A Rankings for 1/19/20

[ClassAGuy]

A Rankings

1. Hermantown
2. Warroad
3. St Cloud Cathedral
4. Orono
5. East Grand Forks
6. Mahtomedi
7. Duluth Denfeld
8. Alexandria
9. Thief River Falls
10. Little Falls
11. Delano
12. Monticello
13. Gentry Academy
14. St Paul Johnson
15. North Branch
16. Eveleth- Gilbert
17. Mound Westonka
18. Greenway
19. Tartan
20. Pine City

[elliott70]

1/19/2020 (Done while traveling) (ADJUSTMENTS BASED ON MY AT HOME NOTES)
1 St Cloud Cathedral
1 Hermantown
3 Warroad
4 East Grand Forks
5 Orono
6 Mahtomedi
7 Thief River Falls
8 Duluth Denfeld
9 Alexandria EVELETH
10 Gentry ALEXANDRIA
11 Little Falls
12 St Paul Johnson GENTRY
13 Delano
14 Eveleth ST. PAUL JOHNSON
15 Greenway MONTICELLO
16 Monticello NORTH BRANCH
17 South St Paul PINE CITY
18 North Branch GREENWAY
19 Mound-Westonka
20 Minneapolis

Consideration:
Mankato West, Faribault,, Mankato East, Tartan, New Ulm, Princeton, So St Paul

[ClassAGuy]

1/19/2020
1 St Cloud Cathedral
1 Hermantown
3 Warroad
4 East Grand Forks
5 Orono
6 Mahtomedi
7 Thief River Falls
8 Duluth Denfeld
9 Alexandria
10 Gentry
11 Little Falls
12 St Paul Johnson
13 Delano
14 Eveleth
15 Greenway
16 Monticello
17 South St Paul
18 North Branch
19 Mound-Westonka
20 Minneapolis

Consideration:
Mankato West, Faribault,, Mankato East, Dodge County, Tartan, Pine City

elliott why South St Paul in your top 20 every week?

They are 7-7-3 and just lost to Simley last night on home ice. I am confused there. They did beat Tartan but Tartan is the most up and down team in the state.

Just curious at 17 for South St Paul just wondering if I am missing something on them?

[elliott70]

Well you have Tartan at 18.
I think so St. Paul is better at least today

[ClassAGuy]

Well you have Tartan at 18.
I think so St. Paul is better at least today

Tartan has wins over 2 Top 10 A Teams... (TRF & Mahtomedi)

[elliott70]

Have to count the losses also

[ClassAGuy]

Have to count the losses also

Tartan has only win of any team outside the top 6 against a top 6 team in all of Class A this year so far and they also beat a top 10 TRF but I hear you on the losses.

South St Paul just confuses me why I asked if you knew somethign I didnt they have a weak resume but they did beat Tartan so ok.

[Stang5280]

Mother Nature laid waste to essentially the entire Friday slate, and much of the Saturday schedule as well. But Hockey Day went off without a hitch, regardless of the cold and windy conditions (it's 50 and sunny here in Denver, btw). We unfortunately missed out on a premium contest between St. Cloud Cathedral and East Grand Forks (we'll see if it finally happens on 2/15), but plenty of entertaining games still took place, particularly earlier in the week.

1. St. Cloud Cathedral (12-1-1) [LW 1]
Idle
The blizzard really wreaked havoc on the Crusaders, causing postponement of the Alexandria tilt and depriving us of the opportunity to see them face off with EGF. The week ahead is much like the previous one would have been, with Cathedral battling a 6A challenger and a fellow member of the Class A "group of six" state contenders.
Next: Tue @ Little Falls, Sat vs Mahtomedi

2. Hermantown (10-1-4) [LW 3]
W 8-3 @ Greenway
With the cancellation of the St. Cloud contest, the Hawks broke out of their mini-funk and hammered Greenway in their only action of the week. Hermantown has all but locked up the top seed in 7A, and shouldn't be remotely challenged in either of the upcoming section bouts. The trip to Victoria to face an improved HF group should prove more interesting.
Next: Tue vs Hibbing, Thu vs Proctor, Sat @ Holy Family

