Posted: 12/8/04
Mix of youth and talent should pay off
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Joe Drennan
Sports Editor
Graduating nine seniors could have scared a lot of coaches and caused a lot of sleepless nights in the off season, but Forest Lake High School boys hockey coach Carl Brandt is excited about this season and the challenges ahead.
ìI believe we have more depth this year,î Brandt said. ìIn particular our defense is playing well and is accountable for a third of our scoring. Our mix of upperclassmen and underclassmen is why weíre getting a lot of decent play too.î
The defense is led by senior captains Patrick Fogerty and Jack Walker.
ìI think we have really good leaders in Patrick and Jack which will go a long way in sections,î Brandt said. ìTheyíve created a good atmosphere with the team and I think thatís a real positive that is going to carry over onto the ice.î
Fogerty and Walker are joined by seniors Aaron Paitich, Mike Butchko and sophomores Codey Carlisle and Jake LaMotte.
Offensively the Rangers are looking to some juniors to generate some goals. Blake Woodward seems to be the early leader, but Tom Kubes, Dustin Kendrick, Sean Tilton, Mark Moberg, Eric Anderson, Kenny Rivet and Tim Rangitsch will certainly score some goals of their own. Sophomore Christian Fogerty suffered an early season injury but is expected to add some scoring punch as well.
ìWeíre not getting scoring from our second, third or fourth line right now, but with Christian and Timmy (Rangitsch) injured those lines really haven't skated together for a full game yet,î Brandt said.
The biggest loss from last season can be felt between the pipes. All-Conference goaltender Dustin Carlson kept the Rangers in some games last season that could have easily been blowouts. Carlsonís crease has been turned over to senior Brandon Neujahr with junior Nate Burris as his backup.
ìGoaltending can turn a game around,î Brandt said. ìBrandon canít give up any soft goals and he could be a little more aggressive, but heís got all the basic skills set. Nate is right there with him and heíll probably get some games under his belt but he too needs to be a little more aggressive.î
Competition
After four games, the Rangers have a 3-1-0 record. Early victories came over Cambridge-Isanti, Alexandria and St. Francis. The Rangers did lose to Armstrong 6-0 Saturday to snap their early season winning streak.
ìAfter watching tape of the game my impression was we didnít play as bad as we originally thought we did,î Brandt said. ìWe had three major breakdowns in the first period and they capitalized on them. Armstrong capitalized on every mistake we made.î
In watching tape of the game, Brandt says he counted at least 27 missed passes that turned into Armstrong line rushes or turnovers.
ìThat Armstrong team was a good enough team that they took advantage of our mistakes,î Brandt said.
The Rangers wonít be able to make too many mistakes when they open their Suburban East Conference schedule Saturday when they play Roseville at 7:30 p.m.
ìWhite Bear Lake is going to be as good as they have been and Hastings is returning a fast group of skaters,î Brandt said. ìRoseville just got waxed by Wayzata, but theyíll be a tough team. The SEC is going to be as good as it was last year.î
Brandt expects the Rangers to do fairly well in section 7AA though. He sees Duluth East staying atop the section when the seedings come out before the playoffs with Cloquet right behind them. Brandt doesn't see Grand Rapids as strong as they were last year and Greenway is struggling early. Brainerd had trouble with an Alexandria team that the Rangers seemingly had little trouble with.
ìWe should finish in the top five of the section,î Brandt said. ìWe should be third though.î
The Rangers next game is today, Thursday, at Rochester Century at 7:30 p.m.
Rochester Century should be as strong a team as Armstrong was as they are returning section 1AA champions.
ìI think we have the intangibles thanks to a lot of things we did over the summer and fall and the players are showing improvement,î Brandt said. ìItís going to be a tough season though. Iím really excited about our junior varsity team too. I expect big things out of them which will only lead to depth in the long run.î
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