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Greenway Raiders

Posted: Sat Mar 09, 2019 12:13 am
by Jeffy95
After sorting through the threads tonight I figured that this team needs it's own thread. I apologize in advance if I'm over-reaching.

This team has been unbelievably fun to watch. I'm partial to the range teams for sure, but what we're watching is pretty special. For as good as Dante Lawson is, Ben Troumbly might be the best player in this entire tournament. For a kid his size, he does it all. I've watched every game of this tourney and nobody has the puck on a string like he does. And he uses his body so well even though he's small. He plays so much bigger than he is. When he committed to SCSU right out of Bantams, I was shaking my head like, "Really, this kid commits in 9th Grade?" I'm not shaking my head any more. Dante Lawson is not far behind. And for those of you around the State that are seeing them for the first time, I can tell you that they were even better in the Section Final. So they haven't even played their best game at State yet.

Lawson and Troumbly remind me a lot of Locker and Spehar. Except I think they're better. Yes, I said it. You can beat me up if you want. Spehar always talks about the hundreds of hours at Glen Avon with Locker where they came up with all of their creativity. I would love to know how many hours Lawson and Troumbly have in.

And their second line is damn good too. Like Karl said after the Section Final, they can hold serve with just about anybody.

The only concern for tomorrow is if they will have the legs after playing two lines for three games in four days. But for those who don't know, these kids won third place in Bantam A state with 10 total players. Ten kids on a Bantam team playing 17 minute periods. So they obviously played with even less when kids were hurt, sick, etc. In other words, they're used to logging some minutes.

The concern coming in was the first time State Tournament jitters. The announcers kept talking about it in the other games, saying sometimes it takes a period. I saw none of that from the Raiders. These kids grew up on the Range playing in the Snake Pit. For all of you Hockey fans around the State that have never been to the Snake Pit for a game, you need to put it on your bucket list.

The Greenway peeps are having a lot of fun tonight. Hopefully somebody warned St. Paul that they were coming!

Okay, I have to close now before all of the St. Cloud Cathedral fans jump on here and drown me out! One more time....

Eat em up, Eat em up, Go Big Green!! (Greenway Raider Fan will appreciate that.)

Re: Greenway Raiders

Posted: Sat Mar 09, 2019 1:03 am
by Browniemagoo
All aboard the Greenwaygon!

Re: Greenway Raiders

Posted: Sat Mar 09, 2019 1:27 am
by O-townClown
Jeffy95 wrote:
Sat Mar 09, 2019 12:13 am
I apologize in advance if I'm over-reaching.

This team has been unbelievably fun to watch.
I don't see any reason to apologize. Agree completely they are fun to watch. Such a great story. I think it is neat that parents from past teams (including 1987) have been this committed to seeing hockey at Greenway rather than just move into Grand Rapids or Duluth. Win or lose these kids, the families, and the towns should feel 10' tall.

Re: Greenway Raiders

Posted: Sat Mar 09, 2019 1:30 am
by Eastgreaser
It’s not healthy to have a man crush on teenage boys..ask mind of weird to compare them to two class AA players that played like 23 years ago....livin the dream. Do you ride around in your camaro blaring Bruce Springsteen’s “glory days”!?!?’

Re: Greenway Raiders

Posted: Sat Mar 09, 2019 2:32 am
by Jeffy95
Eastgreaser wrote:
Sat Mar 09, 2019 1:30 am
It’s not healthy to have a man crush on teenage boys..ask mind of weird to compare them to two class AA players that played like 23 years ago....livin the dream. Do you ride around in your camaro blaring Bruce Springsteen’s “glory days”!?!?’
Good to see you back Bigfoot12. I knew you couldn't stay away, LOL!

Re: Greenway Raiders

Posted: Sat Mar 09, 2019 7:08 am
by elliott70
Bantams play 15 minute periods in district, region and state tournaments.
Still impressive with 10 kids at bantams.

