7AA Final: #2 Grand Rapids vs. #1 Duluth East

pipersniper12 · Post by **pipersniper12** » Fri Mar 01, 2013 9:07 am

Good game last night. Although it wasn't the outcome I wanted, East was the better team. I heard a lot of complaining during the game, about how poor GR played last night but lets face it, THAT'S WHAT A GOOD OPPONENT WILL MAKE IT LOOK LIKE. Hats off to GR on a great season and all of the great memories they made over the years.

As far as the refs, get over it! Sure there were some questionable calls but that is hockey.

Congrats to DE and best of luck at state. They are fun to watch and have a dominant team. The only potential weakness I see in this team, is the lack of pressure on their goalie all year. Statistics show Parker as one of the top goalies in the state, which he very well may be, but the #1 defensive team in the state may "sugar coat" those stats a bit. When he's playing at the top of his game, DE is definitely the team to beat in high school hockey.

TennJed · Post by **TennJed** » Fri Mar 01, 2013 9:07 am

Northwoods- Not sure of length of futility. Not worth the effort to keep track. Sure it will continue though. This GR ABSOLUTELY had the talent to earn the section title.

SB65 · Post by **SB65** » Fri Mar 01, 2013 9:08 am

Took my boys and some of their friends to the game last night. Well worth the drive as it was a fun game to watch with a great atmosphere. Not a fan of DE or GR so some nuetral observations:

- DE goalie was very solid/poised. Will give them a shot next weekend.
- DE overall skill level not as high as past teams but played their system well.
- GR player was destroyed when loading up for the one-timer in the third period. Puck was still 8-10 feet away when hit - terrible non call.
- GR #8 was absolute money in the faceoff circle. I'd be curious what his winning % was last night.
- Older boys I brought were impressed with the number of good looking girls at the game.

Fun game, glad we went. Good luck to DE next weekend!

wannagototherink · Post by **wannagototherink** » Fri Mar 01, 2013 9:39 am

I think Mike Randolph deserves a lot of credit for the job he's done this year. His team looked as prepared and relaxed as any East team ever has under his leadership last night. He himself looks relaxed and looks like he's having a whole lot of fun. I am happy for him and the team. I hope he sticks around for a while longer. I know there is a lot of speculation about when he's going to hang it up but I personally I hope for the programs sake he decides to stay for a bit longer. I don't think the cupboard is as bare as others do.

old goalie85 · Post by **old goalie85** » Fri Mar 01, 2013 9:42 am

Congrats to all the kids.

preferhockey · Post by **preferhockey** » Fri Mar 01, 2013 9:43 am

Coaching will determine next season, Banam rankings can give an indication but it is coaching that makes a difference at the HS level.

dangle_snipe · Post by **dangle_snipe** » Fri Mar 01, 2013 9:49 am

preferhockey wrote:Coaching will determine next season, Banam rankings can give an indication but it is coaching that makes a difference at the HS level.

Coaching is the most over rated aspect o highschool hockey.

pekyman · Post by **pekyman** » Fri Mar 01, 2013 10:29 am

preferhockey wrote:Coaching will determine next season, Banam rankings can give an indication but it is coaching that makes a difference at the HS level.

Well, this current group of Seniors and Juniors were rated #1 pretty much the entire season when they were Bantam A. Same with last years group.
I think it's a bit more than an indication.

MrBoDangles · Post by **MrBoDangles** » Fri Mar 01, 2013 10:42 am

pekyman wrote:
preferhockey wrote:Coaching will determine next season, Banam rankings can give an indication but it is coaching that makes a difference at the HS level.
Well, this current group of Seniors and Juniors were rated #1 pretty much the entire season when they were Bantam A. Same with last years group.
I think it's a bit more than an indication.

This is like a real life version of the Mighty Ducks story.

