The problem? The majority of their games are played against Minnesota teams. You know, the state with the most competitive hockey programs… the state that boasts the most NHLers…. the state that actually has enough interest in the sport that almost every high school has a hockey program, unlike Wisconsin where the a lot of the teams are combined schools, a la, the Burnett Blizzard.

But, in another "as usual" seeding meeting, the Blizzard are relegated to an away game as they are seeded #5 (out of 9). They miss out on playing in front of their home fans because they play most of their games against those hapless Minnesotans.

What a farce. I understand to a point, but the Blizz has a 19-2 record and have proven themselves against Wisconsin teams with a 7-2 record.

A #5 seed, though? That's absurd. The team they're playing in the first round is Menomonie (11-9, 3-7). The Mustangs finished a distant fifth in the Big Rivers Conference… but they get the four seed because they play all Wisconsin teams.

Record

The Blizz have the second best win percentage in the state. The only team higher is Verona and they are ranked #3 in the state. The number one team in the Blizz's section is Superior (and I'm not saying they shouldn't be) and their record is 11-8. 

I do not believe seeding should be based on record alone, but 19-2? that's pretty outstanding… definitely deserving of a home game. 

The RPI does not lie.

The RPI takes into account your opponent's winning percentage, your opponent's opponent's winning percentage, and several other indicators and spits out your RPI number. .500 is your average team.

The Mustangs have a .500 RPI. The Blizzard have .538. There are sixteen teams between the two (there are only 91 teams participating in boys hockey this year).

I don't think the seedings should be based on the RPI, but I do believe this shows there is a pretty big discrepancy and that politics are definitely playing a part in the seeding process.

Post from: We are Grantsburg

Blizzard boys

The Blizzard boys have been playing really well as of late. They had a little bit of a hiccup over the holiday break where they dropped 2 games and won 1 in the Rice Lake tournament. They lost 4-5 to a Hayward team that showed up ready to play, as for the Blizz, they got behind and had to play catch up and fell just short. They did come back with an impressive 8-1 over Stoughton, a team that went to the State tournament in 2010! In the championship game vs. Rice Lake,  the boys really came to play the first 2 periods. The score was 1-1 after 2. But the third period proved to be the down fall. Rice Lake scored 4 unanswered goals in route to a 1-5 loss for the Blizz. Rice Lake is currently ranked 9th in the state. With the 2 losses the Blizzard fell from the rankings to the Honorable Mention.

Since the New Year the Blizzard have played 3 Two River Conference games and have come out on top in each match up!! On Saturday-January 7th The Minneapolis Novas came to town with the conference lead on the line. Both teams came into the game having not lost a conference game. It was Blizzard White Out Night, where the first 50 students that came to the game got a free white Blizzard shirt. The team also recognized the Jr Blizzard made up of kids from the Grantsburg Youth Hockey Association. Each kid was paired with a varsity player and got to practice with the "Big Boys" one day.

The game was fast paced from the drop of the puck! Scoring came on just the second shift of the game!! Aaron Dietmeirer got one past the Novas net minder at the 51 second mark!! Joe Engelhart netted the second goal of the period for the Blizz. At the end of 1 it was 2-0 in favor of the home team. The Blizzard held a 14-5 shot advantage.

The second period came and went with no goals scored by either team, both teams sent shot after shot at the net to no avail. Again the Blizzard got 14 shots off to the Novas 10.

Minneapolis cut the lead in half 5 1/2 minutes into the 3rd period. But just 3 minutes later Jake Langevin put the game on ice for the Blizzard with a really nice shot that the goal tender never saw! Minneapolis did out shoot the local icemen 13-10 in the 3rd. For the game the Blizzard out shot the Novas 38-28.

The game was marred with penalties, with the teams combining 34 total minutes spent with boys on the pine. 16 for the Blizzard and 18 for the Novas.

Scoring for the Blizzard were Aaron Dietmeire, Joe Engelhart and Jake Langevin. Getting assist on the night were Matt Larson, Joe Engelhart, Anthony Dietmeirer,  Bryce Ryan and Brandon Ryan.

Tuesday January 10th the Blizzard hosted the Pine City Dragons at Grantsburg Arena. The host were not very kind to the visitors as the Blizzard slayed the Dragons by a score of 9-3.

Pine City is having a down year and has only 1 victory coming into the Two Rivers Conference match, that coming against a win less St. Paul Highland Park team.

