AA Rankings for 12/23/12

Post by **karl(east)** » Sun Dec 23, 2012 9:28 am

We’ve made it through to the Holiday tournaments, and we’re moving further and further out of the realm of speculation and into rankings based on results. As usual at this point in the season, the rankings include a preview of the holiday tournaments involving relevant AA teams. Rather than list the possible opponents for teams this week, I simply make note of their holiday tournament, and make a few comments on each tourney after the weekly list. So, without further ado:

1. Edina (9-0)
-The Hornets swept their holiday tournament to guarantee themselves the top spot heading into the Schwan Cup. The convincing wins over Grand Rapids and Elk River showed just how deep and talented this team is, but the Eden Prairie win reminded us that there are never any guarantees in AA hockey. If they can win the Schwan Cup, they’ll enter the discussion for true greatness.
This week: Schwan Cup Gold

2. Hill-Murray (8-1)
-The Pioneers rediscovered their scoring touch against weaker competition this past week, and three comfortable wins over 4AA foes only further confirms their status atop the section. Now the serious tests begin anew, as they head off for as many as four straight games against top ten teams. If they can manage a quality offensive output against other top teams, I like their chances.
This week: Schwan Cup Gold

3. Blaine (6-0-1)
-Did a good job of clamping down defensively this past week, most notably in the win over a decent Moorhead squad. Right now, they’re up this high owing almost entirely to that win over Benilde. As they’re undefeated and also beat surging Centennial, there’s no real reason to deny them this spot. But they do have to prove that the one big win wasn’t a fluke, and this week certainly gives them the opportunity to show they belong up here.
This week: Schwan Cup Gold

4. Benilde-St. Margaret’s (6-2)
-Methodically took care of three somewhat weaker opponents this past week. While we shouldn’t read too much into these games, limiting those teams to only two goals is probably a good sign, and a successful week could have them right back up near the top. We’ll see if they can correct for some of those early defensive struggles.
This week: Sports Authority Holiday Classic

5. Minnetonka (7-1-1)
-It was a worrisome week for the Skippers, as they lost to Stillwater and only mustered a tie against Moorhead. On one hand, this isn’t the first time the Ponies have knocked off Tonka lately, and the Spuds have some quality talent. But the even shot count against Stillwater and inability to finish off unranked teams in general raises some serious questions about this squad, and they’ll need a stronger showing against these sorts of teams if they want to remain among the state’s top teams.
This week: Schwan Cup Gold

6. Eagan (6-2)
-The Wildcats have been putting up consistently solid results lately, including three straight wins in which they’ve doubled up arguably the three next-best teams in the South Suburban Conference. They don’t have a higher-ranked team left on their schedule, which can be a double-edged sword; it should let them pile up plenty of wins while other top teams beat each other up, but it also means any game that isn’t a W will be at least a mild disappointment. As usual, it’s off to South St. Paul this week.
This week: South St. Paul Premier Tournament

7. Centennial (6-2)
-It was a statement week for the Cougars, who took apart Duluth East 5-2 and also shut down section foe Maple Grove to firmly plant themselves in the top ten. Their goaltender is sharp, their offense is opportunistic, and as a whole they’re quite balanced. With losses only to Edina and Blaine they might be the most pleasant surprise of the young season, and that makes them the odds-on favorites in the Silver division of the Schwan Cup.
This week: Schwan Cup Silver

8. Wayzata (7-1)
-The Trojans kept up their string of dominant defensive performances by shutting out Stillwater, and they head off to St. Louis Park with a surprisingly strong record. This week will test just how far the can take that defense-first focus, and show whether they truly deserve this spot in the top ten. They’ve slid a little bit backwards in the rankings due to some struggles by the teams they’ve beaten.
This week: Sports Authority Holiday Classic

9. Burnsville (5-3)
-The loss to Eagan is a mild blow, but they played well enough to suggest they still have a very real shot at a conference title, and took out any resulting frustrations on Apple Valley later in the week. I’m curious to see how well they can hang with all the deep teams in the Gold division.
This week: Schwan Cup Gold

10. Eden Prairie (4-4-1)
-The Edina Holiday Classic was a decidedly mixed bag for the Eagles, as they came away from the tournament with a 1-1-1 record. There were some positives, however, as they flashed their offensive prowess against Elk River and gave Edina a good run. They’re not quite ready to be readmitted to the state’s elite quite yet, but the potential is there. A strong holiday tournament could help prove that they’ve turned a corner.
This week: Sports Authority Holiday Classic

