TRI-CITY STORM NEWS & NOTES - WEEK 20
Storm make final roster addition, finalize roster in Fargo
Friday, February 10, 2012
- Weekly News and Notes
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WEST FARGO, N.D. – The Tri-City Storm announced Friday morning that they have added RW Grant Opperman to the active roster for the remainder of the 2011-12 USHL season.
General Manager and Head Coach Josh Hauge made the announcement with the team in Fargo, as they prepared for the weekend series against the Fargo Force on Friday and Saturday.
Opperman will finish his senior season with Breck High School (Minn.) before joining the Storm, which could have him arriving in Tri-City sometime in early to mid-March following the Minnesota State High School Playoffs.
The six-foot, 185-pound winger was ranked 162 in the NHL Central Scouting Midterm Rankings that were released in January. So far this season, Opperman has 55 points (22g, 33a) in 20 games, including 15 multi-point games playing for Breck H.S.
Along with fellow Storm prospect forward Will Merchant (Eagan H.S., Minn.), Opperman was named one of the 10 candidates for the Minnesota - Mr. Hockey Award this season. The winner will be announced March 11 in St. Paul, the day following the state championship games.
Last season, in his junior year at Breck H.S., Opperman had 63 points (27g, 36a) in 31 games, which included 10 points (3g, 7a) in six playoff games.
Meanwhile, Tri-City (15-24-0, 30 pts – 6th in Western Conference) enters this weekend with the roster finalized for the remainder of the season and are aiming at the fifth-place spot in the Western Conference standings.
The Storm will look to win for just the second and third time ever in West Fargo’s Scheels Arena, as they enter the weekend series with an all-time record of 1-9-2 in games played at Fargo. Tri-City is 0-4-0 overall this season against the Force and 3-18-3 all-time against Fargo since 2008-09.
Both games will be on The Breeze 94.5 FM with the Viaero Wireless Pre-Game Shows starting at 7:15 p.m. Friday and 6:45 p.m. Saturday.
Tri-City Notes:
Tri-City Storm – 15-24-0, 30 pts (6th in Western Conference)
- Last game – Feb. 4 – 5-4 shootout win @ Des Moines Buccaneers
- Tri-City is now 9-9-0 under GM/Head Coach Josh Hauge after starting the season 6-15-0
- The Storm are now 3-0 in extra-time games this season, as all three games were decided by a shootout… Tri-City is now 38-38 all-time in games decided by a shootout… Currently, the Storm have a league-high 54.5% (6-for-11) shooting percentage in the shootout this season
- C Nick Lappin leads the Storm in goals and points with 19 goals and 32 points… Lappin also has a team-leading eight power-play points (5PPG, 3PPA)… Lappin has registered eight multi-point games, which includes five multi-goal games this season… The Brown University commit did not register a point last weekend
- Lappin and LW Trevor Moore have a combined nine points (5g, 4a) in four games this season against the Force… Moore has 13 shots combined in the four games on the season series against Fargo
- RW Kenny Brooks now leads the Storm in assists (17) this season after registering two more in last Saturday’s game in Des Moines
- C Tim Bonner has four goals in the last five games for the Storm and now has 14 goals this season, which has him ranked second on the Storm in goals scored behind Lappin
- C Brian Ward has been steady offensively in his first six games back with the Storm, as he now has two goals, two assists and a plus-6 rating
- RW Tim Lappin has been suspended for one game – Friday night in Fargo – due to an incident against Des Moines last Saturday
- G Adam Wilcox (13-11-0) has a 2.83 GAA and .913 SV%… Wilcox’s save-percentage is currently ranked third in the USHL entering the weekend… Wilcox has now made 164 saves on 176 shots (.932 SV%) in his last five starts for the Storm
- The power play is 15th in the USHL going 20-for-175 (11.4%)… the penalty kill is 10th in the league at 81.6% (142-for-174)
Opponents Notes:
Friday, Feb. 10 @ Fargo Force – 20-15-4, 44 pts (4th in Western Conference)
Saturday, Feb. 11 @ Fargo Force
- Last game – Feb. 4 – 3-2 win @ Sioux Falls Stampede
- The Force have outscored the Storm 22-10 in the four meetings this season
- Fargo is 15-4-1 in their last 20 games since the start of December
- The Force are 14-3-0 when scoring the first goal this season
- Fargo is 8-1-4 in games decided by one goal this season
- Leading scorer RW Austin Farley will likely be out for the weekend and could be out for the next four games due to a lower-body injury… Farley had 12 points (6g, 6a), including two game-winning goals in the first four games against Tri-City this season… Farley leads Fargo with 48 points (24g, 24a) and five game-winning goals in 37 games this season
- C Bryn Chyzyk is second on the Force team in goals/points with 21 goals and 35 points… Chyzyk has four goals and five assists against the Storm in four games
- D Willie Corrin leads the Force defensemen in scoring with 19 points (2g, 17a) in 39 games… Corrin has 16 points (1g, 15a) this season on the power play
- G Zane Gothberg (15-10-3) has a 2.48 GAA and .912 SV%... Gothberg was drafted in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft by the Boston Bruins in the 6th round (165th overall) and is committed to play for the Univ. of North Dakota… G Reed Peters (5-5-1) has a 3.36 GAA and .885 SV%
- Fargo’s power play is currently ranked fourth in the USHL at 21.5% (38-for-177) and have scored the most power-play goals (38) in the Western Conference… the penalty kill is 145-for-169 (85.8%), which has them ranked second in the league… The Force have scored six short-handed goals this season