1AA - 2007-08 preview

[O-townClown]

Please provide thoughts on how you'd rank the following:

Lakeville N
Lakeville S
Owatonna
Rochester Century
Rochester John Marshall
Rochester Mayo
Byron/Hayfield/K-M/Triton
Farmington
Winona

[pioneerhockey12]

i like one of the lakeville schools
1.north/south
2.north/south
3.mayo
4.century
5.JM
6.farmington
7.....

[SouthrenHockey44]

[quote="O-townClown"]Please provide thoughts on how you'd rank the following:

[i]Lakeville N
Lakeville S
Owatonna
Rochester Century
Rochester John Marshall
Rochester Mayo
Byron/Hayfield/K-M/Triton
Farmington
Winona[/i][/quote]

1. Century
2. South/North
3. North/south
4. Owatonna
5.Mayo
6.Dodge County
7. Winona
8.JM
9. Farmington.

Century will be stronger than most expect, with a though schedule, Edina Grafton Tartan WBL, ect, the young kids will be ready come sections. North/South always pretty good. Mayo will struggle in net, otherwise they have some players,
DC, Winona will be a mix up for 6 7, Winona will have a better season; They have a couple good lines, 4th year varsity players as well. JM, I just can't see them having a good year. Farmington, not always the best. I’m predicting preseason Century vs Owatonna in section finals.

Don't go nuts, its preseason.

Pioneer...Century that low? Someone bitter about Qrts of State? that if your are a HM pioneer

[eagle4life9]

i find myself somewhere in between pioneers and southernhockey..

i think the two lakeville schools will both me tough and think id be cool to see them play in the finals. other than that century is going to be okay and there is nothing wrong with a classic north vs century final. maybe we'll see 5 OTs this year.

overall i like either north or south to beat century because south has yumusaklar and north has a soph. arentz who played really well late in the season last year.

[SouthrenHockey44]

[quote="eagle4life9"]i find myself somewhere in between pioneers and southernhockey..

i think the two lakeville schools will both me tough and think id be cool to see them play in the finals. other than that century is going to be okay and there is nothing wrong with a classic north vs century final. maybe we'll see 5 OTs this year.

overall i like either north or south to beat century because south has yumusaklar and north has a soph. arentz who played really well late in the season last year.[/quote]

...Isn't yumusaklar int he USHL all year? Thats what the rumor is, and from last year, once you get one on arntz, no problem getting some more

[rochcentury908]

Alright, I'll have to go with my own as well...

Century
North (I agree. North v. Century is classy)
Owatonna

Not sure about the rest.

I don't think Century lost as much as some people think. I think that people just overestimate last year's team. Arens and Faupel (Faupel gets more of the credit for doing it @ state) and many others had some really impressive games last year in some clutch games, and they have the potential to create some noise once again down here. As above, I think their schedule could really help them, with 6 games against some really tough opponents (including back to back to back Edina, Roseville, Tartan to start the year). Is this team as good as last year? Doubtful, but anything's possible at this point.

[Rocket78]

blackberry burp

[Rocket78]

Who is left? Faupel is good but his linemates are gone. Arens? Broich from JV? Bowman? Do they make breezers big enough for his big backside? The younger Faupel? I'm not hacking $tuff at them but just asking. JM has a lot of unknown firepower!

[SouthrenHockey44]

Arens is focusing on baseball this winter, will not be playing. Rocket78, your comment about Bowman is not call for. Funny thing is that I remember him and his line picking apart JM last season. Someone sounds bitter. . Century will be pretty good. Like I have said hard schedule and someone Century always scraps their way up to the top when talent is down. Who is JM’s unknown firepower?


..Also yes they do, because otherwise how would he be playing? Mature Rocket, Mature.

[SEMinnHockeyNut]

This section looks back to the norm - 4-6 average to good teams, but nobody in this section scares anyone. The good news is that someone has to win the section and gets to go to state.

South - could be decent, but will be avg. if their goalie is in the USHL the entire year.

North - a good team, but beatable any night

Century - lost a ton of talent, but can re-load; no longer the hands-down best team

Mayo - very young last year. They MUST find goaltending with Donohue gone and their defense must improve.

Owatonna - also young last year; might contend, but always seem to be over-rated.

JM - lost everything and could be seeded into a piggyback game, esp. since they lost a coach to Lourdes.

[Neutron 14]

Welcome home "Nut".

[Rocket78]

Sorry SH44, I shouldn't make fun of a weeble masquerading as a hockey player. I just don't like his dirty style of play and nobody should excuse it for him. Body checks are legal from the front or diagonal and should be delivered above the knees and below the shoulders. He consistently hits into the knees and into the chin and the officials need to call the penalties.

I don't have any boys playing at JM so I don't know what they will have for players. I meant that their players are unknown since they played bantam B or C. Rochester youth program feeds only 2 of the 4 schools.

