2005 North Dakota State Hockey Tournament

[soohockey15]

So you're 100% positive that we're going to see upsets in both semifinal games? Not saying it isn't a possibility at this point considering how Central handled Minot and the way McLean turned what should have been a slaughter into a close game against Century (I hope he bounces back vs. RR), but this cocky holier than thou attitude is exactly the thing I've been hinting at that rubs me the wrong way about the Central and Red River hockey programs. It's not even the players that are cocky, it's the people who support those programs. Not all of the people who support those programs, but enough to make them all look bad. Yes, they're very good programs... but get over yourselves already. The arrogance coming out of GF is almost as bad as it is over in Moorhead. You can't go around with the attitude that you should be expected to win because of what your teams did in previous years. There's a reason you were the 3 and 4 seeds coming out of the east this year. How many games did both GF schools combined win aganst South this year? I believe they're a combined 0 for 5. Right? As the 1 and 2 seeds, South and Grafton still have to be considered the odds-on favorites to meet in the title game till proven otherwise.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

as ive said once and again, wahtever happenes during the regualr season doesnt really matter. both teams were 0-5 vs. south, central got somked twice by grafton, and it was all thrown out the window tontie. red river dominated south, and central got themselves by grafton. look for a great game tomorrow nite, with the riders pulling it out.

[WWPKD]

Is Mclean sucking it up again or what?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Im no Physicist but i didnt think it was possible to both suck and blow at once but some goalies do. (im not pointin any fingers but ^^^)

[SiouxMeNow]

Just guessing here but I assume this wasn't the magical senior season Ben McLean was dreaming off ...guess a .675 save percentage won't really do it It must be an even year when the #3 and #4 seeds from the EAST are in the championship...then again, when they have the tradition of the GF schools, it's really no suprise. I wouldn't have called it before the tourney but here we are!! So lets turn out for the championship tomorrrow night! Should be FUN!!

[Fedorov]

Well, let's hope the Sioux can win it all from a lower seed.

[#1siouxfan22]

Marto is Mr. hockey wow. He should almost be a forward the way he can display is offensive abilities. Souths little motto of 57 seconds didnt really cut it, but they really couldnt buy a goal tonight Olson showed up and thats it.

[cold]

Its not 57 seconds, 46, its 47. And as for South getting dominated, getting out shot and not scoring on an open net for the 5-6 minutes isn't domination. It was a closely played game, but an off game or a good game for a goalie can change that.

[gfhockey1]

Its not 57 seconds, 46, its 47. And as for South getting dominated, getting out shot and not scoring on an open net for the 5-6 minutes isn't domination. It was a closely played game, but an off game or a good game for a goalie can change that.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

South lost again, haha.

[gfhockey1]

The great coaching of South will lead them to the championship. 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Wrong.

[gfhockey1]

So you're 100% positive that we're going to see upsets in both semifinal games? Not saying it isn't a possibility at this point considering how Central handled Minot and the way McLean turned what should have been a slaughter into a close game against Century (I hope he bounces back vs. RR), but this cocky holier than thou attitude is exactly the thing I've been hinting at that rubs me the wrong way about the Central and Red River hockey programs. It's not even the players that are cocky, it's the people who support those programs. Not all of the people who support those programs, but enough to make them all look bad. Yes, they're very good programs... but get over yourselves already. The arrogance coming out of GF is almost as bad as it is over in Moorhead. You can't go around with the attitude that you should be expected to win because of what your teams did in previous years. There's a reason you were the 3 and 4 seeds coming out of the east this year. How many games did both GF schools combined win aganst South this year? I believe they're a combined 0 for 5. Right? As the 1 and 2 seeds, South and Grafton still have to be considered the odds-on favorites to meet in the title game till proven otherwise.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Well Dave, looks like my prediction held up and you're the one who again got worked, just like your Bruins. I guess I dont feel all that smart though because anyone with half of a brain should know going into the State tournament that the GF teams only get beat by the other GF team. Looks like that GF domintaion that you said was basically over is actually as strong as ever. And tell your boy Ben Mclean the "Big Game Player" that the state tournament games are considered big, not just jamboree wins against RR.

