Brim006

GFhockey was just mocking me like 4 days ago for saying the EDC #1 and #2 could lose to #7 or #8 any given night this season lol. #1 falls to #8 tonight. Looks like that bumps DL into 7th now though. They still play FSS twice so they will end 7-8 depending on how that goes.

Looks like DL had all 4 penalties in the 2nd and GFC has had 5 already in the 3rd. Wild

Holy crap DL scored! 2-1 with like 5 mins left.

DL journal sports writer does live updates on twitter.

1-1 halfway through the 3rd. DL with another powerplay. This might be their last chance to score again.

DL failed to score on the PP after doubling their shot total. GFC finally scores shortly after getting back to full strength.

I know Devils Lake has a webcam above the radio booth so probably somewhere online. I found it for a few games last season but ill have to find it again

No matter the outcome of this game, it just goes to show how wild the EDC tournament is going to be this year.

It was 4-4 going into the 3rd the last time these 2 played. Forsberg has their number apparently.

it sounds like williston had to reschedule a game due to so many kids out sick? Several other batches from other teams too from what I have been hearing. Crazy

As good as Minot has been, I'd say there's still a 50/50 chance they lose their first game of the season 1st round of state and the east has a 4-0 sweep. I'd like to see them win to make it a 3-1 east 2nd round and to go on to win the title...but top Minot teams have a history of choking for whatever reason.

Malls in general are a dying breed, so this isn't unique to Grand Forks. I would say busy malls doing well are more rare than they are common in 2025. With that said, it either needs major change fast, or needs to be converted to something else fast. Most of the failing malls around the country have closed down or converted, so the Columbia Mall situation has been unique in that sense. No more dragging on a giant empty building. Giant food hall and beer hall with open seating areas seems to be an easy option for the main areas and smaller empty stores. TILT in Bismarck has done well in one of the old pillar large stores.

IMO Spirit Lake isn't a good comparison to what this GF casino would be due to several reasons - Spirit Lake is on an island in the middle of the lake 8-10 miles away from DL city center (even completely different county). It's also off a low traffic rural highway, and is quite a bit smaller in general than this proposed casino in GF. Lastly, due to it's marina, campground and lake cabins, it's as much of a lake resort destination as it is Casino destination. BUT since I'm originally from DL I can mention a few things. 1. Tourist Traffic - Despite the smaller size of Spirit Lake Casino and decent distance from DL, it absolutely does bring more visitor traffic and money into DL. It doesn't directly provide more tax dollars, and likely doesn't even often provide more hotel stays (due to their own hotel, cabins and campground), but it certainly brings tourists into town that otherwise wouldn't be there. And it definately brings more boaters to other resorts, marinas and lake side bars+resturants on the Devils Lake side of the lake. So it's certainly an important piece of the Devils Lake tourist attraction and would be a major blow if it ever went away. Even for the serious and strictly casino floor only folk who stay out there, I'd argue the majority of them are getting to the area via HWY 2 and pass through DL possibly spending money there. 2. Employment- Between the hotel, indoor water park, restaurant, buffet, small concert venue, casino floor, security, maintenance, bar, gas station, marina, cabins, fishing guides, fish tournaments, holiday events...it's definitely a large employer for the smallish community. With that said, I've heard and seen the vast majority of the positions being tabbed for local tribe members first and foremost, and any non-tribe folks from DL or other local small towns are likely supplemental/secondary. This obviously wouldn't be as big of a factor in GF, as it would be in GF versus on a reservation. 3. Community Impact - Between the small concerts, additional restaurant options, indoor pool, casino floor, marina, holiday events and fishing tournaments; it absolutely gives the community of boost of entertainment options and larger well-organized events etc. In summary - the overall opinion of the Casino on the local community is positive and likely always has been overall positive. There are always drawbacks to larger venues in smaller communities....especially Casinos, but the benefits to the local communities far outweigh the drawbacks from what I have seen and experienced. Grand Forks would be dumb to create any unnecessary hurdles for this opportunity.

Wow that would be huge for Grand Forks! Unnerving hearing that Moorhead is potentially on track for one as well. I wonder if BOTH GF and FM getting large casinos and hotels is feasible or if it will be a one or the other type scenario. Unfortunately, if it is a one or the other scenario, naturally the GF good ole boys club will sabotage things for GF to ensure FM would get yet another boost leaving GF behind. Maybe they will work hard to sabotage it either way lol. If they both happen to get them, I think that would probably still be fine, as I think that would still be a great and much needed boost to the GF community.

Meh, agree to disagree. Although on-paper doesn't always tell the story, I have a hard time agreeing with this due to the fact there have already been 22 shutouts this season and 5 of the 20 starting goalies have .900 or better save percentages. And from what I have seen in person, it's been all low scoring games with tight defense and minimal high quality scoring chances. Both our experiences are anecdotal compared to the big picture, thus my reasoning for going to the stats again. Even a top tier decade type player like Mattern went pointless against the #8 team in the EDC this year (DL). GPR, WF and RR appear to have some tendy+defensive issues but outside of that it appears everything is pretty normal this year or actually even tighter strong defense than normal in most cases.

