Grand Rapids @ Duluth East

[east hockey]

East blocks a shot in the final seven seconds to preserve the 2-1 East win!

{whew}

Lee

[karl(east)]

Tough game to react to. Obviously, I am happy that East won and has the inside track for the top seed in the section. This was definitely their finest defensive performance of the year--the team did an exceptional job in killing off all those penalties against a high-powered offense. I've had my doubts about the D this year, but they grew up a lot tonight. But on the flip side, they really never should have been in that position--too many stupid penalties. They won't have a prayer if they play like that against Eden Prairie. They also had a pretty ugly start before kicking it into gear after the GR goal. The 2nd period was solid, but at the start of the 3rd they seemed to grow very conservative, and that led to a couple of penalties.

As for GR, they had their flashes (spending about half the 3rd period on the PP helps), but generated surprisingly few good chances after the first ten minutes. The much-hyped first line didn't match East's top group, though the Peterson-Pearson line did generate some decent chances.

It could certainly go either way in a sectional rematch, but if East cleans up its game they're in good shape.

[northwoods oldtimer]

I will give a different observation on the game. If Rapids 3rd line moves the puck they win this game. East thought they would roll in and post a 6 or 7 goal win. Did not happen they were outplayed in spurts and likewise turned it up in spurts just 2 good teams going toe to toe. Rapids first line logged way too much ice to be effective late on the power play they had nothing left in the tank in this high tempo game. Rapids rolls 3 lines at 40-50 seconds intervals they can beat east by 2 or 3 no problem. You need to force Randolph to play the 1 line he is lean after that. Key indicator is this East celebrated like they won the section at the end of this one. I have never witnessed that display before from an East team in a regulation game. Rapids defense played exceptionally better than they did last time I saw them. Go ahead Karl overlook Rapids and Cloquet and in all honesty I hope your team does too come sections. Section 7 is up for grabs no matter what any east fan ties to tell you. Coach Esse I hope you take my scout report to task in rematch

[dlhhockey]

I will give a different observation on the game. If Rapids 3rd line moves the puck they win this game. East thought they would roll in and post a 6 or 7 goal win. Did not happen they were outplayed in spurts and likewise turned it up in spurts just 2 good teams going toe to toe. Rapids first line logged way too much ice to be effective late on the power play they had nothing left in the tank in this high tempo game. Rapids rolls 3 lines at 40-50 seconds intervals they can beat east by 2 or 3 no problem. You need to force Randolph to play the 1 line he is lean after that. Key indicator is this East celebrated like they won the section at the end of this one. I have never witnessed that display before from an East team in a regulation game. Rapids defense played exceptionally better than they did last time I saw them. Go ahead Karl overlook Rapids and Cloquet and in all honesty I hope your team does too come sections. Section 7 is up for grabs no matter what any east fan ties to tell you. Coach Esse I hope you take my scout report to task in rematch

You might want to get your eyeglass prescription changed. No DE player ever thought they were going to roll in and post a 6 to 7 goal win in this game (perhaps you just thought that as that is about their average margin). In fact they've been working for this game and Saturday for some time. Karl is exactly right in that they came out quite flat in the first half of the 1st period with some unusually poor stick handling and passes that gave GR some early chances and then put into gear. Got a little flat in part of the 2nd as well. Second and third line played pretty well and sophomore Lundgren is learning to look for the long pass similar to Olson and had some great chances. Your only goal was due to Jeanetta getting distracted by interacting with the GR player in front of him. The D came up strong as he was way out of the net too often, though it was good to see him tighten that up toward the end of the game (that is going to catch up with him). GR missed many chances on the 5 min PP. Too bad the refs felt the need to get so involved in the last half of the 3rd (felt like we were getting homered in our own building). The players reaction at the end of the game should show you how intense they knew this game was going to be and they are taking nothing for granted. Good for them for celebrating a hard-fought win!
On to Saturday, should be another good one especially with the trash talking EP was doing both on and off the ice when they played a preseason scrimmage . I foresee the winner being the one that can stay out of the penalty box.