MrBoDangles · Post by **MrBoDangles** » Fri Mar 01, 2013 10:44 am

But still can't touch the magic of a Lechner....

hockey59 · Post by **hockey59** » Fri Mar 01, 2013 10:48 am

dangle_snipe wrote:
preferhockey wrote:Coaching will determine next season, Banam rankings can give an indication but it is coaching that makes a difference at the HS level.
Coaching is the most over rated aspect o highschool hockey.

It's takes both, talent + coaching. DE wouldn't have won as many 7AA titles without MR and his staff; conversely MR and his staff...wouldn't have been to State as often coaching say...(you can fill in the blank)...as their are many great traditional AA programs whose player numbers have dropped in the past 10 years.

Watching the game last night on the my45 website...I found myself pulling for GR...b/c DE has won what? 14 of 20...and has a lot of factors in their favor in Section 7AA (playing at Amsoil for essentially a home game being one of several factors)...That said, I respect DE's team and their coaching...and think they have as good a chance as any team to win State this year.

But going forward, I see ER and GR being stronger on paper (at least next year) and Andover to be a factor in 7AA down the road. Not saying DE doesn't have great players in the pipeline the next 5 yrs or so...just not as many as the past 10 years (when players leaving to attend DM are factored in).

dangle_snipe · Post by **dangle_snipe** » Fri Mar 01, 2013 10:57 am

hockey59 wrote:
dangle_snipe wrote:
preferhockey wrote:Coaching will determine next season, Banam rankings can give an indication but it is coaching that makes a difference at the HS level.
Coaching is the most over rated aspect o highschool hockey.
It's takes both, talent + coaching. DE wouldn't have won as many 7AA titles without MR and his staff; conversely MR and his staff...wouldn't have been to State as often coaching say...(you can fill in the blank)...as their are many great traditional AA programs whose player numbers have dropped in the past 10 years.

Watching the game last night on the my45 website...I found pmyself pulling for GR...b/c DE has won what? 14 of 20...and has a lot of factors in their favor in Section 7AA (playing at Amsoil for essentially a home game being one of several factors)...That said, I respect DE's team and their coaching...and think they have as good a chance as any team to win State this year.

But going forward, I see ER and GR being stronger on paper (at least next year) and Andover to be a factor in 7AA down the road. Not saying DE doesn't have great players in the pipeline the next 5 yrs or so...just not as many as the past 10 years (when players leaving to attend DM are factored in).

I'm not saying coaching isn't important, it's just not as important as others make it out to be.

I was pulling for GR as well due to the East Dominance over the years. I was honestly questioning some of GRs coaching decisions but who knows if it would have made a difference. The bottem line is it comes down to the players .

slyer · Post by **slyer** » Fri Mar 01, 2013 11:05 am

duluth east alum as a ref. please tell me this isn't the case, whats next

alcloseshaver · Post by **alcloseshaver** » Fri Mar 01, 2013 11:14 am

Would have been nice to see Rapids win but have to give credit to East. How good would they have been with Valesano?
Does Rapids ever have kids leave early? Are all their kids from within the program? Next few years should be very competitive in 7AA.
Rapids has alot returning, ER is young and returns their goalie and has a #4 ranked bantam team with a good goalie. East will always be there. What about CEC for next year?

dulutheastfan · Post by **dulutheastfan** » Fri Mar 01, 2013 11:27 am

Woulda Coulda Shoulda, enough of the excuses, its hockey and refs miss and make calls that could be debated it happens all the way up to the NHL.

Duluth 4 · Post by **Duluth 4** » Fri Mar 01, 2013 12:14 pm

slyer wrote:duluth east alum as a ref. please tell me this isn't the case, whats next

There is no way the MSHSL would let that fly, I am sure this is coming out of the range. The no call really did not look that terrible to me as if the GR player was not wound up so early to put himself off balance he would not have gone down so easy. Could it have been called? Sure. That isn't an excuse to blow someone up from behind on the boards. Also, the refs were looking for a make up call and that came in the form of a too many men call that I have never seen called so strict with 2 minutes left in a section final. East was the better team last night, however GR definitely had chances and could have pulled that one out. Best of luck to the hounds next weekend.

