Minnesota Blizzard weekly summary
March 7, 2005 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Alexandria Blizzard News Release
(Alexandria, MN) The late-season playoff push continued this past weekend for the Minnesota Blizzard Junior "A" Hockey team. Unfortunately, with losses on successive nights, the Blizzard fell to fifth place, in the NAHL Western Division standings, with five regular season games to go.
Friday evening, the Fargo-Moorhead Jets continued their mastery over the Blizzard at the John Carlson Coliseum, blanking Minnesota, 6-0, to snap a five-game winless skid. The Jets settled the outcome early, peppering Blizzard goalie Marcus Paulson (Eden Prairie, MN) for five goals in the first 15 minutes of the hockey game. The Blizzard offense was stifled by Jets' net-minder Andy Stricker, who recorded 32 saves in the shutout. During the regular season, Fargo-Moorhead won all six of its home meetings with the Blizzard, by a combined score of 33-11. Minnesota's only point earned in Fargo came in an overtime loss in November.
The next night, the Bismarck Bobcats put the Blizzard in a five-goal hole, en route to a 7-2 triumph. Minnesota's scoreless streak of nearly eight full periods was halted late in the middle stanza Saturday night, as Shawn Bitzan (Alexandria, MN) notched his 10th goal of the season. The power-play score was assisted by Andrew Olson (Alexandria, MN) and Chris Johnson (Brooklyn Park, MN). In the third period, Minnesota struck on the power play again. Tony Selvog (Warroad, MN) slammed home his sixth goal of the year, which came on assists from Tim Manthey (Anoka, MN) and Sean Fish (Ramsey, MN). The Bobcats had two potent forwards who did significant damage against the Blizzard. Dustin Fulton recorded a hat trick for Bismarck. Teammate Jacques Lamoreaux went one better, scoring the other four goals for the Bobcats. Bismarck won for the fifth time in its last nine games (going 5-0-4 in that stretch), to move past the Blizzard into fourth place in the Western Division standings. Both teams have five regular season games remaining.
Ahead, for the Blizzard: A trio of games in Montana this coming weekend, followed by a 12-day break, before concluding the regular season with a pair of home games March 25th and 26th. Friday evening, March 11th, the Blizzard will be in Montana's Capital City, to face the Helena Bighorns, in an 8:05 PM Central time start. No radio coverage locally, of Friday night's game. Audio of the contest is available on the internet, at www.sportsjuice.com. The Blizzard games at Bozeman (an 8:05 start Saturday night) and at Billings (Sunday afternoon at 4:05) can be heard on the new Smooth Magic 107.1, KMGK-FM in West Central Minnesota.
North American Hockey League Stories from March 7, 2005
- Minnesota Blizzard weekly summary - Alexandria Blizzard
- Wildcats Climb to Fourth Place - Wichita Falls Wildcats
- New Records, Three Wins and First Place Highlight Weekend for Jets - Fargo-Moorhead Jets
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