AA Rankings for 2/8

[youngblood08]

Well, that was certainly an eventful week, wasn't it? Trying to put these together turned into quite the headache after Upset Night in the NWSC. Suddenly the field of teams fighting for a state title appears to have grown, and though the team on top is inching away from the pack a bit, it's very difficult to sort everyone out.

1. Bloomington Jefferson
-Had their closest call of the season to date against Moorhead on Saturday, but came out on top. Though it shows how beatable they are, winning a game in OT against another good team is usually good for a team's confidence. They'll need it on Tuesday night.
This week: Tues at #2 Eden Prairie, Sat vs. Eastview

2. Eden Prairie
-Also had a close call on Saturday, blowing a 3-goal 3rd-period lead before winning in OT. Like Jefferson, they aren't winning with authority lately, but they're winning, and the competition in this poll isn't, for the most part. The showdown for #1 on Tuesday should be a great one.
This week: Tues vs. #1 Bloomington Jefferson, Thurs vs. Apple Valley

3. Duluth East
-The beneficiaries of the slaughter in the standings immediately above them. Sure, they're not playing very hard teams right now, but they are moving through their schedule with efficiency and leaving little room for doubt. The ugly losses are fading further into the rear-view mirror, and unlike many of the other top teams right now, there's no sense that they're getting beaten up physically or tired. Huge rivalry game Tuesday.
This week: Tues at Cloquet, Sat vs. Stillwater

4. Edina
-Suffered another loss that did not look good, but rebounded with a thorough dismantling of Wayzata. I'm giving them some benefit of the doubt, assuming that they've figured things out and are reverting to form. If that proves not to be the case, they'll fall a lot further next week.
This week: Thurs vs. Hopkins, Sat at Buffalo

5. Benilde-St. Maragaret's
-While the rest of the Metro gets caught up in the carnage, this team has very quietly and effectively gone about its business. Like East, they're doing it against weak teams, but they have won 7 in a row against MSHSL competiton and beaten the team immediately behind them in the rankings. Busy week ahead, with a big one on Saturday.
This week: Tues vs. St. Francis, Thurs vs. Totino-Grace, Sat at #10 Holy Angels

6. Minnetonka
-Followed up a huge win with a disappointing in-section loss that dulled the momentum a little bit. How they finish the season will be crucial for how they look going into the brutality of 6AA. The Wayzata game has major section-seeding implications.
This week: Thurs vs. Robbinsdale Armstrong, Sat at #14 Wayzata

7. Maple Grove(!)
-Welcome to the state scene, Maple Grove. A large, convincing win over Centennial was the stunner of the week and threw the NWSC and 5AA into an utter mess. They have a little time to rest on their laurels before the Blaine rematch next week. They're for real, and there's no doubting that now.
This week: Thurs at Andover, Sat at Osseo

8. Centennial
-Just when it seemed like the Cougars were about to peak, they've hit a wall and suddenly have very serious question marks about them. I might have dropped Blaine and Centennial a bit far, but the middle of these rankings are very tight, and in this case I felt I had to give precedence to recent events. A very busy week ahead with two absolutely huge NWSC games on the docket.
This week: Tues vs. North Metro, Thurs at #11 Elk River, Sat at #9 Blaine

9. Blaine
-A very poor weak for a team that also looked very good last time I was ranking them. Again, the importance of the Centennial game cannot be understated, even if the rankings have changed a bit.
This week: Thurs at North Metro, Sat vs. #8 Centennial

10. Holy Angels
-They keep on sliding backwards in these rankings through no fault of their own. I feel a bit bad about it, especially when applying the same logic used for East and Benilde, but their overall achievements don't match those two teams, I had to make room for Maple Grove, and I couldn't bring myself to drop any of the higher-ranked losers any further. They have a real chance to prove themselves this week, finally.
This week: Tues at Hutchinson, Sat vs. #5 Benilde-St. Margaret's

11. Elk River
-The Elks crashed the NWSC party with a huge win over Blaine, finally beating one of the tough teams they've gone up against this year. Duluth East should be paying attention to what this team is doing now that they've made a statement. If they can knock off Centennial too, look out.
This week: Tues at Osseo, Thurs vs. #8 Centennial, Sat at Coon Rapids

