Two-Way Threat | Video

Lee Timmerman | 1/28/2013

Bottineau made the West Region hockey race a lot more interesting with a win over Century on Saturday. The Patriots remain in first-place, but it`s very close right now.

One of the main reasons for being on top is the play of senior Alec Rauhauser. He is the Patriots leading scorer and one of the top offensive players in the state, but Rauhauser also takes a normal shift on defense as well.

"It`s kind of a unique situation the kid can play any position and we`re going to make sure he`s in shape but when you have a guy of that caliber you want to get him out there as much as you can and at the same time make sure everyone else is contributing too. The one thing about Al is he really likes to move the puck and gets everyone involved and he`s not a kid who`s going to go out and do it himself he makes some nice players and so it`s got to be fun to play with him too," said coach Troy Olson.

"I enjoy forward because you get to put the puck in the net but I also enjoy defense because you get to stop a team from scoring," Rauhauser said.

Rauhauser is on the NHL-Draft players to draft watch list, the only North Dakota high school athlete on the list.

Rauhauser and the Patriots are off until Thursday. Century`s lead in the West Region has been trimmed to two and with the new points system in place that`s less than a game lead. A regulation victory is good for three points in the standings this year.

Minot is right in the mix with the Demons and Blue Jays not far behind.

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