#2 Eden Prairie vs Hill-Murray

[Guns N' Roses]

I think Eden Prairie will win but Hill will keep it close. 3-2 Eagles

[Indians forever]

Eden Prarie will win it all.

EP wins this one 5-3.

[karl(east)]

For some reason, I think this game has upset written all over it.

EP is a young team heading to its first state tourney. They remind me quite a bit of Edina two years back, another team that came in highly touted, ended up drawing a less talented but more experienced opponent in the 1st round (Grand Rapids), and going straight to the consolation bracket.

EP is certainly the much stronger team, but Hill has enough coaching and experience that they know exactly what they are doing, and there are a couple of stars still around who can turn a game.

EP needs to shake out the nerves and jump out to an early lead. The longer this one stays close, the more it shifts into Hill's favor.

Your assessment and comparison is off the mark. If you followed the youth ranks, you will know that the seniors on the team played in the State Tournament in Bantams. If memory serves me correctly, they lost to Roseau in the third place game. That same year, Centennial upset favored Edina in the State Championship game.

The Juniors and Sophomores on the team have won state tournaments at the Bantam and Pee Wee levels. The topper is the goalie. EPs goalie is a big game player. To win in the tournament you need a big game goalie. History has shown that over and over. Edina's goalie proved less than worthy. That was their achilles heal and anyone who follows high school hockey knows that.

If you honestly think winning a Bantam A tournament in front of a couple of parents properly prepares a team for playing in front of 18,000 people at the Xcel Center, I guess you're right. I have some difficulty buying that, though.

I am by no means saying EP is going to lose. I just think we need to recognize the potential for an upset here, and Hill-Murray is the last team in this field that I would want to be stuck with late in a close game.

[Puckhead631]

Karl(east) - the point that Breakout makes without saying it is that these kids know how to win games. The atmosphere last Thursday was as big as you can get!

EP will win the first two games. Reports from the Edina side is that Giles pulled someone in to help with the D from the NHL ranks. Must have worked as Edina's D was their big question for most of the season, but they looked real solid against Jeff.

Question is if Edina D can contain the speed of EP's forwards. I think you will see EP and Edina in the final - too close to pick now.

[sincethebeginning]

[quote="marchmadness"][quote="karl(east)"]

EP is a young team heading to its first state tourney. [/quote]

have you even looked at Hill's roster? they have four seniors. and on top of that only six returning varsity players from last year. it thats not a young team i dont know what is.

[Puckhead631]

I do not know what the HM roster looks like after the suspensions and the lose or Duke - however they were skating 4 sophmores and a bunch of juniors.

Eden Prairie has been playing 12 soph's during most of the year and currently roster 10 soph's for the state.

[Since95]

Hill definitely has a lot of heart. They showed it by not giving up and beating Stillwater. Casto and Johnson looked good on defense. Bahe can play for a sophomore, but he's a little small. I think Zepeda is going to have to put the team on his back and play the way he has been playing lately. Goaltending is another question mark for them. Shaughnessy is only a sophomore, reminds me of Phillippi back there at that age. I only saw the Stillwater game, so he's probably had better games than that. Either way, being that young and playing goal in the state tournament is really tough.

EP has a lot going on. Obviously Leddy is their centerpiece, but I don't see much of a weakness on this team. You look at all the forwards and they can all go. Defense is solid and the goaltending looked good as well.

This one could be close or a blow out. It's hard to say. I'm going to go with a blow out, cause recently all the big time games have disappointed.

Eden Prairie 5
Hill-Murray 1

[breakout]

For some reason, I think this game has upset written all over it.

EP is a young team heading to its first state tourney. They remind me quite a bit of Edina two years back, another team that came in highly touted, ended up drawing a less talented but more experienced opponent in the 1st round (Grand Rapids), and going straight to the consolation bracket.

EP is certainly the much stronger team, but Hill has enough coaching and experience that they know exactly what they are doing, and there are a couple of stars still around who can turn a game.

EP needs to shake out the nerves and jump out to an early lead. The longer this one stays close, the more it shifts into Hill's favor.

Your assessment and comparison is off the mark. If you followed the youth ranks, you will know that the seniors on the team played in the State Tournament in Bantams. If memory serves me correctly, they lost to Roseau in the third place game. That same year, Centennial upset favored Edina in the State Championship game.

