Fargo Force comeback to win 7-6

If you counted the Force out of this game when it was 6-3 after the 2nd period, you haven't been following Force hockey at all this year.  The Force have came back from a ton of games this year and maybe after this one, you will start believing in the phrase, "never count the Fargo Force out of a hockey game".

The Force used a 4 goal 3rd period to comeback from a 6-3 deficit to defeat the Sioux Falls Stampede 7-6 for a 2-0 opening round series lead.  I don't think there is any question that Chase Grant is deserving of the "player of the game" award if there ever was one.  If you need more reasons than him having two goals and one assist then how about the game-winning goal or the hard work that drew the penalty that resulted in a power play goal to tie the game 6-6... just to name a few big factors.  Yeah, I think that is deserving of a player of the game award.  Chase Grant displayed every reason why he is the captain of this hockey team.

Fargo was also led by Corey Leivermann, my 2nd star of the game, with two goals and an assist including the game-tying goal on the power play.  Matt Leitner had a goal and an assist and a team-leading +3 for my 3rd star of the game.  There were a number of other players that made a big impact in the game.  Brian Cooper had a couple of huge hits that probably helped sway momentum in Fargo's favor.  Nate Condon had a goal and an assist.  Oleg Yevenko had a big goal early in the third to give the Force hope.

The Force overcame a lot of adversity in the game to come back for a 7-6 victory and a 2-0 series lead.  Hope to see a lot of people at tomorrow's game.

BYOB - BRING YOUR OWN BROOMS!!!

Fargo Force Intro Video

Video made by Ben Shane and Lars Hegland.  Check it out below!

Sioux Falls at Fargo - Live Blog 7:35pm

Sioux Falls at Fargo for Game 2 of the USHL Clark Cup playoffs.  The Force have never lost a playoff game in the West Division (7-0), they look to continue that tonight against a good SF Stampede team.  Puck drops at 7:35pm.  Join me for the live blog below:

Chad Johnson leaving Fargo for Lincoln head coaching job

Chad Johnson is finally getting his calling as a USHL Head Coach.  The "associate head coach" a.k.a. the assistant coach of the Fargo Force will be moving on to be the head coach of the Lincoln Stars for the 2010-11 season.  Their current head coach Jimmy McGroarty will now be the "associate head coach".  I heard a rumor about this earlier this year and had it on Twitter on March 25th but the rumor has become reality today.

Sounds like a pretty awkward situation that Chad is getting into with the 2009-10 head coach still being on staff with the Stars.  I can't imagine Jimmy McGroarty would be too happy with the demotion.  As many people know, Chad's brother Steve (current head coach of the Force) coached in Lincoln from their inaugural season to 2006-07.  Chad was an assistant for Steve with the Stars until he got a position in the NAHL with the F-M Jets.  Good luck to Chad in Lincoln.  Here is the link from Lincoln.

Sioux Falls comes to town

Fargo Force take on the Sioux Falls Stampede tomorrow night at the Urban Plains Center for Game 2 of the opening round of the USHL Clark Cup playoffs.  The Force dominated in Game 1, led by scoring leader Matt Leitner (2 goals, 1 assist) and goaltender Ryan Massa (28 saves on 29 shots) on route to a 5-1 victory.  With a win on Friday, the Force could close out the first round of the playoffs with a sweep at the Urban Plains Center on Saturday.  The Force have NEVER lost a West Division playoff game (7-0).  Hopefully that continues this weekend and the rest of the playoffs.  Go Force!

See you at the UP Center.

Video from Sioux Falls:

Fargo takes series lead 1-0

What four game losing streak?  The Fargo Force proved that they weren't too worried about a 4-game losing streak to end the season as they were able to defeat the Sioux Falls Stampede in game one of the opening round of the USHL playoffs by the score of 5-1.

The Force used a strong opening period with three first period goals.  Corey Leivermann opened the scoring with an assist to Brian Cooper.  Garrett Allen scored a shorthanded goal on a stretch pass from Fargo Force scoring leader, Matt Leitner.  Brian Cooper also added his second assist of the game on the play.  Leitner would add on to his scoring lead with a power play goal to give the Force a 3-0 lead with 1:10 left in the first.  Chase Grant fed Leitner for the goal and Allen added an assist for his second point of the night.

The game cooled down in the second period as neither team could get one by the goaltenders and the score remained 3-0 despite four power plays for the Force and one for the Herd.  Fargo peppered Sioux Falls' goalie Clay Witt with 15 shots in the second period.

Joe Rehkamp opened the scoring for the Force in the final stanza with an assist from Alex Lippincott killing any momentum Sioux Falls could have built to make a third period push.  Sioux Falls pulled their goalie in favor of an extra attacker and it proved to be a good move by Coach Hartzell as a Jacob Johnstone snipe would make it 4-1 with 3:10 remaining.  The Herd would get a power play toward with 1:31 remaining and kept Witt pulled to give them a two man advantage.  Fargo would win the faceoff and Leitner would bury his 2nd goal of the game to seal the deal for the Force by a score of 5-1.  Ryan Massa stopped 28/29 shots in his USHL playoff debut.

