North Dakota Preps

Posted: **Sun Dec 07, 2008 1:37 pm**

Game of the Week for 12/8/08 to 12/14/08

Saturday December 13th

---- Result ----

Fargo South - 4
Grand Forks Central - 1

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Fargo South Bruins (3-0-1) [#4] at Grand Forks Central Knights (3-0-0) [#1]
(Brackets represent Coaches' Poll ranking)

Ranked number one overall and in first place on the coaches poll, Grand Forks Central Knights take on the Fargo South Bruins in an early season match up that will give a good look at both teams and their chances of a state title in February.

So far, GFC has played against Fargo Shanley with a convincing 11-1 win, and against Minot in a worrisome 3-2 win. This game will be the biggest test of GFC's depth and ability to succeed under pressure, as Seth Lang (GFC goaltender) and their defense have not been under much pressure so far this season. Central recently beat North 4-1 in EDC conference play.

Fargo South comes into this game with two games versus state ranked teams in Minnesota. Fargo South tied Moorhead 2-2 last week, letting a 2-0 lead from the first period fall to early goals in both the 2nd and 3rd periods. South also played against White Bear Lake. South let in a goal 16 seconds into the game, but responded with four unanswered goals. Late in the third period White Bear Lake attempted to come back, but fell short to South's defensive efforts and their All-State junior goaltender Scott Buchholz. South is coming off of a victory over Wahpeton 14-0 and plays North on Friday.

Last season Grand Forks Central beat Fargo South twice during the regular season. Central won their first meeting 4-3 in overtime at Fargo South, and also beat Fargo South 2-1 in Grand Forks previous to EDC. However, South pulled through in the State play-in game and beat Grand Forks Central 4-2.

Both teams enter this game undefeated so far this season, and it's likely that only one of these teams will continue undefeated through this game. Grand Forks Central will rely on three of their top lines to be an offensive threat and the equal depth of their defense. Fargo South will likely rely on their first two lines for offensive opportunities, as well as their experienced defensemen and goaltender to pull them through this tough match up. Central plays North this Tuesday and will have 3 days of practice to prepare for Fargo South. South plays Wahpeton on Tuesday and then plays North on Friday, previous to this match up on Saturday.

Good luck to both teams, and see you on Saturday!

Posted: **Sun Dec 07, 2008 4:13 pm**

This matchup may be so close that South's schedule may be the deciding factor. If North wears down South and South has to rely on 2 lines of forwards, they may lose some jump in the 3rd period. I wouldn't put any money on this game. It's going to be worth the price of admission, that I will promise. Man, I love hockey season!!

Posted: **Wed Dec 10, 2008 7:00 pm**

is central the real deal this year?

Posted: **Thu Dec 11, 2008 10:02 am**

there a good young team and i think that it will be the game of the week.

Posted: **Fri Dec 12, 2008 5:23 pm**

Mabye south should worry a little about north first

Posted: **Fri Dec 12, 2008 5:50 pm**

No offense to North, but I don't think South will need to worry too much about them. Also, this thread is about the game of the week, not who South plays this week. Skipping over the North game (even though it's been mentioned several times due to South playing two games in a row) seems natural.

South has a hot goaltender, a lot of defense and forwards that seem to be capitalizing. North is on a 4 game losing streak, and is averaging slightly under 2 GPG. Labernik will have to play phenomenal to keep them in it.

Posted: **Sat Dec 13, 2008 12:56 pm**

I have a feeling that this game will be canceled due to bad weather conditions that are on the way. There is a very large blizzard on the way that will directly hit Grand Forks. I suppose it's up to the schools though. There are several games in Grand Forks for other sports canceled already.

About the North/South game, I didn't get to go but here's the story from the Fargo Forum this morning. 26 penalties in this game...

Fargo South 3 - Fargo North 0
This defense never rests.
Fargo South allowed just seven shots on goal en route to a 3-0 Eastern Dakota Conference boys hockey victory against rival Fargo North on Friday at the Urban Plains Center.
The shutout was junior goaltender Scott Buchholz’s first of the season and the Bruins’ second in a row.
“That is definitely a positive part of this game,” South coach David Benson said of the team’s defensive play. “I think it’s very, very aggressive play. We played well in the defensive zone and we controlled the neutral zone.”
South made it impossible for North to get its offensive attack started throughout the first period.
With massive checks and precise passing, the Bruins defense played keep-away from the Spartans for the entire 17 minutes.
North was even stymied during a couple power-play chances.
South outshot the Spartans 11-0 in the first period.
North goaltender Jake Labernik wasn’t as fortunate as his counterpart Buchholz.
Labernik was pelted with shots from start to finish in the first.
Senior David Burdick pushed the puck past Labernik’s skate and the posts to give the Bruins a 1-0 lead just 1 minute, 17 seconds into the game.
Peter Orson made it 2-0 with a shorthanded goal at 10:48 of the first. South was down to three men on the ice due to a barrage of penalties by both teams.
The goal came on a 4-on-3 opportunity for North.
“It was ugly hockey,” North coach Jay Erickson said. “There was no flow to it. … South is big, they are strong and they are tough. For us, it’s a lot of things. You are looking at a young team. We’re not very big or strong. We got to do the little things to win.”
North’s first shot on Buchholz came in the first minute of the second period.
The pace of the game slowed considerably as the teams combined for 12 penalties in the second period.
South took a 3-0 advantage on a power-play goal by Cooper Stellrecht at 9:46 of the second.
North defenseman Sam Johnson was ejected and assessed a 5-minute major penalty for using the end of his stick against a Bruin at the end of the second period.
The penalty put the Spartans at four skaters for the opening five minutes of the third.
Labernik finished with 33 saves. Buchholz needed only seven saves to secure the shutout.
The teams combined for 26 penalties.
“It was a good defensively-played game,” Benson said. “The only thing bad was that we took too many penalties. We expect a lot more of our guys.”

