First report for next season

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blueblood
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Joined: Fri May 26, 2006 8:36 am

First report for next season

Post by blueblood » Sun Mar 10, 2019 11:05 am

[*]Assuming no major moves pending the upcoming realignment announcement, teams to watch include:

1AA - same old same old with LS & LN
2AA - wide open with Ep & Tonka pre-season favs with Chaska, HF, and PL young but gearing up
3AA - Rosemount returns a lot with STA and Eagan the other likely contenders
4AA - WBL only graduates 7 seniors. Look for HM and Stilly to challenge
5AA - is this the year for MG to make a deep run?
6AA - Edina graduates 11 including 7 fwds, but you can never count them out. Look for a private in BSM or Blake to challenge the Lake conference teams
7AA - Like Edina, East graduates a large class. Their JV team was solid and will fill in nicely. Look for Andover and their returning defensive corps to make their first trip to the X
8AA - like 2AA, looks to be a wide open section. Will a move to the Lake Conference prepare Bracinni & Co. or STMA to the promise land or will the Spuds continue their dominance in this section.
Play Like a Champion Today

ThatMNHockeyGuy62
Posts: 508
Joined: Wed Dec 27, 2017 8:44 am

Re: First report for next season

Post by ThatMNHockeyGuy62 » Sun Mar 10, 2019 11:31 am

Assuming no early leavers (which isn’t a given) BSM is my pick to win it all next year. You heard it here first.

WestMetro
Posts: 3824
Joined: Tue Mar 04, 2014 4:08 pm

Re: First report for next season

Post by WestMetro » Sun Mar 10, 2019 12:04 pm

Mr Hockey Finalists 2019-20 . Twelve, Ten after Early Departs

Blake Biondi Htown UMD Probably will leave early
Jake Braccini Buffalo U of M
Matt Gleason CDH CC
Teddy Lagerback Mtka ASU
Jonny Meiers EAG CC
Blake Mesenberg BSM Uncommitted
Zach Michaelis ELK Omaha
John Middlestadt EP U of M
G Pinoniemi HF U of M
Rhett Pitlick Chaska U of M Will leave early
Carson Richels BL Uncommitted
Nate Warner SCC U of M

Top Sr D

Jake Boltmann ED U of M
Wyatt Kaiser ANDV UMD
Brett Oberle HM UMD
Nate Schweitzer BSM CC


Top Sr Goalies

Carter Clafton GR
Hudson Hodges MH
Remington Keopple HM
Josh Weyandt Chan

DubCHAGuy
Posts: 404
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Re: First report for next season

Post by DubCHAGuy » Sun Mar 10, 2019 3:09 pm

blueblood wrote:
Sun Mar 10, 2019 11:05 am
[*]Assuming no major moves pending the upcoming realignment announcement, teams to watch include:

1AA - same old same old with LS & LN
2AA - wide open with Ep & Tonka pre-season favs with Chaska, HF, and PL young but gearing up
3AA - Rosemount returns a lot with STA and Eagan the other likely contenders
4AA - WBL only graduates 7 seniors. Look for HM and Stilly to challenge
5AA - is this the year for MG to make a deep run?
6AA - Edina graduates 11 including 7 fwds, but you can never count them out. Look for a private in BSM or Blake to challenge the Lake conference teams
7AA - Like Edina, East graduates a large class. Their JV team was solid and will fill in nicely. Look for Andover and their returning defensive corps to make their first trip to the X
8AA - like 2AA, looks to be a wide open section. Will a move to the Lake Conference prepare Bracinni & Co. or STMA to the promise land or will the Spuds continue their dominance in this section.
Although the changes are usually minor, but is this the year that MSHSL re-align’s the sections or is that after next season?

Usthockey13
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Re: First report for next season

Post by Usthockey13 » Sun Mar 10, 2019 3:21 pm

They realign the sections this year, suppose to happen in a couple weeks. Rumor is Brainerd to 7AA wondering who moves out if that happens. As for 7AA I think it will be a 3 horse race Andover,East,Rapids.