[HOCKco.Gary]

I have been around the 1AA Section for a while now all I can tell you is that Lakeville(s) will be terrible this year, North lost all there scoring and South has no leadership, I see Farmington being a dark horse

[SouthrenHockey44]

You must be thinking of someone else, becuse Bowman isn't a hitter? Watching him last year he doesn't like taking the body? Sure you arn't thinking of Phelps? 44 last year? Becuase Bowman was on JV....Weird

[BringRollieBack!!]

I'll go out on a limb and pick Owatonna to take 1AA
followed by
Century
South
North
Mayo
and the rest...

Not one of these teams is loaded with talent...so it will come down to which coach can get the most out of his players.
Will Fish is one of the best coaches in this section (probably the best)

I know Owatonna would be a dark horse pick in the past, but they were young last season and they spanked Lakeville South just before playoffs...

[Goldy Gopher]

If Mayo finds someone who can be half as good as Donohue was they might surprise some people in this section. They have a lot of youth that could develop as the season goes along.

[Jbone]

Do I need to spend some time watching Owatonna? Or is this a bunch of players talking them up?

[SEMinnHockeyNut]

Owatonna was really young last year...and I think like Mayo, if those young kids worked hard and make a serious leap in their play, both teams could be very good.

As far as filling Donohue's shoes, I agree. He was huge last year for the Spartans.

This section is wide open and it should be fun to see how things play out this year.

[Rippentrop]

It is funny how people put these pre-season predictions on here and then pretend they are somebody they are not. Oh, I don't have any kids on THAT team...or, no I am not a player for that team. I am calling you out ladies. What is so wrong with saying your own team is awesome and being loyal? Not a GD thing! SO, as an alumni Mayo Spartan, I, Mike Rippentrop, pick the Mayo Spartans to dominate section one....and I predict Mayo to contend for best team in the state this year and for sure next year. All the talk about strength of schedule for Century. The Spartans have a pretty tough non-conference schedule as well: Grafton, Duluth East, Hibbing, Virginia, Roseville, Kiwanis Tournament, Farmington (as somebody mentioned earlier could be a dark horse). Maayooooo!!

[LZ94]

Will Fish is one of the best coaches in this section (probably the best)

Bring Rollie Back,

I'm assuming you're joking, Fish has done nothing with what have been some very talented (along with some not so talented) teams over the course of the last 10 years.

Just because you sign up to coach a lot of USA hockey events/teams does not automatically make you a bonefide hockey mind.

Also, you want rollie back? Have you seen Backstrom and Harding?

[BringRollieBack!!]

Lz94

I'll stick by what I said...I thinks he's one of the best coaches in the section....that isn't saying much...when you look at the competition coaching wise in section 1AA..I think they have some returning talent this year and time will tell maybe my opinion will change..

Also...when I started on this blog the Wild still had Manny as #1 with his fat undeserved contract...I concede that I would take Bakstrom over rollie...but getting rid of Rollie in favor of Manny was one of the worst moves the Wild ever made...but in that case blood was thicker than talent...thank God they saw the error and corrected it!

[natedog228]

keep knocking Farmington guys but they are going to be much better than anyone gives them credit for. If they get goaltending they will be tough to beat. Guarantee they make noise in the Missota and this section

[Lucia4President]

The Rochester schools are not as impressive as last year. All 4 schools lost huge talent. As for the Rochester teams in the section, I can't trust any of them.

Century: With no Arens and Knutson, Faupel becomes their top forward. Then you have to look for the first line to include Matt Madden and someone from JV, Brioich maybe. If I remember correctly, Ordahl, Hahn, and Olofson will be the returning D. And, of course, Kraig Ewing will be playing in goal this year. Century will probably end up looking a lot like the Mayo Spartans of 2006-07, trying to catch a bounce here and there to win those 3-2 hockey games.

Mayo: The void that Donohue's graduation leaves will not be filled this year. However, doesn't Mayo have 5 returning varsity D? A core of 5 players with a ton of varsity experience on the point will help either Steinmetz or Yaggy be more successful. As for up front, Charlie Thauwald and Tom Alexander will have to pick up off last year's success. I think this year's Mayo Spartans will be a lower scoring team, but will also hold opponents to lower scores.

JM: This year doesn't look good for the Rockets. Last year they played far beyond what most people on here predicted they would, and I hope they can find some of that this year. They lost all of their big guns, Wiesner, Yetzer, Hoksch, and Ben Pirius, who played out of his mind at times last season. A lot of holes to fill. Hopefully they can prove me wrong and be successful.

If I had to pick a team to come out of Rochester, I would say Mayo. None of the teams look like they will be able to score, and with Mayo having the most returning varsity experience, it could be the Spartans in the section final. We will see.

[Jbone]

I do think that Farmington does have a little advantage.

They don't have to be in the middle of all the Rochester politics.

[SEMinnHockeyNut]

Yeah, I hate that the DFL won some seats in Rochester. It is a crying shame and I am sure greatly impacts the performances from the upper middle class, silver spoon Rochester kids.