Section 3AA

[almostashappy]

..but can you stop that deadly top unit of STA?

I think that at least a few teams answered that question for you this season. One team even answered it twice.

Fewest goals allowed by a AA team during the regular season:

1) Wayzata (32)
2) Eagan (45)
3) Edina (46)
4) Eastview (47)

You could just as easily ask if STA's deadly top unit will be able to get past some deadly defenses.

[mnhockfan99]

[quote="almostashappy"][quote="mnhockfan99"]..but can you stop that deadly top unit of STA?[/quote]

I think that at least a few teams answered that question for you this season. One team even answered it twice.

Fewest goals allowed by a AA team during the regular season:

1) Wayzata (32)
2) Eagan (45)
3) Edina (46)
4) Eastview (47)

You could just as easily ask if STA's deadly top unit will be able to get past some deadly defenses.[/quote]


Well I'll give you that - never said they were the Red Army - they to me don't have a ton of depth compared to past seasons but they are young and I think many of those young players have improved a lot since November. IMO Novak ad his line mates have the ability to win any game - I think they'll handle Eastivew but the CDH/Eagan game would be quite interesting. Eagan to me is a dark horse as they have strong team defense and goaltending and maybe externally not the expectation or pressure to get to state..

[HShockeywatcher]

..but can you stop that deadly top unit of STA?

I think that at least a few teams answered that question for you this season. One team even answered it twice.

Fewest goals allowed by a AA team during the regular season:

1) Wayzata (32)
2) Eagan (45)
3) Edina (46)
4) Eastview (47)

You could just as easily ask if STA's deadly top unit will be able to get past some deadly defenses.

Breck actually allowed 4 and 3 goals respectively.
This STA teams has scored less than 3 goals all of twice this season, both in 3-2 losses.
Scoring goals won't be an issue.

Your second point will be the biggest issue. Defense.
Will we see the defense that held Hill to 2 and HF to 1 or the defense that allowed 6 to Breck and 4 to Cretin the next game?

Well I'll give you that - never said they were the Red Army - they to me don't have a ton of depth compared to past seasons but they are young and I think many of those young players have improved a lot since November. IMO Novak ad his line mates have the ability to win any game - I think they'll handle Eastivew but the CDH/Eagan game would be quite interesting. Eagan to me is a dark horse as they have strong team defense and goaltending and maybe externally not the expectation or pressure to get to state..

I've seen comments about STA being both young and not having depth. They have 6 seniors, 12 juniors, 2 sophomores and 1 freshman. Doesn't seem too young to me.
They have 12 players with 10+ points and and 5 with 25+.
There are a handful of other teams in the state with more and definitely none in the section.

Any way you cut it, the big difference between this year's team and last year's is defense/goaltending.

[almostashappy]

Eagan to me is a dark horse as they have strong team defense and goaltending and maybe externally not the expectation or pressure to get to state..

Well there certainly aren't any great expectations if you look at the Section Winner Picking contest stickied on the top of this forum...only 6 of the 30-odd predictors have Eagan on their lists. Almost as many have all three of the other teams on their lists. Seems a bit odd, since I think that Eagan's chances of going to the Tourney are just as good or better than any other fourth seed out there.

HSHW....taking comfort in the high number of goals scored over the regular season is a pretty risky proposition when you've got Driscoll in your section (and as a potential semi opponent). Just as last year's Eagan team.

[HShockeywatcher]

Eagan to me is a dark horse as they have strong team defense and goaltending and maybe externally not the expectation or pressure to get to state..

Well there certainly aren't any great expectations if you look at the Section Winner Picking contest stickied on the top of this forum...only 6 of the 30-odd predictors have Eagan on their lists. Almost as many have all three of the other teams on their lists. Seems a bit odd, since I think that Eagan's chances of going to the Tourney are just as good or better than any other fourth seed out there.

HSHW....taking comfort in the high number of goals scored over the regular season is a pretty risky proposition when you've got Driscoll in your section (and as a potential semi opponent). Just as last year's Eagan team.

It has nothing to do with goals specifically, my comment was in response to their lack of depth.
They have 4 forwards with 40+ points, a good defensemen with 25 assists and then 10 players with 8-16 points.
Cretin, for example, has 2 players with 35+, 3 with 21-25, 3 more over 10 and then 10 with 1-8 goals (where you draw the line I don't know).
I'm not going to compare them to every team, but my only point is that they do have a good amount of depth.
The last few years St Thomas has been a team with a lot of parity, if you will, in the roster. Two years ago, for example, the top scorer had 6 more points than the 5th.
While their top players are scoring more of the teams' goals, the depth is still there.

I agree on Driscoll complete; he is the the reason Eastview went to state last year and very well could be the reason they go this year and next. He is good enough to win (well, not lose) a game on his own.
I'm looking forward to hopefully seeing him play in the semifinal.

[mnhockfan99]

Maybe I used poor descriptors - can't argue with HSHW's facts - my reasoning was that STA lost their G from last year who played basically every game - no G on this year team had any varsity time, 4 of the top 5 D are gone and a few key F, so they really had about 5 guys coming back who did anything on the varsity - so breaking in so many new players I do feel they were lacking depth, experience however you want to put it!