6 goals and 2 assists in 3 games. Is that good @gfhockey? That can't be correct

They just lost to RR, were tied with DL 4-4 halfway through the 3rd, and same with WF. Main point being...the EDC is tight and it appears GFC isn't unbeatable, so it wouldn't take a miracle for them to drop a game to a bottom-half team at EDC.

Agreed on all points and opinions on Mattern. Good analysis, and good point on the skills that set him apart maybe not being something he can lean on at the next level. He seems to be good enough to figure it out but it will be fun to follow him either way. But for now we will just have to enjoy watching him while he's still playing NDHS. I'd have to respectfully disagree with your comment on the talent being shallowest in 20 years though. When's the last time kids from Minot with the skill set of Morelli and Panasuk actually stuck around through their SR years? Minot has produced a ton of kids of that caliber but I don't recall any of them ever sticking through their SR year, so those 2 alone have brought a lot of skill and excitement to the WDA that has been lacking for a long time. In the past they left early which hurt the top end competiveness of the west. Bismarck has spread it's talent through 3 teams which still seems to be hurting BHS but even they are better than the past 2 seasons. And Mandan consistently showcasing some good talent and top western teams was never really a reality in the past. In the east, I'd say yes both GF teams are both down on average along with FSS, but I'd argue GPR, DL, WFS, and WF are all well above their average which has brought a more competitive and well-rounded EDC schedule for everyone this year. There are very few blow outs this season compared to essentially every other year in the past decade. #1 and #2 are having close games with #6 - #8 for the most part which is really rare. So between more top end talent sticking around, and the bulk of the top scorers across the board coming from Sophmores and Juniors, I'd say things are actually trending slightly up for NDHSH for the first time in a long time.

Surprising that J-town is playing a non-con game against DL the night before a big and important con game. DL and J-town will likely be pretty evenly matched. Both have been a bit of a surprise thus far. J-town sitting in 3rd in the WDA currently, and DL beating WF and having close games with GFC+RR and being in the mix with all the F and WF teams. I don't recall a year where both the EDC and WDA are so even top to bottom. In the EDC it appears even GFC is capable of losing to a #5-#8 team on any given night. And the WDA with the exception of Minot appears to be pretty open from #2 all the way through. It should make for some exciting con tourneys!

And even if UND came after him late, I would actually respect if the kid has the old school mentality that he'd stick with the school that believed in him before anyone else. His speed, hands and elusiveness reminds me a lot of Grant Johnson. Grant had 75 points as a JR with GFC and 85 as a SR. Mattern is already at 58 with 6 games to go plus another potential 6 more depending on EDC and state. With Mattern's 8 point game last night he's pushing nearly 4 points per game on average

So it just feels a bit like things are snowballing and worsening at a pretty fast rate for UND athletics. The only bright spot right now is the excitement around the new football coaching staff that seem to be bringing a lot of energy and excitement. If we don't start seeing rapid changes for other teams now as well during their off seasons, I think Chaves either isn't taking his role seriously, or is clearly out of touch. UND can't continue making changes 2-3 years too late because we're seeing the results from that shortfall currently. I hate the rotating door culture we're currently seeing in the NHL head coaches, but I also can't stand the decade long drag out of coaches getting 3-4 second chances that they dont deserve and are never able to course correct. It would be nice to find a happy medium between those 2 examples. If anything, get some excitement back with your fan base and cut the loosest fat and salvage any fan pride that's left out there after these embarrassing dry spells.

It's actually pretty remarkable when you step back and look at the full picture. Essentially every single UND program has been declining in unison. It might be tough to find a single other school in the MVFC, Summit or NCHC that has had worse overall athletic departments than UND has had across the board the past 2 seasons. To make matters even worse, look at UND's closest peers, ND?U, SDSU and USD across all of their team sports for a direct comparison and woof, it's nearly a 180 flip of all winning records compared to UND's losing records across the board (or currently on track for losing records). FYI - hockey is the ONLY team sport at UND that ended with a winning record or is currently holding a winning record this season. And if hockey is the best UND has then things are even worse than I realized. As for fan morale? Living in the Bismarck-Mandan area which I'd say could be considered a decent in-state neutral example, I'd venture to guess that of the "local" 4 schools gear, stickers and flags presence it is BY FAR in large NDSU appearances, followed by a large gap to 2nd place SDSU appearances, closely followed by UND and then rare USD appearances in a distant 4th.

I'd bet that was pretty epic. That rink was so electric

He's proving to be the real deal thus far. His size might be the only negative, but that certainly hasn't stopped many speedy forwards at the D1 level lately, so not really a major factor. I'd imagine he'll be playing in the USHL somewhere next year.

Mattern continues his ripper of a season. He might hit 50 goals at this rate, especially if they make state and get 3 bonus games. All as a junior to boot. Looks like the last time a 50 goal season happened was Bott's Aide in 2013-2014 and Mandan's Bair in 2004-2005 before that, so once a decade. Both with 52. As far as 50 goals in the EDC...no clue. Probably someone in the 90s? Also, when was the last time there was an active D1 commit playing in NDHSH? Braden Costello from RR when he was already committed to UND played in the 2016-2017 season. Was GFC Grant Johnson committed to Northern Mich during his Senior year or did that commitment come after high school? His SR season at GFC was also 2016-2017.