11. Grand Rapids (6-2-1)
-The Thunderhawks responded well after the ugly loss to Edina in the Holiday Classic opener, edging Elk River in overtime and earning a tie against Eden Prairie to match EP’s 1-1-1 mark in the tournament. It was a fairly strong showing considering that they’re still missing Jake Bischoff, but the Edina game shows they’re not quite ready to compete with the deepest of the AA teams at this point in the season.
This week: Perpich North-South Challenge

12. Duluth East (4-2)
-The Hounds had a choppy week, losing an ugly one against Centennial and rallying from a 2-0 hole to get by Andover in a key section contest. They need a quality showing in the Schwan Cup to prove they belong this high, but the lopsided shot counts in their two losses suggest the talent is there, if they can manage to put together a complete game.
This week: Schwan Cup Gold

13. Elk River (5-4)
-The Elks played decently in all three Edina Classic games but still drew a blank, going 0-3 against three quality teams. The Grand Rapids loss was particularly tough for section seeding, but they also demonstrated some quality depth and grit; if they can find their scoring touch, they’ll be in good shape when all is said and done in 7AA.
This week: Sports Authority Holiday Classic

14. Bloomington Jefferson (6-1)
-It hasn’t always been pretty, but the Jaguars are consistently putting together wins against above average competition, and head into St. Louis Park as a potential sleeper without much to lose. I’m not convinced they have the defense to hang with the top teams, but this next week will test that in a hurry. It’s worth pointing out that this team was winless at this point last season—what a difference a year makes.
This week: Sports Authority Holiday Classic

15. Andover (4-4)
-Let one get away against Duluth East, which will cost them in terms of section seeding. The Eden Prairie win keeps them afloat in the top fifteen, but they’re going to need more offensive output if they want to stay up here, and a muddled Schwan Cup Silver could easily cost them their spot in the top fifteen. Time to see how real this team is.
This week: Schwan Cup Silver

On the Bubble

Moorhead (6-3-1)
-The tie against Minnetonka is the first big positive in this season for the Spuds, and suggests they’ll have a shot against other top teams as the season goes on. If the defense continues to improve, 8AA could have a dangerous representative at State after all. We’ll see if they can muster a decent showing in St. Louis Park to back up that tie.

Holy Family (5-3)
-A big win over East Ridge is another step in the right direction, and they’ve had no trouble showing they can score some goals in the early going. I’m still waiting for a win of some significance before sending this program into the AA top 15, though. The Fire are not in a holiday tournament, and are idle this coming week.

Prior Lake (3-4)
-The loss to Eagan suggests the Lakers still are a step behind many of the top teams, close Edina loss notwithstanding. A strong showing in the Schwan Cup Silver would be an important step toward showing that was more than one fortunate game.

Mounds View (4-1-2)
-Were idle this past week, and have yet to play a team ranked very highly, but they stay up here in recognition of their early-season success in an otherwise confused conference. We’ll get a better idea of how real they are in the Schwan Cup Bronze.

Lakeville South (3-4)
-The Cougars had one of the more nonsensical weeks you’ll ever see, losing to Bloomington Kennedy before turning around and thumping Lakeville North to grab frontrunner status in 1AA. On that note, it’s hard to know what to expect heading into the Schwan Cup Silver.

Watch list: Maple Grove, Roseau, Lakeville North, Cloquet, Hopkins, the SEC mess

And now, a preview of the holiday tournaments involving AA contenders:

Schwan Cup Gold
Wednesday-Friday
5 Minnetonka
2 Hill-Murray
3 Blaine
9 Burnsville
Breck
12 Duluth East
1 Edina
St. Thomas Academy
-This field is always loaded, but with some of the top teams in the St. Louis Park tournament off to slow starts, it may be stronger than ever, at least in terms of the rankings. The opening battle between Minnetonka and Hill is an intriguing game between defensive-minded squads, while the Blaine-Burnsville game is an interesting match-up of depth versus top-end talent. Duluth East seems to have won the easy draw in Breck, but they’ve been knocked off by the Mustangs in this tournament before. The biggest game on opening day will be Edina versus St. Thomas, which is probably a contest between the top two teams in the state at this point in the season. Regardless of what happens on day one, there will be plenty of intrigue throughout this one.

