Post-Tournament Rankings

[karl(east)]

Here are my AA rankings, now that the holiday tournaments are over. In parenthesis is each team's record vs. other top 15 teams.

1. Edina (7-1)
-It hasn't always been fancy, but they've methodically moved through a brutal schedule and claimed Schwan Cup gold.
2. Bloomington Jefferson (1-0)
-Have not been tested much, but are undefeated and have looked pretty good so far. We'll see how real they are Saturday vs. EP.
3. Eden Prairie (1-1)
-Also hasn't been tested a lot, but played Edina close and have beaten everyone else. Again, the game against Jefferson will tell us a lot.
4. Centennial (1-1-1)
-Recovered from their only loss nicely by knocking off Hill-Murray.
5. Hill-Murray (3-2)
-Cruised through the first month of the season, then faltered badly in the Schwan Cup. Still possibly the most talented in the state, and the only team to beat Edina.
6. Duluth East (3-0-1)
-Record blemished by one ugly loss to a single-A school. Have otherwise looked very, very good. Big test upcoming at Blaine on the 6th.
7. Holy Angels (0-1-1)
-Missing in that record is a win over Culver Academy, which is very impressive. Proved that they're back by playing in the Schwan Cup title game, but still have a little ways to go to be on the level of an Edina.
8. Minnetonka (2-3)
-Solid Schwan Cup showing, and all of their losses were pretty close. Are improving and should be a very dangerous team come sections.
9. Blaine (0-1)
-Gaudy record and plenty of talent, but the loss to Edina was humbling. No high-level wins yet, but the opportunities are coming up.
10. Wayzata (1-3-1)
-Have held their ground against a number of top teams and are capable of giving anyone a good game. First in the Schwan Cup silver is a nice achievement for an improving team.
11. Woodbury (1-1)
-Cruising along atop their section but haven't done anything remarkable to justify a higher ranking.
12. Maple Grove (0-0-1)
-Very unproven, but undefeated is undefeated. We'll see how long that lasts.
13. White Bear Lake (1-4-1)
-Probably the state's biggest enigma so far. Are capable of playing with or getting pasted by anyone on any given night, it seems. Rest of season is essentially a warm-up for a title game rematch with Hill, though, so if they get hot at the right time, they could cause problems.
14. Benilde-St. Margaret's (0-1)
-Finished 2nd in Schwan Cup silver. Haven't really distinguished themselves yet this year. Two wins over CDH, which should probably count for something.
15. Moorhead (1-3)
-By far the poorest Schwan Cup showing. It wasn't that they lost, it was the way they lost. Outscored by DE, Edina, and Hill 14-0 in recent games. Have pretty much pushed themselves out of state titl contention.

Honorable mentions: CDH is probably #16. After that, it's a mess including, in no particular order, Elk River, Apple Valley, Eastview, Stillwater, Roseau, and Burnsville.
------
A few notes for each section:
1AA: As usual, there's a scrum of mediocre teams fighting for the section title, none of which are close to the top 15.
2AA. Incredibly strong at the top, with Edina, AHA, and Jefferson. Obvious incentive for the #1 seed this year, as that will be a much easier semifinal.
3AA: Woodbury is on top, though CDH is still sort of in the picture and a few others are hovering there. Not too interesting a race at this point.
4AA: Hill, then White Bear. As usual. The others have a ways to go to have any shot.
5AA: Centennial and Blaine provide a fun fight down the stretch, and Maple Grove is hovering there as a big question mark. Should be a good section to watch.
6AA: The state's most loaded, with 4 top-15 teams, several of which seem to be improving. Should be a great section tournament.
7AA: The largest gap between #1 (Duluth East) and the rest of the pack of any section. Elk River is the only one that has possibly distinguished itself as having a chance, though chances remain for some of the others.
8AA: Both powers don't seem to be doing that well this year, with Moorhead ahead of Roseau after its win a few weeks ago. There's a chance that this could be the year a lower seed finally cracks the title game, though I wouldn't put my money on it yet.

[DoubleDeuce]

Very Very Well Done! It would be hard to disagree with anything! It's too bad though that the #1 and #2 teams (at least at this point) are in the same section! I personally would like to have seen Jefferson in the Schwan's Gold tournament. Will Jefferson and Edina meet before sections?

