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Hill-Murray vs. Blaine
Burnsville vs. Minnetonka
Duluth East vs. Breck
St. Thomas Academy vs. Edina

stpaul wrote:Hill-Murray vs. Blaine
Burnsville vs. Minnetonka
Duluth East vs. Breck
St. Thomas Academy vs. Edina

Predictions?

Minnetonka= obviously 1st place
Edina=2nd
Hill-Murray=3rd
Rest=who cares
Blaine=toilet bowl winner.

PuckU126 wrote:

stpaul wrote:Hill-Murray vs. Blaine
Burnsville vs. Minnetonka
Duluth East vs. Breck
St. Thomas Academy vs. Edina

Predictions?

With three privates, I'm going to go out on a limb and predict low attendance.

Does anyone have the Silver and Bronze brackets?

I like the A+AA matchups. A lot.

But Blaine instead of Maple Grove? Seriously?

Burnsville instead of Eagan? Seriously?

I realize these guys probably have other tournaments. MG will probably be in BSM's tourney again, and it seems like Eagan doesn't play holiday tournaments (did I read that somewhere?)

I'm just saying... as long as we're allowed to dream of perfect match ups.

Good to see Breck and STA have to play the big boys outside their conferences at least once -- to keep us all grounded in reality for another year.

I don't see Duluth East losing the opportunity to get back at Tonka after that abysmal Hockey Day game last year (not to mention that catastrophic game against Lakeville South in March).

Hill crushes Blaine
Tonka crushes Burnsville
DE crushes Breck
Edina beats STA by two (ENG)

ship: DE beats Tonka by 3

shinebone- have you not read about the exodus at DE. I know they are strong program, but I think they will be down this year. Sorry Karl. The Skippers own the ship.

skipperj wrote:shinebone- have you not read about the exodus at DE. I know they are strong program, but I think they will be down this year. Sorry Karl. The Skippers own the ship.

I'll take Edina. If I recall, they were really young last year, and did just fine.

skipperj wrote:Minnetonka= obviously 1st place
Edina=2nd
Hill-Murray=3rd
Rest=who cares
Blaine toilet bowl winner.

MrBoDangle where are you on this one? Where do you spot Blaine? They need to fill the goaltending gap as there really was only 1 goalie last year with Malvin between the pipes. Coach has high hopes for the Junior class to be able to succeed this season

Shinbone_News wrote:I like the A+AA matchups. A lot.

But Blaine instead of Maple Grove? Seriously?

Burnsville instead of Eagan? Seriously?

I realize these guys probably have other tournaments. MG will probably be in BSM's tourney again, and it seems like Eagan doesn't play holiday tournaments (did I read that somewhere?)

I'm just saying... as long as we're allowed to dream of perfect match ups.

Eagan has played in the South St Paul holiday tournament the past few years.

BodyShots wrote:

PuckU126 wrote:

stpaul wrote:Hill-Murray vs. Blaine
Burnsville vs. Minnetonka
Duluth East vs. Breck
St. Thomas Academy vs. Edina

Predictions?

With three privates, I'm going to go out on a limb and predict low attendance.

What's high attendance for the Schwans Gold? 900?

blueliner5 wrote:

skipperj wrote:Minnetonka= obviously 1st place
Edina=2nd
Hill-Murray=3rd
Rest=who cares
Blaine toilet bowl winner.

MrBoDangle where are you on this one? Where do you spot Blaine? They need to fill the goaltending gap as there really was only 1 goalie last year with Malvin between the pipes. Coach has high hopes for the Junior class to be able to succeed this season

Blaine should have a better squad this season as all the sophomores they had in 2011-2012 have a varsity season under their belt. Goaltending is somewhat of a question between a couple of goalies, but won't be a burden to the team. Team returns a few good seniors to be, and the loss of Brodzinski will hurt but they return 4 defenseman I believe that have varsity experience. As far as the section goes, I have no idea what Maple Grove returns because I know they are losing 10+ players, most of who contributed a large amount of their scoring. I would guess them and Centennial will return solid enough teams to make 5AA a 3-horse race between Blaine, MG, and Centennial.

Look what the loss of Brod for 15mins last game of last season did. Good luck Blaine, I think you will need it. oh yah, and the goalie thing, kinda an important decision. Maybe little shared time in net would help your program in the long run.

