Jordan Nelson Commits to Mankato

Fargo Force forward Jordan Nelson’s future got a lot clearer this week; he’s made his decision where he’ll be lacing up his skates next season.  The 2010 North Dakota Mr. Hockey winner has verbally committed to play hockey for Minnesota State University-Mankato next season. "I'm really excited about it.  I really like their coach and just had a great feeling about the school and team.  I feel like it's going to be a great fit for me" Nelson said.

The Mavericks, who are tied for 4^th in the WCHA this year, have been a huge surprise to those that weren’t paying attention.  However, anybody in the hockey world saw that they were heading in the right direction coming into this season.  They replaced Troy Jutting with a proven winner in new Head Coach Mike Hastings and they have a handful of very talented underclassmen that include forwards Matt Leitner, Jean Paul Lafontaine and Teddy Blueger, defenseman Zach Palmquist, and goalie Stephon Williams.

The Mavericks are going to return a strong core of players next season and not one of the teams above or tied with them this season will remain in the WCHA (Denver, St. Cloud and UND will go to the NCHC and Minnesota and Wisconsin will go to the Big 10) so Nelson has to be feeling lucky to have gotten on with the ascending Mavericks.  However, the excitement surrounding the commitment is surely reciprocated by the Maverick’s coaching staff.  Coach Hastings and his crew are getting a very nice recruit late in the game.

“They are getting a reliable guy; a day-in, day-out kind of player that can also put up numbers for them.  Jordan should be an every night kid for them if he picks up where he leaves off here” said Assistant Coach Jesse Davis.  Coach Davis was a member of Jason Herter’s coaching staff that drafted Nelson in the first round two years ago and he’s seen the development in his game over the last couple seasons.  “Jordan’s really come into his own as a Junior player the end of last season and this season.  The last 20-30 games he’s really become the player we expected him to be when we drafted him (in the first round).  It’s a tough transition from High School to this league.  I think it’s tougher to adjust from High School hockey to our league than it is from our league to college.  He should have a pretty smooth transition next year" said Davis.

Nelson is relieved to have the decision over with so he can focus on the rest of his season with the Force who are in second in the USHL.  "It's nice to know where I'm playing next year.  I can finally go out and just focus on playing hockey and not worrying about next year.  We have a good team this year; I think we have the ability to go pretty far.  We're in second now, but would obviously like to get up into first, get home ice advantage, and hopefully make it all the way to the Clark Cup.  It's nice to just be able to focus on that stuff now."

Beyond the Pond wants to congratulate Jordan and thank him for always being open to talking with us!  Williston and the State of North Dakota are proud of you!  Mankato is getting a great player and an even better guy!

First off, I apologize for the lack of posts lately.  It’s been a pretty busy couple of weeks, and I just couldn’t find the will to sit down and write something.  I promised myself I would write up something while on the bus to our game in Minot.  I could write about the NHL season being back, Brian Burke being fired, or one of the never-ending topics in college hockey.  However, I can’t get my mind off of the huge win that the high school team I help coach just had.  So while the team is “cellying hard” on the bus ride back and reliving each and every moment of the game, I’m attempting to capture it in writing for all of you to read. 

Disclaimer:  Yes, this will be biased.  For an unbiased recap see willistonherald.com or minotdailynews.com

Coyote Girls Hockey Beats Minot in 2-1 Thriller!

                Ralph Engelstad once said, “The harder you work, the luckier you get."  While every North Dakota kid has heard these words hundreds of times, the frustration was obviously starting to settle in on the Williston Coyote Girls’ Hockey team.  The last few weeks it seemed like no matter how hard they worked, they couldn’t catch a bounce.  However, head coach Mat Ekblad was not willing to accept the “bad luck” excuse when he walked into the locker room at the Maysa Arena to address his team before the game.  Coach Ekblad spoke about making your own luck and emphasized that there was still more the girls could give to create the bounces they needed.  It turns out he was right, and the girls responded by controlling the play and coming away with a huge 2-1 road win.

                The Coyotes came out flying in the first period putting up twelve shots and limiting Minot’s chances.  They established a strong forecheck and were controlling the play, but couldn’t get one past goalie Sydney Swanson.  The first period ended 0-0, and despite controlling most of the period, the Coyote girls knew they had more to give.

                At the start of the 2^nd period, everybody in the building could tell that the Williston squad wasn’t content with being tied 0-0 and simply controlling play.  They threw more pucks at the net, crashed the net on every opportunity, and battled even harder.  Halfway through the period, Amanda Nelson put the Coyotes on the board.  Linemate Kayla Buck came down on a 2 on 1, drew the defenseman to her, and slid the puck to Nelson who sniped it top shelf.  The Magette’s, starting to get frustrated, took a penalty and the Coyotes went back to work.  Kayla Buck came off the side boards looking to pass the puck up to the Miller, but she was covered.  Buck found the opening in the middle of the ice, cut in to the scoring area, and rifled one past Swanson for a 2-0 lead.  The Magette’s had a couple of good scoring chances, but couldn’t get one past Maddy McLees, and the Coyotes ended the second period up 2-0.

                In the third period, Minot came out with more heart trying to get back in the game.  They got on the board with a Sydney Boyce goal at the halfway point of the period.  However, it wouldn’t be enough as McLees and the Coyotes went back to work and finished the hard-found game 2-1.  There were hugs, cheers, and tears in the locker room and on the bus.  “Why?” you might ask.  Yes, this was just one game, but the excitement comes  from 19 players giving everything of themselves for fifty-one minutes against their biggest rival and it being enough to yield the result they desired.  That’s the beauty of sports.  Tonight they got to live out the quote “The harder you work, the luckier you get!"