Grand Forks Central

[Inver Grove neophyte]

I am curious if anyone on this message board has seen the 2018/2019 GFC team play?

On paper they appear to be on par with our states best teams (AA or A)?

Can anyone from Orono (10- loss) or EGF (5-2 loss) shed light or comment on how good GFC is?

It is too bad they don't play any of the top AA teams here.

For the record I am a casual MN HS hockey fan and not a troll.

GFC appears to have a great team.

[green4]

I have not seen them play, but I have been looking at their box scores and stuff. They have a good team, but I will be curious to see how the rematch with EGF goes. One of their goals was in empty net, and EGF did out shoot them 31-22. The second highest amount of shots they gave us was actually 23 by Orono.
If you look at Central's games with Red River and compare that to EGF vs Red River I think they are actually pretty comparable teams. Central plays EGF on Thursday and I expect a close game.
I would guess Central in single A would be a top three team, but probably not as good as Hermantown. In AA I would guess they would be between 10-15

[BleedGreen5]

I am curious if anyone on this message board has seen the 2018/2019 GFC team play?

On paper they appear to be on par with our states best teams (AA or A)?

Can anyone from Orono (10- loss) or EGF (5-2 loss) shed light or comment on how good GFC is?

It is too bad they don't play any of the top AA teams here.

For the record I am a casual MN HS hockey fan and not a troll.

GFC appears to have a great team.

I have not seen them play, but I have been looking at their box scores and stuff. They have a good team, but I will be curious to see how the rematch with EGF goes. One of their goals was in empty net, and EGF did out shoot them 31-22. The second highest amount of shots they gave us was actually 23 by Orono.
If you look at Central's games with Red River and compare that to EGF vs Red River I think they are actually pretty comparable teams. Central plays EGF on Thursday and I expect a close game.
I would guess Central in single A would be a top three team, but probably not as good as Hermantown. In AA I would guess they would be between 10-15

I have a "Across the river look at this" for 47 years, should be a pretty good answer for ya.

GF Central is a very good team, Lots of skill, 5 or 6 high end players, 4 lines deep,3 sets of D-men.

Vast majority of these players have played Bantam AA Aviators in the past, and have competed very well against Bantam AA Minnesota teams.

I would say that Green 4's assessment is pretty close, Top 3 Class A, and depending on the day, maybe as high as Top 10 Class AA. Have to remember that they have virtually no competition in ND, to push them and make them better.

GF Red River is down a bit this year, they have 5 kids that left in the last couple years, 1 NDTP UND commit, 1 Shattuck St.Marys UND commit, 3 in Souix Falls with AAA program, 1 UND Commit.These would have been there top players or even added to GF Central.

These are huge rivalry games, Bragging rights in the Forks, Red River are the "CakeEaters", Central is Blue Collar, and we are the Greaser's. In the old days for sure there would be blood spilled in these games. Between Central and Red River this would be similar to getting to play SCC and Hermantown 4 times a year or similar AA Minnesota teams.

Hopefully, we come after them again on Thursday,( 3 defensive mistakes cost us in first Game,buried every mistake)

Disclaimer: I am a huge Homer and I do have a dog in this fight.

[Goose21]

I have not seen them play, but am also not surprised to see them be pretty successful. GF is the hockey capitol of North Dakota and their HS and Youth programs benefit from the popularity of UND Hockey, having EGF right across the river, and their proximity to NW and Western MN Programs. The community really seems committed to hockey development locally and the youth AA program travels frequently to play the top Minnesota Programs.

[USA218]

I have not seen them play, but I have been looking at their box scores and stuff. They have a good team, but I will be curious to see how the rematch with EGF goes. One of their goals was in empty net, and EGF did out shoot them 31-22. The second highest amount of shots they gave us was actually 23 by Orono.
If you look at Central's games with Red River and compare that to EGF vs Red River I think they are actually pretty comparable teams. Central plays EGF on Thursday and I expect a close game.
I would guess Central in single A would be a top three team, but probably not as good as Hermantown. In AA I would guess they would be between 10-15

I have seen them play a couple of times and completely agree with this assessment. They are a AA school in size and this year would make a run at the Section 8AA championship. I would say they are similar to a Moorhead or Roseau (or EGF). Could play with (not saying beat) most teams in the state, but a realistic 10-15 class AA ranking would probably be a good guess.

[Inver Grove neophyte]

I only could find 3 of their players in the Elite league. I thought there would be a larger group than that?

[BleedGreen5]

I only could find 3 of their players in the Elite league. I thought there would be a larger group than that?

Typically would only see GF players on the Great Plains team.

[Inver Grove neophyte]

Yes. That is where I found them. But Greenway also had 4 players on that team and I assume GFC is uite a bt better than Greenway?

[Inver Grove neophyte]

I might also be making a false assumption that the number of Elite League participants somehow equates to a strong HS team?

Not trolling here...just curious.

