Ryan Gil

In a four-game audition last year, the Battlefords North Stars got a glimpse of what Ryan Gil could bring to the team.

The 5-foot-9, 211-pound winger from Huntington Beach, Ca, had two goals and two assists while with the North Stars in October, 2017, but for whatever reason the then 19-year-old spent the remainder of the campaign playing with a series of teams in Rochester, Topeka and Long Beach.

Now 20 years old, and in his final season of junior eligibility, Gil has returned to the Battlefords and through 33 games he has notched 13 goals and set up 15 others. Those numbers put him among the team leaders in all offensive categories.

His production in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League is consistent with what he has done in his numerous previous stops. As an 18-year-old with the Anaheim Jr. Ducks, Gil registered nine goals and 30 assists in 30 games and last spring in Long Beach, after averaging a point per game in 12 regular-season contests, he was at another level altogether as he had 21 points in just nine playoff tilts.

In addition to playing in numerous centres last year, Gil has also gone right across the United States to play the game as he spent his 17-year-old season with the Connecticut Wolf Pack, an elite hockey program in the northeast. In 64 games that year, with teams competing in three different leagues, Gil produced 10 goals and 24 assists.

As the North Stars prepare for the Christmas break Gil is riding a five-game point streak and with that has helped the Battlefords move to within striking distance of first place in the Global Ag Risk Solutions Division and top spot overall. His continued contributions will certainly make the North Stars a threat for both titles in the second half of the season.