StreetStix · Post by **StreetStix** » Fri Mar 01, 2013 12:40 pm

Its pretty funny how perspective affects reaction.

All of the DE fans near me were saying the orange band on the ref's arms was in support of GR because of their horrible officiating and that GR wouldn't have even been in the game if the refs hadn't gifted them so many calls. Multiple missed tripping calls, an extremely weak hooking call on DE, the icing call at the end, the odd too many men call at the end. I'm not looking to get in a pissing match with someone on here about all this stuff cause frankly its done and gone and I'm just repeating what I was hearing. I just wanted to point out how its funny how every team thinks they get screwed by the refs at some point. In my opinion, the refs did a poor job in this game on both sides but in the end it looked like the better team won. I would've cheered for either one at state so it wasn't a huge deal for me.

Side note, I think its unusual how much discontent I've heard from GR fans this year regarding LaRoque's coaching - most of it centered around him playing his kids when they may be liabilities. Has this been around for a while?

inthestands · Post by **inthestands** » Fri Mar 01, 2013 2:00 pm

dulutheastfan wrote:Woulda Coulda Shoulda, enough of the excuses, its hockey and refs miss and make calls that could be debated it happens all the way up to the NHL.

And there are some times when the fans perspective is a bit skewed due to team loyalty, kids playing, home town likes or what ever.

It's all perspective, and most hockey fans are not educated on the rules.

If they have never officiated, it's unclear what constitues a penalty calling scenario.

Not all situtations are the same, but when we have wants for a certain team to succeed, all rational goes out the window..

Bottom line, if you can score more goals than the other team, no matter the obsticles get put in front of you, the only thing you have to worry about is your next game...

Detlef · Post by **Detlef** » Fri Mar 01, 2013 2:43 pm

Reading online I'm amazed at the size of the crowd. There must not have been many open seats. Crazy. Wish I lived close so I could have went. Those who went to the game, how did the building look (open seats, etc)?

StreetStix wrote:Its pretty funny how perspective affects reaction.

inthestands wrote:It's all perspective, and most hockey fans are not educated on the rules.

If they have never officiated, it's unclear what constitues a penalty calling scenario.

Not all situtations are the same, but when we have wants for a certain team to succeed, all rational goes out the window..

Yes to both of these. Having gone to plenty of games where I had no team I was rooting for it's pretty easy to tell just how much rooting for a team changes what you see.

Still it's not all that. Sadly there's a ton of educated hockey people who get bent out of shape over stuff that's not even done to their team. There's plenty of the "they're not being consistent" fans and "a penalty is a penalty" fans out there. I really don't understand either of them. Both go hand in hand. If every single thing isn't called the refs "aren't being consistent".

Basically people expect perfection from the refs. Myself I don't expect everything will get called and frankly I don't want everything called. So being that way I never get upset about a call or non-call.

Post by **karl(east)** » Fri Mar 01, 2013 4:03 pm

Detlef wrote:Reading online I'm amazed at the size of the crowd. There must not have been many open seats. Crazy. Wish I lived close so I could have went. Those who went to the game, how did the building look (open seats, etc)?

Not great pictures, but it gives you some idea:

There were scattered empty seats, clearly, but it was packed. I'm curious to see if UMD can manage a bigger student section than East at tonight's game...

A few other notes on some of the comments made:

-Yes, this East senior class was #1 for much of the season as Bantams, but they've lost Valesano from that group, and I think a few to Marshall as well. Moreover, that Bantam team didn't make it out of regions. They lost to this group from Grand Rapids. East has enjoyed a wealth of talent over the past few years, but that doesn't make anything easy, especially in a single-elimination playoff involving a bunch of hormonal teenagers. (Just ask Eagan how this is, despite the relatively easy path they had to State. Sorry to rub salt in the wound, Eagan fans.) After last season we had a lengthy doom-and-gloom thread about East's impending demise on here. Some of that may have been wishful thinking, but this team certainly could have been vulnerable to an upset. They've had a stronger season to date than I thought they would, though the final verdict isn't in yet.

