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Wrapping up the Kiwanis Tournament

After watching all or part of 24 hockey games over the past three days at the annual Kiwanis Festival, I started to forget what city I was even in. But, there's not much better than spending three days at Graham Arena this time of year. If you made it out there, you saw some good hockey and some talented individual players.

One fan asked if I could pick an all-tournament team, which sounds like a good idea, since tournament organizers do not name all-tournament teams for the Class AA or Class A tournaments. I could probably put together two six-player teams, but we'll stick with one right now. Here goes. Feel free to point out my ignorance if I miss a player who should've been on here:

F — Mitch McLain, Brainerd. It'd be easy for McLain to get overshadowed, playing alongside the third forward on this list, but McLain came through at key moments for the Warriors. He had two goals (including the game winner) and an assist in the 5-3 Class AA championship game victory against Fargo South. McLain led the tournament with 7 goals and finished with 10 points.
F — Jason Samuelson, Lourdes. The sophomore forward was a scoring machine for the Eagles in the tournament. He said he was often in the right place at the right time, but that's a knack that good goal scorers have. Samuelson had nine points in the tourney (6-3—9), including five goals against Dodge County in Tuesday's opening round.
F — Josh Archibald, Brainerd. The senior forward was hands-down the best player on the ice at the tournament. He had 10 points in the tournament (5-5—10), and he was tremendous at both ends of the ice. His slapshot left at least two goalies shaking their heads, and in the championship against Fargo South, Archibald blasted a slapshot from the blue line that the South goalie stopped by getting his body in front of it. The shot drove the goalie back into his net, nearly knocking him off his feet. He's the fourth-leading scorer in the state and will play Division I college hockey somewhere.

D — Mark Munger, Eau Claire Memorial. The big, physical defenseman didn't have a point in the tournament, but he wasn't on the ice for an opponent's goal, either. Munger rarely left the ice and was a key reason why Memorial reached the final. He and defensive partner Michael Kapla were physical with Rochester Lourdes' forwards in a 2-0 semifinal victory. They made it difficult for Lourdes to enter the zone and didn't allow the Eagles to get in a rhythm.
D — Bill Carlson, Fargo South. The senior had nine points in the tournament (4-5—9), including two of South's three goals in a 5-3 Class AA championship game loss to Brainerd.

G — Blake Burgau, New Ulm. Burgau was outstanding in all three games for the Class A champion Eagles. He made 26 saves in their 2-0 championship game victory against Wisconsin's No 1-ranked team, Eau Claire Memorial. Burgau made 17 of those saves in the third period. He was fundamentally sound and kept his composure when the game got physical.

At least three other goalies could have filled that last spot on the all-tournament team. Eau Claire Memorial's Saxton Soley allowed just one goal in three games and did a tremendous job of smothering the puck, not surrendering rebounds. Mayo's Alex Van Galder was also outstanding, having to stop a lot of shots all three days. I'm guessing AVG has some bruises today, might be a little sore. He made 107 saves over the three days. Lourdes' Nick Heimer belongs in this group, too. He didn't face a lot of shots in the three tourney games, but the saves he made were stops on quality scoring chances.

As for the best game of the tournament? There are three that come to mind immediately. This is my fifth Kiwanis tournament, and my 11th year as a sports writer. I've sat through a lot of close games, so just being a close game doesn't make it a candidate for the best game. I've narrowed this list down to the games where, late in the third period, I found myself being drawn in as a hockey fan, without thinking about it. Here they are:

3. Class A championship, New Ulm 2, Eau Claire Memorial 0. When Blake Burgau was making save after save in the third period, I started to wonder just how long he could hold off a hard-charging Memorial team, the No. 1-ranked team in Wisconsin. Memorial put 17 shots on goal in the third period. Burgau stopped them all and the couple of times where he gave up a bad rebound, one of his defensemen cleared it. Great effort down the stretch by both teams, and an intense ending to a well-played championship game.

