Faceoff

Hockey | Notes, notes, notes

Posted by: Feldman

Hockey notes in June? Why the heck not?

* High school hockey teams around the state are into their summer practice/scrimmage schedules. I'll try to get out to the Rochester teams practices and post some updates. They can practice the rest of this week, then have a mandatory week off for the Independence Day holiday, then practice again the following week.

* Former Roseau and Warroad high school boys hockey coach Bruce Olson died Tuesday in Rochester after a battle with liver cancer that spread quickly. Olson was just 55 years old. He led Roseau to the Class AA state championship in 1999. He also coached the Bemidji State women's hockey team for three-plus seasons. He played college hockey at Minnesota-Duluth, graduating from the school in 1979. He had 93 points in 137 career games.

* The P-B's Scott Kolb broke the news a couple of weeks ago that Austin has a new boys hockey coach. Erik LaRock, who played college hockey at St. Mary's in Winona and has coached in Austin Youth Hockey for three years, will be the Packers' new head coach. LaRock has also coached the Austin girls golf team the past two seasons. He replaces Tim Peterson, who was the Packers head coach for three seasons.

* Another Big Nine Conference and Section 1A team, Faribault, will also have a new head coach. Dean Weasler will replace Brad Ryan as the boys hockey head man. Weasler was the head JV coach at Farmington the past two seasons. He has also coached at Burnsville, Eastview and with the St. Cloud State women's team.

* The Star Tribune reported today that four standout high school players have decided to leave their teams early to play in the USHL. Among them is center John Wiitala of defending Section 1AA champion Lakeville South. Wiitala, who had been voted a team captain for this coming season, will now play for Waterloo of the USHL. That's good news for the rest of the section; bad news for high school hockey that these guys are leaving. I don't blame these guys for moving on to the USHL, I just hate to see good high school players leave their teams, especially teams that have a shot at getting to the state tournament.

The other three leaving their schools are Maple Grove defenseman Jordan Gross (USNTDP or Green Bay), Hill-Murray forward Jake Guentzel, son of Gophers' assistant Mike Guentzel (Sioux City) and Duluth East forward Connor Valesano (Sioux Falls).

* I'd like to tell you that I was told at the Wild Road Tour on Monday that it's a lock that Zach Parise will sign with our favorite NHL club on Sunday when free agency opens. I'd like to tell you that, but I can't. Like the rest of you, though, I've read/heard that the Wild is going to throw Craig Leipold's checkbook at him at 11:00:01 a.m. Sunday. I wouldn't be shocked if the Wild offer Parise $9-$10 million/year over an 8-to-10-year deal.That's not a huge deal in the NBA, NFL or MLB, but it's as big of annual salary as you'll see in the NHL. Parise may not sign with the Wild, but they won't be outbid. I could see him winding up in Pittsburgh. I could see him winding up in Detroit. New Jersey seems like more of a long shot to me, only because, if he absolutely wanted to stay there, he would've worked it out already.

As for defense, my fellow Faceoff writer, Phersy, is convinced the Wild needs to take the bank to Ryan Suter's 110-plus acre ranch. Personally, where defense is concerned, I'd rather see the Wild make a strong push for someone like Florida's Jason Garrison (now that Washington's Dennis Wideman has had his rights traded to Calgary, and signed a 5-year deal with the Flames). Garrison is a strong two-way player who'll command a big salary, but not in the range of Suter's.

TSN -- Canada's version of ESPN -- has a great free agency tracker that you can check out here.

Boys Hockey | Looking at Section 1AA

Posted by: Feldman

The boys hockey regular season comes to a close on Saturday and it doesn't look like much can happen in Saturday's games to alter the way teams will be seeded in next week's Section 1A and 1AA tournaments.

Section 1AA appears pretty clear cut, aside from the Nos. 5 and 6 seeds.

Before my long-winded theory on those two seeds, here's how the section should shake out (explanations shouldn't be necessary, aside from the 5-6 seeds): 1. Lakeville South, 2. Lakeville North, 3. Rochester Century, 4. Rochester Mayo, 5. Rochester John Marshall, 6. Owatonna, 7. Farmington, 8. Winona, 9. Dodge County.

