H.S. Hockey | Rochester teams get first look at each other (and Shjon Podein returns) on Friday

Posted by: Feldman

Thanks to all the JM and Mayo fans who have dropped me an e-mail so far in response to my post about doing a couple of stories on the Rockets-Spartans rivalry. I've had a handful of e-mails, all with good ideas of former players to talk to. Keep em coming. Please.

But back to the kids on the ice this season.

Rochester Century, under first-year head coach Josh Klingfus, will be the first of the four Rochester teams to take the ice for an official game when the Panthers play host to White Bear Lake on Saturday, Nov. 26, at 7:30 p.m. at the Rec Center.

(By the way, for anyone wondering, our 2011-12 Boys Hockey season previews are scheduled to run in the Nov. 24 — Thanksgiving Day — newspaper. I'll let you know if that changes.)

So, yes, we're just two days into practice, but teams already have to start thinking about games. They get here quickly.

That means scrimmage time is almost upon us for teams around the state. This year, the four Rochester teams are doing something pretty cool — they're holding a "Scrimmage Fest" at the Graham Arena complex on Friday.

Also, former JM standout Shjon Podeinwill be back; he's the first-year head coach at St. Louis Park, and he's bringing his team to town to participate in the scrimmages.

Here's how it will work: Century, JM, Lourdes, Mayo and SLP will all play each other once. Games are 35 minutes long, so teams will each have a total of 140 minutes of "game" time that day.

According to the schedule, scrimmages begin at 3:40 p.m. and run through 9 p.m., with Graham 3 and Graham 4 being used.

This is a great way to get the season going, some good competition for all of the teams, without the Roch teams having to leave town.

And it'll be interesting to see how Podein has his SLP boys competing. They went 2-23 last season, with one player producing more than 17 points. A new voice — especially one with a Stanley Cup ring — could do wonders. Best of luck to Shjon in his new venture at SLP; I'm looking forward to talking with him Friday. I'll post some stuff here (perhaps even an audio clip, if I can figure out again how to do that) Friday or Saturday and I'll have a story in Saturday's paper from the scrimmages.

So, three of the five teams will have first-year head coaches, as JM's Jay Ness— previously a head coach at Lourdes — is also in his first season with the Rockets. Lourdes head man Josh Spaniolbegins his third season as head coach, while Mayo's Lorne Grossohas been around a bit longer than the other guys. He starts his 45th season behind the Mayo bench.

Here's the complete schedule for Friday (as I have it; there could be changes to this):

3:40-4:15 p.m. — Century vs. Mayo (Graham 4)

4:30-5:05 p.m. — Mayo vs. JM (Graham 4)

5-5:35 p.m. — Lourdes vs. Century (Graham 3)

5:40-6:15 p.m. — Century vs. JM (Graham 4)

5:50-6:25 p.m. — Lourdes vs. St. Louis Park (Graham 3)

6:30-7:05 p.m. — Mayo vs. Lourdes (Graham 4)

6:45-7:20 p.m. — Century vs. St. Louis Park (Graham 3)

7:20-7:55 p.m. — JM vs. Lourdes (Graham 4)

7:35-8:10 p.m. — St. Louis Park vs. Mayo (Graham 3)

8:25-9 p.m. — JM vs. St. Louis Park (Graham 3)