Section 1A

[Chalk_Talk]

Let's talk black and white, that way some people don't have to think outside the box.

As of right now this is how pagstat has all the teams in the teams in the top of the section ranked.
Pagstat rankings
#33 Rochester Lourdes
#65 New Prague
#74 Mankato West
#84 Red Wing
#85 Albert Lea
#88 Northfield

MitchHawker
#41 Roch Lourdes
#70 New Prague
#82 Red Wing
#85 Mankato West
#92 Northfield
#104 Albert Lea

It's rochester and then the rest of the pack is pretty close. It seems like AL is kind of far down. New Prague is putting a decent season together so far, for starting the year "O"fer for quit sometime. Red Wing is putting together a sneeky season. Where do people see these teams finishing.

I hate to bring this up but, it seems like most teams are pretty healthy injury wise. Any teams have key people missing for the up coming games?

[scarlethockey33]

Since there's so few games this Thursday I included Friday games as well predictions in bold as always

La Crescent at Wascea
Austin at Faribault
Dodge County at L-H/SP
Red Wing at New Prague (Friday)
Albert Lea at Virginia/MIB (Friday)

Friday matchup between Red Wing and New Prague should be an interesting one. Missota Conference game with Section 1A implications, Red Wing is winless in the section with something to prove and New Prague has been pretty much red hot as of late.

Also I've said very little about the whole shots/goals discussion, but rainier's point in his example I'd say is fairly accurate and for that reason how about some praise for West's goaltender, Zach Fox. He's been playing well not just during the tournament, but for the entire season. He's kept West in some of those games, where they were clearly outplayed. He's been exactly what the Scarlets have needed in order for them to stay in games while the team figures out their scoring woes. For a kid who saw very little varsity time the past two seasons he's really stepped up this season to be a real valuable asset on the team.

[AL Captain]

I only know things about albert lea but for the next games Albert Lea's captain Auston Larson is playing with a cast which makes shooting difficult, they are missing shea svenson for the rest of the season because of his 4th concussion, brady falk assisstant captain crushed his radius (also done for the season). and are missing 2 varsity starters one for concussion one for seperated shoulder. Albert Lea has been doing good even with these injuries, this weekend will show what AL is made of, i think AL will give some sort of suprise

[scarlethockey33]

Games for Saturday 1/7/12

Mankato West at Owatonna
L-H/SP at Austin
Albert Lea at Hibbing/Chisholm
Duluth Marshall at Rochester Lourdes

Scores from January 5 and 6

Red Wing 2 New Prague 1
Wascea 3 La Crescent 1
Faribault 5 Austin 1
Northfield 2 Farmington 2
L-H/SP 9 Dodge County 2

[notenoughhockey]

Lourdes losses 4-0 with 2 empty netters. Lourdes had their chances and played well and Neumann was solid in the net but they just couldn't get one in the net.

[scarlethockey33]

Scores from January 7, 2011

Duluth Marshall 4 Lourdes 0
Albert Lea 1 Hibbing 7
Mankato West 2 Owatonna 3
L-H/SP 4 Austin 0

Thoughts from this week (1/3 - 1/7)

Not too much movement in the top of the section standings. Red Wing beating New Prague is the largest point this week amongst the top 6. Although I think Red Wing will need to follow up with some good play to solidify a move up. I don't take too much from Lourdes lost to Duluth Marshall. Though I am a little surprised that Lourdes with their offense couldn't muster a goal even though its against a good team like Duluth Marshall. Mankato West despite their good showing at their winter tournament hasn't really translated into anything, but a better performance vs. Century and a lost to Owatonna, who might be a little deceiving this season in the Big 9. Northfield goes 0-1-1 on the week with a tie to Farmington and a loss to Chanhassen. New Prague expectantly gets the 4-0 win over Shakopee but falls to Red Wing 2-1. Also Le Sueur-Henderson/St. Peter has rattled off 4 straight wins.

The Week Ahead (1/9 - 1/14)

The game that should be highlighted for the Section 1A calendar is the Tuesday January 10th contest as Mankato West hosts Rochester Lourdes. West has played Lourdes to 1 goal games the past two years, but they haven't been able to face them in the section tournament since defeating them 4 years ago in the section final. Overall Lourdes is the clear favorite in this one because of their speed, offense ability, and although their defense is average I think it's plenty enough to win against West's sub-par offense. Although I think if West can keep the score low, stay out of the penalty box, and minimize mistakes in their own zone (execution is vital), they have a shot at taking out the favorite in 1A.

