Wilbur

They actually do provide for better vision. My senior year of high school I switched to one (to be like Karl, yes its true) and I couldn't believe how much more vision I had. They are also a lot lighter which was nice as well. The only drawback was getting a puck to the head. Man did my ears ring when I got one to the head. One time I got a minor concussion when I took a blast directly to the forehead. The NHL guys probably have better constructed ones than I had, but it doesn't surprise me that Karl switched to the regular style.

Williston has more talent, but with Bismarck's goaltending who knows what will happen. I'm predicting a Williston one goal win with Hillman keeping the game close or winning it for his team. Williston is a tough (emphasize tough) place to play, and with some of the skaters they have playing on that Olympic sheet of ice I would expect them to win. These two teams will probably be the 3 and 4 seeds from the West.

I have to retract my statement from earlier about Dittus. He only got two goals and two assists against Century last night. My bad... Devils Lake also beat Bismarck high last night 3-2 in Bismarck. I checked the box score and Devils Lake out shot Bismarck 32-12, and the only reason that Bismarck high stayed in the game was because of Hillman. Devils Lake will be a team to look out for in the future. With their coaching and their young players they can do some damage.

As a former goaltender, Redwing is right on as far as the concussion thing goes. All the guys at the college level can shoot the puck extremely well, and if a guy takes a slap shot from close enough in and catches the mask in an area that doesn't deflect the puck away (the goalie masks are nowadays designed not to stop the puck, but deflect it away) it is very plausable for Parise to get a concussion this way. PS: The goalie helmet that Karl wore isn't recommended for goaltenders for the reason I just mentioned.

To get the topic off of the GF vs. Fargo talk for a second I'll talk about the Minot-Century game. Minot 7 Century 0 This game was completely dominated by Minot, and without some great saves by Nick Dehne it could have easily been 12 or 13 goals for Minot. This win doesn't say a whole lot for Minot, but I was talking to one of the dads before the game and he mentioned that Minot was skating with a full lineup for the first time all season. Minot's first two lines can skate with anyone in the state, but outside of the West Region their third line will have trouble with teams. They are finally able to play six defensemen after one of them got off of a suspension, and another one came off of an injury. Remember the name Andy Dittus. He played in the elite league this season, and every time I've gotten the chance to watch him play he impresses me. I believe he had four goals and two assists tonight, and could of had more. I think he's got some junior hockey ahead of him somewhere. Century is a young team that will come along. If they ever get some offensive flow going and score a goal or two Dehne is a goalie that can make it stand up. Alright, go back to Grand Forks vs. Fargo.

Troll

Is any other Sioux fan upset with the performance of Lee in this tournament? I can't believe how many fricken mistakes he makes in the defensive zone. I keep telling myself that he's young and that he'll overcome this, but it is getting so old watching him skate behind the net, get hit, lose the puck, lose position, and they score..... PS: I can't believe that the reff called those penalties on the Oshie. And to make matters worse on the second one right after the whistle was blown he gets his head slammed into the boards....That official was inconsistent and really hurt the U.S. in the second period and gave the Fins momentum. That doesn't excuse the U.S. loss though, they didn't compete at all and deserved to lose to a team that they are better then. PPS: Where was Kessel? Where was Porter? Where was Skille? Where was Lee? Where was Bourque? The best line of the game for the U.S. was Paukovich, Gerbe, and Wheeler, and the rest of the guys just tried to do it all themselves. Kessel is an outstanding player, but he tried to do too much, and its upsetting to say that he had a better tournament last year than this year.... I vote for Lucia to coach the team next year. Too much underachieving the past two years....

Well, I better throw my hat into the mid season all state team. Goaltender: Hillman-Bismarch High Defensemen: Galt-South Swanson-West Fargo Forwards: P. Campbell-GPR T. Campbell-GPR Weisgarber-South Boy will Mr. Hockey be a tough decision this season. So many great players.

I can't believe the way that some of the upperclassmen played tonight. I thought the only two so called "leaders" that showed up were Stafford and Spirko. Where was Porter? Where was Prpich? Did Zajac play tonight? All of aforementioned are crucial for the success of the team this season, and to only have two of them seem like they cared is a blow at this point in the season. I can't blame the defensive effort though. Smaby, Finley, Alexander, Jones, and Marvin really played a great defensive game. The goal that Lamoureax gave up was because he was basically back on the goal line expecting a pass across (to a guy that was covered pretty well by a backchecking Rylan Kaip I believe). The defense played a solid game, and can't be blamed for the forwards not doing their jobs.

I plan on trying to listen to parts of this game as well, as it should be a dandy. I'm going to try to find out if Moorhead has radio coverage for their boys hockey, and if they do try and figure out if the station that covers them has a website. I'll let you know if I find anything.

Couple of scores from the Holiday tournys I've read about. Bismarck 7 Jamestown 0 Bismarck Century 2 St. Cloud Cathedral 3 OT (Century goaltender with 44 saves). Grafton Park River 9 Pembina Valley 2 Chisago Lakes 8 North 2 Holy Family Catholic 4 Shanley 2 The Grand Forks Herald has South beating Rochester Lourdes 8-2. That must be a misprint.

From reading the box scores from yesterday's games it seems like Kringstad for GPR had a pretty good game against Warroad making 44 saves. Also, Warroad had to rally late to tie the spoilers (scored with 22 seconds to go), so I consider that to be a very good showing for North Dakota hockey and GPR.

