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The quaterfinals are behind us in 7AA and as expected East and Rapids advanced although Rapids had to fend off a stubborn Forest Lake team. Now we have East and Rapids in a showdown on Saturday. Should be an interesting game!! I still stay with my pick of East over Rapids to set up the section final rematch Elk River But I am sure there are conspiracy theorists though who will think East will play Cloquet because the semis and final are again in Duluth.

I have the Elks getting upset, with East taking this one 3-1 against GR.

An East-cloquet final matchup would be one for the ages.

Should be a great match up. I think the winner of this game will go to St. Paul.

I'm not saying that to disrespect the Elks or the Jacks. I just believe whoever wins this game will have the needed momentum to get it done.

Both these teams are very, very average at best. Flip a coin. Either way both are just playing for 7AA runner up.......(this outta get you Hounds and Thunderhawk Faithful RILED UP!!)

Sats81 wrote:Both these teams are very, very average at best. Flip a coin. Either way both are just playing for 7AA runner up.......(this outta get you Hounds and Thunderhawk Faithful RILED UP!!)

Not at all. What you say is true, sometimes, and other times both of these teams have been on a tear that would allow them to go into the X and make some noise. The question here is not are they good enough to beat ER (assuming ER gets past CLoquest which might be a rather large assumption too) but whether or not the team who is good enough to beat them shows up. Either way, I stand by my earlier statement that this year Rapids goes to state.

Mouse in the corner wrote:

Sats81 wrote:Both these teams are very, very average at best. Flip a coin. Either way both are just playing for 7AA runner up.......(this outta get you Hounds and Thunderhawk Faithful RILED UP!!)

Not at all. What you say is true, sometimes, and other times both of these teams have been on a tear that would allow them to go into the X and make some noise. The question here is not are they good enough to beat ER (assuming ER gets past CLoquest which might be a rather large assumption too) but whether or not the team who is good enough to beat them shows up. Either way, I stand by my earlier statement that this year Rapids goes to state.

If East or Rapids did happen to get to the X, the only noise either is making would be on their way out to the bus to get to Mariucci.

Should be a great game! Lots of play-off battles between these two lately, with East getting the better of the Thunderhawks mostly.

I'll be there, with this being my first visit to Amsoil Arena

Just can't see how Rapids can get to state. I've watched them play Warroad (looked average), Cloquet (looked good), Denfeld (looked average), White Bear (looked awful) and Forest Lake (looked average). Only improvement I've seen in their game is the goaltending. Gerth looks pretty good. East has a better system, better defensemen and better coaching. Beating East in Sectionals is much more difficult then during the season. Rapids seems to panic against a good forechecking team (although they are better then last year). Denfeld's speedy forwards turned the corner on them on more then one occassion. Could Rapids make State? Sure, but out of the four remaining teams I see them as having the least chance.

greenway1969 wrote:Just can't see how Rapids can get to state. I've watched them play Warroad (looked average), Cloquet (looked good), Denfeld (looked average), White Bear (looked awful) and Forest Lake (looked average). Only improvement I've seen in their game is the goaltending. Gerth looks pretty good. East has a better system, better defensemen and better coaching. Beating East in Sectionals is much more difficult then during the season. Rapids seems to panic against a good forechecking team (although they are better then last year). Denfeld's speedy forwards turned the corner on them on more then one occassion. Could Rapids make State? Sure, but out of the four remaining teams I see them as having the least chance.

This wasn't a predictable post from you in this thread.

greenway1969 wrote:Just can't see how Rapids can get to state. I've watched them play Warroad (looked average), Cloquet (looked good), Denfeld (looked average), White Bear (looked awful) and Forest Lake (looked average). Only improvement I've seen in their game is the goaltending. Gerth looks pretty good. East has a better system, better defensemen and better coaching. Beating East in Sectionals is much more difficult then during the season. Rapids seems to panic against a good forechecking team (although they are better then last year). Denfeld's speedy forwards turned the corner on them on more then one occassion. Could Rapids make State? Sure, but out of the four remaining teams I see them as having the least chance.

