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As the season opener rolls quickly upon us, I thought I would be the one to start off this year with some fun predictions. Being arguably the most competitive section in the state, it does make it a little harder to predict. (Especially 1-6) Here is how I see it playing out.

1. St. Cloud Cathedral-Hard to argue with this pick here. Returning stars Neu and M. Fritz should rack up the points this year. Losing D-1 caliber players in Hammer and Bailey is big, but this team returns a lot of depth and should have a good chance at returning to the X. They also return the best goalie in the section in All State tournament team goaltender Zach Fritz.

2. St. Cloud Apollo- Kind of going with a gut feeling on this one. 2-4 are all very close IMO. They have a good core group of guys with Bissett and Omann leading the charge up front and talented junior Tanner Briedenbach at the blue line. They also return one of the best goalies in the section in Althaus.

3. Sartell-St. Stephen-Deep team that lost a good amount of players to graduation. With those players gone, they also lost a lot of attitude that held this team back last season. Easily had the talent to win the section but fell short due to awful leadership and bad penalties. They had another awesome year on JV with 20+ wins and have some players with should contribute after moving up this year.(Spencer Zweiner should have a big year after playing in the Elite League this past season).

4. Alexandria-Some might argue on me with this one but I do think the order of 2-4 is easily interchangeable. Lost a few very talented seniors from the section runner-up that could hold them back earlier in the season. I still believe they are a talented enough team to be back in the semis and possibly the championship if their returners step up.

5. Sauk Rapids-I would have them right up with this next tier of teams if it wasn't for their best player (Travis Kothenbeutal) leaving them to play in the NA3HL for the Granite City Lumberjacks.

6. Fergus Falls-Should be more competitive than in recent years. Have a few solid players returning including their goaltender so I wouldnt be surprised if they pulled off a few upsets over the teams above them throughout the year.

7. Little Falls

8. Prairie Center

9. Northern Lakes

10. Wadena/Deer Creek

11.Breckenridge/Wahpeton

We need to start a new thread on this section. I'd put Alex #2 otherwise I can't argue with your rankings.

I've split the last two posts into this new thread. Carry on.

Lee

not a lot of games this week but some interesting results.
Fergus Falls improves to 1-0 after beating Detroit Lakes 4-3 (OT)
Sartell blew out defending 5A champs chisago lakes 6-1.
St. Cloud Apollo grinded out a 1-1 tie against a solid bemidji team
Prairie Centre lost to MAML 5-1

Will Sartell challenge Cathedral? Early indications appear that they will. Should be a fun season in 6A.

notTONIGHT wrote:Will Sartell challenge Cathedral? Early indications appear that they will. Should be a fun season in 6A.

One game isn't much to go on but my guess is yes.. I think the battle between the top 4 (Cathedral alex sartell and apollo) will be a dogfight all season long

Friday November 28th

Little falls powers past International falls 7-3
Sartells scores 5 PPG to beat MAML 8-2

St. Cloud Cathedral has a huge game vs EGF tomorrow.. Would be EXTREMELY surprised at anything but a win for EGF but would but like to see how SCC can stick with the best in Class A

Alexandria routs River lakes 6-1
Cathedral falls to 0-3 after losing to Mahtomedi 7-1
Sartell scores 3 more PPG to beat Brainerd 5-3
Fergus falls gets by tech 5-2

Rankings

1. Fergus Falls 3-0
2. Sartel 3-0
3. Alex 2-0-1
4. Apollo 1-0-2
5. Cake Eaters 0-3
6. Sauk Rapids 1-1
7. Little Falls 2-3

It is all about winning and getting better. At this point all teams should be getting better.

Current rankings

1. Sartell 6-0, winning is what matters - Sauk Rapids & Alex this week
2. Alex 4-0-1 - Brainerd, Sartell and Cathedral
3. Fergus Falls 6-1 - Cathedral & Detroit Lakes
4. Cake Eaters 2-3 - Fergus Falls, Little Falls, Alex
5. Sauk Rapids 2-1-1, no quality wins
6. Apollo 1-2-2 tough week losses to FF and Cathedral
7. pick em

1-4 could be toss up most of the season. 5-6 need to beat a quality team. Good match ups this week.

Nice week so far for Alexandria. 5-2 over Brainerd and 6-1 over Sartell. Big game on Saturday at Cathedral. Cathedral with a nice win over Fergus and routing Lil Falls 6-0. Alexandria showing some quality depth.

Rankings after busy week and some section head to head games

1. Alex - clear after last two weeks wins
2. Sartell - barely hanging on, only quality opponent was a loss
3. Fergus Falls
4. Cake Eaters
5. Apollo, good win over Lordes
6. Sauk Rapids, no quality wins

preferhockey wrote:Rankings after busy week and some section head to head games

1. Alex - clear after last two weeks wins
2. Sartell - barely hanging on, only quality opponent was a loss
3. Fergus Falls
4. Cake Eaters
5. Apollo, good win over Lordes
6. Sauk Rapids, no quality wins

Whats the logic keeping them there? It could be argued Cathedral and Sartell could be switched.

notTONIGHT wrote:

preferhockey wrote:Rankings after busy week and some section head to head games

1. Alex - clear after last two weeks wins
2. Sartell - barely hanging on, only quality opponent was a loss
3. Fergus Falls
4. Cake Eaters
5. Apollo, good win over Lordes
6. Sauk Rapids, no quality wins

Whats the logic keeping them there? It could be argued Cathedral and Sartell could be switched.

