Kent Resigns as SLP Girls Soccer Head Coach

 When the 2021 high school girls soccer season begins in August (or delayed due to COVID 19), there will be a new face on the sidelines for the St. Louis Park girls soccer team.  

Benji Kent, who has headed the Orioles girls soccer programs for 19 seasons resigned.  The news was broken by his long time assistant coach Brad Brubaker at the January 29 girls basketball game where he served as the PA announcer and the author of this blog handled the official scoring.  

Kent was no stranger to Oriole soccer.  A 1983 St. Louis Park graduate, he played on the varsity boys team.  His wife Christine served as an assistant coach early in his tenure.  In addition, two of the Kent's children also played varsity soccer for St. Louis Park, Ellie and Max.  

St. Louis Park activities director Andy Ewald reflected on Kent's contribution to the girls soccer program.  

"He's been instrumental in stabilizing the program.  His soccer knowledge is second to none."  

According to Ewald, the head coaching job has been posted on the school district's website.  Who will take over the coaching reins from Kent?  Find out sometime soon.  

Boyum's Game Winner helps SLP Orioles Beat Bloomington Jefferson Jaguars

 No overtime was needed Saturday afternoon for the St. Louis Park Orioles as Drew Boyum scored the game winning goal with 4:28 left in regulation time to lead them to a 5-4 win over the Bloomington Jefferson Jaguars at The Rec Center.  

Both teams would tally in the first period.  The Jaguars would strike first when Brady Burton went along the left boards, cut to the center slot and put the puck past Oriole goalie Josh Middleton.  The Orioles would tie the game on a power play goal with 4:00 left in the period.  Lucas Hand's shot would bounce into the net.  

The power play would prevail again for St. Louis Park in the second period when Sam Berry scored from the center slot.  Berry would assist on the Orioles second goal of the period as he passed to McCabe Dvorak.  He changed directions and found a open spot in the crease to put the Orioles ahead by two.  Jefferson would strike back with two goals.  The first would come from Gordy Gombold following a pass from Brett Herbert and Nick Hatton would score an unassisted goal to tie the game at three.  

The third period scoring would be like a pendulum on a grandfather clock.  St. Louis Park would regain the lead as Theodore Dahlin rebounded Michael Hoikka's shot.  Jefferson would tie the game on a rebound goal from Brett Herbert.  Boyum would score the eventual game winner on assists from Hand and Jack Wandmacher with 4:28 left to play.  Would Jaguar head coach Mike Terwilliger pull goalie Ryan Seitz for a sixth attacker?  The answer would yes, following a Jefferson time out with :26.2 left in regulation time.  But it didn't matter much as the score remained the same.  

The Orioles out shot the Jaguars 34-24.  

One of the game referees, Jim Carroll, is also the public address announcer at the state high school boys and girls hockey tournaments.  He is also one of the three PA announcers at The Prep Bowl, along with Mark Graves and Dave Giles at US Bank Stadium.  

Both teams return to action on Tuesday, November 2 at 7 PM.  The Orioles improved their record to 4-1-1 and will host the Chaska Hawks at The Rec Center.  The Jaguars fell to 2-4 and will host the Benilde-St. Margaret's Red Knights at the Bloomington Ice Garden.  

Dvorak Leads SLP Orioles to Overtime Win Over Bloomington Kennedy Eagles

 A snowy Saturday afternoon would turn out bright for the St. Louis Park Orioles when McCabe Dvorak scored his second goal that turned out to be the game winner with 5:35 left in overtime to lead the Orioles to a 5-4 win over the Bloomington Kennedy Eagles at The Rec Center.  

The Eagles took the early lead on Jack Manning's goal 6:00 into the game.  Kennedy would increase their lead to two while Jacob Favor was serving a St. Louis Park bench minor for too many men on the ice.  Joey Workman got his work done and scored from the right side.  There would be no shutout for the East Bloomington school as Dvorak skated close to the goal crease and put it past Kennedy goalie Michael Winston with 1:58 left in the period.  

The Orioles would open the second period scoring when the Eagles JD Coady was called for hooking near the goal area and a penalty shot was awarded to St. Louis Park.  Stanley Regguinti would get to take the shot.  He stood just behind the center dot, skated past the blue line, into the right slot and fired the shot into the goal to even the score at two.  Kennedy would regain the lead on Tyler Jost's power play goal from the left corner.  St. Louis Park almost tied the game but Jack Wandmacher's shot bounced out of the net.  Wandmacher, who plays second base for the Oriole baseball team, would get credit for an assist that would even the score at three on Sam Berry's center slot goal.  

Lucas Hand would have a hand in St. Louis Park heading back in from, scoring on a rebound.  But Kennedy was not finished yet.  Eagle head coach Nick Hanrahan pulled Winston with 1:22 left in regulation time for  sixth attacker and the would capitalize on the move, thanks to Logan Dosan's rebound goal with 1:22 to go.  On to overtime.  

The small throng in attendance due to COVID 19 restrictions would go home happy as a flurry of jerseys were around the Kennedy net and Dvorak came out of the flurry to put the puck in with 5:35 left in overtime.  

St. Louis Park outshot Kennedy 37-21.  

Both teams return to action Tuesday, January 26 at 7 PM.  The Eagles will host the Chaska Hawks at the Bloomington Ice Garden and the Orioles will face the Benilde-St. Margaret's Red Knights at The Rec Center.  BSM will be the home team.  

A Successful Home Opener for SLP Orioles

 After playing their first two games on the road, the St. Louis Park Orioles opened their home season Tuesday night as Stanley Regguinti scored two third period goals to lead them to a 7-2 victory over the Chanhassen Storm at The Rec Center.  