Sports Authority Holiday Classic
(formerly St. Louis Park Tournament)
Thursday-Saturday
14 Bloomington Jefferson
8 Wayzata
10 Eden Prairie
Moorhead
Lakeville North
4 Benilde-St. Margaret’s
13 Elk River
Maple Grove
-This tournament remains the state’s second-best, with plenty of high-quality competition on display. As usual, the most interesting storyline here involves the 6AA teams; they’re probably the most talented squads in the field, and with zero games among them to date, this tournament could set the tone for the section seeding race. They’ve done a good job of spreading the most talented teams around, which should make for some good match-ups on the second and third days, barring some upsets.

Schwan Cup Sliver
Wednesday-Friday
Prior Lake
Apple Valley
Stillwater
15 Andover
Lakeville South
Roseville
7 Centennial
Holy Angels
-As usual, there’s plenty of intrigue here, even if the talent level isn’t near that of the other two big-name tourneys. Centennial is the favorite on paper, but NWSC foe Andover and Prior Lake could certainly put things together and contend here. Inconsistent Lakeville South is in the picture and has a fortunate first round draw; Stillwater can’t be completely ignored after their win over Minnetonka, and Holy Angels remains something of an unknown, though Centennial is a tough opening draw for them. As with the St. Louis Park tournament, the good teams are spread out well.

Schwan Cup Bronze
Wednesday-Friday
St. Paul Academy
Orono
Cretin-Derham Hall
Rogers
Blake
Champlin Park
Mounds View
Forest Lake
-The field here is a bit stronger than usual, with three SEC contenders propping it up. The first-round battle between Mounds View and Forest Lake, a re-match of a December game won comfortably by the Mustangs, might be the most interesting; Cretin lurks as the favorite to play the winner of that game in the final.

South St. Paul Premier Tournament
Wednesday-Friday
Woodbury
Hastings
Hermantown
Anoka
6 Eagan
North St. Paul
New Prague
South St. Paul
-The addition of Hermantown and positive signs from teams like Hastings and Anoka mean this tournament probably won’t be the total cakewalk it’s been for Eagan the past few years, though they did end up on the easier side of the bracket. Three wins should be the expectation for the Wildcats, though I’m curious to see how the top half of the bracket shakes out.

Perpich North-South Challenge
Thursday-Saturday
11 Grand Rapids
Hibbing
Virginia
Mahtomedi
St. Francis
White Bear Lake
-The only game of any interest in this set of nine north-versus-south games will likely be the Rapids-White Bear game on the final day; while the Thunderhawks are the favorite, the Bears have enough talent to cause some problems if enough goes right.

Other AA teams of note:
-Cloquet is in the Heritage Hockey Classic in Duluth, where they are in desperate need of three wins if they want to get on the road back to ranking relevance. The field in this tournament is down some from previous years; Duluth Denfeld, Rosemount, and Bemidji probably have the best shots at the Jacks.
-As usual, Roseau hosts a tournament, though Hopkins could provide some rare stiff competition this year; other teams of note include Alexandria, and a few visitors from North Dakota.

Responses to questions and comments might be a bit slower this week due to holiday travel and festivities, but don't let that stop you. Merry Christmas, everyone, and enjoy some quality hockey after your family celebrations this week.

northwoods oldtimer · Post by **northwoods oldtimer** » Sun Dec 23, 2012 9:56 am

I would wholeheartedly agree with you Karl on Centennial. These are the types of success stories that make the game great in Minnesota. Once again great work...the best Sunday morning read by far.

Merry Christmas

scorekeeper · Post by **scorekeeper** » Sun Dec 23, 2012 10:41 am

Excellent stuff. Thanks Karl.

I think this is pretty close to how it will shake out by seasons end. The only exception, IMO, is that Blaine will end up battling Centennial in the 6/7 spot and the others (Tonka, BSM, Eagan) move up a spot. BSM should also climb back up to the 2 spot once they get healthy, but overall, things are really starting to solidify.

The only other comment I have is on the Wildcats schedule, which continues to be very under-rated. This week they will compete with Hermantown (ranked #6 overall in combined rankings and #2 in Class A) at the SSP Tournament before resuming an SSC schedule which includes no less than 7 of the Top 20 teams in the State.