Wondering why there is a blue mohawk on the blog?

Well...come on...it's the playoffs!  See you at the UP Center on Friday!

Your picks?

Who are your picks for Fargo Force...

...Team MVP?
...Most Improved?
...Hardest Worker?
...Top Defenseman? (Can be the top offensive d-man or defensive d-man.)
...Top Forward? (Doesn't have to be the leading scorer!)
...Most Promising Young Player? (Who are the young guys that will make a big impact on future Force rosters?)

Interested in hearing all of your picks for the year!

Make your picks in a comment below...

In-Forum: Force draw Sioux Falls

The Force are featured in the Fargo Forum for getting to the playoffs for the second straight season.  Something I didn't realize before I read it is that the Force actually were outscored 10-4 in two losses to close out the season last year.  Obviously the Force had success even with backing their way into the playoffs last year, hopefully they repeat that success this year.  Check out the link to the article here.

Hartzell: "Nothing like playoff hockey"

The Sioux Falls Stampede are back in the postseason after missing out last season.  The Herd won the Clark Cup in 2006, the Force were runner-ups last year for the Clark Cup.  This is Fargo's closest rival so it should be a good first round of playoffs.  Check out the video from KSFY-Sioux Falls below.  Playoff action begins this Wednesday, April 5th in Sioux Falls.

Campbell update

Former Fargo Force goalie Cody Campbell got in his first USHL fight and had an interview with Kevin Wey of McKeen's Hockey Prospects.  The video is below and here is the link for the interview.  The good news for Force fans is that Cody Campbell is playing another year for Cedar Rapids which means that the Force gets another 2nd or 3rd round draft pick.

Force end season with 4-game losing streak

The Force ended their season exactly how they didn't want to end it, with yet another loss to Green Bay pushing their losing streak to 4 games.  The new 4-game losing streak is the longest losing streak of the year and it couldn't come at a worse time for the Force going into the USHL playoffs.  The Force were able to get some help from Tri-City with their win over Sioux Falls to give Fargo home ice advantage for the first round of the playoffs against the Stampede.  Fargo will be the number two seed and Sioux Falls will be the number three seed in the West Division.

Johnnie Searfoss scored the lone goal for the Force tonight on the power play.  Colten St. Clair assisted on the goal.  Jason Goldsmith was the backup tonight and he saw some action stopping 3 shots in just over two minutes in relief of Ryan Massa who gave up 4 goals on 14 shots.

Anyone concerned with the longest losing streak of the season going into the playoffs?  Hopefully they think "fresh start" as the begin the second season (playoffs).  The Force were lucky enough to get some help from Tri-City to get the crucial home ice advantage.  Fargo has been good at home (19-7-4) so getting three games at home will be beneficial.

USHL PLAYOFFS - ROUND 1
Game 1: @ Sioux Falls: Wednesday, April 7: 7:05 PM

Game 2: @ Fargo: Friday, April, 9th: 7:35 PM
Game 3: @ Fargo: Saturday, April 10th: 7:05 PM
Game 4: @ Sioux Falls: Tuesday, April 13th: 7:05 PM, if necessary
Game 5: @ Fargo: Wednesday, April 14th: 7:05 PM, if necessary

Steel comeback sinks Force

The Fargo Force got off to a nice start in Chicago.  Unfortunately they weren't able to hold on to the lead as Chicago remained resilient on their way to a 6-4 win in Chicago.  With the loss, Fargo is one regulation loss and one Sioux Falls win away from dropping to third place in the West Division.

Fargo got off to a good start in the first period thanks to two power play goals by Nick Oliver.  Both of the Oliver goals were assisted by Matt Leitner and Eamonn McDermott.  Both goals were the result of former Force player, Cole Gunner, being sent to the box twice.

Chicago kicked off the 2nd period with a goal of their own from Theo DiPauli.  Peter Hand would tie the game up about 10 minutes later.  Colten St. Clair would regain the lead for the Force with an assist to Brian Cooper with 2:05 remaining in the period.  Former Force player Cole Gunner would even it up once again for the Steel making it 3-3 with 52 seconds remaining in the period.

Matt Leitner would get the Force's third power play goal of the game to make it 4-3 in the 3rd period.  Brian Cooper and Ryan Massa assisted.  Chicago would then get three unanswered goals to eventually win the game 6-4.  University of North Dakota recruit Danny Mattson started the scoring for the Steel tying the game 4-4.  Theo DiPauli's second goal of the night was the eventual game-winner with an assist to Cole Gunner for his second point of the night making it 5-4.  Darik Angeli would seal the deal with an empty netter with 18 seconds left to make it 6-4.

Ryan Massa stopped 22 of 27.  Steel goalie Connor Wilson stopped 40/44 Force shots.  The Force are back in action tomorrow night against the Anderson Cup winning Green Bay Gamblers.  The Force need the win to guarantee two home games at the Urban Plains Center, so it is a very important match-up.

Go Force!