Stang5280
Posts: 1955
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Re: First report for next season

Post by Stang5280 » Sun Mar 10, 2019 3:28 pm

WestMetro wrote:
Sun Mar 10, 2019 12:04 pm
Mr Hockey Finalists 2019-20 . Twelve, Ten after Early Departs

Blake Biondi Htown UMD Probably will leave early
Jake Braccini Buffalo U of M
Matt Gleason CDH CC
Teddy Lagerback Mtka ASU
Jonny Meiers EAG CC
Blake Mesenberg BSM Uncommitted
Zach Michaelis ELK Omaha
John Middlestadt EP U of M
G Pinoniemi HF U of M
Rhett Pitlick Chaska U of M Will leave early
Carson Richels BL Uncommitted
Nate Warner SCC U of M
I would peg Braccini as having a good probability of leaving. Buffalo graduates Mueller (and the backup goalie), Klein (second leading scorer), and McNamara (top Dman). This was their season to make a run, and the only real reason for Jake to stick around would be to spend senior year with his brother.

kniven
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Location: Duluth area

Re: First report for next season

Post by kniven » Sun Mar 10, 2019 4:29 pm

As for 7AA I think it will be a 3 horse race Andover,East,Rapids.
[/quote]

Agreed....
“218 hockey” Boys of the NOrth ❤️

green4
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Re: First report for next season

Post by green4 » Sun Mar 10, 2019 5:04 pm

1AA- I think it is South's probably to lose. They seemed to have a pretty good group of sophomores while North loses a few of their better players. I hope Century and Hastings can take a step up and somehow win this section. Hastings returns 9 of their 11 leading scorers and they had that great goalie who was only a sophomore. Century returns 7 of their top 8 scorers. I am not holding my breath, but I am hopeful they will make it interesting. I am hopeful they will add another decent team to 1AA so its not just Lakeville every year.

2AA- Minnetonka loses a ton, Doctor, Luedke, Glockner, Bayless, Henderickson, and Kittleson. They still have Lagerback, Motzko and Newhouse, but they need to replace a lot in back so I don't see them being the favorite. Ep loses a lot of seniors, but they keep a lot of key pieces in the Middlestadt bros, Holt and Batchelder and both goalies. I would think they are the favorite for this section. Prior Lake didn't have a great year really and they lose most of the scoring that they had. Chaska actually has some decent scoring returning, but I never saw them play this year so I don't know how deep they were. Chaska seemed to struggle without Koster so that could be an issue, and if Pitlick leaves I don't see them having a shot. Holy Family could be interesting given how well they have pulled in players and goalies in the offseason. They probably need Pinoniemi to stay, and I have no idea if he will, but he seems like a good candidate to leave. If he stays him and Jorgenson will have another great year and then another year old Fechko could make them dangerous.

3AA- Rosemount would be my guess, they return some of their top scorers plus some real high end Dmen along with their goalie. Rosemount's high profile players are also just sophomores so I would imagine they would at least stick around for one more year. In Comparison Eagan was a little older and their best player being just a junior might be more likely to leave. St. Thomas probably has the best pipeline coming in each year, but they lose a lot of seniors and most of their scoring.

4AA- Should be a 3 way race between WBL, Hill and Stillwater. All of them return a good amount. Hill probably has a few more recognizable names, but they will still be kind of young while Stillwater and WBL had a lot of juniors this year so they will be senior heavy next year. I might lean towards Stillwater because they will have a lot of Seniors next year but their Junior group seems pretty good.

5AA- Should be a good battle between Blaine and Maple Grove. Blaine still has Hanson, Richels and a large group of seniors for next year. Maple Grove's best player will be Juniors and Sophomores. This section probably comes down to if Maple Grove players can take it up another notch and if Richels returns for Blaine, because he seemed like their best player just based on the tournament. Centennial had a really young team this year, but most of their top scorers were still seniors. Champlin graduates a lot of scoring plus their talented goalie. Totino Grace is apparently moving up and I would imagine they would be in this section. They return a couple of nice players, but lose a good amount more. Curious if they get some good player as a result of them moving to AA, because they lost 5-1 to MG in their only game against the top two. It would be interesting to see if TG coming in means another team gets sent out in realignment.

