2025-2026 ND High School Hockey Thread

[Brim006]

1 hour ago, Wilbur said:

And its official that all east teams will be required to play at least one with Mayport next season.  Next question, will they be the Hazen of the EDC.  

Woah, thanks for the update!

I suppose it finally got to the point where they either needed to get them fully included or just get them out completely. Despite the drawbacks, I think the move makes sense overall. Is North Dakota High School hockey really going to turn a program away? No, and they shouldn't. Especially since MP is clearly showing improvement each year. And I would gladly take MP over the Wahp teams of the old EDC days. Hopefully the game of hockey continues to grow in MP and this fuels the fire a bit. 

GFC and RR will be fine. They will both schedule it as a single 6pt game, and they will likely change another EDC matchup to a single 6pt game so they dont lose any non-con games. Guessing they would pick WF or DL to do that with in addition to GPR already that way? And if we’re being honest, even in the worst‑case scenario where they lose a non‑conference game, any major outrage would feel more like pride than substance. Are they really going to be upset about missing the chance to beat Notre Dame of West Haven 13–0, or to play “powerhouse” Detroit Lakes? Even the TRF matchup wouldn’t be much of a loss — they haven’t been competitive in years and don’t seem likely to be anytime soon.

[Brim006]

Cue GFhockey

[andtheHomeoftheSIOUX!!]

It will be interesting when West Fargo Horace gets a program going.  And of course out west we keep hearing about Watford City.  They have a nice bantam a team this year.

[Wilbur]

Potential future conferences.

EDC:  GFC, RR, WFS, Davies, North, DL, Shanley, GPR, WFHS, Mayport, Horace, Jamestown (rumors they are looking into EDC). 

WDA: Williston, Dickinson, Watford, H/B, Bottineau/Rugby, Minot, Mandan, BHS, Legacy, CHS, with potential for Minot North which would make 11.  

Minot AD is moving to Watford to take AD role there.  My source in the system said his life has been hectic since Minot North.  

[gfhockey]

2 hours ago, Brim006 said:

Cue GFhockey

I like to see the growth of the game in Nd

 

it’s probably why sacred heart is forming hockey tho so the gf kids don’t play them stat pumper teams

[JakeLove]

The new Watford City AD will most likely be supportive of WC moving to NDHSAA and out of NDAHA Junior Gold. He got a raise to go to WC so money does not seem to be a problem. 

Maybe the league requirement is 1 conference game as a minimum, then do a seeding conference for the conference tournament. This is not geographically advantageous for WDA. 

Junior gold will be dead, which is sad. 
 

more teams is more better but the competitive disparity is not going to get better. 

[Brim006]

2 hours ago, JakeLove said:

The new Watford City AD will most likely be supportive of WC moving to NDHSAA and out of NDAHA Junior Gold. He got a raise to go to WC so money does not seem to be a problem. 

Maybe the league requirement is 1 conference game as a minimum, then do a seeding conference for the conference tournament. This is not geographically advantageous for WDA. 

Junior gold will be dead, which is sad. 
 

more teams is more better but the competitive disparity is not going to get better. 

If JR G folds, the Northwood kids would join MP which would give them a nice bump. Would Langdon be in play for EDC? 
 

would 12-14 teams in each conference potentially push two tiers?! Maybe WC is the first domino 

[JakeLove]

Here is where I get off the bus. In years past, MayPort actively worked to get northwood area players to jump to MayPort youth hockey, and justified it by saying basically”we are going to play HS and you are not”. The bigger point is losing northwood as its own hs aged hockey playing community by folding them into another team is not growth.

langdon has never been enthusiastic about NDHSAA, partly because the neighboring NDHSAA communities have actively tried to get langdon players to leave Langdon to commute or move to an NDHSAA community. This has not been common for the boys but has from time to time been acute for girls. Plus, funding would probably be an issue. 

if WC tips to the NDHSAA, 2 classes should be inevitable. 

