What is going on with East? Is it panic time?

[hermantown2000]

The Greyhound have lost 4 in a row since starting 4-0. Is East's run finally over or is this a small bump in the road for Randolphs team?

[Nuts&Bolts]

Put on some big boy pants and come back and ask the question when you find another A. Duluth Marshall is doing OK and at least has the Nuts to play with the big boys when the season is on the line.

[karl(east)]

Yes, let's panic! Always a good solution to problems.

In 3 of the 4 losses, they have come out with trashy defensive first periods and fallen in a hole. After that they have outshot their opponents heavily and piled on the pressure, but failed to tie it up. That was also a trend we saw pretty often last season.

To me, it's a signal of a team failing to get to its systems early in a game (perhaps being outworked by fired up opponents hungry for an upset) and eventually getting to it, but the system not quite doing enough to flip the script. The system giveth and the system taketh away. Maybe they'll get there in time; maybe the system requires some tweaking (not necessarily as drastic as last year's 2-3). I haven't actually seen them play, so I can't really comment. No doubt Randolph will try any number of things to try to get it to work.

That first meeting with Marshall was always going to be weird, and it was made even weirder by Marshall's terrible start to the year. The Hilltoppers had nothing to lose and everything to gain from this one. East seems to have known this, and mentally, that's a dangerous place to be. Apparently it showed in the effort last night.

I am glad East only has one more game this month. Time to lick some wounds and get back at it. They're outshooting everyone they play, often by a lot, and that Wayzata win is still on the books. The potential is there. I won't guarantee a turnaround; a lot depends on the mental game, and who knows, maybe this is the year where the wheels just fall off. But there is no reason to panic, either.

Patience.

[Wet Paint]

Personally if I was connected to a team that had to play them when it mattered I would be worried. Look what happened last year. They played Rapids at home and almost got shut out if I remember it right. Something like 5 to 1 or 6 to 1. Then when it counted Rapids could not score 1 goal on them in the 3rd period of the game at the Amsoil after Randolph remade that team in the mean time. Personally I would never ever panic if I was an East fan and would never ever feel like I had the upper hand on them given what I have seen them pull off in years past. East has too much depth and Randolph has been around for way too long to shut it down now and wave the white flag. This is just getting interesting.

[ThePuckStopsHere]

The Greyhound have lost 4 in a row since starting 4-0. Is East's run finally over or is this a small bump in the road for Randolphs team?

Joking right? Never panic with Randolph behind the bench and your section playoffs are in your back yard. They have Rapids and Elks number every year in sections and this year will be no different. Randolph knows how to coach high school hockey not sure we can say that about the other two teams.

Oh by the way have you made room on your trophy shelf for another Class B, Teir 2 - Section A title trophie You all must be so proud

[Traxler]

The Greyhound have lost 4 in a row since starting 4-0. Is East's run finally over or is this a small bump in the road for Randolphs team?

Joking right? Never panic with Randolph behind the bench and your section playoffs are in your back yard. They have Rapids and Elks number every year in sections and this year will be no different. Randolph knows how to coach high school hockey not sure we can say that about the other two teams.

Oh by the way have you made room on your trophy shelf for another Class B, Teir 2 - Section A title trophie You all must be so proud

I think you mean runner-up trophy.

[greenway1969]

It's way too early to bury the Greyhounds. By the way, Greenway fans like to call Rapids the "Chickenhawks", but I think it applies much more to Hermantown.

[Jeffy95]

It's way too early to bury the Greyhounds. By the way, Greenway fans like to call Rapids the "Chickenhawks", but I think it applies much more to Hermantown.

[Wet Paint]

The Greyhound have lost 4 in a row since starting 4-0. Is East's run finally over or is this a small bump in the road for Randolphs team?

Joking right? Never panic with Randolph behind the bench and your section playoffs are in your back yard. They have Rapids and Elks number every year in sections and this year will be no different. Randolph knows how to coach high school hockey not sure we can say that about the other two teams.

Oh by the way have you made room on your trophy shelf for another Class B, Teir 2 - Section A title trophie You all must be so proud

They should win it this year from what I have seen. They are short on goal tending as usual but they have very strong D and forwards. Breck might have a chance if their goalie can handle it since they have those TV time outs to rest their guys a bit so Hermantown's superior depth won't factor in as much. But all things equal this should be the end of their record breaking (I assume) run of 32 straight 2nd place finishes when the games really matter.

[rainier]

What do you mean "short on goaltending"? Do you mean the goalie is short, or they don't have depth?

Olson has been excellent for the Hawks. Over last season and this season, he is 22-1-1 with a 1.54 GAA and a .932 sv%. He may be a small goalie, but he has been getting the job done, and then some. I don't see this being a weakness for Hermantown.