I think 2-5 are all really close.. Cathedral seems to be turning it around and Sartells lose to Alex was closer than the score indicated.. It will be much easier to figure out next week after Sartell plays both Apollo and Cathedral in the Granite City Classic

notTONIGHT wrote:

preferhockey wrote:Rankings after busy week and some section head to head games

1. Alex - clear after last two weeks wins
2. Sartell - barely hanging on, only quality opponent was a loss
3. Fergus Falls
4. Cake Eaters
5. Apollo, good win over Lordes
6. Sauk Rapids, no quality wins

Whats the logic keeping them there? It could be argued Cathedral and Sartell could be switched.

Order definitely could be different, expect 2-5 to change each week. Head to head games next week should help complicate even more.

After the Granite City Classic this week, I see the section rankings something like this.

1. Alexandria-impossible to argue this one. Undefeated with wins over the other 4 good teams in their section. Very talented team that is the favorite at this point.

2. St. Cloud Cathedral- Won 8 of their last 9 after their brutal schedule to start the year. Went 3-0 at the GCC. Got outplayed all game by Sartell this week which has made me question how good they really are. Starting to get the great goaltending people expected out of Fritz has helped tremendously.

3. Fergus Falls- Close losses to the two teams above has them sliding in at #3. Much improved team that has a big game for section seeding as Sartell travels to FF this week.Solid wins over Apollo and DL.

4. St. Cloud Apollo-had a good weekend at the GCC going 3-0 and beating rival Sartell. Their losses to Fergus and Cathedral keep them here for now but the ties against Alexandria and a VERY solid Bemidji team prove they will be a contender in the playoffs.

5. Sartell- Weird to put an 8-3 team as the 5th best team in the section but their 0-3 record against teams above them leave me no choice. Their first line can score but have lacked the depth needed to win those games. Getting their first line center back who hasn't played yet this year and second line wing who had a knee injury will be vital to their success in the second half of the season.

6. Sauk Rapids
7. Little Falls
8-11. no one from here will be competitive in playoffs from what i have seen

Diddo, rankings and comments.

Might be most competitive playoffs for section quarter and semis in some time.

rankings

1. Alex, until probably 2 losses will be on top. Scoring could be a concern, however low GAA is what want in playoffs
2-4 up for grabs

2 Cake Eaters
3 Fergus Falls, penalties hurt this team
4 Apollo, have rebounded well from slow start

5 Sartell, 1-4-1 in last 6 games
6 Sauk Rapids

preferhockey wrote:rankings

1. Alex, until probably 2 losses will be on top. Scoring could be a concern, however low GAA is what want in playoffs
2-4 up for grabs

2 Cake Eaters
3 Fergus Falls, penalties hurt this team
4 Apollo, have rebounded well from slow start

5 Sartell, 1-4-1 in last 6 games
6 Sauk Rapids

this is probably the only way to put it right now.. Wouldn't want to have to face Sartell in the QF if they end up as the five seed though. Watched them outplay Cathedral all game

???

Things can change in hurry, but not really.

1. Alex, still only one loss

2-5 up for grabs

2. Fergus Falls, win at Alex gives edge over #3-5 teams
3. Apollo, 9-1 in last 10 games
4. Cake Eaters, loss to Orono that Apollo beat week prior
5. Sartell, can upset anyone if stay away from penalties

6. Little Falls, slight edge over Sauk Rapids

Tomorrow nights battle between two very nice Section 6A hockey teams should be a fun one. Each team has solid tending and some very nice wins this season. The Otters are 7-0-2 on the road and are nearly back to 100% after dealing with a bout of illness and injuries.
The Eagles have been solid on both ends of the ice since they were last beaten by the Otters. Good luck to each team!

Go Otters!

Ranking/seeds will definitely change after last night

Fergus Falls shutout Apollo at MAC 2-0, continued strong finish to season and FF will definitely be #2 seed.

Little Falls shutout Cake Eaters 3-0

Sartell lacks respect for game by running up score 17-0 on Willmar, get a clue coach.

Sauk Rapids loses 0-7, cemented #7-8 seed

preferhockey wrote:Ranking/seeds will definitely change after last night

Fergus Falls shutout Apollo at MAC 2-0, continued strong finish to season and FF will definitely be #2 seed.

Little Falls shutout Cake Eaters 3-0

Sartell lacks respect for game by running up score 17-0 on Willmar, get a clue coach.

Sauk Rapids loses 0-7, cemented #7-8 seed

Sartell-if you were at the game you would have saw that it wasn't like he was running the score up using his top guys. The guys pulled up from JV played a period which is all they can do since the limit is 4. Multiple players scored their first varsity goals and the top line played VERY limited time in the 3rd. It was terrible goaltending that allowed the game to get to this score. Sartell would just throw one towards the net and it would go in. They scored on OVER 1/3 of their shots on net. It is difficult to tell players to not even try to shoot towards the net.

besides that game, anyone have any insight on how Cathedral got shutout by Little Falls?? i would like to know how that game looked