The 1st period saw the score Blizz 4 – Dragons 1. Scoring for the Blizzard were Matt Larson, Anthony Dietmeirer and Joe Engelhart scoring a hat trick by the midway point!!! Assists went to Aaron Dietmeier with 2, Anthony Dietmeier with 3, Matt Larson, Joe Engelhart and something you don't see in hockey very often, Goaltender Thomas Labatt getting an assist on Matt Larson's goal!!

The second period saw the Blizzard put 4 more goals on the board to the Dragons 1. Getting the biscuit in the basket for the Blizzard were Aaron Dietmeier, Joe Engelhart, Anthony Dietmeier and Dakota Linke. Assist went to Anthony Dietmeier, Bryce Ryan, Jake Swenson and Joe Engelhart picked up 2.

In the 3rd period a number of the younger boys got into the game gaining some valuable ice time at the varsity level one of the freshman, Andrew Coy roughed it up with the "big" boys and earned himself some pine time, picking up just 1 of 2 penalties on the night for the Blizzard!!! 

The boys really threw alot of pucks at the Pine City net minders on this night. Sending the Dragons starting goal tender to the bench after only 6 minutes of play, scoring on the first 2 shots taken and the score 2-0 . For the game the Blizzard had 53 shots to Pine City's 21.

Monday Janurary 16th saw the boys travel to Chisago Lakes to take on the North Branch Vikings. This game was special in that it was the first game played under new Minnesota State High School League rules that state any checking from behind, boarding or head contact penalties called are now a 5 minute major, the ref's have the discretion to call a game misconduct also, leading to a game disqualification. The player getting the penaly must sit out the entire 5 minutes regardless if the other team scores. In the past these penalties only carried a 2 minute minor, with the ref's having the discretion to call a 5 minute major or game misconduct. All this coming about after the tragic accident that left Benild St. Margaret's Jack Jablonski with out the use of arms or legs after getting checked from behind in a JV game. There was a nice sized crowd at the game along with officials from the Minnesota State High School League as well as Twin Cities KARE 11 news! As it was the only boys high school game being played in Minnesota for the night.

It started with the Vikings getting on the board fist, a rarity as the Blizzard have out scored their opponents 38-5 in the first period! And Bryce Ryan made the record books getting the first boarding penalty under the new rules called against him with just 7 minutes gone in the 1st period. The Blizzard held strong during the 5 minute short handed situation. The scoring for the Blizzard finally got underway with 5 minutes left in the 1st period. Then they came fast!!! 3 goals were scored in just 31 seconds for the Blizz!! That put the Blizzard up 3-1 after 1. With a 16-11 shot advantage going to the home town boys. The 2nd period saw the Blizzard score 2 more goals and out shoot the Vikings 15-3. In the 3rd period the Blizzard out shot North Branch 12 to 4 with 2 more getting past the Vikings net minder. With that the game ended Blizzard 7 Vikings 1. With the boys holding a 50 to 19 shots on net advantage. the Blizzard were able to score 3 power play goals on 6 man advantages, while giving up no goals on 3 short handed occasions.

Getting points on the evening were:

Joe Engelhart- 2 goals 2 assists

Anthony Dietmeier- 2 goals 1 assist

Aaron Dietmeier- 2 goals 1 assist

Brandon Ryan- 1 goal

Bryce Ryan- 1 assist

Austin Thoreen- 2 assists

Matt Larson- 3 assists

That has the Blizzard standing with an overall record of 12-2!! Alone atop the Two Rivers Conference at 7-0 with a 4 point lead over 2nd place Minneapolis. Having now finished the 1st half of conference play undefeated. They start the 2nd half of play this Friday night, Jan. 20th in Siren at the Lodge Arena against Legacy Christian Academy who the Blizzard shut out 4-0 when they played back in December. The schedule has the boys traveling to Moose Lake next Tuesday, Jan. 24th then home in Siren for 2 games. Friday Jan. 27th vs. Becker/Big Lake. Those games are all conference match ups.

On Saturday Janurary 28th the Blizzard take on the River Falls Wildcats in an important sectional game. This is also the annual Blizzard Tailgate party. The JV starts off the afternoon at 1:00 with the Varsity following. Then the Blizzard girls get into the action with a game vs. Silver Bay, Mn. So come on out the the rink, enjoy a great Tailgate party and watch some really good high school hockey!!!!!

Post from: We are Grantsburg

Blizzard Update

The Blizzard's next game is a big one against Somerset (5-1) on Thursday night in Siren. Make sure you get there if you can to watch some great hockey! Puck drops at 7:00.