Re: Greenway Raiders

Posted: Sat Mar 09, 2019 7:19 am
by yesiplayedhockey
Greenway is why I love this tournament. So many stories. So many great things about the town, the history, the people. Then to top it off the kids are being kids and come Monday most of them will probably put their skates away for awhile and go fishing, play some baseball or put the tailgate down on dads truck and crank up some loud country music ( ok many will get back to playing their fortnight but you catch my drift i hope)

Re: Greenway Raiders

Posted: Sat Mar 09, 2019 7:44 am
by northwoods oldtimer
Jeffy95 wrote:
Sat Mar 09, 2019 12:13 am
After sorting through the threads tonight I figured that this team needs it's own thread. I apologize in advance if I'm over-reaching.

This team has been unbelievably fun to watch. I'm partial to the range teams for sure, but what we're watching is pretty special. For as good as Dante Lawson is, Ben Troumbly might be the best player in this entire tournament. For a kid his size, he does it all. I've watched every game of this tourney and nobody has the puck on a string like he does. And he uses his body so well even though he's small. He plays so much bigger than he is. When he committed to SCSU right out of Bantams, I was shaking my head like, "Really, this kid commits in 9th Grade?" I'm not shaking my head any more. Dante Lawson is not far behind. And for those of you around the State that are seeing them for the first time, I can tell you that they were even better in the Section Final. So they haven't even played their best game at State yet.

Lawson and Troumbly remind me a lot of Locker and Spehar. Except I think they're better. Yes, I said it. You can beat me up if you want. Spehar always talks about the hundreds of hours at Glen Avon with Locker where they came up with all of their creativity. I would love to know how many hours Lawson and Troumbly have in.

And their second line is damn good too. Like Karl said after the Section Final, they can hold serve with just about anybody.

The only concern for tomorrow is if they will have the legs after playing two lines for three games in four days. But for those who don't know, these kids won third place in Bantam A state with 10 total players. Ten kids on a Bantam team playing 17 minute periods. So they obviously played with even less when kids were hurt, sick, etc. In other words, they're used to logging some minutes.

The concern coming in was the first time State Tournament jitters. The announcers kept talking about it in the other games, saying sometimes it takes a period. I saw none of that from the Raiders. These kids grew up on the Range playing in the Snake Pit. For all of you Hockey fans around the State that have never been to the Snake Pit for a game, you need to put it on your bucket list.

The Greenway peeps are having a lot of fun tonight. Hopefully somebody warned St. Paul that they were coming!

Okay, I have to close now before all of the St. Cloud Cathedral fans jump on here and drown me out! One more time....

Eat em up, Eat em up, Go Big Green!! (Greenway Raider Fan will appreciate that.)
Great thread Jeffy!
Wonderfull story is Greenway Raiders in 2019 making a deep run in the tournament. Unpredictable runs have lost some luster over the years with the socio-economic changes to the game, so as a hockey fan it has been fun to take this tourney run in.
Much respect to Edina and Eden Prairie for being the power houses they are in the hockey world. The Greenway story is fresh, colorful and endearing because its a bit unexpected, hard for hockey rubes to not enjoy the deep run to a title challenge.

To be honest I'd give a body part to be in St. Paul today watching the Greenies mingle, the hockey world is quite the assortment of characters indeed. One thing I know well about St. Paul folks is they are very appreciative and very accommodating to flannel landers. Makes for a fun tourney weekend and surely with characters from Balsam, Pengilly, Taconite etc. the town ain't going to be the same after this weekend that is for sure.

Re: Greenway Raiders

Posted: Sat Mar 09, 2019 7:55 am
by MrBoDangles
Tiny community trying to gather up enough kids to form a team to develop... against a team that gathers the best kids that multiple communities developed...

Re: Greenway Raiders

Posted: Sat Mar 09, 2019 9:01 am
by Immigrant Fan
They are definitely fun to watch and I think certainly reinvigorated the single A tournament. They are reminding me of another northern team in AA from a couple years ago.

There are a ton of Greenway fans down here. Someone back home asked if many people from Coleraine made it down here. I said, "Yeah....all of them." I've been making a point of including some GR gear in the first two games, so the Greenway faithful see a Rapids fan cheering for their team. But, not today - I'm going all in on Greenway. Orange is green this weekend.

