Grand Forks has waited an unthinkable 16 years for an all-city boys hockey title game, but it has finally arrived

Feb. 27—It wasn't even supposed to happen in 2005.

Grand Forks Red River was down by two goals with 7:30 to go in a loser-out game in the East Region tournament. But the Roughriders mounted a furious rally to beat Fargo North in the state-qualifying game. Then, as the No. 3 seed from the East, the Riders rallied from down two goals to beat Bismarck in the state quarterfinals and upset East Region champion Fargo South in the semifinals.

On the other half of the bracket, Grand Forks Central was the No. 4 seed out of the East Region. The Knights fell behind West Region champion Minot by two goals in the first period in the state quarterfinals. But the Knights stormed back to beat a 22-0-1 Minot team, then upset East Region runner-up Grafton-Park River on a Jake Marto overtime goal.

State championship game: Red River vs. Central.

Of course.

It always seemed to be that way. Even in a year when neither team was supposed to be a factor — even in a year when one of them was minutes away from not even qualifying for the state tournament — they both somehow navigated their way to the final.

That's the way it so often seemed to go.

No two schools in North Dakota had won as many boys hockey state championships as Central and Red River. In fact, both had more state championship victories than any other school had state title game appearances.

So in 2005, they played, again, on a Saturday night in February.

Red River won 3-0. The Roughriders celebrated their sixth state title in 10 years. Central, which had won back-to-back titles, surely left the ice figuring it wouldn't be too long before it got another shot at a state title against its in-city rival. After all, seven years was the longest drought between all-Grand Forks state championship games going back to the 1960s.

Yet somehow, when the state's two most dominant boys hockey programs meet for the state championship at 6:45 p.m. tonight in Ralph Engelstad Arena, it will be the first all-Grand Forks final since that 2005 game.

For reference on just how long it's been: Red River forward Carson Skarperud, who scored in Friday night's state semifinal win over West Fargo, wasn't even born the last time the Roughriders and Knights played for a state championship.

"It was shocking when I heard it had been that long," said former Red River forward David Spies, who played in the 2005 title game as a junior. "Those teams are there every year. Just the odds of them not meeting up at the end to play in the state championship for that long, it's nuts, especially considering how often they're both in the title game. It's crazy to think about.

"There have been ebbs and flows. It has gone back and forth. One team gets hot, then the next one. But for it not to happen for that long, especially the way it happened in 2005 when no one really expected it, it's very weird."

It's not like either program has fallen off.

Since the 2005 final, Red River has won the most state championships (six) and Central has won the second-most (four). Nobody else has more than one. Red River has played in the most state finals (eight) and Central the second-most (six).

But through upsets, a West Region team being a factor or the pendulum swinging from one program to the other, they never matched up in the state final. Not even in 2015, 2017 or 2018, when they finished 1-2 in the East Region regular season.

In all, Central and Red River have met 10 times for the state championship, but none since that 2005 meeting.

"It was really fun," Spies said, recalling the 2005 all-city final. "The excitement of it, when you're in the building, knowing it's your buddies, your former teammates you're playing against, all of their families are going to be there. . . it's a rush. It's as good as it gets. When you compare it to my senior year (playing South in the final), it wasn't remotely close.

"In 2005, we split with Central during the regular season and we didn't know what was going to happen. There was no vibe. It could have gone either way. And they had Jake Marto."

The Roughriders, with a defensive core led by Matt Hill, Jake Vigen, Scott Holm, Jarrett Galbreath, Cory Leier and Jake Delisle, shut down the Knights in 2005, holding them to 10 shots on goal. Eric Olson posted the shutout, while Derek Kuntz, Marc Mihulka and Kyle Endres scored goals.

Spies, an all-state tournament team selection in 2005 who went on to play college baseball at UND, said he's looking forward to finally seeing another all-Grand Forks championship game.

"First and foremost, I'm excited they're going to get to experience it after a year like this," he said. "I think it's awesome they're going to get to play and they're going to get to have fans there. They should cherish it and enjoy it because stuff like this doesn't happen very often: playing hockey with a bunch of your friends in the last game of the year."

All-Grand Forks state championship boys hockey games

2005 — Red River 3, Central 0

2003 — Central 5, Red River 0

1997 — Red River 2, Central 1

1990 — Red River 1, Central 0 (2 OT)

1987 — Red River 3, Central 1

1983 — Central 6, Red River 5

1977 — Central 1, Red River 1, tie (8 OT)

1976 — Central 3, Red River 2

1975 — Central 3, Red River 2

1969 — Central 3, St. James 2

1968 — Central 5, Red River 0