#9 Duluth East vs. #12 Grand Rapids 1/9/14

[northwoods oldtimer]

East was just typical East last night. Randolph is the best coach out there, not even close.
Rapids sophomores were no match for East. Very undisciplined, you cannot take a 5 minute major and expect to beat East.

Anyone know who Potulny was in the house for?

Nobody on Rapids

[Slammer]

or the 1 seed with their win over East and how their SOS and signature wins compare.

Anyone who watched the game in person tonight can confidently say East should have the one seed as of right now......

That's not true at all. Anyone who watched the Elks defeat the #4 ranked Blaine could argue the opposite. Rapids isn't even a top ten team. All you can go by now is each team's wins against top 10 teams. DE took Eden Prairie and Wayzata. Elks beat Edina and Blaine. That's a toss-up if you ask me.

Karl, what say you?

I don't think people understand how big of a pounding it was.... Rapids actually could NOT compete with East. It was actually complete domination the whole entire game. Right now in everyone's mind it is probably a toss up for the top seed but in my mind East should definitely have the advantage right now.

[TheHockeyDJ]

Anyone who watched the game in person tonight can confidently say East should have the one seed as of right now......

That's not true at all. Anyone who watched the Elks defeat the #4 ranked Blaine could argue the opposite. Rapids isn't even a top ten team. All you can go by now is each team's wins against top 10 teams. DE took Eden Prairie and Wayzata. Elks beat Edina and Blaine. That's a toss-up if you ask me.

Karl, what say you?

I don't think people understand how big of a pounding it was.... Rapids actually could NOT compete with East. It was actually complete domination the whole entire game. Right now in everyone's mind it is probably a toss up for the top seed but in my mind East should definitely have the advantage right now.

Rapids was dominated even worse in 07, when GR came back in Feb and dominated play against East and eventually won in OT. I think in the 2nd period alone GR outshot East 18-2. East did dominate, but that 5 min major on a call where the East player faked an injury, was huge for early momentum. I hope East goes into the playoffs thinking that can sleep walk to another victory like they did in 07.

[Slammer]

That's not true at all. Anyone who watched the Elks defeat the #4 ranked Blaine could argue the opposite. Rapids isn't even a top ten team. All you can go by now is each team's wins against top 10 teams. DE took Eden Prairie and Wayzata. Elks beat Edina and Blaine. That's a toss-up if you ask me.

Karl, what say you?

I don't think people understand how big of a pounding it was.... Rapids actually could NOT compete with East. It was actually complete domination the whole entire game. Right now in everyone's mind it is probably a toss up for the top seed but in my mind East should definitely have the advantage right now.

Rapids was dominated even worse in 07, when GR came back in Feb and dominated play against East and eventually won in OT. I think in the 2nd period alone GR outshot East 18-2. East did dominate, but that 5 min major on a call where the East player faked an injury, was huge for early momentum. I hope East goes into the playoffs thinking that can sleep walk to another victory like they did in 07.

The official shot count is 35-16 East, so GR definitely did not outshoot east 18-2. Not even close. And that should've been a major penalty, the hit was completely uncalled for regardless if he faked an injury or not.

GR is a better team then what happened last night, but their discipline and how they handle big games is a huge question mark at this point. Randolph's team was mature and disciplined throughout the game.

[TheHockeyDJ]

18-2 shots 2nd period in the 07 semi-final, not last night.

[Slammer]

18-2 shots 2nd period in the 07 semi-final, not last night.

Ahh I see.... I was gonna say.

I do like GR though, if East doesn't get through sections I would love to have GR down at state. I hope they can get it together.

[norcon]

Well, that was fun.

East had a great gameplan and executed it to perfection. Their forechecking and neutral zone play was as good as I've ever seen out of an East team. I don't think Rapids had a single odd-man rush all night, and they made no adjustments to try to get through the East D. I know a few people have griped over the years when Rapids has tried to dump-and-chase to get through the East, but tonight, you saw what happened when they do try to skate right into the teeth of the defense. It was pretty ugly.

Avery Peterson is an excellent player and may well win Mr. Hockey, but the best player on the ice tonight was Phil Beaulieu, and it wasn't close. He was in total control of the game. And he also did photo ops with the Grand Rapids mites after their game between periods.
Your take is right on.
East's third line had a great night, as did Gunnar Howg on the few occasions that Rapids tested him. Rapids' lack of discipline cost them, even though they had more time on the PP than East, and still didn't do much with it. It's hard to find many positive things to say about Rapids, other than Shepard making some big saves that kept it from being even worse.

Huge win for the Hounds, and off of style points, they might have the slight edge for the top seed right now...but there's still a long way to go, and every game will matter. Also, it's worth remembering that East beat Rapids comfortably back in 2007 regular season, and then lost to them in the playoffs. East certainly looks the stronger team, but with better discipline, a few adjustments, a big night from Shepard, and a few odd-man rushes...Rapids could "easily" win.