3. East Grand Forks (11-3-2) [LW 4]
W 3-1 vs Roseau
The Green Wave continued their recent roll, swamping a Roseau crew that had won eight straight coming in. The postponement(?) of the Cathedral contest was unfortunate, as it would have been a nice measuring stick for EGF, and could've shaken up the rankings. As it is, the Wave move up a notch thanks to posting convincing victories over teams that recently gave Warroad fits. EGF now hits a lull in their schedule, and shouldn't be tested until the calendar turns to February.
Next: Thu vs Kittson

4. Warroad (16-1-0) [LW 2]
W 4-3 (OT) @ TRF, 5-1 @ Minneapolis
What is Warroad doing down here after taking care of business in both games this week? Yes, they only have one loss on the season, and have defeated SCC and EGF. But those head-to-head wins were weeks ago, and the past two weeks have been an adventure for the the Warriors. They were lucky to escape TRF with a win after coughing up a two-goal lead in the third, but did bounce back nicely on Hockey Day. I will say that the margin between the top four teams is razor thin, and I wouldn't disagree with with arranging them in any order. Warroad continues their road warrior ways to take on a pair of 7A foes.
Next: Fri @ Hibbing, Sat @ Denfeld

5. Orono (15-1-1) [LW 5]
W 6-2 @ Mound Westonka, W 5-3 @ Mahtomedi
It had been a while since the Spartans had been tested, but they passed with flying colors. The Mound Westonka win was a dominant performance over a section rival, and taking down Mahtomedi was a big statement. After spotting the Zephyrs an early 3-0 lead, Orono rattled off five unanswered goals over the final two periods. The Spartans' only blemishes on their record were an early season tie with EGF and a competitive loss to Cathedral, so they can certainly play with the elite group. There's only one game on the docket, but it's a big one against their section nemesis.
Next: Thu @ Delano

6. Mahtomedi (11-5-0) [LW 6]
L 3-5 vs Orono
The Zephyrs jumped on Orono right out of the gate Saturday, but forgot to show up for the final 34 minutes. This team is hard to figure out, as their big victories have mainly come against strong AA opponents, but they have not been particularly competitive with the teams ranked above them. Mahtomedi has another crack at picking up a statement Class A win against the top-ranked team, but first must avoid stepping on land mines in two section games.
Next: Mon vs SSP, Tue vs Simley, Sat @ Cathedral

7. Duluth Denfeld (13-3-1) [LW 7]
W 5-0 vs Proctor, W 7-2 @ Int'l Falls
The Hunters bagged two easy five-goal triumphs over middling section opponents, and all but locked up the #2 seed in 7A. The degree of difficulty ramps up significantly as Denfeld hosts two of the best 8A squads. This is the first significant Class A competition Denfeld has faced in over a month, so we'll see if they are deserving of this lofty ranking.
Next: Fri vs TRF, Sat vs Warroad

8. Alexandria (11-4-0) [LW 9]
W 12-0 @ Willmar
Alexandria committed some heinous Cardinal-on-Cardinal crime Tuesday night, but unfortunately the highly anticipated Cathedral contest was shelved for now. The schedule ahead should be enticing, with a tilt against a frisky section foe preceded by a visit from 5A's best.
Next: Tue vs Monticello, Thu @ River Lakes

9. Thief River Falls (9-7-1) [LW 12]
W 4-0 @ Kittson, L 3-4 (OT) vs Warroad
The Prowlers once again took Warroad to the brink, but couldn't even claim a draw for their efforts. The offense showed up late to the party, and it took a fluky goal to get things started, but they did flash some aptitude in that end if the rink. The victory over Kittson at least locks down the #3 seed for TRF. Up next is a lengthy weekend journey on Highway 2, with the Denfeld matchup looking pretty tasty.
Next: Fri @ Denfeld, Sat @ Hibbing

10. Little Falls (14-3-1) [LW 10]
W 4-3 vs Sartell, W 6-3 vs LDC
The Flyers flailed around against two-win Sartell, and were lucky to escape with a victory. Little Falls comported themselves better against LDC, but still haven't returned to the form they displayed a few weeks ago. The Flyers need to recover it soon, as #1 Cathedral is looming.
Next: Tue vs SCC, Fri @ Princeton

