specifics

I don't know very much about Dean Wilson but there are a few things I do know. The grief coach Wilson took for Souths thrashing of Wahpeton early in the year probably played a part in his actions against Jamestown. In Tuesdays game against Jamestown Souths first line played one shift in the third period. South hardly put any pressure on Jamestown in the 3rd and I'm going to assume that was intentional. South scored a total of zero goals in the third period. Good defense? Maybe. Mercy? More likely.

Never did I compare a 9-0 thumping to a 4-3 thriller. Both games gave Red River more momentum. No one ever said they embarrassed South. Settle down.

It looks as though I was wrong. Red River may be the favorite to win the State title again this year. After two impressive scores (although the 9-0 win over North was to be expected) I think they carry all momentum heading into the EDC tournement. From the sound of it Red River simply out worked both South and North. A bad week for Fargo hockey to say the least. I doubt Central is looking forward to stepping in front of a RED-hot Red River. The top scorers in the EDC are coming from... (point per game or better) South-7 Red River-2 Grafton-5 North-1 Wahpeton-2 West Fargo-3 On a slightly different note, congratulations to Moorhead's Jordy Christian. He recently verbally commited to play hockey for St. Cloud State.

Soohockey15, it's obvious you are a high school hockey player and you find it easy to criticize two of the best players in the state. Please, inform us of your accomplishments that make it so convenient for you to bash them. I happen to know from the state scoring leader stats last year that unless your name is Marc Mihulka, you did not outscore Klein or Klenow. I don't see how any one with an unbiased opinion can say that these two have done nothing to constitute being "tops in the state". Year after year Klein and Klenow make the ND select team and are in the top four for players on that team. If those select teams are in fact composed of the best players in the state (they generally are) and Klein and Klenow are consistently selected as one of the best on the team to represent North Dakota at the National Festivals, how can you not recognize them as some of the best? If your only measurement for success for these players is points, you have a lot to learn about the sport. You can be a great hockey player without leading the league in points. No one can deny that these kids are players, that make a difference in any game they are in. In any case, I don't think a bunch of negative statements from some unknown from Grand Forks is going to discourage either of these players.

You are right on, Rosendahl is playing great with a great team. Norths goalie, Welk, his numbers speak for themselves, with goals against just under 5. No way he should be on the list though. With Weisgarber, South; Paul Campbell, GPR; Thomas Campbell, GPR; you could have one hell of a line. Klenow's, North; numbers were good last year and showed great potential, but not being a team player is why he shouldn't be on this list. Coach of the year is a toss up, I am leaning towards Wilson, South; personally.

I can't say I know of any injuries for either team. I do know that if Red River wants to win this game they have to get their rebounds. Go to the net hard after every shot and the odds they win this game increases greatly. Even though South is superb on the PK, they need to stay out of the box. Likewise for Red River, South is too good 5 on 4. If Red River lets South play a man up it will kill any momentum Red River has. Does Red River still put Mihulka in the slot for a one timer on the PP? If so, South is going to have to pick up on that fast or they might find themselves down a goal early. I'm going to give South the edge on this one. 3-1.

Goalie stats, forward stats, defenseman stats, etc. are only an arrow in the direction of how someone plays. It's the team that gets players 70 points or a goalie a 1.87 GAA. Nothing against any of those goalies that are on top ranked teams but, put them on Wahpeton's roster or Devil's Lake even. I doubt we would be singing such praises for them if they werent on a top 2-3 team. Obviously these are extreme case examples. Let's say Tom Campell plays for North. Great player, but I doubt he hits 25 point this early in the season with that team. At this point in time I can't say I've seen or heard of Diechert or Rosendahl winning a game for their team that they should not have. Maybe I'm wrong. But Hillman has kept his team in games that Bismarck should never have been in.

My mistake. I forgot about Michael Hillman from Bismarck. He stood on his head against South and from what I've heard he's done that a few times this season. Soohockey15 I'm not from Grafton. The only mistake on that list was Kringstad. You can't honestly believe that either of the Campells are not good enough to be on that list. Peterson does not get enough credit as it is. He is one of the elite defenders in the state and there is no denying that. Someone has to be from Grafton to think 3 of the best players in the state can come from there and not Grand Forks? Come on.