The actual seeds will be determined Sunday afternoon. JM should be the No. 5 seed and Owatonna should be No. 6. For the past few weeks, it looked like it should fall the other way around, but a few games in the past week have changed things.

First, JM went to Owatonna last Saturday and shut out the Huskies, 2-0. That gave the teams a split of the season series, with Owatonna having beaten JM, 2-1 in OT, when the teams played in Rochester on Jan. 10.

Second and third, JM beat Austin on Thursday night, while Owatonna lost to Mankato West.

In my mind, those results sealed JM as the 5 seed for a couple of reasons. One, JM will now finish above the Huskies in the Big Nine Conference standings by at least one point. Two, JM is playing better hockey right now, having won four in a row, and the teams' records are nearly identical (JM is 12-5-0 in the Big Nine, 13-10-2 overall; Owatonna is 10-5-1, 13-8-3).

JM is done with its regular season, while Owatonna plays  host to Austin on Saturday, an almost certain victory.

Of course, coaches are human and emotion often plays a part in the seeding process when it really doesn't need to. We saw that a couple years ago in Section 1A when Faribault coach Brad Ryan seeded Rochester Lourdes No. 4, when all reasonable logic said the Eagles should have been no worse than No. 2 on every ballot. (In the end, Faribault got the top seed, but was knocked off by Red Wing in the section semifinals).

And though JM's record is just slightly worse than Owatonna's, that shouldn't really be a factor. Last season, Mayo was awarded the No. 3 seed ahead of JM, despite JM having beaten Mayo two out of three times in the regular season and having three more wins than the Spartans. Mayo had defeated JM in their final regular season meeting and, in all fairness, the Spartans were playing better than any team in the Big Nine when the regular season ended.

The seedings didn't work out for either team. Mayo lost to No. 6 seed Century in the quarterfinals, while JM lost at home to No. 5 Farmington.

The twist if JM gets the No. 5 seed ahead of Owatonna: it sets up a fourth meeting of the season between Mayo and JM. Mayo won two of the previous three. A fourth meeting would be a tossup. There's not much, at this point, these two teams don't know about each other. I could be wrong, but I bet both teams would be OK with not playing a fourth game against its oldest rival this year. The fans may want it, the players and coaches may get jacked up for it, but it also probably would cause coaches on both sides some restless nights next week.

From an unbiased perspective, I'd love to see JM and Mayo play again. There's nothing much better than rivals facing off with their seasons on the line. Of course, we will have an intra-city showdown if JM ends up as the 6 seed, too. The Rockets would stay on their home ice and face No. 3 Century in Thursday's quarterfinals.

Thursday can't get here soon enough!

High School Hockey | Thursday Night Playback

Posted by: Feldman

Thursday night treated Rochester high school hockey teams much better than Tuesday. Mayo, Century and JM went a combined 0-2-1 on Tuesday night. Thursday, Lourdes, JM and Century combined to go 3-0-0. They won by a combined 18 goals and a combined score of 21-3.

Here are links to the stories (click on the scores to take you to the P-B stories):

Lourdes 8, Red Wing 0: The No. 5-ranked Eagles were fast out of the gate and never let the Wingers have much hope. Lourdes led 4-0 after one. Red Wing put a bit of a flurry together in the first six minutes of the second, but Lourdes popped in a couple quick goals after that, and it was over at that point. Lourdes just had too much speed for the Wingers, up and down the lineup. As Wingers coach Mike Belisle said, "Speed kills."

It was a very good performance by Lourdes, a great way to start the season. The good news for the coaching staff is that there are still things to work on. The Eagles were 1-for-5 on the power play and struggled early to keep the puck in the zone with a man advantage. Red Wing also missed a couple of chances that faster teams might capitalize on.

But that's being nitpicky after an 8-0 win. One thing that I can't remember if I put in my game story was a comment about the play of junior forward Ben Weir. He played a very strong, aggressive game in both ends. He was more physical than I remember him being a year ago. That line -- with Ryan Nicolay centering Weir and Connor Nellans -- was really good throughout the night. I believe it ended up with only two points (a goal and an assist from Nicolay), but they did a great job of keeping the Wingers top line neutralized.

---

JM 7, Bloomington Kennedy 1: Five Rockets had three points each as they earned their first win of the season, and the first under new head coach Jay Ness. 

