Big 9

[OU812]

West 6
Faribault 3

Shots 34-14 West
Rantanen hat trick

[itech22]

King (John Marshall) is not hurt but I won't get into specifics. I will reiterate what the paper said about it and you can take it from there. King has not played due to disciplinary reasons.

[Rookie19]

Looks like Sellnow is back for Century.

[scarlethockey33]

Looks like Sellnow is back for Century.

should be a huge help to century to have their veteran goalie back in net for them...

[DmanDad1980]

Very surprised Century beat Albert Lea in Albert Lea the other night...

Things turning around for the Panthers...?

[scarlethockey33]

century's return of sellnow is definitely going to add stability to a team that needs a good tender to win games for them. Sellnow is definitely one of the top goalies along with Kaufman and maybe Garvey, who has done quite a job early for JM as a sophmore in a conference, where goaltender is a rarity as of right now in the season.

Also prehaps century is starting to find their identity? the difference from their roster this year and last year is quite different and the panthers only have 6 seniors including cam, maybe frutiger is finally figuring out his lines after three games

as for albert lea they have a great player in carlson but they're going to need to surround him with some good role players. roy is a great coach and usually has his team stressing hard work and that's what it's gonna take for albert lea to be a dangerous team later in the season

also either albert lea's defense situation or goalie situation is a mess wangen and dulas have gaa's at 3.5 and 4.0 and a sv% of .825 and .814 either way these numbers are reflecting one or the other, with approximately 20 shots per game you have to think that in albert lea its' the goaltending

[jackstraw]

Century will be fine this year. I didn't know what to expect with their 3 departures, after watching I am very impressed. They are huge, and I am seeing kids who developed a little later. AL tried to get into a physical match up with them (borderline cheap), big mistake as Century won't get pushed around by anybody in the Big 9. Sellnow is experienced and will do fine. I am anxious to see West as they are a mystery to me also. Could be West and Century battling it out for a conference title. Back to Century, the goalie who left is where he should be, playing juniors and getting the right exposure, he will go far in hockey. The others I am not so sure of. I was very impressed with Century and those two would have fit in nicely.

[scarlethockey33]

right now the Big9 race does look like a match up between Century and Mankato West. West has found an element that they didn't have last year and that was a night in and night out scorer. The year's before they had Andrew Bruggemen and the talent of the senior class with Leiverman, Litchfield.

This season Rantanen has provided a scoring ability matchable to those names along with some very exceptional talented players to surround him. Names like Weber, Frentz and Bigham are playing at a high level right now as well. His line of Weber, Frentz and Rantanen is extremely dangerous on the ice and maybe one of the best lines in Big 9. The match up with Century on Jan. 18th will be an interesting one for Big 9.

Still I don't think we should discredit Faribault, as if and when Forgaard returns for them they could very well be apart of the conversation.

[OU812]

Jackstraw, I figured you'd have something to say after the AL/Century game. I think you're right about Century, but I also think several teams are in the mix besides them and West (after all, Century lost 11-0 to WBL, and West is very young on the blueline). Faribault and Albert Lea should also figure into things based on the talent they have. Also, both JM and Mayo are better this year than last. We'll know a lot more by Jan 1st. Should be a great season to watch.

[topgun]

sure Cam Sellnow is one of the best goalies in the Big 9, BUT GET REAL Scarlethockey33, your hometown boy jake kaufman with a 880 SV% and a 2.75 GAA against the teams that your Scarlets have played against so far this season is far from what I would call All Conference stats, and if they are it must be a real real down year for goaltending in the Big Nine and I think it is with Kautz leaving Century and King not playing at JM and Fogaard no where to be seen at Faribault

[itech22]

I would definitely agree with topgun on this one. The goalie situation in the big 9 is way down. Look at all of the scores thus far with the big 9 teams. There are not many 2-1 or so games they have been 5 goals plus and sometimes on both ends. And don't get me wrong it isn't due to the solid lines in the big 9 as well. There are a few decent ones but that is about it.

[Chalk_Talk]

I would agree that the play is down this year in the Big 9 over all.

To say there are not many 1 or 2 goal games is a true statement but that statment is true for hs hockey in general. For 67 games played last week there were 460 goals scored (quick math for games wed-fri), that is almost 7.5 goals a game. That is combined by both teams.

[Big Nine Observer]

Century beat Owatonna 4-0. Game was actually pretty close. Owatonna had two goals waved off in a scoreless first period. Raehsler and Jacobs played well. Sellnow was solid. This game was won by the Century coaches. 3 of the 4 Century goals were scored by their top line against the 3rd and 4th lines of Owatonna.

[scarlethockey33]

BUT GET REAL Scarlethockey33, your hometown boy jake kaufman with a 880 SV% and a 2.75 GAA against the teams that your Scarlets have played against so far this season is far from what I would call All Conference stats

have you been to a West game? the goals against him are mostly not on the fault of his own, especially the ones against waconia and wascea, those games have messed up his sv% because their low shot totals, those should've easily been shutouts, West is giving up way too many shots in the slot and its killing his stats right now, the stats simply do not pay justice for kaufman's play.

the most important stat is the W anyway..

in all honesty though, i do agree with you that cam is arguably the most sound, consistent goalie in the Big9

[Jim9000]

Have not heard much about Winona.... What's up with them this year?

