Big 9

[thompson10]

Congratulations Lorne, It was a good game with both teams having chances to win. On a side note, I talked to one of the Mayo parents and they told me Trevor Thompson of Owatonna broke his arm last week. That changes my prediction on the 1AA Seedings
1 Lakeville South
2 Lakeville North
3 Century
4 Farmington
5 Mayo
6 John Marshall
7 Owatonna
8 Dodge County
9 Winona

why would it make a difference if thompson played or not? is he that big of a deal?

[clutterbuck22]

Congratulations Lorne, It was a good game with both teams having chances to win. On a side note, I talked to one of the Mayo parents and they told me Trevor Thompson of Owatonna broke his arm last week. That changes my prediction on the 1AA Seedings
1 Lakeville South
2 Lakeville North
3 Century
4 Farmington
5 Mayo
6 John Marshall
7 Owatonna
8 Dodge County
9 Winona

why would it make a difference if thompson played or not? is he that big of a deal?

For some strange reason I have a feeling that this is either Trever Thompson or someone related to him. Might be the name.

[thompson10]

Congratulations Lorne, It was a good game with both teams having chances to win. On a side note, I talked to one of the Mayo parents and they told me Trevor Thompson of Owatonna broke his arm last week. That changes my prediction on the 1AA Seedings
1 Lakeville South
2 Lakeville North
3 Century
4 Farmington
5 Mayo
6 John Marshall
7 Owatonna
8 Dodge County
9 Winona

why would it make a difference if thompson played or not? is he that big of a deal?

For some strange reason I have a feeling that this is either Trever Thompson or someone related to him. Might be the name.

this is someone close but i was just wondering why if hes out it would change the prediction?

[itech22]

Mayo will be seeded higher than Century if they beat them on Saturday.

[Big Nine Observer]

For the record I am a Rochester parent. I simply predicted Owatonna would be seeded lower after they lost one of their better players.

[goldy313]

JM will be seeded in front of Farmington and Mayo, they beat Farmington 7-1 and went 2-1 against Mayo.

South is #1, no question there.
North is #2 or #3, if JM wins out JM is #2
JM is #2, #3, or #4; if they beat Century they're no worse than 3, if they lose they're still 3 or 4
Century is #3 at the top end #7 at the low - toughest team to seed now
Farmington is #4 or #5, they're in front of Mayo and behind JM
Mayo is #5 or #6 behind the Lakeville's, Farmington, and JM
Owatonna is #6 or #7, needs Century to continue losing to be #6
Winona and DC play Tuesday, the winner is #8, loser #9

Avoiding South likely means you have a decent shot to get the finals whether you're seeded 2,3,6, or 7. I'd rather have 6 than 4 or 5.

[clutterbuck22]

At this point, I don't see how you could seed Century ahead of Mayo especially after today's 5-0 win for Mayo. Here is my prediction for seedings:

1. Lakeville South
2. Lakeville North
3. Rochester John Marshall
4. Farmington
5. Rochester Mayo
6. Rochester Century
7. Owatonna
8. Dodge County
9. Winona

[goldy313]

I think you nailed it clutterbuck, Mayo is playing well now and if you only looked at the second half of the season would be #3. It's been a heck of a coaching job by Grosso et. al. to get the Spartans where they are now from early December.

If Century beats JM things get real intersesting and I think the Big Nine teams get seeded straight by Big Nine standings with Farmington in there somewhere, most likely 3 or 4. If Century loses to JM and DC beats Winona Century could and probably should be #8 and Winona #9.

[itech22]

You may be right clutterbuck with you seeding picks. However I think Mayo beating Century and moving ahead at the 5 seed hurts them. Now they would have to go to Farmington for the firt game. At 6 they would stay for a home and home game with JM. Weird how this works out sometimes. Now if Mayo wins the big 9 or share it would that mabye and I am saying mabye put them at number 3 seed. Strength of schedule vs. Farmington and Farmington has lost to some of the teams Mayo beat. They do this with DC every year as far as schedule and what not. Certainly Mayo would deserve it but can the coaches overide a fluke loss which was a but kicking actually to put Mayo ahead of them. We will see.

[Rookie19]

Mayo has improved this year, this is the only time in last ten years that Mayo has improved throughout the season. The only change this season is the addition oF Assistant coach haskins . Will he be the head coach next year?

