Jets reclaim first in NAHL West
January 6, 2005 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Fargo-Moorhead Jets News Release
Two weeks ago, the Fargo-Moorhead Jets headed into the holiday break after one of its worst stretches of the season.
In the week since the Jets returned from that break, they have quickly made anyone who was worried feel as though those concerns were unfounded.
Fargo-Moorhead won all four of its games last weekend to vault into sole possession of first place in the NAHL's West Division for the first time in over a month. The perfect week â which included three home victories â moves the Jets to 22-7-1 with 45 points. This gives the Jets a two point cushion over second place Minnesota, plus they still have three games in hand.
Chris Myhro (Eden Prairie, Minnesota) who had been quiet since starting the season with a flurry, scored a team-high five goals last week, including a pair of two-goal games against Bismarck on December 28 and Helena on December 31.
Veterans Tom Dickhudt (Woodbury, Minnesota) and Dain Prewitt (Westminster, Colorado) also found their groove offensively, setting up plays and scoring goals after struggling for a while.
Kai Kantola (Raleigh, North Carolina) also scored for the first time since October 19, when he netted two goals against Helena on December 31. In fact, each of Kantola's four goals this season have come against Helena.
In addition, former Fargo Shanley High School standout Kyle Graalum (Fargo, North Dakota) had his best offensive week with the Jets, as the rookie scored twice and had an assist.
Andy Stricker won three games in goal for the Jets with a 2.00 GAA for the week, and thus continues to lead the NAHL with the lowest individual GAA.
The four-game win streak comes in the middle of one of the Jets' busiest and toughest stretches of the season. Starting with their December 28 home game against Bismarck, and concluding with their game at Bozeman on January 8, the Jets are playing seven games in 12 days.
Nonetheless, the streak is the second longest this season for Fargo-Moorhead. The team has won five games in a row twice.
With 22 wins, the Jets are on pace to set a new Fargo-Moorhead Junior A record for wins in a season. The current record is held by the 1974-75 Fargo-Moorhead Sugar Kings who went 37-23-0 in the Midwest Junior Hockey League.
Tuesday, December 28 vs. Bismarck, a 7-2 win: Myhro had two goals and Dickhudt had a goal and two assists to lead the Fargo-Moorhead Jets to a 7-2 win over the Bismarck Bobcats.
The win moved the Jets into a tie with Helena for second place in the NAHL's West Division.
Matt Moreland (Grand Forks, North Dakota) and Myhro gave the Jets a 2-1 lead after the first period. In the second period, Dickhudt, Ryan Cramer (Rio Rancho, North Dakota) and Kyle Graalum (Fargo, North Dakota) put the game away for the Jets with three unanswered goals to extend the lead to 5-1.
After a late Bismarck goal in the second period made it 5-2, Dain Prewitt (Westminster, Colorado) and Myhro finished the scoring for the Jets with two third period tallies.
Myhro could've had more than just two goals, as he hit the crossbar once in both the first and second periods. In any case, this was Myhro's first multi-goal game since October when he briefly led the entire NAHL in goals.
Fargo-Moorhead continued its season-long dominance against the Bobcats on the power play with two more goals. However, the Jets recent struggles on the penalty kill as Bismarck scored both of their tallies on their own power plays.
Thursday December 30 @ Bismarck, a 7-3 win: The Jets were able to parlay a pair of individual milestones into a 7-3 pasting of the Bismarck Bobcats at the VFW Sportscenter.
Matt Grasseschi (Great Falls, Montana) earned his first-ever Junior A hat trick to spark the victory for the Jets. The three-year veteran entered the game with just two goals this season, but had a virtual explosion in front of a hostile Bismarck crowd not about to let him revel in the moment for long.
Meanwhile, Jon Halstenson (Fargo, North Dakota) netted his first-ever junior hockey goal at 5:14 of the second period, when he snuck behind the Bismarck defense and one-timed a centering pass from Lance Malark (White Bear Lake, Minnesota) who was stationed in the right corner.
Joe Schuster (Grand Rapids, Minnesota) finished with a goal and two assist and Creighton Scarpone (Buchanan, Michigan) added a goal and assist in the Jets victory.
Dickhudt finished the Jets' scoring when he converted on a breakaway with only 3:36 remaining in the game.
In two games this week against Bismarck, the Jets dealt a figurative haymaker right in the rivalry. Fargo-Moorhead outscored their rivals from the state capital 14-5 in the two games.
The Jets jumped out to a 3-0 first period lead on goals by Grasseschi, Scarpone and Schuster.
Bismarck cut into the Jets lead just over a minute into the second period. However, goals by Halstenson and Grasseschi extended the lead up to an insurmountable 5-1 advantage.
The Bobcats would claw back to within 5-3 early in the third period, but soild play by Jets netminder Dan DiLeo (St. Louis, Missouri) prevented any Bismarck plans of a memorable comeback.