12. Moorhead
-Looking at the body of work, this is a bit of a stretch. But the Spuds have proven over the past 8 days that they can play with absolutely anyone, and that maybe 8AA won't be such a pushover after all. This week, they can focus on shoring up their standing in the section.
This week: Tues vs. Brainerd, Sat at St. Cloud Tech

13. Woodbury
-They're continuing to win, but not in a manner that suggests they should be taken seriously at a statewide level. A pair of crucial SEC games this week will give us a better idea of where they stand.
This week: Thurs vs. Cretin-Derham Hall, Sat vs. Roseville

14. Wayzata
-Have done worse against Edina every time they've played them, which is really not a good sign regarding the direction they're headed in the state's deepest section. The Minnetonka game Saturday will be huge for them.
This week: Tues at Buffalo (seriously, of all the games this week, FSN chose this one??!!), Sat vs. #6 Minnetonka

15. Hill-Murray
-It's practically a toss-up between the Pioneers and Hopkins for this spot. I'm giving it to Hill for their first really strong win since The Incident, as they beat STA. A major section game looms on Thursday.
This week: Thurs vs. Tartan, Sat at Richfield
----
With 2 weeks to go in the regular season, I'll do the section-by-section thing again.

1AA
No ranked teams.
Mayo has taken the lead in the race for the 1 seed, but it's still a mess involving the Lakevilles, and Century and Owatonna are capable of causing problems too. Same old story, essentially.

2AA
1 Bloom. Jefferson
4 Edina
10 Holy Angels
The real thing to note here is Burnsville, which nearly beat EP on Saturday. They've really come together and are capable of upsetting Jefferson in the section semis if enough things go right. If I had to rank them, I'd give them #17. Just what this section needed, another good team to cause problems.

3AA
13 Woodbury
I'm really not impressed by what I'm seeing out of Woodbury lately. Cretin has quietly won 6 in a row and is crawling back into the picture, along with a capable Eagan team and maybe Apple Valley too. Big game this week between Woodbury and CDH.

4AA
15 Hill-Murray
Who would have guessed...the #1 seed in the section will probably be decided in this week's Hill-Tartan game. Stillwater is playing terribly but for some reason WBL can't beat them. WBL is injury-riddled but talented and probably falls in around #18. And Roseville is still hovering in the picture too. A mess, and the matchups that result from the seeding may be very significant in deciding who ends up at State.

5AA
7 Maple Grove
8 Centennial
9 Blaine
The numbers say it all here. 3 very good teams with shots at the section title. Should be an excellent race down the stretch, and getting the #1 seed is very significant.

6AA
2 Eden Prairie
5 Benilde
6 Minnetonka
14 Wayzata
(16) Hopkins
Loaded and confusing. I thought the top 3 were separating themselves a bit, but then Hopkins had to go and upset Tonka. I wouldn't even try making a call on this one yet.

7AA
3 Duluth East
11 Elk River
This section's teams moved up the standings a bit this past week. It's still very much East's to lose, and as they seem wont to do, the top teams in the section are coming on strong at the end of the year.

8AA
12 Moorhead
Roseau, after seemingly putting to bed any chance of a southern team winning with a resounding 6-0 win over Tech last week, came back and tied them this week, leaving me very unsure about them. Moorhead appears to have a pretty good lead, but Roseau is still very capable of beating them.

Whew, there you go...looks to be another excellent week.

Nice breakdown, but there were a lot of breakdowns in some of the top ten teams this past week. Maybe the schedule is getting against the top teams or may be the lower teams are stepping up their play against the higher rated teams.

Here is may personal rankings.
#1 Centennial- Some big wins and some bad losses, they will be there.
#2 Tonka- Big wins, and a let down against a good goalie- Fons
#3 Edina- Needs to regroup and focus on Section play
#4 Jefferson- Poor Lake shedule, and no top 10 wins- only EP, but 0 losses
#5 Holy Angels- Poor conference, but too talented not to be in the top 5
#6 Blaine- Above average team in an average conference
#7 Duluth East- Average schedule, but is just peaking
#8 EP- Poor Lake schedule, but did beat Tonka and Hopkins
#9 Benilde- Below average schedule, but are talented- good goaltender.
#10 Maple Grove- Good team and will be competitive down the stretch.
#11) Hopkins- Great goalie and solid 1st line.
#12) Wayzata. A lot of ups and downs. Needs to get some big wins.
#13) Burnsville- Average goaltender, but top 1st line that will score.
#14) Woodbury-
#15) Moorhead/Hill Murray

What has happened to the White Bear, Stillwater, Anoka, Grand Rapids, Roseau teams?

