OgieOgilthorpe

Seems crazy that towns like Williston and Mandan can't produce numbers for hockey right now but then towns like Grafton, Devils Lake and Bott never seem to have problems. (asterisk on GPR this season). Popularity of different sports in different towns I suppose! Good to hear about Mandan building another facility. I think with that and the addition of the growing population they will see their future numbers rise.

What's the deal with Williston's and Mandan's numbers? Are their youth hockey programs at least strong right now? I've also heard that Grafton and PR are in a feud so 4-5 PR kids are playing up in Langdon on their Jr. Gold team? Not to mention HB is hanging on by a thread...

Obviously some regions will have a bottle neck of only sending 1 team when they may have the top 3 teams in the state, but just spit balling here. I think some sort of new set up for playoff hockey is needed in ND right now to get some crowds back to the rink. I just picture huge crowds for the regional final games with this setup. And cutting the state tourney down from 11 games to 4 might bring in some bigger crowds for the finals instead of diluting the crowd between 11 games in 3 days. Honestly, I usually watch 1 or 2 of the opening round and maybe watch the championship on TV. I know I would go to that entire 4 game tourney.

With the attendance at the state tourney being down in recent years I'm game for changing things up and stirring the pot a little! I think people would come out to watch some of this action and it might create a little more excitement around HS hockey again. There would be quite a few blow outs with this set up, but I think it's a cool idea to intermingle the East and the West a little more. The same old match ups do get old. Sure, rivalries are great, but in a state with this few teams already as it is, no sense in keeping them all separated for the vast majority of the games. Another Idea---- It would be cool to have a bracketed 4 region tourney for North Dakota by cutting the state into 4 sections like they do for the summer hockey league for the Ryder Cup. Might be a little different than it was back in the day but we could tweak it to fit the new team alignment. NW could be Williston, Minot, Hazen Beluah and Bott NE could be DL, GFC, RR and Grafton SE could be WF, Davies, North and South SW could be High, Century, Mandan and Jamestown Winner of each regional would meet at the Raplh on the big stage for a 4 team showdown to see who places 1st-4th. I think that would be pretty fun! Regional championship games could be held at the home of the highest seeds.

That's really interesting and a really great idea. I can't believe they ever got rid of that. It would be a very rare occurrence for the West to get 4 spot.

It appears that Grant Johnson didn't play against Detroit Lakes this weekend. He had to serve a game suspension for throwing punches against Devils Lake last week. So between getting 0 points against Devils Lake and missing a game against the other DL, he really hurt his chances of beating Peluso's season point record of 99. Worse yet, they play Devils Lake again Tuesday...but I really doubt he will be left pointless once again this time around. He will have to average 4.75 pts/gm or better in his remaining 8 games (assuming they play 3 games at EDC and play 3 games at state) to pass Peluso. If Johnson doesn't do it, there is a strong chance the record will stand for another 20 years due to studly kids always leaving early for Juniors etc. It was a perfect scenario for a scorer like Johnson to stick around another year. I think it will take another small bodied and loved hometown kid from the West to take down his record. A kid like Harrison Aide for instance.

Yes I'd say he's right there with his brother. I think a lot of it has to do with being paired with his brother but he still has noticeably improved this year. Good to see, as I anticipate he will be the new tucker this team needs next season. Peski's quickness and still always shocks me because of his body type. I think he will be a stud once he gets a bigger role. I've got him at #3 and Shaw at #4.

Last night he was making plays to guys that were a step behind his thinking. I remember him dangling around on the high circle and dishing a beautiful wide open pass to pogo without even looking. Pogo didn't see it coming and was too far behind it and nothing came of it. Pogo wasn't too slow...he just wasn't anticipating it and was gliding into the zone. Little things like that are dragging down brocks production but it's still weird he isn't scoring on his own sometimes. I think jost could bring the skill to Brock's line that he's looking for. Maybe put them back together to give it another shot?

I'm with you on his point of view but don't let your biased view make you miss the point of how he shouldn't be doing that for everyone to see. Whether we agree with him or not, I think it's a dumb move to argue with people like that for everyone to see, especially over politics and especially when you're the captain.

Yeah that's NOT a good idea or a good look on a captain. Especially the captain of a team that's watched so closely. I've also seen/heard about other little things he's done as well. Like making fun of the new logo and swearing about it on twitter and also second handidly making fun of Sioux fans by comparing them to Haks flyer fan base. He said something along the lines of "fire the coach!!!!....20 game win streak....we are the best team ever!!!!...sounds fimilair" Overall it's not a huge deal but it's not the attitude you like to see from your captain. Maybe if he had the skill to make up for it, it would be okay...but we all know that's not the case. I give him a D grade as captain this season

He doesn't bring much other than his physical presence which is hit or miss but he still brings more than simo and Wilkie. I disagree that he gets knocked off the puck easier than anyone else. Simo, Wilkie, JJ and Hoff get knocked off much easier than him. He does get knocked off easier than he should based on his size. But when he's forechecking he's done a pretty decent job at bringing some pop when he wants to. At other times he looks lazy.

What does gage do on social media?

Extremely easy question---Wilkie and simo, hands down. Wilkie is a scorer who can't score and simo is a grinder who can't grind because he's 140 lbs.

So much for a Wilkie goal...

For the love of god bench wolanin

Gornall got one before Willkie. So I'll stick with saying simo will get one before him too.

Davies takes down BHS 3-0 just a day after losing to century.

Talk about one guy ruining an entire thread single handedly. What a cake eater

1. So much for a Wilkie goal. Repeat step 1

DL beats Minot 3-1. Looks like I was wrong on that one too

Wow good for the Bismarck teams

Not trying to be negative, but it's realistic. He's snake bit! After going this long without a goal, he has to have a mental block in his head telling him he can't score...no matter what. He's going to be over thinking every shot and opportunity which leads to furthering his slump. I'd like to see him score just as much as the next guy but I just don't see it happening. I bet Gornall scores before he does...and going out on a limb to bet Simo buries one before him even. Also, a rocket of a shot does him no good if he can never create space. He also seems to be so anxious about getting that monkey off his back that he gets sucked in too close to the goalie time after time missing juicy rebounds on the weak side. He's his own worst enemy right now. Sure he is playing harder which is great, but maybe he needs to play smarter if he wants to finally bury one.

Boeser absolutely needs to get back on the score sheet this weekend. If he doesn't, that pretty much solidifies that something isn't right with him. He's in a funk and I hope this is the turning point for him. If Jost is healthy, do you think we will see Jost and Boeser back on the same line? Maybe that's the boost Boeser needs to get out of his slump.

I still don't see him scoring anytime soon. Maybe he's realizing his new role and accepting it!

Last night might have been his first game of the year where he was held without a point.