There aren't a whole bunch of soft spots for Eagan this season, as 15 of the 25 games on their schedule come against the Top 20 and 5-7 of those are against the Top 10. That's very comparable to the toughest schedules in the State, with the notable exception of some Lake Conference teams.

Edina also has no games remaining against higher ranked opponents. When there aren't many teams ranked higher than you it's tough to have many. Especially when you have already played them.

Some really key games this week that will answer many questions. A couple I have my on are;

Hill Murray v Minnetonka - settle it once and for all, (or at least once and for now) which one is ahead of which

Burnsville vs Blaine - will go a long ways to establishing conference strength and we find out here if Blaine's win over BSM was a fluke or not

St. Thomas vs Edina - End the speculation. If they played in AA this year - ARE they the best in the State? Can make a strong case with a win here.

tonkafan77 · Post by **tonkafan77** » Sun Dec 23, 2012 11:20 am

scorekeeper wrote:
Edina also has no games remaining against higher ranked opponents. When there aren't many teams ranked higher than you it's tough to have many. Especially when you have already played them..

Edina plays Tonka twice, EP twice and Wayzata twice in Conference play. I'd say those are 6 pretty good games. Not to mention the 3 possible games in the Cup this week.

scorekeeper · Post by **scorekeeper** » Sun Dec 23, 2012 1:19 pm

tonkafan77 wrote:
scorekeeper wrote:
Edina also has no games remaining against higher ranked opponents. When there aren't many teams ranked higher than you it's tough to have many. Especially when you have already played them..
Edina plays Tonka twice, EP twice and Wayzata twice in Conference play. I'd say those are 6 pretty good games. Not to mention the 3 possible games in the Cup this week.

Very good teams, but not higher ranked. Eagan also has tough games left against at least 2 teams who have beat EP (Burnsville & Lakeville North), played to a goal with Edina (Prior Lake) and ranked as high as or higher than Wayzata (Burnsville, Hermantown, Jefferson), and possibly as high as Minnetonka (Burnsville, Hermantown).

Point is, the Eagan schedule is right in the ballpark with the other top schedules in the State

HShockeywatcher · Post by **HShockeywatcher** » Sun Dec 23, 2012 2:50 pm

scorekeeper wrote:Point is, the Eagan schedule is right in the ballpark with the other top schedules in the State

You can tweak the numbers of who they play all you want, but Eagan has three four if you are reaching) notable opponents left; Jefferson, Burnsville possibly Hermantown, maybe Prior Lake.
Considering how they beat each of the three they have already played, they will clearly be the favorite in all of their remaining games, by a lot.

I expect them to drop one somewhere, since it's hard to not lose, win 3AA with a record of 26-2 or 25-3 and be the 4th or 5th seed behind Edina, Hill, 6AA, and possibly Blaine.
It's not a knock at them, it's a fact about their schedule, they play one more top team in the state. They are a good team and will have an opportunity for many players to get play time and develop, which will be good for them.

Seeing how they've done recently and with only 7 seniors on their roster, it would make sense [to me] for them to get in a different holiday tournament and add another top team or two to the later part of their schedule for the next couple years.

green4 · Post by **green4** » Sun Dec 23, 2012 4:47 pm

scorekeeper wrote:
tonkafan77 wrote:
scorekeeper wrote:
Edina also has no games remaining against higher ranked opponents. When there aren't many teams ranked higher than you it's tough to have many. Especially when you have already played them..
Edina plays Tonka twice, EP twice and Wayzata twice in Conference play. I'd say those are 6 pretty good games. Not to mention the 3 possible games in the Cup this week.
Very good teams, but not higher ranked. Eagan also has tough games left against at least 2 teams who have beat EP (Burnsville & Lakeville North), played to a goal with Edina (Prior Lake) and ranked as high as or higher than Wayzata (Burnsville, Hermantown, Jefferson), and possibly as high as Minnetonka (Burnsville, Hermantown).