Just my thought.

Way too West Metro biased. Hopkins? ahead of Woodbury Sorry. Woodbury is a top 10 team easily. Why Brunsville and Wayzata are there leaves questions.

[theoneandonly1]

How can you compare Elk River and Jefferson, ER has 7 losses and Jefferson has one. The Lake Conference still is a top conference, they haven't completely blown up. The teams are good, there is just parity, which drives strength of schedule down. Also, they have beaten Moorhead and Wayzata, Are you calling them not quality teams, because I am pretty sure that when we did this for Edina, we called them quality teams.

As has been said before, Edina has 12 "quality" wins, Tonka 5, DE 4, Jefferson 3, Centennial 3. You put Centennial 1 and Jefferson 7, even though Centennial has 2 losses and 3 ties and Jefferson has none.

Anyone notice how every week we put Jefferson lower and lower, the argument used to be Jefferson doesn't deserve to be #1 because Edina has one losses and a much tougher schedule and was making every other team they play just bend over and take it, but they are the clear number 2 and if Edina losses, they are number 1, and now we say Jefferson is 7.

hshockeywatcher, the reason you are attacked is because you have stupid opinions backed up by even stupider logic and then say "At least some people can see what's going on." Don't you think that the fact you haven't seen some teams play while have seen others will bias your opinion. I have seen 12 of the top 15 and all of the top 10 and am an admitted Edina fan, so I think when I say that Jefferson is number one in my opinion, it is unbiased.

I can accept lakeviewing's opinion because he generally seems to have strong opinions backed up by solid logic and seems like he has seen enough teams play to have a solid opinion, although there is a littel NWSC bias.

Amen

[HShockeywatcher]

Stupid opinions? Maybe ask a question or two to understand better. I put Centennial #1 because it is late in the season and the WBL loss was not only ugly but a long time ago. Since then they have lost once, tied once and lost to a good team. I have never been convinced of Jefferson's dominance. So how does beating Moorhead in OT prove it to me? It doesn't. St Thomas beat Moorhead by the same score in regulation and if they were a AA team I doubt they'd be near the top.

I used Elk River and Jefferson to compare quality wins. I still stick by them both having one. Jefferson may have a good squad, some may call it a great squad, but they will have to face a great team coming off a win against a great team to go to state after having played 5 games against mediocre competition. Elk River on the other hand, although mostly losses, has a lot of experience against top competition. As you can see by their game scores, they are improving and will be ready for sections.

Why do I need to have seen a team play to understand a scoreboard? The game isn't played on paper. It is played on the ice. You can't (well, shouldn't) rank the teams by the supposed talent they have, you should rank them by what they have done on the ice. That is what I am trying to do. If that isn't logical to you, I'm sorry.

Your opinion can't be unbiased. If it were, it wouldn't be your opinion. Every opinion, just like every ranking system has some sort of bias to it.

At 20-0, why wasn't Park Rapids ranked #1 last year? They went out there 20 times and proved they were the best. No one else did what they did. They should've been #1.

[theoneandonly1]

At 20-0, why wasn't Park Rapids ranked #1 last year? They went out there 20 times and proved they were the best. No one else did what they did. They should've been #1.

Stop comparing Jefferson to Park Rapids, this is a terrible comparison. Park Rapids played bad teams that no one has even heard of and Jefferson is still playing quality teams, the Lake conference is down but the teams are still decent. I have even seen some rankings with 6 Lake teams in it. Jefferson,EP,Burnsville,Eagan,Apple Valley, and Eastview.

Stupid opinions? Maybe ask a question or two to understand better. I put Centennial #1 because it is late in the season and the WBL loss was not only ugly but a long time ago. Since then they have lost once, tied once and lost to a good team. I have never been convinced of Jefferson's dominance. So how does beating Moorhead in OT prove it to me? It doesn't. St Thomas beat Moorhead by the same score in regulation and if they were a AA team I doubt they'd be near the top.