[clutterbuck22]

Mayo has improved this year, this is the only time in last ten years that Mayo has improved throughout the season. The only change this season is the addition oF Assistant coach haskins . Will he be the head coach next year?

I heard somebody saying that Grosso will be around for at least 3 more years, but that was in the beginning of the season. Don't know if much has changed.

[goldy313]

I agree Haskins is a nice addition.

I also think that the group at Mayo now is much more coachable group of kids than they've had in the past, not a bunch of kids whose parents keep telling them how good they are. Maybe I'm wrong but this isn't a group of A1 players are they? Mayo works hard, I don't think they're as talented as Century but they outworked them badly twice and showed a lot of discipline.

They'll have their work cut out containing Carlson, who I think is the best player in the Big Nine, getting the lead would be huge for Mayo the way the Spartans play with the lead.

[clutterbuck22]

Mayo is going to be an interesting team to watch come section time. They could be seeded anywhere between the 5th and maybe even the 2nd seed, but most likely the highest being the 3rd seed. I see Mayo and JM being the only real threats to not having an all Lakeville Final again down in Rochester. The way Mayo plays with the lead and with Van Galder and that Defense they could possibly contend with Lakeville South and North.

[Rippentrop]

Is there youth program down also in talent?

These things ebb and flow for a variety of reasons, biggest of which is that a city of 100,000 is feeding 4 high schools vs some TC suburbs with that many feeding one high school +/- a private school.

JM is on the rise and I really like what Coach Lecy is doing
Mayo has to deal with Lorne Grosso's succession which is not trivial
Century has had some bad luck with defections to juniors

City seems flush with good defensemen right now, especially scoring D. That will come and go as well.

If wininning championships is kept in perspective, Rochester HS hockey is in great shape with lots of opportunity for lots of kids playing very solid hockey. If your thing is only about bragging rights tho, you might need to get a clue.

I couldn't find the 2010 numbers yet so here's the latest(2006)
according to the US Census Bureau:
Duluth 84,167
Rochester 96,975
Bloomington 80,869
Minneapolis 372,833
St. Paul 273,535

Now, that being clear:
How many of these cities have just ONE high school hockey team representing the entire city? And these are the 5 largest cities in the state of Minnesota. Whether a High School team is down or up has nothing to do with your previously stated argument. A High School Hockey Team is up or down from year to year based on a number of variables. Some of those variables are: Player Leadership(senior class strength), goaltending, depth of talent, High Scoring talent, Defensive Talent, coaching, losing players to juniors, other districts, or private schools, and many more. Now, with that said: There are schools with great tradition and great hockey year in and year out that have populations that are much, much less than the aforementioned cities. They have something that Rochester does not have. They have a youth hockey program that actually cares about its high school team. They wear the colors of their high school and have a goal in mind when playing youth hockey for what comes next. Play and win for their High School! For years the so-called Hockey People of Rochester, and we know who they are, have said that Rochester Youth Hockey is NOT a feeder program for the Rochester High Schools. I ask you "HOCKEY PEOPLE,"....Please tell me what Rochester Youth Hockey wishes for its players after they end their youth hockey careers? Do they retire? Do they go straight to pro? Juniors? OHL? What is the next step? Years ago, the the great high school coach of Bloomington Jefferson, Tom Saterdalen, said that Rochester High School hockey will not be as successful as it could be if it does not split its Youth Program to FEED the high schools of Rochester. How many state titles does Tom Saterdalen have?

His hockey record at Jefferson included 545 wins, 167 losses, and 21 ties. He won 13 Lake Conference titles, 15 section titles, 7 state championships (5 in MN and 2 in WI), and three third place titles. He was Minnesota High School Hockey Coach of the Year in 1981, 1988, 1993, and 2002. Mr. Saterdalen also was Section Coach of the Year in 1981, 1988, 1989, 1992, 1993, and 1998.

How many for Rochester High Schools?

0

Wake up Rochester. Get over yourselves and set up a youth program that develops and feeds to the public high schools. You can do it. You already have the Administrative framework. Just divide up the Hockey part of it into 3 seperate feeder hockey programs. I can guarentee that the high school coaches would be much more involved at the youth level than in the previous decades. Put up with some down years as the programs get settled, and then watch the success come. Rochester is a growing city and you can take advantage of that trend to make the youth and high school programs better.

