Let's Play Hockey Rankings

[OnFrozenPond]

November 21

CLASS 2A
1. Eden Prairie
2. Stillwater
3. Edina
4. Benilde-St. Margaret’s
5. (tie) Holy Angels
5. (tie) Roseville
7. Grand Rapids/Greenway
8. Wayzata
9. Bemidji
10. Centennial
11. Hopkins
12. Irondale
13. Eagan
14. Cloquet/Esko/Carlton
15. Elk River
16. Cretin-Derham Hall
17. (tie) Burnsville
17. (tie) North Metro Stars
19. Hill Murray
20. Coon Rapids

CLASS 1A
1. Blake
2. Crookston/Red Lake
3. Breck
4. Warroad
5. Alexandria
6. New Prague
7. Roseau
8. Hibbing/Chisholm
9. South St. Paul
10. Austin
11. Simley
12. Henry Sibley
13. Richfield
14. Mound-Westonka
15. Mahtomedi
16. (tie) Albert Lea
16. (tie) Mankato West
18. Marshall
19. East Grand Forks
20. (tie) Silver Bay/Two Harbors
20. (tie) Totino-Grace

[OnFrozenPond]

November 28

The Associated Press poll for Minnesota girls' high school hockey, provided by Let's Play Hockey newspaper. First-place votes are in parentheses.

Class 2A
1. Eden Prairie (3)
2. Stillwater
3. Edina
4. Holy Angels
5. Benilde-St. Margaret's
6. Elk River
7. Hopkins
8. Roseville
9. Irondale
10. Centennial
11. Grand Rapids-Greenway
12. Cretin-Derham Hall
13. Forest Lake
14. Wayzata
15. Eagan
15. Hastings
15. Hill-Murray

Class 1A
1. Blake (3)
2. Crookston-Red Lake Falls
3. Breck
4. Warroad
5. Roseau
6. Alexandria
7. New Prague
8. South St. Paul
9. Hibbing-Chisholm
10. Henry Sibley
11. Mound Westonka
11. Richfield
13. Silver Bay-Two Harbors
14. Mankato West
15. East Grand Forks

[hockeyrube7]

Looks like a lot of AA teams took big a hit in the ratings this week.

[MNHockeyFan]

Looks like a lot of AA teams took big a hit in the ratings this week.

Notably Bemidji that fell out completely, as did Cloquet. Making big moves up were Elk River and Hopkins.

[Twinnesota]

Albert Lea beat Mankato West, and lost to Rochester Mayo in OT (Mayo has not lost a league game in 3 years), but dropped out of the rankings.
Huh...
T

[Silent But Deadly]

Looks like a lot of AA teams took big a hit in the ratings this week.

Notably Bemidji that fell out completely, as did Cloquet. Making big moves up were Elk River and Hopkins.

Elk River had a very difficult time with Bemidji.....yet Elk River rises and Bemidji tumbles....go figure!

I've thought Hopkins was a top 10 team all along....and next year top 5....they're good and they're young!

[State Champ 97]

Looks like a lot of AA teams took big a hit in the ratings this week.

Notably Bemidji that fell out completely, as did Cloquet. Making big moves up were Elk River and Hopkins.

Elk River had a very difficult time with Bemidji.....yet Elk River rises and Bemidji tumbles....go figure!

I've thought Hopkins was a top 10 team all along....and next year top 5....they're good and they're young!

Elk River may have had a difficult time but they still won. Bemidji needs to get their goaltending issue resolved.

[boblee]

Interesting that GRG goes 3-0-1 since the last ranking and they move down four spots. Not to mention they beat former #5A Alexandria (currently #6A) and #14AA Cloquet (now not in top 15)

[eastsidehockey]

this is why these rankings are sometimes a joke. even worse than the BCS in college football

[sneach13]

I would disagree with the idea that Bemidji has to get their goalie situation resolved. They are not going to be competing for the state championship because of a lack of depth, I believe that they have 3 seniors on the team, one of them of course is Erickson who is one of the best players in the state. The problem is that there is not a core of good players surrounding her, making Bemidji one dimensional.