-I'll save my speculation on the future of East and 7AA until after the Tourney (and after realignment happens, too).

-I understand Rapids' fans wish that their team had been a bit more ambitious offensively in the first two periods, but at the same time, I'm not sure they had a lot of options. The defensemen did start pinching in at one point in the 2nd, and East immediately started floating a forward along the blue line, and threatened to spring a few breakaways. GR quickly abandoned that approach, and rightfully so. If Rapids was going to win this one, I think it probably would've had to have been a mucky, 2-1 type game. Perhaps Bischoff could have put the team on his back--he nearly did--but I don't think they had the depth to skate with East for 3 periods. Letting in that early goal to the East 2nd line was a killer.

Doc Holliday · Post by **Doc Holliday** » Fri Mar 01, 2013 4:13 pm

Karl: I'm starting to see similarities to 2010 Edina, if that makes you feel better.

-Runner up two years before, after winning a semifinal OT game the night before
-#1 seed at while maybe not HEAVY favorite, the majority favorite, disappoints & has to settle for consolation.
-Next season without the expectations after losing some big players to graduation
-The #2 seed (most likely)

Post by **karl(east)** » Fri Mar 01, 2013 4:27 pm

Doc Holliday wrote:Karl: I'm starting to see similarities to 2010 Edina, if that makes you feel better.

-Runner up two years before, after winning a semifinal OT game the night before
-#1 seed at while maybe not HEAVY favorite, the majority favorite, disappoints & has to settle for consolation.
-Next season without the expectations after losing some big players to graduation
-The #2 seed (most likely)

Yeah, I do see the similarities. In fact, I think an East fan (not me) called this on the forum right after last season ended.

I'm just trying to take it one game at a time...and hopefully the team is, too.

northwoods oldtimer · Post by **northwoods oldtimer** » Fri Mar 01, 2013 5:55 pm

dulutheastfan wrote:Woulda Coulda Shoulda, enough of the excuses, its hockey and refs miss and make calls that could be debated it happens all the way up to the NHL.

Competent officials make that call a cross check or check from behind as it negates a legitimate scoring opportunity. If it is called correct as it should have been then the 5 minute major never happens. Nice to see the kid who "played dead" never took a shift off. I agree with you all on scores outcomes and all that. But let me state number 8 is high level NHL prospect with 60 some odd points he gets that shot off it is high percentage back of the net. Justify what you wish to see East fans it is pure nonsense to pretend that none call equates to a too many man penalty. Credibility of any officiating crew is in great compromise passing on a none call in that situation on that part of the ice period end of story especially against a bonafide East defense that is damn tough to gain slot shot against anyway[/b]

norcon · Post by **norcon** » Fri Mar 01, 2013 6:34 pm

northwoods oldtimer wrote:
dulutheastfan wrote:Woulda Coulda Shoulda, enough of the excuses, its hockey and refs miss and make calls that could be debated it happens all the way up to the NHL.
Competent officials make that call a cross check or check from behind as it negates a legitimate scoring opportunity. If it is called correct as it should have been then the 5 minute major never happens. Nice to see the kid who "played dead" never took a shift off. I agree with you all on scores outcomes and all that. But let me state number 8 is high level NHL prospect with 60 some odd points he gets that shot off it is high percentage back of the net. Justify what you wish to see East fans it is pure nonsense to pretend that none call equates to a too many man penalty. Credibility of any officiating crew is in great compromise passing on a none call in that situation on that part of the ice period end of story especially against a bonafide East defense that is damn tough to gain slot shot against anyway[/b]

Couldn't have stated the facts any better!

Immigrant Fan · Post by **Immigrant Fan** » Fri Mar 01, 2013 7:34 pm

Didn't get to see the game, so appreciate the discussion and assessments. Although terribly disappointed my team lost, perhaps this is where my immigrant fan status reveals - I'll be solidly behind East next weekend. Section 7 and northern Minnesota all the way!

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7AA Final: #2 Grand Rapids vs. #1 Duluth East

Who wins?