Mazak55 wrote:You're grasping at straws Special. I'm impressed with a team that people are quick to discredit. How does that equate to being on the team? Do you really think that a high school hockey player on winter break would be hanging out on this site? Check them out and then your opinion would mean something.
Not a player but certainly a father.
Not criticizing you, but you certainly are more than a casual observer.
And yes, StMA may be the 2nd or 3rd cede. But Grand Rapids, Andover, Cloquet, Duluth East have a similar argument at this point.
I just think if you want to make an argument for a high seed then teams should have to man up amd play a schedule worthy of seeding 1-3. Just my opinion. We will see who has and hasnt been battle tested though in Feb
NLHockey wrote:I just think if you want to make an argument for a high seed then teams should have to man up amd play a schedule worthy of seeding 1-3. Just my opinion. We will see who has and hasnt been battle tested though in Feb
I read comments about weak schedules a lot. Do we know that STMA's schedule is weak because they want it to be weak? Or are there other factors? I would think it's tricky to develop a strong schedule. Conference games often seem to inhibit this (not sure whether STMA is in a conference). And then strong teams have to want to schedule you. What good team would want to schedule STMA? They have no history of being good, and the "good teams" would want to schedule other good teams themselves.
Sorry for the ramble, but these things go through my head every time someone complains about a team's weak schedule.
NLHockey wrote:I just think if you want to make an argument for a high seed then teams should have to man up amd play a schedule worthy of seeding 1-3. Just my opinion. We will see who has and hasnt been battle tested though in Feb
I read comments about weak schedules a lot. Do we know that STMA's schedule is weak because they want it to be weak? Or are there other factors? I would think it's tricky to develop a strong schedule. Conference games often seem to inhibit this (not sure whether STMA is in a conference). And then strong teams have to want to schedule you. What good team would want to schedule STMA? They have no history of being good, and the "good teams" would want to schedule other good teams themselves.
Sorry for the ramble, but these things go through my head every time someone complains about a team's weak schedule.
Point taken. They are in the Mississippi 8 with teams like Buffalo, chisago lakes, rogers, monticello, cambridge. Im not complaining....just reality checking . I will get out to see them. I thin they play East Ridge this weekend
greenway1969 wrote:7AA is not going to be fun to watch. You've got one good team (Elk River), one slightly above average team (East) and the rest are mediocre or bad. Not sure about STMA yet, but see them #3 seed. Very disappointing this year for AA Northern Schools. No quality wins for East, Cloquet or Rapids. The two best teams up North are Marshall and Hermantown. They would challenge Elk River for 7AA. Can Elk River get beat? Sure, but don't see it happening. Rapids looks the same as last year. Keep waiting for them to turn the corner and it never happens.
Clearly. Pretty obvious who would be the overwhelming favorite if there was a Herm vs East game this year.
We'll never know as long as Hermantown keeps hiding in Single A though, will we? We can talk about Hermantown in March when they play their one meaningful game of the season. Until then, who cares?
This section feels like the 4 teams the consistently show up the most at Semi-final Saturday are going to be the 4 with home ice in the quarterfinals. Elk River so far has the 1 seed, but Duluth East is still in the hunt and the Hounds if they win at home vs GR and win at ER this month, then they probably would snatch that top seed. They seem vulnerable, but I've thought that in the past and Randolph is such a good damn coach. In the very least, Rapids and East I think are having a battle for the 2/3 seeds on Thursday night at the Heritage Center. A 2 seed I think will earn a home game with Andover, whereas a 3 seed at this point the water is murky enough I'm not sure if that would be STMA or Forest Lake. The wild card right now is Cloquet. After a very questionable start they have wins vs GR, Roseau, and crushed St. Francis 10-1. With Rapids, it was an okay week at least beating teams they were supposed to. The biggest positive I took this week from GR was coach Rothstein saying on the air that they have settled in on Gerth as the starting goaltender, and not only that, but that Gerth had a tremendous game vs Hopkins. Another interesting aspect for Rapids on the positive side of things is Micah Miller seems to be establishing himself as a scoring threat at the varsity level.
Just for fun this is how I would seed them at this point. Rapids I put ahead of CEC based on body of work, though I realize CEC did in one game beat Rapids.
1. Elk River
2. Duluth East
3. Grand Rapids
4. Cloquet
5. St. Michael-Albertville
6. Forest Lake
7. Andover
8. Cambridge
9. St. Francis
Looking at East's schedule the rest of the way it sure is daunting. Anoka game will now be challenging and even if they beat ER they need to beat some quality opponents to have an overall better body of work to pass ER. That was criteria that Randolph used last year to sneak the 1 seed. Best Rapids can hope for is the 2 seed. ER has Blaine and East left for possible losses. CEC at STMA late in the schedule will be a benchmark game for the Knights.
