State champion Knights bring back loaded team

Nov. 26—GRAND FORKS — There's a sign in Grand Forks Central's locker room to remind the players of this season's challenge.

It says, "The hardest thing to do is to do what is expected."

"Every day, we go over it," junior forward Ryder Rivard said. "Again and again."

Grand Forks Central returns nearly 70% of its offense from a team that went 21-5-1 last season and won the North Dakota state boys hockey championship.

All-state forward Cooper Deziel is back. All-state goaltender Westin Nielsen is back. And the Knights are mixing in four sophomores, including Nolan Marto, who starred at the bantam level.

It means the Knights will be major favorites to hold the trophy on Feb. 28 at Fargo's Scheels Arena.

"There's a really big target on our back," senior captain Wyatt Blake said. "We can't just think we're No. 1. We have to work up to that. We can't come to practice thinking we're going to win because we have all these good guys. We have to train, work and show up ready to go."

Central ended last season with 10 wins in a row.

It wasn't easy, though.

The Knights edged West Fargo in overtime in the state semifinals, then edged rival Grand Forks Red River 2-1 in the championship game.

Central lost just five seniors from that team — Mack Blue, Finn Lockwood, Ryder Burris, Donovan Balek and Boone Kanta. None of Central's non-seniors left for junior or AAA hockey.

The newcomers include sophomores Logan Bina, Bodee Burris, Carson Kotrba and Marto. Central's veterans are working to get them up to speed as quickly as possible.

"Last year, I had Mack Blue," Rivard said. "He took me under his wing and showed me the ropes of everything. It's a new team. You're a little nervous. He took me and Rylan Spicer under his wing and made it a lot easier for us. With the sophomores, you can see that in the locker room — the first couple days, they're nervous. You need people to help them through the first week of practice. Everyone is solid now. We have a good team on and off the ice."

Central's other key returners include seniors Gavin Wockenfuss, Trey Clauson, Chay Quamme, Logan Nielsen and Blake. Rivard and Spicer highlight the junior class.

"Other teams in the state know we have almost everybody coming back from what we thought was a pretty decent hockey team," Central coach Grant Paranica said. "We're going to get their best game. We can't get complacent. It's too easy to find yourself on the wrong end of that."

The Knights have scheduled marquee games against top Minnesota teams this season.

They play defending Class A champion East Grand Forks on Saturday and on Dec. 22. They play defending Class AA champion Moorhead on Jan. 20. They take on perennial Class A power Warroad on Dec. 30 and host Class AA Bemidji on Jan. 22.

"That's going to be the challenge — that we don't get complacent," Paranica said. "It's just reaching to better themselves and better our team. By doing that, by competing with each other in practice, that helps each other grow. That's what we're looking at."

Coach: Grant Paranica.

Last season: 21-5-1, state champions.

Key returners: Sr. F Cooper Deziel (25 goals, 26 assists, 51 points, all-state), sr. F Gavin Wockenfuss (14-23—37), jr. F Ryder Rivard (13-20—33), sr. F Trey Clauson (16-15—31), jr. F Rylan Spicer (8-15—23), sr. D Logan Nielsen (9-14—23), sr. D Wyatt Blake (2-6—8), sr. F Chay Quamme (8-9—17), sr. G Westin Nielsen (14-4, 2.18 goals-against average, .905 save percentage, all-state).

Key newcomers: So. F Nolan Marto, so. D Logan Bina, so. D Bodee Burris, so. D Carson Kotrba.

Coach Paranica says: "I think our strengths should be speed and experience. We've got that throughout our lineup — forwards, 'D' and goaltending. I think we've got pretty good team speed overall, guys who can get around the ice. Hopefully, our compete level matches that. I think we've shown that in practice thus far. Kids are competing hard. That's important to get better and continue to improve."