Class A rankings (2-9-09)

[dueling21]

Take your best shot!

1. Little Falls (20-0-0)
St. Cloud State bound Ben Hanowski (50-40-90) shattered the first career scoring record he’s likely to break this season, netting the all-time goal-scoring mark during a victory over St. Cloud Apollo last Thursday. Next in his sights is Johnny Pohl’s career points record, which he’s just 19 points shy of tying with five regular season games (and undoubtedly several playoff games) remaining. Hanowski led the Flyers to three routs last week to remain unbeaten. Little Falls is now averaging 7.0 goals a game while allowing just 1.5 per. In addition to Big Ben, Riley Hirsch (18-26-44), Izaak Berglund (12-29-41), Ben Nelson (15-22-37), Wesley Waytashek (14-22-36), Logan Kalis (2-22-24) and Jordan Moll (11-10-21) all provide plenty of offense for the Flyers. Michael Sperl (20-0-0, 1.54 GAA, .928 save %) has played every second in nets this year and has a state-leading eight shutouts.

This week: Tuesday at St. Cloud Tech (7pm), Thursday at Prairie Centre (7pm), Friday vs. River Lakes (7:15pm).

2. Warroad (20-2-0)
Earning huge bragging rights, the Warriors swept rival Roseau in their season series. Warroad won 3-2 last Tuesday after beating the Rams 5-2 in mid-January. Brock Nelson (30-21-51) continued his torrid season with two more goals in the victory, including the game-winner 3:28 into the third period. Jason Goldsmith (19-2-0, 1.39 GAA, .917 save %) stopped 25 of 27 shots for the victory, which helped catapult Warroad into the No. 2 spot in the rankings after St. Thomas Academy was shut out by Hill-Murray. Warroad is going to be a tough out in the tournaments with a deep roster, very good size and a strong defensive corps led by Michael Pieper (3-17-20), Carson Gray (6-11-17) and Tai Larson (2-13-15). The Warriors have won 10 of their last 11 games, with only a 5-4 overtime loss at Moorhead as a blemish.

This week: Tuesday at Grand Forks Central, ND (7:30pm), Thursday at Bemidji (7:30pm).

3. St. Thomas Academy (16-4-1)
I know, I know. Nobody in Class A plays a tougher schedule than the Cadets. But sometimes they have to be penalized for a loss, even if it is to defending Class AA state champion Hill-Murray (3-0 on Saturday night). The Pioneers aren’t the same team that won the state title last year, however, and STA had already beaten them 5-2 back on Jan. 8. Perhaps it isn’t surprising that a team so young can have an off night, even with the talent on their roster, including juniors Christian Isackson (12-30-42) and Justin Crandall (18-19-37), and sophomores A.J. Reid (19-14-33) and Zach Schroeder (9-13-22). Even so, a drop to No. 3 isn’t a back-breaking fall for the young Cadets. I’m sure no one is interested in facing them come tournament time.

This week: Thursday at Richfield (7:30pm), Saturday vs. Sibley (3pm).

4. Breck (17-3-1)
Speaking of young teams, the Mustangs have only two seniors playing regular roles on the ice this winter. Otherwise, Breck has a roster full of juniors with a sprinkle of sophomores thrown in for good measure. They’re getting plenty of experience, although the Mustangs haven’t had a tough game in weeks, as they’ve romped through the Tri-Metro. Breck has pitched four straight shutouts and has allowed only nine goals in 13 games since the New Year – all victories for the black and gold. John Russell (12-3-1, 1.72 GAA, .930 save %) and backup Max McCormick (5-0-0, 0.20 GAA, .979 save %) sure have enjoyed the support and have combined for seven shutouts (an amazing four for McCormick in five varsity starts).

This week: Tuesday at St. Paul Academy (7:30pm), Saturday vs. St. Paul Como (1pm).

