Duluth EAST vs Duluth Denfeld Jan. 9 DECC 8:00

[dulutheastfan]

Ya boblee i wish i read this earlier i knew leis would not give up more than 2 and he gave up one what were you smoking tonight boblee you know bettter than that to say he would give up 3+ wow nice one......

Anyways boys played great goodjob

8-1 win

Lets go HOUNDS!!!!

[Kamakaze]

DAMN! who got the goal for Denfeld?

[Shoot-Out]

I'm glad East came ready for this game, they really skated and shut some mouths tonight. If it wasn't for some nice saves this could have been 11 or 12 - 1 Nice Job Hounds

[east hockey]

I'm glad East came ready for this game, they really skated and shut some mouths tonight. If it wasn't for some nice saves this could have been 11 or 12 - 1 Nice Job Hounds

Exactly. Koivisto made some outstanding saves in that scoreless first period.

Lee

[fkahckyprofessor20]

The Denfeld goaltender's name is Aaron Kolquist, don't know where ya got Koivisto, haha.

Really unfortunate for Denfeld tonight, that was definitely a low blow to their team morale. I can only hope they will pick back up where they left off, they need to forget about this one quickly. They would have lost to a Bantam team tonight.

[MajinHockey]

No i dont think so i bet leis will not give up more than 2 goals. East will come out flying like they have a shut them down early.

Can we make a bet here? I say he gives up 3+

Boblee, I wish to heck I'd seen this before the game. No idea where you got the idea that Denfeld would score three or more on East. Cloquet didn't, Elk River didn't, Century didn't. Where was the evidence that the Hunters would? Wishful thinking? Hoping East would lose to a Class A school?

Now, I don't like to woof when East wins; you'll see few if any examples of that. But the bottom line here is that I absolutely love seeing East pound the blap out of Denfeld. This goes back to the 70's. Outside of Cloquet and Grapids, they're the one team I most like to see East beat. Tonight was sweet, it was fun, it was an obvious Victory Polish (c) night.

By the way, of all the posts in this topic, MajinHockey hit the nail closer to the head. This game shouldn't have been close, and it wasn't.

Attaway, boys. On to the Thunderhawks.

Lee

Lee, you can give me props if you want, but I'll be honest, I'll probably still be pulling for the THawks against your boys. I think it would take cold hard cash to allow my brain to hope for a East victory outside of the state tourney (always, always root for the home section). Oh, and GR19, that's a big "WAH" to you brutha.

[gr19]

Fan Alliance. Hopefully ER will be there again.

[Queenbee]

The Denfeld goaltender's name is Aaron Kolquist, don't know where ya got Koivisto, haha.

Really unfortunate for Denfeld tonight, that was definitely a low blow to their team morale. I can only hope they will pick back up where they left off, they need to forget about this one quickly. They would have lost to a Bantam team tonight.

please, East was way superior to Denfeld
tonight in all aspects of the game, Denfeld is a good class A school, they
are NOT in the same league as East and hopefully everyone including
the DNT who has been hyping this as a contest of two evenly matched
teams saw tonight that it is not true

ALso, the stomach flu has hit East as well, I heard that almost their
entire team has battled with it the past few weeks...no excuses..East
played a very nice game and blew away the Hunters.

[Kurdatz]

While Denfeld has made some good strides in the past year or two, they aren't in the same calibur as East. The few "good" hockey players that grow up in West Duluth don't stay there - as they move to other schools now that open enrollment is in effect. Losing Bordson to Duluth Marshall sure hurt that program as well.

When I grew up in Duluth, there were like 40 some outdoor rinks in the city, and now there's only a handfull. In West Duluth alone, I can remember teams from Fon Du Lac, Gary-New Duluth, Morgan Park, Riverside, Norton Park, Irving, Memorial, Merritt, Wheeler, Piedmont, etc... Now theres only Irving that stands as a legitimate hockey rink. How sad is that? Everybody after school was out on the rink playing hockey. It was just the way it was. After DAHA consolidated all the programs, interest in hockey fell (as travelling and other costs soared) and as a result, hockey in West Duluth tapered off by the early 90's.

The last time Duluth Denfeld beat East was in Jan of 1995, when they shut them out 2-0 when they were still a AA school. And I was there. I played hockey with all of those guys on both teams. And the last time Denfeld was a real contender for the state tournament, was 93 when they played Cloquet for the section 7AA title against a kid who later went on to kick *ss in the NHL by the name of Jamie Langenbrunner and a host of other hockey stars.

Since then, hockey in West Duluth hasn't been what it once was. The interest in hardcore hockey has shifted east to Duluth East and Marshall.

[fkahckyprofessor20]

While Denfeld has made some good strides in the past year or two, they aren't in the same calibur as East. The few "good" hockey players that grow up in West Duluth don't stay there - as they move to other schools now that open enrollment is in effect. Losing Bordson to Duluth Marshall sure hurt that program as well.

When I grew up in Duluth, there were like 40 some outdoor rinks in the city, and now there's only a handfull. In West Duluth alone, I can remember teams from Fon Du Lac, Gary-New Duluth, Morgan Park, Riverside, Norton Park, Irving, Memorial, Merritt, Wheeler, Piedmont, etc... Now theres only Irving that stands as a legitimate hockey rink. How sad is that? Everybody after school was out on the rink playing hockey. It was just the way it was. After DAHA consolidated all the programs, interest in hockey fell (as travelling and other costs soared) and as a result, hockey in West Duluth tapered off by the early 90's.