11. Delano (10-6-0) [LW 11]
L 1-4 vs Holy Family
A rather uninteresting week for the Tigers, who dropped a decision to a hot Holy Family team in their only game action. Delano is a group that typically improves as the season progresses, and we will see if that holds true when they face Orono, who thrashed the Tigers 5-1 last month.
Next: Thu vs Orono, Fri @ Waconia

12. Gentry Academy (14-3-0) [LW 8]
W 8-2 @ Mayo, L 3-6 @ North Branch
After crushing Mayo, the Stars flamed out against North Branch. Despite handily outshooting the Vikings, it was an ugly affair with Gentry racking up heavy penalty minutes. This is a talented young group, and we will see how they react to adversity after their first loss in a month. They will have a whole week to stew on their poor performance prior to facing a solid 1AA opponent.
Next: Sat vs Owatonna

13. Eveleth-Gilbert (12-6-0) [LW 16]
W 4-3 @ Int'l Falls, W 4-3 (OT) vs Greenway
The Golden Bears extended their winning streak to six, albeit not without some drama. After surrendering a 3-0 lead, E-G needed a goal with six ticks left to abscond with a win in the Falls. They basically pulled the reverse trick against Greenway, erasing a late two-goal lead and icing the win late in overtime. E-G now is in the driver's seat for the #3 seed in 7A if they can avoid slip-ups, particularly against lesser opponents like the two on deck.
Next: Tue @ North Shore, Thu vs Virginia

14. Monticello (10-5-1) [LW 14]
W 2-1 vs Princeton
The Moose struggled mightily with a Princeton team that somehow came to life after playing terrible hockey most of the year. At least they managed to avoid falling prey to an upset, as happened with Pine City, which is good enough to hold tight in this area of the rankings. Monticello has the most ambitious schedule in 5A, and they have a decent shot at knocking off an Alex squad that has not been particularly impressive of late.
Next: Tue @ Alexandria, Thu vs Cambridge-Isanti

15. St. Paul Johnson (12-4-0) [LW 17]
W 5-2 vs Simley
I have been a bit lower on the Governors than others, mainly due to the fact that their only quality win was over TRF back in November. But things start to become barren down here, and Johnson has at least largely avoided bad losses. They have some important section contests coming up, and should accumulate two more wins this week.
Next: Tue vs Sibley, Sat vs SPA

16. Greenway (5-11-0) [LW 14]
L 3-8 vs Hermantown, L 3-4 (OT) @ Eveleth
Things are starting to slip away for the Raiders, as they likely ceded the #3 seed to Eveleth-Gilbert with the loss Thursday night. That would mean a potential semifinal matchup with the Hermantown death machine, who just pummeled Greenway like piñatas. At least the schedule lets up for a bit this week.
Tue @ Int'l Falls, Thu @ Duluth Marshall

17. North Branch (12-4-0) [LW 19]
W 6-3 vs Gentry
After flopping against their section rivals last week, the Vikings picked themselves up off of the mat and pulled off an upset in pretty emphatic fashion. This is obviously a dangerous team given the talent on hand, but let's see if they can show some consistency. The upcoming Pine City tilt is a good test in that regard.
Next: Tue @ Pine City, Sat vs St. Francis

18. Minneapolis (7-8-2) [LW NR]
L 1-5 vs Warroad
I had South St. Paul penciled into this spot (and even started the write up) until they decided to fall on their face against Simley. So Minneapolis gets to hang out here for now, based on a decent showing against Warroad and their win last week over Johnson. As you can tell, this is not exactly the most ringing endorsement.
Next: Tue @ Hopkins, Sat @ Armstrong/Cooper

19. Pine City (13-3-0) [LW 19]
W 12-0 vs Moose Lake, L 3-7 @ Princeton
I'm not sure what got into Princeton this past week, but they pulled an unlikely upset of a Pine City team that mauled them 7-1 a few weeks prior. Maybe I am getting soft in my old age, but I will give the Dragons a mulligan for now. The upcoming North Branch clash looks like it will settle the 2/3 seed lines in 5A.
Next: Tue vs North Branch, Thu vs Mora

