AA Rankings for 12/4/11

[karl(east)]

Time for the first set of in-season rankings. There were a number of games that were helpful for rankings in the first week and a half of the season, and I got a chance to see a few of the top teams this past week. The upset of Eagan was the biggest surprise of the week, but otherwise things fell into place reasonably well.

I begin with a shameless plug: these rankings will also be appearing on http://mnhockeyprospects.com this season.

I continue by getting up on my soapbox and griping about the new game report format on the Hub. It includes a lot of useless stats that I doubt anyone will ever record and has made a somewhat clunky site even clunkier. The most important information (who scored goals, shots on goal, etc.) is buried, and it is usually a lot easier to click on the link to the gamesheet than wading through all the extra stuff. Unfortunately, these links sometimes bring up error messages. I hope they can work out the kinks in the coming weeks and find an easier way to present the information people actually want to see.

1. Duluth East (2-0)
-With star forward Trevor Olson hurt, it wasn’t too surprising to see the Hounds score a little less than the teams immediately behind them in week one. But they did dominate a pretty good Wayzata team, so there’s no reason to rush them out of the top spot for a lack of goal-scoring against Cambridge. The week ahead is busy though not an overly difficult; the most interesting game is the re-match of last season’s state quarterfinal thriller against White Bear Lake.
This week: Tues at Andover, Thurs at St. Cloud Tech, Fri vs. White Bear Lake

2. Minnetonka (3-0)
-Got their season going with two very strong wins over above average teams, and then a tighter one against a third. I watched parts of the first two games and liked what I saw--the top two lines look dominant, and the defense is strong and experienced. Just one game this coming week, and it’s not a difficult one.
This week: Thurs at Rosemount

3. Benilde-St. Margaret’s (2-0)
-Showed off their offensive talents against St. Cloud Tech, then put together a strong game to edge Hill-Murray. I watched most of the Hill game; they probably have the deepest group of forwards in the state, and the defense, though not quite Tonka’s is noticeably better than last year. It looks like they still are coming together as a team, though. The Burnsville game this week will give them an early common opponent with Tonka that might give us a better idea of which way the 6AA race is going.
This week: Thurs at #11 Burnsville, Sat vs. Duluth Marshall

4. Grand Rapids (2-0)
-Quietly had a very impressive opening week against a pair of 7AA opponents, handling Cloquet and then beating up on Forest Lake. The Thunderhawks have a busy week ahead, with three road games against other northern teams. The most interesting of the three is the Roseau game--the match-up between the Roseau super sophomore line and the Rapids D could be a good one.
This week: Tues at Virginia, Fri at Roseau, Sat at Warroad

5. Maple Grove (3-0-1)
-The Wayzata tie doesn’t look as good after East beat them pretty handily, and some of their margins of victory against their early NWSC opponents haven’t been all that impressive. Still, the solid win over Edina is a sign they belong up near the top, and Eagan’s loss keeps them in the top five. Only one game this week, but it’s a huge one, as they vie for revenge against the team that ended their season early last year.
This week: Thurs at #10 Blaine

6. Eden Prairie (2-0)
-Welcome back, Eagles! A shocker over Eagan has the defending champs back up near the top. They have to win a few more games to prove they really belong up here, but this area of the rankings doesn’t have many teams who really stand out, and it’s hard to justify putting them behind Eagan after the win. They showed they can win games in different ways, winning a shootout with Jefferson and a tight one with Eagan, though this also means they have more room for improvement. More growing pains are likely.
This week: Thurs at Andover

7. Eagan (1-1)
-The loss to Eden Prairie tempers some of the excitement around this team. The win over Hastings suggests they do have the potential we think they do, but they need to avoid losses like this one if they want to be in the top tier with East, Tonka, and BSM. They have a full week to regroup before taking a second shot at their first quality win, this time against fellow SSC contender Lakeville South.
This week: Sat at Lakeville South

8. Wayzata (1-1-1)
-The Maple Grove tie was a very good sign for a relatively inexperienced team under a new coach, though they were then shut down by Duluth East. They don’t play any more top ten teams at least until their holiday tournament, but they have a number of games against decent teams that will tell us if they really belong this high up.
This week: Tues vs. Apple Valley, Sat vs. Champlin Park

