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December 29th,
2008
Congratulations to Nate and Troy Olson,
the winners of the annual Skis Open golf tournament last
fall.
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November 7th,
2008
Updated the roster pages with the 2008 stats.
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October 4th,
2008
I've finally tallied the results of the
Vikings poll. Most people are true fans and
thought they would win the weak North division.
See the numbers here.
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September 1st,
2008
Congratulations to Jon Czech on being
voted the 2008 Ski Of The Year. See the numbers
and read the comments here.
Added a new poll.
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August 30th,
2008
The Steves have been eliminated from the
state tournament. They lost a shootout, 14-8, to
Fergus Falls this afternoon. Congratulations to
the Steves on a great run.
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August 29th,
2008
The Steves lost their first game in the state
tourney to Elko tonight, 2-0. They will now face
Fergus Falls tomorrow afternoon at 1:00 pm in Chaska in
an elimination game.
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August 24th,
2008
The Steves survive to play another weekend
with a 5-4 thriller in thirteen innings over St.
Patrick. They will now face Elko next Friday night
in Chaska at 6:30 pm. Congrats, Steves!
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August 23rd,
2008
The St. Stephen Steves kept it rolling at the
state tourney last night, defeating the Forest Lake
Brewers by a score of 8-4. The Steves will now
play the St.
Patrick Irish this Sunday at 1:30 pm in Chaska.
Lastrup was knocked out of the tourney by Isanti, 6-3.
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August 18th,
2008
Jon Czech
won the last weekly Ski
MVP honor. See the numbers here.
Added the Ski of the Year Poll. Once again the
nominees were taken from the weekly winners.
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August 16th,
2008
Both Lastrup and St. Stephen won their opening round
games last night. Lastrup 10-3 over Stewartville-Racine
and St. Stephen 6-3 over Owatonna. Next up for the
Lakers are the Isanti
Red Birds in Shakopee next Friday night at 6:00
pm. The Steves will face the Forest
Lake Brewers following the Lakers game with a
projected start time of 8:30 pm.
Good luck to the Lakers and Steves, keep the wins
coming.
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August 12th,
2008
Updated the lifetime
statistics.
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August 11th,
2008
Added a new poll updated the final statistics.
The Skis finish the year by hanging another couple of
banners and making a strong run in the region
tournament, falling just one game short of a state appearance.
Congratulations Skis on another fine season.
Stay tuned to sobieskiskis.com for more season ending
information including the Ski of the year poll, and
updates on how the Victory League teams are doing at
state. Thanks to the loyal visitors of this site!
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August 10th,
2008
Todd Olson receives a dedication from
the Skis for his 20 years of service as a player and
manager.
The Skis ended their season yesterday with a loss in the
region tournament. It also ended the career of
Skis manager Todd Olson. Todd has decided to
retire after his twenty years of service for the Skis as
both a player and manager. Todd dedicated his
summers to the Skis each year, never missing a
game. He's lead the Skis to successful
seasons countless times including division titles,
playoff titles, region titles and state tournament
appearances. Last Saturday before the games got
under way a dedication ceremony was held in Sobieski
honoring Todd with a framed #19 jersey, and having him
throw out the first pitch. Congratulations Todd on
an excellent career and best of luck in the future.
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August 9th,
2008
Congratulations to the Steves on winning
the Region 8C title!
The Skis season ends with a 7-1 loss to the Steves.
Congrats to the Steves on making the state tournament.
Nathan Olson takes home his first Ski
MVP honor of the season for his performance last
week. See the numbers and read the comments here.
Today the Skis attempt to qualify for the state
tournament for the fourth time in the past eight
years. Standing in their way are the St. Stephen
Steves who are looking to make a return trip to state in
back-to-back years. The Skis and Steves have had
two hard fought close games already this season with the
Steves coming out on top in each occurrence. The
Steves out lasted the Skis in a regular season game 8-7
in eleven innings on May 11th, and got the best of them
again in the second round of the region tourney,
5-2. It all gets underway in Sobieski at 1:00 pm
with the winner facing the lossless Lakers of Lastrup at
4:00 for the region 8C championship banner.
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August 4th,
2008
Added a new poll and updated the statistics.
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August 3rd,
2008
The Skis stay alive again in the Region 8C tourney with a
10-3 win over Avon today. They will face the St.