[SS729]

So if they aren't on elite league they can't be that good ? I believe one of the top players from EGF was snubbed for the elite leagues and I would take his style of play over most of the fancy skating don't hit me elite league players. I watched Central couple of times and they have a solid 4 lines that are grinding , fast players that outwork most teams. The defense is solid 3 lines also. Question would be the goaltending, He did play good the first time EGF played them but Central kept a lot of the shots to the outside and away from the net. Thought EGF except for about 2 min time frame
played equal or better then them, but they capitalized on their chances . EGF also brings the same style game 4 sold lines, 3 good set of d and wear people down. It should be a good game on Thursday with the team that can convert on their chances and stay out of the box will win. Will be entertaining at that...

[Inver Grove neophyte]

Thanks for you assesment. I really wish they played some of the Metro AA schools here. I am sure they would put up a good fight. It would be great to see the best from ND, WI, MN and Mich all get together at some point and play.

[Deathblow]

Contrary to what many think, GFC isn't a big school...only 1000 kids, so roughly the size of Orono...but they would undoubtedly opt up to AA.
They have the ability to be pretty fantastic... I wish they played Moorhead, too, but alas. They run 4 lines, all game, albeit against most inferior competition. They aren't a big physical team, but move the puck pretty well. Coach has a lot of faith in several underclassmen. Their third line(?), consisting of two sophomores and a freshman, could be the best line in ND, if it weren't for the other two lines on their team.
As said earlier, quite a few of these kids have played for the AA bantam team, so they are used to playing high competition. Over the past 3-4 years, I'd guess the AA bantams have been equal to a top 10 MN team.
As far as Thursday's game...EGF poses problems for GFC due to their physicality. The first game was pretty even, until early in the third, when EGF shortened their bench. Central still rolled 4 lines, and seemed to tire out the Green Wave. But like most rivalry games, it's kind of a crapshoot.

[SS729]

DeathBlow. The one thing conflicting in the 1,000 students is that 7-8 kids don't live in the school district. They should be playing for Red River so honestly they are an all star team for a city of 57,000 people. Sound like the rest of ND is upset over what is happing in GF. sound like the ND high school association is going to get an hear full from all the other teams that go by play in your school district. Funny though from what I know they won't let kids do this for football but for hockey its ok.. The Bantam AA is a JV team for Central no matter where they live in the city they will go to Central at this point. Maybe if Red River gets different coaches they may swing that back to Red River.

[bardown27]

DeathBlow. The one thing conflicting in the 1,000 students is that 7-8 kids don't live in the school district. They should be playing for Red River so honestly they are an all star team for a city of 57,000 people. Sound like the rest of ND is upset over what is happing in GF. sound like the ND high school association is going to get an hear full from all the other teams that go by play in your school district. Funny though from what I know they won't let kids do this for football but for hockey its ok.. The Bantam AA is a JV team for Central no matter where they live in the city they will go to Central at this point. Maybe if Red River gets different coaches they may swing that back to Red River.

It's been happening forever. Prime example of it is Luke Johnson. As an 8th grader, he played for GF Red River and won the state championship. As a freshman, he played for GF Central and won the state championship. Soph year played for Central and lost in the state semis, then left for his junior and senior year of high school and went to Lincoln in the USHL.

[green4]

Hockey Hub is saying 8-1 win for Central over EGF, so I might have been wrong about this one. Central might be better than we thought.

[Section 8 guy]

The million dollar question is........why do we care?

To the point about getting the best teams together from MN, ND, WI and MI........it would be a waste of time. It would be very rare for the top teams in any of those states to be able to compete with the top 2 or 3 teams from Minnesota. Grand Forks included. Grand Forks teams would likely be the only high school teams in those three states that possibly could......and it wouldn't be very common at all for them to be able to either.

Let's not over react to one game against a Class A team.

[That guy for that thing]

The million dollar question is........why do we care?

To the point about getting the best teams together from MN, ND, WI and MI........it would be a waste of time. It would be very rare for the top teams in any of those states to be able to compete with the top 2 or 3 teams from Minnesota. Grand Forks included. Grand Forks teams would likely be the only high school teams in those three states that possibly could......and it wouldn't be very common at all for them to be able to either.

Let's not over react to one game against a Class A team.

You cant count Michigan in this. They dont have the HS system we do. They all play AAA. its a joke.

[Inver Grove neophyte]

does GFC ever play Moorehead? That would seem to be a big game.
I kind of sense that the hockey in MN HS is down ever so slightly this year. There does not seem to be that one dominant team. Edina, Minnetonka and Andover all look really good but I get the sense that they can be beat. I think the state title is really wide open in AA. Single A is pretty much a 2 horse race with Hermantown and SCC.

[grindiangrad-80]

does GFC ever play Moorehead? That would seem to be a big game.
I kind of sense that the hockey in MN HS is down ever so slightly this year. There does not seem to be that one dominant team. Edina, Minnetonka and Andover all look really good but I get the sense that they can be beat. I think the state title is really wide open in AA. Single A is pretty much a 2 horse race with Hermantown and SCC.

It's possible that you are correct. However, It may be that there are a few really high end teams this year. That could also account for the fact that there isn't a clear cut favorite. IMHO.