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Listening to latest YHH podcast , two crazy 7AA things discussed among many :

1. When is Qrf Section 7 seeding not Qrf Section 7 seeding ? Karl attempts to explain.....

2 Someone was speculating Elk will beat CEC and GR to advance to the final against Andover . Final will then be moved from Amsoil to Fogarty

Section 7AA does have a clause in the rules that if two southern teams make the final they can try and find ice and petition to move the game. I think Elk will beat CEC and East will be Flake. So next sat you’ll have DE/Andover at high noon and ER/GR at 2pm

That’s a Good one too UST

I will say this : informal opinions I’ve heard around metro games the last couple weeks seems to be GR is now close to 50/50 vs Andover

Yea if clafton is on they could beat Andover. If they meet, there will be no pressure on GR to win. As for Andover this is “their” year again.

WestMetro wrote: ↑Sun Feb 16, 2020 9:32 pm Listening to latest YHH podcast , two crazy 7AA things discussed among many :


2 Someone was speculating Elk will beat CEC and GR to advance to the final against Andover . Final will then be moved from Amsoil to Fogarty

Given the contract they have with WDIO-TV, can this be done?

Lee

Yes they can, they need to find a rink with open ice and petition to the section committee to move it. It’s been in the section bylaws for atleast 10 years. Never been an issues since East or Rapids have been in the final..

I'm very interested to see if GR can play in the post season the way they have during the regular season. I think most, including myself, thought that they would be a year or so away from being a serious contender. The Thunderhawks have been very impressive, especially the last couple of months.

Still, the playoffs are another thing all together and this young team will need to step up another notch to make their way to St. Paul. I don't doubt that they can. They don't seem to be a team that panics when things are tight. As a matter of fact, they seem to be better then.

Skol Rapids.

I thought coming into the season that Grand Rapids would definitely be a year Away and that was before Grand Rapids got a new coach 6 days from the start of the season. No matter how the playoffs work out for this young GR team they surpassed my expectations for them. Learning with a new coach on the fly with a very tough schedule ,I thought maybe we would be going into another 8-9 win season. Instead Grand Rapids got better over time and kept getting better I know the section is down but I am very proud of this team grabbing the two seed and I feel very optimistic that yes Grand Rapids does have a shot this year a year earlier then I thought. Congratulations to the Grand Rapids players and coaches for a fun season and good luck to them and all the teams starting the journey to the tourney 20 this week.

WestMetro wrote: ↑Sun Feb 16, 2020 9:51 pm That’s a Good one too UST

I will say this : informal opinions I’ve heard around metro games the last couple weeks seems to be GR is now close to 50/50 vs Andover

It definitely feels different than it did a month ago that’s for sure. And no question that Andover fans don’t like what they are seeing out of GR at this point. That said......I’d still put the odds of Andover winning the section final by 3 goals or more higher than the odds that they don’t win the section. As with all sections.......it’ll be interesting.

Talent wise, Grand Rapids probably finished right where they belonged. I am not sure why everyone thought they would finish lower, especially with Langebrunner leaving Cloquet and the Jeanette and Anderson leaving East. They had seven players in Elite League, which might have been the most in the state. They returned a two time national camp goalie, quite possibly the best 2003 defenseman in the country and had another national camp player in Del Greco. Yet you have people from Rapids acting like they overachieved.

I admit, the coaching issue at the beginning of the year could have derailed even the most veteran team, but the program is probably much better off long term with Chiodo versus Marinucci. Once they got through the first 10 games or so, they have been playing at a completely different level.

In reality, you could argue they won't be as good next year, because Clafton graduates (huge void to fill) and there is always a chance Peart leaves. Yet, they will probably be heavy, heavy favorites to represent 7AA in 2021.

In my opinion they overachieved , coming off a 9 win season last year, in youth hockey Jack Peart and the boys didn’t fair to well as first year peewees and bantams. Yes it’s youth hockey so you can’t look to far into that but Grand Rapids was going to have to rely heavily on sophomores like in 2014 and that didn’t work out as good as this team did players that nobody thought would step up have improved dramatically.

Section 8 guy wrote: ↑Mon Feb 17, 2020 2:39 pm

WestMetro wrote: ↑Sun Feb 16, 2020 9:51 pm That’s a Good one too UST

I will say this : informal opinions I’ve heard around metro games the last couple weeks seems to be GR is now close to 50/50 vs Andover

It definitely feels different than it did a month ago that’s for sure. And no question that Andover fans don’t like what they are seeing out of GR at this point. That said......I’d still put the odds of Andover winning the section final by 3 goals or more higher than the odds that they don’t win the section. As with all sections.......it’ll be interesting.

