Home Sweet Home for SLP Orioles

 The West Rink at The Rec Center didn't seem like a long lost friend for the St. Louis Park Orioles as they played their first home game in more than a month and got four goals from Griffin Krone to lead them to a 9-1 rout of the Bloomington Kennedy Eagles Saturday afternoon.  

The Orioles put the game away in the first period with four goals.  Mason Amelse got the first goal as he scored from the right side of Eagle goalie Dominick Walton.  St. Louis Park went up by two :20 later on Krone's first goal that came after he got a pass from Sam Fuller.  Henry Schultz would put the Orioles ahead by three and Krone would pick up an assist on the period's final goal as he set up Miles rider and he fired a shot from the left faceoff circle that landed in the net.  

St. Louis Park added five goals to their ledger in the second period.  Amelse fed Krone and while Walton was playing outside the net, he found an opening and he would score the short-handed goal.  It would be Krone who would get the hat trick as he fired a shot to the right of Walton and it crossed the goal line.  Depth would be a factor for St. Louis Park as Ryan Moran would pick up his first goal of the season and Amelse would find the net a second time.  There would be no shutout on this chilly Saturday afternoon when Kennedy's lone goal Nicked the net.  Nicholas Poppenhagen passed to Nicholas Manning and he sent it passed the Orioles goalie, Brett Middleton, who made his first start of the season.  

The third period, played in running time saw no change on the West Rink scoreboard.

Between the first and second periods, long time Orioles hockey manager Jake Fobbe was presented with the game puck after recording his 250th win last Thursday against the Woodbury Royals.  Fobbe is in his eighth season as manager and according to former St. Louis park head coach Tim Donahue also plays floor hockey.  

St. Louis Park improved their record to 9-8-1 and returns to action on Thursday, February 2 against the Orono Spartans at 7 PM at the Rec Center.  Kennedy fell to 1-17 and hosts its city rival the Jefferson Jaguars on Tuesday, January 31 at 7 PM at the Bloomington Ice Garden.  

Hopkins/Park Clouds North Shore Storm

 Saturday night was a banner night for Sofia Hoffman as she scored two goals, including the game winner with 11:18 left in regulation time to lead the Hopkins/Park girls hockey team to a 2-1 win over the North Shore Storm at the Rec Center in St. Louis Park.  

It looked like there wouldn't be any scoring in the first period.  Not so fast.  Hoffman would score her first goal on a rebound with :10.5 left in the period to put Hopkins/Park ahead.  

The only second period goal would come from the Storm as Libby Althaus fed Hope Ernest and she went top shelf to tie the game at one.  

Heading into the third period, it would be Hoffman who would score her second rebound goal with 11:18 left in regulation time.  Would there be overtime?  The answer would be no, as North Shore head coach Zach Vieau pulled goalie Harper Powell with 1:26 to go.  But the scoreboard would remain stationary as no other pucks went into the net.  

Hopkins/Park improved their record to 7-12-1 and will host the Tartan Titans on Tuesday, January 24 at 7 PM at the Minnetonka Ice Arena.  North Shore fell to 8-12 and will also return to action on the 24th when they head to the Hibbing Memorial Arena to face Hibbing/Chisholm at 7 PM.  

Providence Academy Lions Beat Becker Bulldogs

 Two state girls basketball powers battled Thursday night in Plymouth as the Providence Academy Lions, the top ranked team in Class AA got 27 points from Maddyn Greenway to help beat the Becker Bulldogs, the second ranked team in Class AAA 75-65..  

It would take a while for the first basket as Grace counts gave the Lions the early lead 1:16 into the game. Elizabeth Mackedanz and Courtney Nuest would put the Bulldogs ahead.  The early lead would go back and forth until Providence Academy would go on an 8-0 run, with five of the eight points coming from the freshman Greenway.  Becker would go on a 5-0 run, including a three pointer from Ayla Brown.  But the Lions would get back in front with six straight points from Emma Millerbernd, an eighth grade transfer from Wayzata.  The Bulldogs would cut the lead to one with three pointers from Mackedanz and Brown.  Providence Academy would widen their lead as Greenway would account for four of six consecutive points coming off steal.  But Becker would come close and eventually take the lead on a pair of three pointers from Brown.  The lead would be short-lived as the Lions closed out the first half with a three pointer from Brook Hohnecker and a layup by Greenway at the buzzer to give Providence Academy a 40-36 halftime lead. 