[Big Nine Observer]

Mayo beat Owatonna 5-3 in Rochester. Owatonna led 2-0 and 3-2 before Mayo scored three late goals. McMasters got the hat trick and Norman also scored for Mayo.

[OU812]

West 9-1 over East. Hat Trick for Weber.

[BadgerBob82]

Another good night for Austin and Sweden!

[OU812]

West 6
JM 0

Final

[goldy313]

Ugly night for the AA teams....

Farmington 8
Mayo 1

Tartan 8
Owatonna 2

North 6
Century 1

with West's win that's being outscored 28-4.

West beating JM didn't suprise me but the margin sure did, a big 4 point game for the Scarlets. They get Lourdes, Albert Lea, and Century in a week starting Jan 11 that week will tell us a lot about where West is in the Big Nine and 1A.

[scarlethockey33]

Have not heard much about Winona.... What's up with them this year?

Winona simply doesnt have the talent they had last year without moran, theis and florin, and they dont have welle in goal for them either. When they are in high scoring games, they don't have the offense to keep up with the other teams.

Close game vs. Albert Lea was very surprising to me, not to take anything away from Winona though they played a good game just not enough in the end.

Winona shows some good depth in scoring 10 players with at least 1 goal. Defense is giving up an average of about 4 goals a game, not good enough for a team who lacks the offense muscle. Also depending on how accurate hockeyhub is the Winhawks' PP is looking ugly running 1-25 or 4%.

[OU812]

Final standings for the Big 9 this season?

1. Century
2. (tie) Albert Lea
West
4. John Marshall
5. Owatonna
6. Mayo
7. Faribault
8. Winona
9. Austin
10. East

Century may only be 3-3, but the schedule they've played is tougher than the other Big 9 teams. Plus, Albert Lea already lost to them, and West has to play the Panthers on Jan. 18th in Rochester. West and Albert Lea do play each other twice. West got the better of JM when compared to ALea, but Nystrom has a history of getting the most out of every team he coaches, so call it a tie for now.

For the rest, JM already beat Mayo, but last Thursday Mayo lost 3-1 to Lakeville North, which might be the Spartans best showing this year. Owatonna also beat Mayo, and Farmington. I thought Faribault would be stronger this season, but so far I'm wrong. Winona playing AL into OT (with SOG about even) might be a good sign for the Winhawks. Austin is improved (again) this year, but East is not likely to win a conference game.

Just my two cents.

[Chalktalk]

Winona is not close to last years team, lost too much talent. They do get top 2 players back in January after serving suspensions. Will make them better overall.

Final standings for the Big 9 this season?

1. Century
2. (tie) Albert Lea
West
4. John Marshall
5. Owatonna
6. Mayo
7. Faribault
8. Winona
9. Austin
10. East

Century may only be 3-3, but the schedule they've played is tougher than the other Big 9 teams. Plus, Albert Lea already lost to them, and West has to play the Panthers on Jan. 18th in Rochester. West and Albert Lea do play each other twice. West got the better of JM when compared to ALea, but Nystrom has a history of getting the most out of every team he coaches, so call it a tie for now.

For the rest, JM already beat Mayo, but last Thursday Mayo lost 3-1 to Lakeville North, which might be the Spartans best showing this year. Owatonna also beat Mayo, and Farmington. I thought Faribault would be stronger this season, but so far I'm wrong. Winona playing AL into OT (with SOG about even) might be a good sign for the Winhawks. Austin is improved (again) this year, but East is not likely to win a conference game.

Just my two cents.

[clutterbuck22]

Final standings for the Big 9 this season?

1. Century
2. (tie) Albert Lea
West
4. John Marshall
5. Owatonna
6. Mayo
7. Faribault
8. Winona
9. Austin
10. East

Century may only be 3-3, but the schedule they've played is tougher than the other Big 9 teams. Plus, Albert Lea already lost to them, and West has to play the Panthers on Jan. 18th in Rochester. West and Albert Lea do play each other twice. West got the better of JM when compared to ALea, but Nystrom has a history of getting the most out of every team he coaches, so call it a tie for now.

For the rest, JM already beat Mayo, but last Thursday Mayo lost 3-1 to Lakeville North, which might be the Spartans best showing this year. Owatonna also beat Mayo, and Farmington. I thought Faribault would be stronger this season, but so far I'm wrong. Winona playing AL into OT (with SOG about even) might be a good sign for the Winhawks. Austin is improved (again) this year, but East is not likely to win a conference game.

Just my two cents.

Mayo actually beat Owatonna 5 to 3.

[scarlethockey33]

Final standings for the Big 9 this season?

1. Century
2. (tie) Albert Lea
West
4. John Marshall
5. Owatonna
6. Mayo
7. Faribault
8. Winona
9. Austin
10. East

Also completely agree with you here, I haven't seen Owatonna play though, and I'll call it right now Mankato West will win when they host Albert Lea, but when Albert hosts Mankato West, Albert Lea will win over West. Home ice has made the difference in past years between the two programs.

West's match up with Century will have very high implications for crowning Big 9 Champions. The return of Sellnow has put a lot of ease on that Panthers Defense and stability in their d zone.