Jets Weekly
January 29, 2007 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Fargo-Moorhead Jets News Release
Fargo (ND) The Fargo-Moorhead Jets are in the unfamiliar position of being in a slump following their first winless weekend due to a home-and-home series sweep at the hands of the Bismarck Bobcats on Friday and Saturday.
Bismarck upended the FM Jets by a combined 16-9 score in the two games, winning 8-5 at the Carlson Coliseum in Fargo on Friday, then doubling up the FM Jets 8-4 in the shadow of the State Capital on Saturday. It's only the second time all season the FM Jets have lost consecutive games (Dec. 8-9) and the weekend sweep also puts them in a position where they have lost three of their last four games.
"We have run into some problems recently and it's up to us to work even harder to turn it around before it becomes sometime more prolonged" said head coach Chad Johnson. "Over the course of a 60-plus game schedule, a team is going to run into hard times. It's the successful teams that put an end to them quickly."
The FM Jets were in a similar position just over a month ago, following a 12-1 home loss to the Alexandria Blizzard on December 15th. That was the FM Jets' third loss in four outings, but was also the catalyst to a nine-game unbeaten streak that carried the team into the middle of January and helped build a significant lead for the first-place FM Jets in the North American Hockey League's Central Division.
Even with the recent slide, the FM Jets (27-12-2, 56pts) still have a firm grasp on the top spot in the division. The lead over second place Southern Minnesota dipped to six over the weekend; however the FM Jets have played four fewer games.
After winning all seven of the previous encounters this season with their North Dakota rivals, the FM Jets were dominated in their own zone much of the weekend as the Bismarck Bobcats had their best scoring outings so far. Entering the weekend as the fourth lowest scoring team in the NAHL (2.7 goals per game), Bismarck was able to score eight goala in back-to-back games, their highest single game outputs in over a year.
On Friday at the Carlson Coliseum, Shawn Skelly scored a hat trick as the Bismarck won 8-5. The game did feature three separate comebacks by the FM Jets, however, they were never able to get over the hump as Bismarck never did trail. Bismarck jumped out to a 2-0 lead early in the first period but the FM Jets tied it before the end of the period on goals by Robert Carr (Roseau, MN) and Chris Connolly (Duluth, MN).
Bismarck once again took the lead at 3-2 early in the second, but Connolly tied it at 3-3 one minute later. The volley was returned by Bismarck which scored two straight to take a 5-3 advantage before Brooks DeZellar's (Eden Prairie, MN) goal before the end of the period to cut the deficit to 5-4.
FM Jets' rookie defenseman Kevin Jones (Duluth, MN) scored six minutes into their third period to tie the game 5-5. It was his first career Junior A goal and it sent the Coliseum crowd of 1,642 into bedlam. However, Skelly scored the game winner for Bismarck a minute later and the Bobcats tacked on two goals late for the 8-5 win.
The Saturday game featured another spectacular offensive performance for a Bismarck player as Jeremy Robert notched a "Texas" hat trick with four goals. The FM Jets took a 1-0 lead early in the first period by Jordy Trottier (Bozeman, MT) but the lead last less than a minute before Robert tied the game.
Bismarck would go on to score five first period goals and despite a FM Jets' second period rally that brought the deficit to within one at 5-4, the Bobcats dominated the third period to hold on to the win 8-4.
Though the third period has been the FM Jets strongest period for most of the season, it wasn't last weekend as Bismarck had a 6-1 advantage in the final period. In fact, over the last four games the FM Jets have been outscored 11-4 in the final period bucking what had been a positive trend.
Despite the losses, Chris Connolly continued his brilliant play with 6 points (3 goals) and Brooks DeZellar had one of his better weekends offensively with 4 points (2 goals).
The FM Jets played both games without defenseman David Larson (Warroad, MN) who has been out of the line-up since being injured in the third period of the Jan. 12th win over Bismarck. In the five games with Larson on the mend, the FM Jets' have allowed 26 goals (5.2 per game).