FIRST PERIOD: 1, FS, Burdick (Narveson), 1:17. 2, FS, Orson (Hooey), 10:48.

SECOND PERIOD: 3, FS, Stellrecht (Orson, Hooey), 9:46 (pp).

THIRD PERIOD: No scoring.

SAVES: FN, Labernik 9-13-11—33. FS, Buchholz 0-5-2—7.

Posted: **Sat Dec 13, 2008 11:02 pm**

any updated scores?

Posted: **Sat Dec 13, 2008 11:08 pm**

Fargo South 4
Grand Forks Central 1

South pretty much played the second period down 5 on 3

Posted: **Sat Dec 13, 2008 11:27 pm**

Timmay07 wrote:Fargo South 4
Grand Forks Central 1

South pretty much played the second period down 5 on 3

Yup, South is FOR REAL this year. Up Next...another tough task against Grafton at the UP Center

Posted: **Sat Dec 13, 2008 11:30 pm**

No Narveson for South either

Posted: **Sun Dec 14, 2008 12:44 am**

and sorenson...

Posted: **Sun Dec 14, 2008 12:47 am**

what were the reasons for them being out? if i may ask

Posted: **Sun Dec 14, 2008 12:51 am**

Bruins didnt have narveson or sorenson in their lineup either and still beat central in their own barn.. plus playing 2 men short pretty much the whole 2nd period.. also they scored four unanswered goals to quiet the knights. props to South on this one

Posted: **Sun Dec 14, 2008 12:55 am**

Timmay07 wrote:what were the reasons for them being out? if i may ask

word was that narveson had too many penalties in the north game, and sorenson was out with an ankle injury

Posted: **Sun Dec 14, 2008 1:07 am**

yea, tyler sorenson still has an ankle injury that isn't ready to play on yet. grafton is a possibility for playing

Posted: **Sun Dec 14, 2008 1:12 am**

nice little scrum towards the end of the game

Posted: **Sun Dec 14, 2008 11:38 am**

Nice little scrum at the end of the game? Central player(Cieklinski) gets a clean check on Orson, and then gets ran from behind, by a South player - that is called chicken s*it hockey. The scrum then ensued when Danny Ray(GFC) and others came into help their teammate. None of this would have happened if it weren't for that blatant cheap shot by South. South was shorthanded quite a bit of the game, and if Central had ever figured their power play, the score could have been reversed. The rematch in Fargo should be very interesting.

Posted: **Sun Dec 14, 2008 12:36 pm**

gfhockeyrules wrote:Nice little scrum at the end of the game? Central player(Cieklinski) gets a clean check on Orson, and then gets ran from behind, by a South player - that is called chicken s*it hockey. The scrum then ensued when Danny Ray(GFC) and others came into help their teammate. None of this would have happened if it weren't for that blatant cheap shot by South. South was shorthanded quite a bit of the game, and if Central had ever figured their power play, the score could have been reversed. The rematch in Fargo should be very interesting.

keep pointing fingers as to who's fault it is but the real thing that happened was just the fact that central was almost completely man handled even while having TWELVE powerplays in the second period and first two minutes of the third. usually when you go 0-14 as a powerplay it either means you are not a very good team or the opposing team is just that much better... and south outscored central 1-0 in that second period in the midst of killing off those 12 penalties

Posted: **Sun Dec 14, 2008 12:54 pm**

If you get outshot 36-22, you are not manhandling anyone. Like I said previously - the rematch will be very interesting in Fargo.

Posted: **Sun Dec 14, 2008 1:07 pm**

gfhockeyrules wrote:If you get outshot 36-22, you are not manhandling anyone. Like I said previously - the rematch will be very interesting in Fargo.

