1,933 wds

Game Summary

The Toronto North Stars came away with an important 2-1 season-opening win on Saturday night at the MTS Centre in Winnipeg, and after a difficult start last season, it's an important milestone for a team without their top scorer from last season and that's under a lot of pressure to perform well.

Veteran third-line centre Jared Hanson responded well to his new role, opening the scoring for the North Stars' season early in the first period on a scramble play in front, giving Toronto an early 1-0 lead.

Honcho paced the Stars to a strong first period, stopping all 11 shots he faced and giving the Stars the lead heading into the second frame.

In the second though, Sergey Kovalenko burned the North Stars with a beautiful goal right off the faceoff to make it 1-1.

From then on, it was all goaltending as Honcho and McBride each dominated in goal, forcing the game to overtime.

In the extra frame, the North Stars had several scoring opportunities, playing their best stretch of hockey in the entire game and showing off their speed with the 4 on 4 opportunity. But McBride stoned the Stars several times, sending the game to a shootout.

There, both goaltenders continued to stand tall, but it was one unlikely hero who emerged for the North Stars: known for his defensive play, tonight it was Jon Maxfield who was the lone shootout goal-scorer, giving Toronto a triumphant 2-1 shootout win on the road over a fiesty Jets team.

Now, we'll have your post-game grades!

Forwards:
A strong showing from this unit against a veteran defensive team and a good goaltender. It will be easier to judge this team when Abdalla returns to the top line, which will bump St. Louis off the first line and onto the second line.

The forwards never dominated, but held their own in two out of the three periods, plus overtime. They struggled to get anything going on the power play however, and in the second period were completely shutdown and overwhelmed by Winnipeg's defensive unit.

Final grade: B

Defensemen:
Despite giving up over 30 shots and forcing Honcho to play lights out, this unit was still very strong. They did a great job of containing Winnipeg's top players, holding Ron Mexico goalless on four shots on goal. There were no significant breakdowns, and a lot of the shots on Honcho were from the perimeter. They also did a great job of clearing traffic in front, and most importantly didn't turn the puck over.

It's their first time with a five-man unit and with Krever and Paille getting up there in age, there were questions coming into the season on how this team would perform defensively. But so far it looks like a strong unit, particularly with Onoprienko and Maxfield logging heavy minutes.

Final grade: A

Goaltending:
Vintage Mike Honcho, nothing else to say. The sixth-year goaltender was unbeatable on this night, his only mistake coming on a highlight-reel goal by Sergey Kovalenko, but there aren't many other goalies out there who stop that one. Other than that, Honcho was outstanding, stopping 33 of the 34 shots he faced and on top of that, turning aside all three shootout opportunities to get the win.

Final grade: A+

Individual grades:

Bryan Danielson:
Had a good opportunity to make his mark with the top-6, getting over 16 minutes of action, but it was a struggle for Danielson. He turned the puck over twice and was limited offensively with only one shot on goal. He was also on for Toronto's only goal against. He's young and he'll get plenty of other games to look at the tape and prove himself.

Grade: D+

Castiel Lee:
She gave Toronto exactly what they needed. A shut-down winger on the third line. Didn't figure in offensively but helped shut-down Winnipeg's offense.

Grade: B

Danielle Hogan:
Heavy playing time for Hogan with over 25 minutes of action, that's high for a forward, but perhaps what she can expect to receive each night as she grows into her role as an elite forward. She wasn't a dominant force offensively but did have four shots on goal to go along with four hits. More will be expected of her though.

Grade: C+

Ezekiel Turkkonen:
Not a good debut for the third-year forward, with a minus-one rating in his first game. He did have three shots on goal and a hit, but like the rest of the forwards in this game, more will be expected from this sniper.

Grade: C-

Hollywood Greg Dufour:
A strong showing from this third-line winger who has received a nice upgrade in minutes from last season. He fit in just about perfectly alongside his new linemates in Castiel Lee and Jared Hanson. Didn't figure in offensively but was strong defensively, and had a key blocked shot in the final minutes of the game to help send it to overtime. The question is, with two linemates who can produce offensively, can Dufour find his offensive game?

Grade: B

Jared Hanson:
Hanson embraced his role as the new shut-down third line centre for this team and was definitely Toronto's best forward. He scored the team's only goal and added five shots on goal with a hit, while at the same time helping shut down Winnipeg's top forwards. In 18 minutes he didn't record one turnover and was a major part of this win. He could be one of Toronto's most underrated players this season.

Grade: A

John Falkirk:
A quiet game for Falkirk. He made no mistakes, but also failed to generate much offense. Had four shots on goal, but struggled in the faceoff dot, going 8/30 in the circle, less than 33%. Falkirk likely misses Abdalla more than anyone else on the team, but it's no excuse, more is expected from Toronto's top-line centre.

