Class A 2011-2012 Pre-season Rankings

[PuckU126]

Goldy23 you nailed it. STA loses the scoring punch. Crandell, Isaccson, Reid, Kroska and Schroeder scored a ton over last two years. They don't have that talent left. I don't see it at JV either.

I don't see them making it out of sections next year.

Looking at who STA lost; that is plausible!

[Goldy23]

That is the most idiotic statement you have made since getting on this forum. Are you just assuming that there are not other teams playing in class a in the state? Hermantown will be way better than Breck next year..way better. IF your goalie and 3 of your D weren't back I would consider ranking you #2

WOW! That's something coming from a guy as wise as you! Ok. While I'll admit that last line about the goalie and 3 D is kind of funny, I'll go out on a limb once again and predict* that Breck will:

Start the Season #1 or #2 and will stay there throughout the regular season.

Will win 21 or more games

Will make it to State for a 4th consecutive year and be a top 2 seed.

*this assumes that Rudnick doesn't bolt to Fargo and the Iversons stay

No disrespect to the other teams in Class A and certainly not to Hermantown who no doubt will be great again next year, but Breck has more skilled impact players coming back than anyone else in the class. And that's not to mention the fact that they seem to magically come up with a few new impact players every year (I know... A whole other can of worms!)

Flat-You've got to admit, you've been wrong on Breck for 3+ years (and if you won't admit it, check your past posts). What should make next year any different?

Fair enough. But Hermantown actually returns alot more "skilled and Impact" players than Breck. Not even close.

#1.) Rudnick is no longer on Fargo's affiliate list so he will be back. Agree
#2.) At least 1 of your "impact" players is not returning next year..I wont tell you who yet. OK Nostradamus, my guess is you are referring to Keegan Iverson here who I beleive will be returning for one more year before he heads to Ann Arbor.
#3.) Larson will still be your coach. 3 years, 3 State tourney's......
#4.) I was wrong on Breck last 2 years. Not this past year. Kind of, you like most others -including myself thought this would be Blakes year to lose again at the X. They were a very average team. Got hot at the right time. Only beat 4 teams with a winning record.
#5.) Who are the "skilled" and "impact" players coming back besides Rudnick, Anderle, and Opperman? Iverson, Iverson, Lindstrom, Colford.
#6.) Les is still your coach.
#7.) Can't win in March without goaltending. Agreed, but they did win 5 of six games in March and it should improve next year. And if you remember, this post was about 2011-12 RANKINGS, not championship predictions.
#8.) Larson is still your coach.

[TheHockeyDJ]

Denfeld is AA next year with the school merge.

Their enrollment (1156) is still too low for automatic AA (1275 is the cutoff) and they did not opt up. They will be in Central's place in section 7A.

Wow, 1275 is the cutoff!!!!??? What a load of crap, it should be around 900!! Denfeld is NOT a small school and has ZERO business even thinking of being in single A.

[defense]

Denfeld is AA next year with the school merge.

Their enrollment (1156) is still too low for automatic AA (1275 is the cutoff) and they did not opt up. They will be in Central's place in section 7A.

Wow, 1275 is the cutoff!!!!??? What a load of crap, it should be around 900!! Denfeld is NOT a small school and has ZERO business even thinking of being in single A.

same as most schools.

[windtomyback]

WOW! That's something coming from a guy as wise as you! Ok. While I'll admit that last line about the goalie and 3 D is kind of funny, I'll go out on a limb once again and predict* that Breck will:

Start the Season #1 or #2 and will stay there throughout the regular season.

Will win 21 or more games

Will make it to State for a 4th consecutive year and be a top 2 seed.

*this assumes that Rudnick doesn't bolt to Fargo and the Iversons stay

No disrespect to the other teams in Class A and certainly not to Hermantown who no doubt will be great again next year, but Breck has more skilled impact players coming back than anyone else in the class. And that's not to mention the fact that they seem to magically come up with a few new impact players every year (I know... A whole other can of worms!)

Flat-You've got to admit, you've been wrong on Breck for 3+ years (and if you won't admit it, check your past posts). What should make next year any different?

Fair enough. But Hermantown actually returns alot more "skilled and Impact" players than Breck. Not even close.