2. Class AA seventh place game, JM 2, Mayo 1, OT. Believe me, I'm normally the first to say a seventh place game belongs nowhere near a list like this, but this game wasn't your normal seventh-place game. As mentioned above, Mayo goalie Alex Van Galder was very good, as was JM goalie Jacob Garvey. Van Galder made 46 saves, while Garvey made 28. The officials decided to make themselves noticed in overtime — unfortunately — calling six total penalties in OT, most of which weren't warranted at that stage in the game. But, they called what they called, and JM's Kyle Andrews finished off a nice pass from Ryan Lakin in the final minute of OT for the victory. Hopefully, when they meet again on Jan. 15 at Graham Arena, we see a regular season game with the same intensity and hard-nosed play.

1. Class A semifinal, Eau Claire Memorial 2, Lourdes 0. In a battle of two unbeaten teams, Memorial was able to take away Lourdes' strengths — its speed and puck movement — by clogging up passing lanes and not allowing Lourdes to get quality scoring chances from close range. Both goalies — Saxton Soley from Memorial and Nick Heimer from Lourdes — were on their game. Soley didn't give Lourdes talented forwards any rebounds to jump on, and Heimer was the same on the other end. Memorial's physical play was borderline dirty at times. It's not bad to walk that fine line, but you hate to see players get hurt because of it (two Lourdes players received concussions from high elbows that weren't called). Either way, both teams left the tourney with one loss and aspirations for a state championship.

Happy New Year's: Ice Hawks edition

PHERSY: The Rochester Ice Hawks are set to kick off the second half of their season tonight at the Rochester Recreation Center against their rivals from Granite City, the Lumberjacks.

That's right, the Hawks get the Jacks during the annual New Year's Eve game at the Rec! They're dropping the puck over there at 7:05 tonight.

And there's a twist.

In addition to all the regular New Year's Eve festivities, the Ice Hawks will be revealing their new sweaters tonight. I've seen them ... actually I was texted another photo of these bad boys last night, but I have been sworn to secrecy. These new sweaters are so secret, the Ice Hawks aren't even wearing them out for warmups. Fans will see them for the first time when the Hawks leave the locker room for game time!

They are amazing, just an FYI. Old school meets new school, and after seeing them, I already want one!

So, the Rec Center is the place to be tonight ... I'd argue you will have a hard time finding cheaper entertainment for the whole family on this New Year's Eve.

And the Hawks won't be done after tonight. They hit the ice right away again New Year's Day night, at 7:05, against the Minnesota Owls, back at the Rec Center. So, spend the weekend with the Hawks!

So, first up, the Jacks. Granite City brings a 19-7-0-0 record into the game and they're the only team within striking distance of the Hawks in the MnJHL standings. The Hawks are 21-2-0-1 and have 43 points in 24 games, while the Jacks have 38 points in 26 games.

The Jacks have one of the league's top players in Bobby Chayka, who is No. 5 on the MnJHL scoring leaders list with 32 points. They also have two of the league's best goalies, with No. 1 Matt Grove (second in saves percentage at .918) and No. 2 Zac Enstrom (third in saves percentage at .916). Of course, both guys are chasing the Ice Hawks stellar netminder, Cory Simons, who has a .936 saves percentage. Simons also leads the league in shutouts (3), wins (16) and goals-against average (1.79).

Fatis continues to praise the Lumberjacks' blue line and overall team speed. The Hawks most recently defeated the Jacks at the MnJHL Showcase, winning 3-2. The Hawks went on to beat the Flying Aces to claim a second straight MnJHL Showcase title.

"They're a well-stocked team, that's for sure," coach Nick Fatis said this morning. "They're what we expected them to be. They're big, they're fast, they're physical and they're well-coached. I feel they're much closer to us than the records would indicate. When you step on the ice with them, you expect a battle, and I'm sure that's what we'll get."

Now there is some serious bad news for the Ice Hawks this weekend. They will be without the league's leading scorer. That's right, Shaun Walters has been suspended for the weekend for that debacle against Hudson a few weeks ago. "It stinks, and it means we won't be at full strength at all," Fatis said. "I mean, you don't lose the league's leading scorer and not see a drop-off."

The Ice Hawks also will be without Brent Duwe tonight. His suspension is over after tonight, though, so he will play against the Owls on Saturday.