Moorheads loss to St.Thomas was also a long time ago(2 days after Centennials). Moorhead had a bad stretch this year but, I think theyve got it turned around. Don't underestimate thes guys come sections.

[jagopher21]

Stupid opinions? Maybe ask a question or two to understand better. I put Centennial #1 because it is late in the season and the WBL loss was not only ugly but a long time ago. Since then they have lost once, tied once and lost to a good team. I have never been convinced of Jefferson's dominance. So how does beating Moorhead in OT prove it to me? It doesn't. St Thomas beat Moorhead by the same score in regulation and if they were a AA team I doubt they'd be near the top.

I used Elk River and Jefferson to compare quality wins. I still stick by them both having one. Jefferson may have a good squad, some may call it a great squad, but they will have to face a great team coming off a win against a great team to go to state after having played 5 games against mediocre competition. Elk River on the other hand, although mostly losses, has a lot of experience against top competition. As you can see by their game scores, they are improving and will be ready for sections.

Why do I need to have seen a team play to understand a scoreboard? The game isn't played on paper. It is played on the ice. You can't (well, shouldn't) rank the teams by the supposed talent they have, you should rank them by what they have done on the ice. That is what I am trying to do. If that isn't logical to you, I'm sorry.

Your opinion can't be unbiased. If it were, it wouldn't be your opinion. Every opinion, just like every ranking system has some sort of bias to it.

At 20-0, why wasn't Park Rapids ranked #1 last year? They went out there 20 times and proved they were the best. No one else did what they did. They should've been #1.

stop using the moorhead game as a way to move jefferson down when your number 1 team tied moorhead.

[HShockeywatcher]

You're right. That was probably their 2nd stumble all season. And if they didn't have other tough opponent on their schedule, they'd be nowhere near the top. But they do. They stumble and tie Moorhead after beating Edina. Fine, I won't use Moorhead; Jefferson stumbled into OT with Lakeville South and only beat Lakeville North by 1 goal, something 13 teams were able to do better than this year.

Since when is being in the top 5 or just outside of it a bad thing? I have NEVER called them a bad team. Just like I have never called Little Falls a bad team and I just criticized for saying something another half of the board thinks. They are a very talented team, Little Falls too, in my eyes to be called the #1 team in the state they would've beat had less GA against some teams and more GF against some teams. Like I said with LF and DE, when you play an easy schedule, winning is expected, it's how you win that defines what type of team you are. I looked at Jefferson's schedule at the beginning of the season and thought they'd get this far without a loss. Doesn't mean they're the top team.

theoneandonly1, you're right that Park Rapids only played bad teams, but (for the most part) so has Jefferson. Just because there's a couple with good reputations on their schedule doesn't mean anything. The answer to the question, though, is their strength of schedule. Warroad in 2005 went undefeated and was probably hands down the better than all but 2 other teams in the state and probably would've won 5 out of 10 against Holy Angels and Moorhead. They proved they could play with the best and the rankings showed it. Park Rapids didn't prove they could play with the best. Just like Jefferson hasn't.
I'm just shocked why this year seems to be different than past years. And why no one can comment on this odd phenomenon

If you'd read my posts you'd know I'm not underestimating Moorhead at all. I think they're a great team who's come around and can probably do a lot of damage in March.

[northhockey23]

What would be jefferson's 3 quality wins?

[MNHockey75]

2/9

1. Bloomington Jefferson 21-0
2. Edina 17-4
3. Eden Prairie 18-3
4. Blaine 18-2-1
5. Duluth East 17-3-1
6. Minnetonka 15-6
7. Centennial 15-2-3
8. Academy of Holy Angels 17-4-1
9. Maple Grove 16-2-3
10. Benilde-St. Margaret’s 16-4
11. Woodbury 18-2-2
12. Hill-Murray 14-6-1
13. Wayzata 13-7-1
14. Moorhead 9-9-2
15. Hopkins 13-7-1

[greyhoundsnation27]

I think part of the reason everybody thinks the Lake is down this year is because of how dominate they were last year. Jefferson and Eden Prairie are both top 5 teams. If you ranked every team in Class AA, Eagan, Burnsville and Apple Valley would be in the 20-30 range. Maybe they haven't had a killer schedule like Edina or Minnetonka, but it's a pretty solid schedule. So they beat EP, Wayzata, Eagan, Burnsville twice and Apple Valley twice (I don't know about the ND teams, so I won't include them). I have no problem putting Jefferson #1.