Some of the point totals may be puffed up a bit with 7 games with SSP (2), NSP (2), Simley, Sibley and Richfield???

I do think 3AA is shaping up to be a very interesting and entertaining section...

[TheJet]

Eagan to me is a dark horse as they have strong team defense and goaltending and maybe externally not the expectation or pressure to get to state..

Well there certainly aren't any great expectations if you look at the Section Winner Picking contest stickied on the top of this forum...only 6 of the 30-odd predictors have Eagan on their lists. Almost as many have all three of the other teams on their lists. Seems a bit odd, since I think that Eagan's chances of going to the Tourney are just as good or better than any other fourth seed out there.

HSHW....taking comfort in the high number of goals scored over the regular season is a pretty risky proposition when you've got Driscoll in your section (and as a potential semi opponent). Just as last year's Eagan team.

It has nothing to do with goals specifically, my comment was in response to their lack of depth.
They have 4 forwards with 40+ points, a good defensemen with 25 assists and then 10 players with 8-16 points.
Cretin, for example, has 2 players with 35+, 3 with 21-25, 3 more over 10 and then 10 with 1-8 goals (where you draw the line I don't know).
I'm not going to compare them to every team, but my only point is that they do have a good amount of depth.
The last few years St Thomas has been a team with a lot of parity, if you will, in the roster. Two years ago, for example, the top scorer had 6 more points than the 5th.
While their top players are scoring more of the teams' goals, the depth is still there.

I agree on Driscoll complete; he is the the reason Eastview went to state last year and very well could be the reason they go this year and next. He is good enough to win (well, not lose) a game on his own.
I'm looking forward to hopefully seeing him play in the semifinal.

As I recall EV out shot and out played Eagan in the section final last year - so there was a bit more in the tank there.

[almostashappy]

In play-in game action last night....

#8 Rosemount 6
#9 Apple Valley 2

Irish now play CDH, who has a twitter account giving shout-outs to "Your #1 seed Boys Hockey team." Factually correct, but fundamentally tenuous.

#10 Park of Cottage 1
#7 Woodbury 0

You know how a single game can redeem an entire season? Bet that's how Park is feeling right now after beating their intra-school district rival. Congratulations to the Wolfpack, and good luck against Eastview.

As for the "agony of defeat" side of that final result...it was so painful that even East Ridge supporters were wincing in sympathy. Are we looking at a potential Lakeville South to North situation, with Woodbury bantams bailing and open-enrolling to ER? Or will the East Metro All-Star team's bench grow even deeper?

[InYourFace09]

In play-in game action last night....

#8 Rosemount 6
#9 Apple Valley 2

Irish now play CDH, who has a twitter account giving shout-outs to "Your #1 seed Boys Hockey team." Factually correct, but fundamentally tenuous.

#10 Park of Cottage 1
#7 Woodbury 0

You know how a single game can redeem an entire season? Bet that's how Park is feeling right now after beating their intra-school district rival. Congratulations to the Wolfpack, and good luck against Eastview.

As for the "agony of defeat" side of that final result...it was so painful that even East Ridge supporters were wincing in sympathy. Are we looking at a potential Lakeville South to North situation, with Woodbury bantams bailing and open-enrolling to ER? Or will the East Metro All-Star team's bench grow even deeper?

Were you at the game? It appeared the whole East Ridge squad was in attendance. Im not so sure you can open enroll between the two anymore as East Ridge is full. But you never know if the kid is good at hockey and they will let him in.

[Tenoverpar]

I'm pretty sure CDH would have rather played the Woodbury/Park winner than drawing a pesky Rosemount team. If the Raiders make it to state they will have to string together 3 games of excellence. It's the playoffs, anything goes...

Woodbury and East Ridge and Park are all suffering from the same issue..depth..with 3 schools that are geographically within 7 miles of each other it's going to take the right mix of school year groups coming up together to really compete for any of these schools.

[thestickler07]

Should be some exciting semi final matchups, definitely a wide open section where any of the top 4 could win it.

I don't think any of the teams would be an easy out in the state tourney either. The fact that the 3AA champion is unlikely to be seeded is a function of the wide section spread at the top of the rankings. 3 of the top 4 seeds in 3AA are in the top 13 for the Minnhock rankings, and that doesn't even include the #1 CDH. Whoever comes out of this section will be battle tested and ready for state.

[almostashappy]

Fun statistics from the Section Champion Picking Contest thread....

There were 34 entries. Four 3AA teams appeared on at least 1 ballot:

STA 30/34 ballots (86%)
Eastview 20/34 (57%)
CDH 11/34 (31%)
Eagan 6/34 (17%)

Despite all the talk about how competitive 3AA looks, and how balanced the top half of the bracket is in terms of rankings, not a lot of love for the Cats out there.

Another thing you can do with the data is analyze the amount of uncertainty within a given section (i.e. how many ballots have more than one team listed).