5. St. Cloud Cathedral (18-2-1)
Future Gopher Nate Schmidt (17-20-37) is driving this engine and isn’t about to let up. He’s leading the team in scoring from the blue line and combined with Joe Nessler (5-21-26) and Jon Rowe, gives the Crusaders a top trio of defensemen any program would like to have. They, along with goaltender Nick Maiers (15-2-1, 1.51 GAA, .921 save %), make Cathedral tough to beat. Even when managing to slow down the offense of Jordan Palusky (21-13-34), Alex Koopmeiners (12-19-31), Kyle Kudak (15-9-24) and Sam Lommel (10-12-22), the Crusaders can win a 2-1 game any night.

This week: Friday at Delano/Rockford (7:30pm).

6. Hermantown (19-2-0)
The Hawks had a couple of shootouts last week, but won both to remain near the top of the Class A rankings. Hermantown edged Bemidji (5-3) on Tuesday and then blew past Cloquet (7-4) on Thursday. Leading scorer Adam Krause (21-27-48) had two big efforts, posting three goals and three assists in the two games. Six different Hawks have double-digit goals on the season, and that includes Grant Huttel (12-4-16) who has added plenty of offense since returning from injuries. In the past seven games, he’s tallied eight goals. There should be a great Section 5A showdown looming between the Hawks and St. Cloud Cathedral.

This week: Tuesday vs. Duluth Denfeld (7:30pm), Saturday at Red Wing (2pm).

7. Virginia/MI-B (18-5-0)
It’s a huge game for the Section 7A seedings this week as the Blue Devils travel to Mars Lakeview Arena to take on the Hilltoppers. Marshall is the defending section champion and won’t be keen on giving up its crown, while Virginia is bidding to make their first state tournament since 2005. The Blue Devils have been more consistent this season and are currently riding a seven-game winning streak since losing to Hibbing on Jan. 17. They’ve only allowed eight goals in that span and had back-to-back shutouts over Greenway (5-0) and Proctor (9-0) last week. Senior Will Lustig (13-5-0, 1.78 GAA, .916 save %) has turned up his game and the top Blue Devils top line is still humming along.

This week: Tuesday at Duluth Marshall (7:30pm).

8. South St. Paul (14-4-3)
The Packers are attempting to make a run at St. Thomas Academy in the Classic Suburban and in Section 4A, particularly after beating the two teams right behind them in the standings, Tartan (3-1) and Mahtomedi (5-3). South St. Paul still has a game remaining with the Cadets, as well, although they will need some help, as they’re two games back. Defenseman Zach Palmquist (13-20-33) leads the Packers in scoring and just committed to MSU-Mankato over the weekend. He’ll be key to their run, as will sophomores Adam Wilcox (12-4-3, 2.21 GAA, .913 save %) and Jesse Poznikowich (5-26-31) and freshman Austyn Young (9-20-29), the second and third leading scorers.

This week: Thursday vs. Simley (7:30pm), Saturday at North St. Paul (7:30pm).

9. Alexandria (16-3-1)
The Cardinals are another young team riding a six-game unbeaten streak (they did tie Sartell 3-3 last Thursday) and a hot goalie in senior Matt Hemingway (16-3-1, 1.54 GAA, .936 save %). Alexandria must contend with its nemesis in both the Central Lakes and Section 6A, however, in unbeaten Little Falls. The Flyers edged Alex in both games this year by a single goal (4-3 on Dec. 12 and 1-0 on Jan. 22) and a rematch in the section championship game seems likely. Incidentally, the loss to Little Falls on Dec. 12 was the last time Hemingway and the Cardinals allowed more than three goals in a game (they also allowed four in the season-opening 4-3 loss to St. Cloud Cathedral, their only other blemish).

This week: Tuesday at Sauk Rapids-Rice (7pm), Friday at Fergus Falls (7:30pm).