#1.) Rudnick is no longer on Fargo's affiliate list so he will be back. Agree
#2.) At least 1 of your "impact" players is not returning next year..I wont tell you who yet. OK Nostradamus, my guess is you are referring to Keegan Iverson here who I beleive will be returning for one more year before he heads to Ann Arbor.
#3.) Larson will still be your coach. 3 years, 3 State tourney's......
#4.) I was wrong on Breck last 2 years. Not this past year. Kind of, you like most others -including myself thought this would be Blakes year to lose again at the X. They were a very average team. Got hot at the right time. Only beat 4 teams with a winning record.
#5.) Who are the "skilled" and "impact" players coming back besides Rudnick, Anderle, and Opperman? Iverson, Iverson, Lindstrom, Colford.
#6.) Les is still your coach.
#7.) Can't win in March without goaltending. Agreed, but they did win 5 of six games in March and it should improve next year. And if you remember, this post was about 2011-12 RANKINGS, not championship predictions.
#8.) Larson is still your coach.

Goldy, Yes Breck won 5 of 6 games in March. Care to share "who" they beat and who they lost to in March? Does make a difference you know.

[cadetbooster]

Goldy23 you nailed it. STA loses the scoring punch. Crandell, Isaccson, Reid, Kroska and Schroeder scored a ton over last two years. They don't have that talent left. I don't see it at JV either.

I don't see them making it out of sections next year.

Looking at who STA lost; that is plausible!

It is not what they lose that is important, it is what they are returning:

Goal Tending-Jr. Zednick may be the top Jr goalie in MN next year, is comming into his own and will only be better next year. Very poised/athletic. Reminds me of Lindgren. Already on tract to be STA's all time best goalie. Not sure what the school record was for shut outs, but he has got to be up there.

Defense-Best class A denfensive core in Minnesota, Sr.-Schurhamer, best skating defensemen in MN (AA & A), excellent defender with his feet/stick and will improve his point production. Jr.-Schmidt, 6'2" 190 stay home defensemen, also comming into to his own. Was very poised in state, makes the first out let pass and can play physical. May end up being one of STA best defensemen in years. Jr.-Breztman, excellent skating defensemen, very skilled hands and make good decisions. Sr.-Sattler, stay home defensemen who can play with an edge, made advance 17 final 54 last year.

2010-11 team set a new school record for fewest goals allowed. Fleming is gone and he made some huge contributions, but collectivly, between the goal tending and 4 of the other 5 starting defensemen returning another year older and off season work, this team will set a new school record for fewest goals allowed.

[joe_moe]

I think any team in that top 10 from last year can take the state title next year.

[HShockeywatcher]

Denfeld is AA next year with the school merge.

Their enrollment (1156) is still too low for automatic AA (1275 is the cutoff) and they did not opt up. They will be in Central's place in section 7A.

Wow, 1275 is the cutoff!!!!??? What a load of crap, it should be around 900!! Denfeld is NOT a small school and has ZERO business even thinking of being in single A.

a. Denfeld no longer exists, with the merge the public schools in Duluth are East and Central.

b. What you need to remember when considering how the classes are formed is that AA is basically the 5A football schools, A is everyone else. There are less than 64 5A schools, so it is also co-ops and maybe some 4A teams. If I had to guess I would say A is 2/3 4A schools and the rest are 1A, 2A and 3A schools. With only two classes, it is not the big school class and the small school class, it is the biggest school class and everyone else.

c. This gets beat to death elsewhere, so I don't want to change topics here, but one solution would be the top half of teams in AA and bottom half in A. Another, if we really wanted a small school class, could be the bottom 64 in A and the rest in AA. Just a couple ideas.

[karl(east)]

a. Denfeld no longer exists, with the merge the public schools in Duluth are East and Central.

Denfeld is re-opening this upcoming year. The combined schools were "Central" only for this current school year, while they renovated Denfeld. Central will close for good after this school year.

[HShockeywatcher]

a. Denfeld no longer exists, with the merge the public schools in Duluth are East and Central.

Denfeld is re-opening this upcoming year. The combined schools were "Central" only for this current school year, while they renovated Denfeld. Central will close for good after this school year.

That was my understanding as well. Duluth Central's 2011-2012 enrollment is listed though; I just went with that.

Still silly they didn't go to just one school...another topic for another day

[The X]

Goldy23 you nailed it. STA loses the scoring punch. Crandell, Isaccson, Reid, Kroska and Schroeder scored a ton over last two years. They don't have that talent left. I don't see it at JV either.

I don't see them making it out of sections next year.

Looking at who STA lost; that is plausible!

It is not what they lose that is important, it is what they are returning:

Goal Tending-Jr. Zednick may be the top Jr goalie in MN next year, is comming into his own and will only be better next year. Very poised/athletic. Reminds me of Lindgren. Already on tract to be STA's all time best goalie. Not sure what the school record was for shut outs, but he has got to be up there.

