Roseau Boys’ Hockey Riding High Ahead of Tough Stretch

Roseau boys’ hockey has been on a hot streak as of late, winning eight straight prior to last night’s tie at East Grand Forks. This has left them unbeaten in their last nine games and has helped them crack into the top 20 rankings in Class AA.

The Rams are now 13-3-1 overall and owe much of that success to an explosive offense that’s averaging just under five goals per game. Their defense and goaltending have also been key factors, as Roseau has outscored their opponents 80-38 this season.

But even with their success this season, the team isn’t ready to raise any banners just yet.

“Our coach, Greg Lund, he came in with a quote the other day of like, ‘Every day you wake up and you start with nothing,’ from [former Alabama football coach] Nick Saban. So, I mean, we’re on a winning streak, but we woke up today. We don’t have a game, we didn’t end the practice with the game, we didn’t end up with a win,” explained senior forward Noah Urness. “I think before, we weren’t moving the puck as much as we were and moving our feet, it was kind of more individualized. But now we’re, I think we’re really clicking, playing as a team.”

“I think it’s just like, not taking any opponent lightly and just making sure we do all the small things and that leads to winning,” added senior defenseman Alex Ballard. “Definitely stay focused, like, sharpen our game up so we’re just going to need to play really good because we’re gonna have some tough competition.”

He isn’t wrong. Next week on Jan. 23, Roseau will play Bemidji, who has already beaten the Rams this year, followed on the 25th by Wayzata, who is ranked second in Class AA. After that is the rivalry game at Hockey Day on Saturday, Jan. 27 against Class A #1 ranked Warroad.