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2008-2009 Preseason Rankings
Courtesy of Let's Play Hockey
11/26/2008

Class AA

1. Edina
2. Hill-Murray
3. Duluth East
4. Centennial
5. Bloomington Jefferson
6. Roseau
7. Minnetonka
8. White Bear Lake
9. Eden Prairie
10. Blaine
11. Moorhead
12. Academy of Holy Angels
13. Benilde-St. Margaret's
14. Hopkins
15. Burnsville
16. Woodbury
17. Cretin-Derham Hall
18. Eastview
19. Wayzata
20. Grand Rapids

2008-2009 Preseason Rankings
Courtesy of Let's Play Hockey
11/26/2008
Class A

1. St. Thomas Academy
2. Duluth Marshall
3. Rochester Lourdes
4. Little Falls
5. St. Cloud Cathedral
6. Breck
7. Warroad
8. Mahtomedi
9. International Falls
10. Totino-Grace
11. South St. Paul
12. Alexandria
13. Orono
14. Duluth Denfeld
15. New Prague
16. Blake
17. Red Wing
18. Hibbing
19. Rogers
20. Bemidji

Grand Rapids vs. Duluth East
IRA Civic Center, Grand Rapids, MN-7:30 p.m.
1/10/2008

Game Preview:
Grand Rapids finally got the proverbial monkey off of their back on February 24th, 2007 when Patrick White beat Ben Leis in overtime to send Grand Rapids back to the section final. It was the first time Grand Rapids was able to beat Duluth East in section 7AA playoff hockey. It was only the second time Grand Rapids defeated Duluth East in this decade. A lot of the big names are gone, but don't expect the big hits to be. The East-Rapids rivalry has brewed into one of the most intense in northern Minnesota. The most interesting part of this game will be the goaltending matchup. Grand Rapid's junior goaltender A.J. Underwood will face off against Duluth East junior goalie Matt Cooper. Cooper is 3-3-1 on the season with a 2.58 GAA and an 89.7 save %. Underwood has been fabulous for Grand Rapids, but has had several tough luck losses. He is 2-4-0 on the season with a 3.18 GAA and an 89.4 save %. The team that gets better play between the pipes will likely win this game. Robb Roy leads Grand Rapids up front with 6 goals and 15 assists for 21 points while Sam Rendle and Corey Kosak lead the blue liners for Rapids with 4 goals and 6 assists and 3 goals and 7 assists respectively. Rob Johnson leads Duluth East forwards with 10 goals and 11 assists for 21 points. The top defender for East is Joe Arbour with 2 goals and 7 assists for 9 points. Special teams will be a big key for both teams also. It will be a great battle between the Greyhounds and the Thunderhawks on Thursday night.

Last meeting: Grand Rapids 5, Duluth East 4 OT (2/24/2007, Section 7AA Semi-Final) Tony Palkki of Grand Rapids beat Ben Leis late in the third period to send the game to overtime. Future Golden Gopher Patrick White would tally the OT winner, his second of the game, after a beautiful feed from Zach Morse. Morse and Jason Makinen scored the other two Rapids goals. It was the first time Grand Rapids was able to beat Duluth East in the section 7AA playoffs.

Notes: Tony Palkki has the biggest returning goal against Duluth East. In fact, he has the only one. His goal assisted by Sam Rendle and Sam Sparen sent the section semi-final into overtime last season. That was a game the Thunderhawks would go on to win. Robb Roy also picked up an assist in last season's regular season game at the DECC.

Special Teams: Grand Rapids is 12/58 on the power play this season (20.69%) and 44/53 on the penalty kill this season (83.02%)

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

Box Score:

1st Period-1. DE, Jacob Boese 7:02

2nd Period-2. DE, Max Tardy (Jacob Boese, Rob Johnson) 12:13; 3. GR, Tony Palkki (Sam Rendle, Eric Bishop) 12:42; 4. DE, Rob Johnson (Max Tardy, Jacob Boese) 15:28

3rd Period-5. GR, Corey Kosak (Sam Rendle, Robb Roy) (PP) 7:12; 6. DE, Joe Arbour (Mike Renier, Joe Nelson) (PP) 9:57

Saves-A.J. Underwood (GR) 48, Matt Cooper (DE) 28

Three Stars:
3. Max Tardy (DE)
2. Rob Johnson (DE)
1. Jacob Boese (DE)

Game Summary:
Official start time: 7:30 p.m.
Official end time: 9:20 p.m.
Official game time: 1 hour and 50 minutes

Duluth East walked into one of the biggest crowds the IRA Civic Center has seen in quite some time, and they walked away with a win. Duluth East was on the attack all night and picked up a huge road and section win in front of 3,000+ fans on Thursday. The win pulled East above the .500 mark at 7-6-1 and it pulled Grand Rapids back to the .500 mark at 6-6-1. A.J. Underwood was outstanding in goal stopping 48 of Duluth East's 52 shots, but Grand Rapids could only net two goal in 30 tries against Matt Cooper. Jacob Boese started his huge night when he scored an unassisted goal in the first period. The goal would be the only one in the period; A period where Duluth East outshot Grand Rapids 12-7. The second period was again the most entertaining period of the game. The two teams combined for 32 shots in the period, 18 of which were from the Greyhounds. Jacob Boese and Rob Johnson assisted Max Tardy to put East ahead 2-0. Tony Palkki answered back immediately when he slapped home a puck in a scrum in front of Matt Cooper. Sam Rendle and Eric Bishops were credited with assists on the goal. The top line for Duluth East was able to give them a two goal lead late in the third on a two-on-one odd man rush. Robb Johnson tucked a nifty backhand past A.J. Underwood and his line mates, Jacob Boese and Max Tardy were given assists on the goal. Corey Kosak scored a huge power play goal midway through the third period for Rapids. Kosak blasted a slap shot past Matt Cooper to cut the Greyhound lead in half. Sam Rendle picked up his second assist of the game and Robb Roy tallied his first. Duluth East defenseman Joe Arbour sealed the game's fate later in the third when he netted a power play goal for East. Duluth East outshot Grand Rapids 22-9 in the third period and 52-30 for the game. Duluth East may now have the inside track to the #1 seed in section 7AA. They still have to play Forest Lake and Cloquet on the road. Two wins in those two games would make East the favorite to be seeded #1. Grand Rapids still has to do battle with Anoka at home and Cloquet on the road.

Photos courtesy of Missi How are now up.

Photos courtesy of Shannon Merritt are now up.

Photos of the game:

Photo courtesy of Missi How

Photo courtesy of Shannon Merritt

News:                          The Princeton Tigers have been moved by the MSHSL into Section 7AA.  PrepHockeyNorth.com provides section wide coverage throughout the season.         

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