[GR3343]

I will give a different observation on the game. If Rapids 3rd line moves the puck they win this game. East thought they would roll in and post a 6 or 7 goal win. Did not happen they were outplayed in spurts and likewise turned it up in spurts just 2 good teams going toe to toe. Rapids first line logged way too much ice to be effective late on the power play they had nothing left in the tank in this high tempo game. Rapids rolls 3 lines at 40-50 seconds intervals they can beat east by 2 or 3 no problem. You need to force Randolph to play the 1 line he is lean after that. Key indicator is this East celebrated like they won the section at the end of this one. I have never witnessed that display before from an East team in a regulation game. Rapids defense played exceptionally better than they did last time I saw them. Go ahead Karl overlook Rapids and Cloquet and in all honesty I hope your team does too come sections. Section 7 is up for grabs no matter what any east fan ties to tell you. Coach Esse I hope you take my scout report to task in rematch

You might want to get your eyeglass prescription changed. No DE player ever thought they were going to roll in and post a 6 to 7 goal win in this game (perhaps you just thought that as that is about their average margin). In fact they've been working for this game and Saturday for some time. Karl is exactly right in that they came out quite flat in the first half of the 1st period with some unusually poor stick handling and passes that gave GR some early chances and then put into gear. Got a little flat in part of the 2nd as well. Second and third line played pretty well and sophomore Lundgren is learning to look for the long pass similar to Olson and had some great chances. Your only goal was due to Jeanetta getting distracted by interacting with the GR player in front of him. The D came up strong as he was way out of the net too often, though it was good to see him tighten that up toward the end of the game (that is going to catch up with him). GR missed many chances on the 5 min PP. Too bad the refs felt the need to get so involved in the last half of the 3rd (felt like we were getting homered in our own building). The players reaction at the end of the game should show you how intense they knew this game was going to be and they are taking nothing for granted. Good for them for celebrating a hard-fought win!
On to Saturday, should be another good one especially with the trash talking EP was doing both on and off the ice when they played a preseason scrimmage . I foresee the winner being the one that can stay out of the penalty box.

DE is a very talented team and won, but to say they were homered in their own building is not accurate. East players were hitting high all night beginning at the end of the 1st when an East player dropped Peterson after the buzzer with two forearms to the head. Also, tough to not call the blatant knee to knee hit by #41, then the leg sweep that followed up later. Not to mention the charge/head check Moore took in front of the net late. Both teams came to play and both had chances to score that they did not take advantage of. Either team could've won this game and nothing should be taken away from either of them. I'd welcome a rematch-would be a great Section 7AA finale.

[The X]

Pretty decent game by both teams I thought in watching the game on FSN. In my opinion, this was a big regular season game to feel each other out a bit for sections. If these two teams are as good as advertised, they will be 1-2 in the section anyway and it is just a matter of who will wear the home and or away jersey in the final. Seedings can mean very little in some sections although Cloquet has been known to make teams not want to be on their side of the bracket in sections. I thought the penalties called throughout the game were justified and there were no phantom penalties called. The one penalty that was not called was J. Randolph pulling down the Rapids guy in front of easts net to prevent an obvious quality chance for Rapids, and the ref calling nothing as east skated the other way with the puck. To me that was a real head scratcher. Should be a great section 7 tourney this year to say the least. Good luck to east this weekend against EP, should be another great game for the players and fans.

[BigWorm]

I felt that this game could have gone either way. In my opinion East is far more talented and has a lot more speed than Rapids but GR does a lot of little things that impressed me. They play tremendous defense. The players are always in a good position to make a play defensively. Rapids blocked a high number of shot and will definitely be a force to reckoned with in the playoffs. I thought Rapids most effective player was Jake Bischoff. The kid didn't get beat once that I can recall and also steps up into the play very well. East simply impressed me with their speed and their first line fire power. It seemed as if the first line of East was always on the power play the way Rapids tried to shut them down. I feel Jake Randolph was Easts most effective player. Miers Moore also impressed me, he is a solid defender, intercepts a lot of passes, steps up in the play, has good vision, and is a great skater. Rapids should have had a couple goals there in the last five minutes but just couldn't bury the puck. East is the better team but Rapids is no slouch. Very good game, I'm glad that Patrick Moore didn't blow out his knee on that 5 minute major in the third.

