Wilbur

I believe it has to do with goal differential against Grafton. South beat them 2-1, and 6-2, for a differential of 5. Red River beat them 4-1, and plays them later this month. Red River needs to win (obviously) and do so by 3 goals to get the #1 seed. If they win by 2 goals, I have absolutely no idea what they'd do next....

I was at the game: The unsportsmanlike was not a weak call. I have no idea what Tollefson was doing. He shot it right at the goalie like three seconds after the whistle blew. That wasn't a bad call. Any official in the state would have made this call. I was also there for the end of the JV game, and didn't see anything about Minot players wanting to start a fight (at least on the ice....) The guys just shook hands with the reffs, and they went off the ice. I guess I didn't see anything.

Red River 5 Minot 4 First of all, what a great high school hockey game. Back and forth all night long, and the best player wins it with one second left for Red River (Mihulka). I am very happy to say I know the kids from Minot after their game tonight. They played toe to toe with one of the best teams in the state, and they could have won it if they had taken advantage of a couple more opportunities. I was impressed with the play of Rosendahl and Mihulka again for Red River. Rosendahl made some great saves, and of the ones he let in, none could be considered weak. Minot probably made a mistake in starting their backup goaltender which put them down 4-1 through two with a couple of questionable goals, but when they got their starter in the game they played pretty well. Mihulka is a great player. Red River can just jump on his back, and let him do his thing. The kid works his tail off, and deserves the goals he scores. I've gotta believe he'll be in the Mr. Hockey top three. Great hockey game.

It is quite amazing how Minot has changed their penalty minutes from last year. Last year I believe they were the most penalized team in the state, or very close to it. The new coaching staff in place simply will not accept stupid penalties. A lot of times in the past Minot got a lot of retaliation penalties, or talking to the reff penalties, and that simply hasn't happened this year. I remember a game earlier this year when a player from Minot was hit with a blatant leg trip against EGF, and I thought "here we go". Instead of going after the guy or going after the reff, the player looked at the coach and the coach motioned him over to the bench so nothing ended up happening....First time in a long time I'd seen something like that...

That clusters things up at the bottom of the east Region. Right now its: 5. Fargo North-12 Points 6. Shanley-12 Points 7. Central-10 Points Remaining Games Fargo North-Shanley, South Shanley-North (not sure who else) Central-Jamestown, Grafton, South I see North beating Shanley, but losing of course to South, and finishing with 14 points. Shanley will finish with 12 (unless they have Wahpeton), and Central will more than likely finish with 12. That means that Central would either play Fargo South or Red River in the first round of the EDC because of the lost tiebreaker to Shanley....wow. That would make for some great hockey on day #1...

I am from Minot as well sir, and my heart is absolutely broken every year since the streak started.... People can rightfully argue that during this streak Minot has almost been Boston Redsox like in the way they've lost games. I can't remember the last time that Minot got a bounce in the first round of the state tournament. A couple of years ago they had West Fargo beat, and West Fargo scores two goals from behind the net. I guess one of these years Minot may win in the first round, but I never get my hopes up....

Well, I was only about ten years old when it happened, but that was one of the better games that I've seen. Back then my dad worked for one of the North Dakota NBC affiliates, and he would always request to work the state hockey tournament broadcast (but never the basketball ones of course) and took me along with him. I started attending when I was five with my dad, and haven't missed a state tournament since. PS: Minot did outshoot Hazen 63-26, and playing against a hot goalie on the road....anything can happen.

Joe Vannet played on a pretty good Jamestown team. I remember that game against Fargo North that ND Pride is talking about. Jamestown was leading 4-2 late in the game, gave up two quick ones at the very end, and then lost in overtime (I believe trying to kill a powerplay). Joe had a great season that year, but his team was pretty good as well. Nice analysis ND Pride. In the early 90's Jamestown had some good teams. The year Minot won state they took that unbelievable Bismarck High team to double overtime in the semifinals that same tournament. They've dropped off as of late, but I remember the days when the Blue Jays were a tough draw in the tourny.

This is an excellent post. We can talk about Kringstad, Deichert, and Rosendahl all we want, but not even Marty Broduer could save a team like Wahpeton. Its a sad fact that a goalie on a poor team will never win Mr. Hockey. They could be the best goaltender in the state, yet their numbers wouldn't show it.

I have to give credit where credit is due....man, what a goaltending performance. I've talked to some people from Minot, and they said it was some great goaltending. Not a bad performance from Minot though. Any time you get 63 shots on goal your doing something pretty good.

Anybody know the Minot vs. Hazen score from last night?

Minot over Hazen 5-2 Mandan over Wahpeton 4-3 Red River over Jamestown Big (very big) Williston over Century 6-1 Devils Lake over Dickinson 3-1

There are always good hockey players in Grand Forks, so I don't think Central will be hurting. Outside of the second period last night I thought Central played pretty well. They don't have any Mr. Hockey's this season, and their goaltending has struggled, but I'd be willing to bet they find a way into the State Tournament.

I was impressed with Red River tonight. They don't really have any superstars, just a lot of hard working players. Although the Central goalies gave up some weak ones, they had a lot of opportunities, and I'd say that they deserved to score six goals with the way they played. Rosendahl made some nice saves for Red River, yet gave up some weak ones. If he plays well in the state tournament we'll be talking about back to back....

I should know this, but....What time is the Central-Red River game tonight? 7 or 7:30... Gotta get there early to get a good spot along the end boards.

Thanks for the work sir. 2-5 in the West Region is really anybody's race. Those teams all play each other down the stretch, so it will be interesting to see what happens. I'll say 1. Minot 2. Bismarck High 3. Williston 4. Devils Lake. 5. Hazen

Were you at the game? If so...recap?

Another tough loss for Central. I think that this loss probably prevents them from cracking the top 4 of the region. Right now, they have 4 region points, and their remaining regional schedule is: Red River-Probably a loss Wahpeton-4 Points @Fargo North-Could go either way @Jamestown-Anything can happen in Jamestown Grafton-Probably a loss @South-Probably a loss. So the most points I see them finishing with is like 12, which more than likely puts them in 6th place for the region tourny. Could make for an interesting EDC....

Anybody got any scores? Last I heard Red River was ahead 2-0 on North so they are well on their way to staying tied atop the region.

Good to hear that Spirko can play, although Radke and Finley will be missed. So the probably defensive pairings could be: Smaby-Alexander Lee-Chorney Jones-Marvin/Foyt I think that Marvin is more than capable of filling Finley's role on the team....but not his shoes...

Red River 5 North 2 South 8 Shanley 1 Central 3 West Fargo 2 Red River 3 Central 1 South 5 Grafton 1

I agree with that assessment. Williston has been playing pretty well as of late, and playing on the Olympic rink is a definate advantage. Williston will have problems with Minots first two lines on the Olympic ice, but if they match lines throughout the game they should be alright. I'll say: Williston 3 Minot 2

I've got UND finishing in 4th place behind Denver, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. I have them winning out at home, and playing decent on the road. If they play well down the stretch, 3rd place isn't out of the question.

Another big game on Thursday has Central and Red River playing one another. The last time these teams met it went down the wire, and either team could have won the game. It would be a tremendous boost for Central if they could not only beat their cross town rival, but also knock the east region regular season title away from them. PS: Very glad to see the game will be played at Purpur. I've been to Central-Red River games at the Ralph during the regular season, and I'm sure that some Grand Forks natives will agree that the atmosphere isn't quite the same.

Thanks for the recap