New Records, Three Wins and First Place Highlight Weekend for Jets
March 7, 2005 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Fargo-Moorhead Jets News Release
Fargo (ND) If it was uncomfortable for the Fargo-Moorhead Jets to sit in the murky waters of second place in the North American Hockey League's West Division, they can rest easily this week. With three wins last weekend, the Jets left the squalor of second place, for the plush comfort of first place.
The Jets (68 pts) lead second place Billings by one point (67 pts). Fargo-Moorhead and Billings have been playing an ongoing game of leap-frog for the past few weeks and are likely to keep it going. The Jets and Bulls face each other two more times before the end of the regular season.
Fargo-Moorhead moved up the standings, riding the momentum of three victories at the John E. Carlson Coliseum. The Jets routed the Minnesota Blizzard 6-0 on Mar.4, and cruised to a 6-2 win over the Bozeman Icedogs Mar. 5. Fargo-Moorhead then controlled the tempo, and dominated play in a 2-1 win over Bozeman Mar. 6.
The three wins rapidly vanishes the memories of a five-game winless streak that ended February for the Jets.
All weekend, the Jets seemed poised, and to be playing very smoothly in the offensive zone. For the most part, passes were crisp and breakouts gained the opponent's zone. In the defensive end, the Jets cut down angles, especially in the games versus Bozeman.
With this weekend serving as the Jets annual "Parent's Weekend" most of the players were playing before family members. While this is sometimes a detriment to some athletes, it seemed to settle the Jets down.
Promising for the Jets was the play of the veterans. Phil Fox (Stillwater, MN) set up two goals on Friday and scored one himself on Saturday. Tom Dickhudt continued his growing offensive presence since the All-Star Break with two goals.
In addition, Chris Myhro (Eden Prairie, MN) set a new Jets single-season goal record, with his 22nd goal of the season on Mar. 5 versus Bozeman. Shane Holman netted 21 regular season goal last year for the Jets.
Goaltender Andy Stricker (St. George, UT) showed his All-Star caliber play with the first two wins of the weekend, while rookie Elliot Okland (Fargo, ND) was in net for the final victory. That win is Okland's second career Junior A hockey win, both of which have come against Bozeman.
The Jets will end the home portion of their regular season schedule on Mar. 11 versus Bismarck. Fargo-Moorhead will then conclude the regular season on a six-game road trip, including four games in Montana.
Fri. Mar. 4 Jets 6 Minnesota Blizzard 0
Fargo (ND) For the first time in five games the Fargo-Moorhead Jets put one in the win column. At home the Jets put away five goals in the opening period and went on to beat the Minnesota Blizzard 6-0. Six different players scored for the Jets and goalie Andy Stricker (St. George, UT) captured his second shutout of the season. The win clinches a playoff spot for the Jets.
The Jets opened the scoring early just 1:29 into the first when Creighton Scarpone (Buchanan, MI) beat Minnesota goalie Marcus Paulson with a long shot from the left point. The shot surprised Paulson as he was beat low short side. The assist went to Ryan Cramer (Rio Rancho, NM).
Just over a minute later Chris Myhro (Eden Prairie, MN) connected on a snap shot inside the right circle with helpers coming from Phil Fox (Stillwater, MN) and Trevor Bruess (Minneapolis, MN). Minutes later the Jets jumped out to a 3-0 lead when a shot by Bob Preece (Bonita Springs, FL) just inside the blue line was deflected upstairs by Brent Olson (Baudette, MN).
Lance Malark (White Bear Lake, MN) brought the lead to four when he was left all alone in the slot during a three on two and had plenty of time to deke the goalie. The final scoring of the first period ended at the 12:49 mark when Tom Dickhudt (Woodbury, MN) held onto the puck on a two on one, forcing Paulson to back into his net, and planted the shot right over his glove. Surprisingly, Paulson stayed in the net for the rest of the game.
The rest of the game dragged on as the frustrated Blizzard tried to change the pace of the game in the second period by starting two fights. No goals were scored in the second.