[CoteauRinkRat]

DaveK

Wow, that is all I can say about your post. Sounds like you are a little bitter about South losing in the semifinals. What is kind of funny is you have been saying all along that South would win the title and the Grand Forks dominance was over, well guess what, South is not going to win the title this year. I do not have a dog in this fight at all, but you call some Grand Forks people "elitists" for gloating about their programs, but your post does just as much gloating and bragging as anyone's posts on here.

So let me take a guess, your kid plays for the Flyers?

Your quote of "what I've seen with my own eyes the kids who play hockey in the Fargo youth program are superior players to the kids who play in the GF youth program", is kind of amusing. You are the kind of hockey parent that is killing youth hockey and giving it a bad name. Let the kids play and quite judging them at such an early stage in their hockey career. Fargo has a great youth hockey program, but that is still a long ways away from high school hockey.

[Wilbur]

Congrats to both GFC and Red River on the wins last night. DaveK hit the nail right on the head as far as fan sportsmanship goes. After both games last night fans from Red River and Central went out of their way to rub it in the faces of the Grafton and Fargo South fans. One GFC fan made sure she went right up to a group of Grafton parents/grandparents and asked them who won the F#ing game.

I hope nothing breaks out tonight after the all GF final, it should be a god game.

[BringDeanBack]

First and foremost I would like to congratulate the players on the Central and Red River teams. Those kids really stepped up tonight. Central had a great rally and that goalie for RR single-handedly stole that game. The higher seeded teams didn't get it done, and that's why they play the games.

Now, I would like to say to BringDeanBack, soohockey15, and gfhockey1... why don't you guys grow up and try to learn how to win with class? People throughout the rest of the state don't hate the GF teams because of their success, they hate those teams because of people with condescending attitudes like yours. Your teams won. Congratulations. But gloating about it and belittling the other programs just makes you look like immature.

Although the Bruins didn't get it done this year, I still believe it's inevitable that the balance of power in ND hockey is going to shift one hour south of GF in the near future. I know you GF elitists like to say the GF teams will continue to dominate in the future just because they have dominated in the past, but that isn't real strong logic. The teams from the past have no bearing on the teams that we're going to see in the future.

Now, I'll tell you why Fargo South will establish itself as the best team in the state within the next few years... quite simply, they have the best players. Did you know the Fargo Flyers squirts A team is 35-0? These kids are going to be playing for South a few years down the road, and will very likely destroy everybody that gets in their way in a fashion not seen since the 1983-84 Central Redskins. Just take a look at some of these scores I pulled off the Flyers website...

12/04/04 - Flyers 8, GF Blackhawks 2

12/04/04 - Flyers 6, GF Supras 0

12/17/04 - Flyers 14, Warroad 0

12/18/04 - Flyers 3, Roseau 0

12/19/04 - Flyers 7, Warroad 1

12/28/04 - Flyers 8, Grafton 1

01/02/05 - Flyers 5, Moorhead 3

01/09/05 - Flyers 4, Roseau 2

01/16/05 - Flyers 1, GF Supras 0

01/31/05 - Flyers 11, Moorhead 5

GF has all the history and tradition, but the future of ND hockey dominance is in Fargo (at least on the south side of town). Enjoy your all GF final tomorrow night, because it could be a long time before you see another one. Not that I'm going to act like a butthead and gloat about it if and when I am proven right about this, I'm just saying that judging by what I've seen with my own eyes the kids who play hockey in the Fargo youth program are superior players to the kids who play in the GF youth program. That isn't to say the GF players aren't good, it's that the Fargo kids are really really good.