I dream of a day when the peewee A Century team wearing Silver and Navy Blue take on the Mayo Peewee A team wearing green and gold for bragging rights going into Bantams and then the same group of kids battling it out as seniors in the Section One Championship! (sorry to leave JM out of the dream sequence, but someone had to be left out).

[clutterbuck22]

As of Feb 2010

Rank City Population Flag
1 Minneapolis 385,378
2 St. Paul 281,253
3 Rochester 103,486
4 Duluth 84,419
5 Bloomington 82,922
6 Plymouth 72,849
7 Brooklyn Park 72,191
8 St. Cloud* 67,145
9 Eagan 64,186
10 Maple Grove 63,484
11 Eden Prairie 62,386
12 Coon Rapids 62,349
13 Burnsville 59,135
14 Woodbury 57,335
15 Blaine 56,332
16 Lakeville 56,036
17 Minnetonka 50,781
18 Apple Valley 50,132
19 Edina 46,577
20 St. Louis Park 45,543
21 Moorhead 36,804
22 Maplewood 36,762
23 Mankato 36,500
24 Shakopee 34,525
25 Inver Grove Heights 34,008

[BadgerBob82]

goldy313:

"I also think that the group at Mayo now is much more coachable group of kids than they've had in the past,"

Or having an excellent Swedish player and 3 nice players driving from Austin might have helped?

[goldy313]

goldy313:

"I also think that the group at Mayo now is much more coachable group of kids than they've had in the past,"

Or having an excellent Swedish player and 3 nice players driving from Austin might have helped?

Were these 4 kids there when Mayo lost to Park by 9? Lost to JM twice and Century once before turning that around? Weren't these same 3 Austin kids on the Mayo team that was seeded 8th last year before losing to Dodge County 4-0 in the playoffs?

Anyway you cut it Mayo has improved greatly. How many Lourdes kids transfered after 9th grade? Century's best player is a JM kid, transfers happen and at least 3 of the 4 schools in Rochester benefit from them, none more so than your Eagles.

[OU812]

Is there youth program down also in talent?

These things ebb and flow for a variety of reasons, biggest of which is that a city of 100,000 is feeding 4 high schools vs some TC suburbs with that many feeding one high school +/- a private school.

JM is on the rise and I really like what Coach Lecy is doing
Mayo has to deal with Lorne Grosso's succession which is not trivial
Century has had some bad luck with defections to juniors

City seems flush with good defensemen right now, especially scoring D. That will come and go as well.

If wininning championships is kept in perspective, Rochester HS hockey is in great shape with lots of opportunity for lots of kids playing very solid hockey. If your thing is only about bragging rights tho, you might need to get a clue.

I couldn't find the 2010 numbers yet so here's the latest(2006)
according to the US Census Bureau:
Duluth 84,167
Rochester 96,975
Bloomington 80,869
Minneapolis 372,833
St. Paul 273,535

How many state titles does Tom Saterdalen have?

His hockey record at Jefferson included 545 wins, 167 losses, and 21 ties. He won 13 Lake Conference titles, 15 section titles, 7 state championships (5 in MN and 2 in WI), and three third place titles. He was Minnesota High School Hockey Coach of the Year in 1981, 1988, 1993, and 2002. Mr. Saterdalen also was Section Coach of the Year in 1981, 1988, 1989, 1992, 1993, and 1998.

How many for Rochester High Schools?

0

__________

Well, let's not go too far . . . JM was state champions in 1977, and Coach Lecy scored about 110 points that year. Just sayin.

[Rookie19]

Congrats to albert lea for all but wrapping up the Big Nine for this year!

[clutterbuck22]

goldy313:

"I also think that the group at Mayo now is much more coachable group of kids than they've had in the past,"

Or having an excellent Swedish player and 3 nice players driving from Austin might have helped?

Were these 4 kids there when Mayo lost to Park by 9? Lost to JM twice and Century once before turning that around? Weren't these same 3 Austin kids on the Mayo team that was seeded 8th last year before losing to Dodge County 4-0 in the playoffs?