Yeah, 4 games when they looked either average or aweful. How about shutting out Moorhead? Wyzeta? Cloquet? They do have a down side and it has shown up but their upside is huge. Granted they are a scary team to hang your hat on but when they get on a roll they are hard to stop. Early on in the season ER beat them by 1 goal so even that is not really like they are looking down the barrel of a game that brings a lot of baggage with it. I think that of the 4 left they have the greatest upside when they get on a roll and start working together as a team and will be able to get East again.

greenway1969 wrote:Just can't see how Rapids can get to state. I've watched them play Warroad (looked average), Cloquet (looked good), Denfeld (looked average), White Bear (looked awful) and Forest Lake (looked average). Only improvement I've seen in their game is the goaltending. Gerth looks pretty good. East has a better system, better defensemen and better coaching. Beating East in Sectionals is much more difficult then during the season. Rapids seems to panic against a good forechecking team (although they are better then last year). Denfeld's speedy forwards turned the corner on them on more then one occassion. Could Rapids make State? Sure, but out of the four remaining teams I see them as having the least chance.

100% correct and reason Rapids will not get to St. Paul. They will lose 3-1 Saturday.

Rapids beat FL. East will be a different animal.

East 5 -Rapids 3



Gotta love 7AA hockGotta hate Orange & Black.[WBL/GR]

If you want to talk average wins or loses what about the losses both Cloquet and Rapids had to Hermantown. I know the kids from all of these teams and am very impressed that both teams are still competing. I don't see either of these two semi-finals a easy road for any of the four teams. Should be a good time on saturday.

Thoughts-


-The big story of this game is the young and undisciplined team with playmakers vs. The system.

-East runs a well oiled machine under Randolph. They struggled throughout the year getting the system to work, but lately it has worked well.

- Even though they do not score the most goals, east has a system and if they run it right, it can put teams like Rapids away with ease. (my new phrase is "with ease" )

-Rapids still has a lot of playmakers (Mattson, Bischoff) and if their coach can figure out how to use them correctly vs. East's system, they can win this game.

-This game will come down to coaching.

-Randolph has won 18 straight playoff games. 12 of them being in Amsoil. There is a reason for that. And it isn't home ice advantage.

Slammer wrote:Thoughts-


-The big story of this game is the young and undisciplined team with playmakers vs. The system.

-East runs a well oiled machine under Randolph. They struggled throughout the year getting the system to work, but lately it has worked well.

- Even though they do not score the most goals, east has a system and if they run it right, it can put teams like Rapids away with ease. (my new phrase is "with ease" )

-Rapids still has a lot of playmakers (Mattson, Bischoff) and if their coach can figure out how to use them correctly vs. East's system, they can win this game.

-This game will come down to coaching.

-Randolph has won 18 straight playoff games in Amsoil. There is a reason for that. And it isn't home ice advantage.

Would agree that East has played better but the system did fail them at Blaine, 7 goals?

Slammer wrote:Thoughts-


-The big story of this game is the young and undisciplined team with playmakers vs. The system.

-East runs a well oiled machine under Randolph. They struggled throughout the year getting the system to work, but lately it has worked well.

- Even though they do not score the most goals, east has a system and if they run it right, it can put teams like Rapids away with ease. (my new phrase is "with ease" )

-Rapids still has a lot of playmakers (Mattson, Bischoff) and if their coach can figure out how to use them correctly vs. East's system, they can win this game.
M
-This game will come down to coaching.


-Randolph has won 18 straight playoff games. 12 of them being in Amsoil. There is a reason for that. And it isn't home ice advantage.

No doubt Randolph is an excellent HS Coach...but the DE vs GR game will come down to Players making Plays. And players dealing with the pressure of play-off hockey. I certainly believe GR has a better chance beating DE this year, than he past few years...but anything can happen come Saturday.

alcloseshaver wrote:

Slammer wrote:Thoughts-


-The big story of this game is the young and undisciplined team with playmakers vs. The system.

-East runs a well oiled machine under Randolph. They struggled throughout the year getting the system to work, but lately it has worked well.

- Even though they do not score the most goals, east has a system and if they run it right, it can put teams like Rapids away with ease. (my new phrase is "with ease" )

-Rapids still has a lot of playmakers (Mattson, Bischoff) and if their coach can figure out how to use them correctly vs. East's system, they can win this game.

-This game will come down to coaching.

-Randolph has won 18 straight playoff games in Amsoil. There is a reason for that. And it isn't home ice advantage.

Would agree that East has played better but the system did fail them at Blaine, 7 goals?

It failed big time... Which is why GR's staff needs to study that game and figure out how to break the system.

Slammer wrote:

alcloseshaver wrote:

Slammer wrote:Thoughts-


-The big story of this game is the young and undisciplined team with playmakers vs. The system.

