Section 7AA 2013-2014?

greenway1969 · Post by **greenway1969** » Fri Jan 10, 2014 9:12 am

After the thumping Rapids got from East the rankings look like this to me:

1. Elk River
2. Duluth East
3. Rapids
4. Forest Lake
5. Andover
6. Cloquet
7. St. Michael-Albertville
8. St. Francis
9. Cambridge

Elk River and East are a cut above the rest of the section with either one capable of getting the #1 seed. Possible for Cloquet to move up or move down depending on what happens when they play St. Michael-Albertville and Andover. I don't think a win over Andover guarantees them a higher seed over Andover.

TheHockeyDJ · Post by **TheHockeyDJ** » Fri Jan 10, 2014 9:44 am

A lot of cases can be made right now. East did have a dominating win last night, still you can't erase Rapids win over Elk River, or forget that last night is Rapids only loss in 7AA. GR's other losses are to Edina in OT, Eden Prairie, and Duluth Marshall (who is as good as most top 20 AA teams). January 21 there are a couple big games, East is at Forest Lake and Cloquet plays Andover in a game that will likely determine the 5/6 seeds. Later, Cloquet is at East and Andover has a rematch with Elk River. I think sometimes people give Elk River and Duluth East favoritism based on the fact they are from larger cities and there is a false perception that Elk River has a much stronger schedule than Grand Rapids, where if you really look at it, Elk River plays a lot of games that are comparable to I Falls, Hibbing, and Virginia. East appears to have a slight edge for the top seed, and if they are, at this point GR and Elk River are even enough in their results you have to give Rapids the 2 seed based on their win over the Elks. Now, that can change if Rapids falters and Elk River wins out.

TheHockeyDJ · Post by **TheHockeyDJ** » Fri Jan 10, 2014 9:46 am

greenway1969 wrote: I don't think a win over Andover guarantees them a higher seed over Andover.

Strongly disagree with that.

greenway1969 · Post by **greenway1969** » Fri Jan 10, 2014 4:58 pm

My evaluation is based on performance not perception. Elk River and Duluth East may have lost a couple of games, but they have not been dominated like Rapids has (Edina, Eden Prairie, Duluth East and even Brainerd put 40 shot on goal). Lots can happen before seedings, but I'll stick with my mine. Rapids has great difficulty getting the puck out of their end. If that isn't taken care of, it will be highly unlikely that they will get past the semi-final game. let alone the first round.

northwoods oldtimer · Post by **northwoods oldtimer** » Fri Jan 10, 2014 5:52 pm

greenway1969 wrote:After the thumping Rapids got from East the rankings look like this to me:

1. Elk River
2. Duluth East
3. Rapids
4. Forest Lake
5. Andover
6. Cloquet
7. St. Michael-Albertville
8. St. Francis
9. Cambridge

Elk River and East are a cut above the rest of the section with either one capable of getting the #1 seed. Possible for Cloquet to move up or move down depending on what happens when they play St. Michael-Albertville and Andover. I don't think a win over Andover guarantees them a higher seed over Andover.

Those ranks are accurate. Rapids one chance for the number one spot ended last night. They can make no claim to the 1 or 2 spot.

Immigrant Fan · Post by **Immigrant Fan** » Fri Jan 10, 2014 9:13 pm

I think Rapids played their way to the #3 seed last night. They need to take care of business next week against Cloquet, or the Forest Lake contingent will start yammering to move-up.

I think it is exaggeration to suggest Brainerd dominated play, regardless of the shot count. They certainly kept the pressure up, but other than a couple chances, there were not many quality shots in that number.

There is no denying it was a solid beat down by DLH-E last night, but I also think the iffy major changed the dynamics of the game. Rapids did bring some moments of pressure, particularly for a brief time in the second period, so there are a few scraps for T-Hawk fans to sustain their hopes.

