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Huge 7AA tilt on Thursday night. Rapids has a big opportunity to erase some memory of a rough December and East can establish themselves as a top 2 seed here and make for a top seed winner takes all showdown in Elk River later this month. They both just played Hopkins, with East getting a gift power play going into OT and won on a breakaway by Luke Dow. Rapids tied Hopkins 2-2. This seems like a game that will be decided by one goal. East seems to have a mental edge in this game. Rapids needs a guy like Mattson to score some big goals like Patrick White did in '07. Game will be video streamed on ifan.tv

East blows them out 6-1.

Rapids is looking good. Getting production from 3 lines, D is firming up and Gerth is solid in net.

Rapids 5
East 1

Mouse in the corner wrote:Rapids is looking good. Getting production from 3 lines, D is firming up and Gerth is solid in net.

Rapids 5
East 1

The thawks could win, but by 4????

I'll take that bet

DEast by 1.

East 4-2 with eng

Driving up from the Twin Cities for this one. Need advice on tickets, etc. How early should we get there to get a good seat? How is the concession food? First Visit to the Heritage Center. Really looking forward to it. Thanks.

stpaul wrote:Driving up from the Twin Cities for this one. Need advice on tickets, etc. How early should we get there to get a good seat? How is the concession food? First Visit to the Heritage Center. Really looking forward to it. Thanks.

You will want to get there at 5:30. Watch the jv game too, and a good seat. Concession food is very good. Enjoy the game

Rapids has a big test Tuesday at Hermantown prior to this matchup with Duluth East. Hard to make the best guess before seeing if Grand Rapids can be competitive with Hermantown. They have been in every game this year outside of the Edina/EP games. But, we need to see how much they have improved since then. Regardless, I don't see this being a 3-4-5 goal games. Probably 1-2 differential.

Rapids in a bloodbath 4-3

Outside of last years 5-0 drubbing at the IRA, these two have been fairly consistently putting out 2-1 affairs - of course East being the one on top. Can't argue with another one of these, given GR's inability to get over the mental wall of beating East. So... yeah... East 2-1.

4-2 Rapids

Rapids has too much talent, size and upside to continue at the slow pace they're at. Didn't expect them to beat H-Town, but didn't expect the total collapse either. I'm not convinced East is out of the "dog house" themselves even with a couple recent one goal wins over decent teams.

East 6-1.

TheHockeyDJ wrote:East 6-1.

Reverse jinx???

I listened to a bit of the ifan.tv broadcast last night for the Hermantown - Grand Rapids game. It was very painful to listen to. Do we know if the announcers for the East - Rapids game will be just as bad?

Traxler wrote:I listened to a bit of the ifan.tv broadcast last night for the Hermantown - Grand Rapids game. It was very painful to listen to. Do we know if the announcers for the East - Rapids game will be just as bad?

I think the varsity broadcast will be there tomorrow night.

Traxler wrote:I listened to a bit of the ifan.tv broadcast last night for the Hermantown - Grand Rapids game. It was very painful to listen to. Do we know if the announcers for the East - Rapids game will be just as bad?

I know I will not be making the drive. I feel a 7 to 2 game Duluth East.

Traxler wrote:I listened to a bit of the ifan.tv broadcast last night for the Hermantown - Grand Rapids game. It was very painful to listen to. Do we know if the announcers for the East - Rapids game will be just as bad?

Terrible announcers - I agree; might have been able to watch past the 1 period if not for the screeching idiotic comments. Unfortunately the game was essentially over by then anyway

After last night, I think I will change my mind to the hounds. Meltdown has to be occurring up in Indian Country?

stpaul wrote:Driving up from the Twin Cities for this one. Need advice on tickets, etc. How early should we get there to get a good seat? How is the concession food? First Visit to the Heritage Center. Really looking forward to it. Thanks.

I'd get there a half hour early, if only for parking...the main lot fills up pretty quick, and while there are other places to park, they're not easy to find if you're not familiar with the area. The food is good. See ya there.

As for the game, I'm not sure what to think..could be a 4-3 game either way, or it could be 5-0 again. East just needs to stick to the system to limit chances in their end and pepper the GR goalie with shots. I have little faith in GR's ability to do something tactically to get through the forecheck, so they'll probably have to rely on some impressive individual efforts and try to turn it into a track meet, where their top-end skill could make the difference. Given East's struggles in their own end, that will be easier to do than in the past--we'll see how the Hounds respond if and when that happens. (They responded just fine last February when Peterson carved them up early on in the playoff game.)

Special teams could also be key--with some exceptions, East's dominant PP has been an important part of their recent wins over Rapids. It hasn't been great this year, but GR's PK has been awful, so something has to give.

It sure feels like the luster gas been stripped off this game with Rapids effort against Hermantown. Hopefully they don't get steamrolled.

I'm not going to try and guess the score in this one. I haven't been close with a prediction yet.

Just hoping it ends up being a tight game like usual between these 2.

Ifan has pretty decent video. There was a definite bias to the announcing.

Not that you wouldn't get that from KOZY, or anyone else for that matter.

Working on our preview for this game. Hopefully we'll have it up by 1 or so.

My9 is televising this game tonight in the northland and with the way the teams have been playing, I would expect a smaller than usual crowd. I do believe that if Rapids moves their feet and stays out of the box, they can win.

alcloseshaver wrote:It sure feels like the luster gas been stripped off this game with Rapids effort against Hermantown. Hopefully they don't get steamrolled.

My prediction is that it will be a close game between these 2 teams.
I have watched East play a few times, and East is no Hermantown.

Game preview:

http://grhshockey.com/teams/default.asp ... wsID=34404