Wilbur

Once again, Minot breaks my heart....but then I'd been saying they would break my heart all week long, so I guess I expected it.... Anybody want to give me a quick recap of the game please?? Thank you.

Trust me, Minot will play a very bad hockey game and lose to Central. I'll be cheering for Central against GPR though....

I wish I could jump on the Minot bandwagon, but they've broken my heart too many times. I expect Central to SHUT OUT Minot, probably by a score of like 2 or 3 to nothing..... Might as well throw out my day one predictions: Central over Minot GPR over Williston Red River over Bismarck (probably without Aide) South over Century And for the next 12 months all I'll here is that no western teams should be allowed in the state tournament.

Okay, I can't remember who was bashing Dehne for giving up more goals than Olson, but Dehne has started pretty much every game for Century, where Olson has for the most part split time on a much better team. Century wouldn't be at the state tournament if it wasn't for how well he played against HB in the play in game. Century probably won't do a whole lot at the state tournament, but in the games I've seen him play he's been solid.

The best goalies I've seen in the state this year include: Tyler Stahl-Minot Ben Mclean-South Tony Kringstad-Grafton Nick Dehne-Century Kelvin Shane-Central Overall I'd have to say that the goaltending has been pretty solid around the state this season, every team had pretty consistent goaltending.

Without Aide Bismarck would have to play extremely well to beat Red River. Part of me thinks that he'll be suited up though with the importance of the game.

I believe it was an MCL injury. He tore it before the season began, and I guess it has kind of been nagging him all season. Towards the end of Bismarck's game against Hazen he was trying to skate around a kid and the kid stuck his leg out and their legs hit. When I saw it happen I thought...OUCH!!! He kind of limped to the bench then, and didn't get another shift. I think Bismarck did the right thing sitting him against Minot, it was a pretty physical game, and they'll definately need him against Red River.

I know that North-South is the way they currently do Pee Wee A and Bantam A hockey divisions, and as a former player I loved getting the chance to play against the Grand Forks teams. I doubt that this would happen in the high schools though because of the amount of travel that is required for the North-South format. Just for fun, the North South Format this year would have probably been: North 1. Red River 2. Minot 3. GPR 4. Central South 1. Fargo South 2. Bismarck 3. Fargo North 4. Bismarck Century All of these teams made state this year except North.

Not Laducer, anybody but that overweight biased idiot.

I personally believe that Minot is headed for another first round disaster. I'd love to see them win, but they never play well on Thursday in the state tournament... I'll predict a Fargo South-GPR championship as well, with Fargo South able to hold onto the lead this year. One positive I see is that all the first round games should be pretty competitive. Williston should give Grafton a push, and Red River-Bismarck should be a great game as well. The only game I see possibly getting out of hand would be Century vs. South. Century has a good goaltender, but South is just a great hockey team that will be playing on Saturday night.

Thanks for the info Fushie. I did see Mike walking around the tournament a couple of times, talking with the coaches and what not. If they truely want the best officials at the state tournament that means that Laducer will not be there!

Siouxhockey78 said he isn't even from Fargo.... It doesn't matter if Laducer is a nice guy or not, he's a horrible official. I wasn't at the game, so I can't be totally sure, but my friends who were there (one from Minot, two from Minnesota, who really didn't give a $hit who won the game) said it was completely obvious that the officiating was biased. The first question I asked my friend from Minot right after they went off on the officiating was: "Did Laducer reff the game". And he responded with....."Ya think!! Of course he did." Laducer shouldn't get to reff in the state tournament, hands down.

This upcoming weekend is the one I look forward to every year. Although my hometown team of Minot always finds a way to lose, I just love watching high school hockey, and the atmosphere that it brings. Predictions?? Interesting Facts??? Lets talk puck!

A lot for Minot depends on a couple of key players: Willert, Dittus, and Kelly. If those kids stay Minot should be pretty good. But I'm sure that those three could play juniors next year if they chose to...

Minot has lost a handful of players to the junior leagues. Namely Quinn Fylling, Brian Haaland (Nebraska-Omaha), Eric Helstedt (Uconn), Ben Keup (LSSU), and a couple of other kids that just left because of the coaching.