10. Thief River Falls (15-4-2)
Zane Gothberg (14-4-2, 1.49 GAA, .936 save %) might be the best goalie in the state that no one knows about. Playing up in Prowlers territory, Gothberg is on a six-game unbeaten string in which he’s made 105–of-111 saves (.946 save %). Unfortunately, Section 8A favorite Warroad has been the Prowlers’ lone stumbling block since the New Year, as Thief River Falls has lost twice to them (3-1 on Jan. 8 and 5-1 on Jan. 22). Odds are these two teams will get together again in the section playoffs, as well. Thief River Falls gets balanced scoring from five double-digit goal scorers in Lucas Dillon (20-23-43), Tyler Aandal (14-17-31), Kent Peterson (14-16-30), Jesse Castile (10-17-27) and Matt Lindquist (14-8-22).

This week: Tuesday vs. Bemidji (7:30pm), Thursday vs. Roseau (7:30pm), Saturday vs. Park Rapids (7:30pm).

11. Mahtomedi (14-5-1)
It’s a rare double-header between the Zephyrs and Classic Suburban rival Tartan this coming week, which should go a ways to determining which team will remain in the conference race. Either will need a sweep to keep pace with St. Thomas Academy, Hill-Murray and South St. Paul, however. Mahtomedi got a much-needed victory over the Pioneers (5-2) in its only game last week as Brandon Zurn (16-16-32) and Charlie Adams (13-27-40) each tallied two goals. They’re the top two scoring forwards for the Zephyrs and Adams is tied with U of M defensive recruit Ben Marshall (15-25-40) for the team scoring lead.

This week: Monday vs. Tartan (4:15pm), Thursday vs. Henry Sibley (7:30pm), Saturday at Tartan (3pm).

12. International Falls (14-6-1)
The Broncos are a team that had high expectations coming into the season – both internally and from outside predictors – and yet hiccupped their way outside the top-15 rankings after losing their first three games of the season. They’ve rallied, however, and have some nice victories over Hibbing (4-3 on Feb. 5), Hermantown (5-4 on Jan. 10) and Virginia (6-4 on Dec. 12). But they also have a recent surprising loss (5-4 to Greenway on Jan. 16, the Raiders’ first victory of the season). But it would be premature to count them out in the very difficult Section 7A race, which has four teams in our top-15 (Virginia, International Falls, Hibbing and Duluth Marshall).

This week: Tuesday at Greenway (7:30pm), Thursday vs. Lake of the Woods (7:30pm), Friday at Grand Rapids (7:30pm).

13. Duluth Marshall (12-7-1)
The return of Zach Mausolf only makes the Hilltoppers more dangerous. Last week, the ‘Toppers swept the other two Duluth Class A schools, beating Central (5-2) and Denfeld (3-2 in overtime). Mausolf netted the game-winner in overtime against the Hunters for his first (and certainly not last) goal of the season. He adds another sniper in the arsenal along with forwards Pat Mahoney (11-21-32), Joe Kozlak (11-16-27) and Dane Morin (14-5-19) and defenseman Derek Stauber (12-14-26). And as we’ve seen in the past, senior goalie Willie Paul (9-7-1, 2.52 GAA, .910 save %) can get hot and carry a team on his shoulders for long stretches. The Hilltoppers are much more dangerous than their record shows.

This week: Tuesday vs. Virginia (7:30pm), Saturday vs. Superior, Wisc. (12:30pm).

14. Hibbing/Chisholm (13-6-1)
The Bluejackets gave back some ground last week after losing to International Falls (4-3) and struggling to edge a three-win Greenway team (1-0). Hibbing fell behind 4-1 to the Falls last Thursday before rallying with third-period goals from Ryan Hangemon (11-9-20) and Spencer Peratelo (8-13-21). Then on Saturday, sophomore Jake Stampohar (4-11-15) netted the only goal of the game in the second period as the Bluejackets hung on against Greenway, despite outshooting them 46-15. Top scorer Aaron Jamnick (25-17-42) had an unusually quiet week without a single point.

This week: Tuesday vs. Grand Rapids (7:30pm), Friday vs. Eveleth-Gilbert (7:30pm).

