Jets Move into First Place Tie
November 15, 2004 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Fargo-Moorhead Jets News Release
Fargo (ND)The Fargo-Moorhead returned to first place in the North American Hockey League's West Division, by going 2-1-0 this weekend. After losing 4-2 at Minnesota on Friday Nov. 12, the Jets rebounded to crush Bismarck and Billings by a combined 12-2 scored at the Carlson Coliesum over the next two days.
The Jets now stand at 12-4-1 and have 25 points. This puts the Jets in a four-way tie with Billings, Minnesota and Helena for the most points in the West Division.
Matt Grasseschi (Great Falls, MT) had his best offensive weekend as a Junior A player. The three-year veteran scored two goals (the first of his Jets' career), and had two assists. Meanwhile, Dain Prewitt (Westminister, CO) had two goals and an assist.
In net, Andy Stricker (Mountain Lake Terrace, WA) was superb, picking up both wins with a 97% save percentage. This was his first action since the NAHL Showcase in Blaine, MN. He is now 5-1-0 for the season.
Other individual highlights of the weekend include rookie John Kovacs (White Bear Lake, MN) scoring his first goal in the loss at Minnesota, and Derek Bohn (Oak Park Heights, MN) recording an assist in his first game with the Jets in the win over Bismarck.
Fargo-Moorhead has now won back-to-back games, after enduring a season-high three game losing streak.
Off the ice, the Jets had one of the best weekend's for attendance in the franchise's short history. A Saturday night crowd of 856 was followed by a Sunday night crowd of 784.
Friday November 12
Alexandria (MN) The Fargo-Moorhead Jets lost for the third consecutive time, dropping 4-3 decision to the Minnesota Blizzard Friday night at the Runestone Community Center. A pair of Minnesota goals, off Jets' turnovers in their own defensive zone, midway through the third period proved to be the difference.
Sean Fish gave Minnesota a 3-2 lead with 8:34 remaining when he capitilized on the first Jets' turnover. Dan Swanson then made it 4-2 just three minutes later.
A Joe Schuster (Grand Rapids, MN) power play goal brought the Jets to within 4-3 with 3:17 left. The Jets then would get a golden opprotunity moments later while shorthanded.
Chris Myhro (Eden Prairie, MN) stole the puck at his own blueline and had a clear breakaway. However, his shot went high. The missed chance clouded an otherwise positve night for Myhro who had two assists.
Dan McCauley put Minnesota on the board first at 13:37 of the first period. However, Jon Skoog (Long Lake, MN) tied the game for the Jets less than a minute later.
Fargo-Moorhead then took their only lead of the night on John Kovacs's (White Bear Lake, MN) first Junior A hockey goal early in the third period. Nevertheless, Ryan Hawkins tied the game for Minnesota with a power play goal two minutes later.
Saturday November 13
Fargo (ND) The Fargo-Moorhead Jets played with a lot of heart defeating the Bismarck Bobcats 5-1 snapping their three game losing streak.
Behind crisp passing and hard hitting, the Jets got things going early. Off a face-off, Creighton Scarpone (Buchanan, MI) took a shot from the point and scored on Bobcat goalie Aaron Walski. The assist went to Derek Bohn (Oak Park Heights, MN) who played in his first game as a Jet. That would be all the action in the first as the Jets took a 1-0 lead into the locker room.
The Bobcats only goal would come 3:11 into the second period as the puck trickled by Jets goaltender Andy Stricker (Mountainlake Terrace, WA) who had a sensational night in net.
The Jets would bounce right back when Matt Grasseschi (Great Falls, MT) skated in with a defender all over him and shot it past the Bobcat goalie. Assists went to Ryan Cramer (Rio Rancho, NM) and Todd Alexander (New Hope, MN). The third goal came off a beautiful assist from Bob Preece (Bonita, FL) who was falling down when he passed it to Tom Dickhudt (Woodbury, MN) who skated in and scored. With that, the Jets took a 3-1 lead into the third period.
The Jets were not done scoring yet. Off a Bobcat tripping penalty, the Jets with great passing got it to Scarpone who squeaked it in. Assists went to Jon Kovacs (White Bear Lake, MN) and Dickhudt. The goal was Scarpone's second of the game. Dickhudt also scored two goals with a shorthanded unassisted goal at the 11:59 mark when he stole a pass on the Bobcat power play and skated in all alone to ice the Jets 5-1 victory.
Sunday November 14
Fargo (ND) The Jets cruised to a 7-1 victory on Sunday night against the Billings Bulls in front of a supportive crowd of 784 fans at the Carlson Coliseum.
Just 4:52 into the first period the Jets scored when Dain Prewitt (Westminster, CO) was able to pick up his own rebound after a pass came out from the corner. Assists on the goal went to Tom Dickhudt (Woodbury, MN) and Kai Kantola (Raleigh, NC). The goal was Prewitt's first point of the game; he went on to add another goal and three assists.
The next goal came from Trevor Bruess (Minneapolis, MN) while the Jets were on the power play. Bruess was able to deflect a shot from Todd Alexander (New Hope, MN), which eventually was tallied as the game-winning goal.
The Jets finished off the first period with another goal with under two minutes to play in the period. Prewitt (Westminster, CO) was able to get his stick on a bouncing puck in front of the Bulls' net and bury his second goal. The assists were credited to Creighton Scarpone (Buchanan, MI) and Dickhudt (Woodbury, MN).
The second period was the most silent of the game. The only goal of the period came from Jet forward Matt Grasseschi (Great Falls, MT) who took a quick pass in the left circle from Prewitt (Westminster, CO) and was able to bury the puck between the pads of Bulls goalie John Anderson. Shortly after Anderson was pulled and replaced by Aaron Damjanovich who completed the game for Billings.
In the third period the Jets had a repeat of the first, scoring three more goals. The scoring started early when Joe Schuster (Grand Rapids, MN) took a nice two on one feed from Cramer and buried it just 1:13 into the period. Shortly after the Bulls scored their only goal of the game when a pass from the corner accidentally deflected off a Jet player leaving Jet goalie Andy Stricker out of position and unprepared.
The last two goals of the game belonged to Jet forward Kyle Graalum (Fargo, ND). His first came at 10:27 when he put away a cross-ice pass from the right circle off the stick of Drew Mahar (Olympia, WA). The second helper came from Grasseschi (Great Falls, MT). The final goal of the game came at 17:11 when Graalum (Fargo, ND) put home a wrap-around attempt with the assists going to Brent Olson (Baudette, MN) and once again, Grasseschi (Great Falls, MT).
Last Week
Friday Nov. 12 @ Minnesota 3-4 Loss
Saturday Nov. 13 Bismarck 5-1 Win
Sunday Nov. 14 Billings 7-1 Win
This Week
Friday Nov. 19 Minnesota 7:30pm Girls Night Out Promotion
Saturday Nov. 20 Bismarck 7:30pm Turkey Bowling Night
The FM Jets are in their second season as members of the North American Hockey League. The NAHL is the nation's largest Junior A hockey league and is now in its 29th year of operation. For more information, visit fmjets.com or call (701) 235-2354.
Jets home games are played at the John E. Carlson Coliseum in Fargo, ND. All games are broadcasted on STAR 103.9.
North American Hockey League Stories from November 15, 2004
- Minnesota Blizzard weekly summary - Alexandria Blizzard
- U.S. National Team weekly report - U.S. National Team
- Jets Move into First Place Tie - Fargo-Moorhead Jets
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