Point is, the Eagan schedule is right in the ballpark with the other top schedules in the State

See the difference here is, edina plays all of these teams twice, or 3 times. Wayzata 3 times, EP 3 times, tonka twice maybe 3 after the tourney this week. while you mention burnsville and Hermantown, edina will play bVille in the regular season and most likely in sections and edina plays St.thomas who i think many would agree is better than hermantown.
Both teams play Hill murray. but thats kind of where Eagans tough schedule ends.

after the regular season, both will have hill murray while eagan has one more game against Bville, and then hermantown and edina will have at least one more game against tonka if not two, they will have centennial, Elk river, Grand rapids, St. Thomas, either Duluth East or Breck,and then both 3 games against EP and Wayzata

I'm glad your supporting your team and all but your just kidding yourself if you think Eagan has as hard as a schedule as teams in the Lake conference o

scorekeeper · Post by **scorekeeper** » Sun Dec 23, 2012 4:52 pm

green4 wrote: I'm glad your supporting your team and all but your just kidding yourself if you think Eagan has as hard as a schedule as teams in the Lake conference o

ummmm

scorekeeper wrote: There aren't a whole bunch of soft spots for Eagan this season, as 15 of the 25 games on their schedule come against the Top 20 and 5-7 of those are against the Top 10. That's very comparable to the toughest schedules in the State, with the notable exception of some Lake Conference teams.

scorekeeper · Post by **scorekeeper** » Sun Dec 23, 2012 5:02 pm

HShockeywatcher wrote: I expect them to drop one somewhere, since it's hard to not lose, win 3AA with a record of 26-2 or 25-3 and be the 4th or 5th seed behind Edina, Hill, 6AA, and possibly Blaine.

That sounds about right (knock on wood). 4th seed behind Edina, Hill & BSM sounds right.

Not convinced on Blaine yet. Not sure they are best in their section, let alone Top 8. We'll see how they do this week.

almostashappy · Post by **almostashappy** » Sun Dec 23, 2012 5:10 pm

HShockeywatcher wrote: It's not a knock at them, it's a fact about their schedule, they play one more top team in the state. They are a good team and will have an opportunity for many players to get play time and develop, which will be good for them.

Seeing how they've done recently and with only 7 seniors on their roster, it would make sense [to me] for them to get in a different holiday tournament and add another top team or two to the later part of their schedule for the next couple years.

Eagan has a 17 game conference schedule. Leave aside the issue of which holiday tournament they should play in...just note that playing in any tourney ties up another 3 games. That only leaves room for 5 non-conference opponents. Hastings has been 1 of those 5 for as long as I can remember, and a home-and-home two-year schedule with East Ridge makes sense from a Section seeding standpoint (if not this year, sometime in the future).

That leaves 3 open spots. Two years ago, it was EP, Edina, Tonka. Last year EP, Tonka, HM. This year, with the chance to play in one of the Hockey Day games, there were only two open spots for HM and Tonka. Next year the Cats will have that Hockey Day slot back open. But then if Farmington is joining SSC will they lose 2 more slots to conference play? Have to wait until the dust settles on any additions or subtractions to a conference schedule before we can dream about high-flying non-conf matchups in the second half of future seasons.

Slap Shot · Post by **Slap Shot** » Sun Dec 23, 2012 5:42 pm

scorekeeper is again trying too hard because there is no way you can compare the remaining schedules of Edina and Eagan. Edina can't play a higher ranked team than themselves when they're currently #1 yet that doesn't matter because they can play teams rated higher than Eagan will play and across the board the rest of the way that is true.

green4 · Post by **green4** » Sun Dec 23, 2012 8:14 pm

scorekeeper wrote:
green4 wrote: I'm glad your supporting your team and all but your just kidding yourself if you think Eagan has as hard as a schedule as teams in the Lake conference o
ummmm
scorekeeper wrote: There aren't a whole bunch of soft spots for Eagan this season, as 15 of the 25 games on their schedule come against the Top 20 and 5-7 of those are against the Top 10. That's very comparable to the toughest schedules in the State, with the notable exception of some Lake Conference teams.

i must have missed that but none the less, there schedule is softer than teams like hill murray, Benilde, Duluth east and moorhead, of elite teams eagan i think has kind of a soft schedule and a lot of that has to do with there large conference which dosen't let them have many non-confrence along with the fact 3 or so teams in the conference are not the best, and also there holiday tournament if they would play in St.louis park or a schwan cup they would get better competition

HShockeywatcher · Post by **HShockeywatcher** » Sun Dec 23, 2012 9:17 pm

almostashappy wrote:Eagan has a 17 game conference schedule. Leave aside the issue of which holiday tournament they should play in...just note that playing in any tourney ties up another 3 games. That only leaves room for 5 non-conference opponents. Hastings has been 1 of those 5 for as long as I can remember, and a home-and-home two-year schedule with East Ridge makes sense from a Section seeding standpoint (if not this year, sometime in the future).