Stephen Steves for the third time this season next
Saturday at 1:00 in Sobieski in a state tournament qualifying
game.
Congratulations to the Lastrup Lakers on earning a state
tournament spot for the first time!
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August 2nd,
2008
The Skis stay alive in the Region 8C tourney with a 7-2
win over Fort Ripley today. They will face the Avon Lakers tomorrow at 4:00 in Sobieski in another elimination game.
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July 31st,
2008
Jon Czech was the overwhelming favorite for the Ski
MVP this week. It's his third of the season
and twentieth all-time. He's closing in on the
all-time leader. See the numbers and read the
comment here.
No new poll this weekend, instead of voting visit us in
Sobieski for another weekend of quality baseball.
The Lastrup / St. Stephen game should be outstanding,
along with two elimination games on Saturday.
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July 29th,
2008
Added 30 pictures from last
weekends game vs. Buckman.
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July 28th,
2008
By radio, by internet, or by being there, the fans of
the VL got to take in some good games this
weekend. See how the voters took it in here.
Added a new poll and updated the statistics.
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July 27th,
2008
The Skis drop game two of the region tourney 5-2 to the St.
Stephen Steves. The Skis will be back in action
next Saturday when they play Fort Ripley at 4:00 pm in
Sobieski.
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July 25th,
2008
Isaac Smieja held off the competition for his
first MVP award of the
season. See the number and read the comments here.
Added a new poll.
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July 23rd,
2008
It's that time of year again. The time that all amateur
baseball fans in central Minnesota get treated to a
weekend of baseball at its finest. It may only be
the prelude to the big show, but I liken it to the WCHA
Final Five. A tournament before the ultimate goal
of all teams that equals, or in some cases, exceeds what
it is to follow.
The Region 8C tournament is always one of the top
tourney's in the state. Often there are more than
a couple top rated teams in the state populating the
field and with only two spots to issue for State, the
competition is always at another level. This year
proves no different. Let's take a quick look at
the field.
You've got to start with the Lakers of Lastrup.
Thirteen and zero entering the tournament makes it tough
not to just assume they will walk away with it. No
one has gotten the best of them in regular season play
to this point and no one has been close in the playoffs
where the Lakers took three games by a total of 42-5 in
twenty-three innings. A tight 4-3 loss by the St.
Mathis Devils was as close as anyone has come.
That was back in May.
There are other teams that posted impressive records in
the regular season though. St. Stephan took the
South crown by going 11-2, Fort Ripley made it
back-to-back division titles with a 10-3 record.
Avon finished second in the South with a 9-4 record and
that's saying something in that division this
year. They beat an equally tough team in Opole
(9-4) just to make it to this point. The Skis hung
another banner in the West with a 9-4 record and won
their last eight games (eleven if you count three
exhibition tournament wins).
Not to be left out are the Brainerd Braves, who posted a
9-4 record surprising most fans (they were ranked
thirteenth in the pre-season poll) which included a
sweep of the season series against the division winning
Rebels. Upsala (5-8) has won three of the last
their last five in tough tourney games, have beaten the
Skis once already, and gave Avon and St. Stephen all
they could handle in 3-2 and 7-5 (10 innings) loses respectively.
Buckman, who finished seventh in the pre-season poll,
has been on a roll after a tough start. They have
won five of the last eight. All three losses were
to Lastrup.
What does it all mean? At this point it means
little more than the players and fans of the Victory
League are in for one heck of weekend of baseball.
Starting Saturday at 11:00 a.m. find a comfortable spot
at Pierz Legion Park because there will be twenty four
hours of top notch baseball on display over a thirty six
hour period. Momentum will slither like a snake,
cheers and jeers will saturate the air, two teams will
go undefeated, two team will be knocked out, and four
others will survive to do it all again in the following
weekend in Sobieski.
If you can't make it to the park you can always listen
to the soothing voice of Rick Grammond on KLTF radio
(960 AM), or if you are out of the central Minnesota area
you can listen live on the internet courtesy of FallsRadio.com.
All eight games will be broadcast on both outlets for
your listening pleasure.
Good luck to all teams!
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July 21st,
2008
Added a new poll and updated the statistics.
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July 20th,
2008
Brad Czech edged out the competition for his
second Ski MVP honor of
the year. See the numbers here.