[BodyShots]

Here are my AA rankings, now that the holiday tournaments are over. In parenthesis is each team's record vs. other top 15 teams.

1. Edina (7-1)
-It hasn't always been fancy, but they've methodically moved through a brutal schedule and claimed Schwan Cup gold.
2. Bloomington Jefferson (1-0)
-Have not been tested much, but are undefeated and have looked pretty good so far. We'll see how real they are Saturday vs. EP.
3. Eden Prairie (1-1)
-Also hasn't been tested a lot, but played Edina close and have beaten everyone else. Again, the game against Jefferson will tell us a lot.
4. Centennial (1-1-1)
-Recovered from their only loss nicely by knocking off Hill-Murray.
5. Hill-Murray (3-2)
-Cruised through the first month of the season, then faltered badly in the Schwan Cup. Still possibly the most talented in the state, and the only team to beat Edina.
6. Duluth East (3-0-1)
-Record blemished by one ugly loss to a single-A school. Have otherwise looked very, very good. Big test upcoming at Blaine on the 6th.
7. Holy Angels (0-1-1)
-Missing in that record is a win over Culver Academy, which is very impressive. Proved that they're back by playing in the Schwan Cup title game, but still have a little ways to go to be on the level of an Edina.
8. Minnetonka (2-3)
-Solid Schwan Cup showing, and all of their losses were pretty close. Are improving and should be a very dangerous team come sections.
9. Blaine (0-1)
-Gaudy record and plenty of talent, but the loss to Edina was humbling. No high-level wins yet, but the opportunities are coming up.
10. Wayzata (1-3-1)
-Have held their ground against a number of top teams and are capable of giving anyone a good game. First in the Schwan Cup silver is a nice achievement for an improving team.
11. Woodbury (1-1)
-Cruising along atop their section but haven't done anything remarkable to justify a higher ranking.
12. Maple Grove (0-0-1)
-Very unproven, but undefeated is undefeated. We'll see how long that lasts.
13. White Bear Lake (1-4-1)
-Probably the state's biggest enigma so far. Are capable of playing with or getting pasted by anyone on any given night, it seems. Rest of season is essentially a warm-up for a title game rematch with Hill, though, so if they get hot at the right time, they could cause problems.
14. Benilde-St. Margaret's (0-1)
-Finished 2nd in Schwan Cup silver. Haven't really distinguished themselves yet this year. Two wins over CDH, which should probably count for something.
15. Moorhead (1-3)
-By far the poorest Schwan Cup showing. It wasn't that they lost, it was the way they lost. Outscored by DE, Edina, and Hill 14-0 in recent games. Have pretty much pushed themselves out of state titl contention.

Honorable mentions: CDH is probably #16. After that, it's a mess including, in no particular order, Elk River, Apple Valley, Eastview, Stillwater, Roseau, and Burnsville.
------
A few notes for each section:
1AA: As usual, there's a scrum of mediocre teams fighting for the section title, none of which are close to the top 15.
2AA. Incredibly strong at the top, with Edina, AHA, and Jefferson. Obvious incentive for the #1 seed this year, as that will be a much easier semifinal.
3AA: Woodbury is on top, though CDH is still sort of in the picture and a few others are hovering there. Not too interesting a race at this point.
4AA: Hill, then White Bear. As usual. The others have a ways to go to have any shot.
5AA: Centennial and Blaine provide a fun fight down the stretch, and Maple Grove is hovering there as a big question mark. Should be a good section to watch.
6AA: The state's most loaded, with 4 top-15 teams, several of which seem to be improving. Should be a great section tournament.
7AA: The largest gap between #1 (Duluth East) and the rest of the pack of any section. Elk River is the only one that has possibly distinguished itself as having a chance, though chances remain for some of the others.
8AA: Both powers don't seem to be doing that well this year, with Moorhead ahead of Roseau after its win a few weeks ago. There's a chance that this could be the year a lower seed finally cracks the title game, though I wouldn't put my money on it yet.

Nice job, but I have one question. Where did you see Jefferson play? Where they online or something?

[gophers101]

After seeing Edina play I don't know if anyone will be able to beat them if they play like they did against AHA. There were flying up and down the ice and cycling the puck better than anyone i've seen.

