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with west's win they pretty much locked up the big 9 last night vs AL.. century will be their last test

West can't get passed so at the very least they'll have a share of the title. Albert Lea and Century can both still tie them, assuming Century and Faribault make up their game.

goldy313 wrote:West can't get passed so at the very least they'll have a share of the title. Albert Lea and Century can both still tie them, assuming Century and Faribault make up their game.

not only is it very likely west will get at least a share of the title, there is a good chance that a rochester team will not finish in the top 3. when has that ever happened?

EaglehockeyI wrote:

goldy313 wrote:West can't get passed so at the very least they'll have a share of the title. Albert Lea and Century can both still tie them, assuming Century and Faribault make up their game.

not only is it very likely west will get at least a share of the title, there is a good chance that a rochester team will not finish in the top 3. when has that ever happened?

That's a great question. SEMNhockeyNut? Any idea?

My guess is never, although with the way Century is playing, I think they have a good chance vs. Owatonna tomorrow. If Century and Faribault make up their game, the Panthers could finish 3rd....Mayo could still finish 3rd as well. Too many games left to say a Rochester team won't finish in the top 3.

SEMinnHockeyNut wrote:My guess is never, although with the way Century is playing, I think they have a good chance vs. Owatonna tomorrow. If Century and Faribault make up their game, the Panthers could finish 3rd....Mayo could still finish 3rd as well. Too many games left to say a Rochester team won't finish in the top 3.

going as far back as the 96-97 season a rochester team has won the big-9 except for 00-01 when austin won it, but mayo and century were still 2nd and 3rd.

owatonna has century, austin, and winona. they'll probably get no worse than 26 pts. (although winona is capable of the upset this year)

century has owatonna, west, and mayo. they must win all 3 to get to 26pts. they've got their work cut out for them. if west beats them they can do no better than 22 pts. the faribault game is listed as 'cancelled' not postponed. if they do decide to make it up, it would be a 4pt game and an outside chance for century to get not only 26pts, but even 30 pts and a share of the title. a long shot but not impossible.

mayo has albert lea and century to beat for 26pts. not looking too promising there either.

could make for some interesting games at the end of the season not to mention some section seeds still up for grabs in 1AA.

except for 00-01 when austin won it,

That is not true. Mayo won the conference that year. Austin made it to state, but Mayo won the Big Nine.

Mayo won 9 straight conference titles from 1994-2002; Mayo lost the conference in 1993 because they had to forfeit a game to Faribault due to the teacher's strike or it would have been 10 straight.

Source: Tim Leighton, Staff Writer
A Big Nine Conference championship slipped away from the Austin boys hockey team when it lost 3-2 in an upset to Faribault in the regular-season finale. The Packers took the loss hard. Not only was it a valuable lesson on the effects of complacency, it was a harsh reminder that with the section playoffs about to start, a season of promise could end with a similar performance. The wake-up call worked, and Austin has a trophy much more precious than a victory over Faribault would have

Published on March 7, 2001, Page 4F, St. Paul Pioneer Press (MN)

thanks for the correction. now that see that article i remember reading about the austin/faribault game. i was going off the section archives which showed austin as the #1 seed in 1AA that year and presumed they were the champs. according to your info the run of rochester teams in the top 3 of the conference goes back to at least the 92-93 season. anyone got anything earlier than that? when did the big-9 form as a conference? goldie?

Austin got the #1 seed because they coaches seeded before the make-up game w/ Faribault that year. Mayo tied Austin in the last game of the year for the Spartans, so it appeared the Packers would win the conference - all they needed was a win over the Falcons, but as you know now, they lost that game.

In 2003 and 2004 JM won the conference. 2005-2007, it was Century, so a Rochester team has won the conference (not just the having one team in the top 3) from 1994-2007.

I don't recall who won the conference in 1993.
My guess is that Goldy knows/remembers.

Owatonna won the conference they had a nice team

.........

Owatonna won back to back conference titles in '92 and '93.

I don't recall a Rochester team not finishing 2nd let alone 3rd in the Big Nine, but the Big Nine hasn't been around all that long in hockey, 25 years maybe. Before that it was the Southern Minnesota Hockey League and there were years when JM and Mayo didn't finish top 2 or 3.

