm no expert, but it looked like they were trying to do too much and looking for that perfect shot.

--Kyle Birch was sensational for the North Stars.  He made an amazing stop in the final seconds when the game was still 5-4.  Goaltending isn't an issue for this team.  Overall team defense might be, but in the several times I have seen the Stars play, I have felt both Birch and Graham Hildebrand have given the team a chance to win.

--For all the talk about Battlefords having issues keeping the puck out of the net, it's worth noting that after the big three of Colin Phaneuf, Keith Grondin, and Blake Tatchell that the next four leading point getters on the Stars are defensemen.  To get more balanced scoring, Phaneuf and Grondin played with Kyle Hall last night; while Tatchell was with a few different combinations; but mainly Tanner Schwab and (I think) Sam Fortier.

--Martin Smith says Tatchell can stick handle in a phone booth.  He's right.  You can't take the puck from this guy.

--Too bad about Brett Miller, who's scheduled to undergo season ending surgery next month.  After last year's playoffs, Miller (to me) was a darkhorse candidate to win the scoring title.  He's a big loss.

--I love the way Brody Luhning plays the game on the powerplay.  He's not afraid to shoot.  The Stars would never give him, but he'd immediately make that Flin Flon powerplay better!

--Someone should give Cade Kimery more props.  He's not flashy, won't get points, doesn't lay out big hits, but the kid gets the job that is asked of him done very efficiently.