First Time Ever, City Of Bismarck Will Host A State Hockey Game!

According to Bob Gillen, the official statistician of high school hockey for North Dakota, the city of Bismarck has never hosted a state hockey tournament game before.  That is all about to change this Tuesday night, when the Bismarck Century Patriots, the #1 seed from the west, will face the West Fargo Packers, the #4 seed from the east at the VFW Arena at 5 pm on Tuesday, February 23rd.  We'll have the game for you on Super Talk 1270 AM starting with a 4:30pm pre-game.

Bismarck Century is the hottest team in the state right now.  The Patriots have won 14 games in a row heading into the state tournament.  Century crushed Minot on Saturday 4-0 to win the WDA tournament championship for the 4th straight year, according to head coach Troy Olson.  They will be the favorites on Tuesday, as they take on a West Fargo team who upset Fargo Davies in the East Region Tournament, state qualifying game.

The NDHSAA fully started sponsoring high school hockey in the 1966-1967 season.  Since then, the majority of the tournaments have been held in Grand Forks, with the city of Fargo hosting a handful of the tournaments.

The Bismarck High Demons however, will not be going to the state tournament for the first time in 31 years.  Bismarck High lost a heartbreaker to Bottineau on Saturday afternoon in Minot by a score of 2-1.

This game will be talked about for many years to come after Bottineau scored the winning goal with 2 minutes to go in the game.  The referee had signaled "no goal", but the goal judge pushed the red button signaling a goal, well after the whistle had blown.  After the referee had a short conversation with the goal judge, he changed his mind and called the goal "good."

What's really interesting, the goal judge is a Minot referee, who allegedly had been ordered by the state, to never be able to referee a Bismarck High game again.  Why?  Because of past incidents involving the Bismarck High hockey team.  Yet somehow he ended up the goal judge?  You be the judge.  Did the puck cross the line?  Here's the video.