13 minutes of penalty kill in one period will get you outshot like that. south dominated central 5-5 no question

Posted: **Sun Dec 14, 2008 1:24 pm**

The most frustrating point of the game for Central came in the second period. The Knights had three 5-on-3 power-play opportunities but were unable to solve South goaltender Scott Buchholz.

Buchholz made 18 of his 35 saves in the period.

tell me that says south didnt deserve to win the game

Posted: **Sun Dec 14, 2008 1:40 pm**

sportsman101 wrote:The most frustrating point of the game for Central came in the second period. The Knights had three 5-on-3 power-play opportunities but were unable to solve South goaltender Scott Buchholz.

Buchholz made 18 of his 35 saves in the period.

tell me that says south didnt deserve to win the game

dont worry about that gfhockey guy, he's just sad that its true FARGO south is better than grand forks

Posted: **Sun Dec 14, 2008 1:53 pm**

OK OK, my first instinct was to just ignore this and not post a thing but I can't. Yes, GFC out shot South but when GFC decided to change it's power play lines 2 days before the game....this is what happens. I don't think that means GFC has a bad team. It just means we need to figure out our chemistry. Fargo made the most of their opportunities for sure. I wouldn't say South dominated 5 on 5 hockey. There were plenty of times GFC cycled the puck in the South zone. To South's credit, they are very sound defensively and their goalie is very much on his angles. All in all, it was an entertaining yet frustrating game. The rematch should be fun. Central has some work to do for sure.

Congrats to South, you beat GFC! End of story.

Posted: **Sun Dec 14, 2008 1:57 pm**

Shame I didn't get to go the game, I had business to do in Fargo yesterday, neither was it on the radio.

Central player(Cieklinski) gets a clean check on Orson, and then gets ran from behind, by a South player - that is called chicken s*it hockey. The scrum then ensued when Danny Ray(GFC) and others came into help their teammate. None of this would have happened if it weren't for that blatant cheap shot by South.

I heard about the game getting pretty chippy in the 3rd period, and I'd expect that as this is going to be a battle of teams for the top spot. South is a pretty big team, and hasn't been too worried about getting physical with other teams. From the description of the 'scrum' as I heard it, a clean hit was delivered by a South defenseman, and then another hit was done by a Central player. Since the score had recently doubled up, teams were pretty heated and a Central player charged a South player from behind during the scrum, which ended up getting 6 players in the box.
This was from a South parent, so it could be distorted.

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As for the game itself, it sounded like an interesting one. South got beat 1-0 in the first period. South put themselves in a lot of trouble by getting a bunch of penalties in the second, but Central couldn't capitalize and South walks out with a 1-0 2nd period win. The third period obviously got pretty physical and South took advantage of that to put in 3 more unanswered goals.

Sounded like a good game. Both teams obviously had their opportunities, it's just South took advantage of them and buried their chances. Buchholz obviously had an awesome night in net for South.

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Congrats to South for continuing their streak at the beginning of the season. They've deserved it so far. Especially if they were missing these players as said before. That's impressive that they can deal with missing two key players like that, while on the road. Central will need to fix some things offensively if they wish to get by South's defensive core, especially their goaltender.

North Dakota Preps

Game of the Week (3) - Fargo South at Grand Forks Central

Game of the Week (3) - Fargo South at Grand Forks Central

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Re: Game of the Week (3) - Fargo South at Grand Forks Central

Re: Game of the Week (3) - Fargo South at Grand Forks Central

Re: Game of the Week (3) - Fargo South at Grand Forks Central

Re: Game of the Week (3) - Fargo South at Grand Forks Central

Re: Game of the Week (3) - Fargo South at Grand Forks Central

Re: Game of the Week (3) - Fargo South at Grand Forks Central

Re: Game of the Week (3) - Fargo South at Grand Forks Central

Re: Game of the Week (3) - Fargo South at Grand Forks Central

Re: Game of the Week (3) - Fargo South at Grand Forks Central

Re: Game of the Week (3) - Fargo South at Grand Forks Central

Re: Game of the Week (3) - Fargo South at Grand Forks Central

Re: Game of the Week (3) - Fargo South at Grand Forks Central

Re: Game of the Week (3) - Fargo South at Grand Forks Central

Re: Game of the Week (3) - Fargo South at Grand Forks Central

Re: Game of the Week (3) - Fargo South at Grand Forks Central

Re: Game of the Week (3) - Fargo South at Grand Forks Central

Re: Game of the Week (3) - Fargo South at Grand Forks Central

Re: Game of the Week (3) - Fargo South at Grand Forks Central

Re: Game of the Week (3) - Fargo South at Grand Forks Central

Re: Game of the Week (3) - Fargo South at Grand Forks Central

Re: Game of the Week (3) - Fargo South at Grand Forks Central

Re: Game of the Week (3) - Fargo South at Grand Forks Central

Re: Game of the Week (3) - Fargo South at Grand Forks Central