Ness had good things to say about JM's lineup, up and down, from starting goalie Jimmy Casazza earning his first win of the year, to the strong play of the entire defensive group (limiting Kennedy to 19 shots).

As far as the offensive outburst, Ness was very pleased with the Rockets' balance. Yes, five guys had three points (Alex McGinn, Nick Paulson, Hunter Heightland, Alex Lovett and Jared Bromberg), but a total of eight players got on the scoresheet.

JM plays host to St. Paul Johnson on Saturday and I'm just guessing here, but I'd imagine we'll see junior Jacob Garvey back in goal for the Rockets. Again, just guessing, but I'd suspect Garvey and Casazza will rotate until one of them really siezes the job. If they both continue to perform at a high level, that's a bonus for the Rockets. One of the things Ness told me prior to the season was, a team cannot get through a season with just one goalie. It looks like the Rockets might have two to choose from. 

---

Century 6, Farmington 2: Like JM, Century earned its first victory of the season and the first under new head coach Josh Klingfus. 

The Panthers veterans really stepped up tonight and produced. Nick Jacobs, a senior co-captain, had four points. Brandon Kautz, another senior co-captain, had three assists. For a second consecutive game, forwards Isaac St. Marie and Dalton Travis had two goals each. Sophomore Hayden Ashworth netted his first varsity goal, and freshman Jake Roth had an assist (as did junior D Matt Sturchio).

Century peppered the Tigers net, outshooting Farmington 43-21. 

It was a nice bounce-back win for Century, after facing two very good opponents (No. 16 White Bear Lake and defending section champ Lakeville North) to start the season.

Century now has a week to prepare for its Big Nine Conference opener, next Thursday against Faribault at the Rec Center.

---

AROUND THE AREA: Either Mankato East has improved defensively, or Mankato West really did lose a majority of its talent from a year ago. West beat East by a score of just 4-0 on Thursday. ... In a matchup of Section 1A teams, Northfield proved it's a team to watch. The Trojans went to Albert Lea City Arena -- not an easy place to play -- and thumped the Tigers, 7-2. Tyler Grave had a hat trick for Northfield. ... Skyler Grossell and Ryan Grant each had two goals and an assist for Winona in a 5-0 win against La Crosse Logan. Winona will take a 2-0-0 record into its Big Nine Conference opener against Mankato West on Saturday.

High school hockey tonight | Nov. 29, 2011

Rochester teams get going in full force (well, 3/4 force, as Lourdes doesn't open until Thursday) tonight. There are two games in town -- Mayo and Century are both at home -- and JM travels to Section 1AA foe Farmington. Here's a quick look at tonight's three games:

JOHN MARSHALL at FARMINGTON

When: 7:15 p.m.
Where: Schmitz-Maki Arena, Farmington

Records: JM 0-0, Farmington 0-0
Coaches: JM, Jay Ness; Farmington, Keith Revels
About the Rockets: JM opens its season -- the first under new head coach Jay Ness -- against the team that ended its season a year ago. Farmington beat JM, 6-1, in a Section 1AA quarterfinal game at the Rec Center back in late February. JM is a much different team since then, with eight players lost to graduation. ... The Rockets I'm interested to watch early this season are the three juniors who make up the team's top line -- Gavin Sandwick, Hunter Heightland and Alex Lovett. Those three combined for 49 points last season (including 29 by Sandwick), yet they'll be asked to play an even more prominent role this year.

About the Tigers: The Tigers went 14-13-0 last season, losing to Lakeville South, 7-0, in the Section 1AA semifinals. ... Three of the team's top four scorers last season are gone, including forward Tyler Grubb, who finished with 52 points, including 27 goals. ... Farmington still has some firepower. Senior F Andrew Peterson, last year's second-leading scorer (36 points) is back, as is junior F Grant Hauswirth (19 points). The Tigers also have their top goalie back from last season, senior Victor Simones. He went 11-8-0 with an .893 save pct. ... The Tigers open their season with six consecutive games against Section 1AA opponents. Five of those six are against Big Nine Conference teams.