[scoreboard33]

I don't care about Park Rapids last year, I care about Jefferson this year. Last year, people saw Park Rapids play and said they were not that good, this year, no one is saying that about Jefferson.

You still amaze me with how you somehow justify losses as excusable, while hold Jefferson accountable for not winning big. I know some people say it ain't worth winning unless you win big, but this is ridiculous. Please explian that to me? Is it honestly better to lose to a crappy team and call it a bad day than to not win big against a crappy team, or need overtime to beat a team you ranked top 15? They both have off days. Jefferson still wins on their off days. You haven't been convinced of Jefferson dominance however have not seen them play and look at the scores they win by to judge the team and then only pick the convenient scores to make your rankings.

Remember this quote, "Why do I need to have seen a team play to understand a scoreboard? The game isn't played on paper. It is played on the ice." Exactly why you should see a team to judge them?

And are you honestly telling me that beating teams you put in the top 15 are not quality wins?

northhockey, it is Wayzata, Moorhead and EP. I also miscounted Centennial, forgetting they beat Edina, so they actually have 4. I can see you maybe disagreeing but then we would have to refigure Edina's especially and others.

Of course everyone is biased, however, I have no favorite teams, besides Edina, and really try to judge teams on how they play. In one of these earlier, I actually said that I think Jefferson has to be number 1, above Edina because they have been playing better and haven't lost, so I don't think many posters would call me biased. I certainly didn't rank Jefferson 7th, which, in my opinion, is completely ludicrous.

[redfirehockey1]

Why do I need to have seen a team play to understand a scoreboard? The game isn't played on paper. It is played on the ice. You can't (well, shouldn't) rank the teams by the supposed talent they have, you should rank them by what they have done on the ice. That is what I am trying to do. If that isn't logical to you, I'm sorry.

so the game isn't played on paper, its played on the ice, but you rank them by solely what they've done on paper, which is go undefeated... not only beating a top 5 team in the state, but also beat the team that tied what i'm assuming is your alma meter (centennial) and #1 team. i see two very very large holes in your logic just in that one paragraph, and god forbid you've written MANY more

[oneIdmonsta]

jeffersons beat centennial, blaine and duluth east in preseason scrimmages and edina backed out of theres doesn't mean anything im just sayin

[scoreboard33]

jeffersons beat centennial, blaine and duluth east in preseason scrimmages and edina backed out of theres doesn't mean anything im just sayin

Again, I'm pretty sure it was a mutual decision not scrimmage other top section opponents. And it wouldn't have proven anything, since both Edina and Jefferson have traditionally used that scrimmage to get their first and second lines about 3 shifts and then use the rest to evaluate the borderline players.

[gophermadman]

jeffersons beat centennial, blaine and duluth east in preseason scrimmages and edina backed out of theres doesn't mean anything im just sayin

Again, I'm pretty sure it was a mutual decision not scrimmage other top section opponents. And it wouldn't have proven anything, since both Edina and Jefferson have traditionally used that scrimmage to get their first and second lines about 3 shifts and then use the rest to evaluate the borderline players.

scrimmages mean nothing, I know that both Jefferson and Edina uses the scrimmages during tryouts, and almost strickly plays the kids that are on the cusp of making the team, so allot of JV and jr. gold potential playing time.

[The New One]

Karl Great job
Here are my rankings and they are current and also include teams that I feel have a chance to do some damage at State.

