Section 3A (2012-13 Season)

[Section 3A HockeyScout]

Greetings Section 3A Followers,

Decided to start a new thread and I wanted to wait until Christmas before coming out with rankings and notes on each team. Below I will give you what I think the seeds will be if the season ended today. Remember Coaches vote in the section while I think some teams have more quality then others I am just going off of where I see the teams getting seeded.

Section 3A Rankings
1. New Ulm Area (4-3-1)
2. Marshall (5-3-0)
3. Luverne (6-1-0)
4. Windom (6-1-0)
5. Hutchinson (1-5-0)
6. LDC (4-3-0)
7. Redwood Valley (1-4-0)
8. Worthington (1-7-0)
9. Fairmont (1-5-0)

Number 1 Seed a Lock: If New Ulm takes care of business with LDC twice and Marshall at home they are the number one seed. The 3 time defending champs are down but so is the Section this is still the favorite in this Section. Led by their top line of (Neuman, Peterson and Davis) and the steady tending of Kraus the Eagles look very tough again this year.

Bottom Three: Redwood, Worthington and Fairmont are the bottom 3. I thought Worthington would be better this year but that is not the case. Great Goalie but not much else. Fairmont is really struggling not much to say about them. Redwood has been surprisingly competitive so far. I look for them to knock off a Windom, Luverne or Marshall this year once.

Biggest Disappointment: LDC get some help coming home from up North but still struggling this year losses to Luverne (At HOME) and Morris-Benson (Who Windom put 10 goals on) really hurt this team. Their top line of Haatja, Spreiter and Ryyanen is tough and they have gotten good tending from Wahl so far.

Good thing for them they have time to recover they still play New Ulm and Hutch twice also get Marshall at home. If they can win a few games there they can still salvage a home game otherwise they are looking at the 6 seed again.

Biggest Surprise: Windom and Marshall
Windom in Coach Ammerman’s 2nd year has the Eagles off to their best start in program history. This team really surprises me but they are getting outstanding production from Janssen and Bartosh up front and steady tending from Stubbe. Looking at their schedule they could be a 2 or 3 loss team. If they can beat Marshall again and knock off Luverne a 2nd time equals a SW Conference title and #2 seed.

Marshall under 1st year Coach Coudert have shocked everyone after being written off by everyone the Tigers are off to very solid start. Their 10 seniors have led the Tigers especially (Mikell, Horvath & Zerr). They pulled big wins out @Hutch & @Luverne. The Tigers have really been a surprise. I look for the Tigers to keep playing low scoring games and I think they are the favorite to win their 3rd consecutive SW Crown and earn a top 2 seed.

Most Overhyped- Luverne was the big talk on here and then we haven’t heard much from them since Marshall on their HOME ice soundly beat them in all aspects. Ton of talents on this team (Sengvongxay, Maxwell, Wenninger and Meyer) just don’t seem to be able to put it together. But they are in the hunt for the Conference as well but will need to go into Marshall and win which is something that will be very tough for them also, have road games vs. Windom & Hutch. Toughest road ahead as far as looking at teams in this Section battling for top seeds.

Dark Horse- Hutchinson most talented team in my eyes in the section. Players like Adams, Nielson, Cowger, Macemon to name a few they have the top overall talent and depth in the Section. They seem to be getting their goaltending in order have gone with Senior Buss. Things that work against them are that they will not have a flashy record and losses to New Ulm and Marshall really hurt. But if they win out vs LDC Twice and Luverne still can get the 3 seed possibly two seed. I really think in the end this is your section champion if they can get the goaltending.


Just some thoughts…

Section Final Prediction: Hutch over New Ulm in a thriller

I am out good luck to all teams on your 2nd half of the season!

[notTONIGHT]

oh great, everyone has been so eagerly awaiting 3A hockey scouts sure to go wrong guarantees. Hutch is so talented blah blah blah. Comes down to Luverne New Ulm and MArshall. Marshall stole one from a depleted Luverne squad. Marshall will "regress to the mean" and their depth will show. You cant deny the experience New Ulm has which will make a big difference.