To whoever it was who made the statement earlier about how South can't possibly go on a run of 5 titles in 10 years because they only have 2 in their history so far... if I remember correctly Red River only had 2 in their history prior to winning 9 titles in 15 years (1987-2001). Think about that one for a while. Every winning tradition has its humble beginnings.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Squirt A's? Are you kidding? They are four or five years away from hitting high school. Anything can happen, especially if your coach is still Wilson. If you do have a son or daughter playing in the Flyers program, good for them I hope they have a good career. However, you really should stop pumping up the Flyers and South program so much. It will make it easier on all those "awesome squirt a's" when they too come up short in high school at state to a Grand Forks team.

[Cratter]

DaveK, click this link:

http://siouxsports.com/forums/index.php?sh...923entry80923

read it again....when I posted it January 5th. The GF dominance is not over. I wish you'd open your eyes. GF'ers have a reason to be cocky/confident in hockey. You can talk all you want (mullets, 5-10 yr olds with talent, etc) but all you have to do it look up the state championship stats. Fargo South is nothing. So many people and HS's in Fargo, but not to many championships.

I can see the tides changing...those other teams outside of GF are really closing the gap.

DaveK writes

Over the last 15 years or so the state titles have been split pretty evenly between GF schools and non-GF schools.

1995 - Grand Forks

1996 - Grand Forks

1997 - Grand Forks

1998 - Grand Forks

1999 - South

2000 - Grand Forks

2001 - Grand Forks

2002 - Grafton

2003 - Grand Forks

2004 - Grand Forks

2005 - Grand Forks

I guess you got your wish the 80's are back.

Thank you and have a good day.

[SFSIOUX#1]

DAVEK get over yourself and how great Fargo hockey is 70 miles south of GF. Your posts flaming on GF fans is a little over-bearing considering all of the crap you are posting about the future dominance of Fargo hockey. You keep waiting buddy. By the way, I live in Sioux Falls, SD and my boy who is a terminte just scored 5 goals today against a ND team which they beat 10-4...watch out SD hockey is going to be better than ND hockey in about 10 years. NOT - nor is Fargo EVER going to dominate like the GF schools PLAIN AND SIMPLE. Get over yourself!!!

[#1siouxfan22]

Next years east region should look alot different than this years with the seniors that both RR and central lose. It will be very hard for those teams to fill the voids of some of those players. South should be very dominant next year along with grafton.

[SFSIOUX#1]

Next years east region should look alot different than this years with the seniors that both RR and central lose. It will be very hard for those teams to fill the voids of some of those players. South should be very dominant next year along with grafton.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Looking at the past champions, the smart money would be on a GF school once again but that is just me.

[Fedorov]

[tnt]

Here Dave K goes off on Grand Forks for being cocky, but the people he uses as examples are probably 13 year olds who wanted to press someone's buttons. I can only ask Dave K what excuse he has. Let's face it there is rude behavior wherever you look in high school hockey. I saw Fargo South fans throwing sticks at a few Red River fans last night and heard Minot fans during the Red River game saying how the officials will never make a call against Red River. Excuse me, it seems to me that they gave South plenty of chances to get back in the game last night and even to get an early lead. The difference is that Red River fought through it and won. Maybe if Red River had lost they would have used the excuse that the Refs did them in. It all depends on how you look at it. As far as Fargo's future dominance, who knows what will happen, but I will say I have heard that in the past as well. Maybe Fargo will get over the hump, but you have to admit Central's recent run and Red River getting to the semifinals for 13 straight years is impressive. If you look who has gone on to college hockey and made an impact, Fargo hasn't done that well when you consider the size of Fargo. Minot and Bismarck have done equally well. I hope this doesn't come off as cocky, but I am proud of Grand Forks hockey and how well it has done, and I don't shove it in someones face unless it is first shoved at me. Let's face it, some of the same people who are talking about arrogance, get pretty cocky when it comes to Sioux hockey and it's record, looking down on other programs and exalting its championships. Just don't be hypocritical like Dave K.