9. Edina (3-1)
-There was a little bit of everything in the Hornets’ opening week and a half, which is probably to be expected out of such a young team. The win over Lakeville South proves they’re still a team to be reckoned with, but the shutout loss to Maple Grove shows they’re not amongst the elite right now. I’ll wait until the end of the season before casting judgment on the youth movement. Now they get to spend some time regrouping before taking on a bunch of quality teams in their holiday tourney.
This week: Tues at Anoka

10. Blaine (2-0)
-Took care of business on a season-opening road trip to Roseau, then came back the next night to beat Champlin Park. Things are going as advertised so far; we’ll see if that continues in a huge week for early season NWSC positioning. The Bengals play two of the other three section teams in the top 20, including a rematch of last season’s section final upset.
This week: Thurs vs. #5 Maple Grove, Sat at Elk River

11. Burnsville (1-1)
-It was a Jekyll and Hyde opening week for the Blaze, as they coughed up seven goals to Minnetonka and then came back with a strong win over Hill-Murray. I’m guessing reality is somewhere in between the two; I don’t think either game was as lopsided as the scores made them look. We’ll get a better idea of where this team really lies when they play their third straight ranked team in Benilde this week. The schedule becomes a bit easier after that.
This week: Thurs vs. #3 Benilde-St. Margaret’s, Sat at Rosemount

12. Moorhead (1-0)
-The Spuds’ only game so far was against a North Dakota team, so there’s not much to judge them by yet. That will change this week, as they get a chance to defend their win in last season’s section title game against Bemidji.
This week: Thurs vs. #14 Bemidji, Sat at Buffalo

13. Hill-Murray (0-2)
-All things considered I thought they looked pretty good against Benilde, and the Burnsville loss wasn’t as lopsided as the final score makes it look. Still, this team is not nearly as deep as Hill teams usually are, especially on defense. They will take their lumps this year, but I don’t think I’d want to face them in a key game late in the season. The game against St. Thomas should tell us if they’ll contend for the conference or not.
This week: Thurs vs. Henry Sibley, Sat vs. St. Thomas Academy

14. Bemidji (2-0)
-Came out of the gates with a pair of wins, though five goals seems like a lot to give up to St. Cloud Apollo. Moorhead wrecked their party last year, so this Thursday’s game should be a good chance for revenge and will decide the early frontrunner in section 8AA.
This week: Thurs at #12 Moorhead, Sat vs. Sartell

15. Centennial (1-1)
-The Cougars grabbed my attention by playing Minnetonka tight on Saturday. Two games against other teams close to them in the rankings will show us if they’re for real or not.
This week: Tues vs. Elk River, Thurs at Bloomington Jefferson

Next in Line
Elk River (3-0)
-Off to a methodical start against weak competition. We’ll get a much better idea of whether they belong in the first or the second tier of the NWSC this week, with games against Centennial and Blaine.

Lakeville South (0-1)
-A rough opening loss to Edina means they have some work to do. Kloos is great, but they’re going to need some people to step up and support him, particularly on defense. They have another week with only one game ahead of them, and it’s another very difficult opponent. Looking at their schedule, it might be a little while before they climb back into the top 15.

Bloomington Jefferson (0-1)
-The loss to Eden Prairie looks a little better now that the Eagles have knocked off Eagan, but the Jaguars will need to show more defensively. They get a second shot against a good team in Centennial, and their second game this week, against Apple Valley, could be good as well.

White Bear Lake (2-0)
-The competition wasn’t all that difficult, but putting up 6 goals in each of their first two games is a good sign for a team that graduated practically all its scoring. Bigger test this week against Duluth East.

Roseau (0-1-1)
-A close loss to Blaine is a good sign for a young team, though I expected a little more than a tie against Thief River Falls. It looks like defense will be an issue again this year. Big game against Grand Rapids this week, followed by one against a good class A team in Hibbing.

Brainerd (3-0)
-Scoring lots of goals against weak teams. Will probably be undefeated heading into their Dec. 22 meeting with Bemidji.

