BulldogNative wrote:Hey fellas, I'm new on this board obviously. But coming down to crunch time here with playoffs coming up. Was anyone at the New Prague-Mankato west game? If so, your thoughts?
I wasn't at the game, but it looks like NP dominated!
Just looking at NP scores they started the year 7-0, so they started off hot. They seem to have cooled a bit late in the year.
BulldogNative wrote:Hey fellas, I'm new on this board obviously. But coming down to crunch time here with playoffs coming up. Was anyone at the New Prague-Mankato west game? If so, your thoughts?
I wasn't at the game, but it looks like NP dominated!
Just looking at NP scores they started the year 7-0, so they started off hot. They seem to have cooled a bit late in the year.
In my eyes they're the team to beat. Although, given the results of this section so far anyone can beat anyone. A goalie can take a team along ways when he's hot! Looking forward to this, should be lots of excitement. Is Lourdes fully recovered from injuries?
Red Wing beats Lourdes 4-3. I don't think Lourdes can do any better than a #9 or #10 seed now....0-5-1 in the section can't give you a top seed.
West beats John Marshall 5-2 and wins the Big Nine for the second year in a row. Given how many seniors last years team had and an early departure this year it's quite an accomplishment.
It seems that no team really wants to stake their claim to this section...
I agree, goldy. There is no possible way that Lourdes can move up higher than 9th seed with a loss to Red Wing. It interesting to me how down this section is this year... The bright side is it'll make for an amazing section tournament, but I can't say I see any of these teams making much noise in St. Paul.
I still think it's the Trojan's to lose. We'll see how the seeding ends up.
goldy313 wrote:Red Wing beats Lourdes 4-3. I don't think Lourdes can do any better than a #9 or #10 seed now....0-5-1 in the section can't give you a top seed.
West beats John Marshall 5-2 and wins the Big Nine for the second year in a row. Given how many seniors last years team had and an early departure this year it's quite an accomplishment.
I kind of forgot West had lost that many guys. For some reason I think 13 guys? Anyways, impressive job by the coaches and staff there. The Big 9 may be down, but still a pretty nice job going back to back. They've quietly put together a pretty solid season.
I watched the Lourdes vs. Red Wing game. Pretty solid game, with a great finish. Neither team has much for high end talent, but both teams work real hard. Tough finish for Lourdes. Rumor has it that M. Street had some sort of arm injury or something? Would be a rough blow to an already tough season.
How about we get serious with our picks for this section. Make a one team pick and post. Then a name is assigned to your pick, we can follow and see who the great hockey mind is in section one.
A jumbled mess after New Prague, but here goes nothing...
1) New Prague (Undefeated in section play)
2) West (Big 9 title)
3) La Crescent (Yes, I am putting the perennial play-in game road team in the 3 hole)
4) LeSueur St. Peter (Could have been #2 had they not lost at home to La Crescent)
5) Faribault (If they beat Northfield on Sat)
6) Northfield (See above)
7) East (Awesome quarter final match-up)
8 ) Red Wing (Have finished the season strong)
9) Albert Lea (Best 9 seed in the state?)
10) Lourdes (Strong SOS can't overcome head to head losses to section teams)
11) Waseca (They have really struggled lately)
12) Winona (Beat Austin twice)
13) Austin (See above)
I personally believe this is NP's section to lose.. But as stated much throughout the thread this section is a mess. Anyone 1-10 could snatch the section title and be playing at the X in March. If the rumor about Montana from Lourdes is said to be true that's a huge loss for that team who has already struggled against section teams, only tying Mankato West in what seemed to be a good game. I believe Mankato is returning one of their top players that was out quite a bit of the season as well if I'm not mistaken.
My thoughts as of now..