That does explain a lot.

The only real response I can have is that we can't just "leave aside the issue of which holiday tournament they should play in." I don't know the process, but it's likely they could've been in the Schwan Cup if they wanted. Even if they had to suffer through the Bronze division this year, it would be comparible to the tournament they're in now and put them in Silver next year, although my guess is they'd have been able to get into Silver.
Or, not play in one; that opens up three games...

Just a couple thoughts. Not that they will come to me for scheduling advice though

With such a large conference and adding another team, I'd be curious if there'd be discussion about not playing home and away games with everyone.

almostashappy · Post by **almostashappy** » Sun Dec 23, 2012 9:43 pm

HShockeywatcher wrote: The only real response I can have is that we can't just "leave aside the issue of which holiday tournament they should play in." I don't know the process, but it's likely they could've been in the Schwan Cup if they wanted. Even if they had to suffer through the Bronze division this year, it would be comparible to the tournament they're in now and put them in Silver next year, although my guess is they'd have been able to get into Silver.
Or, not play in one; that opens up three games...

Just a couple thoughts. Not that they will come to me for scheduling advice though
With such a large conference and adding another team, I'd be curious if there'd be discussion about not playing home and away games with everyone.

It's potentially two additions...Shakopee's application is pending. If the rumors about Jefferson and Kennedy leaving don't pan out, then you've got a 12 team conference. That would make the argument against home-and-home even stronger. I wouldn't mind that at all...six less conference games would allow for more games against both "elite" teams and section opponents.

So now that I've helped this thread really go off-topic...

scorekeeper · Post by **scorekeeper** » Mon Dec 24, 2012 12:16 am

Slap Shot wrote:scorekeeper is again trying too hard because there is no way you can compare the remaining schedules of Edina and Eagan.

ummm ...

once again ...

scorekeeper wrote: That's very comparable to the toughest schedules in the State, with the notable exception of some Lake Conference teams.

Slap Shot wrote:Edina can't play a higher ranked team than themselves when they're currently #1

Bravo. It took a while but you got there. That's exactly my point. Tough to play teams ahead of you when there aren't any/many

scorekeeper · Post by **scorekeeper** » Mon Dec 24, 2012 12:20 am

green4 wrote: i must have missed that but none the less, there schedule is softer than teams like hill murray, Benilde, Duluth east and moorhead, of elite teams eagan i think has kind of a soft schedule and a lot of that has to do with there large conference which dosen't let them have many non-confrence

That's been the knock, but my position is that the entire conference is being under-rated. The conference currently boasts 7 of the top 20 AA teams in the State. Add in the non-conference portion where Eagan plays Hill Murray, Minnetonka and Hermantown and I'm not sure how anyone can say that Eagan somehow plays a soft schedule.

We'll find out more as we go along, but so far the conference has played pretty tough against the top teams.

scorekeeper · Post by **scorekeeper** » Mon Dec 24, 2012 12:35 am

You mention Moorhead. Just a quick comparison based on the current standings shows Moorhead with 5 games against the Top 10 and an additional 8 games against the 11-20th ranked teams.

By comparison Eagan has 9 games vs the Top 10 on their schedule and another 5 against teams ranked 11-20.

Based on current rankings Eagan's schedule is tougher than Moorheads.

Duluth East has only 2 games scheduled against Top 10 teams and another 5 scheduled against the 11th-20th ranked teams. (not including the 2 pending games at Schwanns). Based on the latest rankings East schedule is considerably weaker than Eagans.

I realize that rankings will change through the season and that no single ranking is authorative, but my point wasn't that Eagan's schedule was tougher than any particular team - just that it was in the ballpark with the toughest schedules in the state , which it clearly is.

(****LAKE CONFERENCE EXCEPTED****)

source: mnhockeyrankings.com

northwoods oldtimer · Post by **northwoods oldtimer** » Mon Dec 24, 2012 1:05 am

Merry Christmas to all!

green4 · Post by **green4** » Mon Dec 24, 2012 1:11 am

scorekeeper wrote:You mention Moorhead. Just a quick comparison based on the current standings shows Moorhead with 5 games against the Top 10 and an additional 8 games against the 11-20th ranked teams.

