Little Falls (12-0) @ Alexandria (11-2) 1-20-09

[hshckfan08]

hshckfan08,
I disagree with your statement for two reasons.
1. Being upset during the playoffs doesn't mean you are not a certain quality team. We see this in NCAA hockey. A mediocre team gets hot and wins a couple in a row. Etc, etc. I may not stand with the majority here, but I don't believe the state tournament necessarily shows who is the best team.
2. In a system where you seed, especially in Class A, where you are ranked for the tournament matters, as the higher seeds play a softer schedule. The #3 team could be given the #1 seed and come out on top.

Neither of those things are why I discuss this though. That is merely to see what people think and why they think what they do. And although I cannot claim that they have not earned the opinions of others, I can claim that those people do not respond to comments that apply to a comparable situation in another class, sport, or level.

It's the same reason that while the Gophers basketball team was undefeated they weren't in the top 25. It was only after LOSING to a good mich st team and winning a few more they got ranked.

1. Ok maybe one year, but they have almost beaten the eventual champion in the last two state tournaments, then they went on to win consolation last year. I dont think that is simply the case of a hot goaltender.. and obviously little falls wasn't only hot for a couple in a row as they only lost 3 games in the regular season... And for goodness sakes, if you dont think the state tournament reveals who the best team is , then when do you?? You already said in another topic, the beginning of the regular season basically doesnt even matter, so that doesnt leave a whole lot of games to look at.

2. I'm not sure where i said seeding doesnt matter...


Maybe they werent ranked because they were 18-12 in 07-08, and 9-21 in 06-07... If Michigan Tech all of a sudden starts out 5-0 next year, people arent going to be heralding them as the favorites to win the championship

[hshckfan08]

karl(east) said difficult non-conference schedule. You would be right about having a difficult schedule, but non-conference is different. I love talking NCAA basketball on a high school hockey forum

That is completely irrelevant... The point is the difficulty of the schedule

[karl(east)]

They are rankings, you prove who is number one at the end of the season. They could sure do a lot more to prove and earn their spot... how many games have they lost? Why was wake forest just ranked number one? They CLEARLY do not have the schedule that teams in the big east and ACC have, but the associated press rewarded them, because they won all of their games.
I guess its fine if you dont think they should be there, but you cant say they havent earned the opinions of others that they are the number 1 ranked team.

Minor detail...Wake Forest is in the ACC.

And as an avid follower of both college hoops and high school hockey, I don't think the ranking systems the two use compare well for this argument. In the NCAA, no team can put together a nonconference schedule like Edina's. And a team that's undefeated at this point in the season in the NCAA will almost certainly be #1 if they're in a major conference. That's not necessarily the case in hockey.

oops
in my head when i meant acc, i was thinking the big dogs, duke and unc.
Wake forest has had a weaker schedule than duke and unc, and it is not even close compared to the schedule of the big east teams. While the big east teams have at least had 1 loss, Wake Forest was undefeated even though they had the weaker schedule. Any team in the big east has a ridiculously difficult schedule, so i would have to disagree that they cant get as difficult a schedule as Edina has. My point is that wake forest played a weak schedule compared to pittsburgh who has only lost one game, yet before wake's loss they were ranked ahead of pittsburgh.

Like HShockeywatcher, I'm definitely enjoying the NCAA talk.

I go to a Big East school, so I definitely appreciate the ridiculousness of a Big East schedule. But still, for the first month of the season (aside from a Thanksgiving tournament), my school's schedule consisted of a bunch of nobodies and Memphis. Most of the NCAA powers are like that, though some of them have 1 or 2 more good games.

[onemoveOTH]

Minor detail...Wake Forest is in the ACC.

And as an avid follower of both college hoops and high school hockey, I don't think the ranking systems the two use compare well for this argument. In the NCAA, no team can put together a nonconference schedule like Edina's. And a team that's undefeated at this point in the season in the NCAA will almost certainly be #1 if they're in a major conference. That's not necessarily the case in hockey.

oops
in my head when i meant acc, i was thinking the big dogs, duke and unc.
Wake forest has had a weaker schedule than duke and unc, and it is not even close compared to the schedule of the big east teams. While the big east teams have at least had 1 loss, Wake Forest was undefeated even though they had the weaker schedule. Any team in the big east has a ridiculously difficult schedule, so i would have to disagree that they cant get as difficult a schedule as Edina has. My point is that wake forest played a weak schedule compared to pittsburgh who has only lost one game, yet before wake's loss they were ranked ahead of pittsburgh.

Like HShockeywatcher, I'm definitely enjoying the NCAA talk.

I go to a Big East school, so I definitely appreciate the ridiculousness of a Big East schedule. But still, for the first month of the season (aside from a Thanksgiving tournament), my school's schedule consisted of a bunch of nobodies and Memphis. Most of the NCAA powers are like that, though some of them have 1 or 2 more good games.

That's definitely true

HUH I must have clicked on the wrong topic --- well I better go.......

[.Marshall]

Hockey please.. maybe something about Little Falls and Alex

[joester]

Well Little Falls has beaten Alex twice, cathedral once, and virginia once which are all pretty darn good teams and they are also UNDEFEATED! therefore Little Falls is number 1. Also the teams below them in the rankings have losses too or ties with teams that they shouldnt have losses too or ties with if they wanna be number 1.

[Bauer 3000]

Little Falls beat New Prague 5-0. AHA beat New Prague 6-0. Just comparing scores...

[scarface]

Well Little Falls has beaten Alex twice, cathedral once, and virginia once which are all pretty darn good teams and they are also UNDEFEATED! therefore Little Falls is number 1. Also the teams below them in the rankings have losses too or ties with teams that they shouldnt have losses too or ties with if they wanna be number 1.

As for Alex, they have lost 3 games this year. Twice to Small Falls and once to Cathedral. Both teams have been rated higher than Alex all year. As for LF schedule vs. Alex schedule for the rest of the year, Alex has a tougher schedule....not that it matters for this discussion...just thought I'd throw that in. To get back to the game and point of this thread, GREAT game, each team had their moments and it should be a heck of a Section final if these two teams meet in St. Cloud. Congrats to LF on their 1 - 0 victory. See you in St. Cloud.

[defense]

hshckfan08,
I disagree with your statement for two reasons.
1. Being upset during the playoffs doesn't mean you are not a certain quality team. We see this in NCAA hockey. A mediocre team gets hot and wins a couple in a row. Etc, etc. I may not stand with the majority here, but I don't believe the state tournament necessarily shows who is the best team.
2. In a system where you seed, especially in Class A, where you are ranked for the tournament matters, as the higher seeds play a softer schedule. The #3 team could be given the #1 seed and come out on top.

Neither of those things are why I discuss this though. That is merely to see what people think and why they think what they do. And although I cannot claim that they have not earned the opinions of others, I can claim that those people do not respond to comments that apply to a comparable situation in another class, sport, or level.

It's the same reason that while the Gophers basketball team was undefeated they weren't in the top 25. It was only after LOSING to a good mich st team and winning a few more they got ranked.

People think Little Falls is #1 for a number of reasons that have been clearly stated, you just chose to turn a blind eye to the facts.... you sure are a good fan of your team though..