"We were able to get a little bit healthy over the break, but we're still battling some small injuries and some sickness," Fatis said. "With all the illness, injuries and suspensions, we'll be far from full strength. Honestly, it's one of those weekends where we'll feel pretty good about ourselves if we can get a split and get out of here with two points."

Fatis said he's very excited for tonight's annual New Year's Eve game festivities. "It's always a good time and a good crowd," Fatis said. "And the new jerseys, well they're pretty sick. We were setting them up in the locker room last night, and a few of the players walked in. It was the first time they'd seen them, and they went nuts."

On Saturday, the Hawks get the Owls, who are struggling a bit right now. They recently lost to the last-place Minnesota Wildcats. The Owls enter with a 12-13-0-1 record. They're in sixth place in the league standings with 25 points.

"The Owls are kind of hitting a midseason slump. But they made some roster changes over the break, so I'm sure we'll need to feel them out a bit early on Saturday," Fatis said. "You can't trade jabs with them, though. We need to drop the hammer and play hard and we'll be fine."

That's it folks! Get to the Rec Center for some family fun this weekend! And cheer the Hawks on against the Jacks at 7:05 tonight and against the Owls at 7:05 Saturday.

High school hockey tonight ... and Merry Christmas

FELDY: Merry Christmas, Faceoff Faithful! (Yes, I'm sticking with Merry Christmas instead of the generic and P.C. 'Happy Holidays' that most stores and businesses are focing employees to go with these days.)

I'm nn vacation for a few more days, so unless Phersy remembers that he can post to this blog, there won't be many posts until the high school tournaments get in swing next week. I might even make a post on the Twins moves (or lack of moves) so far this offseason, if I can string my thoughts together. I'll try to post something Sunday or Monday in advance of the Kiwanis hockey festival. The previews for that tourney will run in Saturday's print edition of the P-B, so pick one up. Or pick up multiple copies to share with your friends and family, or simply to wrap your last-minute purchases in. (hey, newsprint is a lot cheaper than a roll of wrapping paper)

All right, on to today's high school hockey games. Century and JM are off; Lourdes is at Holy Family Catholic in Victoria; Mayo plays host to Lakeville North.

TONIGHT'S GAMES

LAKEVILLE NORTH at MAYO
When: Tonight, 7:30 p.m.
Where: Graham Arena I
Records: North 3-2-0, Mayo 3-3-0
Last game: North defeated Rochester Century, 6-1, on Tuesday; Mayo lost at Farmington, 8-1, on Tuesday.
Spotlight players: North goalie Charlie Lindgren is (rightfully) the most talked-about player on the team, but junior F Blake Winiecki is off to a strong start, averaging more than 2 points per game (11 points in five games). Winiecki, at 6-feet-1, 180 pounds, opened some eyes in North's first game this season, when he netted a hat trick agains No. 2-ranked Eden Prairie in a 7-4 North loss. ... Mayo junior D Steve Serratore notched his first goal of the season in the Spartans' loss at Farmington on Tuesday. Mayo could use more scoring from Serratore and fellow D Jack Dingle, especially if the second and third forward lines struggle to produce points.
Of note: A Mayo victory would give Spartans coach Lorne Grosso his 616th career victory, tying him with legendary Edina coach Willard Ikola for most by a coach of a Minnesota high school hockey team. ... The Mayo alumni game will take place at Graham Arena following the varsity game.

LOURDES at HOLY FAMILY CATHOLIC
When: 7 p.m. tonight
Where: Victoria Recreation Center
Records: No. 3 Lourdes 8-0-0; HFC 3-2-0.
Last game: Lourdes beat Northfield, 7-2, on Tuesday; HFC lost to Providence Academy, 5-4, on Dec. 14.
Spotlight players: Lourdes senior D Sam Slightam recorded his first two points of the season (both assists) in the Eagles' 7-2 victory against Northfield on Tuesday. It's a good sign for the unbeaten Eagles that their four football players (who missed the first two hockey games due to Lourdes deep run in the football playoffs) are rounding into shape. Slightam's big, physical presence adds a lot to the Eagles' blue line. ... Holy Family senior D Brady Riesgraf can make plays from the blue line. He has a team-best 17 points (5-12--17) through just five games, including a whopping 9-point game in HFC's season-opening victory against Mankato East on Nov. 30. Riesgraf has three assists in each of his past two games -- a 6-2 win against New Prague on Dec. 9 and a 5-4 loss to Providence Academy on Dec. 14.
Of note: Lourdes defeated HFC in the state Class AAA football championship last month. ... This will be the fourth game against a Section 1A team for Holy Family Catholic, which is in Section 2A. HFC is 2-1 so far against Section 1A.

