toughest section?

Neutron 14 · Post by **Neutron 14** » Tue Jul 10, 2007 10:55 am

forecheck wrote: I believe 7AA has the
toughest section in the state with the addition of Anoka this year.

Close your eyes and click your heels three times when you say that.

2AA is head and shoulders above the rest.

BIG · Post by **BIG** » Tue Jul 10, 2007 4:40 pm

Forecheck, I pretty much agree with you. Did you not read the whole thing? At the end i said 2AA is soft. I agree that 7AA is a tough section. It's debatable whether it's the toughest in the state. You can make a case for 2AA or 7AA. If I had to pick my horse, i know my horse would definitely come out of 7AA or 8AA. When the state tournament started, wasn't Edina pretty much a lock to win it all? I rarely see metro teams play, so there's not much i can say about them. What i see a lot of the time is a lack of toughness and desire. People tell them how good they are, so they think the victory will be given to them. I think most kids that don't live in the big city know that everything they get takes a lot of hard work. Kids from places like GR and Roseau bust their butt all the time or they won't see the ice. Section 2AA has a lot of talented kids and teams, but talent only goes so far. Just for you forecheck, i'll change my stance, 7AA is the best section in the state.

Another thing that helps northern teams is these kids have played together all of their lives, while these teams from the metro area have a lack of chemistry since a lot of them haven't played much together. Just my opinion. Opinions are like @ssholes though, everyone has one.

gomnhky · Post by **gomnhky** » Tue Jul 10, 2007 5:46 pm

Okay, I'll bite. I think you're a bit off your rocker on this one. Some of what you say may be true, but I don't think much of an argument can be made against the fact that on paper 2AA is the toughest section this year. Edina should be one of, if not the best, team in the state this season. They will not only be loaded with talented and very skilled players, that for the most part have played together (including the addition of Anders Lee who did play in Edina's youth system) - they will also be a team with tremendous size and will be able to match and probably overpower most teams in the physical play. In addition, Burnsville is a team that competed in the state tournament last year and returns a very formidable first line. And who can ever write off Holy Angels - other than the occasional "upset", they are always blessed with a lot of talent and coached by one of the best coaches in the state. The rest of the pack should be competitive as well.

As far as 7AA/8AA goes - Roseau should be a clear favorite to return to the big city, and like Edina, have a boat load of talent returning. Moorhead lost ALOT of very talented seniors, and without knowing who is coming up, it seems they have a lot of holes to fill. The rest of the pack does not seem to compare to the "cake eaters" of 2AA! 7AA should be competitive, though it seems the majority of the teams that were competitive last year, lost a lot of impact players. Duluth East and Anoka appear to have the largest core of returning talented players; however, the loss of Keegan Flaherty for Duluth could be significant. I think it's very unfortunate that Anoka was moved to this section, and are my pick to win this section (if all their players can keep their heads on straight) - it would've been better to keep them, in what is now a pretty weak Section 5AA, and do battle with Centennial.

Hockeyguy_27 · Post by **Hockeyguy_27** » Wed Jul 11, 2007 8:55 am

forecheck wrote:
BIG wrote:2AA is definitely the toughest section. I can say that and i'm from the great white north. Tough section, but it's mostly just cake eaters. 7AA & 8AA are both good sections as well, just not as stacked. 8AA is very top heavy with Roseau and Moorhead, but it's pretty poor after that. 7AA is a little tougher to get out of than 8AA, but 8AA has the best team in the state with the now 7 time state champion Roseau Rams. 8 in 08' and 9 in 09' are definite possibilities. Back to back runner ups for the Indians from 7AA. So, even though 2AA looks like the best section....when's the last time any of those teams made it to a title game? I think 2AA might be a little soft when they get to the big stage.
when you say " 7AA is not as stacked, do you mean in teams
or players?" 2AA has Edina, Burnsville, Holy Angels while 7AA has
Cloquet, East, Elk River, Anoka AND Grand Rapids. I believe 7AA has the
toughest section in the state with the addition of Anoka this year.

2AA is ridiculous. This is by FAR the toughest section in the State. Why would the MSHL do this?