Duluth East continues its temporary, and completely unofficial, membership in the Northwest Suburban Conference Friday night by hosting a highly skilled Champlin Park team that has suffered from occasional bouts of inconsistency.
The biggest difficulty for the No. 13-2A Rebels (14-6-0), however, might be their schedule. It’s overcooked-pot-roast tough. Four of Champlin Park’s losses entering the week were against teams in or hovering around the top 10 in Class-2A. And the Rebels, led by Evan Williams’ 33 points and Jordan Ronn’s 18 goals, have knocked off some top-10 teams, too. Most notably, they beat No. 4-2A Maple Grove 2-1 in overtime on Jan. 19.
With a Tuesday game against Centennial and Friday’s game against Champlin Park, No. 15-2A Duluth East (13-6-1) will have played two of the six Northwest Suburban Conference teams on its schedule. Junior Thomas Gunderson entered the week a team-best 19 goals while senior Cole Christian’s 41 points lead the Greyhounds.