YouthHockeyHub wrote:Putting together an article for HS AA and A Pre-Season T10 that will come out in a few weeks. Here is a stab at what I think based on a lot of variable that are out there (returners, transfers, new students). Would love some "constructive" feedback at this first stab.
AA
1. EP
2. Duluth East
3. Grand Rapids
4. Elk River
5. Edina
6. Wayzata
7. Benilde
8. Hill Murray
9. Prior Lake
10. Stillwater
Maybe Missing: LVN, STA, Tonka, Bemidji, STMA
Thoughts?
TS
No, 7AA does not have 3 of the top 4 teams in the state.
Edina will always be my preseason #1 as long as their youth program stays as strong as it currently is, and they have the coaching staff that they have now.
HM will always be my highest ranked team from the East Metro. Even more so now that they expanded their recruiting to Roseau!
How can you leave off a team from your preseason top 10 that went undefeated last year?
karl(east) wrote:Yeah, I'd say all of 7AA is too high here.
Rapids is the only team I'd consider for a top 5 spot, and Mattson has to return for that. And even then, they have a lot to prove. They were decidedly mediocre for long stretches last season.
East is East, sure, but one could say the same thing about them before their late-season run. Top 10 I'll buy; there's good talent here. Top 5, nah.
Elk River could surprise some people, but they were only a borderline top 5 team last year, lost Mr. Hockey, their top defenseman, a great senior forward, and a bunch of others. That's not preseason top 5 material, and probably not top 10 either.
All that said, this is a very wide-open field. I'm guessing preseason rankings will be harder than usual.
Agree that SPA has to be on the radar in Class A. They return pretty much everyone from a top 10-ish team last year.
Rapids took too long to settle on a #1 goalie last year, and should have just brought Stejskal up. The rest of their team was plenty good enough to make a run. As Mike Randolph himself said, the only reason East beat GR in the semi's was Gunnar Howg. That said I think the preseason rankings should have both GR and East in the top 10, too muddled right now to know exactly where they stand because their are question marks with ALL of these teams. I agree on Elk River, it seems their window was the last two seasons and I would expect they'll be back after this season while their young guys get accustomed to the varsity level. They just lost way too much to be put in the top 10 without proving anything.
AA
1. Edina
2. EP
3. LVN
4. Hill
5 Bemidji
6.Wayzata
7. Duluth East
8 WBL
9. Stillwater
10. BSM
others:
Elks, Rapids, Tonka, Moorhead STMA
A
1. Hermantown
2. SPA
3. EGF
4. St. Cloud Apollo
5. Delano
6. Breck
7. Mahtomedi
8. St. Cloud Cathedral
9. Luverne
10. Orono
Surprise team in Single A: GREENWAY
Last edited by northwoods oldtimer on Fri Sep 18, 2015 1:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.
karl(east) wrote:Yeah, I'd say all of 7AA is too high here.
Rapids is the only team I'd consider for a top 5 spot, and Mattson has to return for that. And even then, they have a lot to prove. They were decidedly mediocre for long stretches last season.
East is East, sure, but one could say the same thing about them before their late-season run. Top 10 I'll buy; there's good talent here. Top 5, nah.
Elk River could surprise some people, but they were only a borderline top 5 team last year, lost Mr. Hockey, their top defenseman, a great senior forward, and a bunch of others. That's not preseason top 5 material, and probably not top 10 either. Agreed, the ER window will never be closed but was never more wide open than the last 2 years. Should be just outside the top ten but very capable. Elite goaltending from Myers would help.
All that said, this is a very wide-open field. I'm guessing preseason rankings will be harder than usual.
Agree that SPA has to be on the radar in Class A. They return pretty much everyone from a top 10-ish team last year.
Rapids took too long to settle on a #1 goalie last year, and should have just brought Stejskal up. The rest of their team was plenty good enough to make a run. As Mike Randolph himself said, the only reason East beat GR in the semi's was Gunnar Howg. That said I think the preseason rankings should have both GR and East in the top 10, too muddled right now to know exactly where they stand because their are question marks with ALL of these teams. I agree on Elk River, it seems their window was the last two seasons and I would expect they'll be back after this season while their young guys get accustomed to the varsity level. They just lost way too much to be put in the top 10 without proving anything.