[karl(east)]

Nice job, but I have one question. Where did you see Jefferson play? Where they online or something?

Bad wording on my part. I haven't actually seen them play.

The results of their games so far, along with the eyewitness accounts on here, definitely suggest they are playing well, though.

[elliott70]

Looks good.
I would still give Hill a shot come March.

[east hockey]

Looks good.
I would still give Hill a shot come March.

Darn it, I thought they would just look at the polls and give up.

Lee

[Doglover]

Hats off to Karl! Really nice breakdown of the teams at this point in the season. One to save to see how they end up in March.

Have to agree that Edina looked unbeatable last night. Loved how well the camera captured the great speed and moves of the Edina players. Looks like they got the lines right and they now have 2-3 strong lines!! they all moved the puck so well. Looked like good chemistry. Still think AHA is a better team than they showed last night though. The Riley boys, Matteson and Burke are strong players - maybe just an off night. Didn't think they would win but thought they'd give the Hornets a tougher game.

[slapstkhound]

Here are my AA rankings, now that the holiday tournaments are over. In parenthesis is each team's record vs. other top 15 teams.

1. Edina (7-1)
-It hasn't always been fancy, but they've methodically moved through a brutal schedule and claimed Schwan Cup gold.
2. Bloomington Jefferson (1-0)
-Have not been tested much, but are undefeated and have looked pretty good so far. We'll see how real they are Saturday vs. EP.
3. Eden Prairie (1-1)
-Also hasn't been tested a lot, but played Edina close and have beaten everyone else. Again, the game against Jefferson will tell us a lot.
4. Centennial (1-1-1)
-Recovered from their only loss nicely by knocking off Hill-Murray.
5. Hill-Murray (3-2)
-Cruised through the first month of the season, then faltered badly in the Schwan Cup. Still possibly the most talented in the state, and the only team to beat Edina.
6. Duluth East (3-0-1)
-Record blemished by one ugly loss to a single-A school. Have otherwise looked very, very good. Big test upcoming at Blaine on the 6th.
7. Holy Angels (0-1-1)
-Missing in that record is a win over Culver Academy, which is very impressive. Proved that they're back by playing in the Schwan Cup title game, but still have a little ways to go to be on the level of an Edina.
8. Minnetonka (2-3)
-Solid Schwan Cup showing, and all of their losses were pretty close. Are improving and should be a very dangerous team come sections.
9. Blaine (0-1)
-Gaudy record and plenty of talent, but the loss to Edina was humbling. No high-level wins yet, but the opportunities are coming up.
10. Wayzata (1-3-1)
-Have held their ground against a number of top teams and are capable of giving anyone a good game. First in the Schwan Cup silver is a nice achievement for an improving team.
11. Woodbury (1-1)
-Cruising along atop their section but haven't done anything remarkable to justify a higher ranking.
12. Maple Grove (0-0-1)
-Very unproven, but undefeated is undefeated. We'll see how long that lasts.
13. White Bear Lake (1-4-1)
-Probably the state's biggest enigma so far. Are capable of playing with or getting pasted by anyone on any given night, it seems. Rest of season is essentially a warm-up for a title game rematch with Hill, though, so if they get hot at the right time, they could cause problems.
14. Benilde-St. Margaret's (0-1)
-Finished 2nd in Schwan Cup silver. Haven't really distinguished themselves yet this year. Two wins over CDH, which should probably count for something.
15. Moorhead (1-3)
-By far the poorest Schwan Cup showing. It wasn't that they lost, it was the way they lost. Outscored by DE, Edina, and Hill 14-0 in recent games. Have pretty much pushed themselves out of state titl contention.

Honorable mentions: CDH is probably #16. After that, it's a mess including, in no particular order, Elk River, Apple Valley, Eastview, Stillwater, Roseau, and Burnsville.
------
A few notes for each section:
1AA: As usual, there's a scrum of mediocre teams fighting for the section title, none of which are close to the top 15.
2AA. Incredibly strong at the top, with Edina, AHA, and Jefferson. Obvious incentive for the #1 seed this year, as that will be a much easier semifinal.
3AA: Woodbury is on top, though CDH is still sort of in the picture and a few others are hovering there. Not too interesting a race at this point.
4AA: Hill, then White Bear. As usual. The others have a ways to go to have any shot.
5AA: Centennial and Blaine provide a fun fight down the stretch, and Maple Grove is hovering there as a big question mark. Should be a good section to watch.
6AA: The state's most loaded, with 4 top-15 teams, several of which seem to be improving. Should be a great section tournament.
7AA: The largest gap between #1 (Duluth East) and the rest of the pack of any section. Elk River is the only one that has possibly distinguished itself as having a chance, though chances remain for some of the others.
8AA: Both powers don't seem to be doing that well this year, with Moorhead ahead of Roseau after its win a few weeks ago. There's a chance that this could be the year a lower seed finally cracks the title game, though I wouldn't put my money on it yet.