1) Bloomington Jefferson: Great two lines, great D, a goalie that has exceeded excpectations. They have answered the bell every night and I am sure are getting other teams best efforts as they head down the stretch. Dont belittle their conferance like Duluth East their schedule is always tough but this year the way things have worked out some of there usually tough foes are down a little. I believe there really isnt a super conferance but that there are teams from a lot of conferances that could win it all. Positive Herbert is their best player and he is playing his best right now. Negative is who is at #2 is in their section.
2) Edina: Experience, Explosive and Deep. Although they have stumbled recently they are clearly an elite team. I rank them number 2 because they are the #1 team I wouldnt want to play in an elimination game.
3) Minnetonka: They looked awesome against Edina. I have seen them several times and they continue to get better. They have good balance and are strong up the middle. Great young coach (they also have JOE PA) who has this team playing better and better. Their downfall could be two things First they will have 5 very difficult games to win in a row to win it all. Second, do they have enough experience to pull that feat off?
4) Eden Prairie: NICK LEDDY. Best D man in the state. They have depth up front. They will need the young Rau to keep up his scorching pace in the playoofs to make it. They will have a tough run to get there. I dont know if I believe they have enough to win 5 tough games in a row which is what it will take for the Eagles.
5) Centennial: Great talent, they have stumbled a couple of times as well. Positive, if they can get to state which they should have a good shot at, they will probably receive a top 4 seed which should get them to Friday night at the EX. Weakness, I have seen this team not show up more than once.
6) Duluth East: Kind of the same story as Centennial, they have an excellant goalie, a very strong core of D and 3 solid lines. Strong record but their schedule is not as tough as usual. If they get through the section they should receive a top 4 seed which would give them a great opportunity to get to Friday night at the EX.
7) Blaine: They are well coached and have talent I just dont think they have enough to beat Centennial and get there.
8) Maple Grove, a little unknown and dangerous.
9) Benilde, there coach has a way of getting the most out of his players at tourney time.
10) Roseau, If ther goalie can play decently they could surpise some people and maybe even shock someone. With Oliver and Erickson back and healthy teams would be a fool to look beyond them. They are my complete darkhorse but with Landman, Oliver, Erickson, and others I would not be surprised to see them in St Paul and if I was a top 4 seed they are the team I wouldnt want to play.

Others that could make it to state: Hopkins, Woodbury (who could surprise), Moorhead

[Minnesota]

Way too West Metro biased. Hopkins? ahead of Woodbury Sorry. Woodbury is a top 10 team easily. Why Brunsville and Wayzata are there leaves questions.

I disagree, what makes you think Woodbury is a top 10 team?

[DoubleDeuce]

Karl Great job
Here are my rankings and they are current and also include teams that I feel have a chance to do some damage at State.

1) Bloomington Jefferson: Great two lines, great D, a goalie that has exceeded excpectations. They have answered the bell every night and I am sure are getting other teams best efforts as they head down the stretch. Dont belittle their conferance like Duluth East their schedule is always tough but this year the way things have worked out some of there usually tough foes are down a little. I believe there really isnt a super conferance but that there are teams from a lot of conferances that could win it all. Positive Herbert is their best player and he is playing his best right now. Negative is who is at #2 is in their section.
2) Edina: Experience, Explosive and Deep. Although they have stumbled recently they are clearly an elite team. I rank them number 2 because they are the #1 team I wouldnt want to play in an elimination game.
3) Minnetonka: They looked awesome against Edina. I have seen them several times and they continue to get better. They have good balance and are strong up the middle. Great young coach (they also have JOE PA) who has this team playing better and better. Their downfall could be two things First they will have 5 very difficult games to win in a row to win it all. Second, do they have enough experience to pull that feat off?
4) Eden Prairie: NICK LEDDY. Best D man in the state. They have depth up front. They will need the young Rau to keep up his scorching pace in the playoofs to make it. They will have a tough run to get there. I dont know if I believe they have enough to win 5 tough games in a row which is what it will take for the Eagles.
5) Centennial: Great talent, they have stumbled a couple of times as well. Positive, if they can get to state which they should have a good shot at, they will probably receive a top 4 seed which should get them to Friday night at the EX. Weakness, I have seen this team not show up more than once.
6) Duluth East: Kind of the same story as Centennial, they have an excellant goalie, a very strong core of D and 3 solid lines. Strong record but their schedule is not as tough as usual. If they get through the section they should receive a top 4 seed which would give them a great opportunity to get to Friday night at the EX.
7) Blaine: They are well coached and have talent I just dont think they have enough to beat Centennial and get there.
Maple Grove, a little unknown and dangerous.
9) Benilde, there coach has a way of getting the most out of his players at tourney time.
10) Roseau, If ther goalie can play decently they could surpise some people and maybe even shock someone. With Oliver and Erickson back and healthy teams would be a fool to look beyond them. They are my complete darkhorse but with Landman, Oliver, Erickson, and others I would not be surprised to see them in St Paul and if I was a top 4 seed they are the team I wouldnt want to play.

