ND Pride

Jack, this is what the Grand Forks Herald had on their web edition of the paper. Not much detail. I talked to one of the Minot parents after each period. It was 0-0 after the first. Shots were about even in the first period based on what I was told. GF Red River 2, Minot 2 1. MINOT - Eli Rosendahl had 38 saves as Grand Forks Red River played Minot to a tie here Saturday. Minot took a 2-0 lead. But Brad Benke's goal in the second period pulled Red River within one and Kyle Endres converted a giveaway into the tying score with 2:53 left in regulation. "We really battled and took it to them in the third period," Red River coach Matt Malm said. "And Eli played exceptionally well. He was really consistent; he made every save he should have, and a couple that were just outstanding." Red River is 9-5-1.

I hope the Mandan/West Fargo game at 3:30 on Saturday is not cancelled as I would like to see Charlie Bair and his team mates play and make my own assessment. It would be better to see Mandan play one of the top 4 teams in the East Region though. Number #19 for South is Adam Campbell and he is having a pretty good year. Red River plays Minot on Saturday too unless the game is cancelled.

I have to agree that Minot's schedule is very limited. However, they deserve some respect based on the fact that they have consistently won - even if the competition is not always tough. Their performance against Williston casts some serious doubt on their ability though. We will learn a ton when Red River and Grafton play them. This is a crazy hockey season - keep in mind South lost to Bismarck High and so did Grafton. Mandan beat Bismarck High and Bismarck Century. South only beat North 3-2 and that after South built a 2-0 lead on power plays. I don't expect western teams to do very well at the state hockey tournament. But this is high school sports and it seems that consistency is hard to find this year, so far, from any team.

That is what I would have expected. Central lost a lot of players to Juniors and is not up to their level of the past two years. Tonight South beat Red River 4-1 so it looks as though they are in the driver's seat right now in the EDC. The Minot/Red River game would be great to see.

Red River and Central have gone on and played some good hockey since their recent game. Red River has defeated Grafton in Grafton 7-2 and then crushed Jamestown 7-1 and West Fargo 8-0. Central defeated Crookston 6-1 and then lost to undefeated western power Minot 4-2 in Minot. Should be an interesting state tournament. Red River and Grafton will both play Minot in the next few weeks and that should clarify how good Minot really is. EDC games are getting into full swing and it should be interesting to see how South matches up against the rest of the east in the second round. North has struggled but won 3 of their last 4 with the loss coming in OT at Grafton after leading for most of the game. In the east the top teams by EDC should be Red River and South. Out west Minot is the class of the field with no one else close.

You could go to hockeyscouting.ca and they have areas already set up for every locale in North America for posts. One of their pre-established posting areas is for North and South Dakota and Wisconsin. That would be one possibility although the site may not be well known among those potentially interested in reading and posting. This community section might be the best if it is acceptable to management.

Paul Weisgarber does have a knee injury and apparently should be resting it for about two weeks. Paul said tonight (Thursday, Dec 16th) that he wants to play this Saturday vs Grand Forks Central. As with most kids who want to play the game his return will most likely be an outcome of improvement of the injury, a doctor's recommendation, and their own determination to return as soon as possible. From the various conversations that I have had it seems as though he should be back in a matter of a few weeks at most.