The Blizz on Wisconsin Prep Hockey

SEASON STATS (CLICK HERE)

Last night both the Varsity and JV played Mora over in Siren. The boys were victorious at both levels.

The JV game started a little slow, but the boys then caught fire and started putting the puck away in the back of the net. The JV team was lead by Brandon Roufs' shutout and Ryan Curtis' 2 goals and an assist. The boys also had scoring from Drew Alderman and Carter Lee. Damon Roberts also had an assist. The final on the JV game was 4-0.
 

The Varsity started the game very strong putting the game into running time just 11min and 29 seconds into the game. It almost seemed as the boys scored at will in the first. After the first, we juggled some lines and changed everything up as to not give anything away for our HUGE game Thursday against Somerset. All the guys on the bench got plenty of skating time and the boys received a very nice comment from the opposing coach after the game. Their coach was very impressed with our disipline and our composure after scoring 7 goals in the 1st period. The team was led by Joe Engelhart who had a 5pt night and Thomas Labatt who recorded his second consecutive shut-out.

Line
Mora       0  0  0  =  0
Blizzard  7  2  0  =  9
 

Scoring
Joe Engelhart – 2goals, 3 assists
Cody Benedict – 2 goals
Matt Larson – 1 goal, 2 assists
Bryce Ryan – 1 goal
Jake Swenson – 1 goal
Aaron Dietmeier – 1 goal, 2 assists
Anthony Dietmeier – 1 goal, 1 assist
Jake Langevin – 1 assist
Thomas Labatt 17 saves on 17 shots

Post from: We are Grantsburg

Engelhart, Labatt have Blizz off to a hot start

Post from: We are Grantsburg

Boys Blizzard hockey undefeated

Post from: We are Grantsburg

Drive In interview with Blizz boys head coach

We'll have more tonight.

Both the boys and girls Blizz teams(listed asWSLFG and WSLFGUS respectively) are Honorable Mentions on Wisconsin Prep Hockey [click here if you don't believe me].

Post from: We are Grantsburg

Orange/Lemons tonight from Grantsburg

Grantsburg Youth Hockey  Invites Kids to the Grantsburg Hockey Rink to participate in Try Hockey for Free Day on November 5th. 

Grantsburg Youth Hockey Association  invites boys and girls ages four to nine years old to the Grantsburg Rink on Saturday, November 5th from 9:30-11:00a.m  for a Try Hockey for Free clinic.  This will allow kids to experience ice hockey for the first time and learn the basics of the sport in a fun, safe environment.

Try Hockey For Free Day is part of Come Play Hockey Month. This program, designed to provide youth hockey associations a national platform to introduce new kids to the sport, is a joint‐effort between USA Hockey, the National Hockey League, NHL member clubs and OneGoal. Try Hockey for Free Day  is a component of USA Hockey and the NHL’s collaboration with the Let’s Move! Initiative to help the nation’s youth lead healthier, more active lives through hockey.

“We look forward to introducing new families to our sport,” said Rick Quimby  -Association President. “To help keep costs reasonable for parents, we’ve incorporated programs to provide first-year players with equipment for the season.” 

To register for one of the 400+ Try Hockey for Free opportunities, please visit www.TryHockeyForFree.com or contact Michelle Lee at 715-463-4285 or email her at grantsburghockey@gmail.com

Post from: We are Grantsburg

Free Hockey!

The boys gave it their best, but the Indians proved too much. The Indians defense was fantastic and they had a dynamic player that was able to score three times in the game. Menomonie takes on New Richmond on Tuesday.

The Blizz are young though and many of the key guys will return next year including the first line of Joe Engelhart and the Dietmeier brothers Anthony and Aaron. The second line stays in tact as well with Jake Langevin flanked by the Ryan brothers Brandon and Bryce. Also returning is the goaltender Thomas Labatt.

The defense is where the Blizz need to make some changes as Ben Jensen and Russ Thoreen will be lost to graduation.

In my opinion the Blizz have the pieces in place to make a major run at a state appearance next year.

I had audio for the game, but unfortunately you can't really hear me (which could be considered a good thing). I'm working on resolving the issue and hope to have it up soon.

Post from: We are Grantsburg

Blizz season ends

That means the Blizzard advance in the tournament and will face Menomonie on Thursday night at 7pm in Menomonie.

I'm going to head down there to cover the game on WXCX.

Bracket

Map to the arena

Post from: We are Grantsburg

Blizz blast Barron

Way to go, Joe!

Post from: We are Grantsburg

Engelhart wins player of the month