As far as Breck, I think the two teams are really close and at this point I'd call a game between them a toss-up. The only "weakness" I see for the Chickenhawks is their depth at defense. They have an outstanding top pair, and a very good 3rd d-man, but after that I think it drops off.

Back on topic, I wouldn't panic if I were an East fan. The talent is there and the coach has a ridiculous resume. Also, Rapids is extremely good this year, so winning 7AA might be a pipe dream for the Hounds even if they turn it around. Not that I would bet against Randolph just yet, but the T-hawks are looking good.

[WestMetro]

My only problem with the "don't panic they have plenty of talent and a great coach" hope and prayer is: what happened to the great talent and the coach during the four loss stretch? The only legit loss was Centennial, and a top 10 team could have found a way to win that one too.

[north_bear]

I find it funny that East can lose 4 straight games that they should have won after being a top 5 ranked team at the start of the season and everyone justifies it by saying it's only Dec the team will come around or a bounce here or there and it would be a different story.

But heaven forbid if this happened to Rapids they would be the most overrated team in high school hockey history, no team chemistry, who's gonna be the new coach.

Amusing how East gets a free pass. Ok, rant over.

[greenway1969]

It's very difficult to assess Hermantown's goalie. The lesser teams don't put too many shots on goal and their defensemen are excellent. So you wonder how many quality shots reach the goalie. Wayzata (not known for scoring), Roseville and Hopkins put a 3 spot on Hermantown. None of them have the fire power of Breck. I think Hermantown will add another Runner-up trophy if they don't get upset in the semis, which I think is a real possibility. Also, if they don't bring their "A" game in the sectionals they could really be surprised by Hibbing.

[alcloseshaver]

I find it funny that East can lose 4 straight games that they should have won after being a top 5 ranked team at the start of the season and everyone justifies it by saying it's only Dec the team will come around or a bounce here or there and it would be a different story.

But heaven forbid if this happened to Rapids they would be the most overrated team in high school hockey history, no team chemistry, who's gonna be the new coach.

Amusing how East gets a free pass. Ok, rant over.

your right on about Rapids, but East has won the section so many years in row they deserve a pass for now. Like I said earlier, what would be saying about East if ER didn't drop the last 2 finals with some of their best teams in years.

[greenway1969]

East has a history of bouncing back, Rapids doesn't.

[WestMetro]

Right on NorthBear!

As far as HT, I have made difficult decision to forgo watching Wyatt pound on Tonka tonite in favor of watching the very exciting full strength Rapids team going up against EP

[Wet Paint]

It's very difficult to assess Hermantown's goalie. The lesser teams don't put too many shots on goal and their defensemen are excellent. So you wonder how many quality shots reach the goalie. Wayzata (not known for scoring), Roseville and Hopkins put a 3 spot on Hermantown. None of them have the fire power of Breck. I think Hermantown will add another Runner-up trophy if they don't get upset in the semis, which I think is a real possibility. Also, if they don't bring their "A" game in the sectionals they could really be surprised by Hibbing.

Well put. Exactly what I had in mind when I said they are short in goaltending. I would never go after a kid for how tall he is but will stand by saying that I think they are lacking (better rainer????) in the goalie department. Look back over the years at their goal tending and you will see a trend. Their goalies rarely get challenged until the end of the season when it becomes apparent that they once again are lacking a tender who can save a game for them when it gets tight. In the process of going through the season their tenders are in the 90%+ range with a very low gga number. Go to one of their games and you will see that almost all of the shots come from outside of the box and most are a 1 shot with no rebound work saves needed. When somebody does get into their goalie and get him hung out a bit they score on him. This year will be no different.

[hockey9011]

It's very difficult to assess Hermantown's goalie. The lesser teams don't put too many shots on goal and their defensemen are excellent. So you wonder how many quality shots reach the goalie. Wayzata (not known for scoring), Roseville and Hopkins put a 3 spot on Hermantown. None of them have the fire power of Breck. I think Hermantown will add another Runner-up trophy if they don't get upset in the semis, which I think is a real possibility. Also, if they don't bring their "A" game in the sectionals they could really be surprised by Hibbing.

Not that I don't agree with your statement but just wondering which teams do you see upsetting Hermantown in the state semis?? From what I have seen so far, I feel like breck and Hermantown are a level above the rest of class A

[greenway1969]

St. Cloud Apollo or EGF or Mahtomedi

[Wet Paint]

It's very difficult to assess Hermantown's goalie. The lesser teams don't put too many shots on goal and their defensemen are excellent. So you wonder how many quality shots reach the goalie. Wayzata (not known for scoring), Roseville and Hopkins put a 3 spot on Hermantown. None of them have the fire power of Breck. I think Hermantown will add another Runner-up trophy if they don't get upset in the semis, which I think is a real possibility. Also, if they don't bring their "A" game in the sectionals they could really be surprised by Hibbing.