1. EP
2. Edina
3. Duluth East
4. Lakeville North
5. Stillwater
6. Prior Lake
7. Grand Rapids
8. Hill
9. Lakeville South
10. Minnetonka
Elk River, Blaine, STA, BSM, then Wayzata
northwoods oldtimer wrote:AA
1. Edina
2. EP
3. LVN
4. Hill
5 Bemidji
6.Wayzata
7. Duluth East
8 WBL
9. Stillwater
10. BSM
others:
Elks, Rapids, Tonka, Moorhead STMA
A
1. Hermantown
2. SPA
3. EGF
4. St. Cloud Apollo
5. Delano
6. Breck
7. Mahtomedi
8. St. Cloud Cathedral
9. Luverne
10. Orono
Surprise team in Single A: GREENWAY
White Bear at 8? I needed a good laugh this afternoon
My personal Opinion, I agree, I do not expect much from White Bear this year. Their strength is a couple of defense. I also am not sold on Hill as some are, I guess I see a couple nice players, but even their better talented players are not like the top Hill players of the past years. Stillwater is expected to be stronger with depth, and a few top end players. I thinks its Stillwater's Section to lose. just my thoughts.
AA only:
1. Edina
2. LVN
3. Hill-Murray
4. EP
5. Wayzata
6. Elk River
7. Prior Lake
8. Duluth East
9. BSM
10. Grand Rapids
Outside 10: Stillwater, Blaine, LVS, Bemidji
Thoughts: Edina because of their incredible depth. And there is just no way to keep LVN out of top 2 or 3 either. Hill will be there because of the coach, and the never-ending talent pool.
I don't think EP can be anointed #1: the Graham-led teams never delivered thru the EP system, no slight on him, just the facts. That said, bump them down 5 spots if Graham stays in Fargo.
For the next tier: until they deliver in sections, you have to keep Wayzata/ER/PL just outside the handful of teams at the top.
@hockeytweet wrote:AA only:
1. Edina
2. LVN
3. Hill-Murray
4. EP
5. Wayzata
6. Elk River
7. Prior Lake
8. Duluth East
9. BSM
10. Grand Rapids
Outside 10: Stillwater, Blaine, LVS, Bemidji
Thoughts: Edina because of their incredible depth. And there is just no way to keep LVN out of top 2 or 3 either. Hill will be there because of the
coach, and the never-ending talent pool.
I don't think EP can be anointed #1: the Graham-led teams never delivered thru the EP system, no slight on him, just the facts. That said, bump them down 5 spots if Graham stays in Fargo.
For the next tier: until they deliver in sections, you have to keep Wayzata/ER/PL just outside the handful of teams at the top.
I laughed at WBL at #8. Sorry Bears.
Like your top 10. Rapids has potential and talent but needs to overcome two challenges: 1) their inability to play a full 51 minutes and 2) the psychological challenge of East. Looking forward to their first game with Bemidji to see how different they play under their new head coach.
@hockeytweet wrote:AA only:
1. Edina
2. LVN
3. Hill-Murray
4. EP
5. Wayzata
6. Elk River
7. Prior Lake
8. Duluth East
9. BSM
10. Grand Rapids
Outside 10: Stillwater, Blaine, LVS, Bemidji
Thoughts: Edina because of their incredible depth. And there is just no way to keep LVN out of top 2 or 3 either. Hill will be there because of the
coach, and the never-ending talent pool.
I don't think EP can be anointed #1: the Graham-led teams never delivered thru the EP system, no slight on him, just the facts. That said, bump them down 5 spots if Graham stays in Fargo.
For the next tier: until they deliver in sections, you have to keep Wayzata/ER/PL just outside the handful of teams at the top.
I laughed at WBL at #8. Sorry Bears.
Like your top 10. Rapids has potential and talent but needs to overcome two challenges: 1) their inability to play a full 51 minutes and 2) the psychological challenge of East. Looking forward to their first game with Bemidji to see how different they play under their new head coach.