[ND Pride]

Just to clear the air a little bit and provide another view without critiquing anyone else. From my experience with "all state" type hockey programs (North Dakota USA Hockey Select program, Elite league) I can say that some of the best people I know, based on that experience, are from Grand Forks, West Fargo, Grafton, Bismarck, Minot, and Fargo (North and South). At a high level of play, when these kids get together on these types of teams you meet some great parents and terrific kids. There are great kids everywhere but when they get together on a AAA or select teams the experience is even better. I hope hockey continues to develop in every community. For those of you with younger kids, if you get a chance to tryout for a team that involves kids from other cities in the "off-season" I would say do it. It could be one of the best experiences you have even had and may go along way in breaking down barriers.

[Fanfromafar]

[7>4]

DaveK,

Neither GF or Fargo has the sole market for ahole fans. My guess is that both have their fair share, just like any other community. I always get a kick out of any fans taunting other fans when "their" team wins. Don't think I've ever seen a fan or parent show up in a box score scoring a goal or making a save. Yet, somehow when "your" team wins, you are somehow better than the guy wearing the colors of the losing team. It cracks me up, especially with 8-9 year old kids. How pathetic is that?

Sounds like you have the right attitude. Cheer for your team and let the boys (or girls) play.

Great story in the GF Herald about the kid from Bismarck who got hurt and couldn't play. That kids attitude is what the HS Tourney is all about.

[Haveanotherdoughnut]

No, I'm not bitter. When my favorite professional teams lose, that makes me bitter. I don't get all that wound up about high school sports. I was cheering for South only because it would have made my kids happy to see them win. Personally, it doesn't make much difference to me who wins any high school game (until my kids get to high school that is). No, I don't have any kids in the Flyers program yet. I have two boys in the Fargo All-City Youth Hockey program. My oldest will be a Flyers Squirt next year, and the other one has two years of mites ahead of him in the FACYH program before joining the Flyers.

Stating that Fargo has the best players doesn't make me the kind of hockey parent that is killing youth hockey, it is merely stating something that is blatantly obvious to anybody that has watched as many youth hockey games as I have over the last couple of years. I have seen a lot of games and there are simply more skilled players in the Fargo youth program than anywhere else. I have also seen a handful of great youth players from Grand Forks and Grafton, but they just don't have the numbers that Fargo has. That isn't gloating or bragging, I'm merely stating it as a matter of fact. It's not like I go around taunting the parents of the players whose teams get by beat by my son's team. I go out of my way to be extra polite to everybody associated with any of the teams.

Do you want to know what kind of hockey parents are really killing youth hockey? The ones who yell and scream at the players, coaches, and refs. That isn't me, I tend to keep my mouth shut and let the kids play. I'll cheer when my son's team scores, but that's it. I was at one of the Fargo All-City Mites Festival games last month involving a team from GF. My son's team had played a game earlier in the day, and he asked me if I could bring him back to the rink so he could watch one of the other Fargo teams that he has friends on.

So, anyways, the game we attended was between a Fargo team and a GF team. A handful of parents from the GF team came into our rink and walked around with their noses in the air as if they owned the place. Then when the game started they acted like a bunch of wild animals, yelling and screaming at the refs constantly as if it were a scene out of "Slap Shot". At one point the refs had to stop the game and wait till everybody settled down before allowing the game to continue. It was a pathetic display. They're 8 and 9 year-old kids... settle down and let them play without trying to encite a riot.

I felt bad for the GF parents who did behave themselves, because the obnoxious idiots in their group make them all look bad by association. GF hockey has a tradition of great hockey, but they also have a tradition of poor sportsmanship. Like the quote in Wilbur's post about "One GFC fan made sure she went right up to a group of Grafton parents/grandparents and asked them who won the F#ing game"... that is so typical of Central and Red River hockey fans. I tend to see that crap coming from GF people constantly at high school hockey games.

Not that anybody gets in my face about it, because I'm a 34 year-old guy who watches the game as an impartial observer, but looking at what is happening around me when I go to those games I constantly see GF kids instigating Fargo kids, Grafton kids, etc... GF people are poor winners, and they're even poorer losers (on the rare occassions when they do lose). This is coming from a guy who grew up in GF.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Sour grapes.....period. You only see what you want to see. Every team has it's share of bad fans and parents. You had just better hope Grand Forks doesn't decide to build a super school and combine Red River and Central. You would have to rewrite the book on dominance.

