1a predictions

[davey]

enough talk about west

Red Wing beat Farmington 6-2. Very good game for RW. A nice victory after they didn't play so well their last 2 games.

I agree! They have not played a good team yet. Northfield is an average team at best. Owatonna is the toughest team they have played all year and nothing against Owatonna but that is not saying anything.

Are you really a scout?. I think NP has a pretty good team that has beaten Denfeld and Orono and West handled them pretty well. Red Wing is a good team. Didn't they beat Northfield 2-0. Lourdes, your other top team in 1A beat Northfield 8-4. Pretty comparable score here by West, RW and Lourdes. Fact of the matter is there are a bunch of teams in Minnesota hockey with very comparable talent that can beat anybody on any given night. Look at the scores from around the state and there are surprises every night. I think it is funny that when West doesn't get to running time for the first time all year they are getting ripped.

[southernmnscout]

enough talk about west

Red Wing beat Farmington 6-2. Very good game for RW. A nice victory after they didn't play so well their last 2 games.

I agree! They have not played a good team yet. Northfield is an average team at best. Owatonna is the toughest team they have played all year and nothing against Owatonna but that is not saying anything.

Are you really a scout?. I think NP has a pretty good team that has beaten Denfeld and Orono and West handled them pretty well. Red Wing is a good team. Didn't they beat Northfield 2-0. Lourdes, your other top team in 1A beat Northfield 8-4. Pretty comparable score here by West, RW and Lourdes. Fact of the matter is there are a bunch of teams in Minnesota hockey with very comparable talent that can beat anybody on any given night. Look at the scores from around the state and there are surprises every night. I think it is funny that when West doesn't get to running time for the first time all year they are getting ripped.

I am not ripping them at all. Yes I am a scout! All I said was they have not played anyone that good yet. I have not seen them play but have seen many teams they will play or have played. I have seen Owatonna play and I have seen Northfield play and those two teams are average. But to me it seems there are some people that are saying they may be in contention for the State Championship! That is coming from the same people that have only seen the teams West has played so far. They have not seen teams like STA, Duluth Marshall or some of the other top contenders in Class A. Once we see them play AL, Lourdes and some other good teams (very few good teams on West's schedule) we will see how they compare for possibly winning the Section??? The section is a good possibility for them but the State title??? Let's get serious. The schedule they play and from the sounds of it the stupid penalties they take will catch up to them when they play a team that can play with them.

[CowPoker]

Let me start by saying that I am not a West fan or a fan of any 1A or Big Nine school, just a HS Hockey fan. Saw the West/Northfield game last night and was impressed by a couple of things. Obviously Leivermann is a very good player and works well with Litchfield which was something I expected, Also #27 and #41 for West work very hard putting pressure on the D. Northfield started to take the body a little more at the end of the first and then in the 2nd period and the West forwards didnt support the puck very well, always looking for the odd man rush going the other way. They also take some very stupid penalties and the lack of experience in section games doesnt make them a lock for the Xcel just yet.

[davey]

I agree! They have not played a good team yet. Northfield is an average team at best. Owatonna is the toughest team they have played all year and nothing against Owatonna but that is not saying anything.

Are you really a scout?. I think NP has a pretty good team that has beaten Denfeld and Orono and West handled them pretty well. Red Wing is a good team. Didn't they beat Northfield 2-0. Lourdes, your other top team in 1A beat Northfield 8-4. Pretty comparable score here by West, RW and Lourdes. Fact of the matter is there are a bunch of teams in Minnesota hockey with very comparable talent that can beat anybody on any given night. Look at the scores from around the state and there are surprises every night. I think it is funny that when West doesn't get to running time for the first time all year they are getting ripped.

I am not ripping them at all. Yes I am a scout! All I said was they have not played anyone that good yet. I have not seen them play but have seen many teams they will play or have played. I have seen Owatonna play and I have seen Northfield play and those two teams are average. But to me it seems there are some people that are saying they may be in contention for the State Championship! That is coming from the same people that have only seen the teams West has played so far. They have not seen teams like STA, Duluth Marshall or some of the other top contenders in Class A. Once we see them play AL, Lourdes and some other good teams (very few good teams on West's schedule) we will see how they compare for possibly winning the Section??? The section is a good possibility for them but the State title??? Let's get serious. The schedule they play and from the sounds of it the stupid penalties they take will catch up to them when they play a team that can play with them.