Not that I don't agree with your statement but just wondering which teams do you see upsetting Hermantown in the state semis?? From what I have seen so far, I feel like breck and Hermantown are a level above the rest of class A

Only because of the fact that there are those tv time outs that will allow a kid to catch his breath which reduces the depth factor. I can see Breck beating them outright. I can also see Hibbing getting lucky in sections and doing it. I also think that EGF can if they get their mechanical issues fixed. Their D let a lot of passes go through when I saw them play, their breakouts were questionable at best and they seemed to bunch up at times. All of that is fixable stuff. I also sort of like SPA. They have a talented bunch of kids. Their D play well, the 10th grader they had in the net was on and seemed to be well trained and did not get rattled when he got worked over. SPA lacks depth though so in a run and gun game with Hermantown they are going to be in trouble in the 3rd period.

All in all what it is going to take to beat Hermantown is the ability to get to their goalie and make the shots count (getting to him is translated as getting good shots from inside of the box, rebounds put back and breakaways) when they get them. He has not and will not face that kind of pressure very often during the year and in the past when one of their goalies does his saver percentage drops to the 75% range or so which is very beatable. The other thing that you need is to have a goalie who can stand the heat in the kitchen himself who has the ability to fend off lots of shots and to make a few of those "wow" saves. All 4 of the teams that I mentioned can do things like that.

[Jeffy95]

I find it funny that East can lose 4 straight games that they should have won after being a top 5 ranked team at the start of the season and everyone justifies it by saying it's only Dec the team will come around or a bounce here or there and it would be a different story.

But heaven forbid if this happened to Rapids they would be the most overrated team in high school hockey history, no team chemistry, who's gonna be the new coach.

Amusing how East gets a free pass. Ok, rant over.

Because everyone was sticking a fork in East last year at this time too and we all know what happened. They are a better team on paper this year than last year in my opinion.

[rainier]

It's very difficult to assess Hermantown's goalie. The lesser teams don't put too many shots on goal and their defensemen are excellent. So you wonder how many quality shots reach the goalie. Wayzata (not known for scoring), Roseville and Hopkins put a 3 spot on Hermantown. None of them have the fire power of Breck. I think Hermantown will add another Runner-up trophy if they don't get upset in the semis, which I think is a real possibility. Also, if they don't bring their "A" game in the sectionals they could really be surprised by Hibbing.

Well put. Exactly what I had in mind when I said they are short in goaltending. I would never go after a kid for how tall he is but will stand by saying that I think they are lacking (better rainer????) in the goalie department. Look back over the years at their goal tending and you will see a trend. Their goalies rarely get challenged until the end of the season when it becomes apparent that they once again are lacking a tender who can save a game for them when it gets tight. In the process of going through the season their tenders are in the 90%+ range with a very low gga number. Go to one of their games and you will see that almost all of the shots come from outside of the box and most are a 1 shot with no rebound work saves needed. When somebody does get into their goalie and get him hung out a bit they score on him. This year will be no different.

The goalie wasn't the reason Hermantown lost last night; kid stopped 35/38, pretty good performance against a team that I'm sure was getting good scoring chances.

The real concern for Hermantown is the lack of effort and enthusiasm that one poster pointed out. Makes me wonder if all the flak they take about sandbagging is getting to them.

I also imagine its tough watching Grand Rapids compete so well with the best teams in the state in AA, given that Hermantown beats Rapids routinely. So Hermantown fans and players see Rapids do well vs the Edinas, Minnetonkas, BSMs, LNs, etc., they watch the T-Hawks team and its players get so much attention, exposure, and respect, and they have to be wondering "Why aren't we doing what they are doing?".

And with East looking down this year, it is yet another year Hermantown would be a top 2-3 seed in 7AA. (Watching Duluth Marshall, a team Hermantown has defeated at least 12 times in a row, beat East 4-0, also has to sting like heck.)

[wannagototherink]

The Greyhound have lost 4 in a row since starting 4-0. Is East's run finally over or is this a small bump in the road for Randolphs team?

No one has even seen how this East team is going to play yet this year. Everyone knows that Randolph lets the team just play until after Christmas and then he decides what style they'll play for the playoffs. He spends all January getting the team to dial in to that system and in February he'll have them playing to win.

So if someone is wondering why East fans are saying "It's just December", well it's because we know what the plan is for our favorite team. So I am assuming if you have to ask, your team probably doesn't have a plan....