Grade: C-

Martin St. Louis:
A solid two-way game as expected, St. Louis didn't look too much out of place on the top line. He provided some offense with three shots on goal, but most of his best opportunities were on missed shots. He needs to start connecting on those shots. Time will tell if he can develop some chemistry with Hogan and Falkirk over this stretch of games, but this is really St. Louis' chance to show that he can be an elite forward in this league, getting significant playing time alongside elite linemates.

Grade: B-

Sean Gallagher:
Gallagher got caught on the ice for Toronto's lone goal against, but other than that it was a solid first game for the fourth-year player, who played his first game at centre after moving from defense with the Platoon. In 20 minutes of action he had two shots, two hits, and a takeaway with no turnovers. He also went 7/12 on faceoffs, the best of any Toronto player tonight. His +/- hurts his grade though.

Grade: C+

Tyler Ragnarsson:
He was only on the ice for about eight minutes, but it was a very solid first step for the raw first-year forward straight out of the NWJHL. he had his first SHL point on the goal from Hanson, and finished the night with a +1 rating with one shot on goal. Most importantly, he didn't have any turnovers and looked comfortable with and without the puck. If he continues to play like this, he'll get a shot with the top-6 before long.

Grade: A

Zac Goonathan:
It was a successful first game back with the North Stars for former team draft pick and captain Zac Goonathan. He finished the night with a plus-one rating, two hits, and two shots on goal in 12 minutes of action. He's one of the better fourth-line players in the league and should prove to be an underrated off-season acquisition for Krever's North Stars.

Grade: B+

JJ Krever:
People doubt his abilities as he enters his seventh season in the league, but tonight he proved that he can still be an elite defenseman in this league. He was arguably Toronto's best d-man, with one assist, one shot on goal, three hits, and a blocked shot in 24 minutes of action. He also didn't turn the puck over. While he has undoubtedly taken a back seat to Onoprienko and Maxfield, Krever offers Toronto a solid second-line option, possibly one of the better options in the league.

Grade: A-

Jeff Hockridge:
Hockridge will be relied upon as a major part of Toronto's defense this season, and he wasn't bad tonight. He was on for the goal against and finished with a minus-one rating in over 21 minutes of action, but he had a pair of takeaways compared to no giveaways.

Grade: B-

Jon Maxfield:
For a defenseman who played around 30 minutes, Jon Maxfield was awfully quiet. That's usually a good thing for a defenseman, and in this case that holds true. Maxfield had a takeaway, a shot on goal, a hit, and the shootout winner. He'll be relied upon by Toronto to play nearly 30 minutes a game and is expected to lead the league in icetime. So far he's shown that he's capable of being the elite defenseman Toronto can rely on to eat up minutes.

Grade: A-

Kevin Paille:
Finished with a hit and a plus-one rating in 20 minutes of action. Wasn't overly influential but did exactly what the North Stars brought him in to do. Strong veteran presence and it showed in this one. Good first game.

Grade: B+

Vyacheslav Onoprienko:
See: Maxfield. Had a very strong game on the top pairing and with close to 30 minutes of action. Any time you're on the ice half the game and you don't get scored on, that means your team isn't likely giving up many goals. That's Toronto's hopes with giving Onoprienko and Maxfield the role of shutdown defensive pairing. No turnovers from him, one shot on goal, three hits, and a blocked shot. Onoprienko isn't expected to figure in offensively, but defensively he's as steady as they come.

Grade: B+

Mike Honcho
Not much to say here because it's the same as the team goaltending grade. Honcho picked up right where he left off last season. Another dominant performance by possibly the best goaltender the SHL has ever seen. Goaltending, in the span of half a season, has gone from being a major question mark, to Toronto's one definite strength. No matter what Toronto does offensively or defensively, Honcho will be the one known.

It's what those around him can do that will determine how far this team will go. Can the forwards score enough goals, and can the defensemen protect the crease so that he's not facing 40 shots a night? So far they're not off to a bad start, although they'd like to get him a little more goal support and maybe a few less shots on goal against.

Grade: A+

TEAM OVERALL GRADE:

Overall, it was an excellent start to the season for the visiting North Stars. Most impressively, they didn't take any penalties, and the entire defensive core didn't turn the puck over once. In fact, the only two giveaways in the entire game by Toronto were by Bryan Danielson.

Toronto also had the upper hand physically, out-hitting their opponent 23-19. In all aspects it was a very solid game for the North Stars and they were slightly better in all categories, other than in shots on goal and faceoffs.

Hanson and Falkirk were a combined 14/47 on faceoffs, for a dreadful 30%. When that improves, they'll get more shots on goal without a doubt.

GRADE: B+

Wow. nothing else i can say...

What was my grade in the stands?