They very well could of beat Stillwater but the Erickson line for the most part was shut down and could not capitalize on their opportunities. Some blame could be put on the Kia Sele the goalie but it would also have to go to the young defense and the lack of back-checking from a semi-selfish team.

Bemidji's goalie will not carry them to a championship, but I don't think that she is the cause of their problems. Bemidji will still get to state again but it is a lot harder road this season.

[keepitreal]

I've thought Hopkins was a top 10 team all along....and next year top 5....they're good and they're young!

No doubt. Curious though, didn't Hopkins get shut out by Centennial a week or two ago? Centennial stays at #10 and undefeated while Hopkins jumps ahead of them to #7? Odd.

[Silent But Deadly]

I've thought Hopkins was a top 10 team all along....and next year top 5....they're good and they're young!

No doubt. Curious though, didn't Hopkins get shut out by Centennial a week or two ago? Centennial stays at #10 and undefeated while Hopkins jumps ahead of them to #7? Odd.

I did overlook that detail...Centennial defeated Hopkins 2-0. Sometimes it pays to have friends in high places.....or at least have the ear of LPH!

[MNHockeyFan]

I've thought Hopkins was a top 10 team all along....and next year top 5....they're good and they're young!

No doubt. Curious though, didn't Hopkins get shut out by Centennial a week or two ago? Centennial stays at #10 and undefeated while Hopkins jumps ahead of them to #7? Odd.

They lost their first game to Centennial, so that was already figured into last week's ratings.

I agree there are some oddities in this poll. What's really strange is that there were only 3 first place votes in both A and AA, which must mean that it's only three individuals who are deciding on where these teams should be ranked. Like political polling, the smaller the sample the more inconsistent the poll will be compared to the previous poll. And who knows, maybe it's three totally different individuals doing it this week compared to last? If so they could have totally different opinions on where the teams stack up against one another.

[keepitreal]

I've thought Hopkins was a top 10 team all along....and next year top 5....they're good and they're young!

No doubt. Curious though, didn't Hopkins get shut out by Centennial a week or two ago? Centennial stays at #10 and undefeated while Hopkins jumps ahead of them to #7? Odd.

They lost their first game to Centennial, so that was already figured into last week's ratings.

I agree there are some oddities in this poll. What's really strange is that there were only 3 first place votes in both A and AA, which must mean that it's only three individuals who are deciding on where these teams should be ranked. Like political polling, the smaller the sample the more inconsistent the poll will be compared to the previous poll. And who knows, maybe it's three totally different individuals doing it this week compared to last? If so they could have totally different opinions on where the teams stack up against one another.

Could also mean that there were only three consensus first place votes. An earlier poll showed 3 votes for EP in AA and Blake had 7 in A. I read that to mean there was more consensus in Class A and other AA schools maybe got single votes to fragment the AA poll somewhat.

But, having ranked for LPH before, you're probably right MNH

[OnFrozenPond]

I find it interesting that BSM is at 5AA in the LPH Statewide poll, but doesn't even crack the top 10 in the Pioneer Press Metro poll.

[State Champ 97]

I would disagree with the idea that Bemidji has to get their goalie situation resolved. They are not going to be competing for the state championship because of a lack of depth, I believe that they have 3 seniors on the team, one of them of course is Erickson who is one of the best players in the state. The problem is that there is not a core of good players surrounding her, making Bemidji one dimensional.

They very well could of beat Stillwater but the Erickson line for the most part was shut down and could not capitalize on their opportunities. Some blame could be put on the Kia Sele the goalie but it would also have to go to the young defense and the lack of back-checking from a semi-selfish team.

Bemidji's goalie will not carry them to a championship, but I don't think that she is the cause of their problems. Bemidji will still get to state again but it is a lot harder road this season.

I will agree with the young defense. Sele played quite well against Stillwater but has let some routine saves elude her so far this year. She is a good kid and will bounce back. Hopefully sooner rather than later.
No she is not the only problem with Bemidji but a team needs to be strong in the net to be successful. Elk River now has it in their head that they can beat Bemidji and that can be a dangerous. Monique Weber and Rebecca Kent are very good players for Elk River and know how to put the puck in the net. On the other hand, Bemidji knows they have to play well to win and that can work to their advantage. It will be interesting to see how it all plays out.