[Hockeyislife09]

In my opinion, new Ulm is a team that either shows up and plays or they get walked all over...losing by 2 to Delano is pretty good considering they are a top 15 team in class A.. But they also lost to mound 6 to 0 which tells me that depending on when they show up to play, no team in this section will beat them even with the lack of experience they have.. But I could see them getting beat by 4 depending who they play in playoffs (Luverne) if they don't come to play.

It's been an interesting year so far, I really don't know who to pick in the end but if I had to I would put Luverne and hutch in the finals and Luverne winning by 3 goals...

New Ulm has a nice top line but they are still to young and inexperienced..

Marshall lacks defense and a golie.

Hutch has depth and seem to be finding a goaltender who shutout a good waconia team!

Luverne has offense lead by wenniger and the 2 best defensemen In the section in maxwell and Toby, with a very solid goaltender!

Windom has Jansen but its not enough

LDC has their top line and that's pretty much it, plus their golie who is doing some what okay.

Fairmont, redwood, and worthington I don't really know much about them but they can't be anything special.

[Section 3A HockeyScout]

oh great, everyone has been so eagerly awaiting 3A hockey scouts sure to go wrong guarantees. Hutch is so talented blah blah blah. Comes down to Luverne New Ulm and MArshall. Marshall stole one from a depleted Luverne squad. Marshall will "regress to the mean" and their depth will show. You cant deny the experience New Ulm has which will make a big difference.

notTONIGHT,

If you dont think Hutch is in your final 4 teams at Gustavus your way off base. Hutch has the most talent top to bottom in their lineup. They have three good lines that includes top end forwards in (Nielson, Adams & Cowger) 4 solid d-man. If they can get steady tendying from Buss or Allen they will be very tough to beat.

They play teams like Holy Family x2, Mound Westonka x2, Orono x2, Blake, Little Falls which will help them sure up their d-zone as they will have to or they wont be competitive.

I think you should reconsider not including them in your teams in the discussion.

I am not guaranteeing anything this year. Learned my lesson last year

However, I have seen every team play and I think anyone of the 6 teams listed in the poll have a chance. I like whats going on in Windom Coach Ammerman has done a great job with that program in only his 2nd year. Also, lots of bashing of the Marshall staff they have put a solid product on the ice so far this year good for them. New Ulm, Hutch, LDC are the 3 teams that have been to state out of this section ...... Will there be a different story at the of this year??? Not sure but looking at it right now I think Hutch is the team to beat with New Ulm right behind them.

(Again not a guarantee just some thoughts after watching)

Will come down to coaching and who gets better as the year goes on thats why I think New Ulm and Hutch are the two teams when it ends... Again just a guess after the first half.

Hope Everyone has a HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

[PVTeaglesAA]

Not sure why people would think New Ulm isn't the team to beat. Defending section champs, won't let a SWC team beat them and sorry but Hutch isn't a state caliber team.

[notSoFast]

I think the winnner of this section is going to find it dificult to compete at state. That being said it is quite a competitive section due to the flaws of each team. It will be interesting to see how this whole thing shakes out. I do agree with the section scout if Hutch can protect their goal they will be a more competitive team then what their record will be.

[CherryPicker99]

Doesn't look like Section 3A had very good outings in the holiday tournaments. Back to the grind to finish up the year. Good luck to all teams. Any predictions for the upcoming games?

1-3-13
Luverne at Marshall
Redwood Valley at Windom
Hutch at Orono

1-5-13
LDC at New Ulm

[MHGr8ness]

Not sure why people would think New Ulm isn't the team to beat. Defending section champs, won't let a SWC team beat them and sorry but Hutch isn't a state caliber team.

No one in this section is state caliber.

[Teak]

Doesn't look like Section 3A had very good outings in the holiday tournaments. Back to the grind to finish up the year. Good luck to all teams. Any predictions for the upcoming games?

1-3-13
Luverne at Marshall
Redwood Valley at Windom
Hutch at Orono

1-5-13
LDC at New Ulm

I am going to the Luverne-Marshall game tomorrow night. Will report.