Anyway you cut it Mayo has improved greatly. How many Lourdes kids transfered after 9th grade? Century's best player is a JM kid, transfers happen and at least 3 of the 4 schools in Rochester benefit from them, none more so than your Eagles.

The biggest difference I see from Mayo for early on in the season and last year is heart. Last year they went into games just skating around and skating like they didn't want to be there or believed they could win. Now they have passion it seems. They want to be out there and know they can compete with any team. That's the biggest difference I see. Also where do you guys see Mayo finishing next year in 1AA and the big 9. Even though they are losing Vangalder, they still have a solid goalie in DeBusman for next year and Serratore returns as well. Also Justin Sweet could be somebody to watch out for next year. Same with the other Rochester schools, where do you see them next year?

[OU812]

I think the Roch schools will all be in the top 5 of the Big Nine next year. They put out a lot of good skaters and have good coaching.

Nice battles at the top this year between Albert Lea, Mayo, and West. Look at the parity when they played - West beats AL, then loses to AL, but ties Mayo; Mayo loses to ALea but later ties with AL 3-3. Century actually beat all three, but faded badly down the stretch. Big players played big in the big games, too. Congrats to AL for coming out on top so far. Hopefully the Big Nine does well in 1A and 1AA sections.

[itech22]

rookie19 let's not get ahead of things here. Unless of course you are trying to jinx albert lea at this point. I know Austin doesn't stand a chance in upsetting AL but let's not rule out Owatonna just yet. Anything can happen during the course of a hockey game. We have all seen a goalie have a big game and win it for there team. All the pressure is on AL to win that game. However, AL should win it. Does anybody think Mayo should be seated higher than Farmington even though they beat Mayo in like the 4 game of the season. Mayo has proved to be a much better team than Farmington. Just getting your thoughts.

[clutterbuck22]

rookie19 let's not get ahead of things here. Unless of course you are trying to jinx albert lea at this point. I know Austin doesn't stand a chance in upsetting AL but let's not rule out Owatonna just yet. Anything can happen during the course of a hockey game. We have all seen a goalie have a big game and win it for there team. All the pressure is on AL to win that game. However, AL should win it. Does anybody think Mayo should be seated higher than Farmington even though they beat Mayo in like the 4 game of the season. Mayo has proved to be a much better team than Farmington. Just getting your thoughts.

If Mayo beats Faribault tonight, than I would flip-flop Mayo and Farmington making Farminton the 5th seed. Mayo has played tough competion well and played close games. They haven't lost since 1/13/11 and that was to South Saint Paul 3 to 2 in Saint Paul. If you take back that third period against Farmington where Mayo played horribly, it would be a lock in my opinion for Mayo being the 4th seed. Also Mayo had the lead for 2 periods against Lakeville North and lost it in the third. It's going to be interesting to see where they seed Mayo. They would be the only Rochester team that would have a realistic shot or any shot at the Lakeville schools.

[Rookie19]

rookie19 let's not get ahead of things here. Unless of course you are trying to jinx albert lea at this point. I know Austin doesn't stand a chance in upsetting AL but let's not rule out Owatonna just yet. Anything can happen during the course of a hockey game. We have all seen a goalie have a big game and win it for there team. All the pressure is on AL to win that game. However, AL should win it. Does anybody think Mayo should be seated higher than Farmington even though they beat Mayo in like the 4 game of the season. Mayo has proved to be a much better team than Farmington. Just getting your thoughts.

If Mayo beats Faribault tonight, than I would flip-flop Mayo and Farmington making Farminton the 5th seed. Mayo has played tough competion well and played close games. They haven't lost since 1/13/11 and that was to South Saint Paul 3 to 2 in Saint Paul. If you take back that third period against Farmington where Mayo played horribly, it would be a lock in my opinion for Mayo being the 4th seed. Also Mayo had the lead for 2 periods against Lakeville North and lost it in the third. It's going to be interesting to see where they seed Mayo. They would be the only Rochester team that would have a realistic shot or any shot at the Lakeville schools.

Come on be serious Mayo is not in the same league as Lakeville south, it is only early afternoon too early to be drinking that Kool-aid. Who has Mayo beaten? anybody in the top 75 in state?

[OU812]

What is Mayo's argument to be seeded ahead of JM? Doesn't JM have a better section W/L record, and didn't they beat Mayo twice?