North Dakota Preps

With the exception of Central (6), West Fargo has the most 20-point scorers returning (5). What are some predictions on their standings/success this year?

i think wf will definately be in the top 4 this year especially with grafton graduating pretty much all their goal scorers and their goalie
a week point for wf could be goaltending but i may be wrong

WF will be top 4.

West Fargo just keeps getting better every year, and I think that this year, next year, and the year after that will be the climax. Goaltending would be the only week spot, but the defensemen for WF are top-of-the-line. I think they will contend.

theman wrote:West Fargo just keeps getting better every year, and I think that this year, next year, and the year after that will be the climax. Goaltending would be the only week spot, but the defensemen for WF are top-of-the-line. I think they will contend.

I don't understand how Goaltending would be their weak spot, Cameron Holland has been solid every time i have seen them play.

penguinshockey15 wrote:

theman wrote:West Fargo just keeps getting better every year, and I think that this year, next year, and the year after that will be the climax. Goaltending would be the only week spot, but the defensemen for WF are top-of-the-line. I think they will contend.

I don't understand how Goaltending would be their weak spot, Cameron Holland has been solid every time i have seen them play.

I will quote myself by referring to what I said about goaltending 'would' be their only weak spot, which implies that it could be, but it also might not be. It's the part of the team with the best chance of being a weak spot.

theman wrote:West Fargo just keeps getting better every year, and I think that this year, next year, and the year after that will be the climax. Goaltending would be the only week spot, but the defensemen for WF are top-of-the-line. I think they will contend.

Unfortunately for West Fargo, it seems to be a large trend that defensive teams in North Dakota haven't been fairing very well. A goalie also doesn't have to be the best, it's when he's hot that truly matters. Even great goalies can choke games because they're cold.

I'll review a little bit:
2009 - Red River -> Goaltender gets hot hot hot, all pressure is based off rushes which end up being successful. Defense is 'just there' compared to South and Bismarck.
2008 - Grafton -> Clearly didn't have a very experienced defensive core, but their high-guy rushing offense kept the other teams on their heels. Red River clearly had far better defense here, by a long shot. As did most of the other top 8 teams at state.
2007 - Red River -> This is probably closest of the ones I've listed, This year was pretty much a big fight between RR/South, South was more defensive because RR had younger defense but they weren't a slouch at all. Red River had capitalizing forwards and South didn't have as many.
2006 - South -> Probably the most offensive team I've seen in a while. This is the ~30-0 Wahp year, correct? Either way, they had a lot of players that had a knack for scoring and put up a ton of pressure, even though their defense was pretty solid they seemed to focus on rushing.

I'm not saying it will happen again, as anything can happen, but WF will have to generate their offensive talent a lot.

i think that west fargo, if they play well, will finish 3rd in the east. but with north and red river (these teams could also be a 3rd spot) they either could be 4 or 5th. it's hard to say right now in the pre-season

purple_drank wrote:i think that west fargo, if they play well, will finish 3rd in the east. but with north and red river (these teams could also be a 3rd spot) they either could be 4 or 5th. it's hard to say right now in the pre-season

I really think, based on last years team, West Fargo should be going to state this year if they're coached decently and their players work for it.
Once you're in state, anything can happen.

I think West Fargo has the best penalty kill in the state with the best PK killer in the state Nathan Borchart

I would have to disagree the two PK of the Central and Fargo south have been by far the most dominte as of late. Central Knights have Jordy Aamott and Brenden Gust who may be more dangerous short handed then even strenght. Secondly the speed of the Bruins potent offense shows what they can do while killing a penalty with orsen and stelricht

i agree. it just seems like the speed of the south top players far outmatches wf's. i think south has the most aggressive and best pk. but i also think some of that has to do with all their experience from being a man down frequently. im interested in seeing how the ref's call the games this season.

hockeyboss wrote:i agree. it just seems like the speed of the south top players far outmatches wf's. i think south has the most aggressive and best pk. but i also think some of that has to do with all their experience from being a man down frequently. im interested in seeing how the ref's call the games this season.

hockeyboss has a point. South does naturally get a lot of penalties for whatever reason (Physicality, playstyle, maybe even reffing) and that gives them a leg up in this category. However, I'd rather be even strength than a man down any day.

Some examples of Penalties/Team 2008-2009:
Fargo South - 189
Bismarck High - 166
Grafton PR - 158
West Fargo - 150
GFC - 147
Bismarck Century - 142
Williston - 103
GFRR - 86

RR being the only team below 100, maybe it's because of their discipline, size or whatever, but compared to other teams they likely wouldn't have the PK that say, South or Bismarck did. However, it's always better to be 5v5 then be good at PK. Watch the BHS/RR ship game for proof of that. Not much BHS could do though, they were away and they were a much larger team; other than that outburst at the end. As for WF, they simply don't have the skill of South/Bismarck/Central (as per last year), and bottling up the middle doesn't make an effective PK.

ilovendhockey wrote:I think West Fargo has the best penalty kill in the state with the best PK killer in the state Nathan Borchart

what???

They wont get worse