Corey Loos

GoldieShuffle · Post by **GoldieShuffle** » Tue Mar 16, 2004 4:13 pm

I thought this might interest some of you. I never read any complaints about Moorhead "recruiting" players. It seems that this is not the case with Loos, but I am suprised that I haven't heard that accusation. Does anyone know the story of their goalie Hittle, who is from Alexandria? Thanks. Mike McFeely column: Loos imitates Potulny By Mike McFeely mmcfeely@forumcomm.com The Forum - 03/12/2004 ST. PAUL - Grant Potulny, born and raised in Grand Forks, N.D., became an everlasting hero to Minnesota hockey fans in the spring of 2002 when his overtime goal lifted the Gophers to a 4-3 victory over Maine in the NCAA title game played at the Xcel Energy Center. Moorhead High School’s Cory Johnson raised Potulny’s name Thursday night, after the Spuds squeaked out a 4-3 overtime victory over Elk River in the same building. The game winner was scored by junior Cory Loos, who was born and raised in Fargo before transferring to Moorhead prior to this school year. “That’s possibly the same goal Grant Potulny from North Dakota scored in for Minnesota,” Johnson said. A check of a Twin Cities media member in the Xcel press box confirmed it: Loos’ backhander off a rebound was scored at the same end of the ice as Potulny’s heroic shot. How’s that for delicious parallels? A North Dakota kid scoring a winning goal in a big game for a storied program in Minnesota. “It’s kind of ironic, being from North Dakota, but he deserves it,” Johnson said. “He’s worked hard for it.” While it’s unlikely Loos will be cemented into legend like Potulny, the Spuds are no less appreciative. Loos’ goal allowed No. 2-ranked Moorhead to keep alive its dream of winning the school’s first state championship. Loos’ story is not exactly like that of Potulny, of course. Potulny was recruited by the Gophers and coach Don Lucia. Loos and his parents made the decision to cross the Red River without prompting from Spuds coach Dave Morinville. In fact, Rob and Shelly Loos had to sell their home in north Fargo and move to Moorhead in order for Cory to be eligible under Minnesota State High School League rules. Loos didn’t want to get into the reasons for his transfer, saying only, “It’s a long story.” The winger was a good player for North, seeing ice time as a freshman and becoming the team’s leading scorer last year when the Spartans qualified for the North Dakota state tournament. But Morinville said Rob Loos -- a former goalie at North when Morinville was an assistant at the school in the 1970s -- called Moorhead activities director Don Hulbert over the summer to check into Minnesota’s transfer rules. “Then Rob called me and said, ‘What are your feelings if Cory transfers over?’” Morinville said. “I said, ‘We’re going to have a good team with or without your son. There are no guarantees he’s going to play. It’s not like Moses parting the Red Sea because he’s coming over here.’ I told him that if Cory is going to play with us, but hang out with his North buddies, that’s not going to work.” That did not turn out to be a problem. Loos began skating with the Spuds last summer and found his niche. On a team loaded with talent like Mr. Hockey finalist Brian Gifford and University of North Dakota recruit Brian Lee, Loos carved a home on the third line and tallied 14 goals to go with 14 assists heading into the state tournament. “At the start we really didn’t know how he was going to fit in because we have 20 guys who can play the game,” Johnson said. “Nobody has questions now because of the way everything ended up. He just made us stronger. It has worked out great.” That was epitomized in Thursday’s overtime session. With the Spuds controlling the action against the quickly fading Elks, Sam Warhol stopped a slap shot by Jon Ammerman. But Loos, planted firmly in front of the net, backhanded the puck into the open half of the goal. “That was a Loos kind of goal. He was just kind of hanging around out front,” Morinville said. “He’s a big, strong kid -- 6-2, 190 pounds. If you’re a defenseman and you just got done trying to break the puck out and now you have to go cover that guy, that’s not a fun job.” Following his goal, Loos found himself at the bottom of a celebratory pile on the Xcel ice while an announced crowd of 15,571 looked on. It was a slightly larger state-tournament stage than he played on a year ago for North. That fact was not lost on Loos, who has spent the past several years watching the Spuds make their annual trip to St. Paul. “It’s awesome. The crowd, the atmosphere, the people. You can’t beat it,” Loos said. Grant Potulny would be proud.

Northern Hockey Fan · Post by **Northern Hockey Fan** » Tue Mar 16, 2004 4:31 pm

What i heard about the Hittle story is that he didn't like the coaching in Alex and thought he should have got a chance to play varsity in the 2002-2003 season at alex and he played jv all year and didn't like playing jv and moved to moorhead just a rumor i heard don't know if its true or not.

spudfan25 · Post by **spudfan25** » Tue Mar 16, 2004 4:39 pm

But where do you draw the line at recruiting? I live and moorhead and would not move to fargo because my son will play for the spuds. I wont have it any other way.

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Corey Loos

Corey Loos

Hittle

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