The Skis defeated the Upsala Blue Jays this afternoon
8-6 to take home the West playoff championship.
Congratulations to the Skis!
The region tournament has been set. Congrats to
the Upsala Blue Jays on making it out of the West and
all the other teams as well. The Skis will face
off against the Buckman Billygoats in the first
round. See the region
bracket for more details.
The Skis draft choices were Jason King from the Randall
Cubs and Tyler Jendro from the Royalton Riverdogs.
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July 14th,
2008
It was a tight race, but in the end Ben Hanowski
took home his first ever Ski
MVP honor. Congrats to Ben on a great
week. See the numbers here.
Added a new poll, updated the statistics,
and updated the divisional playoff brackets.
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July 8th,
2008
Updated the regular season records in the 2000's on the standings
page.
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July 7th,
2008
Added a new poll and updated the statistics.
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July 5th,
2008
Upsala knocked out Flensburg this afternoon 1-3, that
means the Skis will play the Blue Jays next Saturday in
Sobieski.
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July 2nd,
2008
Updated most roster photos and the team picture.
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June 30th,
2008
Updated the divisional playoff brackets.
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June 29th,
2008
Jon Czech added a Ski MVP to his honors
last week in a convincing vote. See the numbers
and read the comments here.
The Skis finished off the regular season with a win at
home against the Upsala Blue Jays.
Listen to the VL round up of today's game here: Sobieski
vs. Upsala.
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June 23rd,
2008
Congratulations to Jon Czech. He was named
the Victory League player of the week. See the
details here.
Added the formality of a poll for this weeks MVP.
Updated the statistics
and added the divisional and
region brackets.
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June 22nd,
2008
The Skis made it another weekend sweep with a 14-1
victory over the St. Wendel Saints.
The combination of the Skis win today and losses by
Upsala and Randall secured the division title for the
Skis! It's the Skis third banner (see to the left)
for a division title in the last four years.
Listen to the VL round up of this weekends games here: Sobieski
vs. Flensburg, Sobieski
vs. St. Wendel.
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June 21st,
2008
The Skis defeated the Falcons 16-1 this afternoon in
game one of the weekend. They will face the Saints
tomorrow in Sobieski.
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June 20th,
2008
It was a landslide victory for Joe Thoma in this
weeks Ski MVP voting, but
not a shut out. See the vote totals and read the
comments here.
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June 19th,
2008
The Skis move up one spot to #6 in the latest Hardballer
Top Ten.
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June 16th,
2008
The Skis were ungracious hosts this weekend by taking
the title in their own tournament. They went 3-0
on the weekend defeating three quality teams along the
way. See the details here.
The two titans of Ski MVP
lore battled it out last week for the top spot, but in
the end Simon Waltman ended up on top for the
fourth time this season. For the first time in all
season all nominees got at least one vote though.
See the numbers and read the comment here.
Added a new poll and updated the statistics.
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June 13th,
2008
The Skis hold onto the #7 spot in the Hardballer
Top Ten this week.
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June 12th,
2008
Sobieski is proud to announce that it
will be the host of the 2nd and 3rd weekends of the 2008
Region 8C Tournament.
Also of note, there is free admission to all the
games at this weekends Skis tourney, so get out to the
ball park and watch some quality teams battle it out in
Sobieski.
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June 9th,
2008
It was a close vote, but the voters just barely thought
the Twins will be battling for a division title at the
end of the season. See the numbers here.
After the display this weekend I tend to agree with the
minority.
Added a new poll and updated the statistics.
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June 8th,
2008
The Skis kept the winning streak going with a win in
Avon today. Listen to the VL round up of this
weekends games: Sobieski
vs. Holdingford, Sobieski
vs. Avon
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June 6th,
2008
The Skis dropped back to #7 in the Hardballer
Top Ten after the loss to the Bears. They face
two more tough South division teams this weekend, both
on the road.
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June 5th,
2008
Simon Waltman took home his third MVP
honor of the season for his pitching performance last
week. See who else got votes and read the comments
here.
Added a new poll.
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June 2nd,
2008
Added a new poll and updated the statistics.
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June 1st,
2008
The Skis drop to a .500 record with a 2-0 loss to the
Opole Bears today. Listen to the VL roundup of the
game here.