The last time Duluth Denfeld beat East was in Jan of 1995, when they shut them out 2-0 when they were still a AA school. And I was there. I played hockey with all of those guys on both teams. And the last time Denfeld was a real contender for the state tournament, was 93 when they played Cloquet for the section 7AA title against a kid who later went on to kick *ss in the NHL by the name of Jamie Langenbrunner and a host of other hockey stars.

Since then, hockey in West Duluth hasn't been what it once was. The interest in hardcore hockey has shifted east to Duluth East and Marshall.

Great insight Kurdatz. Denfeld has really gone down hill since the glory days of the late 80s which included 3 state tournament trips in 4 years and the early 90s when they consistently had winning seasons. Growing up playing hockey and playing all the way through the high school ranks I know what you mean with kids losing interest. I can't count on my two hands how many of my buddies quit hockey in the bantam and peewee ranks - it's a very unfortunate thing. I can only imagine in a few years Denfeld will combine with Central and the co-op will have to play in section 7AA. At least if they build this new Heritage Center maybe more kids will keep interest, sounds like it will be a great place and a great home to a few high school hockey teams in Duluth.

[boblee]

I am very suprised to see the shot difference there. I guess I got caught up in class A and forgot how good Class AA really is.

[cloquet22hockey]

i think east has a good chance at this game im saying East 5-1

[Zamboni Guy]

i think east has a good chance at this game im saying East 5-1

Sorry, cloquet22hockey, game already happened. Last night, East won 8-1, so I would say that they have a good chance.

[barnorthhockeyguy]

Congrats to East they showed that they are a good AA team. Denfeld did not play very well. I wish they could have gave east a better game. If you look at the 1st period Staffne hits the pipe. Hunters could have been up 1 zip. I think east is to strong and sad to say will continue to win these games every year. Does not mean that Denfeld is a bad team. Yes a bad night. They did beat SCC and I think they will beat Marshall come Feb 1st. Im so sick of everyone thnking Marshalls so great and above everyone. I think east would beat marshall as welll. But east wont play marshall . Not sure why since they play denfeld and central. But yes AA vs A east should have won ! But a upset would have been nice !!!

[Kurdatz]

While Denfeld has made some good strides in the past year or two, they aren't in the same calibur as East. The few "good" hockey players that grow up in West Duluth don't stay there - as they move to other schools now that open enrollment is in effect. Losing Bordson to Duluth Marshall sure hurt that program as well.

When I grew up in Duluth, there were like 40 some outdoor rinks in the city, and now there's only a handfull. In West Duluth alone, I can remember teams from Fon Du Lac, Gary-New Duluth, Morgan Park, Riverside, Norton Park, Irving, Memorial, Merritt, Wheeler, Piedmont, etc... Now theres only Irving that stands as a legitimate hockey rink. How sad is that? Everybody after school was out on the rink playing hockey. It was just the way it was. After DAHA consolidated all the programs, interest in hockey fell (as travelling and other costs soared) and as a result, hockey in West Duluth tapered off by the early 90's.

The last time Duluth Denfeld beat East was in Jan of 1995, when they shut them out 2-0 when they were still a AA school. And I was there. I played hockey with all of those guys on both teams. And the last time Denfeld was a real contender for the state tournament, was 93 when they played Cloquet for the section 7AA title against a kid who later went on to kick *ss in the NHL by the name of Jamie Langenbrunner and a host of other hockey stars.

Since then, hockey in West Duluth hasn't been what it once was. The interest in hardcore hockey has shifted east to Duluth East and Marshall.

Great insight Kurdatz. Denfeld has really gone down hill since the glory days of the late 80s which included 3 state tournament trips in 4 years and the early 90s when they consistently had winning seasons. Growing up playing hockey and playing all the way through the high school ranks I know what you mean with kids losing interest. I can't count on my two hands how many of my buddies quit hockey in the bantam and peewee ranks - it's a very unfortunate thing. I can only imagine in a few years Denfeld will combine with Central and the co-op will have to play in section 7AA. At least if they build this new Heritage Center maybe more kids will keep interest, sounds like it will be a great place and a great home to a few high school hockey teams in Duluth.

If I remember right, Central was so short of varsity players on year a few back, that they almost had to join Denfeld as a co-op, but they avoided it by playing some of their 8th graders. Now thats sad! And thats a team that went to the 96 state tournament and had some great players.

A Denfeld-Central Co-Op would be a sad day for Duluth hockey, as they would be forced to play in AA and Denfeld just isn't at that calibur of play anymore, or at least as of now. Thats not to say that it couldn't get back to that kind of play, but the formula for producing a great hockey club just isn't there right now. The Hunters have some good stability in coaching with Smalley there right now, and I hope he stays there. He's a breath of fresh air for that club and it's something they need if they are going to contend as a class A powerhouse.

Case in point: Duluth Marshall. When I went to high school, we swept them 21-0 one year with our third line. Now they are the state's top team in class A. How did it happen? Right formula. You get a dedicated coach and staff and start pulling in the right players which then builds a nucleus, or a core, of a few good solid hockey players. Your record gradually improves over the years, and you continue to build on your sucsesses and before you know it, you're a contender. But you have to have determination to play as well. You gotta have determined kids.

[boblee]

Enrollments:

Duluth East 978 (AA)
Duluth Denfeld 833 (A)

[east hockey]

At least if they build this new Heritage Center maybe more kids will keep interest, sounds like it will be a great place and a great home to a few high school hockey teams in Duluth.

If you were down at tDECC last night for what turned out to be a fun double-header, you probably noticed the display they had up on the Heritage Center and a couple of guys asking questions, etc.

He told me the goal was to have it up and running by next season. I find that a tad optimistic.

Anyway, there is a website up devoted to this much-needed project.

http://www.duluthheritagesportscenter.com/index.htm

Lee