By comparison Eagan has 9 games vs the Top 10 on their schedule and another 5 against teams ranked 11-20.

Based on current rankings Eagan's schedule is tougher than Moorheads.

Duluth East has only 2 games scheduled against Top 10 teams and another 5 scheduled against the 11th-20th ranked teams. (not including the 2 pending games at Schwanns). Based on the latest rankings East schedule is considerably weaker than Eagans.

I realize that rankings will change through the season and that no single ranking is authorative, but my point wasn't that Eagan's schedule was tougher than any particular team - just that it was in the ballpark with the toughest schedules in the state , which it clearly is. (****LAKE CONFERENCE EXCEPTED****)

source: mnhockeyrankings.com

Duluth east plays:wayzata, Centennial, Andover, Breck, either edina or STA, and then another team from the schwan's cup, Blaine, moorhead, Duluth den field (beat hermantown), grand rapids, EP, and tonka

Moorhead plays: BSM, Roseau twice (if you think there good) centennial, blaine, tonka, EP, than 2 more teams from the SLP tourney, Duluth east, Breck, EGF, Grand Rapids and Hill murray

Eagan plays: Hill-Murray, Tonka, hermantown (maybe)and Burnsville twice and then teams on the bubble twice like jefferson, prior lake and the lakevilles

I don't quite see where 9 games from the top 10 for eagan comes from i see only 5. and only 2 for duluth east??? Tonka, blaine, Wayzata, Centennial and EP at the end of there season should start to come around plus the 2 good teams from the schwans cup

Carl Racki · Post by **Carl Racki** » Mon Dec 24, 2012 6:12 am

FINE EAGAN IS THE BEST, GO EAGAN!
Impossible to debate with these absolute biased homers

Great job Karl! It has been an interesting start this year with a lot of unsuspecting losses. Maybe high school hockey is becoming like the NFL with more parody.

Tigers33 · Post by **Tigers33** » Mon Dec 24, 2012 8:31 am

Toughest schedule ever!!

Couldn't the argument be made for most the top 15 teams. Eagan has the toughest schedule, EXCEPT for the other 9 teams in the top 10.

scorekeeper · Post by **scorekeeper** » Mon Dec 24, 2012 8:37 am

Tigers33 wrote:Toughest schedule ever!!

Couldn't the argument be made for most the top 15 teams.

Yes. Yes it could. That's what I have been saying all along.

scorekeeper wrote:Point is, the Eagan schedule is right in the ballpark with the other top schedules in the State

scorekeeper · Post by **scorekeeper** » Mon Dec 24, 2012 8:50 am

green4 wrote: I don't quite see where 9 games from the top 10 for eagan comes from i see only 5. and only 2 for duluth east???

www.mnhockeyrankings.com

almostashappy · Post by **almostashappy** » Mon Dec 24, 2012 8:50 am

Carl Racki wrote:FINE EAGAN IS THE BEST, GO EAGAN!
Impossible to debate with these absolute biased homers

Great job Karl! It has been an interesting start this year with a lot of unsuspecting losses. Maybe high school hockey is becoming like the NFL with more parody.

No, your comment just proves that it's the high school hockey message boards that have more parody these days.

MNpuckBlog · Post by **MNpuckBlog** » Mon Dec 24, 2012 9:56 am

scorekeeper wrote:
HShockeywatcher wrote: I expect them to drop one somewhere, since it's hard to not lose, win 3AA with a record of 26-2 or 25-3 and be the 4th or 5th seed behind Edina, Hill, 6AA, and possibly Blaine.
That sounds about right (knock on wood). 4th seed behind Edina, Hill & BSM sounds right.

Not convinced on Blaine yet. Not sure they are best in their section, let alone Top 8. We'll see how they do this week.

#3 might be a bit high on Blaine pending their results in the Schwans Cup Gold this weekend, but I do think so far they have established themselves atop of 5AA. They haven't played Maple Grove so that will be a test, but with how Centennial has been doing, the win over Centennial looks good for Blaine even though they only won 2-1 with shots being 50-23. Centennials goalie is going to steal some games for them this year, and that might cause the most trouble for opposing 5AA teams.