 

Outdoor football in late December ... from a fan's perspective

FELDY: It's no secret that, when it comes to the Vikings, I fully admit to being a rube. I've had season tickets for 13 years (and this underlying need to constantly point out that me having tickets has nothing to do with being a sports writer; I had them for five years before I got into the biz).

So, when I watched last night's game from one of the lower level corners at TCF Bank Stadium, I was among 40,000 who decided instantly that the Vikings need to play in one of these outdoor things some teams play football in.

Honestly, had the game been played at Metrodome, I likely wouldn't have braved the roads to watch. But, this was more than a football game for Vikings fans, particularly of my generation. It's the first time many of the 40,000 fans had watched the Vikes play an outdoor football game at home. Most of us have only seen highlights of games from Met Stadium.

The group I was with arrived at TCF more than 90 minutes before kickoff and still found very good seats (about 12 rows up in the lower level, corner on the closed end of the horseshoe). The pre-game atmosphere was like it was a Christmas party with 40,000 people you didn't know, but had some sort of bond with (maybe it's the bond of following so many losing teams?). 

I'm guessing many of the 40,000 also had found shelter at one of the nearby watering holes before hand, which made the pre-game atmosphere all the better. None of the concerns I had heard before the game materialized: People fighting over seats or stealing seats when others went to the bathroom or concession stands.

The only trouble I saw all night was a couple of drunk college kids/idiots get hauled out by the police after throwing snowballs toward the field. And another idiot in a Packers jersey and a cheesehead trying to pick a fight with Vikings fans AND Bears fans because he was getting picked on. Ummm, memo to football fans: When your team's two biggest rivals are playing and you show up in your team's jersey (not to mention the styrofoam brick on your head), you might expect that people are going to give you a hard time.

As for the game, the Vikings first drive was a lot of fun; I have to say it's the first time I've seen fans throwing handfuls of snow up in the air after a Vikings TD at a home game. It was an electric atmosphere ... then Chicago decided to wake up and play.

For most Vikings fans, the loss didn't taint the experience, because we fully expected to come out on the losing end, and we've long ago checked out on this season, much like the Vikings players.

At the risk of turning this into a stadium debate, last night's game probably changed no one's opinion about whether or not the Vikings should get a new place to play. But it certainly made the fans who were there believe even more strongly that it should happen.

 

H.S. Hockey tonight | Dec. 21, 2010

Sorry for the lack of posts in the past few days. Had some family in town to celebrate an early Christmas, then had an all-day adventure yesterday to get to and from the Vikings game (which had an incredible atmosphere, but bad outcome!).

But back to hockey. All four Rochester teams are in action tonight, with all three Big Nine teams on the road.

CENTURY at LAKEVILLE NORTH
When: 7:30 p.m. tonight
Where: Ames Arena, Lakeville
Records: Century 3-2-0; North 2-2-0.
Last game: Century beat Austin, 13-0, on Saturday. North upset No. 8-ranked Eagan, 2-1, on Saturday.
Spotlight players: Junior D Wyatt Travis has taken over Century's team lead in scoring after a six-point night against Austin on Saturday. Travis is one of Century's best defensive defensemen, too, and the Panthers need him to play his aggressive style, but to stay out of the box as much as he can. ... North has one of the better goalies in the state, junior Charlie Lindgren, who made an astounding 54 saves in the victory against Eagan on Saturday. North has played a tough schedule so far, also facing No. 2 Eden Prairie, Eastview and Prior Lake. Lindgren has faced a lot of shots, and gave up a combined 16 goals in the first three games, but he showed he's capable of putting this team on his back.
Of note: Century hasn't won a non-Big Nine Conference game yet, but is unbeaten in conference play. ... The outcome of this game will be big for seeding purposes for the Section 1AA playoffs. Century and North always seem to meet somewhere along the way in the postseason. ... North is 2-1-0 in South Suburban Conference play.

