Thoughts about Duluth East?

[High Flyer]

Anyone?

Kind of would like to know why Marshall and Hermantown are not on thier schedule. Is this DE not wanting to play them or the other way around?

Any insider care to share the facts regarding this?

Cue the broken record music. Karl, you want to get this? By rule, I'm only allowed to respond to the same question twenty times in one lifetime. :mrgreen:

Lee

I really don't know why and I'm sorry for asking a question that has been discussed previously 20 times, but should be a real quick answer though...as it does affect my opinion about DE and/or the other teams.

[HShockeywatcher]

Kind of would like to know why Marshall and Hermantown are not on thier schedule. Is this DE not wanting to play them or the other way around?

Any insider care to share the facts regarding this?

Cue the broken record music. Karl, you want to get this? By rule, I'm only allowed to respond to the same question twenty times in one lifetime.

Lee

I really don't know why and I'm sorry for asking a question that has been discussed previously 20 times, but should be a real quick answer though...as it does affect my opinion about DE and/or the other teams.

What you will hear from anyone at East who would have any say in this happening is that "it would serve no purpose." A win is expected, so why play the game. A loss gives them a loss to a Class A team and a local one at that. The only teams they play are AA teams, public teams, section teams, Central and Superior.

Why add Marshall and Hermantown to your schedule every year when you can play section foes Cambridge-Isanti and Princeton? Why play teams in sell out venues that you would beat most years when you could beat up on teams at the bottom of your section? Why play Superior when there's better MN teams to play?

This is something I wrote a couple days ago. Sums up my opinions. That being said, I know there are more personal reasons with the Marshall situation that Lee has shared with me before. Hermantown, I'm guessing fits into my above paragraph.

Also, East doesn't play private schools, unless in a tournament with them. Not sure if it's a hockey thing or a school thing. Not sure why either, but that's the simply answer with Marshall.

[rbkhockey4life]

I think east is a very talented team this year. They find a way to get it done and thats all that matters. They are putting the puck in the net on there chances and there goalie has been doing his job too! If anything east is one of the more consistent teams this year not like the teams that decide to not show up some games! I was most impressed with the win agains rapids who has one of the best teams they have had in a while but once again east seems to be the better team there but anything can happen in the playoffs and weird things seem to happy in the 7aa Good luck to the hounds the rest of the season

[High Flyer]

Cue the broken record music. Karl, you want to get this? By rule, I'm only allowed to respond to the same question twenty times in one lifetime. :mrgreen:

Lee

I really don't know why and I'm sorry for asking a question that has been discussed previously 20 times, but should be a real quick answer though...as it does affect my opinion about DE and/or the other teams.

What you will hear from anyone at East who would have any say in this happening is that "it would serve no purpose." A win is expected, so why play the game. A loss gives them a loss to a Class A team and a local one at that. The only teams they play are AA teams, public teams, section teams, Central and Superior.

Why add Marshall and Hermantown to your schedule every year when you can play section foes Cambridge-Isanti and Princeton? Why play teams in sell out venues that you would beat most years when you could beat up on teams at the bottom of your section? Why play Superior when there's better MN teams to play?

This is something I wrote a couple days ago. Sums up my opinions. That being said, I know there are more personal reasons with the Marshall situation that Lee has shared with me before. Hermantown, I'm guessing fits into my above paragraph.

Also, East doesn't play private schools, unless in a tournament with them. Not sure if it's a hockey thing or a school thing. Not sure why either, but that's the simply answer with Marshall.

I maybe get the DM situation (based on what has been shared with me) but not the “general anti-private” stance.

Good coaches/programs should want to play the best competition they can find and it really shouldn’t matter if they are private or class A.

My opinion about the DE program certainly has lessened as a result, though I know my opinion really has little influence or impact in the hockey world.

[karl(east)]

Cue the broken record music. Karl, you want to get this? By rule, I'm only allowed to respond to the same question twenty times in one lifetime.

Lee

*Yawn.* I think this is #19 for me, so we'll need to find someone else soon.

I maybe get the DM situation (based on what has been shared with me) but not the “general anti-private” stance.

Good coaches/programs should want to play the best competition they can find and it really shouldn’t matter if they are private or class A.

My opinion about the DE program certainly has lessened as a result, though I know my opinion really has little influence or impact in the hockey world.

HSHW has the gist of it all right. However, his comment is the first time I have ever heard anything about refusing to schedule private schools. To my knowledge this is not true. There are no AA privates anywhere near East, and most of them (AHA, Hill) already have most of their seasons tied up by busy conference schedules. I think East would be perfectly happy to schedule either of these teams, or Benilde, now that they have officially joined the ranks of the AA elite.

The Marshall situation is very different, and as HSHW noted, there is a very complicated history there. There's some with Hermantown, too.

[dlhhockey]

Parker has been having a good year at JV in goal with around 94-95% save percentage and 1 GAA. Was alternate to nationals for advanced 15 last year.

There are three goalies rotating on JV - Jamar (JR), Parker (SOPH) and Vizenko (SOPH). All are roughly in the .90-.93 range and doing well and all rotate through the varsity practice. Your GAA is a bit off. DE doesn't care who was in Advanced this and that and has no bearing on whether you're going to play or not. In fact it has hurt some of the younger players that have come in with a bit of an ego.