Other teams looking good in the early going: Andover, Woodbury, East Ridge
Teams needing some improvement: Prior Lake, Forest Lake, Holy Angels

[HShockeywatcher]

Great rankings karl.

I would keep an eye on Holy Family Catholic. Their games thus far, 11-5 over New Ulm and 8-4 over Holy Angels, are quite odd, but they show the Fire have some fire power. If that is telling, with their Wright county schedule, they could potentially have 20+ wins this season.
It will be very difficult for them to climb too high in AA rankings, but they are definitely a sleeper. It'll be interesting to see how their schedule changes from this year to next; will the conference let them play teams once instead of twice?

[Redlight]

Nice job. The top three seem to be in a class by themselves.

[HappyHockeyFan]

Dead on Karl...nice job

[TheHockeyDJ]

Nice job. The top three seem to be in a class by themselves.

There's some lockerroom material for the 4th ranked team.

[Shovel Shot]

Karl great job on the rankings!!!

I have watched all Of MG games this year and didnt expect them to have such a tight game against Andover. I give Andover a lot of credit for not only keeping the game close but actually leading midway through the 2nd. It will be interesting to see how your squad does against them this week. Andover has what MG is lacking in my opinion and that is a very solid netminder that doesn't give up alot of rebounds. There's no doubt that the MG vs Blaine game will tell us alot more about the Crimson and section 5AA

[Snap Happy]

I have a hard time with Eagan out of the top 5. They're just way too loaded. I think you're just trying to rile up HHF!

[karl(east)]

I have a hard time with Eagan out of the top 5. They're just way too loaded. I think you're just trying to rile up HHF!

I do think I tend to hit top teams pretty hard if they lose early in the season. Last year I think Hill was down around #9 two weeks in after a couple of losses, but by late January they were comfortably established as #1. When a team's only played two games, it's hard to put them ahead of a good team that they've lost to. If Eagan is as loaded as we think they are, they should be okay, and back up near the top in a couple of weeks.

I agree with HSHW on Holy Family--they probably won't contend for a top-4 seed in the section, but they could make things interesting in the lower part of the rankings.

I am also now intrigued by this East-Andover game on Tuesday. I thought it would be another year until they made some noise in 7AA, but if they can keep playing like they did against MG, they could be a top-4 team in a pretty strong section.

As always, thanks for the feedback.

[HappyHockeyFan]

I have a hard time with Eagan out of the top 5. They're just way too loaded. I think you're just trying to rile up HHF!

I agree with you but I see karl's point too, its too early to get riled up about the rankings...but it wont take long...lol

[MrBoDangles]

Time for the first set of in-season rankings. There were a number of games that were helpful for rankings in the first week and a half of the season, and I got a chance to see a few of the top teams this past week. The upset of Eagan was the biggest surprise of the week, but otherwise things fell into place reasonably well.

I begin with a shameless plug: these rankings will also be appearing on http://mnhockeyprospects.com this season.

I continue by getting up on my soapbox and griping about the new game report format on the Hub. It includes a lot of useless stats that I doubt anyone will ever record and has made a somewhat clunky site even clunkier. The most important information (who scored goals, shots on goal, etc.) is buried, and it is usually a lot easier to click on the link to the gamesheet than wading through all the extra stuff. Unfortunately, these links sometimes bring up error messages. I hope they can work out the kinks in the coming weeks and find an easier way to present the information people actually want to see.

1. Duluth East (2-0)
-With star forward Trevor Olson hurt, it wasn’t too surprising to see the Hounds score a little less than the teams immediately behind them in week one. But they did dominate a pretty good Wayzata team, so there’s no reason to rush them out of the top spot for a lack of goal-scoring against Cambridge. The week ahead is busy though not an overly difficult; the most interesting game is the re-match of last season’s state quarterfinal thriller against White Bear Lake.
This week: Tues at Andover, Thurs at St. Cloud Tech, Fri vs. White Bear Lake

2. Minnetonka (3-0)
-Got their season going with two very strong wins over above average teams, and then a tighter one against a third. I watched parts of the first two games and liked what I saw--the top two lines look dominant, and the defense is strong and experienced. Just one game this coming week, and it’s not a difficult one.
This week: Thurs at Rosemount

