I decided to hold off the trip to Duluth and catch the radio feed instead. Will probably get up that way in a couple weeks and catch the action at the X on the tube.
Good luck to both teams. It has to be a great experience to be playing in these types of rivalry games.
I am hoping the game is better than the one going on in Sochi right now.
Rapids weaknesses were exposed by East. The defensemen just did not improve much over the year. East went around them consistently. After the first period Rapids got caught up ice too many times. They'll suffer the same fate next year without some major off-season improvement.
greenway1969 wrote:Amsoil is a nice arena but a small crowd. Plenty of room in the lower level and the upper level was empty. Lucky if there are 1,000 for game 2.
I wonder how much of that was weather related, people still digging out, etc. No reason a game of this caliber shouldn't draw at least 3,000.
Rapids weaknesses were exposed by East. The defensemen just did not improve much over the year. East went around them consistently. After the first period Rapids got caught up ice too many times. They'll suffer the same fate next year without some major off-season improvement.
greenway1969 wrote:Rapids weaknesses were exposed by East. The defensemen just did not improve much over the year. East went around them consistently. After the first period Rapids got caught up ice too many times. They'll suffer the same fate next year without some major off-season improvement.
Where are all the Rapids fans now??? East dominated Rapids minus the first 5 minutes. All those orange faithful were grasping at straws when they thought if Rapids played well they would beat East. Maybe during another season, but this Rapids team just wasn't very good outside of Avery and Shepard. Sometimes I even wonder about Shepard, the last 3 times I have seen him vs East, he's let in a combined 14 goals. Maybe he's good against the average teams, but I've never seen him step up in a big game. Avery always shows up but can't be blamed though because of a lack of supporting cast.
Houndhockey wrote:Where are all the Rapids fans now??? East dominated Rapids minus the first 5 minutes. All those orange faithful were grasping at straws when they thought if Rapids played well they would beat East. Maybe during another season, but this Rapids team just wasn't very good outside of Avery and Shepard. Sometimes I even wonder about Shepard, the last 3 times I have seen him vs East, he's let in a combined 14 goals. Maybe he's good against the average teams, but I've never seen him step up in a big game. Avery always shows up but can't be blamed though because of a lack of supporting cast.
Shepard is plenty good. If he played for the hounds you would be thinking quite different.
greenway1969 wrote:Amsoil is a nice arena but a small crowd. Plenty of room in the lower level and the upper level was empty. Lucky if there are 1,000 for game 2.
I wonder how much of that was weather related, people still digging out, etc. No reason a game of this caliber shouldn't draw at least 3,000.
Lee
Elk River just doesn't have huge crowds, I' m sure they are waiting to break out the throng when the games get moved to St. Cloud and they can practice at the Herb Brooks Hockey Center
Houndhockey wrote:Where are all the Rapids fans now??? East dominated Rapids minus the first 5 minutes. All those orange faithful were grasping at straws when they thought if Rapids played well they would beat East. Maybe during another season, but this Rapids team just wasn't very good outside of Avery and Shepard. Sometimes I even wonder about Shepard, the last 3 times I have seen him vs East, he's let in a combined 14 goals. Maybe he's good against the average teams, but I've never seen him step up in a big game. Avery always shows up but can't be blamed though because of a lack of supporting cast.
He looked pretty good against Edina had like 1,000, saves. It was a big game.
Houndhockey wrote:Where are all the Rapids fans now??? East dominated Rapids minus the first 5 minutes. All those orange faithful were grasping at straws when they thought if Rapids played well they would beat East. Maybe during another season, but this Rapids team just wasn't very good outside of Avery and Shepard. Sometimes I even wonder about Shepard, the last 3 times I have seen him vs East, he's let in a combined 14 goals. Maybe he's good against the average teams, but I've never seen him step up in a big game. Avery always shows up but can't be blamed though because of a lack of supporting cast.
He looked pretty good against Edina had like 1,000, saves. It was a big game.
Houndhockey wrote:Where are all the Rapids fans now??? East dominated Rapids minus the first 5 minutes. All those orange faithful were grasping at straws when they thought if Rapids played well they would beat East. Maybe during another season, but this Rapids team just wasn't very good outside of Avery and Shepard. Sometimes I even wonder about Shepard, the last 3 times I have seen him vs East, he's let in a combined 14 goals. Maybe he's good against the average teams, but I've never seen him step up in a big game. Avery always shows up but can't be blamed though because of a lack of supporting cast.