RED WING at MAYO

When: 7:30 p.m.
Where: Graham Arena I

Records: Red Wing 0-0, Mayo 0-0
Coaches: RW, Mike Belisle; Mayo, Lorne Grosso.
About the Wingers: The big area of interest for the Wingers is in goal. How do they replace three-year starter Sam Amendolar? They have two goalies on the varsity roster -- junior Preston Blaney and sophomore Jack Burkle. Blaney is the only goalie with varsity experience, and that is limited. He played one game last season, allowing four goals on 26 shots in a loss against Shakopee. If we've come to learn anything about Red Wing, though, it's that what you see in November isn't going to be what you see in late February. Whether they start off well or not so well, this is a team that will improve as the season goes along. ... This is the first of two trips to Rochester this week for the Wingers; they face Lourdes on Thursday at Graham I. 

About the Spartans: The Mayo bench will be an odd site. For what is believed to be only the third or fourth time in program history, Lorne Grosso will not be on the bench as the team's head coach (Grosso also took a one-year sabbatical in the late 1980s). Grosso underwent quadruple bypass surgery on Monday and will be out for a month or more. The Spartans are in good hands, though, with assistants Bob Haskins and Todd Huyber taking over. I'm guessing senior Michael DeBusman will start in goal. After playing sparingly behind Alex VanGalder last season, it's now DeBusman's turn to show if he can seize the starting job. Junior Case Hanson and sophomore Chase Utley will likely get their chances as well, but I'm guessing DeBusman gets the first shot.

LAKEVILLE NORTH at CENTURY

When: 7:30 p.m.
Where: Rochester Rec Center

Records: North 0-0, Century 0-1.
Coaches: North, Trent Eigner; Century, Josh Klingfus.

The matchup: Something tells me this isn't the last time these teams will meet this season. They've met on an almost annual basis in the postseason for nearly a decade. And one of the two has represented Section 1AA at state every year but one since 2002 (Lakeville High School went in 2002, 03 and 04, before it split into North and South). 
About the North Panthers: Both of these teams are under first-year head coaches. Eigner takes over for Randy Schmitz, who was forced out because of parent pressure over the summer. Eigner inherits some talented players, but one who is not back is goalie Charlie Lindgren, who nearly single-handedly carried North to a fifth-place finish at the Class AA state tournament last spring. North's players to watch are forwards Blake Winiecki and Charlie Hayes. They were the team's top two scorers a year ago (with 52 and 29 points, respectively). 

About the Century Panthers: Century did a lot of good things in a season opening 6-2 loss to No. 18 White Bear Lake on Saturday. But one brief stretch late in the second period turned a 2-1 deficit into a 5-1 deficit. If the Panthers can learn from that, they'll be fine against North. ... Century's top two lines generated a number of scoring chances against WBL that they did not convert. Both of Century's goals in the loss came from defensemen. If they can get those top two forward lines off to a strong start tonight, that will give those forwards some confidence. They're going to need a lot of points out of those lines this season to be successful.

H.S. Hockey | Section Semifinal Saturday rewind

Good Sunday afternoon, all.

Thanks to those of you who joined me for the live blogs from Section Semifinal Saturday at the Rec Center yesterday. If you would like to read a replay of any of the live blogs from yesterday, they can all be found here.

If you can't make it to Thursday's Section 1A final between Lourdes and New Prague, I'll be back on the live blog at 6:45 p.m. Just log on to PostBulletin.com and click the link on the homepage. Or, you can go to the link I provide above.

* * *

After three-and-a-half months of hockey, the Section 1A and 1AA tournaments are down to the teams that we thought would be here.

In 1AA, we'll have a rematch of last year's all-Lakeville section title game. A year ago, North upset top-seeded South to get to the state tournament. Can the Panthers do it again? They've lost to South twice already this season, by three goals each time. Second-seeded North's best shot at a second consecutive upset of No. 1 seed South is to stop the high-powered scoring trio of Justin Kloos, Drew Brevig and Alex Harvey.

North and South are scheduled to meet at 7 p.m. Friday at the Rochester Rec Center for the section championship. ... Maybe later this week we'll get into the whole issue of two Lakeville schools having to come to Rochester to play in a section final.

In 1A, No. 3-ranked and top-seeded Rochester Lourdes is back in position to go to state for a third consecutive season. Standing in their way: third-seeded New Prague.