20. Mound Westonka (10-6-1) [LW 20]
L 2-6 vs Orono
Whatever. I guess you can also stay in the rankings for now, White Hawks. Mound Westonka next has winnable games against a trio of 3A teams, so their record should look impressive come next Sunday.
Next: Tue @ Hutchinson, Thu vs LDC, Sat vs Luverne

Out: Tartan (8-8-0) [LW 15]

Others Considered: Breck (8-8-0), Mankato East (8-8-1), River Lakes (9-5-1), South St. Paul (7-6-3)

[rainier2]

A Rankings

1. Hermantown
2. Warroad
3. St Cloud Cathedral
4. Orono
5. East Grand Forks
6. Mahtomedi
7. Duluth Denfeld
8. Alexandria
9. Thief River Falls
10. Little Falls
11. Delano
12. Monticello
13. Gentry Academy
14. St Paul Johnson
15. North Branch
16. Eveleth- Gilbert
17. Mound Westonka
18. Greenway
19. Tartan
20. Pine City

4 of the top 6 teams in A play AA at youth levels. Awesome.

[kniven]

A Rankings

1. Hermantown
2. Warroad
3. St Cloud Cathedral
4. Orono
5. East Grand Forks
6. Mahtomedi
7. Duluth Denfeld
8. Alexandria
9. Thief River Falls
10. Little Falls
11. Delano
12. Monticello
13. Gentry Academy
14. St Paul Johnson
15. North Branch
16. Eveleth- Gilbert
17. Mound Westonka
18. Greenway
19. Tartan
20. Pine City

4 of the top 6 teams in A play AA at youth levels. Awesome.

Interesting. I wonder if CEC went to single A what they would do at the youth level. They currently have a AA team then go to B teams. Currently no A teams. I know many have AA and A teams then b teams.

[TTpuckster]

A Rankings

1. Hermantown
2. Warroad
3. St Cloud Cathedral
4. Orono
5. East Grand Forks
6. Mahtomedi
7. Duluth Denfeld
8. Alexandria
9. Thief River Falls
10. Little Falls
11. Delano
12. Monticello
13. Gentry Academy
14. St Paul Johnson
15. North Branch
16. Eveleth- Gilbert
17. Mound Westonka
18. Greenway
19. Tartan
20. Pine City

4 of the top 6 teams in A play AA at youth levels. Awesome.

Which 4?

[rainier2]

A Rankings

1. Hermantown
2. Warroad
3. St Cloud Cathedral
4. Orono
5. East Grand Forks
6. Mahtomedi
7. Duluth Denfeld
8. Alexandria
9. Thief River Falls
10. Little Falls
11. Delano
12. Monticello
13. Gentry Academy
14. St Paul Johnson
15. North Branch
16. Eveleth- Gilbert
17. Mound Westonka
18. Greenway
19. Tartan
20. Pine City

4 of the top 6 teams in A play AA at youth levels. Awesome.

Which 4?

Hermantown, St. Cloud, Orono, Mahtomedi

[TTpuckster]

4 of the top 6 teams in A play AA at youth levels. Awesome.
[/quote]

Which 4?
[/quote]

Hermantown, St. Cloud, Orono, Mahtomedi
[/quote]

OK, so you are including SCC in that group.
Are all the players on SCC from St. Cloud?
Or, are they from the area.
I'm not picking on SCC for recruiting from the area, but they are not a school that has an AA youth team. Right?

[rainier2]

4 of the top 6 teams in A play AA at youth levels. Awesome.

Which 4?
[/quote]

Hermantown, St. Cloud, Orono, Mahtomedi
[/quote]

OK, so you are including SCC in that group.
Are all the players on SCC from St. Cloud?
Or, are they from the area.
I'm not picking on SCC for recruiting from the area, but they are not a school that has an AA youth team. Right?
[/quote]

I'm assuming most of SCC's players are from St Cloud, and St Cloud plays AA in youth.

