ND High School Hockey 16-17

[OgieOgilthorpe]

GFC is the clear #1 in the state this season and HB is the obvious bottom feeder, but what are your thoughts on all of the teams in between? 

My early season rankings:

East:   1. Grand Forks Central

           2. Grand Forks Red River

           3. Fargo Davies

           4. Devils Lake

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           5. Fargo South/Shanley

          6. Fargo North

          7. West Fargo

          8. Grafton

 

West:  1. Bismarck High

           2. Jamestown

           3. Bismarck Century

           4. Minot

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          5. Mandan

          6. Dickinson

         7. Bott

         8. Williston

        9. Hazen/Beulah

 

With that said, I wouldn't be surprised if South beat Davies tonight. South took a tough loss to DL early on but kept within one goal against RR. They are a tough team to read. I also predict that both South and DL will end up passing Davies in the standings, but I had to give them the #3 spot just with how things have played out so far. I also see South, Davies and/or DL beating RR at some point this season, as they are showing to be playing well below expectations thus far. Costello has been far from spectacular, does anyone know the story with him?

Bismarck High is the easy favorite out West again. And as always, the mix of Mandan, Century and Minot is hard to read. Just when you think you have them figured out, one of them gets blown out by a lower ranked team. Should make for an interesting season! 

I personally look forward to the West/East clash in the GF Holiday tournament when BHS comes to town. I think Central will take care of BHS but RR will fall short to the Western King. 

 

[sioux rube]

You have Jamestown way to high. I hope I'm wrong but they have only played Bismarck and got outplayed badly by them. See how they do in their next 3. Century, Minot, and Davies.

[OgieOgilthorpe]

11 hours ago, sioux rube said:

You have Jamestown way to high. I hope I'm wrong but they have only played Bismarck and got outplayed badly by them. See how they do in their next 3. Century, Minot, and Davies.

They are 4-1 and outscoring their opponents 26-7, so that seemed like a pretty strong start to me. I can see them getting caught up in the mix with Minot, Mandan and Century but IMO I think Jamestown has proven themselves the most. But just like you said, their next 3 games will shine a light on their true potential. 

[Oxbow6]

Central outshot North last night 41-2........'nuf said.

Davies crushed South/Shanley.

[DougTheThug]

I think you have the East teams in the right order.  Out west I would still put Century and Minot ahead of Mandan, Dix and Jamestown overall, but I don't think it's a huge gap. Jamestowns goalie will keep them in games.  

It will be interesting to see if Bismarck can hang with Central.  I wish the Central vs RR game was on tv this weekend.

 

[OgieOgilthorpe]

34 minutes ago, Oxbow6 said:

Central outshot North last night 41-2........'nuf said.

Davies crushed South/Shanley.

Yeah I really don't see Central losing a game this season. Looks like my rankings were accurate for Davies and South, but my comment about them was not. The 2-5 spots in the East might get interesting!

Grafton has been shut out 3 games in a row...ouch

Jamestown and Century square up tonight. I will take Jamestown with a 1 goal game.

Bismarck High takes on Devils Lake in DL tonight. I am taking BHS in this one 4-3. Seeing that BHS only beat a weak West Fargo team 4-2 and gave up 25+ shots...I see this game being closer than most might predict. 

[OgieOgilthorpe]

3 minutes ago, DougTheThug said:

I think you have the East teams in the right order.  Out west I would still put Century and Minot ahead of Mandan, Dix and Jamestown overall, but I don't think it's a huge gap. Jamestowns goalie will keep them in games.  

It will be interesting to see if Bismarck can hang with Central.  I wish the Central vs RR game was on tv this weekend.

 

Yeah that will be quite the game. I am anxious to see how BHS does against a pretty solid DL team tonight. After that I think it will be easier to gauge how well they will handle Central. As I said before, I think BHS will beat RR. I am thinking the RR and Century game might be tighter than past years with RR being down. I hope to make it to a couple of those games to see some of this in person! 

[DougTheThug]

BHS and DL should be a good game tonight as well! It will be a good test to see how they hang with the top East teams.  

[MoSiouxFan]

1 hour ago, OgieOgilthorpe said:

They are 4-1 and outscoring their opponents 26-7, so that seemed like a pretty strong start to me. I can see them getting caught up in the mix with Minot, Mandan and Century but IMO I think Jamestown has proven themselves the most. But just like you said, their next 3 games will shine a light on their true potential. 