1. NP
2 Mankato West
3. Fairbault (if they beat NF sat.)
4. Northfield (3 if they beat Fairbault)
5. St.Peter
6. La Crescent
7. Mankato East
8. Red Wing
9. Albert Lea
10. Lourdes
11. Waseca
12. Winona
13. Austin
BulldogNative wrote:I personally believe this is NP's section to lose.. But as stated much throughout the thread this section is a mess. Anyone 1-10 could snatch the section title and be playing at the X in March. If the rumor about Montana from Lourdes is said to be true that's a huge loss for that team who has already struggled against section teams, only tying Mankato West in what seemed to be a good game. I believe Mankato is returning one of their top players that was out quite a bit of the season as well if I'm not mistaken
Interesting. Tyler Loe, who West has been without since 12/29 (according to Hockey Hub), recorded an assist last night in what looks to be his first game back. According to the Hub, Loe had 7 goals and 19 assists in 18 games. That could be a huge asset during the Playoffs. Makes what West has done this year even more impressive. Still not sure it's going to be enough against New Prague, though.
1. New Prague
2. Mankato West
3. Northfield
4. Faribault
5. LaCrescent
6. St. Peter
7. Red Wing
8. Mankato East
9. Albert Lea
10. Rochester Lourdes
11. Waseca
12. Winona
13. Austin
Last edited by GopherPuck15 on Fri Feb 13, 2015 6:17 pm, edited 1 time in total.
New Prague, but they will have to lace up their skates tight and play hard each game. They've laid a couple of big eggs this season (first Delano game, second Holy Family game). If they put that lack of effort in any of their three section games, they'll be in trouble
Getting a top 3 seed will be a huge benefit as everyone else has to win 3 games in 5 days to reach the section finals and I don't think anyone has an abundance of depth. New Prague and West have two of the three spots locked up I suspect. I don't think a Big Nine gets the third one as the conference was really weak, either LeSeuer or LaCrescent should.
I think between the top 2 spots and the bottom 2 spots there could be some pretty interesting seeds done by the coaches to try and get a favorable draw. I could imagine a 1,4,5,8,9 side of the draw that has New Prague, Northfield, Faribault, Red Wing, and Lourdes...
One thing to keep in mind, Goldy, is that the majority of teams in the section are Big 9 teams, and historically in most sports, they tend to support each other in seeding. For that reason, I don't see Le Sueur or LaCrescent getting a break in the seeding. I could be wrong, though.
hockeydad wrote:One thing to keep in mind, Goldy, is that the majority of teams in the section are Big 9 teams, and historically in most sports, they tend to support each other in seeding. For that reason, I don't see Le Sueur or LaCrescent getting a break in the seeding. I could be wrong, though.
With that logic, West should get the #1 since they won the Big 9.
I agree the Big Nine teams usually stick together, that said two of the teams are new to the conference and, at least in LeSeuer's case, they have wins over the top 2 1A Big Nine teams. I don't think you can put the Bulldogs behind Faribault whom they just beat rather easily. LaCrescent doesn't have the Big Nine wins LeSeuer has though.
hockeydad wrote:One thing to keep in mind, Goldy, is that the majority of teams in the section are Big 9 teams, and historically in most sports, they tend to support each other in seeding. For that reason, I don't see Le Sueur or LaCrescent getting a break in the seeding. I could be wrong, though.
With that logic, West should get the #1 since they won the Big 9.
Ha, they would lose more credibility looking that obvious
hockeydad wrote:One thing to keep in mind, Goldy, is that the majority of teams in the section are Big 9 teams, and historically in most sports, they tend to support each other in seeding. For that reason, I don't see Le Sueur or LaCrescent getting a break in the seeding. I could be wrong, though.
With that logic, West should get the #1 since they won the Big 9.
No, because head to head matters.:p Ultimately, with the weak schedule St. Peter and LaCrescent have, it's going to be tough putting them in the top 5.
Weak schedule? The Big Nine was down, LeSeuer beat both West and Faribault, Waseca tied Faribault. Mayo couldn't beat Eveleth and those were the top 3 teams in the Big Nine.
Lourdes and New Prague each had tough schedules, nobody else did.
goldy313 wrote:Weak schedule? The Big Nine was down, LeSeuer beat both West and Faribault, Waseca tied Faribault. Mayo couldn't beat Eveleth and those were the top 3 teams in the Big Nine.
Lourdes and New Prague each had tough schedules, nobody else did.
St. Peter also lost to East, LaCrescent, Litchfield, Marshall, New Ulm, etc. the Big 9 may be down, but it's still better than the Big South. Even if those statements were false, perception has always been big 9 is better, and the big 9 coaches likely believe that too.