15. (tie) Red Wing (13-7-0)
The Wingers gave a great effort in their last game, but fell to Class AA (and Missota) power Holy Angels 3-1 at home. They managed to equal the Stars in shots on net (26-all), but only picked up a goal from leading scorer Blake Schammel (18-21-39) just 33 seconds into the second period. Red Wing has won all of the games its been favored in, but hasn’t quite gotten over the hump against the teams ahead of it, losing its seven games to Holy Angels (twice), Breck, Rochester Lourdes, Totino-Grace, Mahtomedi and South St. Paul. They get one final chance before playoffs when they host Hermantown this Saturday.

This week: Tuesday at Shakopee (7pm), Thursday at Northfield (7:30pm), Saturday vs. Hermantown (2pm).

15. (tie) New Ulm (15-4-1)
Do I think Red Wing would beat New Ulm head-to-head? Yes, I do. But I had to find a way to get the Eagles into the top-15 rankings for what they’ve accomplished. Since opening the season with two losses in three games, New Ulm is 14-2-1 with their only defeats coming to out-of-state opponents in a holiday tournament (4-2 to Superior on Dec. 29) and 5-4 to Ft. Frances on Dec. 30). But still they went unrecognized until beating an equally hot Sartell-St. Stephen (3-1) in their most recent game. All-Stater Kyle Reinarts (27-26-53) has followed up his selection with another great year and leads the Eagles in goals, assists and points. New Ulm is a high-scoring team, averaging 6.0 goals a game. Kaleb Juntunen (17-14-31), Cody Kohn (11-16-27), Adam Loose (12-13-25) and Zach Fischer (13-10-23) all have double-digit goal totals.

This week: Tuesday at LeSueur-Henderson (7:30pm), Thursday at Litchfield/Dassel-Cokato (7pm), Friday at Dodge County (7:30pm).

[elliott70]

1. Warroad (20-2-0)
2. Little Falls (20-0-0)
3. St. Thomas Academy (16-4-1)
4. Hermantown (19-2-0)
5. South St. Paul (14-4-3)
6. Breck (17-3-1)
7. Thief River Falls (15-4-2)
8. Hibbing/Chisholm (13-6-1)
9. St. Cloud Cathedral (18-2-1)
10. Virginia/MI-B (18-5-0)
11. Alexandria (16-3-1)
12. Duluth Marshall (12-7-1)
13. International Falls (14-6-1)
14. Bemidji
15. Rochesater Lourdes

[Goldy23]

1. Little Falls (20-0-0)
St. Cloud State bound Ben Hanowski (50-40-90) shattered the first career scoring record he’s likely to break this season, netting the all-time goal-scoring mark during a victory over St. Cloud Apollo last Thursday. Next in his sights is Johnny Pohl’s career points record, which he’s just 19 points shy of tying with five regular season games (and undoubtedly several playoff games) remaining. Hanowski led the Flyers to three routs last week to remain unbeaten. Little Falls is now averaging 7.0 goals a game while allowing just 1.5 per. In addition to Big Ben, Riley Hirsch (18-26-44), Izaak Berglund (12-29-41), Ben Nelson (15-22-37), Wesley Waytashek (14-22-36), Logan Kalis (2-22-24) and Jordan Moll (11-10-21) all provide plenty of offense for the Flyers. Michael Sperl (20-0-0, 1.54 GAA, .928 save %) has played every second in nets this year and has a state-leading eight shutouts.

This week: Tuesday at St. Cloud Tech (7pm), Thursday at Prairie Centre (7pm), Friday vs. River Lakes (7:15pm).

Do those schools actually have Varsity Hockey or are they playing them in some sort of Duck Hunter tournament?!?!?

Nice Schedule.

[southernmnscout]

This week: Tuesday at St. Cloud Tech (7pm), Thursday at Prairie Centre (7pm), Friday vs. River Lakes (7:15pm).

Do those schools actually have Varsity Hockey or are they playing them in some sort of Duck Hunter tournament?!?!?

Nice Schedule.

Funny funny guy you are.

Why can't anyone just give the guy some credit? He can't help where his parents moved or he grew up. The people complaining of his soft schedule are probably the same people that complain about kids leaving the school where they grew up and the friends he grew up playing hockey with.