Their 4 wins, though, are against HB, Williston, Botno, and GPR.  On the other hand, they only lost to Bismarck 3-0.  So, as you said, their next 3 games will show whether they're contenders or pretenders.

[sioux rube]

1 hour ago, OgieOgilthorpe said:

They are 4-1 and outscoring their opponents 26-7, so that seemed like a pretty strong start to me. I can see them getting caught up in the mix with Minot, Mandan and Century but IMO I think Jamestown has proven themselves the most. But just like you said, their next 3 games will shine a light on their true potential. 

They are a hard working bunch though and that is what they will need against the better teams. They usually beat the teams they should but rarely if at all beat teams that are better than them. 

[sioux rube]

11 minutes ago, MoSiouxFan said:

Their 4 wins, though, are against HB, Williston, Botno, and GPR.  On the other hand, they only lost to Bismarck 3-0.  So, as you said, their next 3 games will show whether they're contenders or pretenders.

That 3-0 score does not indicate how that game went. Jamestown was by far the inferior team. One thing they do have and that's a pretty solid goaltender. If he goes down then they are really hurting. 

[Oxbow6]

Going to watch South/Shanley vs Grafton-PR tomorrow night. Heard G-PR is really down this season.

[OgieOgilthorpe]

43 minutes ago, sioux rube said:

That 3-0 score does not indicate how that game went. Jamestown was by far the inferior team. One thing they do have and that's a pretty solid goaltender. If he goes down then they are really hurting. 

If a team only stays in a game due to their goalie's performance, then they stayed in the game because the goalie is part of the team. But exactly like you said, if he were to go down, that'll change everything. Teams that rely on their goaltending tend to be much more susceptible to feeling the burn when the injury bug hits. Even more so than teams that rely on one star forward or their top line. 

[OgieOgilthorpe]

36 minutes ago, Oxbow6 said:

Going to watch South/Shanley vs Grafton-PR tomorrow night. Heard G-PR is really down this season.

Ugly 12-0 loss to Roseau last night. I don't remember a Grafton team ever being THIS down. 

[OgieOgilthorpe]

Devils Lake and BHS tied 0-0 after 2. Pretty evenly matched so far. Impressed by DL this season, they have some good skaters but still Not on the same level as central 

[iluvdebbies]

Century beats Jamestown 6-3.

[MoSiouxFan]

Devils Lake  1                Final

Bismarck      0           

[OgieOgilthorpe]

3 minutes ago, MoSiouxFan said:

Devils Lake  1                Final

Bismarck      0           

Should I be impressed by DL or accept that BHS is overrated? Either way, congrats to DL. Sounded like a great game! 

[OgieOgilthorpe]

8 minutes ago, iluvdebbies said:

Century beats Jamestown 6-3.

Looks like I was wrong on both of the big games tonight. 

[sioux rube]

16 minutes ago, OgieOgilthorpe said:

Looks like I was wrong on both of the big games tonight. 

I was at the Jays/Patriots game. Jays had a 3-1 lead then the wheels fell off. Penalties didn't help. 

[sioux rube]

20 minutes ago, OgieOgilthorpe said:

Should I be impressed by DL or accept that BHS is overrated? Either way, congrats to DL. Sounded like a great game! 

I don't think they are overrated but maybe just maybe they overlooked DL. Either way congrats to the Firebirds. Heck of a win. 

[DougTheThug]

I don't think BHS overlooked DL.  DL is the best team they have seen so far.  It was a good battle, and both teams goalies played great.  Neither team was running away with this one.   DL got the win and was the better team.  BHS needs more of these games.  

[OgieOgilthorpe]

19 minutes ago, DougTheThug said:

I don't think BHS overlooked DL.  DL is the best team they have seen so far.  It was a good battle, and both teams goalies played great.  Neither team was running away with this one.   DL got the win and was the better team.  BHS needs more of these games.  

Sounded like an evenly matched dual all game long. I'm interested to hear the shot totals. 

[OgieOgilthorpe]

Tonight's biggest game is RR vs GFC. I think GFC is the better team by a 4 goal margin but with the rivalry I see them only winning 4-2. 

[fightingsioux4life]

22 hours ago, OgieOgilthorpe said:

Ugly 12-0 loss to Roseau last night. I don't remember a Grafton team ever being THIS down. 

I honestly cannot feel sorry for them.