North Stars eye the future

TRAVERSE CITY -- It started with a 10-2 run on its home ice and ended with a deciding Game 5 against Mahoning Valley in the NAHL playoffs.

"We went on a streak at home early on that was pretty awesome," Stars coach and general manager Anthony Palumbo said. "(And) we had some landmark wins at Mahoning Valley. We had always struggled there."

"The other thing I'm proud of is we started with our 24 man roster, we only made one move all year," Palumbo said. "I challenge you to find any other roster in our league that had that kind of stability this year. We did it with the kids we made a commitment to."

The season came to an end Sunday when Mahoning Valley secured a 2-1 win in the decisive Game 5 of the first round of the postseason. Palumbo said home ice advantage was a key for the Phantoms.

"I'm pretty proud of the kids," Palumbo said. "Mahoning probably had a little more playoff experience, and that was it. We had a chance to go really far in the playoffs."

Now, Palumbo and the North Stars will look to use this season as a building block for the future.

"The success helps in a couple of ways," Palumbo said. "The success we had got us into a position to do more, but (we fell short). It's disappointing, but it makes them more hungry to achieve greater goals.

"People look at Traverse City now as a team that will challenge every year. And kids will want to play here. It helps recruiting, for sure."

Recruiting could be key as the North Stars are set to lose five players who have reached the league's age limit, and could see some other key players depart from the roster.

"We have a real chance of losing our top three scorers," Palumbo said. "But, I have great confidence in our returning players coming back and being great scorers."

One of the players Palumbo is unsure if he will return is Kyle Bonis. After leading the Stars in goals (30), assists (27) and points (57) this year, he could be college bound next fall.

"I want Kyle to go to college, whether it's this year or next year," Palumbo said. "He is getting interest. It's one of the question marks that will get answered over the course of the summer."

The North Stars will hold a camp in May and tryouts in June and late July. They will also look to add depth during the NAHL draft in late May.

"I like our returning forwards, I like our returning defensemen, I like our returning goalies," Palumbo said. "There are people there that can replace any guys we lose. The key more than anything will be to bring in younger players who can support our returning guys."

"Should we have some key losses, we have a pretty good idea what's out there. We've balanced our ages so we're not getting totally depleted anymore."

Photos

Traverse City North Stars' goalie C.J. Motte (30) stops a shot by the Mahoning Valley Phantoms Thursday at Centre ICE. Record-Eagle