JM at MANKATO WEST
When: 7:30 p.m. tonight
Where: All Seasons Arena, Mankato
Records: JM 1-1-0 Big Nine, 3-3-0 overall; West 3-0-0, 5-2-0
Last game: JM fell to St. Paul Johnson, 3-0, on Dec. 14; West defeated Mankato East, 9-1, on Saturday.
Spotlight players: Sophomore C Gavin Sandwick has not only made an immediate impact on the Rockets' varsity, but he has stepped right in on the top line, centering veterans Eric Mackey and Zach Johnson. Sandwick has at least a point in five of JM's six games this season and is second on the team with seven points. ... Pop quiz: Who is the state's leading goal-scorer at this moment? He's 6-foot, 180-pound senior F Ville Rantanen from West. Rantanen has 21 goals through seven games, and 26 points total. He has recorded four hat tricks this season, including a six-goal game (Dec. 2 at Waconia) and a five-goal game (Dec. 7 at Waseca). Say what you want about strength of schedule, but lots of teams around the state don't play tough schedules. Rantanen clearly can score. We'll see how JM's defense handles him.
Of note: This game was originally scheduled for last Thursday, but was postponed because of poor weather.

MAYO at FARMINGTON
When: 7:15 p.m. tonight
Where: Schmitz-Maki Arena, Farmington
Records: Mayo 3-2-0; Farmington 4-3-0.
Last game: Mayo won at Owatonna, 5-3, on Saturday; Farmington beat Shakopee, 6-1, on Friday.
Spotlight players: Mayo G Alex VanGalder has earned the confidence of the coaching staff and continues to be the main man in goal for the Spartans. His numbers (4.40 GAA, .824 save pct.) are a bit skewed because of a loss to Park in which Mayo allowed 10 goals (and the Mayo coaching staff has said that it was a poor performance by the entire team that night; the blame doesn't belong on the goalie). If VanGalder continues to have the coaches' confidence, that means Mayo is getting better and better. ... Farmington G Victor Simones (4-1-0) has been strong in his five starts and appears to be the Tigers' No. 1 goalie. He has allowed more than two goals in a game just once and carries a 1.60 goals-agains average and a .930 save pct. Farmington's defense has also been good in front of him; Simones hasn't faced more than 28 shots in a game.

NORTHFIELD at LOURDES
When: 7:30 p.m. tonight
Where: Graham Arena I
Records: No. 3 Lourdes 7-0-0; Northfield 2-2-0
Last game: No. 3 Lourdes beat No. 17 St. Cloud Cathedral, 4-3, in OT on Saturday at Graham Arena. Northfield defeated Red Wing, 4-1, last Thursday.
Spotlight players: Northfield senior D Jared Docken hasn't scored a goal yet this season, but it appears he is one of the Raiders' better playmakers. He has a team-best six assists through four games, including three on Dec. 7 against a good Holy Family Catholic team. ... Lourdes junior F Landon Farrell is off to a good start, both on the scoresheet and in the coaches' eyes. Eagles coach Josh Spaniol has praised Farrell's effort on more than one occassion this season, including after the 4-3 OT win against St. Cloud Cathedral on Saturday. Spaniol said Farrell brought a lot of energy to the ice and created a lot of chances. Farrell is tied for third on the team in scoring with seven points (2-5--7).
Of note:

 

JM hockey game ppd.; Mayo on as of now

FELDY: We just received word from JM co-head coach Jared Skovbroten that tonight's game against Mankato West has been postponed because of today's snowfall. The game was scheduled to be played at Mankato's All Seasons Arena. No makeup date has been set as of yet.

This makes two postponements in the past three scheduled games for JM. Their game against Rochester Century, scheduled for this past Saturday, was also postponed because of the snowstorm. That game has been rescheduled for 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 15, at the Rec Center.