Agreed....for the most part. EP...number 3....really?? Who of any consequence have they beaten? Eagan, Eastview, Lakeville North, Chaska, Elk River, Grand Rapids? They played Edina tough but a loss is a loss and the win over Tonka was good but it's the only decent team they've played and won. Once again, playing in the Lake Conference suddenly makes your team superstars, even raking Lakeville South and Burnsville, with losing records, in the Top 20. These rankings are fun to watch but it's the end of the year and who goes to the dance that counts.

[elliott70]

Looks good.
I would still give Hill a shot come March.

Darn it, I thought they would just look at the polls and give up.

Lee

Looks like Moorhead and East did that.

[Blaze]

So why is Bloomington Jefferson #2. Someone please tell me who they have beaten??? They went up to Fargo to pick on some teams as did Blaine. Other than that they are as unproven as Maple Grove...

1. Edina
2. Centennial
3. Duluth East
4. Holy Angels
5. Hill Murry
6. Eden Prairie
7. Blaine
8. Bloomington Jefferson
9. Minnetonka
10. Wayzata
11. White Bear Lake
12. Woodbury

[bananastick]

So why is both Bloomington Jefferson #2. Someone please tell me who they have beaten??? They went up to Fargo to pick on some teams as did Blaine. Other than that they are as unproven as Maple Grove...

1. Edina
2. Centennial
3. Duluth East
4. Holy Angels
5. Hill Murry
6. Eden Prairie
7. Blaine
8. Bloomington Jefferson
9. Minnetonka
10. Wayzata
11. White Bear Lake
12. Woodbury

I agree, they barely beat Wayzat 3-2. Beyond that Burnsville has been their only legitimate competition.

[theoneandonly1]

So why is both Bloomington Jefferson #2. Someone please tell me who they have beaten??? They went up to Fargo to pick on some teams as did Blaine. Other than that they are as unproven as Maple Grove...

1. Edina
2. Centennial
3. Duluth East
4. Holy Angels
5. Hill Murry
6. Eden Prairie
7. Blaine
8. Bloomington Jefferson
9. Minnetonka
10. Wayzata
11. White Bear Lake
12. Woodbury

I agree, they barely beat Wayzat 3-2. Beyond that Burnsville has been their only legitimate competition.

They haven't played a very tough schedule but they have manhandled their competition so far with a 54-9 goal differential. Also I know that scrimmages are not real games and blah blah but they beat Blaine, Centennial, and Duluth East in scrimmages at EP early on. They may have not proven themselves of top 5 worthy yet, but lets see what happens tommorrow when they take on the Eagles of EP.

[King of the Pond]

1. Edina
2. Centennial
3. Bloomington Jefferson
4. Holy Angels
5. Hill Murray
6. Duluth East
7. Eden Prairie
8. Minnetonka
9. Blaine
10. Wayzata
11. White Bear Lake
12. Woodbury
13. Maple Grove

[HShockeywatcher]

Agreed...to a point. What does this team have to do to prove themselves? With that argument they could be 24-1 or 25-0 and have people calling them a crappy team.
Wayzata may not be a top 5 team, but they just won the Silver Cup with their only losses to Edina, Bloomington Jefferson and East plus a tie to Maple Grove. Looks like a contender to me.

[Roseauverrated]

So why is Bloomington Jefferson #2. Someone please tell me who they have beaten???

The fact that a team hasn't beaten anyone good didn't seem to stop people last year from putting Roseau and their ridiculously pathetic schedule at #1 despite me saying time and time again that they were overrated and it would show during the state tournament.

[HMWDBRY]

Why is everybody putting WB over Woodbury when Woodbury beat them?