The Bulldogs would begin the second half scoring on their first possession as Nuest hit a layup.  The Lions would pull away as they would break through Becker's 2-1-2 defense.  Hohnecker would hit her second three pointer and Greenway would score four straight points.  Brown's hot shooting would be the bright spot but it wouldn't be enough as Hope Counts, whose offense went MIA in the first half would score seven in the second half.  As Providence Academy widened their lead, head coach Conner Goetz sent in the reserves with 3:05 left to go.  

Other Providence Academy players in double figures were Hohnecker with 16 points.  Grace Counts scored 11 and Millerbernd added 10.   Brown was the only Becker player in double figures, scoring a game high 29 points.  

The Lions improved their record to 8-2 and will face the Class A power the Mountain Iron-Buhl Rangers on Saturday, January 7 at 5 PM at Duluth East.  The Bulldogs, who started the season 5-0, lost their second straight game and fell ro 5-2.  They will return to action on Friday, January 6 when they host the Big Lake Hornets at 5:45 PM.  

40 Years Ago, Sale of the Century Returns to NBC

 January 3, 1983 marks a monumental day in game show history when three game shows debuted on NBC.  Two of them were short-lived, the video game themed Hit Man and Just Men, hosted by Betty white.  But one new show returned to daytime TV after a 10 year absence and had a healthy six year run.  The show was Sale of the Century.  

The original version debuted on September 26, 1969 and ran until July 13, 1973.  Taped at NBC Studios in New York, the show was originally hosted by former Maverick star Jack Kelly but he left in 1971 to return to acting and was replaced by sportscaster and Today Show regular Joe Garagiola.  

In 1980, seven years after Lin Bolen, who presided over NBC daytime canceled the show to make room for Alex Trebek's first game show The Wizard of Odds, Australian TV producer Reg Grundy bought the rights to Sale of the Century and it became a big hit in his homeland.  

Grundy would bring the show back to NBC in 1983 with a new host, Jim Perry, who returned to the network almost two years after the cancellation of Card Sharks.  He would have three female assistants throughout the show's six year run.  The first was Sally Julian, but she had a squeaky voice and had trouble reading from cue cards so she was fired after two months and replaced by Lee Menning, who previously assisted on Las Vegas Gambit and Your Number's Up.  Menning would last until December 28, 1984 and she would be replaced by the woman who would stay on for the remainder of the shows run, former Miss USA Summer Bartholomew.  

Now to the game.  The basic game remained the same, with three contestants competing by answer simple questions to earn money.  Their initial stake was $20, with $5 added for a correct answer but an incorrect answer would deduct $5 from a contestant's score.  After several questions, a bell rang indicating it was time for an instant bargain.  The contestant in front would be eligible for the instant bargain which can be purchased at a low price. (e.g. a $650 whirlpool for $6).  Sometimes, Perry would tempt the contestant by lower the price of the bargain and offering cash.  The contestant who hit their buzzer won the prize and had the value substracted from their score.  

There was a new element added to this version, The Fame Game.  Perry would read clues to a person, place or thing and the first player to buzz in got a chance to identify the subject.  A correct answer entitled them to pick from a board of nine photos.  One would have cash, the others would have a prize.  Later in the run, this was changed to a random light going around the board with increasing cash bonuses throughout the game.  If the contestant landed on a cash amount, it would be added to their score.  

Like many shows that have a long run, there would be changes to Sale of the Century.  The first was the final three questions jettisoned in favor of a 60 second speed round.  Listen closely, and you'll hear a female judge shout "Time!"  when nobody buzzed in. Highest score when time ran out would win the game.   The second was an Instant Cash bonus, where a contestant could give up their lead to win a cash prize.  

There were three bonus rounds utilized.  The first was the shopping segment where the contestant was shown several prizes, and had to decide whether to spend their winnings and walk away or come back and try to win another game for more expensive prizes.  The second was The Winners Board, where a contestant had to match two prizes. A win entitled the contestant to return with the possibility of winning a car or a growing cash jackpot.  The last was a word game where the contestant had to solve four ot five word puzzles in 20 or 25 seconds.  Six or more wins would earn the contestant $50,000 in cash and a new car.  

This version would be a hit thanks to Perry guiding the show at a fast pace and his efforts to help the contestants win an instant bargain.  Also adding to the proceedings was original announcer Jay Stewart, who left the show in 1988 and was replaced by former game show host Don Morrow.  Sale of the Century was one of NBC's last game show successes and was a fun and enjoyable game.