Biggest Upset for 2006

[nd0606]

What do you think is the biggest hockey upset for the 2005-06 season?  ...If you have anything to add about it, please do, it could be an interesting topic.

Was it....?

Hazen over Minot
Jamestown over GPR
Fargo North over GPR at EDC
GFC over Warroad (???)

Add some as you wish...

[ndsioux]

I dont know a whole bunch about hockey, but didnt Shanley beat GFC this year? If they did that's gotta be a pretty huge upset.

[theefollman]

I think a huge upset would be once again GFC beating Minot in the State Tournament. Than GFC beating Grafton for Third. Another one I would rank up there is the GFC beating Warroad. Hockeytown losing to a weak GFC team. That is pretty crazy. I am not saying GFC was bad but they didnt have as nearly of a talented team as they have had in past years.

[Saucesauer]

i dont know if it was an upset but what about South over Moorhead

[syracuse_10]

I think that was expected by a lot of people since south had such a good team this past year.

[fellowes]

Hazen beating Minot was big.... Minot had not lost to another west region opponent in something like 2 years

[jrh22]

The biggest upset had to be everytime CHS won a game.  They were not solid at all this year.

[fellowes]

Century High was not a solid team by any means but i wouldnt go as far as to say that it was an upset everytime they won. There were teams even less "deep" in the west and maybe one or two in the east. Their biggest win had to be against Jamestown being as Jamestown beat Grafton Park River a team that many believed was a top notch group.

[rep]

this kind of goes onto a bigger focus than just hockey but...

i think that anytime jamestown has won anything (other than maybe in track or cross country where they are very competitive, if not dominant in a handful of events) it is considered an upset.

football and baseball team are probably about average (not great, not horrible) as far as ability compared to the rest of the state, and should probably be excluded from the 'a win is an upset' category. but everything else...yeah...huge upset.

also, jamestown hadn't beat gpr in something like a decade or longer. you are talking some pretty extended history there.

all in all, there is a climate of losing in a lot of jamestown high school sports and that win essentially could make an entire winter sports season. and it is just a  one-gane-is-worth-one-game regular season win.

[Saucesauer]

The biggest upset had to be everytime CHS won a game.  They were not solid at all this year.

Keep Saying that next year when they will be one of the better teams in the west and jamestown still wont be good

[exwestcoach]

jrh22:

Big statement, granted Chs had a down year, with only 3-4 returnees they did finish 6th in the west, lost to Devils Lake by 1 and 2, split with Hazen, lost to Williston by 1 in OT and 2 on an empty netter, played BHS tough. I think your statement is untrue and sounds either like you were on a team they beat or have no respect for your competition. At any rate, the 2006 season could and should be very different. They have a year experience under the new coach and 16 ish players coming back. Granted they don't have a Gretzky but they have 6-8 players that should reach low to mid teens in points, you will not be able to shut down just one or two lines, potentially they should be four forward lines solid and I predict a top 3 finish in the west.  

[jrh22]

You may have a point but you dont get a point in the WIN column for playing a team tough or losings by 1 in OT.

[syracuse_10]

I'm sorry, but no team in the west is 4 forward lines solid. Century will not be able to roll 4 lines....in fact....last year they rolled 2 most of the time. And Century's defense will be very weak next year. The only returnee worth mentioning IMO is Zach Wentz, who will obviously be good.

All the games you listed were their close ones. You missed the ones where they were getting just crushed. Lost by 6 against Dickinson, by 6 against Devils Lake, by 9 to West Fargo, 7 to Minot....and so on. Century has a long history of playing down to their opponents, or even getting completely upset(losing to Dickinson 2 out of 3 last year). They are very inconsistent every year. They can play BHS to overtime one night, and then get killed by Hazen the next night.

And 6-8 players who reach low to mid points is not going to cut it. You need a line that can put up at least 30 points a piece to even compete. 3 lines of players who get 10-15 points is not going to cut it, because stronger teams, and teams from the east can play their third line against your first line, and then their first line will come out and dominate and keep scoring.

Century will also have questionable goaltending next year. They have hardly any varsity experience. That will be a huge reason I don't think they will succeed next year.

[jrh22]

Couildn't have said it better myself.  I agree with syracuse_10

[exwestcoach]

Cuse:

First of all I am not a CHS person, but all of your facts are not correct. You show me anyone inthe west who's top line had 3 players with 30 or more points and I"ll tell you they are by far the exception than the rule.

Who cares about the east, you are saying that Chs can not compete in their own conference, lets walk before we run.

I do not know where your hockey stick is hung but if it is in Jamestown, Dickinson, Hazen, Mandan, Botno, or Williston I surely would not bet the farm on them looking down at Century in the standings next season.

We all have our opinions but I think j--22 has some form of hard on for CHS that he needs to work out, and maybe cuse too!

Let 'em play it will be interesting to see who ultimately will be right!

[syracuse_10]

Cuse:

First of all I am not a CHS person, but all of your facts are not correct. You show me anyone inthe west who's top line had 3 players with 30 or more points and I"ll tell you they are by far the exception than the rule.