Pretty sure I have always said I think there are 5 contenders in the Section that could win it with West being a possiblity. Never have I even talked about a State Championship. As far as their relatively easy schedule, I agree, but the good thing is that their tougher games will come towards the end of the year. Hopefully last night showed them that they cannot take 10 minutes off and be successful. I too, do look forward to see how this team plays when they play AL and Lourdes.

[southernmnscout]

davey,

I was not accusing you specifically of saying they would win State. I said there are people on here that are thiking they will win State this year and those are probably the same people that have only seen the teams in Southern MN who West has played.

[Fanofhockey6]

How'd West do against New Ulm in sections last year after thier big predictions?

[davey]

How'd West do against New Ulm in sections last year after thier big predictions?

They got their butts kicked and that is probably the best thing that happened to this years team. Most of this years players played in that game.

[1hock9]

West will go to state. I would like to see NU take on West this year.

[southernmnscout]

West will go to state. I would like to see NU take on West this year.

I am sure you will see it. I'm sure they have NU on there already weak schedule.

[southernmnscout]

Here is the schedule for West:

Nov. 29 at New Prague
Dec. 4 Waseca
Dec. 8 at Winona
Dec. 11 at Mankato East
Dec. 13 Austin
Dec. 18 at Owatonna
Dec. 20 Northfield
Dec. 27-29 at Fergus Falls Tourn.
Jan. 3 Faribault
Jan. 8 at Albert Lea
Jan. 10 at LeSueur-Henderson
Jan. 15 at Shakopee
Jan. 19 at Minnehaha Academy
Jan. 24 Mankato East
Jan. 26 Rochester Mayo
Jan. 29 at Austin
Jan. 31 Rochester Lourdes
Feb. 2 Winona
Feb. 5 at Faribault
Feb. 7 Albert Lea
Feb. 12 at Rochester Century
Feb. 14 Rochester JM


The Big Nine is very weak this year. West plays a pretty weak non-conference schedue too. I would think they would try to get a little better competition to prepare for things like the NU game last year.

I was wrong they do not play NU this year.

Again I think West is a good hockey team but I do not think they are an awesome hockey team like a lot of the people on here. Take a look at the schedule. They have about 5 games against average hockey teams. The rest are way below average teams and this will hurt them come the middle of February.

[stud-lee]

Here is the schedule for West:

Nov. 29 at New Prague
Dec. 4 Waseca
Dec. 8 at Winona
Dec. 11 at Mankato East
Dec. 13 Austin
Dec. 18 at Owatonna
Dec. 20 Northfield
Dec. 27-29 at Fergus Falls Tourn.
Jan. 3 Faribault
Jan. 8 at Albert Lea
Jan. 10 at LeSueur-Henderson
Jan. 15 at Shakopee
Jan. 19 at Minnehaha Academy
Jan. 24 Mankato East
Jan. 26 Rochester Mayo
Jan. 29 at Austin
Jan. 31 Rochester Lourdes
Feb. 2 Winona
Feb. 5 at Faribault
Feb. 7 Albert Lea
Feb. 12 at Rochester Century
Feb. 14 Rochester JM


The Big Nine is very weak this year. West plays a pretty weak non-conference schedue too. I would think they would try to get a little better competition to prepare for things like the NU game last year.

I was wrong they do not play NU this year.

Again I think West is a good hockey team but I do not think they are an awesome hockey team like a lot of the people on here. Take a look at the schedule. They have about 5 games against average hockey teams. The rest are way below average teams and this will hurt them come the middle of February.

West actually had two games scheduled against NU. However after last years events, the two teams won't be playing each other this year, unfortunately. I think those games would've been very fun with high intensity.

[goaler]

respect

[OU812]

you somehow seem to have some kind of special admission into the advanced teams.

Goaler - What do you mean by special admission into the advanced teams? Just curious.

[defense]

Mankato West should be able to see where they're at next week with 3 games in three days at Fergus Falls. No this tournement is not a miniature schwan's cup by no means but Fergus Falls and Detroit Lakes will compete for the section 6 title, Fergus with wins over Apollo and ALex in the young season and DL with a win over Fergus.....West Fargo is a middle of the road team in North Dakota but plays physical and tough.

[goaler]

I saw the first half of the New Prague-Holy Angels game in Richfield.