After further review (my 2nd since Xmas Holidays) it’s 74% Andover will win the 7AA title. 20% for GR, 3% Cloquet, 2% ER & 1% DE. And I’m not kidding, those are pretty realistic odds. And if Andover gets 2 goals ahead of any team in the semifinals or Finals...it’s alL OVER but the shouting!!! You win with TALENT & experienced SENIORS! Then COACHING. Only thing that can screw that up...is substandard goaltending BOOK IT Go black cloud Tornadoes! (aka the Huskies)

I'll put my odds at 62% Andover/35% GR/3% the field. Andover is just really hard to assess right now since their Blaine game on Saturday was the only real high-end team they've played in over a month. Rapids' surge and defensive numbers are pretty impressive, and while I agree the 2-seed was a realistic preseason expectation, the way they've looked over the past few weeks, with wins over the likes of Hermantown and MG and WBL and very narrow losses to Hill and Moorhead, suggests they're capable of something, especially since they have nothing to lose while Andover still has to prove it can win in the Oil Can. And if we do get the 7AA final we expect, Amsoil will be a great venue. Andover brought a decent crowd last year and has to be getting some deserved hype as #1, Rapids always travels in droves, and it's a reasonably neutral location.

We've got two interesting quarterfinals tomorrow night featuring two section bluebloods going on the road; East (1993) and Elk River (2008) have both only once missed their respective section semifinals in the two-class era. I feel decent about East's chances based on the lopsided play in the first meeting and how I think they'll play tomorrow night, but Bothun stole one from them and is capable of stealing another. The Elks have probably been hotter than Cloquet down the stretch, and I think this one might come down to which team's stars prove more capable of carrying the load.

The 'Elephant' or '...Elk' in the room is Elk River.
I think they will score early, win by 3 at CEC.
Then it will be a tough game for Rapids against Elk at 'Zoil
Elk will take GR to OT in the Semi's.
Is it just me or is everyone automatically assuming GR makes it to the finals.....?

Yeah, I watched Grand Rapids vs Elk River this year and if they play again Rapids by 4 or more. I would take the over.

Sorry if this had already been covered- Is this the first playoff game Flake has hosted?

grindiangrad-80 wrote: ↑Tue Feb 18, 2020 5:47 pm Sorry if this had already been covered- Is this the first playoff game Flake has hosted?

Not absolutely sure but I think they may have hosted Rapids in 2010.

norcon wrote: ↑Tue Feb 18, 2020 5:51 pm

grindiangrad-80 wrote: ↑Tue Feb 18, 2020 5:47 pm Sorry if this had already been covered- Is this the first playoff game Flake has hosted?

Not absolutely sure but I think they may have hosted Rapids in 2010.

I think you are right.

grindiangrad-80 wrote: ↑Tue Feb 18, 2020 5:54 pm

norcon wrote: ↑Tue Feb 18, 2020 5:51 pm

grindiangrad-80 wrote: ↑Tue Feb 18, 2020 5:47 pm Sorry if this had already been covered- Is this the first playoff game Flake has hosted?

Not absolutely sure but I think they may have hosted Rapids in 2010.

I think you are right.

They beat Rapids 6-0. I just looked it up.

Stream for East game?

ER 2
CEC 0
After 1

Rapids and Anoka scoreless after 1. Anoka goalie is playing very well according to KOZY. Several huge saves to keep GR off the board.

grindiangrad-80 wrote: ↑Tue Feb 18, 2020 7:28 pm Rapids and Anoka scoreless after 1. Anoka goalie is playing very well according to KOZY. Several huge saves to keep GR off the board.

Rapids 4 Anoka 0. Shots 51 - 9.

Andover vs FL & GR vs ER on Saturday @ Amsoil

grindiangrad-80 wrote: ↑Tue Feb 18, 2020 5:57 pm

grindiangrad-80 wrote: ↑Tue Feb 18, 2020 5:54 pm

norcon wrote: ↑Tue Feb 18, 2020 5:51 pm
Not absolutely sure but I think they may have hosted Rapids in 2010.

I think you are right.

They beat Rapids 6-0. I just looked it up.

They hosted the 4/5 game last year against Elks