Grand Forks Central coach Grant Paranica calls standout senior forwards Cole Hanson and Lucas Kanta completely different players.
“You have one guy who opens up ice and another guy who does damage when he gets time and space,” Paranica said. “That’s a great combination.”
The Knights’ top line proved to be a handful again Monday in a 10-1 rout of Bismarck High at Purpur Arena.
Central improved to 13-0-0, while the West Region-leading Demons dropped to 12-2-0.
At about the halfway point of the season, Hanson upped his state-leading goal total to 29 with two more against Bismarck High.
ADVERTISEMENT
His prettiest play of the day, however, didn’t count. He missed out on a third goal when his backhand flip from the slot into the net was disallowed for goalie interference in the second period.
Kanta, meanwhile, set up Central’s first two goals against Bismarck -- one by freshman Cole Spicer and one by Hanson.
Kanta now has a North Dakota-best 31 assists on the year.
“I just try to find him and usually (Hanson) makes a play,” Kanta said. “He’s a good finisher. I try to work down low and try to find him and things will go well for us.”
Kanta and Hanson have been paired together the past two years, a stretch in which the defending state champion Knights have lost one game. They also played together in the Midwest Elite Hockey League this fall.
“I think we move the puck pretty well,” Hanson said. “We can find each other on the rush and can finish. Kanta is a big body, tenacious on the forecheck and moves it well.”
Said Paranica: “Kanta is a power forward and disrupter on the ice. Hanson is our high school version of Patrick Kane. He has quick hands and quick feet and can make plays.”
Against Bismarck, the Knights won by at least six goals for the fourth-straight game.
ADVERTISEMENT
Joining Hanson with two goals against the Demons were Spicer and William Lawson-Body, who finished with five points.
Parker Stroh, Tucker Hodgson, Cole Wigestrand and Joey Kennelly also had goals for the Knights.
Landon Fischer scored Bismarck’s lone goal.
Central goalie Aaron Nielsen made 15 saves, while Bismarck’s Quinn Ackerman started and made 13 saves in the first period before being replaced by Logan Hendrickson, who stopped 30 shots in his two periods of work.
GF Central 10,
Bismarck High 1
First period -- 1. GFC, Cole Spicer (Lucas Kanta) 3:16; 2. GFC, Cole Hanson (Lucas Kanta, Brandon Holt) 9:36; 3. GFC, William Lawson-Body (Parker Stroh) 9:54; 4. GFC, Tucker Hodgson (Cole Wigestrand, Lawson-Body) 13:23
Second period -- 5. GFC, Hanson (Holt, Lawson-Body) 9:58
Third period -- 6. BHS, Landon Fischer (Dain Sardelli, Jack Steckler) :12; 7. GFC, Stroh (Hodgson) 2:19; 8. GFC, Wigestrand (Lawson-Body, Will Howard) 3:48; 9. GFC, Lawson-Body 6:56; 10. GFC, Joey Kennelly (Stroh, Holt) 9:59; 11. GFC, Cole Spicer (Chase Spicer, Peter Loyland) 14:32
Goalie saves -- GFC: Aaron Nielsen 5-9-1 -- 15; BHS: Quinn Ackerman 13-x-x -- 13, Logan Hendrickson x-18-12 -- 30
ADVERTISEMENT
