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Northeast Minnesota's premier rivalry resumes this Thursday, and it's been a while since the story line was as interesting as it is this season. On the East side, we have another strong team looking to make it 9 in a row over their rivals, but the shutout loss at Wayzata on Saturday leaves Hounds fans with some worries over their ability to finish. Is a weak Cloquet defense the cure for those ills, or will those struggles let Cloquet hang around? Can Coach Randolph get his 500th win against the team that has been the biggest thorn in his side?

I'm especially interested to see how Coach Esse and Cloquet approach this game. In the closer games over the past four years, the Jacks have relied on an awful lot of trapping, collapsing, and the occasional breakaway. As Wayzata showed on Saturday, this may be the best way to beat East. But on the other hand, that strategy doesn't really fit this Cloquet team's talents. They may think they're better served by turning this thing into a wide-open shootout, which is what they did the last time they beat East, in that infamous 2008 playoff upset. Who wins the battle of the Cloquet forwards vs. the East D?

I'm biased, of course, but this should be a fascinating game. Sure, it's been predictable over the past four years, but at times it's been closer than it should have been, and when these two teams are even somewhat close in talent, we can throw the records out the window.

Would like to see this game be interesting but I dont know if I see that happening. First line coverage is all East should need. I would be suprised if their is any production out of any other line. They are very dynamic when they get that line rolling though.

Anyone know if there will be video streaming?

Saw C-E-C in their first game of the year at home against Virginia-Mountain Iron-Buhl and watched their offense dominate for 3 periods. Going into the 3rd, however, the score was only 1-0. Virginia blocked a lot of shots and played pretty good D, and their goalie played well. Cloquet scored two goals toward the end of the 3rd and the final was 3-0.

Haven't seen East play yet this year, but I think their defense against the Cloquet offense should be an interesting match up, with a slight edge to East. Can't wait to watch this one at Heritage on Thursday night. I'm gonna say 4-3 East.

7AA looks very interesting so far. Andover hasn't stepped up yet. Grand Rapids started slow but got a nice W against a good Roseau team. Forest Lake looked good for it's first 3 wins and might be able to win the SEC (which looks pretty mediocre this year) but they just lost to MV 11-6 yesterday. East dropped one yesterday to a good Wayzata team and Cloquet has offensive firepower but needs to step up the defense. Elk River looks to be very tough this year and may just have enough to return to the X, but who knows. Very tough section to predict so far. Lots of hockey to be played.

karl(east) wrote:Northeast Minnesota's premier rivalry resumes this Thursday, and it's been a while since the story line was as interesting as it is this season. On the East side, we have another strong team looking to make it 9 in a row over their rivals, but the shutout loss at Wayzata on Saturday leaves Hounds fans with some worries over their ability to finish. Is a weak Cloquet defense the cure for those ills, or will those struggles let Cloquet hang around? Can Coach Randolph get his 500th win against the team that has been the biggest thorn in his side?

I'm especially interested to see how Coach Esse and Cloquet approach this game. In the closer games over the past four years, the Jacks have relied on an awful lot of trapping, collapsing, and the occasional breakaway. As Wayzata showed on Saturday, this may be the best way to beat East. But on the other hand, that strategy doesn't really fit this Cloquet team's talents. They may think they're better served by turning this thing into a wide-open shootout, which is what they did the last time they beat East, in that infamous 2008 playoff upset. Who wins the battle of the Cloquet forwards vs. the East D?

I'm biased, of course, but this should be a fascinating game. Sure, it's been predictable over the past four years, but at times it's been closer than it should have been, and when these two teams are even somewhat close in talent, we can throw the records out the window.

No way, not you Karl.....

If an SEC team (WBL) can beat Cloquet, I would guess this game to be running time for the Hounds.

Very excited to be in attendance for this game. WOW! Greyhounds vs. Lumberjacks. It don't get much better than this boys high school hockey tilt

BodyShots wrote:

karl(east) wrote:Northeast Minnesota's premier rivalry resumes this Thursday, and it's been a while since the story line was as interesting as it is this season. On the East side, we have another strong team looking to make it 9 in a row over their rivals, but the shutout loss at Wayzata on Saturday leaves Hounds fans with some worries over their ability to finish. Is a weak Cloquet defense the cure for those ills, or will those struggles let Cloquet hang around? Can Coach Randolph get his 500th win against the team that has been the biggest thorn in his side?

I'm especially interested to see how Coach Esse and Cloquet approach this game. In the closer games over the past four years, the Jacks have relied on an awful lot of trapping, collapsing, and the occasional breakaway. As Wayzata showed on Saturday, this may be the best way to beat East. But on the other hand, that strategy doesn't really fit this Cloquet team's talents. They may think they're better served by turning this thing into a wide-open shootout, which is what they did the last time they beat East, in that infamous 2008 playoff upset. Who wins the battle of the Cloquet forwards vs. the East D?

I'm biased, of course, but this should be a fascinating game. Sure, it's been predictable over the past four years, but at times it's been closer than it should have been, and when these two teams are even somewhat close in talent, we can throw the records out the window.

No way, not you Karl.....

If an SEC team (WBL) can beat Cloquet, I would guess this game to be running time for the Hounds.