Not many inner-section matchups, but a lot of good matchups in the week ahead that look to challenge many 1A teams. A couple of 1A teams play underdog in many other Tuesday matchups such as New Prague at Chanhassen and Northfield at AHA. Going into Thursday January 12th, Albert Lea travels to Rochester Century, and the Mankato crosstown East-West rivalry game will be played. Red Wing also plays a good Chanhassen team, which should help compare the Missota teams in the section. Also on Thursday New Prague will host Farmington. Friday will be without any games for any 1A team. On Saturday to close the week, Austin will host Rochester John Marshall and L-H/SP will attempt to continue their 4 game win streak hosting Redwood Valley.

[notenoughhockey]

Lourdes back in the Top 10 according too, Hockey Hub. Strong game against Duluth Marshall must have helped.

[Hockeyfacts]

Lourdes back in the Top 10 according too, Hockey Hub. Strong game against Duluth Marshall must have helped.

They were actually 8th last week, however I don't think they have played since their holiday tournament. More than likely the move down is becasue of the lag in their schedule not due to their performance.

[AL Captain]

AL=bad. didn't prove a thing to anyone this weekend. they are week in the zone and can't score goals perfect situation for a team that is no good. both hibbing and virginia beat AL handely anything that could look positive was because the other teams let up because they felt bad. 12 goals from the slot and one on a 3 on five. most disappointing AL team ive seen in a while

[scarlethockey33]

Games for Tuesday January 10th

Rochester Lourdes at Mankato West
Winona at Albert Lea
Shakopee at Red Wing
New Prague at Chanhassen
Northfield at AHA
Black River Falls (WISC) at La Crescent

Only one score to report from Monday January 9th

St. Paul Highland Park 6 Mankato East 5

[Hockeyfacts]

Nice to see Highland get their first win of the season

[The Universe]

Mankato West on a four game losing streak will try to end that tonight against a very strong Lourdes team, should be interesting to watch. I was also very surprised to see New Prague fall to Red Wing. Maybe Red Wing is going to play into this section a lot more than we gave them credit for at the beginning of the season. Mid way through the season I have Lourdes still being the team to beat.
1. Lourdes
2. Red Wing
3. Albert Lea
Can choose between West and New Prague for 4/5.

[Chalk_Talk]

Does west have everybody playing tonight?

[scarlethockey33]

West will be missing #10 Issac Weber tonight due to injury, otherwise the lineup should return to normal for tonight

Also there will be live scoring from HockeyHub tonight for the Lourdes/West game

[Gretzky9]

Drove down to the West game tonight. Really was hoping for more than what I saw. Let me clear things up once and for all for everyone. Lourdes is still the team to beat. They are a notch above everyone in the section....period. I know there is hope that some other team will emerge but unless there is a team than can slow down Lourdes team speed this baby is over. Sorry to West fans but they are nowhere near Lourdes as a team.

[Dog_Log17]

Your right on Gretzky, I feel like I owe you some gas money. West played awful tonight. Lourdes is a much better team though even if West plays a good game. Lourdes are fast and move the puck very well. Lourdes know how to score goals and West does not. I'd be shocked if Lourdes didn't win 1A after watching them play tonight.

:Dog_log does the walk of shame:

Drove down to the West game tonight. Really was hoping for more than what I saw. Let me clear things up once and for all for everyone. Lourdes is still the team to beat. They are a notch above everyone in the section....period. I know there is hope that some other team will emerge but unless there is a team than can slow down Lourdes team speed this baby is over. Sorry to West fans but they are nowhere near Lourdes as a team.

[notenoughhockey]

Thought it was going to be trouble with Lourdes letting one in the first minute. The boys settled down and really took it to the Scarlets.

[scarlethockey33]

Scores from Tuesday January 10th:

Northfield 3 AHA 5
Chanhassen 3 New Prague 2 OT
Shakopee 1 Red Wing 5
Albert Lea 7 Winona 0
Rochester Lourdes 7 Mankato West 1
Black River Falls (WISC) 7 La Crescent 5

Disappointing game for the Scarlets last night, you do have to keep in mind that a lot of the players are very young both in age and in experience. Lourdes looked characteristically speedy which has been almost a trademark for the Eagles since I can remember back when there was Funk, Voigt and Peterson. Eagle's defense wasn't tested very often. The Eagles really closed the books for any discussion last night for who gets the #1 seed in sections. Lourdes for section opponents still have Albert Lea and New Prague left and along with those games they have quite a strong schedule left with some top-end Class A teams like TG, Breck, Blake and Rogers coming up. Barring any upsets I'm thinking everyone else in 1A is chasing the #2 seed.

West will finish off the season with mostly all Big 9 opponents, Albert Lea game is the one with big interest there. I think the late game against Mayo for West will be good measuring stick for where they will be at the end of the season.