Chaz Barknarkles wrote:

Shinbone_News wrote:I like the A+AA matchups. A lot.

But Blaine instead of Maple Grove? Seriously?

Burnsville instead of Eagan? Seriously?

I realize these guys probably have other tournaments. MG will probably be in BSM's tourney again, and it seems like Eagan doesn't play holiday tournaments (did I read that somewhere?)

I'm just saying... as long as we're allowed to dream of perfect match ups.

Eagan has played in the South St Paul holiday tournament the past few years.

Intent

BodyShots wrote:

skipperj wrote:shinebone- have you not read about the exodus at DE. I know they are strong program, but I think they will be down this year. Sorry Karl. The Skippers own the ship.

I'll take Edina. If I recall, they were really young last year, and did just fine.

My money would be on the Hornets at this point, too. The second-best team in the field might actually be their first-round opponent, STA.

Beyond Benilde, Edina, and EP, AA is a bit muddled right now. Tonka could be #4 if Lettieri stays; if not, I'm still not sure who it'd be. Hill lost its spot in the top few when Guentzel and Heinrich left, though they're probably still top 10; East and Blaine have also lost important players but should remain in the top 10. Burnsville is somewhere in that mess, too.

In general, I'd say there's a bit more parity in this field than usual. But, we still have a few more months before serious preseason ranking stuff starts.

I wish they would play the whole thing at Ridder instead of moving to the X. It worked well for the quarterfinals, and judging by the pictures I saw of the championship game, it would be big enough. Personally, I think Ridder is the most under-used arena in the state for high school hockey. It's like Braemar, but with seat backs, concourses, and a scoreboard that you could use considering every big game is broadcast online anyway. I'd love to see the section semifinals moved there for 2AA and 6AA. You could have all four games in a row. Have one section have games at 12 and 2:30 and the other section have 5:00 and 7:30.

I got a little off topic there, but the point is I hope they eventually move the whole Gold Division to Ridder.

celly93 wrote:I wish they would play the whole thing at Ridder instead of moving to the X. It worked well for the quarterfinals, and judging by the pictures I saw of the championship game, it would be big enough. Personally, I think Ridder is the most under-used arena in the state for high school hockey. It's like Braemar, but with seat backs, concourses, and a scoreboard that you could use considering every big game is broadcast online anyway. I'd love to see the section semifinals moved there for 2AA and 6AA. You could have all four games in a row. Have one section have games at 12 and 2:30 and the other section have 5:00 and 7:30.

I got a little off topic there, but the point is I hope they eventually move the whole Gold Division to Ridder.

Couldn't agree more. Ridder is an AWESOME arena to watch games in. And I'd love to see region semifinals there too. Only caveat: Parking is a major pain in the butt.

MNpuckBlog wrote:

blueliner5 wrote:

skipperj wrote:Minnetonka= obviously 1st place
Edina=2nd
Hill-Murray=3rd
Rest=who cares
Blaine toilet bowl winner.

MrBoDangle where are you on this one? Where do you spot Blaine? They need to fill the goaltending gap as there really was only 1 goalie last year with Malvin between the pipes. Coach has high hopes for the Junior class to be able to succeed this season

Blaine should have a better squad this season as all the sophomores they had in 2011-2012 have a varsity season under their belt. Goaltending is somewhat of a question between a couple of goalies, but won't be a burden to the team. Team returns a few good seniors to be, and the loss of Brodzinski will hurt but they return 4 defenseman I believe that have varsity experience. As far as the section goes, I have no idea what Maple Grove returns because I know they are losing 10+ players, most of who contributed a large amount of their scoring. I would guess them and Centennial will return solid enough teams to make 5AA a 3-horse race between Blaine, MG, and Centennial.

Blaine will be the #1 seed in 5AA next year.

next year as in year after this year, or next year as in this season coming up?

STA, want to play with the big boys, have some pride and make move to AA. Oh yeah, want to keep whining, yes not winning. lol

One way to get STA to move to AA is for all teams to stop playing them outside their conference.

Why would the Schwan Cup put single A teams in the top bracket anyways?

observer wrote:Why would the Schwan Cup put single A teams in the top bracket anyways?

Great question!

observer wrote:Why would the Schwan Cup put single A teams in the top bracket anyways?

Just a guess, but maybe because they believe that at least one team can compete with the best of 2A in the top bracket?