[elliott70]

I would disagree with the idea that Bemidji has to get their goalie situation resolved. They are not going to be competing for the state championship because of a lack of depth, I believe that they have 3 seniors on the team, one of them of course is Erickson who is one of the best players in the state. The problem is that there is not a core of good players surrounding her, making Bemidji one dimensional.

They very well could of beat Stillwater but the Erickson line for the most part was shut down and could not capitalize on their opportunities. Some blame could be put on the Kia Sele the goalie but it would also have to go to the young defense and the lack of back-checking from a semi-selfish team.

Bemidji's goalie will not carry them to a championship, but I don't think that she is the cause of their problems. Bemidji will still get to state again but it is a lot harder road this season.

I will agree with the young defense. Sele played quite well against Stillwater but has let some routine saves elude her so far this year. She is a good kid and will bounce back. Hopefully sooner rather than later.
No she is not the only problem with Bemidji but a team needs to be strong in the net to be successful. Elk River now has it in their head that they can beat Bemidji and that can be a dangerous. Monique Weber and Rebecca Kent are very good players for Elk River and know how to put the puck in the net. On the other hand, Bemidji knows they have to play well to win and that can work to their advantage. It will be interesting to see how it all plays out.

Several problems - most notably are turnovers - to's by the D against Stillwater. 6 to's resulting in 6 goals.
Sele needs to see more shots - more game situations - some scrimmages would do her and the D good.
AND they need to remember that last year is over, they are only as good as teh next game, period, shift.

Menne and Huerd will get 'em there (section finals), but they need to get tehmselves the rest of the way - as a team.

[MNHockeyFan]

I find it interesting that BSM is at 5AA in the LPH Statewide poll, but doesn't even crack the top 10 in the Pioneer Press Metro poll.

I'm not too surprised, since the same thing happened last year:

Pioneer Press 12/12/06
GIRLS HOCKEY
Metro area rankings

1. Eden Prairie 4-0-0
2. Holy Angels 9-0-0
3. Edina 7-0-2
4. Wayzata 5-0-3
5. Roseville 7-1-0
6. Breck 11-0-0
7. Robbinsdale Armstrong 6-1-2
8. South St. Paul 7-2-0
9. Simley 8-0-0
10. Eagan 6-1-1

StarTribune 12/12/06
GIRLS' HOCKEY

1. Eden Prairie, 4-0
2. Holy Angels, 9-0
3. Roseville, 7-1
4. Edina, 7-0-2
5. Cretin-Derham Hall, 8-1
6. Benilde-St. Margaret's, 6-2
7. Coon Rapids, 5-2
8. South St. Paul, 7-2
9. Blake, 5-3
10. Wayzata, 5-0-3

[hockeyrube7]

Bemidji will still get to state again but it is a lot harder road this season.

I beg to differ with this, as they still have to go through Elk River to get to state, and they recently lost to them.

[boblee]

The last few years the PP and Star Trib have had atrocious Metro Rankings.

[Media]

So Hockey Rube you are saying because Bemidji lost to Elk River 3 or 4 games into the season there is no chance for them to get better and perhaps defeat them sometime?? Curious,why we play tounaments then. Come on there have been bigger upsets already than that.

[State Champ 97]

Especially since it was a one goal game and Bemidji had a lot of sustained pressure but couldn't finish. I read in the Bemidji paper that Bemidji had a goalie come back to the team. I don't know if that will make a difference or not but the coaches seemed to think she could help. I know she played a bit in the JV game on Friday.

[Media]

For the record the Bemidji goalie played for me in 3 u19 tournaments and was excellent in her half of all the games. Many teams could stand to have a problem like that. I believe she played two halves of Shutout hockey in a field of players collectivly better than she would face in any section game. Look eslewhere for a scape goat here please. Its always easy to pick on goalies

[eastsidehockey]

why would she come back? did she move or quit? suspended?

[State Champ 97]

You're right. She has been a good goalie at times. She has also had to deal with the fact there is a young defensive core, costly turnovers, penalties from top players in front of her and a new coaching staff that is changing what has been done system wise in the past which has led to mistakes. She has also not made some saves she should have made. That is my only point. save% at 85 is not stellar.