The Eagles will make their fourth consecutive appearance in the section title game. They lost three years ago to Mankato West and beat Red Wing each of the past two years. The Eagles advanced to this year's section final by ending the Wingers season for a third straight year, 4-2, on Saturday. New Prague advanced to the tite game with a 4-1 win against Albert Lea.

Lourdes and New Prague will play at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Rec Center. If New Prague plays like it did in the first period on Saturday, it will give Lourdes all it can handle. These teams have some history, too, which we'll get into more as the week goes on. Lourdes has knocked New Prague out of the playoffs each of the past three years, and each time in the section semifinal round.

* But, back to Saturday's games at the Rec. It's usually one of the most entertaining days of the hockey season around here, but none of the four games on Saturday provided much drama or excitement. The building was never more than half full, either, and there wasn't a single band there all day. The atmosphere was flat and that, I believe, had an impact on several teams.

Both of the Section 1AA games were effectively over after the first period. North led Century 4-0 after one period, scoring twice in the final 2 minutes of the period to zap any momentum Century had gained. South led Farmington 3-0 after one and outshot the Tigers 25-2 in the first 17 minutes. Both games resulted in 7-0 final scores.

Century players said they had a good practice on Friday, after an emotional victory Thursday night against rival Mayo. Century actually had good energy right off the bat, but the Panthers had some miscues they couldn't afford.

First, they took four penalties in the first period. North only scored on one power play, but it kept many of Century's top players on the ice in penalty killing situations. It was energy Century couldn't afford to use. Second, Century gave up too many odd-man rushes. I counted five in the first period alone, and at least three of those were the direct result of North forwards blocking shots by Century d-men near the blue line.

A number of Century players were visibly hurting (emotionally) after the game, especially several underclassmen, who had a strong bond with this group of seniors. It was a tough year for Century, with so many players battling injuries and illnesses.

Senior Matt Mills unfortunately had injuries cost him a good portion of the season, including the playoffs. Junior Blake Heroff was in and out of the lineup all season with a nasty hip injury. He rested and iced it as much as he could; he'll have surgery about a month from now. I've been told it's the same injury that cost former Century goalie Alex Kangas his season with the Gophers this year.

The gratifying part of this season for the Century coaching staff has been the past couple of weeks, watching how some seniors were playing their best hockey (coach Bruce Frutiger gave a big nod to d-man Joe Canakes, who had a huge goal in the first period of the Mayo game). We sure can't forget d-man Nick Raehsler or goalie Cam Sellnow. Those guys have been a big part of the program for three years; both played in the state tourney as sophomores and were there game-in, game-out this season, doing what the coaches asked.

* OK, on to the Section 1A side.

The Lourdes-Red Wing game was close for a couple of periods, but with the way Lourdes was playing defense, I never got the feeling that the Eagles were in jeopardy.

Coach Josh Spaniol could sense the Eagles were a bit flat when he entered the locker room before warmups, but, he said, they were able to fight through it. Jason Samuelson had two goals, one set up nicely by Alex Funk. Senior D Rory Vesel also had a nice individual effort on his unassisted goal in the second period. And Andy Benner got Lourdes on the board with a nice play while forechecking at the end of a penalty kill. He took the puck away from a Wingers player, skated in and beat Red Wing goalie Sam Amendolar five-hole.

In the other 1A final, New Prague jumped on Albert Lea early and the Big Nine Conference-champion Tigers never really recovered. The Trojans scored twice in the first five minutes of the game, then Curt Brezina scored twice in a five-minute span early in the second for a 4-0 lead.

Albert Lea had some good chances, and actually tied New Prague with 34 shots on goal in the game, but either the Tigers shot the puck high or wide, or Trojans goalie Joe Morris robbed them.

Morris could be the great equalizer in Thursday's section final. He was outstanding in the first period against Albert Lea. Had he not been at his best, that could have been a 2-2 game after one; then who knows what happens.

When the teams met in the regular season, Lourdes beat New Prague, 3-1, at Graham Arena, back on Dec. 7. Lourdes scored twice in the final 4:12 of the first period that day, both on the power play, and never trailed. Both teams put 21 shots on goal in that game. Both teams are obviously playing better now than they were at that time, but based on what we saw Saturday, I'd expect another close game on Thursday.

 

H.S. Hockey | Breaking down the brackets (1AA)

FELDY: Who's ready for some playoff hockey? Me too!