The Juniors and Sophomores on the team have won state tournaments at the Bantam and Pee Wee levels. The topper is the goalie. EPs goalie is a big game player. To win in the tournament you need a big game goalie. History has shown that over and over. Edina's goalie proved less than worthy. That was their achilles heal and anyone who follows high school hockey knows that.

If you honestly think winning a Bantam A tournament in front of a couple of parents properly prepares a team for playing in front of 18,000 people at the Xcel Center, I guess you're right. I have some difficulty buying that, though.

I am by no means saying EP is going to lose. I just think we need to recognize the potential for an upset here, and Hill-Murray is the last team in this field that I would want to be stuck with late in a close game.

Ya "Karl", good point HM is use to playing in front of 18,000 people.

How many HM veterans from last year? Few. How many returners kicked off for "social reasons"?

How many Hill kids have played in a state championship game at any level ...... few.

Players typically get over the attendance in the first few shifts. Mr. Spehar has said that.

I am sure the EP parents loved your "couple of parents" line.

[JV State Champs]

Leddy and the boys looked slugish and were outplayed by BSM. However, they redeamed themselves and took it to Tonka. I think it is safe to assume that the ladder of the EP teams will show up for this one.
EP 4
Hill 0

[Lakeviewing]

EP 6-1
This one has upset written nowhere on it. Senior leadership from Leddy, McQuillan, and Wolfe puts this one in the bag.

Sorry you have left off Gravelle, Hoffman and Willy that are senior that will get this job done.

[Lakeviewing]

Eden Prarie will win it all.

EP wins this one 5-3.

I think EP wins this game. Hill is still a very good team, but EP goes three lines strong.

[sincethebeginning]

everyone seems to think this is going to be a blow out. lets not forget that no one even thought Hill was making it to the tourney this year.

Even if EP does win its for sure not going to be a shut out. Hill will keep the game close.

[mn man]

Leddy and the boys looked slugish and were outplayed by BSM. However, they redeamed themselves and took it to Tonka. I think it is safe to assume that the ladder of the EP teams will show up for this one.
EP 4
Hill 0

The ladder and the step stool will show. The reason EP looked sluggish vs BSM was that Leddy was hurt and now, as was shown vs Mtka, he is 100%.

[Hillfan]

It's pretty obvious that on paper Eden Prairie is expected to win this game.

However, stranger things have happened in state tournament play. No matter the team, "upsets" are bound to happen on a yearly basis. Hill-Murray is considered the underdog come Thursday morning and they'll hopefully use this to their advantage by playing a smart defensive game and playing their hearts out. Three-quarters of the roster is experiencing their first ever tournament. This alone should hopefully motivate them.

I talk about upsets because I've been a big part of them. Take 2006 for example. Hill-Murray essentially had the dream team that year and was picked to win the big show. However, Grand Rapids (a solid yet not dominant team) came into the semifinal and knocked the Pioneers off in a close game before getting demolished in the championship.

2007. It was almost obvious that H-M came into the quaterfinals over-confident as they had to play Rochester Century, one of the weaker teams in the field. This resulted in a poor loss.

EP may not be over-confident, but it still takes a strong showing when you are in the state tournament, no matter what team you are facing. All eight teams are ready to play their hearts out in the big show.

Best of luck to the Pioneers! I couldn't be more proud of what they've accomplished after going through some tougher times in the 2nd half.

Picking the "upset", as I gotta stick with the boys!

Pioneers 3, EP 2

[Nostalgic Nerd]

How would you rate EP's goaltending?

[Mr.swampdonky]

How would you rate EP's goaltending?

I would say that now Ep is going to play Ford the whole way out, that they are one of the top goaltending. It also helps that Ep has a great D that wont let teams get shots from the slot of near. Andrew Ford play the rebounds very well, and moves the puck very well. Teams just need to keep fireing and hope on gets through.

[HockeyMN1]

For some reason, I think this game has upset written all over it.

EP is a young team heading to its first state tourney. They remind me quite a bit of Edina two years back, another team that came in highly touted, ended up drawing a less talented but more experienced opponent in the 1st round (Grand Rapids), and going straight to the consolation bracket.

EP is certainly the much stronger team, but Hill has enough coaching and experience that they know exactly what they are doing, and there are a couple of stars still around who can turn a game.

EP needs to shake out the nerves and jump out to an early lead. The longer this one stays close, the more it shifts into Hill's favor.