[bardown27]

4 of the top 6 teams in A play AA at youth levels. Awesome.

Which 4?

Hermantown, St. Cloud, Orono, Mahtomedi
[/quote]

OK, so you are including SCC in that group.
Are all the players on SCC from St. Cloud?
Or, are they from the area.
I'm not picking on SCC for recruiting from the area, but they are not a school that has an AA youth team. Right?
[/quote]

I'm assuming most of SCC's players are from St Cloud, and St Cloud plays AA in youth.
[/quote]

Majority yes. Ones I know off the top of my head who aren't St. Cloud kids:

Zins (Princeton) plays A at bantam level
Perbix (Zimmerman) plays AA at bantam level
Warner (Sartell) plays A at bantam level

[7TIMECHAMPS]

4 of the top 6 teams in A play AA at youth levels. Awesome.

Which 4?

Hermantown, St. Cloud, Orono, Mahtomedi
[/quote]

OK, so you are including SCC in that group.
Are all the players on SCC from St. Cloud?
Or, are they from the area.
I'm not picking on SCC for recruiting from the area, but they are not a school that has an AA youth team. Right?
[/quote]

I'm assuming most of SCC's players are from St Cloud, and St Cloud plays AA in youth.
[/quote]

SCC is a stretch. You would just about have to include every private school if you are including them.

Isn't enrollment what decides what class a team is in? All are within the rules. The high school really doesn't have anything to do with the youth associations. Especially in the case of SCC.

You can't just kick out every good class A program.

[rainier2]

4 of the top 6 teams in A play AA at youth levels. Awesome.

Which 4?

Hermantown, St. Cloud, Orono, Mahtomedi

OK, so you are including SCC in that group.
Are all the players on SCC from St. Cloud?
Or, are they from the area.
I'm not picking on SCC for recruiting from the area, but they are not a school that has an AA youth team. Right?
[/quote]

I'm assuming most of SCC's players are from St Cloud, and St Cloud plays AA in youth.
[/quote]

SCC is a stretch. You would just about have to include every private school if you are including them.

Isn't enrollment what decides what class a team is in? All are within the rules. The high school really doesn't have anything to do with the youth associations. Especially in the case of SCC.

You can't just kick out every good class A program.
[/quote]

Enrollment doesn't decide what class an A team is in, school officials decide that. Any team is free to opt up to AA.

And the rules don't allow for anyone to "kick out" a good class A program, so no need to worry about that happening.

I'm willing to bet most of those SCC players played AA at youth levels.

I'm simply pointing out that Class A is dominated by schools from metro areas, that, through either being a private school or a limited geographical area within that metro area, are able to stay under the enrollment cut off. Further, it appears the list is growing of teams that feel AA is right for them at youth levels, but then something happens between ninth and tenth grade that makes these players incapable of continuing to play AA, so their ADs move them down to A for HS. Doctors have identified this malady as "easierroadtothexitis". Hopefully they will one day find a cure.

[USA218]

4 of the top 6 teams in A play AA at youth levels. Awesome.

Which 4?

Hermantown, St. Cloud, Orono, Mahtomedi

OK, so you are including SCC in that group.
Are all the players on SCC from St. Cloud?
Or, are they from the area.
I'm not picking on SCC for recruiting from the area, but they are not a school that has an AA youth team. Right?
[/quote]

I'm assuming most of SCC's players are from St Cloud, and St Cloud plays AA in youth.
[/quote]

Majority yes. Ones I know off the top of my head who aren't St. Cloud kids:

Zins (Princeton) plays A at bantam level
Perbix (Zimmerman) plays AA at bantam level
Warner (Sartell) plays A at bantam level
[/quote]

Is Bell from River Lakes area? Thought I heard he played youth down there. Wilmer-Spicer area??

[7TIMECHAMPS]

[quote=7TIMECHAMPS post_id=741748 time=<a href="tel:1579532503">1579532503</a> user_id=24313]
[quote=rainier2 post_id=741745 time=<a href="tel:1579530431">1579530431</a> user_id=24545]
[quote=TTpuckster post_id=741743 time=<a href="tel:1579529395">1579529395</a> user_id=6445]
4 of the top 6 teams in A play AA at youth levels. Awesome.