6AA- I feel like Cretin is such an outlier in this section geographically that they get moved out with realignment. If not, they still have Gleason and a solid amount of Juniors, but they lose some of their depth scoring like Magnusson. Gleason seems like a player that could leave with how good he is and CDH's disappointing year. Blake returns their top 7 players, and their best players will only be Juniors. Many people compared them to Chaska and I think that is accurate. If they take that step forward they could be great. Wayzata loses their top four scorers and both their goalies, but they have a deep program to reload. Benilde only graduates two skaters who got 25 points, so they are obviously going to be very good. They are extremely young too, their top two scorers were juniors but after that it was freshman and a sophomore. Their goaltending is young too. Edina loses their top 6 scorers and a ton of seniors. They basically return 2 of the 4 D in Williams and Boltman, Hogg in net and then some third line role-players. They do have a pretty good Bantam team coming up, but probably a rebuilding year. Benilde and Blake should be the favorites.

7AA- Andover loses their top two scorers and their goalie, but they keep a lot of juniors and some of their key players. They should be the favorite. East loses a ton, but they still have Anderson who was second in points and if Jeannette can take a step up they could be right in it, but they seem even less likely this next year to top Andover than this year. Cloquet's window seemed to close this year. Elk River returns a couple of nice pieces, but nothing too special. I have heard good things about Grand Rapids goalie and they have a nice group of Sophomores behind Jack Peart, so they could be a surprise team if they take the next step. They seem to have a decent bantam team coming up as well.

8AA- Moorhead appears to lose their top 3 scorers and then regain 3 of the next 4, plus a goalie who had a nice year. Being the biggest city in the section they probably have the best chance to reload. Roseau loses Haglen but keeps his younger brother and high scoring freshman. Their Bantam team is ranked high and at state this next weekend as well. Brainerd loses a good amount of seniors and some top scorers but keep a couple of young guys with high totals. Buffalo loses a lot of seniors including their top goalie, but they have the Braccini boys for one more year so if Jake doesn't leave early they should be competitive. Bemidji appeared to be a young team so maybe something there. STMA appeared to be really young and if they can keep Flemmang and Laylin they might be the favorite. I would say Moorhead, STMA and Roseau if their bantam team can come in and make an impact would be the three to watch in this section.

O-townClown
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Re: First report for next season

Post by O-townClown » Mon Mar 11, 2019 7:38 pm

ThatMNHockeyGuy62 wrote:
Sun Mar 10, 2019 11:31 am
Assuming no early leavers (which isn’t a given) BSM is my pick to win it all next year. You heard it here first.
Or for the 100th time as most of us who saw them this season project them to be at the top of the heap. They aren't losing much and have several nice players returning.
Be kind. Rewind.

The Exiled One
Posts: 1788
Joined: Wed Dec 20, 2006 8:34 am

Re: First report for next season

Post by The Exiled One » Tue Mar 12, 2019 10:26 am

WestMetro wrote:
Sun Mar 10, 2019 12:04 pm
Mr Hockey Finalists 2019-20 . Twelve, Ten after Early Departs

Top Sr D

Jake Boltmann ED U of M
Wyatt Kaiser ANDV UMD
Brett Oberle HM UMD
Nate Schweitzer BSM CC
Evan Bushy TRF SCSU

Kid is legit.

checco33
Posts: 28
Joined: Mon Mar 08, 2010 11:45 pm

Re: First report for next season

Post by checco33 » Tue Mar 12, 2019 11:24 am

Bushy is a Good D...but not at the same level as the four D listed.

ryguyMN
Posts: 519
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Location: Western WI

