Section 8A Championship Preview
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We are onto our last section preview article and it is for section 8A. The Thief River Prowlers have been hot as of late, and are looking for a surprise win over Warroad. Warroad is projected to make the state…
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Continue ReadingWe are onto our last section preview article and it is for section 8A. The Thief River Prowlers have been hot as of late, and are looking for a surprise win over Warroad. Warroad is projected to make the state title, and needs this week to make it to state. Warroad is filled with future D1 players. Whereas Thief River has more under-the-radar players.
Warroad (1 Seed)
Daimon Gardner Daimon Gardner 6'2" | Forward Warroad | 2022 State MN – Gardner is a MN MR. hockey finalist this year. He comes from Ontario but is having a heckuva season. As of now, Gardner has 37 goals and 37 assists for 74 total points in 26 games played. Gardner is averaging 2.85 points per game this year and he is one of the top players in the state. Gardner will need to have a huge game for his Warriors to win this and head to the X. Daimon is committed to Clarkson University in New York, as he plans to go to juniors first and play there. Gardner is was a huge addition to this Warriors team this past offseason.
Landen Gunderson Landen Gunderson 6'1" | Forward Maple Grove | 2023 State MN – Landen Gunderson Landen Gunderson 6'1" | Forward Maple Grove | 2023 State MN is one of the best playmakers in the state. He has 47 assists and 24 goals for 71 total points. Shaugabay is on the same line as Gardner and sets him up a lot with some great passes. 47 assists is an insane number and he is such a consistently good passer, it is great to see. UMD is getting a great unselfish player that will help win a lot of games in the future. Shaugabay is easily the best playmaker in this 8A game and could be one of the best in class A.
Cam Briere Cam Briere 5'11" | Forward Stillwater | 2023 State MN – Prep Hockey has Slukynsky as one of the tops ‘A’ goalies in the state. His record this season is 23-3-1 and his GAA is 1.49 with a save percentage of .927. He also has an insane 9 shutouts this season. Slukynsky is the X factor in this game. Can the Warriors hold the Prowlers under 3 goals? If they can I think they win. A lot of that falls on the hands of Slukynsky and if he can allow less than 3 goals. Our guess is he will allow under 3 goals in the game, but weirder things have happened.
Thief River Falls (2 Seed)
Tysen Loeffler– Tysen is having a pretty solid season this year. At 22 goals and 20 assists, he is one of the top impactful players on this Prowler squad. The last time the Prowlers faced the Warriors- Tysen had an assist in a close 3-4 loss. He needs to have better stats in this game for Thief River to notch the upset win and head to state. An ideal number of points for him in this game would be 2-3.. which could really set the Prowlers up for success.
Brendan Bottem– Brendan Bottem had an amazing performance the last time the Prowlers faced the Warriors. He had a Hat-trick as he tucked three goals. This type of performance is needed again, plus the help of other players on his team. The Warriors will likely key in on Bottem as they might even double team him as he caused all types of fits for the Warriors last time. Bottem has 27 goals and 23 assists for 50 total points this season. A truly exceptional senior season.
Prediction
Carter- Thief River Falls
Blake- Warroad