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Have at it fellas. Whos gonna win on Thursday at the Lumberdome

Cloquet by a minus 4.
DEast is a beast.

Bodyshots says I derserve a lump of coal for Christmas for my posts from the last year so there you have it. Duluth East in running time....

5-2 (en) Jacks

rainier2 wrote:5-2 (en) Jacks

Wow.

kniven wrote:Bodyshots says I derserve a lump of coal for Christmas for my posts from the last year so there you have it. Duluth East in running time....

Same as Da Bears. 4-1

With Cloquet off to an unimpressive 4-3 start and a surprising 5-2 loss to Superior on Tuesday, will they show some life tonight?

DEast only blemish so far was allowing White Bear to come back and tie it. Coach Randolph has been trying different combinations like always.
Tonight being a big section contest will he just put the hammer down and give notice to section 7 opponents and establish QRF dominance?

elliott70 wrote:DEast only blemish so far was allowing White Bear to come back and tie it. Coach Randolph has been trying different combinations like always.
Tonight being a big section contest will he just put the hammer down and give notice to section 7 opponents and establish QRF dominance?

Sorry to say, but yes they will.

kniven wrote:

elliott70 wrote:DEast only blemish so far was allowing White Bear to come back and tie it. Coach Randolph has been trying different combinations like always.
Tonight being a big section contest will he just put the hammer down and give notice to section 7 opponents and establish QRF dominance?

Sorry to say, but yes they will.

Will you be there?
If yes, please post if possible.

elliott70 wrote:

kniven wrote:

elliott70 wrote:DEast only blemish so far was allowing White Bear to come back and tie it. Coach Randolph has been trying different combinations like always.
Tonight being a big section contest will he just put the hammer down and give notice to section 7 opponents and establish QRF dominance?

Sorry to say, but yes they will.

Will you be there?
If yes, please post if possible.

Not sure if I will be there. Work and Christmas family things and crazy schedule today. KarlEast will be there, and is great at updates via twitter and the forum. Game will be on tv and audio streamed on internet

kniven wrote:

elliott70 wrote:DEast only blemish so far was allowing White Bear to come back and tie it. Coach Randolph has been trying different combinations like always.
Tonight being a big section contest will he just put the hammer down and give notice to section 7 opponents and establish QRF dominance?

Sorry to say, but yes they will.

Any insight as to what is going on there right now? I have no idea how good Superior is, but I was shocked to see the final score.

Is Smalley still clinging to his "balanced lines" philosophy? This was the one thing that annoyed me about his coaching at Denfeld. 3-4 years ago he had a top ten A team, the same year Marshall was a top five A team and Sandbagtown was #1 as usual. He had two excellent forwards in McClure and the youngest Michaud brother, but instead of breaking up his vaunted second line consisting three of B+ talent level players (There was actually a story in the DNT about this line.), he kept trying different ham-fisted jackanapes on the top line, all to no avail.

So instead of taking his best player off his second line (Budisalovich) to create a deadly top line, he had a second line that possessed the puck well and scored occasionally, and a top line that was good but not great. Unsurprisingly, they just didn't have enough offense to get by Marshall in the 7A semis. Not that they would have beaten the Hermantown Hoax, but they did have a fantastic goalie that year who would have given them a shot. (I forget his name.)

I've always felt that a team is better off having one lethal line and two lines dedicated to defense instead of two above average lines. GR proved this again last year, even though Klatt toyed with splitting them up earlier in the year. Roseau had a nice tourney run recently doing this, as did TRF two years ago, and Hibbing almost took down the Hoax at state in 2011 with a lethal top line intact, despite midseason grumbling by fans about balancing the lines.

If the talent level between your #3-6 best forwards is really that close, then balancing can be the best option, as some deep AA teams have done, but the synergy that highly skilled players can create once their chemistry develops can help even the odds against deeper teams and also often carries over into special teams.

Long story short, I really hope Smalley isn't making this same mistake in Cloquet. We'll see how the Jacks respond tonight against the Hounds, but every disappointing performance out of this team will likely only have fans wondering what Esse could have done with this talent.

I'm thinking DE 5-3 EN.

Mite-dad wrote:I'm thinking DE 5-3 EN.

That would not only be a good game to watch but a good showing by Cloquet (IMO).

elliott70 wrote:

Mite-dad wrote:I'm thinking DE 5-3 EN.

That would not only be a good game to watch but a good showing by Cloquet (IMO).

I know DE kind of clobbered them at home last year, but I'm thinking another year better, home game, rivalry, probably were looking past Superior to this game. Might be closer than people think. Could be worse.

Mite-dad wrote:

elliott70 wrote:

Mite-dad wrote:I'm thinking DE 5-3 EN.

That would not only be a good game to watch but a good showing by Cloquet (IMO).

I know DE kind of clobbered them at home last year, but I'm thinking another year better, home game, rivalry, probably were looking past Superior to this game. Might be closer than people think. Could be worse.

I was thinking 5-1 say 6-2 for DEast.
A one goal game would be great.
I don't see CEC winning but that would get people's attention. I already have ring side seats for the Hornet - Hound rumble in St Paul in March.

Jacks strike first.

Jacks get another pp goal. 2-0 in the 1st.

rainier2 wrote:Jacks get another pp goal. 2-0 in the 1st.

2 goals on 3 shots thus far.

rainier2 wrote:

rainier2 wrote:Jacks get another pp goal. 2-0 in the 1st.

2 goals on 3 shots thus far.

3-2 DEast in period 2
DEast changed goalies

Just me, Orrrrrrrr, has since JoJo has East no had a goalie worth a healthy dump?

5-4 East in the 3rd.

Any one in this forum know Rich Borg?

6-6 in OT

GPGT wrote:Just me, Orrrrrrrr, has since JoJo has East no had a goalie worth a healthy dump?

Howg seemed pretty decent his senior year

Well, that was entertaining. 6-6 tie, shots 47-21 Hounds.

The story in this one was really the Cloquet PP/East PK...I believe the Jacks went 4 for 6 on the PP, including their first 4 goals. 5 on 5 it was pretty lopsided, and when East took over in the 2nd and went up 5-3, it was hard to see a way back...but the Jacks found one.

I don't think it's a stretch to call this East offense their best since the Spehar era. When they get rolling, it's a lot of fun to watch. WMD (plus LaMaster going forward) is lethal, the second line (once Lanigan kicked off some rust in his first game back from injury) has fantastic puck control, and the third line is coming along. But they've got an uncertain goaltending situation, a PK that needs a lot of work, and certain defensemen should not be getting walked for game-tying goals. Randolph's task for this season is going to be getting this team to mind its defensive responsibilities without hurting their offensive instincts too much.

The Cloquet non-student attendance was as bad as I've ever seen it for this game, but even so, this game always delivers awesome atmosphere and the best student sections going back and forth that I see all year. Of course, 12 goals, including two in the final 16 seconds of regulation, will help the cause. Best $6 of entertainment you can find.