[sioux rube]

[UND92,96]

19 hours ago, Wilbur said:

And its official that all east teams will be required to play at least one with Mayport next season.  Next question, will they be the Hazen of the EDC.  

Just curious--is this what May-Port actually wants to do, or is this a matter of the NDHSAA forcing it upon them?

[Brim006]

4 minutes ago, UND92,96 said:

Just curious--is this what May-Port actually wants to do, or is this a matter of the NDHSAA forcing it upon them?

Good question, I have just always assumed they wanted in when they partially joined 7 years ago. But maybe they have gotten used to the schedule of beating up small MN teams and having winning seasons then just being able to join a local postseason tournament. If they have all 6pt EDC games they will still get a lot of their current schedule, but as soon as they move to 2 EDC games per team, they might be looking at a drop from 14-15 win seasons down to 3-4 win seasons. So I could actually see them not liking the move now that they have gotten comfortable with this current setup. 

[Wilbur]

3 hours ago, UND92,96 said:

Just curious--is this what May-Port actually wants to do, or is this a matter of the NDHSAA forcing it upon them?

From what I'm told it is what they want to do going forward.  There was the initial phase of just taking the 10th seed and playing an independent schedule, and now they are taking the next step to full membership in hockey. 

[siouxweet]

Instead of 2 classes just create a third conference like they had years ago with basketball and football?  I believe it was the North Star Conference. 

[Clark17]

It was Belcourt - Ryan - Rugby - DL - Valley - Grafton - Bottineau if my memory is correct  

[DL Sioux]

4 minutes ago, Clark17 said:

It was Belcourt - Ryan - Rugby - DL - Valley - Grafton - Bottineau if my memory is correct  

I remember at one point it also included Carrington, Langdon, and Harvey.

[Brim006]

2 hours ago, siouxweet said:

Instead of 2 classes just create a third conference like they had years ago with basketball and football?  I believe it was the North Star Conference. 

 

Fun to dream about. And would actually cut down on mileage overall if done with a Y shape boundary for 3 pie shape conferences even if 5 more teams are added haha. 

 

EDC - GFC, RR, MP, FS, FN, FD, WFS, WF, Horace, Wahp, Jamestown (11 teams and they get 4 spots at state which is 36% chance)

WDA - BHS, Century, Legacy, Mandan, HB, Dickinson, Williston, Watford City, Crosby, Minot, Minot North (11 teams and get 3 spots at state which is 27% chance) 

North Star -  Bott, DL, Langdon and GPR (4 teams and get 1 spot at state which is 25% chance) 

[siouxweet]

20 minutes ago, Brim006 said:

 

Fun to dream about. And would actually cut down on mileage overall if done with a Y shape boundary for 3 pie shape conferences even if 5 more teams are added haha. 

 

EDC - GFC, RR, MP, FS, FN, FD, WFS, WF, Horace, Wahp, Jamestown (11 teams and they get 4 spots at state which is 36% chance)

WDA - BHS, Century, Legacy, Mandan, HB, Dickinson, Williston, Watford City, Crosby, Minot, Minot North (11 teams and get 3 spots at state which is 27% chance) 

North Star -  Bott, DL, Langdon and GPR (4 teams and get 1 spot at state which is 25% chance) 

I'd move MP to the North Star.

[gfhockey]

45 minutes ago, siouxweet said:

I'd move MP to the North Star.

And hazen

[90siouxfan]

Or divide the state into quarters, 2 from each

[sioux rube]

Hats off to goalie Cooper Anderson of Mandan. Posted 2 identical 3-0 shutouts against the Blue Jays this season. Puts them in the driver seat for third in the WDA as of now. Jays making it hard for themselves now. May need to shake lines up a bit

[Wilbur]

I was at Shanley-Sheyenne and was really impressed with Shanley's structure.  Played just about a perfect game.  One bad turnover in the 3rd period cost them a goal, but other than that they were excellent all over the place.  After Central and Red River I'd say its anyone's spots at state.  I'd still bet on Davies, but I think there are 5 teams that have an excellent opportunity to be at state.