Here you go for what it's worth all 7AA games by teams vs 7AA teams and remaining 7AA games.. Keep in mind that not all teams play the same schedule vs each other (maybe that would help clear things up, doubt it..lol)
ELK RIVER (3-0)
At Andover won 4-1
Vs Grand Rapids won 5-4
At Forest Lake won 7-4
Vs Anodover
Vs Duluth East
ST. FRANCIS (0-4)
Vs STMA lost 1-8
Vs Grand Rapids lost 0-5
At Cloquet lost 1-10
At Forest Lake lost 2-5
Vs Andover
At STMA
At Cambridge
STMA (2-1)
Vs Forest Lake win 2-1 OT
At St. Francis win 8-1
At Duluth East lost 3-4 OT
Vs Andover
Vs St. Francis
At Cambridge
Vs Cloquet
CAMBRIDGE (0-3)
Vs Forest Lake lost 2-7
At Cloquet lost 0-8
At Duluth East lost 0-4
Vs STMA
Vs St. Francis
DULUTH EAST (3-1-1)
At Andover 2-2 Tie
Vs Cloquet won 3-1
Vs STMA won 4-3 OT
Vs Cambridge won 4-0
Vs Grand Rapids lost 1-5
Vs Forest Lake
At Elk River
At Cloquet
CLOQUET (3-2)
Vs Cambridge won 8-0
At Duluth East lost 1-3
At Forest Lake lost 2-3 OT
Vs Grand Rapids won 4-2
Vs St. Francis won 10-1
At Grand Rapids
Vs Andover
Vs Duluth East
At STMA
FOREST LAKE (3-3)
At Cambridge won 7-2
At STMA lost 1-2 OT
Vs Grand Rapids lost 3-6
Vs Cloquet won 3-2 OT
Vs Elk River lost 4-7
Vs St. Francis won 5-2
At Duluth East
At Andover
GRAND RAPIDS (4-2)
At Forest Lake won 6-3
Vs Elk River lost 4-5
At Cloquet lost 2-4
Vs St. Francis won 5-0
At Andover won 4-1
At Duluth East won 5-1
Vs Cloquet
ANDOVER (0-2-1)
Vs Dultuh East 2-2 Tie
Vs Elr River lost 1-4
Vs Grand Rapids lost 1-4
At St. Francis
At STMA
At Cloquet
At Elk River
Vs Forest Lake
elliott70 wrote:IMDAO, as of today (lots of big games left):
1. Elk River
2. Cloquet
3. Grand Rapids
4. Duluth East
5. St. Michael-Albertville
6. Forest Lake
7. Andover
8. Cambridge
9. St. Francis
Given Rapids beat East and Forest Lake who Cloquet lost to, 2 games > 1 game, I'd narrowly put Rapids ahead of CEC. Tuesday nights game will determine it for now.
elliott70 wrote:IMDAO, as of today (lots of big games left):
1. Elk River
2. Cloquet
3. Grand Rapids
4. Duluth East
5. St. Michael-Albertville
6. Forest Lake
7. Andover
8. Cambridge
9. St. Francis
Given Rapids beat East and Forest Lake who Cloquet lost to, 2 games > 1 game, I'd narrowly put Rapids ahead of CEC. Tuesday nights game will determine it for now.
But what have you done lately....
More credence to the last couple of weeks or so...
CEC beat GR, CEC is ahead of them...
GR beat DE, DE is ahead of them...
"ER is going to state." per Slammer; so ceding does not really matter.
East falls to Eden Prairie today 4-2 (en) with east probably playing their best game all year... They skated hard and showed they can play with a top team in the state.
They still lost, but they took a step in the right direction. They play Lakeville North on Tuesday... Maybe Randolph can pull of some magic.
I'm sure he would like a win against LN to use in those seeding meetings
Huge 7AA game tomorrow when the Lumberjacks of Cloquet-Esko-Carlton travel to Grand Rapids to take on the Thunderhawks. Check out our game preview and prediction.
"With a new core and the burden of history, they’re off to a slow start, and there’s been a bit of declinist hysteria (all from outside the program, from what I’ve seen) surrounding a team that would, in a vacuum, simply be finding its way through a difficult schedule. But this is the burden of putting on the jersey of a six-time defending section champion with a target on its back. That burden can also be a source of inspiration, as was the case last season, when 7AA’s confident bluebloods stole a section title away from rising Elk River."
Favorite quote from the post. Duluth East hockey isn't going anywhere.
"With a new core and the burden of history, they’re off to a slow start, and there’s been a bit of declinist hysteria (all from outside the program, from what I’ve seen) surrounding a team that would, in a vacuum, simply be finding its way through a difficult schedule. But this is the burden of putting on the jersey of a six-time defending section champion with a target on its back. That burden can also be a source of inspiration, as was the case last season, when 7AA’s confident bluebloods stole a section title away from rising Elk River."
Favorite quote from the post. Duluth East hockey isn't going anywhere.
Anybody who counts the Duluth East Greyhounds out are NUTS!!!
. I will get out to see them. I thin they play East Ridge this weekend