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May 31st,
2008
Aaron Hennes took this weeks Ski
MVP honors. It was the third different winner
this year and his third win all time. See the
numbers here.
The Skis game verses the Opole Bears is this weeks KLTF
game of the week. Be sure to listen to the action
on KLTF radio 960 AM if you're in the area, and if your
not, you can now listen to KLTF radio online! That
means all the VL game of the week action can be heard
crystal clear around the world. To listen online click
this link and follow the instructions.
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May 26th,
2008
Happy Memorial day to everyone. Thank you to all
our troops past and present.
The voters choose the game that wasn't played as
the best potential game of the weekend. See the
numbers here.
The Skis drop game two of the weekend 6-3 to the Upsala
Blue Jays. Listen to the VL Roundup recap of this
weekends action here: Sobieski
vs. Flensburg, Sobieski
vs. Upsala.
Added a new poll and updated the statistics.
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May 25th,
2008
Brad Czech pitches a complete game win as the Skis
defeat the Falcons 9-1 in game one of the weekend.
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May 24th,
2008
Brad Czech
added a Victory
League player of the week honor to his Ski MVP honor
for last weeks performance.
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May 22nd,
2008
A Czech won the Ski MVP honors
this week. See which one and read the comments here.
The Skis weekend sweep bumped them up two spots in the Hardballer
Top Ten to #5.
Added a new poll.
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May 19th,
2008
Added a new poll and updated the statistics.
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May 18th,
2008
The Skis completed the weekend sweep of the Riverdogs
this afternoon to move into the lead (by tie breaker) in
the West division.
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May 16th,
2008
The Skis have dropped to #7 in the latest Hardballer
Top Ten. Meanwhile their opponent this weekend
is rated #5. This weeks home and home series with
the Riverdogs will go a long way in determining if the
Skis will have a shot at the division title again this
year. A sweep puts them in a tie with the
Riverdogs and right back into the thick of things.
Getting swept may not lock the door on the title hopes,
but it'll definitely shut the door, and maybe put a
couch behind it. For an early season weekend, it
doesn't get much bigger than this. Be sure to
attend the games!
It was a clean sweep for Jon Czech in this weeks Ski
MVP voting. See the number total and read the
comments here.
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May 12th,
2008
The Skis dropped to below .500 with an extra innings
loss to St. Stephen yesterday.
Simon Waltman was voted last weeks team MVP.
See the numbers and read the comments here.
For what it's worth the Skis are rated as the #1 team in
the state in the preseason "Let's
Play Softball" poll. Personally, I put
more stock into the Hardballer top ten.
Added a new poll and updated the statistics.
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May 8th,
2008
The Skis drop one spot to number three in this weeks
Hardballer
Top Ten.
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May 6th,
2008
Some scheduling updates have been made. The Holdingford
game has been rescheduled and a Royalton game has moved
dates. See the complete schedule
for all the details.
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May 5th,
2008
Added a new poll and updated the statistics.
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May 4th,
2008
Play finally resumed in the Victory League
this weekend and the Cubs exact revenge on the Skis,
4-2, in game two of back-to-backers separated by two
weeks. See the game recap below.
The voters thought that the Blue Jays loss
was the most surprising last week in a close vote.
See the numbers and read the comments here.
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April 29th,
2008
Added a new poll.
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April 26th,
2008
Simon Waltman was the overwhelming winner of the
first Ski MVP award of
2008. It's his 20th win all-time. See the
numbers here.
Sundays game versus Holdingford has been
postponed. A make up date is to be determined.
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April 25th,
2008
The Kimball game has been cancelled due to potential bad
weather.
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April 24th,
2008
The Skis have moved up to #3 in the Hardballer
Top Ten.
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April 21st,
2008
The voters are figuring on the Skis to have a pretty
successful year by looking at the results of the latest
Ski Poll. Two voters have already been discredited
though. See the numbers and read the comments here.
The Skis ranked #4 in the pre-season Hardballer
Top Ten.
Added a new poll, the game recap, updated the standings,
and statistics.
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April 20th,
2008
The Skis win the season/home opener 12-2 over
Randall in eight innings backed by a seven run bottom of
the sixth. More to come.
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April 14th,
2008
Let's try this again. I've just realized
(after not getting any votes in the current poll) that
the poll was not working properly. It should be
restored to an operational mode now. Vote away!