Re: First report for next season

Post by ryguyMN » Tue Mar 12, 2019 12:27 pm

green4 wrote:
Sun Mar 10, 2019 5:04 pm
2AA- Minnetonka loses a ton, Doctor, Luedke, Glockner, Bayless, Henderickson, and Kittleson. They still have Lagerback, Motzko and Newhouse, but they need to replace a lot in back so I don't see them being the favorite. Ep loses a lot of seniors, but they keep a lot of key pieces in the Middlestadt bros, Holt and Batchelder and both goalies. I would think they are the favorite for this section. Prior Lake didn't have a great year really and they lose most of the scoring that they had. Chaska actually has some decent scoring returning, but I never saw them play this year so I don't know how deep they were. Chaska seemed to struggle without Koster so that could be an issue, and if Pitlick leaves I don't see them having a shot. Holy Family could be interesting given how well they have pulled in players and goalies in the offseason. They probably need Pinoniemi to stay, and I have no idea if he will, but he seems like a good candidate to leave. If he stays him and Jorgenson will have another great year and then another year old Fechko could make them dangerous.
I think 2AA will be a EP and Tonka race. I don’t know if HFC and Chaska will have enough current pieces to compete. Of course, we have to see how the transfer game plays out with HFC.
Last edited by ryguyMN on Tue Mar 12, 2019 3:59 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Ryan
I like my games and takes juicy

The Exiled One
Posts: 1788
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Re: First report for next season

Post by The Exiled One » Tue Mar 12, 2019 1:19 pm

checco33 wrote:
Tue Mar 12, 2019 11:24 am
Bushy is a Good D...but not at the same level as the four D listed.
Respectfully disagree. He was just about all of TRF's offense... from the blueline. Statistically, he performed just as well in the Elite League as three of those guys, which is our only apples to apples comparison. The fourth guy didn't play Elite League.

Also, he was one of Larson's first recruits. Larson's not going to commit a kid who just finished up his sophomore season without good reason. He's absolutely on par with those other guys.

Hockeygoon00
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Re: First report for next season

Post by Hockeygoon00 » Tue Mar 12, 2019 1:32 pm

Hearing from a good upper end source that you WILL see PINO in a FIRE uniform next season. =D>

Let summer fun begin!

Slap Shot
Posts: 948
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Re: First report for next season

Post by Slap Shot » Tue Mar 12, 2019 3:36 pm

Sadly I think 2AA will be EP's to lose. They had a number of seniors but they return a lot of key guys. Tonka does typically reload and they have some nice players returning as well, but their Bantam AA team wasn't that great (as compared with EP') and while they were highly rated I don't think players typically move from Jr. Gold A to varsity, but I haven't been able to see their JV record so maybe there's a plus there. One big question (unless there's an up and comer I'm not giving credit to) will be in net.

Regarding Edina although they lose a ton they have a number of youth teams that made their own state tournaments. Again I don't really know which of them typically feed into the varsity for a program like Edina but I'd be surprised to see them take a big step back unless they revert back to norm in net.

ryguyMN
Posts: 519
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Location: Western WI

Re: First report for next season

Post by ryguyMN » Tue Mar 12, 2019 4:05 pm

Hockeygoon00 wrote:
Tue Mar 12, 2019 1:32 pm
Hearing from a good upper end source that you WILL see PINO in a FIRE uniform next season. =D>

Let summer fun begin!
Any indication if younger brother Brad will transfer from Delano and join Garrett with the Fire?
Ryan
I like my games and takes juicy

BP
Posts: 1024
Joined: Fri Sep 21, 2012 8:31 am

Re: First report for next season

Post by BP » Tue Mar 12, 2019 4:29 pm

ryguyMN wrote:
Tue Mar 12, 2019 4:05 pm
Hockeygoon00 wrote:
Tue Mar 12, 2019 1:32 pm
Hearing from a good upper end source that you WILL see PINO in a FIRE uniform next season. =D>

Let summer fun begin!
Any indication if younger brother Brad will transfer from Delano and join Garrett with the Fire?
Here's a question - if the older one transferred and they moved - did the younger one open enroll at Delano? Curious how that would work.

ThatMNHockeyGuy62
Posts: 508
Joined: Wed Dec 27, 2017 8:44 am

Re: First report for next season

Post by ThatMNHockeyGuy62 » Tue Mar 12, 2019 5:18 pm

BP wrote:
Tue Mar 12, 2019 4:29 pm
ryguyMN wrote:
Tue Mar 12, 2019 4:05 pm
Hockeygoon00 wrote:
Tue Mar 12, 2019 1:32 pm
Hearing from a good upper end source that you WILL see PINO in a FIRE uniform next season. =D>

Let summer fun begin!
Any indication if younger brother Brad will transfer from Delano and join Garrett with the Fire?
Here's a question - if the older one transferred and they moved - did the younger one open enroll at Delano? Curious how that would work.
Ha! That is a GREAT question.

