Posted: 12/7/05
Depth and experience will help boys hockey in 2005-06
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Joe Drennan
Sports Editor
Graduating 11 players would scare most high school hockey coaches, but Forest Lake High School boys hockey coach Carl Brandt is experiencing just that, but he isnít worried.
ìI think we have a good junior class this year with a mix of eight seniors along with one sophomore whoís going to play pretty regularly,î Brandt said.
This yearís senior core includes goalie Nate Burris, defenseman Andrew Pooch and forwards Kenny Rivet, David Gauerke, Dustin Kendrick, Tom Kubes, Sean Tilton and Blake Woodward. Kubes and Woodward are team captains.
The sophomore Brandt was talking of is forward Jake Kogler.
Backing Burris up in the net this year will be sophomore Andy Frost.
ìI donít think there is a battle (in the net),î Brandt said. ìI think Nate needs to do what he does best, which is play consistent.î
Helping Burris out offensively will be the first line of Kubes, Woodward and Fogerty. As juniors Kubes and Woodward each scored 30 goals and Fogerty averaged a point per game in 17 games.
Aside from the first line Brandt is pleased with the other two forward lines as he feels the team has a bit of depth this season, something thatís hard to come by.
Rounding out the forward lines are Rivet, Gauerke, Kendrick, Tilton, juniors Jeff Bohnen, Andy Hardy, James Woods, Kogler and Brett McGee.
ìThe question mark is how good can the defensemen who have taken the place of the seniors fill in,î Brandt said.
Of the 11 seniors who graduated last year four were defensemen.
This yearís defensive crew consists of Pooch, juniors Codey Carlisle, Jake LaMotte, Aaron Kubes, Alex Lindeberg and Nick Wethammer.
Competition
Last year the Rangers finished the season with an overall record of 15-11-1 with a Suburban East Conference record of 6-8.
This year the Rangers will face the typical SEC powerhouses of White Bear Lake, Roseville, Hastings and every other team in the conference. New to the conference this year is Cretin-Derham Hall.
ìEverybody has Cretin-Derham Hall rated fairly high,î Brandt said. ìThey have a lot of players returning, but the top four team in the conference do to.î
A preseason power ranking by the coaches has White Bear Lake, a team with 13 returning letter winners from last yearís state tournament team, Hastings, Cretin-Derham Hall and Forest Lake rated as the top four teams.
The power rankings were done for scheduling purposes so teams that could be battling for a conference title would be playing each other at the end of the season.
ìWe should be in the top four,î Brandt said.
After going undefeated in Section 7AA play during the regular season the Rangers only 7AA loss came in the second round of the section playoffs when they fell 4-1 to Duluth East.
This year the Rangers added Duluth East to their regular season schedule. The Rangers already played and lost to Grand Rapids, but beat Cambridge-Isanti.
New to section 7AA this year is Andover and Elk River.
Weekly recap
Last Tuesday the Rangers had their home opener at the Maroon and Gold Arena against Cambridge-Isanti. The Rangers scored early and often as they won the game 7-0.
Goals for the Rangers came from Hardy, Jeff Bohnen, Tom Kubes, Fogerty, Wethammer, Kogler and Lindeberg. Burris stopped all 16 Cambridge-Isanti shots to earn the shutout.
Friday the Rangers traveled to Brainerd where they pulled out a 3-2 victory.
ìI thought that we played pretty good defensively,î Brandt said.
The Rangers got on the scoreboard first when Woodward fed Fogerty the puck on a power play.
Brainerd tied the game in the second period on a power play goal of their own, but the Rangers added one power play goal and an even strength goal from Woodward and Kubes in the third period to give themselves some room to breath.
Brainerd netted another goal late in the period, but Burris was able to hold them off as he stopped 28 shots in the game.
ìI really think Christian (Fogerty) played one of the best games Iíve seen him play,î Brandt said.
The Rangers next game is today, Thursday, when they travel to Mounds View for a 7:30 p.m. game. The Rangers return home Saturday to host Park (Cottage Grove) at 7:30 p.m.
Forest Lake Times
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