[east hockey]

So why is Bloomington Jefferson #2. Someone please tell me who they have beaten???

The fact that a team hasn't beaten anyone good didn't seem to stop people last year from putting Roseau and their ridiculously pathetic schedule at #1 despite me saying time and time again that they were overrated and it would show during the state tournament.

Did you also say that the season before when Roseau won state?

Lee

[east hockey]

Why is everybody putting WB over Woodbury when Woodbury beat them?

I'm going out on a limb here, but possibly it's because people think White Bear is a better team than Woodbury.

Lee

[Blaze]

So Roseauverrated, HShockeywatcher & theoneandonly1

We might as well make Maple Grove a top five team if all were going to base our rankings on is goal differential 58-13. Even though there schedule has been less then stellar so far their still undefeated. With ties against Wayzata (Silver Champ) & Mahtomedi (Bronze Champs).

I guess will see how good they may or may not be on January 10th when they host the COUGARS...

[TKO_81]

That being said Roseauverrated, I guess Edinas monster schedule last season prepped them just enough to not even muster up a goal in the big game (Edina AND Roseau were VERY GOOD last season by the way). Give Hill Murray credit for a VERY GOOD plan, a hot goaly, and a near flawless tourny run when it counted! People like you are poor for even typing that verbiage into a statement! Maybe if there were a couple of the big battle tested teams closer than a 7 hour road trip for the teams like Warroad, TRF, Roseau, EGF, etc... to play, a team from up north could actually have a prayer when it comes to playing good hockey and competing with the GOOD teams? But wait, there are as many BIG SCHOOL CHAMPION banners hanging from the ceiling in a particular up north weak schedule SMALL city to make most envious?? There are even plenty of small school state showings in a nearby up north city. How can that be?? I wasn't feeling well today but after reading your post, I typed this response and I actually feel better so thank you for that. I am sure there will be responses to what I typed and that's what this forum is about. Unlike you I actually respect and appreciate ALL teams, coaches, and especially the KIDS as they work very hard to accomplish their goals each season (even when geography and budgets get in the way). I normally frown, shake my head, and say a quick prayer for people that write poor posts, like the one you wrote without considering the whole picture, but for some reason I couldn't leave this one alone. Thank you for the opportunity.

[Roseauverrated]

Blaze, my point is that we can't just rank a team high because they're undefeated when they havn't played anybody good at all. Just like Roseau last year, everyone thought they were the best team in the state because they were undefeated yet they hadn't played anybody remotely good and when they finally did play good teams in the tournament they got tossed. I really don't believe Jefferson or Maple Grove deserve to be even a top 15 team, especially Maple Grove.

[DmanDad1980]

Blaze, my point is that we can't just rank a team high because they're undefeated when they havn't played anybody good at all. Just like Roseau last year, everyone thought they were the best team in the state because they were undefeated yet they hadn't played anybody remotely good and when they finally did play good teams in the tournament they got tossed. I really don't believe Jefferson or Maple Grove deserve to be even a top 15 team, especially Maple Grove.

How truly uninformed can one person be...
Please review your past couple of responses for about three months (March) and get back to us...

Oh and Roseau, was a very good team last year, and as it happens, did not play well on Friday and Saturday, and yes this had much to do w/ the very good teams they played on both days... BTW, basically the same team won State the prior year, and have 3 players from last years team either playing D1 or will next year, and possibly Landman and Knockemus following in a couple of years... not bad for such a crappy team

[cctndr30]

I watched the HM and WBl games against tonka. Neither team would be in the upper half of the Classic Lake or Lake conference based on what I saw. Tonka may not even be in the top three of the Lake. WBL looked like a Bantam A team, it was surprising. What is happening to the east side of the cities. Why you guys would have either team rated this high after such dismal performances is really surprising.

[Factsmatter1]

I watched the HM and WBl games against tonka. Neither team would be in the upper half of the Classic Lake or Lake conference based on what I saw. Tonka may not even be in the top three of the Lake. WBL looked like a Bantam A team, it was surprising. What is happening to the east side of the cities. Why you guys would have either team rated this high after such dismal performances is really surprising.

Not sure I get your logic here. If what you say were true so what does the tie between WBL and AHA say about AHA. They shouldn't be in the top half of the Lake?