-East runs a well oiled machine under Randolph. They struggled throughout the year getting the system to work, but lately it has worked well.

- Even though they do not score the most goals, east has a system and if they run it right, it can put teams like Rapids away with ease. (my new phrase is "with ease" )

-Rapids still has a lot of playmakers (Mattson, Bischoff) and if their coach can figure out how to use them correctly vs. East's system, they can win this game.

-This game will come down to coaching.

-Randolph has won 18 straight playoff games in Amsoil. There is a reason for that. And it isn't home ice advantage.

Would agree that East has played better but the system did fail them at Blaine, 7 goals?

It failed big time... Which is why GR's staff needs to study that game and figure out how to break the system.

AND Anoka - 5 goals

Slammer wrote:

alcloseshaver wrote:

Slammer wrote:Thoughts-


-The big story of this game is the young and undisciplined team with playmakers vs. The system.

-East runs a well oiled machine under Randolph. They struggled throughout the year getting the system to work, but lately it has worked well.

- Even though they do not score the most goals, east has a system and if they run it right, it can put teams like Rapids away with ease. (my new phrase is "with ease" )

-Rapids still has a lot of playmakers (Mattson, Bischoff) and if their coach can figure out how to use them correctly vs. East's system, they can win this game.

-This game will come down to coaching.

-Randolph has won 18 straight playoff games in Amsoil. There is a reason for that. And it isn't home ice advantage.

Would agree that East has played better but the system did fail them at Blaine, 7 goals?

It failed big time... Which is why GR's staff needs to study that game and figure out how to break the system.

The problem with the Blaine game was that they never really had a chance to set up the system. They took a penalty in the first minute, gave up a quick goal, and spent the next seven minutes or so totally bottled up. It's hard to run a good forecheck when the you can't get the puck out of your own zone. By the time they finally got into the game, it was 3-0, and Randolph had to turn them loose and have a track meet with Blaine, just to try to get back into it. They actually held up pretty well against a team with more firepower, but couldn't pull out the win.

East hadn't yet broken out the 2-3 in the first Rapids game, but the story was pretty similar. Rapids owned the opening period and East never even got a chance to set up. Unlike the Blaine game, their later push never quite got them close enough.

That's really the key to this one. If Rapids can do that again, it's probably game over unless East gets some heroic individual performances. If not, it's a toss up game, perhaps slight edge to East given their solid systems and experience in these tight games.

That, and special teams. In the past, that's been a decisive advantage for East. Not so much this season. They need to stay out of the box.

Hounds 3 - Rapids 1

"The System" - 2
Rapids - 4

I watch the kids from both teams in the fall elite league. In the regular season my only points of reference were watching Grand Rapids at E Dina and Duluth East at LakevilleI remember each time I watch Matson I wish he would be more aggressive to the puck. Apparently he has done that based on his total points. I always give Randolph a plus one goal in any play off or tournament game, so I will predict Duluth Eastwins by two goals.

northwoods oldtimer wrote:Hounds 3 - Rapids 1

....and it's obviously a no brainer the winner of the East/Rapids game would much rather see CEC rather than Elk River. And is this the same for the legions of East/Rapids fans on this forum. I realize I'm on my own on this forum backing CEC. I'm fairly new to this hockey stuff (5 years). Are players, coaches, and fans more fearful of facing a huge rivalry team versus a team with pure talent. Just curious as to how the life long die-hard east/rapids fans lean.

kniven wrote:

northwoods oldtimer wrote:Hounds 3 - Rapids 1

....and it's obviously a no brainer the winner of the East/Rapids game would much rather see CEC rather than Elk River. And is this the same for the legions of East/Rapids fans on this forum. I realize I'm on my own on this forum backing CEC. I'm fairly new to this hockey stuff (5 years). Are players, coaches, and fans more fearful of facing a huge rivalry team versus a team with pure talent. Just curious as to how the life long die-hard east/rapids fans lean.

I don't think facing Cloquet is any better than facing Elk River. 2 good teams who are playing Saturday for a reason.

The 2 winners will have their hands full Thursday no matter who they are.

lack of a poll for this matchup is disappointing. hopefully an old regular can make the state game matchup threads when we get there. usually karl or hshockeywatcher excel in starting threads with the proper information

EDIT: sorry elliott i didnt mean to slight you you've been doing pretty well this season on the starting threads