I had a chance this morning to peek at how the coaches voted in Section 1A and Section 1AA, which left a few interesting notes. The whole voting process intrigues me somewhat, so I thought I'd share a few thoughts. I won't reveal how the individual coaches voted, because there weren't a whole lot of surprises.

Coaches aren't allowed to vote for their own team, so in 1AA they are asked to rank the other eight teams on a 1-to-8 scale, with 1 being the best. In 1A, the coaches rank the other 11 teams on a 1-to-11 scale, again with 1 being the best. The highest vote and lowest vote for each team is thrown out, so, if a team gets six first-seed votes, a second-seed vote and a third-seed vote, one of the first-seed votes would be thrown out, as would the third-seed vote.

Teams receive 1 point for a first-seed vote, 2 points for a second-seed vote, etc., on down through 8 points for an eighth-seed vote.

We'll stick with 1AA here, and have a separate blog post on the 1A bracket a little later today.

It's no shock that Lakeville South received all eight first-seed votes, while Lakeville North earned seven second-seed votes and one first-seed vote (South gave North its vote for the No. 1 seed, since South cannot vote for itself).

Rochester Mayo earned the third seed, even though it had the broadest range of votes. The Spartans received two second-seed votes, three thirds, two fourths and a fifth (so the fifth and one of the seconds were thrown out).

JM, the fourth seed, finished two points behind Mayo in the voting, with 28 points. The Rockets received five thirds, two fourths and a fifth. The fifth-seed vote got tossed out (as did one of the third-seed votes). I'm still scratching my head as to how JM could possibly have received that fifth-seed vote.

All right, enough about the process, let's get to the bracket:

THE FAVORITES

* Lakeville South: The top-seeded Cougars (14-8-2) have to be viewed as the favorite in the section. They have three of the most dynamic players in the section -- Jr. F Justin Kloos (35-43--78), Jr. F Alex Harvey (29-30--59) and Sr. D Drew Brevig (11-32--43). South faced only three Section 1AA opponents during the regular season, but rolled to three wins by a combined score of 25-6.

* Lakeville North:The defending section champion Panthers don't have the firepower that South has, but North has junior goalie Charlie Lindgren, who has shown in the past that he can take over a game. The Panthers will need Lindgren and the defense to play well throughout the tournament. They have just one player with more than 24 points, Jr. F Blake Winiecki (21-21--42). And North hasn't been able to hang with South in either of their two meetings this season (South holds 7-2 and 6-1 wins against North).

AN OUTSIDE CHANCE

* Rochester Mayo: The Spartans are the hottest team in the section, having lost just once in their past 11 games. After a 4-10-0 start, Mayo pushed Albert Lea down to the final day of the regular season for the Big Nine Conference title, before Albert Lea pulled it out. Mayo has improved by leaps and bounds since the first half of the season. Its power play -- led by Sr. D Bill Norman at the point -- has become lethal. The Spartans have a chance to win the section title because they have a goalie (Sr. Alex Van Galder) who has proved capable of carrying them to a win, and they know how to win games by playing defense first.

* Rochester John Marshall: The Rockets are in this group for two big reasons: The play of senior goalie Bryan King, and the leadership and urgency that eight experienced seniors provide. Those eight seniors have practiced and played for three years with this week in mind. It's their last shot at winning a section tournament game. If JM can stay out of the penalty box, it can adapt its style to keep itself in the game against the top teams in the section. It has received some big contributions from underclassmen, too, which will be needed throughout the section tournament.

THE FIELD

* No. 5 Farmington lost its regular season matchup to John Marshall, who they'll face in Thursday's section quarterfinals at the Rochester Rec Center. But the Tigers are on a bit of a roll, having won four consecutive games. JM will need to have its eyes on No. 17 for Farmington at all times. Senior F Tyler Grubb has 51 points this season, including eight in the past three games.

* No. 6 Rochester Century has battled through injuries and illnesses for much of the season, relying mainly on two lines over the last few weeks of the regular season. Century's defensemen are capable of jumping into the play and creating offensive chances, too, so Mayo will have to be aware of that. The Panthers shouldn't have to search far for motivation. They are 1-2 against quarterfinal opponent Mayo this year, having lost twice to the Spartans in the past month, by a combined score of 8-0.