Cloquet's defense needs to step it up or this thing could get ugly. This is a big statement game for the Jacks. In their 2 losses this season they allowed way too many goals (One could argue they gave the game to Bloom Jefferson), and one line cannot carry a team too far. I think this team was a bit overrated, and blowing out teams like Proctor and Cambridge mean nothing. East has owned them in the past, and it pains me to say I think that trend continues this week.

I have not had the honor of watching Duluth East besides via a choppy video stream against Wayzata but I did catch Cloquet live against Jefferson.. The first line for Cloquet looked good but not overwhelming. The D, however looked terrible. The goalie came 10 feet out of net on one clearing attempt only to put the puck right in the midsection of an incoming Jefferson player who had an easy empty net goal.. Then they put the OT goal in themselves.. In between those two events was more of the same..

This really could go either way though, depending on whether East can find some offense. That was a question from the start of the season after losing that group of talented forwards.. I think East's D can neutralize Cloquet's 1st line and they are not very deep beyond that.. East has to score at least 3 goals though to beat Cloquet, in my opinion....

In the end, I still would have to put my money on East.. I think a rivalry game may be just what they need to spark their offense...

TheHockeyDJ wrote:Anyone know if there will be video streaming?

Don't think there's streaming video, but My9 is televising it in the Duluth area, and the radio broadcast can be found here: https://www.network1sports.com/station/kqds#menus

It appears that My9 will also stream video of the game online.

http://www.ifan.tv/

I watched last year's Hibbing-D. Marshall game on it, and the quality wasn't great, but it was better than just audio.

Deeper team wins:

East 4-1

East up 1-0 in the first period.

Lee

Nearly midway thru the 2nd, still 1-0.

Lee

Cloquet ties it up with just over seven minutes left in the 2nd period.

Lee

Hogan Davidson nets his second goal of the game to put East up 2-1 at 12:40.

Lee

Hmmm...can't get ifan.tv to work on my Mac. Couldn't last year, either.

Jack Forbort puts East up 3-1.

Lee

East scores very quickly in the 3rd, now 4-1.

Lee

The floodgates are opening up..... 5-1 Hounds now

Davidson has the hat trick now.

Lee

5-2, 11:55 left.

Lee

5-2 final.

Lee

A fun night of hockey. When Kuhlman blew by an East defenseman in the opening minutes I thought we might be in for an interesting night, but after that East dictated the game quite well, getting the early goal, slowing down Cloquet with intense physical play, and rolling their lines and using their depth to their advantage. It was a fairly pedestrian game until Cloquet tied it up, but after that East kicked it into gear. Hogan Davidson seems to be this team's sparkplug, and after his second goal, the Toscano-Forbort-Lundgren line really got going and were able to set up in the offensive zone. By the end of the game, East really seemed to be putting it all together.

All in all, a very solid night for the East defense, which did a fine job of limiting Cloquet to few serious scoring chances. The PK was very sharp as well, and it was encouraging to see them put a bunch of goals on the board (albeit against a weak defense) without having to throw Moore forward into the rush too often--they needed him to play defense tonight, which he did admirably. One comment on the Cloquet top line: practically every time they had a rush up ice, it seemed like Kuhlman was the one carrying the puck into the zone. While this makes some sense given his talents, it becomes pretty predictable after a while, and he has two linemates who are very good in their own right. That struck me as odd.

A few side notes:
-No way should this game be played at the Heritage Center when both these teams are good. I was there a half hour early and parked in some sketchy alley somewhere. All the seats were full at that time, and standing room around the top was about 3-deep. Sure, it makes the atmosphere fun, but going to get a popcorn would have cost me my spot. I highly doubt the fire code was enforced tonight. Have this game at Amsoil like they did last year, or even the old DECC, which was great for these games.
-While it did free up more seats...why on earth does the East band show up for Cambridge, but not Cloquet?
-Nice, active student section for East, though they waited until the final minute to break out those chants specially reserved for Cloquet. Cloquet had a big contingent with a bunch of signs, though they weren't nearly as loud (perhaps a function of the gameplay).
-There was a nice post-game ceremony in honor of Randolph's 500th.
-It was one of the more tame East-Cloquet games you'll ever see--few penalties, not much in the way of chippy play. Good restraint by both teams. It'll be interesting to see where they both are by the re-match in February.

Nice write up, karl. Just for the heck of it, I went back to see what you said about Cloquet in your last rankings:

Cloquet (3-2)
-As expected, the offense has been explosive; the problem is the defense, which has been, frankly, awful in their two games against AA competition. A good showing against Duluth East could turn this around in a hurry, though—there’s too much talent here to languish this far down in the rankings.

Is it safe to say, based on what you saw tonight, that Cloquet will languish a little while longer? Or was it more a case of East exceeding expectations?

karl(east) wrote:One comment on the Cloquet top line: practically every time they had a rush up ice, it seemed like Kuhlman was the one carrying the puck into the zone. While this makes some sense given his talents, it becomes pretty predictable after a while, and he has two linemates who are very good in their own right. That struck me as odd.

Gotta agree with you here. Whenever Westin Michaud brought the puck into the East zone, stuff happened. Kuhlman showed great speed, bursting into the zone on the wing, but he showed little flash or ability to involve his teammates once past the blue line. Michaud, however, was consistently dangerous with the puck and in dealing it. His linemates would be wise to give him control whenever possible. His goal, a wrister from the high slot, was a thing of beauty.