Your assessment and comparison is off the mark. If you followed the youth ranks, you will know that the seniors on the team played in the State Tournament in Bantams. If memory serves me correctly, they lost to Roseau in the third place game. That same year, Centennial upset favored Edina in the State Championship game.

The Juniors and Sophomores on the team have won state tournaments at the Bantam and Pee Wee levels. The topper is the goalie. EPs goalie is a big game player. To win in the tournament you need a big game goalie. History has shown that over and over. Edina's goalie proved less than worthy. That was their achilles heal and anyone who follows high school hockey knows that.

If you honestly think winning a Bantam A tournament in front of a couple of parents properly prepares a team for playing in front of 18,000 people at the Xcel Center, I guess you're right. I have some difficulty buying that, though.

I am by no means saying EP is going to lose. I just think we need to recognize the potential for an upset here, and Hill-Murray is the last team in this field that I would want to be stuck with late in a close game.

Do you honestly think only a couple parents went to a bantam a state championship game?

[HockeyMN1]

EP 6-1
This one has upset written nowhere on it. Senior leadership from Leddy, McQuillan, and Wolfe puts this one in the bag.

Sorry you have left off Gravelle, Hoffman and Willy that are senior that will get this job done.

I was just listing some seniors that came to mind as solid players that can lead a young team. Also Erickson should be mentioned, as he is a captian.

[GreekChurch]

Your assessment and comparison is off the mark. If you followed the youth ranks, you will know that the seniors on the team played in the State Tournament in Bantams. If memory serves me correctly, they lost to Roseau in the third place game. That same year, Centennial upset favored Edina in the State Championship game.

The Juniors and Sophomores on the team have won state tournaments at the Bantam and Pee Wee levels. The topper is the goalie. EPs goalie is a big game player. To win in the tournament you need a big game goalie. History has shown that over and over. Edina's goalie proved less than worthy. That was their achilles heal and anyone who follows high school hockey knows that.

If you honestly think winning a Bantam A tournament in front of a couple of parents properly prepares a team for playing in front of 18,000 people at the Xcel Center, I guess you're right. I have some difficulty buying that, though.

I am by no means saying EP is going to lose. I just think we need to recognize the potential for an upset here, and Hill-Murray is the last team in this field that I would want to be stuck with late in a close game.

Do you honestly think only a couple parents went to a bantam a state championship game?

Let it go, we know there were probably a few grandparents along for the ride too

[HockeyMN1]

If you honestly think winning a Bantam A tournament in front of a couple of parents properly prepares a team for playing in front of 18,000 people at the Xcel Center, I guess you're right. I have some difficulty buying that, though.

I am by no means saying EP is going to lose. I just think we need to recognize the potential for an upset here, and Hill-Murray is the last team in this field that I would want to be stuck with late in a close game.

Do you honestly think only a couple parents went to a bantam a state championship game?

Let it go, we know there were probably a few grandparents along for the ride too

Hey I'm not a parent or anything, I didn't even go to the game. I'm just saying that there probably were a good amount of people at the state title game and there was probably a good amount of pressure.

[wbhockey02]

Hill will come out flat and EP will come out hitting and put them in their place to show them they are not even close to repeating this year
so EP in a blowout
EP-7
Hill-1
Leddy scores 4 and gets 2 assists and one bone crushing hit on that little cocky Zepeda

[wbmd]

Hill will come out flat and EP will come out hitting and put them in their place to show them they are not even close to repeating this year
so EP in a blowout
EP-7
Hill-1
Leddy scores 4 and gets 2 assists and one bone crushing hit on that little cocky Zepeda

You're dreaming again.

[HockeyMN1]

Hill will come out flat and EP will come out hitting and put them in their place to show them they are not even close to repeating this year
so EP in a blowout
EP-7
Hill-1
Leddy scores 4 and gets 2 assists and one bone crushing hit on that little cocky Zepeda

Sounds like a little bit of bitterness from a WBL fan whose average team didn't make the tourney. (Get him a waahmburger and some french cries)

[City of Compton]

Yes, and deliver it in a waaaaambulance.

[wbhockey02]

Hill will come out flat and EP will come out hitting and put them in their place to show them they are not even close to repeating this year
so EP in a blowout
EP-7
Hill-1
Leddy scores 4 and gets 2 assists and one bone crushing hit on that little cocky Zepeda

Sounds like a little bit of bitterness from a WBL fan whose average team didn't make the tourney. (Get him a waahmburger and some french cries)

No you meant a bitter WBL fan whose team should have made the tournament but didn't