As of now, Mayo's game tonight against Mankato East, at Graham Arena, is still on as scheduled. Century and Lourdes are off today, so the "High School Hockey Today" will be a short one:

MANKATO EAST at MAYO
When: 7:30 p.m. tonight
Where: Graham Arena I
Records: East 0-1-0 Big Nine, 1-4-0 overall; Mayo 0-1-0, 2-2-0
Last game: East lost at Austin, 6-4, on Tuesday; Mayo lost at John Marshall, 5-2, last Thursday
Spotlight players: East was loaded with seniors last year; it's top four scorers so far this season -- led by junior F Ben Neyers (1-3--4) -- had no points a year ago. Neyers collected three of his points in a 5-4 victory against Windom on Dec. 4. Dylan Boettcher also has four points (3-1--4) and is the team's leading goal-scorer. ... Mayo senior F Derek McMasters (4-0--4) leads the team in goals, with four, after scoring two all of last season. McMasters scored one in Mayo's last game, a 5-2 loss to JM. He scored on a breakaway after a nice long feed from D Jack Dingle.
Of note: Counting this game, Mayo still has four games remaining before Christmas break (also, Sat. at Owatonna, Tues. at Farmington and Dec. 23 against Lakeville North).

 

Live Ice Hawks blog coming up in 5 minutes

PHERSY: The Ice Hawks just hit the ice for warmups, so the blog will be live in about five minutes. I'll post the lineup here, and then I'll put it on the blog too when I go live.

I hope you'll join us!

OFFENSIVE LINES
Tyler Sheppard-Charles Gallagher-Ivan Zamboj

Morgan Sanchez-Shaun Walters-George Jackson

Michael Ohlsson-Trevor Lloyd-Trevor Wight

Alex Whitney-Jake Sikkema-Brent Duwe

DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS
Adam Truex-Nick LaRue

Derek Rahme-Brock Stahlke

Tyler Roberg-Rick Weber

GOALIES
Cory Simons

Lawrence Dvorak

SCRATCHES
Cory Volk, Alex Dewitz, Harley Manus, Drew Carlson, Shaun Foster, Andrew Bromberg

Can we just blow up the Dome already?

FELDY: As our guy Phersy notes in Thursday's Faceoff column (please, please buy the print edition to read it. Please. I won't beg you, but please pick one up. Please.), he slowed down the Fox TV footage of the Metrodome's collapse on Saturday night, and clear as the daylight coming through the gaping hole, there it was: Zygi Wilf standing atop the Dome holding a pair of giant scissors.

OK, that may be stretching, but the point is there: Can we just get rid of the Metrodome already? It's clearly run its course; it's long been outdated (it wasn't close to state-of-the-art when it was built).

And with the collapse of a fourth panel on Wednesday, the cost to fix the dump of a Dome just went up by hundreds of thousands of dollars.

And, on a tangent here, do you know who is most enjoying the Dome's collapse? My bet is on Ozzie Guillen. The collapse came about five years too late for Guillen's liking, but I'm sure he and White Sox fans have long dreamt of this day.

Back to the point, can we just tear the friggin' Metrodome down? Why put seven figures into fixing the thing when it's inevitable that the Vikings are going to get a new stadium (or, even if the Vikes happen to leave town, the Dome's remaining lifespan is not long).

I'm guessing Guillen would be first in line to send the first wrecking ball into the side of the big cement box. Well, he'd be first in line after he pushed Zygi out of the way.

H.S. Hockey | Roch. teams still searching for identities

FELDY: Still early in the season, so there's no reason to panic, get too high or too low based on what you've seen from your favorite Rochester high school hockey team. But after talking to Lourdes coach Josh Spaniol after last night's 4-0 Eagles win, something struck me: All four Rochester teams have played at least four games, and all are in a similar boat, searching for their identity.

Let's take a look at each of the four teams, who they are right now and who they want to become. I've seen all or parts of games for three teams, and am reading between the lines from what all four coaches have told me about their teams. Feel free to tell me what I'm missing, or that I'm completely off base. All of the coaches in town want to have a good idea of their team's strengths and weaknesses by the time the Kiwanis Tournament rolls around in two weeks. They all should know by then.