The important thing for the young Scarlet squad to understand & learn is that in high school hockey, it's all about how you finish the season, not how you do in the beginning or even the middle. They must look at this game as a building point and use it as motivation, as no team likes to get embarrassed like that on their own ice. I feel they made progress during the holiday tournament especially after comparing the two Rochester Century games, but the Lourdes game was definitely a step back for them, and in high school you can't afford many step backwards in a season unless you have some real high-end talent to quickly bounce back.

Games for Thursday January 12th:

Northfield at Shakopee
Red Wing at Chanhassen
Farmington at New Prague
Albert Lea at Rochester Century
Austin at Winona
Mankato East hosted by Mankato West
Wascea at L-H/SP
New Ulm at Rochester Lourdes
Viroqua (WISC) at La Crescent

[politicalpuck]

West should get back on the winning track tonight, though when these two cross-city rivals meet up, anything can happen. A Cougars win tonight would make their season.

[scarlethockey33]

Scores from Thursday January 12th:

Northfield 1 Shakopee 2 OT
Red Wing 2 Chanhassen 4
Albert Lea 1 Century 3
Austin 0 Winona 5
L-H/SP 2 Wascea 0
New Ulm 4 Rochester Lourdes 8
Mankato East 0 Mankato West 8
New Prague 2 Farmington 1

Viroqua (WISC) - La Crescent POSTPONED

[scarlethockey33]

Games for Tonight January 17th:

Luverne at Mankato East
Albert Lea at Austin
Red Wing at AHA

[politicalpuck]

This Saturday, Jan. 21 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Dier will be signing books. Scarlet Ice reached No. 1 this past weekend of newly released Winter Sports books.

Scheels All Sports located in Mankato's River Hills Mall. Scarlet Ice also is available at Play It Again Sports near the River Hills Mall.

[Hockeyfacts]

Quite thread latley...I'd almost rather hear some more about Mankato West than this.

[scarlethockey33]

Quite thread latley...I'd almost rather hear some more about Mankato West than this.

Haha ^^

I've been so busy with class lately it's been hard for me to keep up the day by day scores and games, and the 1A thread in general is quiet this season, I almost feel bad that we have to talk about West as much as we do, wish we had a wider range of people from the other teams for some discussion like we've had the past couple of years

[scarlethockey33]

Around Section 1A

Eagles Flying High

It’s pretty clear that the Eagles of Rochester Lourdes are favorites for Section 1A. During the preseason, there were some questions surrounding how this Eagles team would coup with the loss of a strong graduating class, but they’ve shown that they can still outmatch any team in the section. Lourdes has beaten every section opponent that they have faced so far this season by a margin of three or more goals. Contributing to a lot of the scoring this season for the Eagles has been Farrell, Funk and Samuelson. In goal, the Eagles have been favoring splitting between Ellingson and Neumann, and it will be interesting if they plan to continue this type of split come section time or if Spaniol will choose one to ride through sections.

The Eagles’ latest victim Chanhassen by a score of 9-2 on January 21 is a huge statement to those in the Missota Conference (New Prague, Northfield and Red Wing), who have had all lost to the Storm this season. The Eagles will go to one of the coldest rinks in the state when they face Delano at the Delano Area Sports Arena on Saturday January 28.

The Mosh Pit

After Lourdes, there are a cluster of possible contenders. I’m not even going to consider ranking the teams until the end of the regular season. We’ll start to try and break it down a bit here though.

We’ll start off in the Big 9 with Albert Lea (10-7). They started of the season off pretty well, but injuries to Svendsen and Falk and others along with losses to northern teams (Hibbing and Virginia) have derailed some of the Tiger’s momentum. Levi Hacker is their top point scorer; he returns from the Carlson, Stolt line that fueled the Tiger’s scoring last season. Senior Griffin Wangen has seen most of the minutes in the net for Albert Lea this season; understandably though Malimanek has seen a little bit of time in net to get him some experience in net before Wangen graduates. We'll have to see if they can pick it up with the remainder of the schedule.

Continuing on to the Big 9 trend, we look at Mankato West (8-8-1). The young Scarlets squad has had an up and down season. Goaltender Zach Fox has had to be solid for West this season and is showing to be arguably one of the best goaltenders in the section. I don’t think we’ve seen the best game out of the Scarlets this season, but I also don’t know what it’s going to take to trigger West to play to their potential. After these two Big 9 teams, we begin to look towards the Missota Conference.

The Missota Conference itself has been more interesting than it has been in a very long time with the perennial champions, Academy of Holy Angels (AHA) losing their long time stranglehold over the Missota. As the standings go right now there are three teams ahead of AHA in points, two in which belong to Section 1A.

