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Jets move into first place tie

November 18, 2004 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Fargo-Moorhead Jets News Release


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, November 12, the Jets rebounded to crush Bismarck and Billings by a combined 12-2 scored at the Carlson Coliseum 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, Montana) 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 (Westminster, Colorado) had two goals and an assist.

In net, Andy Stricker (Mountain Lake Terrace, Washington) was superb, picking up both wins with a 97% save percentage. This was his first action since the NAHL Showcase in Blaine, Minnesota. He is now 5-1-0 for the season.

Other individual highlights of the weekend include rookie John Kovacs (White Bear Lake, Minnesota) scoring his first goal in the loss at Minnesota, and Derek Bohn (Oak Park Heights, Minnesota) 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

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, both coming 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 capitalized on the first Jets' turnover. Dan Swanson then made it 4-2 just three minutes later.

A Joe Schuster power play goal brought the Jets to within 4-3 with 3:17 left. The Jets then would get a golden opportunity moments later while shorthanded.

Chris Myhro (Eden Prairie, Minnesota) stole the puck at his own blueline and had a clear breakaway. However, his shot went high. The missed chance clouded an otherwise positive 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, Minnesota) 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, Minnesota) first Junior A hockey goal early in the third period. But, Ryan Hawkins tied the game for Minnesota with a power play goal two minutes later.

Saturday November 13

The Fargo-Moorhead Jets played with a lot of heart defeating the Bismarck Bobcats 5-1 and 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, Michigan) took a shot from the point and scored on Bobcat goalie Aaron Walski. The assist went to Bohn, who played in his first game as a Jet. That would be all the scoring 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 who had a sensational night in net.

The Jets bounced right back when Matt Grasseschi (Great Falls, Montana) skated in with a defender all over him and shot it past the Bobcat goalie. Assists went to Ryan Cramer (Rio Rancho, New Mexico) and Todd Alexander (New Hope, Minnesota). The third goal came off a beautiful assist from Bob Preece (Bonita, Florida) who was falling down when he passed it to Tom Dickhudt (Woodbury, Minnesota), 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, some great Jets passing got it to Scarpone who squeaked it in. Assists went to Jon Kovacs (White Bear Lake, Minnesota) and Dickhudt. The goal was Scarpone's second of the game. Dickhudt also scored two goals, adding a shorthanded unassisted marker 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

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 Prewitt picked up his own rebound after a pass came out from the corner. Assists on the goal went to Dickhudt and Kai Kantola (Raleigh, North Carolina). 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, Minnesota) while the Jets were on the power play. Bruess was able to deflect a shot from Todd Alexander (New Hope, Minnesota), which eventually proved to be the game-winning goal.

The Jets finished the first period scoring another goal with under two minutes to play. Prewitt was able to get his stick on a bouncing puck in front of the Bulls' net and bury his second. The assists were credited to Scarpone and Dickhudt.

The only goal of the second period came from Jet forward Grasseschi who took a quick pass in the left circle from Prewitt 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 Schuster 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 Stricker out of position and unprepared.

The final two goals of the game belonged to Jet forward Kyle Graalum (Fargo, North Dakota). 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, Washington). The second helper came from Grasseschi. The last goal game came at 17:11 when Graalum put home a wrap-around attempt with the assists going to Brent Olson (Baudette, Minnesota) and once again, Grasseschi.

Local Store and Jets Partner for Fashion Show this Thursday: In the classic sports movie "Slap Shot" there is an unforgettable scene featuring members of a fictional hockey team modeling clothing as a publicity stunt.

The Fargo-Moorhead Jets are taking a page right out of that movie this week when they partner with the AKA Men's Clothing Store of downtown Fargo to help put on a fashion show.

Jets' players will model AKA's selection of young male attire at Pizzeria Uno located on 13th Ave. in Fargo on Thursday Nov. 18, beginning at 5:30 p.m.. Players will go visit with patrons while they eat; answering questions about both the clothing they are wearing and also about the season.

This Week

Friday, November 19 vs. Minnesota 7:30 p.m. (Girls Night Out Promotion)

Saturday, November 20 vs. Bismarck 7:30 p.m. (Turkey Bowling Night)

For more information, visit the Jets official website 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 18, 2004


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.

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