Section, #of ballots with multiple teams picked (n=34)

7AA, 25 (only section with four teams named on a ballot)
3AA, 24
2AA, 15
6AA, 11
8AA, 7
4AA, 5
5AA, 1
1AA, 0

Not surprised that nobody picked more than one team in 1AA, but I'm really surprised that people were that certain about their 5AA picks. It's also really interesting that 6AA, which has traditionally been identified as the toughest section to advance out of, has less multiple-entry ballots than neighboring 2AA. I think this might be more reflective of people's opinions on Burnsville's chances than on the competitive balance within 6AA.

[Traxler]

Fun statistics from the Section Champion Picking Contest thread....

There were 34 entries. Four 3AA teams appeared on at least 1 ballot:

STA 30/34 ballots (86%)
Eastview 20/34 (57%)
CDH 11/34 (31%)
Eagan 6/34 (17%)

Despite all the talk about how competitive 3AA looks, and how balanced the top half of the bracket is in terms of rankings, not a lot of love for the Cats out there.

Another thing you can do with the data is analyze the amount of uncertainty within a given section (i.e. how many ballots have more than one team listed).

Section, #of ballots with multiple teams picked (n=34)

7AA, 25 (only section with four teams named on a ballot)
3AA, 24
2AA, 15
6AA, 11
8AA, 7
4AA, 5
5AA, 1
1AA, 0

Not surprised that nobody picked more than one team in 1AA, but I'm really surprised that people were that certain about their 5AA picks. It's also really interesting that 6AA, which has traditionally been identified as the toughest section to advance out of, has less multiple-entry ballots than neighboring 2AA. I think this might be more reflective of people's opinions on Burnsville's chances than on the competitive balance within 6AA.

Thanks for putting this together, those are some really interesting statistics.

[curtiscurve]

3AA Play-Off Predictions (After Play-In Games)

Quarter-Finals
(1)Cretin-Derham Hall 5 over (8)Rosemount 3
(4)Eagan 4 over (5)East Ridge 1
(3)St. Thomas Academy 7 over (6)Hastings 2
(2)Eastview 10 over (10)Park of Cottage Grove 0

Semi-Finals
(4)Eagan 3 over (1)Cretin-Derham Hall 2 (O.T)
(3)St. Thomas Academy 4 over (2)Eastview 2

Finals
(3)St. Thomas Academy 3 over (4)Eagan 2

[Sats81]

3AA Play-Off Predictions (After Play-In Games)

Quarter-Finals
(1)Cretin-Derham Hall 5 over (8)Rosemount 3
(4)Eagan 4 over (5)East Ridge 1
(3)St. Thomas Academy 7 over (6)Hastings 2
(2)Eastview 10 over (10)Park of Cottage Grove 0

Semi-Finals
(4)Eagan 3 over (1)Cretin-Derham Hall 2 (O.T)
(3)St. Thomas Academy 4 over (2)Eastview 2

Finals
(3)St. Thomas Academy 3 over (4)Eagan 2

I think STA will have a difficult time getting through both EV and Eagan if it comes to that. I like Eagan and their gritty, defensive minded play to win this section. Should be a great section tourney though.

[InYourFace09]

3AA Play-Off Predictions (After Play-In Games)

Quarter-Finals
(1)Cretin-Derham Hall 5 over (8)Rosemount 3
(4)Eagan 4 over (5)East Ridge 1
(3)St. Thomas Academy 7 over (6)Hastings 2
(2)Eastview 10 over (10)Park of Cottage Grove 0

Semi-Finals
(4)Eagan 3 over (1)Cretin-Derham Hall 2 (O.T)
(3)St. Thomas Academy 4 over (2)Eastview 2

Finals
(3)St. Thomas Academy 3 over (4)Eagan 2

I think STA will have a difficult time getting through both EV and Eagan if it comes to that. I like Eagan and their gritty, defensive minded play to win this section. Should be a great section tourney though.

I think it will be an all private final in CDH vs STA with STA coming out on top.

[Tenoverpar]

For the 2nd year CDH is proving itself the 9th best team in3AA and no where near a one seed. Rosemount about to apple valley the raiders. Third underway and it's all IrIsh

[green4]

For the 2nd year CDH is proving itself the 9th best team in3AA and no where near a one seed. Rosemount about to apple valley the raiders. Third underway and it's all IrIsh

scores are helpful

[Tenoverpar]

Forget it Cretin decided to play the 3rd. CDH 5-3 over the Irish final

[marchmadness]

oops.

[Cadets16]

I hear the Cadets are leading over Hastings.

[HShockeywatcher]

I hear the Cadets are leading over Hastings.

8-2 final. Versich and Novak with hat tricks.

[thestickler07]

Eagan beats CDH 2-1 in OT to advance to the section 3AA final.

STAA vs EV coming up next.

[almostashappy]

Eagan beats CDH 2-1 in OT to advance to the section 3AA final.

It took a few years, but after that game I think I'm finally happier than HHF.

[WarmUpTheBus]

Any score in STA v Eastview game?