I do enjoy watching East play - they are so well coached. It was telling to listen to Randolph's comments to his team during the game. One thing of note was the ice time Beaulieu racked-up last night. We were joking that he took that penalty in the third so he could take a break.

sanryam · Post by **sanryam** » Fri Jan 10, 2014 11:03 pm

TheHockeyDJ wrote:A lot of cases can be made right now. East did have a dominating win last night, still you can't erase Rapids win over Elk River, or forget that last night is Rapids only loss in 7AA. GR's other losses are to Edina in OT, Eden Prairie, and Duluth Marshall (who is as good as most top 20 AA teams). January 21 there are a couple big games, East is at Forest Lake and Cloquet plays Andover in a game that will likely determine the 5/6 seeds. Later, Cloquet is at East and Andover has a rematch with Elk River. I think sometimes people give Elk River and Duluth East favoritism based on the fact they are from larger cities and there is a false perception that Elk River has a much stronger schedule than Grand Rapids, where if you really look at it, Elk River plays a lot of games that are comparable to I Falls, Hibbing, and Virginia. East appears to have a slight edge for the top seed, and if they are, at this point GR and Elk River are even enough in their results you have to give Rapids the 2 seed based on their win over the Elks. Now, that can change if Rapids falters and Elk River wins out.

-Yes, Rapids beat ER. And East beat Rapids. And ER beat East. Every one of these teams can use the same argument as to why they should be above another team. It cancels out now. Forget it.
-Yes, Rapids has lost only one 7AA game. Same with ER and East.
-Yes, Rapids has only loss to 3 other teams besides East. ER and East have only lost 3 games period, all of them against top 10 teams except Centenniel.
-If you truly believe Rapids has a tougher or even equal schedule as East or ER, you are delusional. ER or East would probably love to trade schedules with GR.
-Lastly, "big city favoritism" isn't the reason everyone is rating ER and East at the top. It's based off fact. Your obvious GR favoritism is clouding your judgement instead. GR had a chance to have the 1 seed last night. They blew it.

TheHockeyDJ · Post by **TheHockeyDJ** » Sat Jan 11, 2014 9:35 am

[/quote]
-Lastly, "big city favoritism" isn't the reason everyone is rating ER and East at the top. It's based off fact. Your obvious GR favoritism is clouding your judgement instead. GR had a chance to have the 1 seed last night. They blew it.[/quote]

Elk River plays Osseo twice, Robbinsdale Armstrong twice, Champlin Park twice, and Anoka. That's 7 games Elk River should win by a wide margin, they beat Armstrong 14-2. So yeah, really tough schedule.

Grand Rapids has Virginia (2), Hopkins, St. Francis, I Falls (2), Hibbing (2), and Denfeld. Those are the only games I would compare to the 7 I previously mentioned for Elk River, and of these games I would say Rapids has the slightly more difficult opponents if we are going to look at the "easier" games.

Another thing, shots on goal is the most overrated stat in sports. Rapids has been outshot in most games, yet they are 11-4. 7AA has a lot of quality teams 1-6, and though Rapids has their issues with their defensemen, there isn't a team in high school hockey that is solid at every position. All teams have their weak point. Bottom line, Rapids still has Avery Peterson and Hunter Sheperd and no matter the seed they will be a team that others don't want to play come mid-February.

Slammer · Post by **Slammer** » Sat Jan 11, 2014 10:39 am

sanryam wrote:
TheHockeyDJ wrote:A lot of cases can be made right now. East did have a dominating win last night, still you can't erase Rapids win over Elk River, or forget that last night is Rapids only loss in 7AA. GR's other losses are to Edina in OT, Eden Prairie, and Duluth Marshall (who is as good as most top 20 AA teams). January 21 there are a couple big games, East is at Forest Lake and Cloquet plays Andover in a game that will likely determine the 5/6 seeds. Later, Cloquet is at East and Andover has a rematch with Elk River. I think sometimes people give Elk River and Duluth East favoritism based on the fact they are from larger cities and there is a false perception that Elk River has a much stronger schedule than Grand Rapids, where if you really look at it, Elk River plays a lot of games that are comparable to I Falls, Hibbing, and Virginia. East appears to have a slight edge for the top seed, and if they are, at this point GR and Elk River are even enough in their results you have to give Rapids the 2 seed based on their win over the Elks. Now, that can change if Rapids falters and Elk River wins out.
-Yes, Rapids beat ER. And East beat Rapids. And ER beat East. Every one of these teams can use the same argument as to why they should be above another team. It cancels out now. Forget it.
-Yes, Rapids has lost only one 7AA game. Same with ER and East.
-Yes, Rapids has only loss to 3 other teams besides East. ER and East have only lost 3 games period, all of them against top 10 teams except Centenniel.
-If you truly believe Rapids has a tougher or even equal schedule as East or ER, you are delusional. ER or East would probably love to trade schedules with GR.
-Lastly, "big city favoritism" isn't the reason everyone is rating ER and East at the top. It's based off fact. Your obvious GR favoritism is clouding your judgement instead. GR had a chance to have the 1 seed last night. They blew it.