It was great to see such a packed house at the IRA Civic Center, though East took all of the energy out of the building with their clinical first period. There was a decent fan base from East on hand. I only had two complaints: 1) the use of piped-in crowd noise during player introductions...I wanted to hear what that place sounds like with a couple thousand people on their feet; and 2) whoever was running the shot counter, as it was the most miserable shot-counting operation I have ever seen. They subtracted a few shots from East's total after the first period for no reason, gave Rapids a shot on an East breakaway, and missed a whole bunch in the second and third periods.

Your take is right on! Rapids only chance was to come out with great energy and play disciplined. Neither of those things happened. Coach Randolph seems to always put a good plan together to neutralize his opponents best player. Avery had to be very frustrated.
Between the piped-in fan noise, loud music and the overbearing announcer, the atmosphere at the IRA is like a circus. An embarrassment for those of us who bleed black and orange.

[TheHockeyDJ]

Well, that was fun.

East had a great gameplan and executed it to perfection. Their forechecking and neutral zone play was as good as I've ever seen out of an East team. I don't think Rapids had a single odd-man rush all night, and they made no adjustments to try to get through the East D. I know a few people have griped over the years when Rapids has tried to dump-and-chase to get through the East, but tonight, you saw what happened when they do try to skate right into the teeth of the defense. It was pretty ugly.

Avery Peterson is an excellent player and may well win Mr. Hockey, but the best player on the ice tonight was Phil Beaulieu, and it wasn't close. He was in total control of the game. And he also did photo ops with the Grand Rapids mites after their game between periods.
Your take is right on.
East's third line had a great night, as did Gunnar Howg on the few occasions that Rapids tested him. Rapids' lack of discipline cost them, even though they had more time on the PP than East, and still didn't do much with it. It's hard to find many positive things to say about Rapids, other than Shepard making some big saves that kept it from being even worse.

Huge win for the Hounds, and off of style points, they might have the slight edge for the top seed right now...but there's still a long way to go, and every game will matter. Also, it's worth remembering that East beat Rapids comfortably back in 2007 regular season, and then lost to them in the playoffs. East certainly looks the stronger team, but with better discipline, a few adjustments, a big night from Shepard, and a few odd-man rushes...Rapids could "easily" win.

It was great to see such a packed house at the IRA Civic Center, though East took all of the energy out of the building with their clinical first period. There was a decent fan base from East on hand. I only had two complaints: 1) the use of piped-in crowd noise during player introductions...I wanted to hear what that place sounds like with a couple thousand people on their feet; and 2) whoever was running the shot counter, as it was the most miserable shot-counting operation I have ever seen. They subtracted a few shots from East's total after the first period for no reason, gave Rapids a shot on an East breakaway, and missed a whole bunch in the second and third periods.

Your take is right on! Rapids only chance was to come out with great energy and play disciplined. Neither of those things happened. Coach Randolph seems to always put a good plan together to neutralize his opponents best player. Avery had to be very frustrated.
Between the piped-in fan noise, loud music and the overbearing announcer, the atmosphere at the IRA is like a circus. An embarrassment for those of us who bleed black and orange.

The announcer is the worst I've ever heard at a high school hockey game. Starting lineups he starts at a low tone and then blasts everyone with the players name. Is it so difficult to go to one Wild game and take some notes?

[pathtonow]

Also, hats off to Gunnar Howg for his first shutout tonight. Didn't get tested very much but he had two spectacular acrobatic saves, and shutting out anyone is always an accomplishment!

Just want to state again how important this game was for Gunnar Howg. This is a huge confidence boost for him. He has now played in a hostile atmosphere against a good team and come up with a big win. His series of saves during a GR PP in the 2nd period was spectacular! His positioning was excellent, controlled rebounds and could find the puck through all the traffic. A goal at that point in the game would have made it 3-1 and who knows how GR would have reacted, but Gunnar shut GR down with the help of his defense and came up big for the East Team.

[karl(east)]

Some good points being made.

On our digression into 2007: no, East was not more dominant in the regular season meeting that year. The shots were closer and the first period was scoreless, plus the game was at the DECC. When I said East's forechecking and neutral zone play last night was as good as I've ever seen it, I wasn't exaggerating. That said, 2007 is a good cautionary tale, and one I'm sure Randolph will tell the players a few times. That's especially true if these two are the 2/3 seeds and in line for a semifinal clash. As I listed earlier, there are a lot of things Rapids needs to fix to turn the scoreline around, but it's certainly plausible that they do those things. They aren't going to outshoot East, but they don't need to in order to win.

