Oct 19, 2007 - 04:01:17 CDT
While the Bismarck Bobcats are off to a dismal 2-7-1 start, former coach Chad Johnson once again has his Fargo-Moorhead Jets flying high again.But the former University of North Dakota standout feels Bobcats coach Dane Litke - another Sioux alumni and Johnson's one-time assistant in Bismarck - can turn it around and warned not to write off his former club yet.
"We're only 10 games into it," Johnson said. "You never know at this time of year. If this was a football season they'd be 0-1. And on this end, we're 6-3-1, but we're not looking ahead. It's such a long season."
Longer for some than others. Bismarck dropped a pair of games at Southern Minnesota last weekend. Their only victories have come over Kenai River, the only team in the NAHL with a lower winning percentage than the Bobcats. But Litke believes Bismarck showed progress in the sweep at Southern Minnesota.
"Both games were winnable games," Litke said. "... There were a lot of positives. We had about 70 shots. We scored seven goals. The penalty kill was good. The power-play let us down a little bit, but overall even though we had two losses, we kind of showed progress."
Litke singled out a couple of players for praise.
"Andy Keogh had a good weekend with a goal and a couple of assists," Litke said. "Nick Taurence was gritty and brought a lot of energy."
The team's two leading returning scorers, Kyle Maggard and Colin Hoey also contributed some offense to a team starved for goals. Maggard found the net once in each game, upping his team-leading goal total to four. Hoey scored his first of the year. While the Bobcats continue to have the league's worst offense (2.20 goals per game), the Jets have been humming along. F-M is averaging 4.30 goals per game, second-best in the league.
"We have seven guys back from last year, so we don't necessarily have a young team," Johnson said. "We don't have one or two guys who our key guys, but we like our depth."
The stat sheet bears that out:The Jets are led by Andrew Harrison and Marc Mihulka with 11 points each. Next in line is Robby Philipp with 10 points, then four players with eight, two with seven and one with six.
Like nearly all of Johnson's teams, the Jets are getting key contributions from local talent. F-M has seven players from North Dakota on its roster:Mihulka from Grand Forks Red River; Andy Dittus from Minot; Erick Galt from Fargo South; Tyler Klein and Elliot Okland from Fargo North; Marc Harrie from Fargo Shanley, Tyler Swanson from West Fargo.
"We're not just getting North Dakota kids to fill a roster spot," Johnson said. "Mihulka, Dittus, Galt and Swanson are all in our top 10 in scoring."
Not everything has been rosy for the Jets. The impending arrival of the Fargo Force, who are supposed to begin play in the USHLin 2008, has cast doubt on the Jets' future. Johnson said that while he hopes the Jets stick around for a long time, the team is just trying to focus on the present.
"It's a little disheartening, because this is the longest a junior hockey team has lasted in Fargo, and it looks like we're getting kicked to the curb," Johnson said. "As of now, nothing's changing. Our first priority is this season."
????? wrote on Oct 19, 2007 10:00 AM:
Don't Cry wrote on Oct 19, 2007 8:17 AM:
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