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Coaches report: Minot boys hockey head coach John Grubb

A pair of slim defeats at the hands of Jamestown and Century Jan. 15 and 19 haven’t shaken the Minot High boys hockey team. The two losses broke up an otherwise incredible stretch for the team, starting the season with wins in each of its first eight games. The squad rebounded nicely from the brief skid as well, shutting out Bismarck with a 3-0 win Jan. 21.

The sources of the early success? Lockdown defensive play and consistent production from veteran players. Co-head coach John Grubb glowed about his team’s performance through its first 11 games.

MDN: What has impressed you the most through the team’s first ten games of the season?

JG: I think how well the players have dealt with the uncertainty of everything from the start of the season. We were dealt a limited schedule, unsure of what region and state tournaments were going to be, and we also had to pause for weeks after the excitement of starting on day one. They’ve really taken things in stride and adapted to all that has been asked of them.

MDN: Jamestown has been the other school with whom you’re fighting for first place, and the two matchups against them so far have been really close. In order to contend in any sport, you have to play well against the best teams, and Minot has done that. How does that impact how confident you are about the rest of the season?

JG: It has helped to have success against the other top teams, but we have also won some of those games where we haven’t had our best and maybe realized the outcome could have been different and not in our favor. We had a strong effort at Century last week in a game we felt we should have won, but it didn’t happen. So in hockey we have seen those things have kind of even things out over the season. As a coaching staff we hope the players are starting to understand how wild of a region this has been so far this year, and as we see teams for the second time as we close the regular season, and a third time at Regions, that ultimately a more consistent effort is going to be required and we can’t rely on one good period to get us through.

MDN: What aspect of the team do you feel most encouraged by and confident in?

JG: That we’ve been able to deal with some adversity. We’ve gotten behind in a few games and found a way to battle back and not shut down. We obviously don’t want to make it a habit but I think it has taught us a lesson that if we refocus and get back to work we can change the momentum of a game to our favor.

MDN: What aspect do you think could stand to improve in order to better the group as a whole as you progress through the rest of the season?

JG: We need to find a way to get started into our game quicker. We can’t sit back and feel the game out or before you know it, you are down 1-0 or 2-0 and putting pressure on yourself to score. We have a good skating team for our conference and need to use it to our advantage to get after teams early on the forecheck and make it tough for other teams to get out of their end. Lastly, we need to start finishing our opportunities. We are getting enough chances but would like to see our team start getting to the tough areas and finishing those opportunities more consistently.

MDN: Riley Opperude leads the team in scoring right now with 15 points following your Jan. 21 game. What have you seen from him that you can attribute this success to? 

JG: Riley is a young man who loves to be at the rink each day and is enthusiastic to get to play each day. I think his numbers this year have improved from some early power play success. He has consistently been able to get his shot through more this season from the point on the power play and has done a great job as one of the main guys taking charge of their unit and having a better understanding of what we are trying to do.

MDN: Tre’ Sortland has been credited with a 8-2 record this year, allowing just under 2 goals per game. What is the feeling like for the rest of the team every game knowing that they have someone in net they can really rely on?

JG: They know they have a teammate back there who comes to practice and games to work hard every day. Tre’ is a great teammate and the players know he is there to pick them up if the team is a little off. They also know if there is a day where Tre’ doesn’t have his best that it makes it easy to pick him up with their play as he will continue to work and battle through anything.

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