Red Wing (8-6-1) really haven’t lost very much to graduation, and other than their 8-0 debacle to Rochester Lourdes, they have been playing pretty well overall this season. Stegora, Rezansoff, Hanson and Strusz led the Wingers in scoring last year and continue do a similar job this season. Blaney has played good in place of the graduated Amendolar. I definitely feel that the Wingers would play a much closer game vs. Lourdes if they had the chance to play them again. They are not a team to overlook at all.

New Prague (9-7-1) is coming off a victory against the AHA (4-3), and this Trojan team is starting to look pretty dangerous. Joe Morris is a top goaltender in this section, and he’s very easily the most experienced goaltender in the section in terms of varsity experience. New Prague’s stat sheet looks almost as similar as last season, a team where a lot of guys can put points up on the board, none that are scoring ridiculously more than the others. Lijewski, Schmidt and Kilian (their top three scorers) are only sophomores, which makes them definitely a team not only to look at this season but also in the future.

Lastly to finish up this “middle of the pack” section there’s Northfield (9-7). The Raiders started the season off pretty well, but they are 1-3-1 in their last five games. Andrew Scofield is one of the section’s best goal scorers and Tjaden is a solid goaltender to have in net. They’ve had an interesting season thus far. They have had games that make them seem like a solid contender, and then they lose to some teams that put question marks on the team. I can’t really put my finger on what the problem is in Raider land.

I really think that these five teams can beat eachother in any given night and are probably a favorite to beat any of the other teams I haven’t mentioned yet. Probably some of the most movement in terms of section seeding will probably be in the 2-6 range. I think the best example of this can be seen with the Missota Conference teams right now. Northfield has beaten Red Wing, but loss to New Prague and New Prague has beaten Northfield, but loss to Red Wing and to finish off this sort of “triangle” Red Wing has loss to Northfield but loss to New Prague.

The Last Six

Not too much to say about these teams, I think Faribault (3-12) is struggling to find an identity. Such a young Falcon team with only three seniors, and last years' graduation of players like Forgaard, Lipinski, Helegeson and Teske really lost them some key talented players. I look forward to see how this Faribault squad will grow from this season into future seasons. Disregarding their weaker schedule, I think Le Sueur-Henderson/St. Peter (11-4) has played pretty well. They recently ended their seven game-winning streak with a loss to Windom (5-3), but bounced back with a win tonight over Dodge County. Amsden for the Bulldogs has the best save percentage in the section with a .931, which is second best in the state.

La Crescent (6-12) is a hard to judge because of the competition they play is mostly from out of state schools. Mankato East (3-15) is having a long season, but the effort by senior goaltender Lucas Weihe has kept them within some respectable margins. Austin (3-15) has struggled against the competition in the Big 9 this season, but has competed well their non-conference opponents. Waseca (5-11) is pretty young squad in general though lead the team is senior led, goaltenders have an interesting three-way split. Also some interesting exchanges of games with some of the other bottom teams like Austin, La Crescent and East which will effect the bottom of the seedings.

Mark It On The Calendar

Red Wing at Northfield Thursday January 26th - Red Wing lost this game to Northfield earlier in the season with a score of 4-2. Definitely will help break off this “triangle” of confusion between the Missota teams. Definitely think the Wingers are a better team than what the Raiders faced earlier in December.

Mankato West at Albert Lea Tuesday January 31st - A big game in terms of Big 9 Conference and Section 1A. Games between the Scarlets and the Tigers have become almost like rivalry games. Mankato West hope to break a winless record at the Albert Lea City Arena.

Albert Lea at Lourdes Thursday Feburary 2nd - Important section game where the Tigers will try to take down Section 1A’s favorite.

Lourdes at Breck Saturday Feburary 4th - A game where the Eagles will face the highly ranked Class A Breck Mustangs. Will give the state some perspective on where Lourdes stand in Class A

Rochester Lourdes at New Prague Saturday February 11th - Another important section game, New Prague loss 5-3 to the Eagles earlier in the season, but they will try to get revenge on home ice.

New Prague at Northfield Tuesday Feburary 14th - The second of a string of three important games for the Trojans. Missota Conference implications also had some hype to this contest.

New Prague at Red Wing Saturday Feburary 18th - The last game of the regular season for the New Prague Trojans. Depending on how Chanhassen does for the remainder of the season, this game might have an impact on the Missota Conference championship. Regardless though, major section implications for their last game of the section.

Scores from Tuesday January 24th

New Prague 7 Chaska 2
Mankato East 1 Waseca 4
L-H/SP 5 Dodge County 0
Sparta 5 La Crescent 1