"They blew it" is an understatement....

greenway1969 · Post by **greenway1969** » Sat Jan 11, 2014 11:30 am

As far as the remaining schedule, Rapids has it much easier. Only four quality opponents (Cloquet, Moorhead, Hermantown, and White Bear) remain. Elk River has seven quality opponents: Centennial (2), Benilde, Maple Grove, Blaine, Andover, and Stillwater. The statement that shots on goal is the most overrated statistic usually comes from the team that has been badly outshot. I would like to see a stat on the records for the teams that outshot their opponents. I'll bet the teams with more shots have a much better record than the teams that are being outshot. Being outshot 60-20 is not an overrated statistic.

CB00 · Post by **CB00** » Sat Jan 11, 2014 4:38 pm

I think East easily won

GPGT · Post by **GPGT** » Sat Jan 11, 2014 6:57 pm

going off schedule and section wins.. i would put it

1) East
2) Rapids
3) Elk River

East has a target on their back , and section teams know they are down this season, but yet East still prevails against not only section opponents, but the best in the state

TheHockeyDJ · Post by **TheHockeyDJ** » Sat Jan 11, 2014 7:26 pm

GPGT, your top 3 make sense. I can see the other argument as well, I think the dominating fashion of the East win elevates them above the other two, and Rapids and ER have similar enough records to put GR at 2 based on their victory over ER.

elliott70 · Post by **elliott70** » Sun Jan 12, 2014 9:13 am

If the coaches voted today
DE
ER
GR
Fl
Cec
Amd

elliott70 · Post by **elliott70** » Sun Jan 12, 2014 9:13 am

Delete

elliott70 · Post by **elliott70** » Sun Jan 12, 2014 4:32 pm

Do the coaches still meet at the bowling alley and discuss and vote?

Traxler · Post by **Traxler** » Sun Jan 12, 2014 5:32 pm

elliott70 wrote:Do the coaches still meet at the bowling alley and discuss and vote?

I thought last year there was a conference call to vote.

TheHockeyDJ · Post by **TheHockeyDJ** » Mon Jan 13, 2014 9:58 am

Does anyone know that status of Rapids defenseman Quinn Mischke? He was injured the first week of the season and it was said about 6 weeks he'd be out. I hope he gets back soon, Rapids really needs a big senior defenseman back that is also skilled at moving the puck. Having him could make a huge difference especially if he can log a lot of ice time in the playoffs.

sticksave · Post by **sticksave** » Mon Jan 13, 2014 6:15 pm

Has Elk River really scored over 30 goals in their last 4 games???? Looks like their offense has figured things out.

alcloseshaver · Post by **alcloseshaver** » Tue Jan 14, 2014 12:13 pm

I looked up their scores and yes they have scored 30 in last 4 games. 14 came against Armstrong.

Traxler · Post by **Traxler** » Tue Jan 14, 2014 12:35 pm

Elk River has won every game they played away from Braemar. They have scored a lot of goals this year but have also given up a lot. Their goals per game are 5.25, they have allowed 3.08 per game.

Might as well take this time to compare teams:

Team - GPG - GAPG
Elk River - 5.25 - 3.08
Duluth East - 3.29 - 1.79
Grand Rapids - 4.07 - 2.93
Forest Lake - 3.93 - 2.87
Andover - 4.43 - 3.21
Cloquet - 3.20 - 3.07
St. Michael-Albertville - 3.85 - 3.08
St. Francis - 3.29 - 4.79
Cambridge - 1.93 - 5.40

alcloseshaver · Post by **alcloseshaver** » Tue Jan 14, 2014 12:46 pm

Interesting numbers if East and ER meet again. ER lost their best defenseman to the USHL and he just committed to Denver. Hard to replace that kind of talent.

sticksave · Post by **sticksave** » Tue Jan 14, 2014 12:58 pm

I think you mean Hillman. He has been gone for the year.

alcloseshaver · Post by **alcloseshaver** » Tue Jan 14, 2014 1:01 pm

Yes, gone all year. Good luck at Denver

alcloseshaver · Post by **alcloseshaver** » Tue Jan 14, 2014 1:04 pm

alcloseshaver wrote:Yes, gone all year. Good luck at Denver

Dubuque paper said he committed after his visit last weekend. Former Dubuque coach Jim Montgomery now coach at DU.