We heard at the Rec that Mayo had beat AL and at that time it was a 3-2 game, you could hear teams backing into a conference title...beep...beep...beep. West pulled out the victory and won a title, good for them.

Goldy - You were at the wrong rink.
Not only did Mayo win, they carried the play ALL night. There were very few moments when AL had sustained pressure in Mayo's end.
The shots were 42-26 in favor of Mayo. The Spartans got goals from all 3 lines tonight and Yaggy (yes, Yaggy) looked very sharp in the nets.

Congrats to Mankato West. Big 9 Champions! Three years ago they finished in a tie for 10th, quite a turn-around.
First team outside of Rochester in 15 years.
I would think Rochester will be back in the hunt next year tho, as Mayo i think, returns their whole team.
I also was looking back on this thread and realized Lucia4President was right on basically every prediction he made about all the teams back in November/December. I was just impressed

I think the big challenge for the Big 9 now is ahead: Represent in the Section tourney's and go to state with success in mind, body, and soul. Go REPRESENT the BIG 9 Well....players AND coaches!

GinosAreGood wrote:Congrats to Mankato West. Big 9 Champions! Three years ago they finished in a tie for 10th, quite a turn-around.
First team outside of Rochester in 15 years.
I would think Rochester will be back in the hunt next year tho, as Mayo i think, returns their whole team.
I also was looking back on this thread and realized Lucia4President was right on basically every prediction he made about all the teams back in November/December. I was just impressed

Rochester, Mankato West, Owatonna, and Albert Lea better enjoy their run of decent teams the last few years. Given normal player progression Faribault could be tough the next few years. The varsity has seven sophmores that saw regular shifts this year, and both Faribault Bantam A and Pee Wee A teams defeated both the Rochester A teams they played this year. Both Faribault teams also were undefeated in district play this year.

I can't vouch for Roch, West, or Owatonna but what I can tell you is that Albert Lea alwasys seem to pull out a pretty good team. With Nystrom behind the bench they should continue to be solid.

Soulforged wrote:

GinosAreGood wrote:Congrats to Mankato West. Big 9 Champions! Three years ago they finished in a tie for 10th, quite a turn-around.
First team outside of Rochester in 15 years.
I would think Rochester will be back in the hunt next year tho, as Mayo i think, returns their whole team.
I also was looking back on this thread and realized Lucia4President was right on basically every prediction he made about all the teams back in November/December. I was just impressed

Rochester, Mankato West, Owatonna, and Albert Lea better enjoy their run of decent teams the last few years. Given normal player progression Faribault could be tough the next few years. The varsity has seven sophmores that saw regular shifts this year, and both Faribault Bantam A and Pee Wee A teams defeated both the Rochester A teams they played this year. Both Faribault teams also were undefeated in district play this year.

gotta agree that future looks bright for the falcons in conference play. the normal player progression is the key. with shattuck right there it could be a drain on their top players. or if some one like a helgeson decides to leave early. they do lose pavek and smuda plus a couple of role players, but their youth program looks stocked. lourdes tends to pick up a good share of the top youth players putting a dent in the 3 publics. west loses a bunch this year but still has a good nucleus coming back. talk on here is that the youth program in mankato heavily favors west. after seeing east this year it looks like they lose only 1 skater and their goalie. i counted something like 9 sophmores and a freshman in their varsity rotation. look out for them in 2 years. albert lea loses players every year, but with their program and their high school coaching staff, they'll always be tough.
as far as sections next year it'll be lourdes and new prague battling it out. both their rosters are loaded with very good underclassmen.

Final Big-9 Standings:

1) kato west 34 pts.

2) albert lea 30 pts.

3) owatonna 28 pts.
**************************

4) roch mayo 24 pts.

5) faribault 22 pts. (with the century forfeit)

6) roch century 20 pts.

7) winona 12 pts.

roch jm 8 pts.

9) east/austin 2 pts.

Just wondering who everyone thinks will make all-conference? And does anyone when the teams are announced?