[karl(east)]

I will give a different observation on the game. If Rapids 3rd line moves the puck they win this game. East thought they would roll in and post a 6 or 7 goal win. Did not happen they were outplayed in spurts and likewise turned it up in spurts just 2 good teams going toe to toe. Rapids first line logged way too much ice to be effective late on the power play they had nothing left in the tank in this high tempo game. Rapids rolls 3 lines at 40-50 seconds intervals they can beat east by 2 or 3 no problem. You need to force Randolph to play the 1 line he is lean after that. Key indicator is this East celebrated like they won the section at the end of this one. I have never witnessed that display before from an East team in a regulation game. Rapids defense played exceptionally better than they did last time I saw them. Go ahead Karl overlook Rapids and Cloquet and in all honesty I hope your team does too come sections. Section 7 is up for grabs no matter what any east fan ties to tell you. Coach Esse I hope you take my scout report to task in rematch

IMO both teams overused their first lines somewhat. Not sure what you mean when you say opponents need to force East to overuse the first line (how exactly do you do that?); I agree that would be bad for East, since it'd tire out their top line and the other lines are more than capable. All 3 were controlling play pretty well throughout the 2nd period. The 3rd line sophomores generated some very good scoring chances. Also, East's depth was on display on the PK, when Randolph chose not to rely on a couple of forwards, but rotated through a bevy of them, all of which performed well.

Not sure how you think I'm overlooking GR when I say quite clearly "it could go either way in a sectional rematch." I learned my lesson with GR 4 years ago. But I do think East is marginally better, as last night's result showed. And GR probably won't be able to count on a 5-minute major to give them several golden opportunities to tie it up next time around.

East did the same large celebration drill after the win in Cloquet, too. Not my sort of thing, but I don't read much into it, either.

[GR3343]

I felt that this game could have gone either way. In my opinion East is far more talented and has a lot more speed than Rapids but GR does a lot of little things that impressed me. They play tremendous defense. The players are always in a good position to make a play defensively. Rapids blocked a high number of shot and will definitely be a force to reckoned with in the playoffs. I thought Rapids most effective player was Jake Bischoff. The kid didn't get beat once that I can recall and also steps up into the play very well. East simply impressed me with their speed and their first line fire power. It seemed as if the first line of East was always on the power play the way Rapids tried to shut them down. I feel Jake Randolph was Easts most effective player. Rapids should have had a couple goals there in the last five minutes but just couldn't bury the puck. East is the better team but Rapids is no slouch. Very good game, I'm glad that Patrick Moore didn't blow out his knee on that 5 minute major in the third.

Sorry, I don't believe that East is the far more talented team. Just talented in different areas, but it's a coin flip between the two. GR seemed to purposely play DE to the outside, almost a box, when 5 on 5 giving the appearance of an East PP. It seemed to limit East to a lot of outside shots, many blocked by the D. Jake's the real deal and I'd like to see him paired with #4. They both seem to know when to be a defenseman and when to jump into the play. Would like to see Jake shoot a little more though. As for East, I thought Toninato was their most impressive player last night, and likewise on the cheap shot thrown at Moore. That hit, plus the runs at him in front of the net will only fuel Patty's competitive fire. He's a tough kid and I'm glad he's ok.

[formerplayer37]

I felt that this game could have gone either way. In my opinion East is far more talented and has a lot more speed than Rapids but GR does a lot of little things that impressed me. They play tremendous defense. The players are always in a good position to make a play defensively. Rapids blocked a high number of shot and will definitely be a force to reckoned with in the playoffs. I thought Rapids most effective player was Jake Bischoff. The kid didn't get beat once that I can recall and also steps up into the play very well. East simply impressed me with their speed and their first line fire power. It seemed as if the first line of East was always on the power play the way Rapids tried to shut them down. I feel Jake Randolph was Easts most effective player. Rapids should have had a couple goals there in the last five minutes but just couldn't bury the puck. East is the better team but Rapids is no slouch. Very good game, I'm glad that Patrick Moore didn't blow out his knee on that 5 minute major in the third.

