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Gotta feel bad for Howg. Takes the team to state last year, now benched behind a sophomore goalie as a senior.

Entertaining game in front of a packed house. This is definitely one of the top one or two Denfeld teams in my memory, and if they can stay out of the box, they could give Hermantown or Marshall fits. The refs called a tight game, though it went both ways (aside from that awful disallowed goal) and helped keep the lid on an emotional game. The Hounds' power play is absolutely snakebitten, and this team's results would look noticeably better if they were scoring at even half the clip of a normal East PP. The defense remains shaky at times, especially in their own end, but a strong forecheck and good neutral zone play can minimize those scary moments, and East had that through most of the 2nd and 3rd periods.

East appears to have mastered the art of beating middling teams 4-3. With the two defenses involved, there could be plenty of scoring on Thursday. Meierhoff was decent in net and held up well at the end. It'll be interesting to see if he gets the start against Rapids, or if East goes with the veteran Howg, who shut out Rapids on the road last year.

As for the net coming off, someone near me in the stands noticed that the Denfeld goalie was intentionally nudging it slightly off when the play wasn't in his end, so that when things did come his way, it would pop off easily if needed. Future opponents, take note.

karl(east) wrote:Future opponents, take note.

And future referees, take note.

Slammer wrote:Gotta feel bad for Howg. Takes the team to state last year, now benched behind a sophomore goalie as a senior.

I would highly doubt that Meierhoff has become the bona fide starter this early. Despite East's win, he still only posted an .850 sv % against Denfeld and his combined sv % over his three games is only .867. Howg actually has a combined .877. Even Hedin is only a few points below Kirk (.864) and although he didn't fare well, two of his three starts were against top ranked/high scoring Edina and STA.

If anything, I'd venture to guess that Howg will be getting more starts very soon as the veteran. I'm sure Meierhoff will get a fair amount of starts also, but more for the reason to groom/prepare him for the future.

Slammer wrote:Gotta feel bad for Howg. Takes the team to state last year, now benched behind a sophomore goalie as a senior.

Maybe there is more than meets the eye of the casual observer (?hurt maybe, I don't know). For a goaltender that was in the early summer discussions re: Brimsek award and was deemed "worthy" of a spot on the fall Elite League roster, hard to believe he isn't consistently starting on a team that's not usually in the habit of rotating goaltenders midseason (at least I don't recall that has been Randolph's tendency in the last few years)

sanryam wrote:

Slammer wrote:Gotta feel bad for Howg. Takes the team to state last year, now benched behind a sophomore goalie as a senior.

I would highly doubt that Meierhoff has become the bona fide starter this early. Despite East's win, he still only posted an .850 sv % against Denfeld and his combined sv % over his three games is only .867. Howg actually has a combined .877. Even Hedin is only a few points below Kirk (.864) and although he didn't fare well, two of his three starts were against top ranked/high scoring Edina and STA.

If anything, I'd venture to guess that Howg will be getting more starts very soon as the veteran. I'm sure Meierhoff will get a fair amount of starts also, but more for the reason to groom/prepare him for the future.

Randolph's quotes in the Duluth paper say it his net and they will ride him for now, he earned it. No Howg unless their is a fallback.

rainier wrote:Dow answers almost immediately.

1-1

East is lucky the MSHSL let that transfer go through. Without Dow, things look even worse for East this year.

Don't forget Howg had Beaulieu, Trapp, and Marinac in front of him last year. Big difference compared to this year.

bemused wrote:

Bigcat99 wrote:

pekyman wrote:Some good games on My9 in the next few days.

DATE/TIME HOME AWAY
Jan. 5 7:30pm Duluth Denfeld vs Duluth East
Jan. 6 7:00pm Duluth Marshall vs Mahtomedi
Jan. 8 7:30pm Duluth East vs Grand Rapids

Please, please, please tell us Tom Hansen will NOT be doing the play by play?

I think you should be happy you have televised regular season
high school hockey games.

Dont get me wrong, I am happy to be able to catch some regular season games on the the ole tube. That doesn't change my opinion on the aforementioned doing the PxP.

karl(east) wrote:...the Denfeld goalie was intentionally nudging it slightly off when the play wasn't in his end, so that when things did come his way, it would pop off easily if needed.

lol Classic.

Froggy Richards wrote:East is lucky the MSHSL let that transfer go through.

lol

alcloseshaver wrote:Still not sure why the nets keep coming off their moorings during moderate srums near the post?

Classic go to move for some teams/goalies who are expected to win who find themselves scrambling in close games or behind. We could make a list each season of the worst offenders. Hell, we could make a predicted list each week! I'd be so curious to know if any "big name" or "big time" goalies lost their credibility with this accidental/incidental move. Bigger issue girls or boys? What ages do you see this the most? Honestly surprised we haven't talked about this before.

Most refs still don't call the dangerous hits unless a player is hurt or fakes the injury. They certainly aren't going to have the nuts to call a delay of game for a goalie or team defense knocking the net off. But boy these refs nowadays call hand passing most anytime a puck touches a glove.

Nevertoomuchhockey wrote:Classic go to move for some teams/goalies who are expected to win who find themselves scrambling in close games or behind. We could make a list each season of the worst offenders. Hell, we could make a predicted list each week! I'd be so curious to know if any "big name" or "big time" goalies lost their credibility with this accidental/incidental move. Bigger issue girls or boys? What ages do you see this the most? Honestly surprised we haven't talked about this before.

I first started watching high school hockey in the late 90's. I remember attending an Eden Prairie game when they were a top 2 team all season, just to scout. One of the first things I noticed was their goalie Dan Kuhl's net conveniently popping off during every scoring chance. Something I hadn't previously noticed, so blatantly. I was wondering how he wasn't being called out for this or penalized. I agree, some goalie's nets just coincidentally are more loose than others. Something I've observed at different games throughout the years. What I haven't seen, was what is described above. A goalie nudging it off when the play wasn't in his end. Which I find amusing, come on. That's hilarious. I picture his back to the play as he pulls it up & gets it set just perfectly an inch off it's mark. Then he takes a drink from his water bottle, puts his glove back on, turns around & is ready to rock. Either that, or as his back is turned, a puck comes flying past him into the net...which is called no goal because the net was off.