[dlhhockey]

I dunno.. To me ( on paper ) the amount of seniors East will lose this year is Heavily out weighed by the amount of junior and Sophomore talent coming back next year .. I think NEXT year East has a real good chance to become the best ( or one of the best ) teams east has had in 8 years or so..

STILL , no huge big time scorers, or the potent D we are used to , but a good combination of everything that makes a good team..

#25 Phil Beaulieu IMO is gonna be an Excellent D man... Kinda small, but then again , hes already on the first line , and is only a freshman, so Randolph probably sees something in him as well

#25 is a third line D, really small and sometimes can't skate that well. Few times in the EP game he was afraid to get hit. He'll come along, but not quite the caliber of the other D at this point.

[DEHS Dan Green]

I dunno.. To me ( on paper ) the amount of seniors East will lose this year is Heavily out weighed by the amount of junior and Sophomore talent coming back next year .. I think NEXT year East has a real good chance to become the best ( or one of the best ) teams east has had in 8 years or so..

STILL , no huge big time scorers, or the potent D we are used to , but a good combination of everything that makes a good team..

#25 Phil Beaulieu IMO is gonna be an Excellent D man... Kinda small, but then again , hes already on the first line , and is only a freshman, so Randolph probably sees something in him as well

#25 is a third line D, really small and sometimes can't skate that well. Few times in the EP game he was afraid to get hit. He'll come along, but not quite the caliber of the other D at this point.

Phil is one of my good friends. Very nice kid. He is very humble. I played football with him, and his brother Nate (Hockey player from Duluth Central). He really loves hockey with a passion.

[dlhhockey]

I dunno.. To me ( on paper ) the amount of seniors East will lose this year is Heavily out weighed by the amount of junior and Sophomore talent coming back next year .. I think NEXT year East has a real good chance to become the best ( or one of the best ) teams east has had in 8 years or so..

STILL , no huge big time scorers, or the potent D we are used to , but a good combination of everything that makes a good team..

#25 Phil Beaulieu IMO is gonna be an Excellent D man... Kinda small, but then again , hes already on the first line , and is only a freshman, so Randolph probably sees something in him as well

#25 is a third line D, really small and sometimes can't skate that well. Few times in the EP game he was afraid to get hit. He'll come along, but not quite the caliber of the other D at this point.

Phil is one of my good friends. Very nice kid. He is very humble. I played football with him, and his brother Nate (Hockey player from Duluth Central). He really loves hockey with a passion.

Yes, he's a great kid, no one is doubting that and he can certainly play the game or he wouldn't be where he is. He will however be under the microscope the remainder of the season as he took the spot of a senior who was no slouch player. I was only correcting that he's not on the first two lines and can't at this point be compared to the few past varsity freshman at DE. He certainly has a great opportunity in front of him for the next three years.

[karl(east)]

Reaction to East's 6-3 loss to Apple Valley.

The first two periods were ugly. East looked flat and uncreative. AV took control with a very strong forecheck and good breakouts of their own. East simply did not sustain the pressure. If I can offer another critique of East, it's that they let other teams determine the flow of the game for a little too much time, and that was certainly the case tonight.

However, they did respond well in the 3rd period. Plenty of teams would fold up like a house of cards when down 4-0 after 2, but East came out and fought. They scored two in the first 6 minutes of the period and were pressuring for more; the referees missed what appeared to be a pretty blatant interference call right in front of the AV net, and Hudson Fasching then took the puck and flew down the ice through the East D to net the 5th goal. East still didn't give up, but that goal was the backbreaker. (Not that I'm making excuses on the missed penalty--championship teams overcome that, and don't let the other team's star walk through them to score a goal immediately afterwards.)

AV's stars shined tonight. The defensive pairing of Smith and Pedrie is right up there with EP's Molenaar-Seeler among the best in the state. Michaelson and Fasching had great games, and Gretz made some big saves, including stopping Trevor Olson on a SH breakaway in the 3rd that would've made it a 1-goal game. And by taking control early, they protected themselves from their weakness (lack of depth). This is exactly the sort of game AV needs to play if they want to get back into the statewide picture. This is how they need to win, and if they play the perfect game--as they did tonight--they can beat anyone.

Obviously this is a setback for East, but it's better to get this out of their system now. I was encouraged to see them fight back and maintain their composure, and Conner Valesano deserves a shoutout for twice scoring goals when it looked bleak. Sometimes it's okay to be a little selfish, as he was on the first one. East also needs to work on their slow starts to games. I believe they've given up the first goal in just about every game they've had against an upper-end opponent. Hopefully they can learn from this one and get back on track. It's disappointing, but a mid-January loss to a good team that played a great game is no cause for serious concern.

[mj79]

Apple valley is a top 10 team. No shame in this loss. But more so a disappointment in their performance

[DEHS Dan Green]

East wins 2-1 over Elk River (3rd in 7AA)

[Frequent_MN_Flyer]

Looks like an East vs CEC game 1 of the semis followed by GR vs Elky.

[DEHS Dan Green]

Looks like an East vs CEC game 1 of the semis followed by GR vs Elky.

I say Elk River upset.... they are very underated

[slyer]

sounds about right to me!