Like I said, it's still really early, so don't get too worked up yet. This stuff was just rattling around in my head, so thought I'd share it. Here we go, alphabetically:

CENTURY PANTHERS
Who they are now: A 2-2 team, but 2-0 in the Big Nine Conference. The Panthers always seem to battle injury issues early in the season and this year is no different. They've played without Matt Mills, Blake Heroff, Tyler Iverson and Joe Canakes at times already this season, and Mills suffered another injury in Tuesday's win against Owatonna. Their wakeup call may have come in the season opener, when White Bear Lake scored 11 goals in a shutout. The Panthers also need to stay out of the box; they're taking a lot of penalties and they won't survive in the Big Nine or the Section 1AA playoffs if they're in the box that much.
Who they can be: Aside from that season-opening loss at WBL, coach Bruce Frutiger has praised his team's work ethic every night out, saying it's been better in each game.

JOHN MARSHALL ROCKETS
Who they are now: A 3-3 team that shows flashes of brilliance, but needs to carry that through all three periods each night out. Sophomore goalie Jacob Garvey was thrown right into the fire and has handled himself well. JM has depth up front and on the blue line and has received scoring from all of its lineup, a good sign.
Who they can be: They can be among the best teams in the Big Nine, if they can maintain their focus for 51 minutes. This team has a terrific blend of talent in its upperclassmen and young players. Sophomore F Gavin Sandwick is centering the top line and looks entirely comfortable doing so. Sophomore D Alex McGinn is providing valuable depth and he's being rewarded with more ice time, giving JM five solid d-men. If the Rockets start winning some third periods, they'll be right in the hunt for conference and section titles.

LOURDES EAGLES
Who they are now: The No. 3-ranked team in Class A, 6-0-0, but coach Josh Spaniol always wants his team to strive to play a perfect game, with all 20 guys jelling as one. He said he hasn't seen that yet, but guess what? It's the middle of December and the Eagles haven't lost a game. Last year at this time, the Eagles weren't jelling, either, but they also weren't winning. They ended up being one of the hottest teams in the state come late February.
Who they can be: A serious contender for not only a section title but -- dare we say it? -- a state title. Coach Spaniol probably won't like me saying that -- and you know he will not let the players talk about it or believe it, yet -- but it's true. There's enough talent on this team to not only get back to state, but to make some noise up in St. Paul. Good enough to beat St. Thomas Academy? Hey, anything's possible. The sky's the limit for this team, but only if all 20 guys realize what kind of work ethic it's going to take to get there.

MAYO SPARTANS
Who they are now: They're 2-2 and have been up and down through those four games. They're young, with some sophomores getting ice time and possibly earning more as the season goes along. They've received scoring from more than just one or two players already, which is a good sign. They'll need to keep that up. Balanced scoring -- from forwards and d-men -- will be a key for this team. Goaltending -- which coach Lorne Grosso said is the key for this year's team -- has been up and down, too.
Who they can be: As mentioned above, it looks like the Spartans could go as their goalies go. Senior Alex Van Galder has looked strong in a couple starts, and not so strong in a couple of others. Mayo has already lost once to rival John Marshall, and with the two Lakeville schools in the section, it might be difficult to earn home ice (a top-four seed) for the first round of the section playoffs. There's no reason Mayo can't be a top-five team in the Big Nine and Section 1AA. And the early part of the Spartans schedule sets up nicely; if Mayo can gain some confidence early, this team could find itself playing on Section Semifinal Saturday at the Rec Center.

Ice Hawks: Live blog from the MnJHL Showcase!

PHERSY: OK Ice Hawks fans, the live blog is back!

I will be blogging live from rink-side at the Schwan's Super Rink in Blaine bright and early Thursday morning from the Ice Hawks game against the Granite City Lumberjacks during the Minnesota Junior Hockey League Showcase.

I will go live with the blog at 10:15 a.m., with the game beginning at 10:30. So if you can't make it up to Blaine on Thursday morning, catch the game with me at postbulletin.com. Just head to the main page at postbulletin.com and watch for the link.

In case you missed it, my preview of the Ice Hawks at the showcase ran in Wednesday's print edition. Grab a copy if you need some good quotes from coach!

That's all I've got for now ... hope you'll join me on the live blog. I'll get the lines, defensive pairings and starting goalie up at 10:15 and hopefully I'll have an audio interview with coach before the game.

Ugh, that early wake-up call isn't going to be pretty ... bus is leaving town at 5:45 a.m. I better get to bed.