[CherryPicker99]

Gr8ness why Don't you think any of these teams are state caliber? Just curious as to what makes a state caliber team. Teak, don't you have the thread on freshman scoring? If so, Chaz Smedsrud will be playing tomorrow. I would bet you can add a couple more points to his stats tomorrow.

[MHGr8ness]

Gr8ness why Don't you think any of these teams are state caliber? Just curious as to what makes a state caliber team. Teak, don't you have the thread on freshman scoring? If so, Chaz Smedsrud will be playing tomorrow. I would bet you can add a couple more points to his stats tomorrow.

Well it's hard to define... I guess I would say state caliber means you can be competitive with any team in the state. (Competitive means within about 3 goals to me)

[timcorbin21]

I'd like too see them make some changes to the sections. The current system isn't fair to many better teams that will never get to go to state. And I'm not sure its healthy for the teams from very weak sections to walk into the State Tournament with the biggest question being "can we keep it under double digits?"

[CherryPicker99]

All go with that. Correct me if I'm wrong but hasn't New Ulm drawn STA in the first round the last two years? If section 3 didn't draw them in the first round I think a team from this section could at least compete with a few of the teams.

[HShockeywatcher]

All go with that. Correct me if I'm wrong but hasn't New Ulm drawn STA in the first round the last two years? If section 3 didn't draw them in the first round I think a team from this section could at least compete with a few of the teams.

This year they are seeding 5 teams, so the winner of this section will be paired with #1, #2 or #3. It'll make for better hockey in the later rounds, but it isn't looking up.

If that's the definition of "state caliber" then there are less than 10 teams in Class A who are...

[Chalk_Talk]

All go with that. Correct me if I'm wrong but hasn't New Ulm drawn STA in the first round the last two years? If section 3 didn't draw them in the first round I think a team from this section could at least compete with a few of the teams.

These are the scores from their games at state

2010 Breck 11 New Ulm 1......Roch Lourdes 7 New Ulm 2
2011 St Thomas 13 New Ulm 2..........Breck 6 New Ulm 0
2012 Theif River 5 New Ulm 1..........Roch Lourdes 10 New Ulm 2

Total of goals for NU 8, Goals Against 52

[HShockeywatcher]

All go with that. Correct me if I'm wrong but hasn't New Ulm drawn STA in the first round the last two years? If section 3 didn't draw them in the first round I think a team from this section could at least compete with a few of the teams.

These are the scores from their games at state

2010 Breck 11 New Ulm 1......Roch Lourdes 7 New Ulm 2
2011 St Thomas 13 New Ulm 2..........Breck 6 New Ulm 0
2012 Theif River 5 New Ulm 1..........Roch Lourdes 10 New Ulm 2

Total of goals for NU 8, Goals Against 52

No one is debating that, but what is your (or whoever's) "solution" to the "problem" you see?
For starters, I bet anyone else in the section would trade places with them in a heart beat.
But secondly, any realistic solution/change to the system I see would result in teams from this section needing to improve a lot, or simply not making it.

[casualobserver]

Five of the six teams that beat New Ulm are private schools. To me, that is the problem here. How about a state division that only includes town team hockey?

[Chalk_Talk]

All go with that. Correct me if I'm wrong but hasn't New Ulm drawn STA in the first round the last two years? If section 3 didn't draw them in the first round I think a team from this section could at least compete with a few of the teams.

These are the scores from their games at state

2010 Breck 11 New Ulm 1......Roch Lourdes 7 New Ulm 2
2011 St Thomas 13 New Ulm 2..........Breck 6 New Ulm 0
2012 Theif River 5 New Ulm 1..........Roch Lourdes 10 New Ulm 2

Total of goals for NU 8, Goals Against 52

No one is debating that, but what is your (or whoever's) "solution" to the "problem" you see?
For starters, I bet anyone else in the section would trade places with them in a heart beat.
But secondly, any realistic solution/change to the system I see would result in teams from this section needing to improve a lot, or simply not making it.

I dont see a problem. I was just pulling some stats. The people that usually have a problem with the current state tourn system, are the ones who think the state tourn should be the top 8 teams in each class. It is called the STATE tourn not the top 8 tourn. The teams in the state tourn are representing their section (their area of the state). In my opinion the system is working fine. If you want to have the so called top teams in the STATE tourn, it needs to be setup in a large bracket tourn with no sectional boundaries.