In all do respect how do you leave Thomas Campell off of this list? Or defenseman Andy Peterson also from Grafton. It's about time everyone from their respective cities quit these games of putting their cities star in the limelight on a high school message board when it's doubtful they deserve it. An unbiased opinion? Alright here... G- Tony Kringstad D- Andy Peterson D- Erick Galt F-Paul Weisgarber F-T. Campell F-P. Campell Coach- Ross Richards

Shanley did not play Shattuck's number one squad. That squad is known as the Prep Team, and may not be as strong as they have been in recent years but still have a small handful of division one recruits.

Yeah, I didn't see their names on the roster for the Olympics in Turin either...

Unlike USHL teams, NAHL teams rarely draft players that are still in high school. That would be the reason why they were not drafted last year. Odds are they will be drafted this year unless they sign a tender before the draft to secure their rights to the team of their choice. The NAHL is a league of older more mature players. The USHL is full of younger, sometimes smaller less developed (age, not skill) players. The USHL wants you to believe that it is the premier Jr. A league in the nation but time will tell how true that is.** **Kai Kantola who was cut from the Chicago Steel of the USHL was the only NAHL player selected to play in the Viking Cup. Was Kai not good enough to play for the Steel, or was it politics. Knowing that Kai is actually projected to go in the first or second round of the NHL draft I'm going to have to go with politics. Kai plays for the Jets and is a real treat to watch.

I'm sure this has something to do with the number of games played but as of now Shanley is rated ahead of North (Shanley lost to North) and North is rated ahead of Central (North lost to Central). Whatever the case it seems as though the 4th through 7th spots are a toss up right now. It's going to be a much easier road once you get into the EDC tournement if you are 4 or 5, so that will be crucial in getting a spot into the state tourney. I haven't heard as much as I usually do about Galt, is he in Weisgarbers shadow right now or what? If anything he should be standing at Weisgarbers side because in my mind its not just Souths offense thats keeping them at number one.

Junior24 I can certainly agree with on some that. Mihulka does a lot of the work that goes unnoticed. He is a real grinder and his ability to go out and play with recklass abandon makes him a prize for any team he plays on. Fair or not, Weisgarber and the Campbell's are going to look better than Mihulka simply because they have another great player to compliment their play. Maybe Marc deserves Mr. Hockey, but it's going to be tough for him to win with Weisgarber and the Cambpell's producing the points that they are. If it's any consolation to Marc, it's not the points that get you to the next level. It's the little things, that he does very well, like backchecking, finishing your check, winning battles alone the boards, chipping the puck out of the zone, and dumping the puck cross corner. If I could say one thing to Marc Mihulka right now it would be, Keep up the good work.

No one in here has a clue who is going to be Mr. Hockey? If I said it was going to be Paul Weisgarber, Paul Campell, or Erick Galt would I still not have a clue? Who are you trying to kid RCB41? Doesn't Centrals JV team have a team meal you should be getting back to?

Don't worry X2theZ I feel a real breakthrough game tonight . It's not even worth trying to have a logical conversation with hockeyman25 as he has hardly matured enough mentally to carry on a conversation without acting like a 12 year old (which he may very well be). So I'm gonna lay it on the line for everyone else... Grand Forks been dominating High School hockey since the first day they touched the ice. The number and consistency of state championships won has STARTED to diminish in the Grand Forks area. Hockey programs in Fargo have become increasingly stronger than in the past. Given a little extra LUCK (yeah, luck) Fargo school's could have won state titles in 99, 01, 04, 05. Fargo is narrowing the gap there once was between Fargo and Grand Forks. Fargo South is currently undefeated. Grand Forks has a great hockey community. Fargo is catching up to them.

Thanks for making my point for me HockeyMan25. But your response would consist of nothing relevent to the conversation and would only give to the chance to continue in your elementary school rant of how "you Fargo people can cry all you want." your reply... all of you Fargo people will be crying, "I thought that was the year for us." Maybe I had you all wrong. Your intelligence level may be higher than I had once perceived

You know I'd really like to type up a nice factual retort to your immature bashing of the entire city of Fargo. But your response would consist of nothing relevent to the conversation and would only give to the chance to continue in your elementary school rant of how "you Fargo people can cry all you want." We'll see where the banner goes in about 14 games.

We've been through this before. Success in the past does not by any means gaurentee it in the future.

I'm going to need more information on how the game will be played... Will it be a full checking contest, or limited? If so the Warroad boys are probably stronger and faster and I think it might be difficult for the US women to compete with that kind of play. If it is a no-check game the woman would have an advantage but I still find it unlikely that they would come out on top.