The Orioles tested Storm goalie Will Anderson, firing six shots in the first 1:28 of the first period.  Two shots later, Ben Farley scored from the right side to put St. Louis Park ahead 1-0.  

Chanhassen would vault ahead in the second period with two goals.  The first game on the power play 1:50 into the period on a rebound from Joey Parker to tie the game.  The Storm would storm ahead as Oriole goalie Josh Middleton was playing on the far right side of the net and Caden Lee found an opening to give Chanhassen a 2-1 lead.  The Orioles would even the score when Sam Berry fed Michael Hoikka and he would put the puck past Anderson with 1:22 left to tie the game at two.  

But lo and behold, St. Louis Park's offense would come to life like Frosty the Snowman in the third period with five goals.  It wouldn't take long for the Orioles to regain the lead as Jack Wandmacher got into position on Anderson's right side and and found the net :29 into the period.  They would go up by two on McCabe Dvorak's goal off a pass from Sam Berry.  St. Louis Park was not done.  Regguinti would score from the center slot and the margin increased to three.  He would be credited with an assist on the Orioles fourth goal of the period when he passed to Berry and he would rebound his shot and sent the puck over the goal line.  Regguinti would wrap up the scoring on an unassisted short handed goal with 2:46 to go.  

The Orioles out shot the Storm 38-11.  

St. Louis Park improved their record to 2-0-1 and will host the Bloomington Kennedy Eagles Saturday, January 23 at 2:30 at The Rec Center.  Chanhassen fell to 1-1 and returns to action on Thursday, January 21 as they host Richfield/SW Christian at 7 PM.  

Fifty Years Ago, Celebrity Bowling Debuts

 Saturday, January 16 marked the 50th anniversary of the debut of one of the longest running first run syndicated game shows Celebrity Bowling.  

Hosted by actor Jed Allan, who best known for his later run on the soap opera Days of Our Lives, the show featured two teams of two celebrities who played in a regulation 10 frame game.  The difference was that it used the "best ball" format that was utilized on the later run of Championship Bowling.  

The first team member bowled first.  If he/she bowled a strike, the second team member didn't have to bowl.  If there was no strike, the second player would bowl and if there were still pins left, one celebrity would take lane with the easiest spare possibility.  

But the celebrities did not play for their favorite charities.  Instead, a couple of members of the studio audience would play for prizes.  The prize depended on the winning team's final score.  The prize range started at scores less than 120 and leading toward a score higher 210 which earned the audience member a new car or a trip to Mexico.  There would also be a bonus prize for the team that scored the most strikes and in later shows, a team bowling a turkey (three strikes in a row) would also receive a bonus prize.  

Among the many celebrities who appeared on Celebrity Bowling were Bob Newhart, Greg Morris, Jan Murray, The Lennon Sisters and Rosemary Clooney.  Several game show hosts also bowled, including Tom Kennedy, Peter Marshall and Alex Trebek.  

The key to Celebrity Bowling's success was that it was a fun show to watch as well as the banter between the celebrities.  Allan proved to be a outstanding host and got excellent support from his bowling sidekicks such as Dave Davis and Cheryl Kaminsky.  

Celebrity Bowling was known for it's rigorous taping schedule.  Over its eight year run, 26 episodes were taped in a three to five day period.  It would also be the first hit for producers Joe Siegman and Don Gregory under their production banner Seven-Ten Productions.  The pair also produced the show Celebrity Tennis, also hosted by Allan and joined by tennis greats Tony Trabert and Bobby Riggs.  But the show double faulted in the ratings and was canceled after one season.  

The only negative about the show was that one or two of the frames were bowled off camera because of the time used to describe the prizes.  Other than that, Celebrity Bowling turned out to be a successful syndicated game show and if you haven't seen it yet, the first three seasons are on the streaming service Tubi.  It will be right up your alley.  

Winter Sports Season to Begin With Games January 14

 After a month's hiatus due to Governor Tim Walz's pause on high school sports due to the COVID-19 pandemic, HSGN is back to report that the winter sports season will begin following 10 days of practice with games beginning January 14.  

New regulations will also be in effect, according to the Minnesota State High School League.  Athletes will be required to wear masks in practice as well as games.  The exceptions are for wrestling, gymnastics, cheerleading and swimming and diving.  

Will fans be allowed to attend?  It's up to Governor Walz and the MN Department of Health.  Walz will address the state on Wednesday, January 6 at 2 PM.  

As for opening dates for St. Louis Park athletic teams, the boys basketball team opens their season on the 14th with the start of a four game road trip at Edina at 7 PM.  Their home opener is Tuesday, January 26 against the Chaska Hawks at 7 PM.  

The girls basketball team also opens the season on the road against the Eden Prairie Eagles on the 14th at 7 PM.  Their home opener takes place on the 19th against the Bloomington Jefferson Jaguars at 7 PM.  

Also opening their season on the 14th is the boys hockey team, as they head to Braemar Arena to face the Edina Hornets at 7 PM.  Their home opener is on the 19th against the Chanhassen Storm at 7 PM.  

Blogger's Note:  The author of this blog is the new public address announcer for the St. Louis Park boys hockey team.  

The girls gymnastics team begins their season on Tuesday, February 2 at 6 PM at St. Anthony Village.  A week later on the ninth, they host the Richfield Spartans, also a 6 PM start.  

The only home opener on the 14th involves the boys swimming and diving team as they host the Bloomington Kennedy Eagles at 6 PM.  

So that's how the winter sports season begins in St. Louis Park.  Could there be state tournaments in March?  Stay tuned to HSGN for further developments.