Friday, December 31 vs. Helena, a 6-2 win: The Jets began their New Year celebration a few hours early for their fans. Led by two goals each from Myhro and Kantola, they defeated the Helena Bighorns 6-2 before 507 fans at the Carlson Coliseum.
The victory gives the Jets 43 points and moved them into first place in the NAHL's West Division. Helena dropped to third place with 41 points.
Kantola - whose four goals this season have all come against Helena - started the scoring 3:27 into the game when he batted home a rebound. Schuster was given an assist after taking the initial shot on Helena goalie Chad Beiswenger.
Myhro extended the lead to 2-0 with a goal 4:55 into the first period. Phil Fox (Stillwater, Minnesota) and Todd Alexander (New Hope, Minnesota) picked up assists.
The score would remain 2-0 in favor of the Jets until the midway portion of the second period when Helena cut the deficit in half. Brandon Marino stole the puck in the Jets zone and moved into the high slot. Once there, he blasted a slap shot past Stricker.
However, the Jets came back three minutes later, when Chris Myhro scored a power play goal bringing the lead back to a two-goal cushion at 3-1. The power play goal was only the second in the last 19 opponent power plays that Helena had given up.
The Bighorns would once again make it a one-goal game on a Nate Rein goal with 15:46 remaining. But Stricker played well in net preserving the lead and the Jets would pile on insurance goals at the end to wrap up the win.
Trevor Bruess (Minneapolis, Minnesota), Dickhudt and Kantola all scored in the final two minutes to break the game open. Dickhudt's goal was an empty-netter.
Along with the individual performances of Myhro and Kantola, Scarpone had two assists as did Alexander.
Marino finished with a goal and an assist for Helena.
Sunday January 2 vs. Helena, a 5-2 win: Graalum scored a goal and had an assist while Malark and Scarpone each added a pair of assists.
Stricker continued his brilliant play in net, making 31 saves, many of which were high quality opportunities.
After a scoreless first period, Graalum started the scoring at 11:00 of the second period. Malark and Scarpone assisted on the tally. Helena would tie the game with a power play goal with just 59.9 remaining in the middle period.
Travis Whitehead slid the puck past Stricker, and though it appeared Malark had stopped the puck on the goal line, the referee said it did cross the line.
The controversial goal wouldn't be the only scoring in the final minute of the second period as the Jets would get the goal right back. With eight seconds left, Malark won a faceoff in the Bighorns' right circle. Graalum then passed the puck to Moreland in front who beat Helena goalie Chad Beiswenger.
Myhro extended the lead to 3-1 at 3:38, with his fifth goal since the break. Scarpone and Fox earned assists.
Prewitt iced the game with a short-handed breakaway goal at 10:39 of the third period. Jon Halstenson (Fargo, North Dakota) assisted on the goal.
Cody Carson netted another power play goal for Helena, but Ryan Cramer's (Rio Rancho, NM/ International Falls, Minnesota) empty netter with just 20 seconds left ended the game.
Fargo-Moorhead has gone 4-0-0 versus Helena, with each of the games coming at the Carlson Coliseum. However, the teams are not scheduled to meet again in Fargo this season.
This Week's Games
1/5 @ Billings 7:05 p.m. (MST)
1/7 @ Helena 7:05 p.m. (MST)
1/8 @ Bozeman 7:05 p.m. (MST)
Next Home Game
1/22 Minnesota 7:05 p.m. (MST)
North American Hockey League Stories from January 6, 2005
- Blizzard-Jets game rescheduled - NAHL
- U.S. National Team finishes fifth at 2005 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge - U.S. National Team
- Bulls split weekend series with Bismarck - Billings Bulls
- Bobcats hope new blood means wins - Bismarck Bobcats
- Phantoms focus on Soo, announce first college signing - Mahoning Valley Phantoms
- Wildcats go 1-1, Teddy Bear Toss a success - Wichita Falls Wildcats
- Spirit win pair on road, then drop New Year's tilt - Alaska Avalanche
- Icedogs look to chip away at division rival's lead - Bozeman Icedogs
- Tornado win third straight Newmarket Showcase - Texas Tornado
- Jets reclaim first in NAHL West - Fargo-Moorhead Jets
- First Blizzard game of 2005 this Friday - Alexandria Blizzard
- Wins over Texarkana earn Hatch co-winner of Sher-Wood NAHL Defensive Player of the Week - NAHL
- Spirit's Erickson leads from blueline to grab share of Sher-Wood NAHL Defensive Player of the Week - NAHL
- New Bobcat Fulton's five-point week captures Sher-wood NAHL Offensive Player of the Week award - NAHL
- NAHL announces All-Star team, coaches and staff who will face Tornado - NAHL
- Blizzard player commits to Division I Hockey program - Alexandria Blizzard
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.