Which 4?
[/quote]

Hermantown, St. Cloud, Orono, Mahtomedi
[/quote]

OK, so you are including SCC in that group.
Are all the players on SCC from St. Cloud?
Or, are they from the area.
I'm not picking on SCC for recruiting from the area, but they are not a school that has an AA youth team. Right?
[/quote]

I'm assuming most of SCC's players are from St Cloud, and St Cloud plays AA in youth.
[/quote]

SCC is a stretch. You would just about have to include every private school if you are including them.

Isn't enrollment what decides what class a team is in? All are within the rules. The high school really doesn't have anything to do with the youth associations. Especially in the case of SCC.

You can't just kick out every good class A program.
[/quote]

Enrollment doesn't decide what class an A team is in, school officials decide that. Any team is free to opt up to AA.

And the rules don't allow for anyone to "kick out" a good class A program, so no need to worry about that happening.

I'm willing to bet most of those SCC players played AA at youth levels.

I'm simply pointing out that Class A is dominated by schools from metro areas, that, through either being a private school or a limited geographical area within that metro area, are able to stay under the enrollment cut off. Further, it appears the list is growing of teams that feel AA is right for them at youth levels, but then something happens between ninth and tenth grade that makes these players incapable of continuing to play AA, so their ADs move them down to A for HS. Doctors have identified this malady as "easierroadtothexitis". Hopefully they will one day find a cure.
[/quote]

My point was that class A is functioning as it is designed to. It was designed with enrollment as the parameters. Not resources.

I’m not worried about that under the current system. I’m worried what it would look like under your system. What is your ideal system anyway? Somehow I have the feeling it involves you “kicking out” the above listed programs.

By the way the HTown haters were adamant last year that once Hermantown was gone nobody could replicate that and you would rest your case. I hope you get your way and after HTown is gone they move SCC into 7A. Won’t hear a peep right? Just making sure because you are commenting on 4 programs now so I’m confused.

You aren’t simply pointing anything out. You have an agenda and you’re trying to poison this thread without it getting moved for not following the HTown thread rule.

In some ways I wish you would get your way and everyone in Hibbing’s way gets moved to AA just so I can hear some Ely (sorry to use you as an example Ely) can whine that they don’t have Hibbings resources and it’s not fair.

[Stang5280]

Is Bell from River Lakes area? Thought I heard he played youth down there. Wilmer-Spicer area??

Bell played with River Lakes through PeeWees, then Bantam AA for two years with St. Cloud. Not sure if that coincided with his enrollment at Cathedral or if a move was involved.

[rainier2]

My point was that class A is functioning as it is designed to. It was designed with enrollment as the parameters. Not resources.

I’m not worried about that under the current system. I’m worried what it would look like under your system. What is your ideal system anyway? Somehow I have the feeling it involves you “kicking out” the above listed programs.

By the way the HTown haters were adamant last year that once Hermantown was gone nobody could replicate that and you would rest your case. I hope you get your way and after HTown is gone they move SCC into 7A. Won’t hear a peep right? Just making sure because you are commenting on 4 programs now so I’m confused.

You aren’t simply pointing anything out. You have an agenda and you’re trying to poison this thread without it getting moved for not following the HTown thread rule.

In some ways I wish you would get your way and everyone in Hibbing’s way gets moved to AA just so I can hear some Ely (sorry to use you as an example Ely) can whine that they don’t have Hibbings resources and it’s not fair.

You are entitled to as many angry hallucinations as you can muster, but here is why I made my original post: I noticed the other day that Orono was playing AA at youth levels. I don't know if this is a new thing or what. Then, when I looked at these rankings, it stood out to me that a bunch of the top teams (Htown, Mahtomedi, Orono) were all playing AA at youth, but A in HS. Then I realized that it was very likely most if not all SCC players played AA at youth. It struck me as a dismaying trend that to be a top team in Class A, you have to play AA at youth levels.