He looked pretty good against Edina had like 1,000, saves. It was a big game.
50-50 game. Both teams are different and have evolved from the first meeting. ER seems to have settled in some after the Zerban debacle. East is East, should be interesting. I understand the northern allegiance but would nice to see someone like ER break through.
A fun afternoon day at Amsoil...two quality high school games, plus UMD-UND (though that one was a bit of a yawner).
Looking back at the keys to the game, Rapids jumped out with great energy and grabbed some early momentum. East gave up the early one, but did a good job of not panicking and going back to work. They did exactly what they needed to do, playing with great energy and bottling Rapids up. They didn't have much trouble punching through the Rapids D for most of the night.
The turning point may have come at a point maybe five minutes into the first when East's second line center was out of position and got a bit of a chewing-out by Randolph. He was dropped down to the 3rd line, and Maysen Rust slid into the 2nd line and promptly scored two goals.
There was only one penalty in the game, and it was on East, so no worries about East Refs this time around. I didn't expect the Hounds to score five even strength goals, but they're moving the puck very well as a team right now. I like the way they're playing, though they'll have to go back to work and keep at it.
Congrats to the Rapids seniors on their memorable high school careers, even if it involved a lot more losing to East than they wanted. Avery Peterson was a force out there today and made the East D look silly on the first goal, and even though the Hounds did a good job on him afterwards, he's the sort of player who makes things interesting every time he touches the puck. Shepard also made some big saves and had to survive an awful lot of East rushes. They're really going to miss those two, but with a more experienced defense and the young talent coming in, I expect we'll see plenty more of them at Amsoil in the next few years.
On to the final on Thursday! Should be a good one.
karl(east) wrote:A fun afternoon day at Amsoil...two quality high school games, plus UMD-UND (though that one was a bit of a yawner).
Looking back at the keys to the game, Rapids jumped out with great energy and grabbed some early momentum. East gave up the early one, but did a good job of not panicking and going back to work. They did exactly what they needed to do, playing with great energy and bottling Rapids up. They didn't have much trouble punching through the Rapids D for most of the night.
The turning point may have come at a point maybe five minutes into the first when East's second line center was out of position and got a bit of a chewing-out by Randolph. He was dropped down to the 3rd line, and Maysen Rust slid into the 2nd line and promptly scored two goals.
There was only one penalty in the game, and it was on East, so no worries about East Refs this time around. I didn't expect the Hounds to score five even strength goals, but they're moving the puck very well as a team right now. I like the way they're playing, though they'll have to go back to work and keep at it.
Congrats to the Rapids seniors on their memorable high school careers, even if it involved a lot more losing to East than they wanted. Avery Peterson was a force out there today and made the East D look silly on the first goal, and even though the Hounds did a good job on him afterwards, he's the sort of player who makes things interesting every time he touches the puck. Shepard also made some big saves and had to survive an awful lot of East rushes. They're really going to miss those two, but with a more experienced defense and the young talent coming in, I expect we'll see plenty more of them at Amsoil in the next few years.
On to the final on Thursday! Should be a good one.
Well said Karl. Too much East and not enough Rapids in this one. They deserve the win! Good luck in your playoff run.
greenway1969 wrote:Amsoil is a nice arena but a small crowd. Plenty of room in the lower level and the upper level was empty. Lucky if there are 1,000 for game 2.
I wonder how much of that was weather related, people still digging out, etc. No reason a game of this caliber shouldn't draw at least 3,000.
Lee
Sure seemed like a pretty good crowd to me. The student sections weren't that filled up but good representation from non students. Of course Rapids fans out number East fans...like always. I didn't stay for the 2nd game but heard from someone who did that there was about 1/4 of the fans there compared to the 1st. That must have been pretty quiet. I liked the mascots having some fun with each other; switching heads and pretending to fight.
Things were looking promising the first half of the 1st, Avery made a sick move around an East D man and landed a ripper of a goal. Slowly though the tide turned. GR had spurts of pressure and chances but gave up too many rushes and poor play in their own end. East is solid but definitely not as suffocating and dominating as years past. Glad to see the refs not be a factor, both teams played with discipline. Cool to see Jake Bischoff and a couple of his Gopher teammates in attendance; Fasching and I think Kloos.
Difficult to watch Avery and Hunter after the game. Avery appeared to take it pretty rough, very understandably. Two special players that I wish the best to, will be fun to follow them in their post high school journeys. Sad the season is over but thanks to the whole team for the great entertainment and memories all year.