I can assure you every statement I make about a specific player on this site I'll back it with some valuable information and I apologize for not stating it. Last season Tyler Klein had 22 goals and 8 assists for 30 points. That put him at 25th in the state for scoring. Fourteen of the players above him have moved on from high school hockey. There is one returning player in the state that scored more goals than Klein, that being Paul Campell with 24. Don't get me wrong, hockey is not all about goals and points. As a matter of fact goals and points should be the last thing you look at when determining how well someone is performing. Slow starts are not uncommon for players and there are so many other variables that play into how many points a player has at any given time you cannot judge a player solely on that. I have seen players play the best games of there lives and walk away pointless. On the other hand I've seen players play sloppy and sluggish and leave the game with 3 or 4 points. What I am getting at is, don't base your opinions on a player because of where he stands in the point totals. A hockey player by definition does more than score goals, so don't judge him on that. Maybe we could get his faceoff percentage, blocked shots, or takeouts on here? On Klein playing with Klenow and Fischer, I'm not going to disagree with the fact that they and he should probably be producing more. But you have to go out and play the game ever night and some times your not going to just get points because your line is the most talented. Thats just how it works, I guess it still amazes me sometimes too. The lack of production out of those three this year is something very rare, and I doubt that lack of production will last much longer.

It's all about opinions. I can have that correct. Anyways I'm not going to get caught up in this, but in two or three years I'd be willing to bet if you go and look for high school players that have moved on to Jr. A or the college level you'll find Tyler Kleins name. Great players rise to the top no matter what team or line they are? I think we can all agree that Mark Messier is a great player? In his first few season's playing pro (WHL) his numbers were hardly impressive. Then even when he moved up to the Edmonton Oilers early in his first season he was sent back down to the minors. Even the best players go over some rough water. You cannot play to your full potential without players around you that will help compliment your play. In any case, I think there are some USHL scouts that will back me if I could just get them to post.

It's a little early to say who will be all state/ won't be all state, will be Mr. Hockey, won't be Mr. Hockey. For example, the most talented player in the state (Tyler Klein), hardly gets any recognition because of the fact that he plays for Fargo North, a struggeling (to say the least) team. Say what you want but if you put him on a Grafton or Fargo South and he would be leading the state in scoring no question. In my humble opinion the favorite to win Mr. Hockey has to be Paul Weisgarber. Not only because he is a model hockey player on the ice, but also off the ice. Paul has the skill, the grades, and the respect of every coach in the state. On the Klenow winning Mr. Hockey, come on. I don't think its reasonable to believe he has a legitimate shot at winning Mr. Hockey. He's going to have a difficult time making all conference (Not that he doesn't deserve it but he's in the shadow of up and coming Jr. Tyler Klein, and with North low in the conference they will probably only get one All Conference pick which will go to Klein.) However, Coach Erickson may have a shot at the coach of the year honor depending on how his teams turns twords the second half of the season.

I said it was not legal for Minnesota teams to recruit. Now good hockey schools such as Bloomington hardly need to "recruit", this is because talented players will move into the system simply because of the hockey program. This does not mean recruiting is non-existent. As I previously stated ex-Bloomington coach Thomas Saterdahlen had problems with a Holy Angels coach because he believed he was recruting and stealing some of Saterdahlens players. In any case the issue of recruiting is hardly relevent to the argument because most all recruits would be from one MN team to another MN team. So the talent would still be in MN but just accumulating at one hockey program. Make any sense?

The purpose of that comment was what? I have met some very talented hockey players from Minnesota who are also very nice people, and the conclusion that I've come is that it's the not so talented players/families that boast how much better their state is than North Dakota. It would also be wise of you to clarify what you mean by "North Dakota hockey", although I'm a Gopher fan myself, last time I checked UND boasts a fairly good program, no? Sure, Minnesota hockey is great. Your right though, North Dakota hockey is terrible compared to MN. Your case is clearly supported by the 4-4 score of the Fargo South vs. Moorhead (ranked #4 in MN) game. Minnesota schools are not allowed to recruit players for their hockey programs. That doesn't mean that in some form it doesn't go on. In fact ex-Bloomington Jefferson coach Tom Saterdahlen (sp?) had some issues with a Academy of Holy Angels coach because he believed he was recruiting.