* No. 7 Owatonna has its hands full with North in the first round. The Huskies have to solve their own offensive issues before they worry too much about the Panthers. Owatonna has scored just six goals in its past six games. They've given up 33 goals in that same span.

* No. 8 Dodge County showed in last year's playoffs what can happen when a high seed underestimates its opponent. The Wildcats pushed Lakeville South in a 4-2 South victory in the quarterfinals, but D.C. had a lead in that game and it was tied 2-2 after two periods. The Wildcats have a bunch of seniors who play with confidence. They have to get past Winona first, and if they do, it's safe to say that Lakeville South will not underestimate D.C. this time.

Welcome to the Phersy and Feldy show

PHERSY AND FELDY: OK Folks, so we're kicking off a new feature here at Faceoff. We're doing a podcast (OK, not really for your ipod, but it's an audio show featuring two of the ugliest guys you know). So, take a listen. This the very first episode of the Phersy and Feldy Show. For the most part, it's just going to be Feldy and Phersy kicking it freestyle on sports topics of the day/week.

Let us know what you think, what we can do better, what you want us to talk about for the next show ... whatever. This one is a little long (25 minutes) and we'll shorten it up for the next one. Just check it out. Let's do this:

 

PhersyandFeldyShowEpisode1

 

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:

 

High school hockey tonight | Dec. 14, 2010

FELDY: All four Rochester teams -- all Big Nine teams and most teams throughout the state, actually -- had games wiped out on Saturday because of the record-setting snowstorm. The only makeup date that has been announced is the Mayo at Albert Lea game, which has been moved to Jan. 29. Still waiting makeup dates for the JM at Century game and the Chanhassen at Lourdes game. The snowstorm might have actually been helfpful for Lourdes, which would have played its fifth game in 11 days. I'm sure Eagles players, particularly those who were on the state championship football team, appreciate the rest.

Idle tonight: Lourdes, Mayo.

TONIGHT'S GAMES
OWATONNA at CENTURY
When: Tonight, 7:30 p.m.
Where: Rec Center
Records: Owatonna 1-0-0 Big Nine, 4-2-0 overall. Century 1-0-0, 1-2-0.
Last game: Owatonna topped Section 1AA foe Farmington, 2-1, last Thursday, scoring with 2:22 remaining in the third to win. ... Century picked up its first win of the year and handed Albert Lea its first loss, 6-3, at Albert Lea last Thursday.
Spotlight players: Owatonna goalies Luke Ebeling and Sean Hale will have to play well for the Huskies to have chances to win throughout the season. After giving up a combined 15 goals in its first two games, Owatonna has allowed just one goal in each of its past four games. ... Century junior F Nick Jacobs had a breakout game against Albert Lea with a goal and three assists. It's the kind of game Century's coaches kept waiting for Jacobs to have last season. Jacobs has all the tools -- great hands, good size, good shot, playmaking ability -- he just seemed snake-bitten last year, whether it was getting robbed by hot goalies or by posts.
Of note: Coming into the season, Century coaches felt their defensemen would be their strength at the start of the season. That shows in the stats. Six Century players have at least one point; three are d-men. ... Owatonna has played half of its six games against Wisconsin teams. ... Century is eyeing a 3-0 start to conference play. The Panthers play host to Austin on Saturday.  

JOHN MARSHALL at ST. PAUL JOHNSON
When: Tonight, 7:30 p.m.
Where: Phalen Ice Arena, St. Paul
Records: JM 3-2-0; SPJ 1-2-1
Last game: JM topped rival Rochester Mayo, 5-2, last Thursday. Johnson lost, 7-6, at Thief River Falls on Saturday.
Spotlight players: JM sophomore defenseman Alex McGinn picked up his first varsity point in JM's win against Mayo last Thursday, when he assisted on a power-play goal by Eric Mackey. McGinn played a tremendous all-around game and at 5-foot-9, 180 pounds, he adds tremendous value to JM's defensive corps. He has given the Rockets quality ice time every shift, which means the JM coaches don't have to run Foley, AJ Johnson, Broman and Lakin out for 25 minutes a game every night. ... JM will have to keep an eye on 6-foot-5, 210-pound SPJ junior forward Jay Dickman, who has been nearly unstoppable through four games. Dickman has eight goals, including four against Chaska on Dec. 4 and two against Thief River Falls this past Saturday.
Of note: This is a series that started two years ago when JM played at SPJ on Hockey Day Minnesota. That game, which Johnson won, 4-0, was played outdoors at Phalen Park in St. Paul, the park where Herb Brooks played at while growing up.