7AA seeding: I think it's a toss-up between East and Elky for #1 right now. East gets extra points within the section for the magnitude of last night's win, but assuming both take care of business tomorrow, Elky will still be ahead of ER in next week's rankings. This one really will go down to the wire, with every game mattering.

I think GR needs one of those two to take a poor loss (probably two, realistically) to go higher than #3. However we try to spin SOS, they only have one real quality win (Elk River), and their remaining schedule only has one maybe top 15 AA team (WBL). The credentials just aren't there. I'd also disagree with calling Duluth Marshall on par with the top 20 in AA. While I think they're somewhat better than what they've shown so far, they're at #40 in PageStat and #41 in USHSHO.

[Nuts&Bolts]

I think the story of this game after the dominance of DE is Coach Randolph permitting his star player to take pictures with the GR mite team between periods. Either he's loosening up a bit feeling some warmth in his heart towards the GR youth or he's opening up the PR bag and lines of communication for a couple of transfers from the west down the road for the class of 2024.

[TheHockeyDJ]

Some good points being made.

On our digression into 2007: no, East was not more dominant in the regular season meeting that year. The shots were closer and the first period was scoreless, plus the game was at the DECC. When I said East's forechecking and neutral zone play last night was as good as I've ever seen it, I wasn't exaggerating. That said, 2007 is a good cautionary tale, and one I'm sure Randolph will tell the players a few times. That's especially true if these two are the 2/3 seeds and in line for a semifinal clash. As I listed earlier, there are a lot of things Rapids needs to fix to turn the scoreline around, but it's certainly plausible that they do those things. They aren't going to outshoot East, but they don't need to in order to win.

7AA seeding: I think it's a toss-up between East and Elky for #1 right now. East gets extra points within the section for the magnitude of last night's win, but assuming both take care of business tomorrow, Elky will still be ahead of ER in next week's rankings. This one really will go down to the wire, with every game mattering.

I think GR needs one of those two to take a poor loss (probably two, realistically) to go higher than #3. However we try to spin SOS, they only have one real quality win (Elk River), and their remaining schedule only has one maybe top 15 AA team (WBL). The credentials just aren't there. I'd also disagree with calling Duluth Marshall on par with the top 20 in AA. While I think they're somewhat better than what they've shown so far, they're at #40 in PageStat and #41 in USHSHO.

The shots are misleading for the 07 meeting in the regular season, I'm telling you Karl, it was one of the worst games for GR, East skated around them all game long. It was a complete opposite in the semi's. You make some good points on the seeds, and I agree that East is still in the running for the #1 seed. I think a key game to watch is when Elk River and Andover rematch, Elky won 7-6 the first time around, so Andover could "easily" win the next one, at that point the Elks have two section losses to East's one. I don't see East losing to Cloquet or Forest Lake.

[observer]

Coach Randolph permitting his star player to take pictures with the GR mite team between periods.

I was more dumbfounded that a GR Mite would want a picture with an East player.

[karl(east)]

Coach Randolph permitting his star player to take pictures with the GR mite team between periods.

I was more dumbfounded that a GR Mite would want a picture with an East player.

Smart kid.

[Mnsportsguy1976]

Coach Randolph permitting his star player to take pictures with the GR mite team between periods.

I was more dumbfounded that a GR Mite would want a picture with an East player.

Smart kid.

I was there to see that and my first thought was it was probably a relative, either way a good moment for that little guy

[north_bear]

Very disappointed in how Rapids performed on Thurs. If we hadn't have taken the major penalty it might have been 1-0 after 1, granted a large disparity in shots. I'm a little concerned that coach Rothstein didn't change the lines any after the 1st or 2nd periods. Clearly the lineups that were there weren't getting anything done; why not change it up? The top line may have been able to create some opportunities if Jonah was reinserted with Avery. Oh well.

People have to remember that GR took Edina to OT and beat Elk River. Rapids didn't show up and East looked like East does every year; no matter the players or preseason speculation that this is "East's down year" they always look the same. Hats off to them and their coaching organization for putting out the product.

I have to defend the IRA as I love the place and realistically it is one of the best arenas in the state. The fake crowd noise is a little cheesy but its supposed to be home rink advantage, might as well use it. It was nice to see the band back at a game. The national anthem Jimmy Hendrix style got off a little rough but finished strong. I like the announcer and his voice when announcing goals but yes he could turn down the volume when announcing the lineups. Its too bad it wasn't a close game, the crowd would have blew the roof off the building. Everyone in Rapids always knows when East is in town. As for East fans, I really didn't see or hear that many.

[karl(east)]

I was actually pretty pleased with East's representation at the IRA. Many of us went incognito, but they were in the majority in the two sections opposite the Rapids student section. For a 1.5 hour road trip on a school night, it was solid, and there was a good "why so quiet" chant from the students after the 3rd East goal.

The kid playing the national anthem scared me with those warm-up riffs, but once he got going it was very well-done.