Perhaps howardst has more perspective than you might think. And this isn't just directed at stromboli because only people who follow northern class A hockey closely might realize this. Here is why he brought this up:stromboli wrote:But please, try to use a little bit of perspective. Did you really ask who wants to play Virginia? Citing a team with a losing record against average competition as to how strong 7A is and "quality?"howardst wrote:
Who wants to play Virginia right now? Hmmmmm. So 5 quality teams in this section. Not 3. All quality wins no matter the scores
Virginia 5, #16A Little Falls 4 OT
#19AA Brainerd 5, Virginia 3
#4A Hibbing 3, Virginia 2 (Winning goal scored in last minute)
#9A Greenway 4, Virginia 3 OT
(LPH rankings used here)
Other than those 3 tight losses to top ranked teams, and after starting 2-6-2, Virginia has won every game since another overtime loss to Eagan on Dec. 22nd.
Also, their losses are either to quality AA teams (Cloquet, Grand Rapids, Brainerd, Eagan) or ranked class A teams (Denfeld, Greenway-twice, Hibbing) and the other was an early season 2-1 loss to Warroad - who, by the way would be ranked #16 in class A by pagestat. The only team that actually buried them was Grand Rapids... and that game was still 3-2 with a minute left in the 2nd period before the floodgates opened...
The point being their schedule is actually very good for class A. They still have games with Apollo, Cathedral, Hibbing, and Hermantown as well. To say "against average competition" is probably incorrect. They haven't lost to anyone in the "average" part of their schedule.
In fact, if you take the latest pagestat rankings for just class A teams, Virginia comes in just outside the top 20 at #22. I suspect that will improve with the overtime loss to Greenway and a 5-1 win added in on the next run.
Although they have a 7-9-2 record, they are 6 goals away from being 13-5. Don't let the record fool you... Both Hibbing and Greenway will attest to that.