Re: Greenway Raiders

Posted: Sat Mar 09, 2019 11:00 am
by 50in15
Such a fun team to watch. Rooting hard for them today like everyone else.

IMO, the class A tournament has saved the tournament this year along with a couple recent tournaments. Fun hockey to watch once you get to Friday along with great story lines.

Re: Greenway Raiders

Posted: Sat Mar 09, 2019 11:11 am
by mnmouth
50in15 wrote:
Sat Mar 09, 2019 11:00 am
Such a fun team to watch. Rooting hard for them today like everyone else.

IMO, the class A tournament has saved the tournament this year along with a couple recent tournaments. Fun hockey to watch once you get to Friday along with great story lines.
I would agree, especially this year. Folks talk and write about how great the East-St. Thomas game was, but it really did not compare to the Greenway-Mahtomedi tilt. The semifinal played by those two teams was one of the best in terms of the amount and quality of great scoring chances, and equally brilliant goaltender play. And every goal was a beauty - no slop among them.

Re: Greenway Raiders

Posted: Sat Mar 09, 2019 11:17 am
by DubCHAGuy
mnmouth wrote:
Sat Mar 09, 2019 11:11 am
50in15 wrote:
Sat Mar 09, 2019 11:00 am
Such a fun team to watch. Rooting hard for them today like everyone else.

IMO, the class A tournament has saved the tournament this year along with a couple recent tournaments. Fun hockey to watch once you get to Friday along with great story lines.
I would agree, especially this year. Folks talk and write about how great the East-St. Thomas game was, but it really did not compare to the Greenway-Mahtomedi tilt. The semifinal played by those two teams was one of the best in terms of the amount and quality of great scoring chances, and equally brilliant goaltender play. And every goal was a beauty - no slop among them.
Agree with 50in15 as well. The class A tourney has had some epic Friday afternoon’s in the last 10-15 years. I can appreciate the depth of talent in this years AA field, but it hasn’t been all that exciting. And this isn’t the first year that has been the case.

Re: Greenway Raiders

Posted: Sat Mar 09, 2019 12:33 pm
by MNHockeyFan
DubCHAGuy wrote:
Sat Mar 09, 2019 11:17 am
The class A tourney has had some epic Friday afternoon’s in the last 10-15 years. I can appreciate the depth of talent in this years AA field, but it hasn’t been all that exciting. And this isn’t the first year that has been the case.
I know this is a generality, with plenty of exceptions, but it seems to me that in Class A the very best players are able to really stand out, compared to AA where the teams have more depth which tends to even things out. This results in Class A being more like the tournaments of old: an up and down "firewagon" brand of hockey vs. the more controlled style with fewer turnovers and end-to-end rushes that you typically see in AA. Again, a generality, but one that is mostly true IMO.

Re: Greenway Raiders

Posted: Sun Mar 10, 2019 12:01 pm
by karl(east)
MNHockeyFan wrote:
Sat Mar 09, 2019 12:33 pm
DubCHAGuy wrote:
Sat Mar 09, 2019 11:17 am
The class A tourney has had some epic Friday afternoon’s in the last 10-15 years. I can appreciate the depth of talent in this years AA field, but it hasn’t been all that exciting. And this isn’t the first year that has been the case.
I know this is a generality, with plenty of exceptions, but it seems to me that in Class A the very best players are able to really stand out, compared to AA where the teams have more depth which tends to even things out. This results in Class A being more like the tournaments of old: an up and down "firewagon" brand of hockey vs. the more controlled style with fewer turnovers and end-to-end rushes that you typically see in AA. Again, a generality, but one that is mostly true IMO.
I'd agree with this. The lack of depth really forces many of the smaller schools to ride their stars' natural talents a little more. Greenway is an extreme example of that, but even the Class A teams that have had depth have usually also been content to play pretty open styles. Excepting East Grand's title-winners from the middle of this past decade, you just don't see many deep, bruising teams at the A level, and that frees the teams there to play very open hockey.