Just my 2 cents, if it's even worth that.

I agree with your trading places comment.

[MHGr8ness]

All go with that. Correct me if I'm wrong but hasn't New Ulm drawn STA in the first round the last two years? If section 3 didn't draw them in the first round I think a team from this section could at least compete with a few of the teams.

This year they are seeding 5 teams, so the winner of this section will be paired with #1, #2 or #3. It'll make for better hockey in the later rounds, but it isn't looking up.

If that's the definition of "state caliber" then there are less than 10 teams in Class A who are...

I agree it is a small number... but only eight make state right? So I figure that state caliber should be small.

[CherryPicker99]

Thanks chalk talk for the stats. I didn't realize that New Ulm had been beaten that bad at state. I understand that section 3a is the weakest section but I thought they could compete a little better than that.

[computerguy]

When the STA's and Breck's are beating the top teams in AA (Edina,Hill, Duluth East etc) How is a town like New Ulm (or any 3a town) to compete with that? If you ask me A was intended to be for small towns. Not small private schools that have the states best players. The scores will be worse than they ever have been this year. It seems Breck and STA are stronger and this section has taken a step or two back. On a good note the section playoffs look like they will be a dog fight.

[HShockeywatcher]

Five of the six teams that beat New Ulm are private schools. To me, that is the problem here. How about a state division that only includes town team hockey?

So you think if they'd been paired up with Hermantown, Warroad, Mahtomedi, Hibbing or Little Falls the results would have been significantly different?


While I think the landscape of high school hockey would significantly change if even two or three more private schools opted up, if you look at the 2nd best team in the sections that were represented by private schools (West/1A, Delano, Mahtomedi/SSP, Hibbing) I doubt the results would be significantly different.

Even if all privates were mandated to AA next year (or all the good ones did it on their own), it wouldn't change the relative quality of the teams in 3A to those in other sections.
On top of that, any realistic solution, like a one class tournament, the bottom 64 teams in the state in A, or another tier tournament, both would either generate either a) these teams not making it to state, b) these teams being in a tournament with storied programs like Hermantown and Warroad who are really good or c) a tournament with no good teams.

In any situation, they're likely either still getting beat or not there.

It always blows my mind how people seem to know "why" the class system was designed; if that was the case, don't you think those who control it would change it to fit that intent?

[CherryPicker99]

I agree! At least we can have fun watching some good games in sections. It's a toss up between four teams.

[MHGr8ness]

Five of the six teams that beat New Ulm are private schools. To me, that is the problem here. How about a state division that only includes town team hockey?

So you think if they'd been paired up with Hermantown, Warroad, Mahtomedi, Hibbing or Little Falls the results would have been significantly different?


While I think the landscape of high school hockey would significantly change if even two or three more private schools opted up, if you look at the 2nd best team in the sections that were represented by private schools (West/1A, Delano, Mahtomedi/SSP, Hibbing) I doubt the results would be significantly different.

Even if all privates were mandated to AA next year (or all the good ones did it on their own), it wouldn't change the relative quality of the teams in 3A to those in other sections.
On top of that, any realistic solution, like a one class tournament, the bottom 64 teams in the state in A, or another tier tournament, both would either generate either a) these teams not making it to state, b) these teams being in a tournament with storied programs like Hermantown and Warroad who are really good or c) a tournament with no good teams.

In any situation, they're likely either still getting beat or not there.

It always blows my mind how people seem to know "why" the class system was designed; if that was the case, don't you think those who control it would change it to fit that intent?

I think it feels like a more level playing field that way. As a former 5A player, I didn't mind getting beat by Hermantown, but when it was Cathedral I wasn't happy.

[Teak]

Gr8ness why Don't you think any of these teams are state caliber? Just curious as to what makes a state caliber team. Teak, don't you have the thread on freshman scoring? If so, Chaz Smedsrud will be playing tomorrow. I would bet you can add a couple more points to his stats tomorrow.

Yup. That's why I'm going to watch!