Leave the kid alone! At least he did stay and not leave for "greener pastures".

[dherman8]

Haha. I think that was a rip on the Flyer team schedule and not Hanowski. Even though all of those arguments are getting old that is great. At least that was a unique burn. Duck hunting........Just awesome.

[southernmnscout]

Haha. I think that was a rip on the Flyer team schedule and not Hanowski. Even though all of those arguments are getting old that is great. At least that was a unique burn. Duck hunting........Just awesome.

It was a rip on the schedule but the point is can Ben control his teams schedule??? The arguments are getting very old.

[ramstein]

If it wasn't for soft schedules, public vs. private(and the many versions of it), recruiting there wouldn't be that much to discuss this year on the bored.

I almost forgot and the college bound players.

[dirtkiller_97]

this schedule argument has been going on for 4 or 5 years......get over it people and find something new....if there is anything else

[HShockeywatcher]

southernmnscout,
I don't know anyone who has been questioning the talent of the kid. In one thread I asked a question about Anders Lee's totals and asked people's opinions on comparing the two. That was about it. No one is questioning his talent or anything he has done. Regardless of the schedule it takes an amazing athlete to do what he is doing. If I remember correctly Isaiah Dahlman broke a scoring record playing AA basketball.

The only real discussions about Little Falls are about where they should be on the rankings with their schedule. Only time will tell and we will only have a few games to see if they were right or not.

[dirtkiller_97]

i believe another piece of information would be taking the fact that many of these players have been playing varsity hockey for quite a long time...the senior leadership is a very influencial aspect in these rankings.....these seniors know what its like playing in the X and what it takes to bring their team to state and its not like they haven't good teams in the xcel.....Hermantown and Little Falls of 07 was quite the qfinals game and going into the third period i believe...last year LF lost to st thomas 5-3 when cathedral lost 9-2 and marshall losing 5-1 so LF had the best margin against the cadets and scored the most goals...now this year many of the same players are back

[gophers101]

1. Little Falls
2. Warroad
3. St. Cloud Cathedral
4. St. Thomas Academy
5. Breck
6. Hermantown
7. South St. Paul
8. Thief River Falls
9. Virginia
10. Hibbing
11. I-Falls
12. Duluth Marshall
13. Alexandria
14. Red Wing
15. Rochester Lourdes

[HShockeywatcher]

dirtkiller_97,
your second point is a very good one. There is no way around saying that Little Falls has basically gotten screwed the last two years at state. Hopefully they get a #2 seed this year and going 2-1 gets them 2nd place, not 5th.

Your first point, however, is bogus. "this schedule argument has been going on for 4 or 5 years......get over it people and find something new....if there is anything else"
1. 4 or 5 years? Where'd that come from? SOS has been around since dirt was new.
2. You're right, there isn't anything else. You can't simply take away the one thing a side has. That would be like me saying, come on, the only reason they're winning is because of Ben Hanowski, argue for the #1 spot without him. Doesn't make sense.
Case in point, your schedule is what defines you.

I don't know much about hockey SOS at the NHL level, but in the NBA, one conference has been filled with top teams such that the #8 team usually measures up to the #3, or even sometimes the #2, team in the other conference. This is commented on every year in how just about any any team could come out of the West but the East is between two teams. The West teams also have an edge when it comes to playing in the NBA finals as they have played three rounds against top notch competition.

This is similarly why WCHA teams do so well. They play the majority of their games against other top teams. Losing to another top team will many times do more good for a team than beating a mediocre team.

If the 2 or 3 seeds in sections 4A, 5A or 7A make it to state, I expect them to do the best as they had to go through the most to get there.

[gophers101]

dirtkiller_97,
your second point is a very good one. There is no way around saying that Little Falls has basically gotten screwed the last two years at state. Hopefully they get a #2 seed this year and going 2-1 gets them 2nd place, not 5th.