The Stars did not outskate NP, but NP made some mistakes in its own zone in the first period and were down 3-0 after one. One of the "mistakes" New Prague made was a horrible checking from behind penalty on Sam Oslon on Austin Wetmore for Holy Angels. It cost them a five-minute major and got Olson kicked out of the game. It was one of the worst hits I've seen in high school hockey. Wetmore was going hard for the puck behind the net and Olson used his speed and shoved him headfirst into the end boards. The kid was down for several minutes and he had not returned when I left. He did skate off under his own power, thank God, although he looked pretty wobbly. Holy Angels only scored one goal in the five minutes, but it set the tone.

What I saw of the second period was much the same. It was 4-0 when I left. New Prague had some shots, but not many really good scoring chances. Holy Angels was doing an excellent job of bottling up New Prague's speed with good backchecking. NP had no forecheck going at all when I left.

Final was 6-1. New Prague was not blown off the ice, but could not solve really solid play by Holy Angels in the defensive zone. Stars are a very solid team.

Here's a frightening thought: West beat New Prague worse than Holy Angels beat New Prague. Does that mean West is better than Holy Angels?

[davey]

I saw the first half of the New Prague-Holy Angels game in Richfield.

The Stars did not outskate NP, but NP made some mistakes in its own zone in the first period and were down 3-0 after one. One of the "mistakes" New Prague made was a horrible checking from behind penalty on Sam Oslon on Austin Wetmore for Holy Angels. It cost them a five-minute major and got Olson kicked out of the game. It was one of the worst hits I've seen in high school hockey. Wetmore was going hard for the puck behind the net and Olson used his speed and shoved him headfirst into the end boards. The kid was down for several minutes and he had not returned when I left. He did skate off under his own power, thank God, although he looked pretty wobbly. Holy Angels only scored one goal in the five minutes, but it set the tone.

What I saw of the second period was much the same. It was 4-0 when I left. New Prague had some shots, but not many really good scoring chances. Holy Angels was doing an excellent job of bottling up New Prague's speed with good backchecking. NP had no forecheck going at all when I left.

Final was 6-1. New Prague was not blown off the ice, but could not solve really solid play by Holy Angels in the defensive zone. Stars are a very solid team.

Here's a frightening thought: West beat New Prague worse than Holy Angels beat New Prague. Does that mean West is better than Holy Angels?

No, but maybe southernmnscout has more opinions

[doubleOHseven]

Here's a frightening thought: West beat New Prague worse than Holy Angels beat New Prague. Does that mean West is better than Holy Angels?

What's more frightening is that people still think this argument works....... In hockey, 2 + 2 does not always = 4.

[SEMinnHockeyNut]

Oh yeah, West is better than AHA this year, just like Burnsville was better than AHA last year right?????

[davey]

Oh yeah, West is better than AHA this year, just like Burnsville was better than AHA last year right?????

Goaler brought up the comparison. No one from West thinks they are better than AHA. Goaler is not from Kato, but he seems to have jumped on their bandwagon after the Owatonna game

[SEMinnHockeyNut]

Again, someone who misunderstands my humor....anything can happen on any given night.....Villanova wins the NCAA bastketball tourney when they shouldn't....Standford beats USC in football this year...the Vikings win five straight.

West is good....AHA is over-rated...maybe they could win...but remember that AHA was unbeatable until AV in 2006 and Burnsville in 2007.
Maybe West can beat STA and win it all.

[tpshockey30]

Thats the good thing about HS sports.

They are just High School kids, and you never know how they are gonna play on any given night. Sometimes they play to their potential, other games barely their potential.


What will New Prague, AL and West have after their "hot shots" are gone?
That will change the whole section and give teams like Saint Peter, Waseca, Fairbault, Austin, teams like that a better chance at, who knows.

[tpshockey30]

Here is the schedule for West:

Nov. 29 at New Prague
Dec. 4 Waseca
Dec. 8 at Winona
Dec. 11 at Mankato East
Dec. 13 Austin
Dec. 18 at Owatonna
Dec. 20 Northfield
Dec. 27-29 at Fergus Falls Tourn.
Jan. 3 Faribault
Jan. 8 at Albert Lea
Jan. 10 at LeSueur-Henderson
Jan. 15 at Shakopee
Jan. 19 at Minnehaha Academy
Jan. 24 Mankato East
Jan. 26 Rochester Mayo
Jan. 29 at Austin
Jan. 31 Rochester Lourdes
Feb. 2 Winona
Feb. 5 at Faribault
Feb. 7 Albert Lea
Feb. 12 at Rochester Century
Feb. 14 Rochester JM


The Big Nine is very weak this year. West plays a pretty weak non-conference schedue too. I would think they would try to get a little better competition to prepare for things like the NU game last year.