3. Benilde-St. Margaret’s (2-0)
-Showed off their offensive talents against St. Cloud Tech, then put together a strong game to edge Hill-Murray. I watched most of the Hill game; they probably have the deepest group of forwards in the state, and the defense, though not quite Tonka’s is noticeably better than last year. It looks like they still are coming together as a team, though. The Burnsville game this week will give them an early common opponent with Tonka that might give us a better idea of which way the 6AA race is going.
This week: Thurs at #11 Burnsville, Sat vs. Duluth Marshall

4. Grand Rapids (2-0)
-Quietly had a very impressive opening week against a pair of 7AA opponents, handling Cloquet and then beating up on Forest Lake. The Thunderhawks have a busy week ahead, with three road games against other northern teams. The most interesting of the three is the Roseau game--the match-up between the Roseau super sophomore line and the Rapids D could be a good one.
This week: Tues at Virginia, Fri at Roseau, Sat at Warroad

5. Maple Grove (3-0-1)
-The Wayzata tie doesn’t look as good after East beat them pretty handily, and some of their margins of victory against their early NWSC opponents haven’t been all that impressive. Still, the solid win over Edina is a sign they belong up near the top, and Eagan’s loss keeps them in the top five. Only one game this week, but it’s a huge one, as they vie for revenge against the team that ended their season early last year.
This week: Thurs at #10 Blaine

6. Eden Prairie (2-0)
-Welcome back, Eagles! A shocker over Eagan has the defending champs back up near the top. They have to win a few more games to prove they really belong up here, but this area of the rankings doesn’t have many teams who really stand out, and it’s hard to justify putting them behind Eagan after the win. They showed they can win games in different ways, winning a shootout with Jefferson and a tight one with Eagan, though this also means they have more room for improvement. More growing pains are likely.
This week: Thurs at Andover

7. Eagan (1-1)
-The loss to Eden Prairie tempers some of the excitement around this team. The win over Hastings suggests they do have the potential we think they do, but they need to avoid losses like this one if they want to be in the top tier with East, Tonka, and BSM. They have a full week to regroup before taking a second shot at their first quality win, this time against fellow SSC contender Lakeville South.
This week: Sat at Lakeville South

8. Wayzata (1-1-1)
-The Maple Grove tie was a very good sign for a relatively inexperienced team under a new coach, though they were then shut down by Duluth East. They don’t play any more top ten teams at least until their holiday tournament, but they have a number of games against decent teams that will tell us if they really belong this high up.
This week: Tues vs. Apple Valley, Sat vs. Champlin Park

9. Edina (3-1)
-There was a little bit of everything in the Hornets’ opening week and a half, which is probably to be expected out of such a young team. The win over Lakeville South proves they’re still a team to be reckoned with, but the shutout loss to Maple Grove shows they’re not amongst the elite right now. I’ll wait until the end of the season before casting judgment on the youth movement. Now they get to spend some time regrouping before taking on a bunch of quality teams in their holiday tourney.
This week: Tues at Anoka

10. Blaine (2-0)
-Took care of business on a season-opening road trip to Roseau, then came back the next night to beat Champlin Park. Things are going as advertised so far; we’ll see if that continues in a huge week for early season NWSC positioning. The Bengals play two of the other three section teams in the top 20, including a rematch of last season’s section final upset.
This week: Thurs vs. #5 Maple Grove, Sat at Elk River

11. Burnsville (1-1)
-It was a Jekyll and Hyde opening week for the Blaze, as they coughed up seven goals to Minnetonka and then came back with a strong win over Hill-Murray. I’m guessing reality is somewhere in between the two; I don’t think either game was as lopsided as the scores made them look. We’ll get a better idea of where this team really lies when they play their third straight ranked team in Benilde this week. The schedule becomes a bit easier after that.
This week: Thurs vs. #3 Benilde-St. Margaret’s, Sat at Rosemount

12. Moorhead (1-0)
-The Spuds’ only game so far was against a North Dakota team, so there’s not much to judge them by yet. That will change this week, as they get a chance to defend their win in last season’s section title game against Bemidji.
This week: Thurs vs. #14 Bemidji, Sat at Buffalo