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April 12th,
2008
Updated the roster page with a new
addition. The Skis welcome Riley Hirsch to
the team.
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April 11th,
2008
The season will have to wait a little longer for
the opener because of Mother Nature. The game this
Saturday against Pearl Lake has been cancelled.
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April 5th,
2008
The season is starting soon. How do you
think our favorite team will do? I've added a poll
to find out.
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March 19th,
2008
The last game that needed rescheduling
has been rescheduled.
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March 17th,
2008
The final numbers are in on the Victory League
pre-season poll. There were a few tight races
including the top spot. The top spot changed hands
three times in the last week and a half. Each of
the top three finishers held the number one at some
point. See who ended up on top here.
A few interesting facts about the poll.
- Buckman was the highest rated team without a first
place vote.
- Avon was the only team in the top five without double
digits in first place votes.
- Buckman and Pierz Bulldogs were the only two teams to
have neither a first or last place vote.
- Brainerd was the lowest rated team with a first place
vote.
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March 15th,
2008
One of the two games that needed rescheduling
has been rescheduled.
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March 11th,
2008
Less than a week to get your final votes in
for the pre-season poll. The poll closes March
17th. The top spot is a three way race that is so
close I may need an accounting firm to validate the
results.
I've also added a link the the Cuyuna Range Miners new
website. Find it in the standings
section.
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March 10th,
2008
Some more Flyers Hockey Photos
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March 8th,
2008
Ben Hanowski takes a shot in
the Flyers victory over Mankato West.
The Flyers knocked off Mankato
West 7-3 to take 5th place in the State
Tournament. Ben Hanowski had four goals and
an assist, Beau Hanowski had a goal and and
assist, and Riley Hirsch had an assist. Congratulations to the Flyers.
Congratulations to Ben Hanowski on making the
All-Tournament Team.
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March 6th,
2008
The Flyers advanced in the
consolation bracket with a 5-0 win over Blake the
afternoon. Beau Hanowski had two goals and
an assist, Ben Hanowski had a goal and two
assists, Andrew Lange had a goal, and Riley
Hirsch had an assist. The Skis were
represented well.
The Flyers will now play Mankato West on Saturday at
10:00 am in Mariucci area for the 5th place trophy.
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March 5th,
2008
The Flyers drop game one of the State
Tourney, 5-3 to St. Thomas Academy. Skis Ben
Hanowski had two goals, and Beau Hanowski had
an assist.
They will now
face Blake in
the consolation bracket tomorrow.
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March 4th,
2008
Good luck to Skis Ben Hanowski,
Beau Hanowski, Logan Kalis, Andrew
Lange, Peter Suska, Riley Hirsch and the rest of the Little
Falls Flyers as they take on St. Thomas Academy tomorrow
in the State Hockey Tournament. Game time is 6:00
pm on channel 45.
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March 2nd,
2008
Added the rest of the 2008
schedule.
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March 1st,
2008
We've reached over half of the
vote total max in the pre-season poll and there are some
close races, including the one for the top spot.
Keep the votes coming.
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February 16th,
2008
In a split decision the voters
edged on the "Good" side of the Santana
trade. See the numbers and read the comments here.
Added the fourth annual Victory League Pre-Season poll.
Voting will remain open until March 19th at Noon, or
until 100 votes are received whichever comes first.
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February 2nd,
2008
It was a close race between
three options in the latest poll with the winner being
decided by one vote. See what the voters thought
was the best part about January and read the comments here.
Added a new poll.
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January 29th,
2008
The field for the 2008
Skis Tourney is set. The 9th Annual Tournament will
be held in Sobieski this summer on Saturday, June 14th
and Sunday, June 15th. The host Skis will be
joined by the Lastrup Lakers, Midway Snurdbirds, and the
Sauk Centre Titans.
The Skis have also added exhibition games with the Pearl
Lake Lakers and Kimball Express to their 2008
schedule.
Stay tuned for more updates on the league schedule,
roster, and exhibition games.
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January 1st,
2008
Happy New Year! We are
at least in the right year for a new season of baseball
now.
Most voters enjoy everything about the holiday's, though
one seems grinch-like. See the numbers and read
the comments here.
Added a new poll.
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