Hockeygoon00
Posts: 43
Joined: Tue Aug 18, 2015 6:17 pm

Re: First report for next season

Post by Hockeygoon00 » Tue Mar 12, 2019 10:40 pm

Pretty sure that is not his younger brother. I believe they are cousins.

checco33
Posts: 28
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Re: First report for next season

Post by checco33 » Wed Mar 13, 2019 9:32 am

The Exiled One wrote:
Tue Mar 12, 2019 1:19 pm
checco33 wrote:
Tue Mar 12, 2019 11:24 am
Bushy is a Good D...but not at the same level as the four D listed.
Respectfully disagree. He was just about all of TRF's offense... from the blueline. Statistically, he performed just as well in the Elite League as three of those guys, which is our only apples to apples comparison. The fourth guy didn't play Elite League.

Also, he was one of Larson's first recruits. Larson's not going to commit a kid who just finished up his sophomore season without good reason. He's absolutely on par with those other guys.
Agree to disagree. Certainly a good player, but statistically, he should have those numbers with the schedule TRF plays. Not a very difficult schedule. I've watched him in Elite league as well, and he did fine.

Bushy had 6 points in Elite league
Boltman 7, Schweitzer 9, Oberle 10....
Bogenholm from SCC had 8 and Gramar from Moorhead had 10, but I wouldn't put them with Boltman, Schweitzer, or Oberle either. Close..but not even.

I'm not saying Bushy's not good or not deserving of his verbal commitment, but I will stick with he's not at the same level as the four that were listed for top D next year.

blueblood
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Re: First report for next season

Post by blueblood » Wed Mar 13, 2019 1:01 pm

ryguy and Slapshot;

Regarding Ep and Tonka in 2AA next season:

Ep JV team lost 2 games and Tonka JV lost 3. They split against each other this season

This year's Sophomore class for both schools is good. Both made Bantam AA State tournament last season with Ep winning in the semi's with 2 goals late in the third.

EP Bantams AA won season series 3-1 over Tonka with 3; 1-goal games this year. Given what both High school teams return next season, I wouldn't expect these Bantam players to make significant contributions to either Varsity next season.

Bottom line - either squad is capable of winning this section with Chaska and HF right there too
Play Like a Champion Today

ryguyMN
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Location: Western WI

Re: First report for next season

Post by ryguyMN » Wed Mar 13, 2019 2:17 pm

Hockeygoon00 wrote:
Tue Mar 12, 2019 10:40 pm
Pretty sure that is not his younger brother. I believe they are cousins.
Ok, thanks. Figured they were brothers since it’s not a common last name and both are from Delano.
Ryan
I like my games and takes juicy

Slap Shot
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Re: First report for next season

Post by Slap Shot » Wed Mar 13, 2019 4:28 pm

blueblood wrote:
Wed Mar 13, 2019 1:01 pm
ryguy and Slapshot;

Regarding Ep and Tonka in 2AA next season:

Ep JV team lost 2 games and Tonka JV lost 3. They split against each other this season

This year's Sophomore class for both schools is good. Both made Bantam AA State tournament last season with Ep winning in the semi's with 2 goals late in the third.

EP Bantams AA won season series 3-1 over Tonka with 3; 1-goal games this year. Given what both High school teams return next season, I wouldn't expect these Bantam players to make significant contributions to either Varsity next season.

Bottom line - either squad is capable of winning this section with Chaska and HF right there too
Good info.

Thanks

InThePipes
Posts: 1006
Joined: Mon Mar 26, 2012 8:26 pm

Re: First report for next season

Post by InThePipes » Thu Mar 14, 2019 3:46 pm

Here's an article looking ahead to next season.

https://www.mnhockeyhub.com/news_article/show/1002897

TheNightman
Posts: 651
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Re: First report for next season

Post by TheNightman » Thu Mar 14, 2019 5:00 pm

Man it would be fun if that MG team stuck together, but I don't see it happening.

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