Your first point, however, is bogus. "this schedule argument has been going on for 4 or 5 years......get over it people and find something new....if there is anything else"
1. 4 or 5 years? Where'd that come from? SOS has been around since dirt was new.
2. You're right, there isn't anything else. You can't simply take away the one thing a side has. That would be like me saying, come on, the only reason they're winning is because of Ben Hanowski, argue for the #1 spot without him. Doesn't make sense.
Case in point, your schedule is what defines you.

I don't know much about hockey SOS at the NHL level, but in the NBA, one conference has been filled with top teams such that the #8 team usually measures up to the #3, or even sometimes the #2, team in the other conference. This is commented on every year in how just about any any team could come out of the West but the East is between two teams. The West teams also have an edge when it comes to playing in the NBA finals as they have played three rounds against top notch competition.

This is similarly why WCHA teams do so well. They play the majority of their games against other top teams. Losing to another top team will many times do more good for a team than beating a mediocre team.

If the 2 or 3 seeds in sections 4A, 5A or 7A make it to state, I expect them to do the best as they had to go through the most to get there.

I think 7A is the most competitive section this year because there are 4 teams that can win and really do some damage at state. 5A is also good seeing there are 3 team's battling for a spot and they all can do damage. I'd rather play Edina 10 times in a year than have to play some lowly farm town that can barely field a team. I'd rather play Minnetonka 10 times a year than Silver Bay,Two Harbors, and Ely.

[defense]

Strength of schedule is OK to argue, when you are talking about: Park Rapids, Wadena, Detroit Lakes, Morris, Marshall, ........all have incredibly horrible schedules. This argument was OK when Wadena was going undefeated against Park Rapids, Hallock, Red Lake Falls, etc.. its OK to argue that Park Rapids record doesn't mean anything, or that a kid that goes for a record there plays weak teams. Little Falls has an average schedule at worst bottom line. Quit lying to yourselves.....

[dirtkiller_97]

Virginia, Alex, SCC, are all ranked teams in the ps2 rankings and early in the year i'm pretty sure they scrimmaged warroad and beat them 4-3 there are def worst schedules out there.....yeah st thomas has played 13 AA games this year.....good for them maybe they should move to AA then they've obviously showed that they can compete year after year....you wanna argue lets argue why STA is sandbagging in the single A world.....

[MNHockey75]

2/9

1. Little Falls 20-0
2. St. Thomas Academy 16-4-1
3. St. Cloud Cathedral 17-2-1
4. Warroad 20-2
5. Hermantown 19-2
6. Breck 17-3-1
7. South St. Paul 14-4-3
8. Mahtomedi 14-5-1
9. Thief River Falls 15-4-2
10. Virginia 17-5
11. International Falls 14-6-1
12. Hibbing 13-6-1
13. Duluth Marshall 12-7-1
14. Alexandria 17-3-1
15. Totino-Grace 14-6-2

[backcheck101]

When you play in a weak conference, schedule some tough games out side the conference. Thats what a coach should do for the better of his team.

[scoreboard33]

If I remember correctly Isaiah Dahlman broke a scoring record playing AA basketball.

Dahlman's team played in the AA tournament, but didn't really play a AA schedule, it was a sizeable upgrade and I think that record got broken again.

[SargeyWargey09]

2/9

1. Little Falls 20-0
2. St. Thomas Academy 16-4-1
3. St. Cloud Cathedral 17-2-1
4. Warroad 20-2
5. Hermantown 19-2
6. Breck 17-3-1
7. South St. Paul 14-4-3
8. Mahtomedi 14-5-1
9. Thief River Falls 15-4-2
10. Virginia 17-5
11. International Falls 14-6-1
12. Hibbing 13-6-1
13. Duluth Marshall 12-7-1
14. Alexandria 17-3-1
15. Totino-Grace 14-6-2

haha this is a joke? 1. Warroad
2. STA
3. Little Falls
4.Hermantown
5.SCC
6.South Saint Paul
7. Breck
8. Thief River Falls
9. Mahtomedi
10.International Falls

[hshckfan08]

dirtkiller_97,
your second point is a very good one. There is no way around saying that Little Falls has basically gotten screwed the last two years at state. Hopefully they get a #2 seed this year and going 2-1 gets them 2nd place, not 5th.