Defense-Best class A denfensive core in Minnesota, Sr.-Schurhamer, best skating defensemen in MN (AA & A), excellent defender with his feet/stick and will improve his point production. Jr.-Schmidt, 6'2" 190 stay home defensemen, also comming into to his own. Was very poised in state, makes the first out let pass and can play physical. May end up being one of STA best defensemen in years. Jr.-Breztman, excellent skating defensemen, very skilled hands and make good decisions. Sr.-Sattler, stay home defensemen who can play with an edge, made advance 17 final 54 last year.

2010-11 team set a new school record for fewest goals allowed. Fleming is gone and he made some huge contributions, but collectivly, between the goal tending and 4 of the other 5 starting defensemen returning another year older and off season work, this team will set a new school record for fewest goals allowed.

[PuckRanger]

a. Denfeld no longer exists, with the merge the public schools in Duluth are East and Central.

Not true. Denfeld will be playing in 7A next year. Central will cease to exist in about 2 months.

b. What you need to remember when considering how the classes are formed is that AA is basically the 5A football schools, A is everyone else. There are less than 64 5A schools, so it is also co-ops and maybe some 4A teams. If I had to guess I would say A is 2/3 4A schools and the rest are 1A, 2A and 3A schools. With only two classes, it is not the big school class and the small school class, it is the biggest school class and everyone else.

What does this have to do with anything? Football doesn't compare to hockey. Football has more than twice the number of teams and six classes. It is a completely different setup.

c. This gets beat to death elsewhere, so I don't want to change topics here, but one solution would be the top half of teams in AA and bottom half in A. Another, if we really wanted a small school class, could be the bottom 64 in A and the rest in AA. Just a couple ideas.

Do you realize that in both of your scenarios, most private schools still remain in class A? The private schools are mostly in the bottom third enrollment-wise in hockey. The fairest solution to everyone is to send all the privates into AA. End of story. It isn't worth trying to dicker around to find a solution to keep the 4 or 5 non-competitive private schools in class A.

[HShockeywatcher]

b. What you need to remember when considering how the classes are formed is that AA is basically the 5A football schools, A is everyone else. There are less than 64 5A schools, so it is also co-ops and maybe some 4A teams. If I had to guess I would say A is 2/3 4A schools and the rest are 1A, 2A and 3A schools. With only two classes, it is not the big school class and the small school class, it is the biggest school class and everyone else.

What does this have to do with anything? Football doesn't compare to hockey. Football has more than twice the number of teams and six classes. It is a completely different setup.

What this "has to do with anything" is the common perception of the big school class and the small school class. Plain and simple. That's all.

What is different about it? The top 64 teams are in the top class, if there's 128 or more left, the top 64 create another class. There may be a 5A school without a hockey program, but I'm not sure of it. AA is the biggest schools and those that choose to play with the big schools and A is the rest.

As for the topic, I'd say Hermantown is probably the favorite at the moment with how good they played against AA teams and St Thomas this year and the number of players they are losing.

[PuckU126]

Looking at who STA lost; that is plausible!

It is not what they lose that is important, it is what they are returning:

Goal Tending-Jr. Zednick may be the top Jr goalie in MN next year, is comming into his own and will only be better next year. Very poised/athletic. Reminds me of Lindgren. Already on tract to be STA's all time best goalie. Not sure what the school record was for shut outs, but he has got to be up there.

Defense-Best class A denfensive core in Minnesota, Sr.-Schurhamer, best skating defensemen in MN (AA & A), excellent defender with his feet/stick and will improve his point production. Jr.-Schmidt, 6'2" 190 stay home defensemen, also comming into to his own. Was very poised in state, makes the first out let pass and can play physical. May end up being one of STA best defensemen in years. Jr.-Breztman, excellent skating defensemen, very skilled hands and make good decisions. Sr.-Sattler, stay home defensemen who can play with an edge, made advance 17 final 54 last year.

2010-11 team set a new school record for fewest goals allowed. Fleming is gone and he made some huge contributions, but collectivly, between the goal tending and 4 of the other 5 starting defensemen returning another year older and off season work, this team will set a new school record for fewest goals allowed.

No kidding, Howie.

[grandmeadowhockeyfan]

Since when does it matter what their JV team has done. Doesn't this team pick up transfers every year from other teams and "build" their team. They have several very good players graduating, but that will not keep them down. Arent there some good players out there that might just want to play for a better team and transfer. I hear there are rules that stop that from happening, but it still seams to happen. Comments anyone.