Posted: 12/11/02

After record-setting year, FL has big goals

Berk Brown
Sports Editor

Clint Blum, Scooter Brandt, Matt Stendahl and Jeff Stone were all key parts to the most successful season of Forest Lake boys hockey of all-time last year.

When you ask them how they plan on following that up in the 2002-03 campaign, to a man, they all have the same answer.

ìThe state tournament.î

A lofty goal, no doubt. Yet, first-year coach Carl Brandt says itís a fair goal and one he expects the Rangers to achieve if things come together well.

ìI think itís very realistic,î Brandt said. ìLike anything, we have to be injury-free. You have to get good goaltending, and we have that. We just have to find a way to fill some voids and score more goals. Weíve got the team chemistry.

ìThe three toughest games in hockey are the sectional games. The toughest thing is to get (to state). Playing there is the luxury part of it all. The really tough part is to win three games to get there when everybody is laying it all on the line.î

If a teamís success starts in its own net, the Rangers should be well on their way to repeating last yearís season which saw Forest Lake set a record for wins in the season with 17 and play its first-ever home game in the section playoffs.

Senior goalie Brett Sawyer returns after earning all-conference and all-metro honors a year ago with a 1.83 GAA and a save percentage of 92.7.

He will be backed-up this season by junior Dustin Carlson, who coach Brandt said would likely be a starter on any other team but is stuck behind Sawyer for one more year.

Defensively, Forest Lake will count on a pair of seniors to provide most of the protection for Sawyer.

At 6-foot-3, 220-pounds, senior Stone is a big roadblock on the way to the Rangersí net. Stone earned All-SEC honors last season. Senior Jon Bjork also will be a key defenseman for the Rangers.

Forest Lake also returns a considerable number of talented forwards and centers.

Leading the way is senior center Stendahl, who scored 20 goals and had 22 assists a season ago while being named to the All-SEC team. Senior Blum, who earned All-SEC honors last season as a defenseman, has been moved back to forward this season. As a sophomore he was a left winger.

Seniors Brandt and Corey Minke give the Rangers more strength at the forward position and senior Mitch Hanson will be counted on as one of the teamís top centers.

A key to this season matching last year, coach Brandt said, is the added depth the Rangers will have this year.

Among some of the newcomers expected to make contributions for the Rangers in 2002-03 are senior forward Phil Vandeveer, junior center Dan Guenther and junior forward Tyler Rife.

Defensively, the Rangers also expect senior 6-footer Ben Eriksen to make consistent contributions. Senior Mike Paisley also has been playing well defensively early in the season.

Brandt said he expects the Rangers to put two very good lines on the ice all season with a third line capable of making the difference between wins and losses.

ìFor us to get to the state tournament, we have to have two really good lines that people have to be fearful of and a third line that can chip-in and score when we need them,î Brandt said.

The most important quality championship teams need, Brandt said, the Rangers, with 15 seniors on the team, already have. That would be cohesion.

ìThis is a close-knit group,î Brandt said. ìThey all get along really well. Itís my experience that that is a really big thing. Everyone has a sense of pride about what they accomplished last year and I think their confidence is a lot higher.

ìWe have really good team leadership. The leadership that this group has has been really impressive.î

Brandt, who replaces Jim Young as the head coach, also praised the work of his assistants, including Jack Loughrey, junior varsity coaches Gerry Parzino, Kelly Nichols, Chad Carlson and goalie coach Neil Sawyer.

He also said he looks forward to trying to carry on a tradition of hockey excellence in Forest Lake which started 30 years ago. To mark the anniversary, the Rangers are planning a celebration and alumni hockey game for Jan. 2.

Celebrating that and trying hard to get the team a much-needed new hockey arena are other things Brandt said heís looking forward to.

ìIím looking forward to getting all those former players back for that 30th anniversary reunion,î Brandt said. ìWe want to recognize all the guys who have helped build this program. Having all the players come back goes a long ways for the kids we have here now.î

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