FARGO -- With all of the regional hockey tournaments wrapped up, the North Dakota state hockey tournament for both girls and boys is set.
Fargo North-South is the one seed on the girls side. They open up Thursday's afternoon session at 11:00 a.m. with Devils Lake, while West Fargo and Grand Forks drop the puck to close the day.
In the night session, Bismarck matches up with Minot at 5:00 p.m., with Davies and Dickinson wrapping up the opening round of action.
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On the boys side, the two-time defending champions may be even better than what they've shown the last couple of seasons. Grand Forks Central enters the state tournament with a North Dakota record 39 game win streak. The closest game they've had is an overtime win over Red River a month ago.
The Knights will face Mandan, who is back at state for the first time since 2015, the Braves were the sixth seed in the WDA Tournament but knocked off Dickinson, a team they lost to twice during the regular season to reach state.
Fargo South-Shanley also ends a four year state drought this year. The Bruins are led by the Sandy's, Luke, who leads the team in scoring and Zach, who's racked up 17 wins in net. They'll be tested facing a talented Bismarck team that won the WDA regular season title and lost only four games all season long. Mike Peluso's team is eager to erase memories of a first round loss at state last season.
The night session at the state tournament opens with the top seed out of the West, Bismarck Century. The Patriots lost just two games all year long and are hoping to get one more win than last year. Century reached its first title game last year and will rely on that experience. They'll face Grand Forks Red River, who is trying to rally behind interim coach John Dvorak. The Riders have some of the best talent in the state and have a bad taste in their mouth after a blowout semifinal loss to Central last year at state.
The final game of the day features the Minot Magicians, the 2015 state champions, who return to state after a one year absence. Minot had a red hot finish to the regular season winning eight of its last ten games. They'll have to stop one of the top scoring teams in North Dakota in Davies, the Eagles are led by the high-flying Cade Stibbe. Dean Wilson is serving as interim coach for a team that has plenty of pieces to make a run. Davies has never advanced to the state title game, could this be the year that drought ends?
The North Dakota state hockey tournament begins Thursday with the boys quarterfinals beginning at noon at Scheels Arena. The girls tournament begins at 11 am at the Farmers Union Insurance Center.