Sorry, I don't believe that East is the far more talented team. Just talented in different areas, but it's a coin flip between the two. GR seemed to purposely play DE to the outside, almost a box, when 5 on 5 giving the appearance of an East PP. It seemed to limit East to a lot of outside shots, many blocked by the D. Jake's the real deal and I'd like to see him paired with #4. They both seem to know when to be a defenseman and when to jump into the play. Would like to see Jake shoot a little more though. As for East, I thought Toninato was their most impressive player last night, and likewise on the cheap shot thrown at Moore. That hit, plus the runs at him in front of the net will only fuel Patty's competitive fire. He's a tough kid and I'm glad he's ok.

i suppose you're not biased considering your blogname?

#4? Who is he? I bet you know

[EHSHack]

I guess everyone missed the Rapids player steamrolling Jeanneta before Moore got pushed down....

[northwoods oldtimer]

IMO both teams overused their first lines somewhat. Not sure what you mean when you say opponents need to force East to overuse the first line (how exactly do you do that?)

Deep teams can go short shifts and dictate pace and puck control. If you can force a team to run its 1 line often you can beat them. Systems and good players do that play it and will a team to defeat.

Not sure how you think I'm overlooking GR when I say quite clearly "it could go either way in a sectional rematch."

Karl you give them plenty props. I think the team might overlook Rapids a bit coming in last night.

East did the same large celebration drill after the win in Cloquet, too. Not my sort of thing, but I don't read much into it, either.

Hey I like to hear that maybe Rapids is getting to rivalry status with East. That would be great!! I am up for a home and home though every year with East!
Karl your club is very good and seeing as I like to see East get knocked off in sections only adds to the fact that you guys are the benchmark in the section. [/code]

[karl(east)]

IMO both teams overused their first lines somewhat. Not sure what you mean when you say opponents need to force East to overuse the first line (how exactly do you do that?)

Deep teams can go short shifts and dictate pace and puck control. If you can force a team to run its 1 line often you can beat them. Systems and good players do that play it and will a team to defeat.

I can't understand what you're trying to say with the 2nd sentence, but I get the gist of your point. However, I think the same critiques you made of GR can be made of East. I thought they overused the first line in the Edina loss, and it showed towards the end. East's top line stays out there for the entire power play (though to be fair, they did score a goal immediately after a PP yesterday, having been on the ice for the whole 2 minutes). I know the first line is great, probably one of the top 5 in the state, but I worry about fatigue, and the 2nd and 3rd lines can be very good (Randolph still hasn't settled on line combinations there). I even wonder if he'd consider breaking up the top line. It's hard to do since they have such good chemistry, but if they could get the right player on a line with the sophomores, they could have 2 very dangerous lines. (They should keep the PP the same, though.)

Not sure how you think I'm overlooking GR when I say quite clearly "it could go either way in a sectional rematch."

Karl you give them plenty props. I think the team might overlook Rapids a bit coming in last night.

I'm not sure. I'm not in the East locker room, so I suppose it's possible. But this whole "East is arrogant and overlooks its opponents" storyline has been re-hashed many, many times over the years, and I've never seen much evidence of it (the one exception perhaps being 07, when Rapids upset them, though I think the overlooking had more to do with worries about Cloquet than haughtiness in regard to GR). I remember when Howie Hanson wrote that rather degrading piece two years ago, I thought the complete opposite was true...if anything, East's struggles in that Flake semifinal were due to tightness and worries about making mistakes after their semifinal collapses in previous years.

But last year and this year, I think they've overcome that. I see a confident team that knows what it's doing; they take pride in their accomplisments, but they seem aware of their limits (and those who aren't learn pretty quickly). Instead of blaming attitude for East's slow start last night, I'd pin it on GR's game plan in the early going (much like Edina, they bothered the East defensemen as they tried to break out and forced some turnovers), and also on the style of hockey East plays--they rely on precision passing, and when that's out of sync the team can look pretty flat. When they get it going, they look like possibly the best team in the state--it's just hard to sustain that over the course of 51 minutes.

At any rate, the closeness of the game should have wiped away any existing arrogance. They'd be stupid to take the section for granted after that one, and there's no way Randolph will permit it.