Others that could make it to state: Hopkins, Woodbury (who could surprise), Moorhead

Another job well done! Here comes more debate and a probably a few "shots".

[HShockeywatcher]

"what i'm assuming is your alma meter (centennial) and #1 team"

Ha, you must be new. It's nice to see someone cannot post for a team and not have been from there.

scoreboard33,
I've given countless analogies to other places in sports, even other HS hockey examples, where logic is used to factor in SOS. I could give more, but you would simply say you don't care about those things, you are talking about this.

Jefferson has played three "top teams"...if you extend the top list. Two of them multiple teams have beaten considerably better than they have and the other, the one most are considering the only top team, someone else beat twice by the same margin.

We don't know what will happen tonight, but what if Eden Prairie beats Jefferson? What are people going to say then?

You may think ranking a team who hasn't played anyone low is ludicrous, but I would say that not factoring in SOS is ludicrous, which also means you need to factor that in when watching them play.

Can we please agree to disagree? I can do that if you can.

[HShockeywatcher]

Really like TheNewOne's rankings. Only thing I would change is switching Blaine and East, as Blaine crushed them head to head and putting either Moorhead or Holy Angels at #10.

[east hockey]

Really like TheNewOne's rankings. Only thing I would change is switching Blaine and East, as Blaine crushed them head to head and putting either Moorhead or Holy Angels at #10.

Beat East by two goals, one an empty netter. Yep, that's a crushing, all right.

Lee

[karl(east)]

Really like TheNewOne's rankings. Only thing I would change is switching Blaine and East, as Blaine crushed them head to head and putting either Moorhead or Holy Angels at #10.

Beat East by two goals, one an empty netter. Yep, that's a crushing, all right.

Lee

...and was tied 3-3 midway through the third. Final shots 25-25. Blaine even handed Max Tardy a breakaway late in the 3rd on which he could have tied the game, but he missed. It was a dead-even game in which the team that took advantage of its opportunity won. Calling it a crushing is a horrible misrepresentation.

I agree that The New One has some pretty good rankings, though. I will, however, insist on keeping Blaine and Centennial as close to each other as possible in the rankings. Their seasons have been very parallel, and they tied each other. I understand the excitement over Centennial's win over Edina, but I don't see that as enough to justify separating the two by 5 places. I'm also not all that high on Woodbury, for reasons I've explained earlier.

[The New One]

Karl, I forgot to mention when I posted my list that the great thing about rankings is that they are your own, and that you can have an opinion. I have no problems with anyone who wants to constructively critique my thoughts or yours or anyone else. I just wish that some people and one specific person would be more respectful to peoples personal opinions and to individual programs. I think if we created a poll for who has the most disrespected or maybe with not enough thinking feedback one person would be called out by almost everyone. For example Blaine crushing East, it is obvious this person was not at the game and on several occasions has taken unjustified shots at East, East's D, and various individuals on this thread. The problem, his justification when he gets called out makes him sound even worst. I would bet if I hadnt put this editiorial in hear about the specifics. He would whine about that everyone elses opinions are ok but not his. Comparing Bloomington Jefferson to Park Rapids give me a break.
Karl, by the way the reason I have Centennial higher then Blaine is due to the depth and quality of Centennials D they are superior to Blaines D in my opinion and defenses win championships. Both teams are fairly equal strong up front and in the goal. Keep them close in your rankings, but that is why I had more seperation. Keep up the good work.

[BIGSEXY]

1. Bloomington Jefferson
2. Minnetonka
3. Edina
4. Centennial
5. Duluth East
6. Eden Prairie
7. Blaine
8. Maple Grove
9. Benilde
10.Holy Angels

[HShockeywatcher]

My bad Lee, I was thinking of the Blaine/Edina blowout.
Regardless, it is still a head to head victory.

[MrBoDangles]

1. JEFFERSON
2. CENTENNIAL
3. BLAINE
4. DULUTH EAST
5. EDINA
6. EDEN PRARIE
7. MAPLE GROVE
8. WOODBURY
9. MINNETONKA
10. ELK RIVER

Duluth East and Edina each had a loss to much weaker teams, but still believe are top five quality. Elk River cracks the top ten, and seem to be turning into a threat for Duluth East in sections.