The good news is that FM Jets' Assistant Coach Aaron Kinslow reports that Larson should be back in the lineup for the upcoming Alaska trip.
Adding to the difficulties on Saturday was the fact the FM Jets played the game without leading scorer Jesse Ecthernach (Bemidji, MN) who was out with flu-like symptoms. Echternach had three assists in the Friday loss, but was too ill to make the trip on Saturday missing his first game this season.
Northern Exposure
Bus travel is a way of life in junior hockey as 12-13 hours bus rides are the norm not exception. Even day-long trips occur, which was the case during the FM Jets' first season in 2003-2004 when Fernie, British Columbia was in the league and was a 24-hour drive away. However, there is a limit, and taking a bus more than 48-hours to Alaska on icy roads is where that line is drawn.
Thus, a handful of Fargo-Moorhead Jets players will experience their first-ever plane trip later this week as the team heads to Alaska for five games. The FM Jets will depart Thursday for two games at the Alaska Avalanche (Wasilla) and then three more at Fairbanks IceDogs.
The Alaskan experience has proven to be a huge home-ice advantage for the Avalanche and IceDogs as the teams are 21-14-2 at home this season. Since the 2003-2004 season, NAHL teams are winning only 39% of the time in Alaska.
The FM Jets are hoping their trip to Fairbanks is only a foreshadowing of better things to come as this year's Robertson Cup Tournament will be held in that town in early May.
January Jewels
Chris Connolly (Duluth, MN) finished January with 21 points (8 goals) over nine games. Another Duluth native in Rob Johnson had a strong month with 14 points (6 goals).
Single-Season Records
Jesse Echternach (Bemidji, MN) is on pace to set a new record for points in a season by a FM Jet. Echternach has 59 points. The record is 64 by Phil Fox during the 05-06 season.
Connolly Extends Streak, Echternach's Frozen
If the battery company that uses the bunny rabbit to promote its dependability is thinking of retiring its 15-year old slogan, they may want to consider FM Jet Chris Connolly (Duluth, MN). With 6 points (3 goals) in the two games this weekend, Connolly extended his point streak to a NAHL-high 13 games.
It's the longest streak in the NAHL since Bozeman's Josh Heidinger scored in 19 straight last season.
Jesse Echternach (Bemidji, MN) also extended his streak to 12 with three assists on Friday. Even though Echternach had to miss Saturday's game, the streak does stay alive since it was a team decision (illness) and not due to a league-action.
Central TEAM GP W L OTL PTS WPCT GF GA PIM HOME ROAD L-TEN STREAK Fargo-Moorhead 41 27 12 2 56 .683 155 126 882 14-8-1 13-4-1 6-3-1 0-2-0 Southern Minnesota 45 24 19 2 50 .556 145 131 932 9-13-1 15-6-1 5-4-1 3-0-0 Springfield 44 18 22 4 40 .455 125 139 1226 11-9-0 7-13-4 3-7-0 0-7-0 Bismarck 45 17 22 6 40 .444 133 166 966 10-9-3 7-13-3 5-5-0 2-0-0 North Iowa 42 18 21 3 39 .464 126 153 1070 9-10-2 9-11-1 5-4-1 2-0-0 Alexandria 41 16 24 1 33 .402 109 139 940 7-14-1 9-10-0 5-5-0 0-2-0
Last Week
Jan. 27 Bismarck Bobcats 5-8 Loss
Jan. 28 @ Bismarck Bobcats 4-8 Loss
This Week
Feb. 2 @ Alaska Avalanche 10:30pm (CST)
Feb. 3 @ Alaska Avalanche 10:30pm (CST)
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North American Hockey League Stories from January 29, 2007
- Alpena picks up six of eight points on the week - Alpena IceDiggers
- Wildcats Face Bandits in Weekend Series - Wichita Falls Wildcats
- Jets Weekly - Fargo-Moorhead Jets
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