I was wrong they do not play NU this year.

Again I think West is a good hockey team but I do not think they are an awesome hockey team like a lot of the people on here. Take a look at the schedule. They have about 5 games against average hockey teams. The rest are way below average teams and this will hurt them come the middle of February.

Thats quite a weak schedule for West. ( I guess their AD wasn't expecting them to be that good! )

[Eyyyy3]

I saw the first half of the New Prague-Holy Angels game in Richfield.

The Stars did not outskate NP, but NP made some mistakes in its own zone in the first period and were down 3-0 after one. One of the "mistakes" New Prague made was a horrible checking from behind penalty on Sam Oslon on Austin Wetmore for Holy Angels. It cost them a five-minute major and got Olson kicked out of the game. It was one of the worst hits I've seen in high school hockey. Wetmore was going hard for the puck behind the net and Olson used his speed and shoved him headfirst into the end boards. The kid was down for several minutes and he had not returned when I left. He did skate off under his own power, thank God, although he looked pretty wobbly. Holy Angels only scored one goal in the five minutes, but it set the tone.

Goaler,

Know the facts about the incident before you talk about it. I know you were there, but you probably saw what you wanted to see, and you wanted to see that Olson intentionally hit the kid into the boards. In fact, tape proves that Olson and Westmore were almost side by side GLIDING, not one stride was taken, into the boards after the puck. From what I heard from the refs, they were only going to give him 5 because of Westmore being injured. Once they saw he was bleeding though, they were obligated to give him the game misconduct also.

[goaler]

I just brought it up for conversation, geez I didn't mean a slight difference in the score between a common opponent meant that much. Relax. Holy Angels looked good, but not that great anyway. I don't know if Holy Angels is better than West or not. It might be kind of fun to see though.

Davey, I'm not on the bandwagon. I saw West three times last season, including the loss to New Ulm. I know what they can do. I think that humilating loss is the catalyst for them this season, and very few people understand that. The seniors are on a mission to overcome that defeat and that is a powerful emotion. Just my opinion.

About the hit. Yeah I was there. I saw what I saw. What the heck difference does it make if he was gliding or skating? Wetmore had a lot of momentum and Olson shoved him. Sorry. What can I say? I don't have to "know" the facts. I saw the facts. You sound like a politician trying to spin reality. I have no idea if he intended to put the guy into the boards or not, but he did, and from that location it is a very dangerous thing to do, as we all know. If we're lucky, no major injury happened from it. I just reported the reality I saw, not the thoughts of the guy doing it.

[Eyyyy3]

What's more frightening is that people still think this argument works....... In hockey, 2 + 2 does not always = 4.

I just brought it up for conversation, geez I didn't mean a slight difference in the score between a common opponent meant that much. Relax. Holy Angels looked good, but not that great anyway. I don't know if Holy Angels is better than West or not. It might be kind of fun to see though.


About the hit. Yeah I was there. I saw what I saw. They were not side by side from my perspective behind the NP bench up top. Wetmore was going for the puck full speed and Olson pushed him headlong into the boards. What he was thinking, who can know. But he is lucky Wetmore didn't get seriously hurt, if in fact he is not. I know what my eyes saw, and the scout from UND next to me said the same thing. It was not a good hit. You may want to make it out like it wasn't that bad. But in my book, it was bad. What the heck difference does it make if he was gliding or skating? Wetmore had a lot of momentum and Olson shoved him. Sorry. What can I say? I don't have to "know" the facts. I saw the facts. You sound like a politician trying to spin reality. I have no idea if he intended to put the guy into the boards or not, but he did, and from that location it is a very dangerous thing to do. Sorry. If we're lucky, no major injury happened from it.

I Agree it was a bad hit. Im not saying it wasn't, all i wanted to really say was that if Westmore had not been bleeding Olson wouldnt have had the game misconduct. speaking of sitting behind the NP bench, what was up with that guy yelling? was that his kis or what?