Hey I like to hear that maybe Rapids is getting to rivalry status with East. That would be great!! I am up for a home and home though every year with East!
Karl your club is very good and seeing as I like to see East get knocked off in sections only adds to the fact that you guys are the benchmark in the section.

Yeah, maybe with two chances, GR will finally be able to win a regular season game or two against East. But in all seriousness, I would like to see that. And I hope the Hounds take their frontrunner status with pride--they've earned it. Being expected to win is a very unique position that a lot of people don't understand very well, and it creates some complicated mind games, and the need for confidence without arrogance. I'll be watching to see if they can walk that tightrope, though I think actual gameplay and coaching tactics will be far more important.

[pipersniper12]

Yeah, maybe with two chances, GR will finally be able to win a regular season game or two against East.

When is the last time GR even beat East during the regular season?

[east hockey]

Yeah, maybe with two chances, GR will finally be able to win a regular season game or two against East.

When is the last time GR even beat East during the regular season?

12/7/04. 1-0 in Grand Rapids.

Lee

[northwoods oldtimer]

northwoods oldtimer wrote:
Quote:
IMO both teams overused their first lines somewhat. Not sure what you mean when you say opponents need to force East to overuse the first line (how exactly do you do that?)

Deep teams can go short shifts and dictate pace and puck control. If you can force a team to run its 1 line often you can beat them. Systems and good players do that play it and will a team to defeat. [/quote]

I can't understand what you're trying to say with the 2nd sentence, but I get the gist of your point. However, I think the same critiques you made of GR can be made of East. I thought they overused the first line in the Edina loss, and it showed towards the end. East's top line stays out there for the entire power play (though to be fair, they did score a goal immediately after a PP yesterday, having been on the ice for the whole 2 minutes). I know the first line is great, probably one of the top 5 in the state, but I worry about fatigue, and the 2nd and 3rd lines can be very good (Randolph still hasn't settled on line combinations there). I even wonder if he'd consider breaking up the top line. It's hard to do since they have such good chemistry, but if they could get the right player on a line with the sophomores, they could have 2 very dangerous lines. (They should keep the PP the same, though.)

That did not make much sense. Systems and good player depth allow a team to play that system and help build a mindset with a will to win games in the 3rd. Conditioning is another key portion to this. (read Tarasov regarding my statement above here)
Hill Murray took this approach when they last won state and so did Edina. However few coaches go this route today, perhaps its a herd mentality to play the 1 line. Lots of teams do this way too much.
Early on Grand Rapids had that rythem and that spark engaging all 3 lines however that has changed now and that team is in decline because of it. I did not watch East as close but if they did as you stated then Randolph team will far exceed Rapids down the stretch.
i wished I had time to take in the East - Eden Prairie game today interested in watching what the coaches will do in that one. I will be pulling for East as they are a northern team.

[karl(east)]

That did not make much sense. Systems and good player depth allow a team to play that system and help build a mindset with a will to win games in the 3rd. Conditioning is another key portion to this. (read Tarasov regarding my statement above here)
Hill Murray took this approach when they last won state and so did Edina. However few coaches go this route today, perhaps its a herd mentality to play the 1 line. Lots of teams do this way too much.
Early on Grand Rapids had that rythem and that spark engaging all 3 lines however that has changed now and that team is in decline because of it. I did not watch East as close but if they did as you stated then Randolph team will far exceed Rapids down the stretch.
i wished I had time to take in the East - Eden Prairie game today interested in watching what the coaches will do in that one. I will be pulling for East as they are a northern team.

I agree completely with this. Certain teams don't have the depth to ask much out of their lower lines, but teams like GR (this year), East, Edina, and HM obviously do, and not using it is a huge waste of an advantage they should have. Edina over the past few years is the perfect example--when they overused that elite first line, they lost; when they rolled 4 last year, they won. I harp over depth in my rankings for this very reason. IMO no one understands the importnace of this better than Bill Lechner, which is why I like him so much.

I think overusing the first line is an easy trap to fall into--even though Randolph seems to understand the imporance of depth, in the heat of the moment he will overuse them, from time to time. Last year he did a great job outmaneuvering a thinner EP team to force a tie in their matchup--we'll see if he can do it again today.