 

High School Hockey | Rochester well represented at Lucia's Model Camp

FELDY: The 25th annual Model Camp is being held for high school-age hockey players primarily from Minnesota. Gophers coach Don Lucia is again leading the camp, being held at Mariucci Arena and Ridder Arena on the U of M campus.

The camp started Monday and runs through Saturday. Rochester is well represented this year, and as a sign of its growth, Dodge County has three players at one of the more elite camps in the state.

There are 12 teams with about 18 players each. Each team includes players from different parts of the state; teams are named by jersey color.

All of the rosters can be found here.

Notes of interest:

* Lourdes defenseman Rory Vesel and his brother, Tyler, are on the same team (Light Blue Team). Tyler, 16, will be a sophomore at hockey factory Shattuck St. Mary's in Faribault this fall.

* Lou Nanne's grandson, Louis, and Jordan Schroeder's brother, Zach, are on the same team (Cardinal Team). Louis Nanne will be a sophomore at Edina this fall, while Zach Schroeder will be a senior at St. Thomas Academy.

* Rochester's goaltending depth is good. Four Rochester goalies are at the camp -- Nick Heimer of Lourdes, Bryan King of JM, and Cam Sellnow and Brock Kautz from Century.

* Two of the Rochester goalies at the camp are on the same team -- Century's Brock Kautz and JM's Bryan King. Lourdes' Landon Farrell and Alex Funk are also on that team.

* One of the top two or three goalies in Section 1AA, Lakeville North's Charlie Lindgren, is on the Navy Team, the same team as U of M recruit Adam Wilcox of South St. Paul. Also on that team is Tanner Keller, a D from Dodge County, and Wayzata junior Mario Lucia, coach Lucia's son.

Here's a list of local (Rochester, Dodge Co. or Red Wing) players at the camp (including grade each player will be in this fall):

BLACK TEAM
Brian Wasz (Sr. F, Lourdes, 6-0 1/2, 190)

ROYAL TEAM
Brock Kautz (Jr., G, Century, 5-10 1/2, 175)
Bryan King (Sr., G, JM, 6-2 1/2, 176)
Landon Farrell (Jr., F, Lourdes, 5-9, 176)
Alex Funk (So., F, Lourdes, 5-7, 148)

GREY TEAM
Drew Wohlfiel (Sr., F, Dodge Co., 5-7, 138)

GOLD TEAM
Dustin Stevens (Sr., G, Dodge Co., 5-7, 130)

NAVY TEAM
Tanner Keller (Sr., D, Dodge Co., 6-0 1/2, 214)

LIGHT BLUE TEAM
Rory Vesel (Sr., D, Lourdes, 5-11 1/2, 177)
Tyler Vesel (So., F, Shattuck St. Mary's, 5-10, 150)

PURPLE TEAM
Cam Sellnow (Sr., G, Century, 5-10 1/2, 198)

WHITE TEAM
Nick Heimer (Sr., G, Lourdes, 5-9 1/2, 178)
Sam Slightam (Sr., D, Lourdes, 5-11 1/2, 170)
Zach Johnson (Sr., F, JM, 5-9, 160)
Ryan Yetzer (Sr., F, JM, 6-3, 189)

OTHER BIG NINE/SECTION 1 PLAYERS
Faribault -- Brandon Parker (Jr., D, 5-7 1/2, 160)

Farmington -- Tyler Grubb (Sr., F, 6-0 1/2, 201)

Lakeville South -- Drew Brevig (Sr., D, 6-1, 174); Zach Thielen (Sr., F, 5-8, 181); Colton Radtke (Sr., F, 5-11, 164); Mike Chuinard (Jr., F, 5-9 1/2, 146); Justin Kloos (Jr., F, 5-8, 155); Kyle Osterberg (So., F, 5-7, 154)

Lakeville North -- John Domina (Sr., F, 6-1 1/2, 171); Charlie Lindgren (Jr., G)