Oriole Seniors Have Valentine's Day Presents in Mind

Seven senior boys hockey players will try to make the last two home games of their high school days succesful this week at the .

Park enters the week with a 14-5-3 record, good for third place in the North Suburban. A win or tie on Tuesday will lock them at third place behind and Totino Grace in the final standings.

The team skated to a 2-2 tie against St. Francis on Saturday. Josh Passolt and Curtis Greenbush scored, with Greenbush's tally coming with only 21 seconds remaining in the game. Ryan Nichols stopped 35 shots on the day.

Valentine's Night, the Orioles battle Cooper. The Orioles will finish in third place with a win or tie—a big improvement on last year. The game allows Orioles junior goalie Ryan Froom to play against players he grew up with, including his best friend, Cooper wing, Nehwon Norkeh, who netted a hat trick in the Hawks 6-5 win over Irondale on Saturday.

Thursday, Feb. 16, the O's battle Minneapolis. It is Senior Night, and all seven seniors and their parents will be recognized during a special on-ice program that begins at 6:30 pm. Matt Evans, Ryan Nichols, Nick Fortmeyer, Tyler Brodersen, Nick Gaitan-Gaitan, Sean Berens and Steven Karl will all take part.

It is fitting that they are playing Minneapolis, as several of the SLP players played with them in youth hockey. Minneapolis has won 17 games this season.

Both games can be watched LIVE on SLP cable 16 starting at 7 p.m. on Tuesday and 6:30 p.m. on Thursday.  Games can also be watched for free online by going to www.parktv.org.

Visit www.gopark.org, www.slpozone.com and www.mnhockeyhub.com for more information on the team.