Who cares about the east, you are saying that Chs can not compete in their own conference, lets walk before we run.

I do not know where your hockey stick is hung but if it is in Jamestown, Dickinson, Hazen, Mandan, Botno, or Williston I surely would not bet the farm on them looking down at Century in the standings next season.

We all have our opinions but I think j--22 has some form of hard on for CHS that he needs to work out, and maybe cuse too!

Let 'em play it will be interesting to see who ultimately will be right!

All my facts were correct. Minot had more then 3 players with 30 points or more. You know that no team can compete if not one person on their team has 20 points. And CHS showed last year they can not compete in their conference. Consistently getting beat quite badly by teams they should have at least come close to or beat(Hazen, Dickinson).

I don't know where I got any facts wrong with that?

[Saucesauer]

you know what syracuse exwest and jrh i play for century and all iam hearing out of you 3 is talk and talk is very cheap heck i can give it for free the fact of the matter is we will see what happens next year i hope you three at least play hockey for how big of games you talk or are you just like a person on here from saint marys that talks a big game but dont do nothin

one quick question syracuse hazen and dickinson had 4 or 5 guys scoring in double /digits each and you have to have that to be good right so how did they do at state? granted we did not make it but how did they do?

[syracuse_10]

you know what syracuse exwest and jrh i play for century and all iam hearing out of you 3 is talk and talk is very cheap heck i can give it for free the fact of the matter is we will see what happens next year i hope you three at least play hockey for how big of games you talk or are you just like a person on here from saint marys that talks a big game but dont do nothin

one quick question syracuse hazen and dickinson had 4 or 5 guys scoring in double /digits each and you have to have that to be good right so how did they do at state? granted we did not make it but how did they do?

Read my first post. I said you need that to even compete. I didn't say that much would get you places. I just said if you want a chance you NEED that. You and I both know that Hazen and Dickinson only had 1 line each...so they just died every game. You need AT THE VERY LEAST, a very good top line to compete in the state. Sure you guys last year had a couple average lines, but no real dominant line. You can't deny the fact that depth was a huge factor for you guys last year, especially at defense.

[Saucesauer]

i agree defense needs to improve but of our 4 lines 9 forwards with 20 games or about are returning and the 4th line didnt jsut sit they got decent pt

[syracuse_10]

i agree defense needs to improve but of our 4 lines 9 forwards with 20 games or about are returning and the 4th line didnt jsut sit they got decent pt

I was talking about last year, but i suppose I can try to talk about next year too.

You should be better next year, in fact, I expect you  guys to give BHS a run, or even beat them. But you know that without defense, a team is nothing. The 4th line mostly sat, sure they played a shift or two a period, but that's not much. The third line didn't even play that much. I have also heard that many people hate olson. Any truth to this if you care to discuss it?

[Saucesauer]

there were a couple it was mainly 2 seniors that were babied with wald but i will leave it at that

[fellowes]

I agree with some of the points made but the only thing we can do is speculate, and all of this conversation is speculation. I expect Century to finish in the top 3 in the west as well as Minot and Bismarck High. The west probably wont be very strong this year, which may bother alot of people but i really dont think they will make it past the 2nd round of the state tournament which has also been the case the past 2 seasons( correct me if I'm wrong). Minot loses alot of top guns but will return Nathan Stremick. Williston loses alot of talent on Offense and Defense but return a goaltender and some good D in Rehak. Bismarck High loses their top 4 or 5 point producers and possibly their goaltender so their core will be diminished. Century on the other hand is a question mark, they could suprise you with the experience they return but i dont see a whole lot of talent coming back. At best I see them being this years Devils Lake in the sense that they outwork alot of teams. Another thing to keep in mind is Jamestown, and how they will fair in the west region. They could continue mediocrity or live up to the hype of the east region dominance. If anyone has any information on up and coming players please share.

[under armour]

High - Will Aide, but they always got talent

Century - Zach Wentz, Cody Erhardt and Drew Flanagin

Botto - Joe Handeland, but no team

Dickinson - Cole Frenzel, Lance Jenson, and Brian Lee

Hazen - Tyrel McBain (if he stays)

Jamestown - Zach Welding

Mandan - Caleb Haugen

Minot - Nathan Stremick, Ted Larson

Williston - Shawn Erickson, Colby Rehak, Kyle Haugenoe

My opinon of who will be top players on each team, Stremick is the only real standout in my mind. Rehak is young and very talented along with Frenzel.

 

[fellowes]

I suppose a better way to put it would be to ask who the BEST players will be and not just limiting it to up and coming players. I would like to see opinions on what teams stregths and weakness's will be and where you think they'll finish

[showtime]

I'm a little far behind on this topic but I believe Hazen's 1st line had 3 guys who were 30 and above(McBain-53, Haugstad-42, and Philion-31), plus Dickinson had their 1st line all above 30(Burke-41, Leiss-38, and Willer-31).