Marginally off topic, but I have been attempting to recall the members of the Lake Conference divisions during the North/South and Blue/Red days, and it seems like this knowledge has been lost to Father Time. In particular, the North and South almost certainly are imbalanced.
Here is what I have from memory, and would appreciate any corrections!
Lake North
Armstrong
Cooper
Osseo
Park Center
Wayzata
Lake South
Apple Valley?
Burnsville
Edina
Hopkins
Jefferson
Kennedy
Minnetonka
Richfield
St. Louis Park
Lake Blue
Cooper
Eden Prairie
Edina
Hopkins
Minnetonka
St. Louis Park?
Wayzata
Lake Red
Apple Valley
Armstrong
Burnsville
Jefferson
Kennedy
Osseo
Park Center
Rosemount
Old Lake Conference Divisions
Moderators: Mitch Hawker, east hockey, karl(east)
Re: Old Lake Conference Divisions
Stang5280 wrote: ↑Tue Sep 29, 2020 5:59 pm Marginally off topic, but I have been attempting to recall the members of the Lake Conference divisions during the North/South and Blue/Red days, and it seems like this knowledge has been lost to Father Time. In particular, the North and South almost certainly are imbalanced.
Here is what I have from memory, and would appreciate any corrections!
Lake North
Armstrong
Cooper
Osseo
Park Center
Wayzata
Lake South
Apple Valley?
Burnsville
Edina
Hopkins
Jefferson
Kennedy
Minnetonka
Richfield
St. Louis Park
Lake Blue
Cooper
Eden Prairie
Edina
Hopkins
Minnetonka
St. Louis Park?
Wayzata
Lake Red
Apple Valley
Armstrong
Burnsville
Jefferson
Kennedy
Osseo
Park Center
Rosemount
It varied quite a bit over the years. Membership and configuration were fluid because teams/schools came and went (Bloomington growing from one school to three and then back to two, for example...or Hopkins going from two schools to one....and then later communities and schools like Apple Valley and Eden Prairie growing large enough to join).
As I recall, the 78-79 season was the first year of Lake South and North. If memory serves, There were 18 teams, 9 in each division:
South
Bloomington Lincoln
Bloomington Jefferson
Bloomington Kennedy
Edina East
Edina West
Richfield
Burnsville
Minnetonka
St. Louis Park
North
Hopkins Eisenhower
Hopkins Lindbergh
Robbinsdale Cooper
Robbinsdale Armstrong
Robbinsdale
Wayzata
Park Center
Osseo
I can't remember the 9th team
Previous to this, the Red and Blue weren't "geographic" and schools within towns were split between the divisions. For example, Lindbergh was in the Red and Eisenhower was in the Blue. Edina East was in the Red and Edina West was in the Blue. The Red had two of the Bloomington schools and the other was in the Blue. Same goes for the Robbinsdale schools (two in the Blue, one in the Red).
There were also years when you played every other team in the entire 18-team conference, but other years when you played home-and-home with just the teams in your division. It seems like the makeup of the conference changed a little each year in one way or another (school openings/closings, schedule changes, etc.)
That's just what I remember 40+ years later. Maybe others can fill in blanks, or configurations from other seasons.
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Doc Holliday
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Re: Old Lake Conference Divisions
My knowledge is mostly from the early 90s on. You're right when it comes to the Blue & Red. It switched during the 1993-94 school year when the Classic Lake was born, which was pretty much the same as the Lake Blue, except Eden Prairie swapped out with Armstrong. It stayed that way for quite a few years before the next realignment.
Don't know much about the Lake Red except in the 1993 Tier I tourney, there were 3 Lake Red teams in it with Jefferson, Apple Valley, & Park Center, who was the only team within 1 goal of Jefferson that season.
Re: Old Lake Conference Divisions
Thanks for the clarifications,fellas, and also for the history lesson, Duluthguy! I was pretty young during the Lake North/South days, and the school mergers and consolidations had mostly shaken out already.
One funny thing about the latter iteration of the Blue and Red divisions is that the alignment was based on enrollment, and the Blue was the smaller schools. Since then, most the Blue schools have overtaken the Red in enrollment, and are some of the largest in the state.
One funny thing about the latter iteration of the Blue and Red divisions is that the alignment was based on enrollment, and the Blue was the smaller schools. Since then, most the Blue schools have overtaken the Red in enrollment, and are some of the largest in the state.
Re: Old Lake Conference Divisions
No Apple Valley in the South.
And don't forget the Classic Lake.
And don't forget the Classic Lake.
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Rich Clarke
- Posts: 126
- Joined: Thu Dec 10, 2009 8:40 am
Re: Old Lake Conference Divisions
The Fridley Tigers were the other Lake North team.