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Grand Rapids Hockey Offseason News

-Sam Rendle, Tony Palkki, and John Skrbec have been named captains for the 2008-2009 season.

-J.R. Mackey has been awarded the 2007-2008 Grand Rapids Hobey Baker Award.

-Corey Kosak was named Player's Choice team MVP for the 2007-2008 season.

-Sam Sparen was named Player's Choice team Most Determined Player for the 2007-2008 season.

-Pat Rendle has been named Grand Rapids High School Athletic Director as Wayne Pender is set to resign at the end of the school year.

Grand Rapids @ Cloquet/Esko/Carlton
Cloquet Area Recreational Center, Cloquet, MN
1/15/2008, 7:30 p.m.

Game Preview:
Grand Rapids and Cloquet played 59 minutes of hockey back in November and it still wasn't enough to determine a winner. Since then, Grand Rapids has gone 6-6-1 and Cloquet has gone 8-4-1 and sit at 9-4-2 on the season. The 7-6-1 overall Thunderhawks are coming off a 6-1 win over the Stillwater Ponies while Cloquet is coming off of a 13-1 win over Duluth Central. Justin Jokinen, a division one recruit, leads the Lumberjack attack with 14 goals and 13 assists for 27 points this season. Jokinen tallied Cloquet's second goal in the first meeting of the year between the Lumberjacks and the Thunderhawks. Robb Roy leads the way for Grand Rapids with 6 goals and 17 assists for 23 points. It was Tony Palkki, however, that buried two goals in the first meeting. He now has 9 goals and 2 assists for 11 points. The first meeting of the year showcased Aaron Baker (CEC) vs. Trevor Tabaka (GR) in goals. Baker is 5-4-2 on the year with a 2.88 GAA and a 89.6 save %. He is the go to guy for Dave Esse and the Cloquet/Esko/Carlton Lumberjacks. Trevor Tabaka is 1-1-1 for Grand Rapids with a 91.5 save % and a 2.19 GAA, but it have been junior A.J. Underwood who has seen most of the playing time over the past month. Underwood is 3-5-0 on the season and has posted a 3.02 GAA and a 90.7 save %. Bruce LaRoque will likely not announce his goaltender until Monday evening.

Last meeting: Grand Rapids 2, Cloquet 2  F/OT (November 27, 2007) Game summary

Notes: Grand Rapids is 3-2-1 on the road this season and 1-2-1 vs. section 7AA foes this year.

Special Teams: The Thunderhawks are 15/68 (22.06%) on the power play this season. They were able to manage one power play goal vs. Cloquet earlier this year. The Grand Rapids penalty kill is 51/62 (82.26%) on the season. Cloquet was also able to score one power play goal in the first meeting.

Line Score: Goals (top), Shots (bottom)

Box Score:

1st Period-1. GR, Jack Moore (John Skrbec) 8:47

2nd Period-2. CEC, Austin Hatch (Oscar Carlsson, David Brown) (PP) 1:13; 3. GR, Tony Palkki (Sam Rendle) 15:48

3rd Period-4. GR, Jack Moore (Grant Prokop, John Skrbec) 3:29; 5. CEC, Jake Rychlak 5:05; 6. J.R. Mackey (Shane Greniger, Nate Dumm) 12:58

Saves-A.J. Underwood (GR) 21, Aaron Baker (CEC) 21

Three Stars:
3. John Skrbec (GR)
2. A.J. Underwood (GR)
1. Jack Moore (GR)

Game Summary:
Official start time: 7:26 p.m.
Official end time: 9:20 p.m.
Official game time: 1 hour and 54 minutes

Grand Rapids used Tuesday night to settle a tie from November 27th of this season. The Thunderhawks and Lumberjacks skated to a 2-2 tie in Grand Rapids early in the season. Grand Rapids was able to get the win on the road vs. section 7AA foe, Cloquet. Jack Moore had his third multi goal game of the year to extend Rapids' recent dominance over Cloquet. Over the past three seasons Grand Rapids is 6-1-1 vs. Cloquet including playoff games. Jack Moore got the scoring started midway through the first period. John Skrbec picked up his first assist of the game on the goal. Cloquet answered back very early in the second period when Austin Hatch buried a power play goal. Tony Palkki put the Thunderhawks ahead for good in the final two minutes of the second period. Palkki took a pass from Sam Rendle and put the puck past Cloquet goalie Aaron Baker to give Grand Rapids the 2-1 edge. Jack Moore scored his second goal of the game early in the third period to give Grand Rapids the two goal cushion. It was one of the prettiest goals thus far for Grand Rapids. Grant Prokop shoved the puck ahead to John Skrbec. Skrbec skated in and cut to the middle of the rink. While doing so, he left a beautiful no look, behind the back drop pass to Jack Moore, who fired the puck into the net. Cloquet would continue to battle, however. Jake Rychlak cut the Grand Rapids lead in half, but J.R. Mackey scored the final goal of the game to lead Grand Rapids out of Cloquet with a 4-2 win. Shane Greniger and Nate Dumm assisted the game's final goal. A.J. Underwood stopped 21 shots for Grand Rapids to pick up the win in goal. Aaron Baker also stopped 21 shots, but could not manage to lead Cloquet to victory. The big win for the Thunderhawks improves them to 2-2-1 vs. section 7AA teams.

Photos are now up: Page One : Page Two

Photo of the game:

Courtesy of Shannon Merritt

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