I had a couple of friends at the game, and they said exactly the same things that some people on the board have been referring too. Laducer is a HORRIBLE official, not bad, not really bad, HORRIBLE. He gave me a penalty one time for asking him why a face off ended up in our zone instead of neutral ice. I know for a fact that he is the one official that every coach worries about when he is assigned to do one of their games. Its a sad situation when the Red River parents complain to him about the officiating in a game which leads to him having a possible outcome in the next game they play...

Ditto. One of my coaches in Minot played for Deano in HS, and said it was the best experience of his life. I bet Minot would have something like.....7

Scores from the West: Williston 5 Mandan 3 Century 4 Hazen/Beulah 3 OT Minot 5 Bismarck 1 That sets up next weeks state tounry: Minot vs. Central Grafton vs. Williston Bismarck vs. Red River South vs. Bismarck Century It was a pretty good day of hockey at the West Region tourny. The Minot-Bismarck game was a whole lot closer than the 5-1 score. Minot only had a 2-1 lead after two periods. The atmosphere throughout the entire day was outstanding. I couldn't believe the crowd for the Century/HB game, it seemed louder than the Ralph at times....

Scores from the West Region: Minot 4 Mandan 2 Bismarck 5 Hazen 2 (this was the score with two minutes left when I left) After seeing Charlie Bair play today my vote (although it doesn't count ) for Mr. Hockey would have to go to Jake Marto. Minot played probably their worst game of the season (and they were in the box the whole game) and the kid seemed non existant. He is pretty good with the puck, but he does Cherry Pick a lot (A LOT) which is probably a reason he scores so many goals. Gotta give credit to Mandan's goaltender though, the kid played well. Bismarck had a great second period. They were only ahead 1-0 after the first, but picked it up in the second and buried the chances they had for a 4-1 lead after two. If Bismarck gets the goaltending they got tonight at the state tournament they could be tough. Tomorrow's predictions: Red River over North Central over West Fargo South over Grafton Williston over Mandan Hazen over Century Minot over Bismarck PS: What was with the no goal call in the GPR-RR game? A buddy of mine at the game said something about it being pretty controversial?

Well, after day one of the regional tournaments, there is really only one upset to report and that would be Hazen over Williston at the west regional. This really doesn't suprise me, due to the fact that Hazen always has an excellent fan base at regional tournaments that just gives them a huge boost, especially when the tourny is held in Minot like this year. I was at the last three games of the east regional today and things pretty much went according to plan. I thought that Fargo North played pretty well, and they could very well give the GPR-RR loser some trouble in a play in game on Saturday. We should have some excellent semifinal games tomorrow though!! My predictions for tomorrow: Minot over Mandan Hazen over Bismarck (Hazen swept the season series from Bismarck) South over Central Red River over GPR Looking forward to some great high school hockey action!!!!

Hmmm....the West Region....ohh boy Quarters: Minot over Dickinson Mandan over Century (these teams split) Williston over Hazen Bismarck over Devils Lake Cons. Bracket Hazen over Devils lake (this is a toss up) Century over Dickinson Champ. Bracket Minot over Mandan Williston over B. High (toss up, this will be one heck of a hockey game) Play in games: B. High over Century Mandan over Hazen Championship: Minot over Williston 1. Minot 2. Williston 3. B. High 4. Mandan Thats my guess, but I wouldn't be suprised at all if the tournament ended up completely different.

Here's how I believe it will go: Quarters: South over Shanley Central over North Red River over West Fargo GPR over Jamestown Consolation Semi's: North over Shanley Jamestown over West Fargo Championship Sem's South over Central Red River over GPR Qualifying games: Central over Jamestown GPR over Fargo North Championship game: South over Red River Which gives us: 1. South 2. Red River 3. Grafton 4. Central It would be cool to see an upset or two though...

The regional tournament format will stay the same as it has in the past. No two teams will play each other twice. The losers of the semi's will play the winners of the consolation in cross bracket games.

A friend of mine talked a guy with a suite into giving him his tickets for the entire East Region Tourny!!! I'll be able to catch pretty much all the action from day #1 accept for the first game, which probably won't be that competitive. Anybody else going? Friday, I'm heading home to see the conclusion of the West Region Tourny, and hopefully watch Minot stay undefeated...