[specifics]

QUOTE- BRING DEAN BACK

God I love it when I am right. If South's motto last offseason was 46 seconds, I got a suggestion for the coming offseason, how about 102 minutes? That is how far away they were this year. They are actually getting farther and farther away from their goal. Red River was clearly the better team tonight. I counted three posts by Red River. That game could have been 5-0 after the first period. Though I suppose that DaveK will think that they were all fluke goals by Red River. Apparently anytime someone scores a goal against South it is a fluke.

South may have some good hockey players but there is one thing that they will never have, TRADITION. You can run as many kids as you want through the Flyers or Raiders youth programs, but the bottom line is once you get to the high school state tourney, it is all Grand Forks. It always has been that way, and it always will be that way. END QUOTE

bringdeanback....

I think it's time to realize that your high school days are done and you are not a part of either of the Grand Forks high school teams and you throw your cocky, thirteen-year-old attitude out the window. You have made it clear you have not fully developed emotionally and try to make yourself feel like you are a part of these teams to feel a sense of accomplishment, which you are not and have not. Red River and Central earned their state championship game spots, but tonight at seven we wont be watching the two best teams in the state, thats a fact. We will be watching the two teams who just happend to come to play at the right time. You can go on how this is their tradition and they are playoff teams but I doubt that has much to do with it. Also, I don't think it is a mature thing to rub the loss of a state championship in the faces of kids, because thats what they are kids! After the statements you just made, I'd love to see the South boys get a shot at you on the ice... after all you are from Grand Forks and it is all Grand Forks isn't it? Let the players do the talking, your a spectator and that's all you'll ever be.

[SFSIOUX#1]

davek - time you dust your Webster's and look up HYPOCRITE. While you are at it, look up OXYMORON as in Fargo and dominance of HS Hockey.

[SFSIOUX#1]

QUOTE- BRING DEAN BACK

God I love it when I am right.  If South's motto last offseason was 46 seconds, I got a suggestion for the coming offseason, how about 102 minutes?  That is how far away they were this year.  They are actually getting farther and farther away from their goal.  Red River was clearly the better team tonight.  I counted three posts by Red River.  That game could have been 5-0 after the first period.  Though I suppose that DaveK will think that they were all fluke goals by Red River.  Apparently anytime someone scores a goal against South it is a fluke.

South may have some good hockey players but there is one thing that they will never have, TRADITION.  You can run as many kids as you want through the Flyers or Raiders youth programs, but the bottom line is once you get to the high school state tourney, it is all Grand Forks.  It always has been that way, and it always will be that way. END QUOTE

bringdeanback....

I think it's time to realize that your high school days are done and you are not a part of either of the Grand Forks high school teams and you throw your cocky, thirteen-year-old attitude out the window.  You have made it clear you have not fully developed emotionally and try to make yourself feel like you are a part of these teams to feel a sense of accomplishment, which you are not and have not.  Red River and Central earned their state championship game spots, but tonight at seven we wont be watching the two best teams in the state, thats a fact.  We will be watching the two teams who just happend to come to play at the right time.  You can go on how this is their tradition and they are playoff teams but I doubt that has much to do with it. Also, I don't think it is a mature thing to rub the loss of a state championship in the faces of kids, because thats what they are kids!  After the statements you just made, I'd love to see the South boys get a shot at you on the ice... after all you are from Grand Forks and it is all Grand Forks isn't it?  Let the players do the talking, your a spectator and that's all you'll ever be.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

You are right, the two best teams will not be playing at 7:00 - they will be playing at 8:00 as that is scheduled time to drop the puck.

I am so glad that in your infinite wisdom, that you can declare that Central and RR are not the best teams that will be playing for the championship. Why do we even play the games then??? We should just give the trophy to whoever you feel the best team is??? Bottom line is that very little matters on how you do during the season (2004 Sioux Team, 1997 Vikings etc) it is all about tourney time and if you can't except that then perhaps you should take up under-water basket weaving.