Trent Klatt addressed this on his KOZY interview. His answer for the 51 mintues question and the slow starts was there will be no more showing up for a game with zero warm up before putting gear on. He said in his pro days he learned you have to be in a full sweat before you get your gear on for warmups, because you can't be cold for a game that goes 100mph. I was shocked the players didn't understand this to begin with that you can't just show up in your street clothes and change into your hockey gear without doing some plyometrics of some kind before the game warmup. As for beating East, it starts with the youth programs and doing what Duluth East does, playing the best competition in the Twin Cities and no more pissing around playing soft single A competition up north. Was so glad to hear this. I wish Rapids would have dropped their IRC membership 20 years ago. Gotta give credit to John Rothstein for at least getting the ball rolling on having a much tougher varsity schedule. Looking at it this year Rapids seems to have a tougher schedule than Duluth East, and possibly did last year. Another note, the fact Rapids beat East so handily in Duluth last year shows the tide is changing, along with the fact Rapids was not intimidated playing East in the playoffs. Again, it was Gunnar Howg playing out of his mind, not some mental demons that did Rapids in. I would argue Elk River suffered the from the mental game the most giving up a 3-0 lead in a game they were dominating up to that point.
Beating East during the season is not the same as beating them in Sectionals. It is a step in the right direction. In the end they once again lost to East. Until they beat East when the season is on the line they have not conquered their demons. It will take a Rapids player with some greenie blood (e.g. Patrick White) for this to happen. Maybe Bishoff will be the one.
I think many people have Bemidji way too low. I wish they would have upgraded their schedule more to get ready for the post season but I think they could fare much better than most people have them rated here and could do some damage in March.
Moorhead most likely won't be in this discussion this year. After next season they should start a solid stretch of being back in the conversation though.
Section 8 guy wrote:I think many people have Bemidji way too low. I wish they would have upgraded their schedule more to get ready for the post season but I think they could fare much better than most people have them rated here and could do some damage in March.
Moorhead most likely won't be in this discussion this year. After next season they should start a solid stretch of being back in the conversation though.
It will be good for northern MN if Bemidji can maintain their success, and to do so they need to do like you mention and upgrade their schedule. Jacks need to eliminate most 8A teams from their schedule and get down to the Twin Cities more often.
Rapids has a lot to work on with only two players that have meaningful varsity time returning. Anderson is pretty solid defensively, Stampohar has lots of potential but needs to focus on taking care of his own end first. DJ is correct that Stejskal was the missing piece last year. If Klatt can fix the blue line watch out.
Rapids has a lot to work on with only two players that have meaningful varsity time returning. Anderson is pretty solid defensively, Stampohar has lots of potential but needs to focus on taking care of his own end first. DJ is correct that Stejskal was the missing piece last year. If Klatt can fix the blue line watch out.
Section 8 guy wrote:I think many people have Bemidji way too low. I wish they would have upgraded their schedule more to get ready for the post season but I think they could fare much better than most people have them rated here and could do some damage in March.
Moorhead most likely won't be in this discussion this year. After next season they should start a solid stretch of being back in the conversation though.
Agree on this. Definitely think Lumberjacks will be making a repeat trip to state. Really liked what I say of their team at tourney last year. Played hard, a lot of skill and grit.
Agree Bemidji is strong favorite to win Section 8 again. Lots of top caliber returning talent..
In my own preseason list, Ive got them ranked in top 15 but not top 10, because sophomore goaltending may need time to rise to peak varsity performance. Will reassess as season progresses.
Class AA
1) Eden Prairie
2) Edina
3) Benilde
4) Lakeville North
5) Duluth East
6) St. Thomas
7) Wayzata
8) Prior Lake
9) Hill Murray
10) Bemidji
Class A
1) Hermantown
2) East Grand Forks
3) St. Cloud Apollo
4) Delano
5) Breck
6) St. Paul Academy
7) Mahtomedi
8) Hibbing
9) Thief River Falls
10) Luverne
What about Farmington /rosmount? They both had good youth teams vcoming up at this age.I have a son that is a 98. I remeber squirts pee-wee these groups being very good.
old goalie85 wrote:What about Farmington /rosmount? They both had good youth teams vcoming up at this age.I have a son that is a 98. I remeber squirts pee-wee these groups being very good.
Farmington will be good, but lost a few kids to Lakeville South, The goalie from that era is at USDNTP, previous to that played for the other Lakeville team. They also have contributor from the peewee era down at Shattuck playing midgets. They could play in the section 1 chip for state.
Rosemount not sure. Other then, one they lost one to Burnsville at hs enrollment. Now that player is at Waterloo in the USHL. I believe would be a senior.
old goalie85 wrote:What about Farmington /rosmount? They both had good youth teams vcoming up at this age.I have a son that is a 98. I remeber squirts pee-wee these groups being very good.