Your first point, however, is bogus. "this schedule argument has been going on for 4 or 5 years......get over it people and find something new....if there is anything else"
1. 4 or 5 years? Where'd that come from? SOS has been around since dirt was new.
2. You're right, there isn't anything else. You can't simply take away the one thing a side has. That would be like me saying, come on, the only reason they're winning is because of Ben Hanowski, argue for the #1 spot without him. Doesn't make sense.
Case in point, your schedule is what defines you.

I don't know much about hockey SOS at the NHL level, but in the NBA, one conference has been filled with top teams such that the #8 team usually measures up to the #3, or even sometimes the #2, team in the other conference. This is commented on every year in how just about any any team could come out of the West but the East is between two teams. The West teams also have an edge when it comes to playing in the NBA finals as they have played three rounds against top notch competition.

This is similarly why WCHA teams do so well. They play the majority of their games against other top teams. Losing to another top team will many times do more good for a team than beating a mediocre team.

If the 2 or 3 seeds in sections 4A, 5A or 7A make it to state, I expect them to do the best as they had to go through the most to get there.

So how do you explain Utah, Boise State, George Mason basketball

[deacon]

dirtkiller_97,
your second point is a very good one. There is no way around saying that Little Falls has basically gotten screwed the last two years at state. Hopefully they get a #2 seed this year and going 2-1 gets them 2nd place, not 5th.

Your first point, however, is bogus. "this schedule argument has been going on for 4 or 5 years......get over it people and find something new....if there is anything else"
1. 4 or 5 years? Where'd that come from? SOS has been around since dirt was new.
2. You're right, there isn't anything else. You can't simply take away the one thing a side has. That would be like me saying, come on, the only reason they're winning is because of Ben Hanowski, argue for the #1 spot without him. Doesn't make sense.
Case in point, your schedule is what defines you.

I don't know much about hockey SOS at the NHL level, but in the NBA, one conference has been filled with top teams such that the #8 team usually measures up to the #3, or even sometimes the #2, team in the other conference. This is commented on every year in how just about any any team could come out of the West but the East is between two teams. The West teams also have an edge when it comes to playing in the NBA finals as they have played three rounds against top notch competition.

This is similarly why WCHA teams do so well. They play the majority of their games against other top teams. Losing to another top team will many times do more good for a team than beating a mediocre team.

If the 2 or 3 seeds in sections 4A, 5A or 7A make it to state, I expect them to do the best as they had to go through the most to get there.

So how do you explain Utah, Boise State, George Mason basketball

Ummmm.. Wasn't Utah undefeated this year and they still weren't the national champions? Thats why SOS matters. Same with Boise State. Those schools can go undefeated every year, but until they play better teams, it's not going to matter, they will not be national champions. George Mason is an outlier that got extremely hot at the right time, plain and simple.

[theblandyman]

haha this is a joke?

1. Warroad
2. STA
3. Little Falls
4.Hermantown
5.SCC
6.South Saint Paul
7. Breck
8. Thief River Falls
9. Mahtomedi
10.International Falls

You've got SCC behind two teams that they beat...think about it and try again...

[scoreboard33]

dirtkiller_97,
your second point is a very good one. There is no way around saying that Little Falls has basically gotten screwed the last two years at state. Hopefully they get a #2 seed this year and going 2-1 gets them 2nd place, not 5th.

Your first point, however, is bogus. "this schedule argument has been going on for 4 or 5 years......get over it people and find something new....if there is anything else"
1. 4 or 5 years? Where'd that come from? SOS has been around since dirt was new.
2. You're right, there isn't anything else. You can't simply take away the one thing a side has. That would be like me saying, come on, the only reason they're winning is because of Ben Hanowski, argue for the #1 spot without him. Doesn't make sense.
Case in point, your schedule is what defines you.