13. Hill-Murray (0-2)
-All things considered I thought they looked pretty good against Benilde, and the Burnsville loss wasn’t as lopsided as the final score makes it look. Still, this team is not nearly as deep as Hill teams usually are, especially on defense. They will take their lumps this year, but I don’t think I’d want to face them in a key game late in the season. The game against St. Thomas should tell us if they’ll contend for the conference or not.
This week: Thurs vs. Henry Sibley, Sat vs. St. Thomas Academy

14. Bemidji (2-0)
-Came out of the gates with a pair of wins, though five goals seems like a lot to give up to St. Cloud Apollo. Moorhead wrecked their party last year, so this Thursday’s game should be a good chance for revenge and will decide the early frontrunner in section 8AA.
This week: Thurs at #12 Moorhead, Sat vs. Sartell

15. Centennial (1-1)
-The Cougars grabbed my attention by playing Minnetonka tight on Saturday. Two games against other teams close to them in the rankings will show us if they’re for real or not.
This week: Tues vs. Elk River, Thurs at Bloomington Jefferson

Next in Line
Elk River (3-0)
-Off to a methodical start against weak competition. We’ll get a much better idea of whether they belong in the first or the second tier of the NWSC this week, with games against Centennial and Blaine.

Lakeville South (0-1)
-A rough opening loss to Edina means they have some work to do. Kloos is great, but they’re going to need some people to step up and support him, particularly on defense. They have another week with only one game ahead of them, and it’s another very difficult opponent. Looking at their schedule, it might be a little while before they climb back into the top 15.

Bloomington Jefferson (0-1)
-The loss to Eden Prairie looks a little better now that the Eagles have knocked off Eagan, but the Jaguars will need to show more defensively. They get a second shot against a good team in Centennial, and their second game this week, against Apple Valley, could be good as well.

White Bear Lake (2-0)
-The competition wasn’t all that difficult, but putting up 6 goals in each of their first two games is a good sign for a team that graduated practically all its scoring. Bigger test this week against Duluth East.

Roseau (0-1-1)
-A close loss to Blaine is a good sign for a young team, though I expected a little more than a tie against Thief River Falls. It looks like defense will be an issue again this year. Big game against Grand Rapids this week, followed by one against a good class A team in Hibbing.

Brainerd (3-0)
-Scoring lots of goals against weak teams. Will probably be undefeated heading into their Dec. 22 meeting with Bemidji.

Other teams looking good in the early going: Andover, Woodbury, East Ridge
Teams needing some improvement: Prior Lake, Forest Lake, Holy Angels

How many times have you typed these up only to see...... critical error!?
Is there a crew of the best working on the problem as we speak?

*Thanks for the rankings

[WHAFightingSaints]

Copy and paste is my guess

[karl(east)]

Copy and paste is my guess

Yeah, I type these up in a document and then paste them. I think I learned that by accidentally bumping the "back" button back when I started doing this.

FYI--if you ever do get the Critical Error while making a post, just wait a minute or two and then hit the refresh button. Your post will appear.

[HShockeywatcher]

Copy and paste is my guess

Yeah, I type these up in a document and then paste them. I think I learned that by accidentally bumping the "back" button back when I started doing this.

FYI--if you ever do get the Critical Error while making a post, just wait a minute or two and then hit the refresh button. Your post will appear.

Also, when I click the "back" button, what I was typing is still there. It didn't used to be. Maybe the error has changed or maybe the ISP has, not sure. I use Mozilla...

I also type them in a separate document so that I don't risk losing anything.

[MrBoDangles]

Copy and paste is my guess

Yeah, I type these up in a document and then paste them. I think I learned that by accidentally bumping the "back" button back when I started doing this.

FYI--if you ever do get the Critical Error while making a post, just wait a minute or two and then hit the refresh button. Your post will appear.

Good deal, thanks!

[MNHockeyFan]

Also, before you hit the "Submit" button, highlight your text, right click and hit "Copy". You then have it memory, just in case you get the error and the back button doesn't preserve what you typed.

[DoubleDeuce]

AWESOME...as always!!!