And since you asked, my ideal system would be to send every team from a big city (Twin Cities, Duluth, St. Cloud, Rochester, Mankato) to AA. Then, if any schools from those areas want to go down to A, they could petition, something which is already done anyway. Then, if one of these "opting down" teams wins an A title, they are moved up to AA. These rankings would look very different if this system were in place, and, I imagine, would be much closer to what was intended when Class A was created.

Are you still confused?

[bardown27]

My point was that class A is functioning as it is designed to. It was designed with enrollment as the parameters. Not resources.

I’m not worried about that under the current system. I’m worried what it would look like under your system. What is your ideal system anyway? Somehow I have the feeling it involves you “kicking out” the above listed programs.

By the way the HTown haters were adamant last year that once Hermantown was gone nobody could replicate that and you would rest your case. I hope you get your way and after HTown is gone they move SCC into 7A. Won’t hear a peep right? Just making sure because you are commenting on 4 programs now so I’m confused.

You aren’t simply pointing anything out. You have an agenda and you’re trying to poison this thread without it getting moved for not following the HTown thread rule.

In some ways I wish you would get your way and everyone in Hibbing’s way gets moved to AA just so I can hear some Ely (sorry to use you as an example Ely) can whine that they don’t have Hibbings resources and it’s not fair.

You are entitled to as many angry hallucinations as you can muster, but here is why I made my original post: I noticed the other day that Orono was playing AA at youth levels. I don't know if this is a new thing or what. Then, when I looked at these rankings, it stood out to me that a bunch of the top teams (Htown, Mahtomedi, Orono) were all playing AA at youth, but A in HS. Then I realized that it was very likely most if not all SCC players played AA at youth. It struck me as a dismaying trend that to be a top team in Class A, you have to play AA at youth levels.

And since you asked, my ideal system would be to send every team from a big city (Twin Cities, Duluth, St. Cloud, Rochester, Mankato) to AA. Then, if any schools from those areas want to go down to A, they could petition, something which is already done anyway. Then, if one of these "opting down" teams wins an A title, they are moved up to AA. These rankings would look very different if this system were in place, and, I imagine, would be much closer to what was intended when Class A was created.

Are you still confused?

Orono moved to AA at the youth level this year

[Stang5280]

Orono moved to AA at the youth level this year

So their current success at the high school level has nothing to do with playing AA at the youth level (Not to mention that Orono’s Bantam A teams haven’t been anything special the past few years.)

[bardown27]

Orono moved to AA at the youth level this year

So their current success at the high school level has nothing to do with playing AA at the youth level (Not to mention that Orono’s Bantam A teams haven’t been anything special the past few years.)

They had a really good BA group in 16/17, which would put the kids from that team as juniors and seniors this year,

Their PWA team last year was #1 in the NOW Rankings on YHH, and their PWB team was #5 so that may have influenced their decision to move to AA for the coming years.

They really aren't that close to the AA/A enrollment cut of set by the MSHSL (1252), so don't know why they decided to move up.

[Stang5280]

PageStat Top 20 1/19/20
(Overall ranks in parentheses)

1. (5) HERMANTOWN 7A
2. (9) ST CLOUD CATHEDRAL 6A
3. (19) WARROAD 8A
4. (20) EAST GRAND FORKS 8A
5. (24) ORONO 2A
6. (35) MAHTOMEDI 4A
7. (42) THIEF RIVER FALLS 8A
8. (44) DULUTH DENFELD 7A
9. (46) DELANO 2A
10. (48) LITTLE FALLS 6A
11. (52) GENTRY ACADEMY 4A
12. (57) ALEXANDRIA 6A
13. (59) ROBB ARMSTRONG/COOPER 2A
14. (60) EVELETH GILBERT 7A
15. (61) ST PAUL JOHNSON 4A
16. (62) GREENWAY 7A
17. (64) BRECK 2A
18. (68) MOUND WESTONKA 2A
19. (69) MONTICELLO 5A
20. (70) RIVER LAKES 6A

I am baffled by the love for Armstrong/Cooper, whose only decent result is a tie with Rogers. Perhaps the blowout wins over bad teams are skewing their rating. But otherwise things look pretty solid.