This is kind of a funny argument we are having. I mean we go ahead and bash western North Dakota and its relatively young hockey programs and relatively small numbers participation wise, then go into an all out defensive strategy with the same arguments that some don't see as acceptable for the west region schools when a Minnesotan bashes our high school hockey..... 1. Low participation 2. Younger programs 3. Popularity of sport I for one believe that North Dakota hockey is behind Minnesota hockey, but I'll retract my earlier statement and say that the best teams in North Dakota can play AND BEAT the best teams in Minnesota. PS: I'm not sure who argued my point earlier about Minnesota schools not recruiting, but if you really don't believe that they do I've got a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you.

So this is basically the same argument that certain east region North Dakota hockey fans make over and over again about the west region. WE KNOW!!!! The Vikings wear purple, the Packers are from Green Bay, and it snows in Minnesota in the winter time. WE KNOW THIS!!!!! I bet it would be a lot more even if Minnesota schools weren't allowed to recruit kids for hockey programs.

"Thats Lamoureux, from Lamoureax and Lamoureax as 12:05 of the first peiod." Did Tony Bina play goal for the alumni squad then? I'm not sure how safe it is to let the players shoot on the coach... I played an intramural game earlier this year against Jason Stadstad's team, and it was great seeing him out on the ice. He was in good spirits, and having a great time just playing the game!

Yeah...like that will happen. I'll give Fargo South props because from what I've seen they are the best team in the state. Beating Red River and Grafton on the road isn't easy, and they've got the goaltending this season to guide them through any rough streches of play. Its a long season, but I expect them to be playing in the state championship game.

Minot lost one of the better players in the state in Jordan Willert to Tri City of the USHL. He led the state in scoring last season, and probably would have led the state in scoring again (before anybody can spout off about this, he plays in the West Region, I know I know). He is a pretty big kid who is a great passer and can score goals. If he had stayed I think Minot would undoubtedly have won the West Region this season, but they are still a pretty good hockey team, with a new enthusiastic coaching staff.

Minot 3 Devils Lake 2 Minot fell behind 2-0 early in the second period, but completely dominated from that point on. I didn't hear the final shots for the game, but I'm guessing it was close to 40-15 or so. Devils Lake has a good young team, and under the direction of Al Henry, they can only get better as the season goes. PS: That Hillman nearly stole a game for BHS against Minot this past Tuesday. I wasn't at the game but I guess he was absolutely outstanding.

I've tried talking about the west on this message board, but with that comes constant belittering from posters who constantly feel the need to reiterate the fact that eastern hockey is better. The grass is green, the sun is warm, ice is cold, and yes, in North Dakota eastern hockey is better than western hockey....

Whether the play was offsides or not (I was on the far side, and if I remember it correctly it was pretty much a 2-0 becasue Swanson outraced the Central defender) you have to admit it was one helluva goal. West Fargo had a 5-3 for about 1:30 and didn't score because of Shane's goaltending, and some other chances that Shane stuffed. Central's second goal came on a play where the West Fargo goaltender made a mistake, and I really don't think he had to make any real difficult saves throughout the game. I agree with the assessment that penalties and depth hurt Central in this game, but I still think West Fargo is the better club.

West Fargo 3 Central 2 I was pleased that I decided to attend this game. West Fargo showed a lot of maturity in the game, and could have easily won the game by a couple more goals had they converted on the powerplay. Central flat out took too many penalties, and didn't have any real good scoring opportunites besides the first goal (the second goal was a fluke goal). Remember the name Tyler Swanson. The kid is a sophomore defenseman for West Fargo and scored the gamewinning goal on a breakaway where had the puck in his own end and outraced a central defender all the way down the ice and sniped the Central goaltender. It was one of the better hustle play goals I've ever seen, and the fact that it came from a Sophomore.... This game wasn't a fluke, I think West Fargo is a better hockey team.

Never say never. Watching Kringstad play the last four years has been really a treat. A very animated goaltender who makes some dumb saves look quite easy. The best thing he has going is his quickness, and the fact that he never gives up on a play. If GPR wins a state title this season it will be because of him.

I'm not sure what to think about that goal. I guess there are good arguments both ways as to why the goal should and shouldn't have counted, but as a Sioux fan I'll have to say that it was a goal. If Parise had come out of the net and hit Stoa (I think thats who it was) then Shepherd could have blown his whistle, but because Parise and Stoa didn't have contact, the goal call was correct. (Last year the goal would have been waved off though....) The Sioux didn't deserve to win tonight. Someone noted earlier that Stafford was nonexistant tonight, and that was exactly the case....He has got to step up and take the lead in games like this, and he didn't do that. This team is coming along though....its a work in process....

In the surprise of the night, while driving around Grand Forks tonight I tune into the GPR-Devils Lake game to find out that although the score is 6-2, the game was a lot closer than that (as commented on by both Grafton radio guys). Devils Lake has got a great coach, and has a young squad that will only get better with time. I'm not sure how the score ended, but the fact that it was only 4-2 going into the third period (at least thats how the Grafton radio guys made it seem) says a lot about how much Devils Lake has improved. Anybody have a final score for the Central-EGF game? Last I heard was 2-0 EGF after two.