In the third the Blizzard had a chance to put some pucks away when Dickhudt was called for a five-minute major cross-checking penalty. The penalty happened behind the play where Dickhudt continued to hit a Blizzard player who was down. Even though it was a great opportunity for the Blizzard they ruined most of their chances when they were called for a too-many-men-on-the-ice penalty partially through their long power play.
The game seemed to be taken care of in the first period but the Jets put the icing on the cake with just 42 seconds left in the game when they scored another goal. The sixth goal came when a pass from Fox seemed to bounce off of Bruess and into the net.
Sat. Mar. 5 Jets 6 Bozeman Icedogs 2
Fargo (ND) Matt Moreland (Grand Forks, ND) and Ryan Cramer (International Falls, MN) each scored twice as the Fargo-Moorhead Jets earned a 6-2 win over the Bozeman Icedogs at the Carlson Coliseum on Saturday night.
Moreland finished with three points overall, as he added an assist.
The win is the second in a row for the Jets, who broke out of a five-game winless streak last night with a 6-0 home win over Minnesota.
The Icedogs scored first with a power play goal from Fillip Macejka at 13:42 of the first. Macejka was stationed at the right post and one-timed a pass from Anton Kharin.
However, the Jets scored six unanswered goals. Ryan Cramer tied the game less than two minutes later on a controversial tally. Cramer slammed the puck into Bozeman goalie Josh Kassel, and then bumped Kassel into the goal. Initially, the referee waved off the goal, but then ruled it counted.
Chris Myhro (Eden Prairie, MN) gave the Jets the lead for good with a power play blast from the high slot at 18:55 of the first period. The goal gives Myhro 22 on the season, a new single-season goal record for the Jets.
Phil Fox (Stillwater, MN) and Moreland connected early in the second period to extend the Jets lead. Fox was at the left post and past to the top of the crease to Moreland who knocked the puck home.
While that goal was pretty, it paled in comparison to one of the most unselfish plays of the season for the Jets. Midway through the period, Trevor Bruess (Minneapolis, MN) gained control of the puck in the neutral zone and streaked into the Bozeman zone on a breakaway.
Trailing Bruess was Cramer. As Bruess came into the low slot, he faked a back-hand shot, dropped a pass to Cramer who scored past a fooled Kassel.
Moreland made it 5-1 Jets with a short-handed breakaway goal at 13:46 of the third period. Fox concluded the Jets scoring at 15:18 making it 6-1.
Macejka added his second goal at 16:42 of the third period, to end the scoring.
Sun. Mar. 6 Jets 2 Bozeman Icedogs 1
Fargo (ND) Matt Cleveland made an amazing 78 saves in goal, but it wasn't enough as the Fargo-Moorhead Jets defeated the Bozeman Icedogs 2-1 on Sunday night at the John E. Carlson Coliseum.
Cleveland frustrated the Jets all night long with countless, jaw-dropping saves. He twice robbed Tom Dickhudt (Woodbury, MN) on breakaways, and had other Jets simply shaking their heads.
Kyle Graalum's (Fargo, ND) power plays goal in the first, and Dickhudt's goal in the second were all the Jets could muster.
However, though Jets struggled to beat Cleveland, they dominated the action keeping almost the entire game on the Bozeman side of the redline. Fargo-Moorhead was also helped out by 10 power plays (Jets went 1/10), including three, 5-on-3 advantages.
Bozeman wouldn't get on the board until there was 3:57 left in regulation, when Josh Meyers scored a short-handed goal.
In the final three minutes -stopped numerous times for penalties - Bozeman would have a couple opportunities to sneak out a tie, but Jets netminder Elliot Okland (Fargo, ND) was up to the challenge and preserved the win.
Fargo-Moorhead has now won three games in a row, and move past Billings for first place in the North American Hockey League's West Division. The Jets still have two games in hand on the Bulls.
Last Week's Results
3/4 Minnesota 6-0 Win
3/5 Bozeman 6-2 Win
3/6 Bozeman 2-1 Win
This Week's Games
3/11 Bismarck 7:05pm (CST) St. Patrick's Jersey Auction
3/12 @ Bismarck 7:00pm (CST)
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 and sportsjuice.com.
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
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.