I don't know much about hockey SOS at the NHL level, but in the NBA, one conference has been filled with top teams such that the #8 team usually measures up to the #3, or even sometimes the #2, team in the other conference. This is commented on every year in how just about any any team could come out of the West but the East is between two teams. The West teams also have an edge when it comes to playing in the NBA finals as they have played three rounds against top notch competition.

This is similarly why WCHA teams do so well. They play the majority of their games against other top teams. Losing to another top team will many times do more good for a team than beating a mediocre team.

If the 2 or 3 seeds in sections 4A, 5A or 7A make it to state, I expect them to do the best as they had to go through the most to get there.

Ok, I don't quite understand your Ben Hanowski argument, however I agree with you on most points and a strong strength of schedule definitely benefits the team playing it, unless it is too strong and the team gets worn down by the end of the season. However, in the rankings, you have to take into account what a team does with their schedule. If they have won every game, they have proven night in and night out they are the best. I completely disagree with you saying a close loss to a good team is better than a close win against a bad team. I also think that the good teams find a way to win even when they don't play well and that some teams don't know how to win and do it consistently. That is why going undefeated, especially for LF or Jefferson is so impressive, they come out every night with a target on their back and have stepped up the plate every time. While they may not be as well prepared for sections, they have proven that not only can they blow out a team, they can find a way to win when the going is tough. I think you have to account for how they have done against their schedule for in season rankings and while you can favor other teams to win state and make a valid argument, you probably have to give the undefeated team the nod in rankings.

If you had made this argument in the AA rankings, I would be nowhere near as enraged as I was with some of your other arguments that I completely don't buy.

Sorry for mixing my response to two threads into one.

[dirtkiller_97]

The LF team this year has been working hard and playing the cards that they have been dealt to build respect and what they have done this year is beat every single team that has been thrown to them.....yeah they don't have a AA schedule like STA but these are the teams they played and they are unblemished in the accomplishments. I think this year they have proven themselves well and i remember 3 years ago when these senior leaders were playing their first year varsity many were saying that they were going to be dang near unstoppable when they are seniors....well they have proven that so far and still have yet to get respect from some

[hshckfan08]

dirtkiller_97,
your second point is a very good one. There is no way around saying that Little Falls has basically gotten screwed the last two years at state. Hopefully they get a #2 seed this year and going 2-1 gets them 2nd place, not 5th.

Your first point, however, is bogus. "this schedule argument has been going on for 4 or 5 years......get over it people and find something new....if there is anything else"
1. 4 or 5 years? Where'd that come from? SOS has been around since dirt was new.
2. You're right, there isn't anything else. You can't simply take away the one thing a side has. That would be like me saying, come on, the only reason they're winning is because of Ben Hanowski, argue for the #1 spot without him. Doesn't make sense.
Case in point, your schedule is what defines you.

I don't know much about hockey SOS at the NHL level, but in the NBA, one conference has been filled with top teams such that the #8 team usually measures up to the #3, or even sometimes the #2, team in the other conference. This is commented on every year in how just about any any team could come out of the West but the East is between two teams. The West teams also have an edge when it comes to playing in the NBA finals as they have played three rounds against top notch competition.

This is similarly why WCHA teams do so well. They play the majority of their games against other top teams. Losing to another top team will many times do more good for a team than beating a mediocre team.

If the 2 or 3 seeds in sections 4A, 5A or 7A make it to state, I expect them to do the best as they had to go through the most to get there.

So how do you explain Utah, Boise State, George Mason basketball

Ummmm.. Wasn't Utah undefeated this year and they still weren't the national champions? Thats why SOS matters. Same with Boise State. Those schools can go undefeated every year, but until they play better teams, it's not going to matter, they will not be national champions. George Mason is an outlier that got extremely hot at the right time, plain and simple.

Ummmm... The president of the United States of America felt like they could have been the national champions if the appropriate playoff system was in place. My point is that they beat a team that was considered to be the best team in the nation, despite their soft schedule. So the statement that schedule defines you is ridiculous.