Biggest Tourney upsets

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WendyClark
Posts: 271
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Re: Biggest Tourney upsets

Post by WendyClark » Wed Mar 11, 2020 10:09 pm

O-townClown wrote:
Tue Mar 10, 2020 10:46 pm
WendyClark wrote:
Tue Mar 10, 2020 4:39 pm
1983 - Hill-Murray beats Burnsville in the final 4-3

1987 - Bloomington Kennedy beats Burnsville in the final 4-1
1983 was not an upset at all (mentioned below) since H-M was undefeated and Burnsville was merely a very good Lake South team. Their best team on paper was 1985.

1987 isn't an upset because Kennedy was an overwhelming favorite.
Hook line and sinker, sarcasm anyone?

Probably time to retire from the bored

BlueLineSpecial
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Re: Biggest Tourney upsets

Post by BlueLineSpecial » Wed Mar 11, 2020 10:22 pm

50in15 wrote:
Wed Mar 11, 2020 9:57 pm
Enjoy reading all the stories and fun going down memory lane.

I probably should have labeled the thread where does mahtomedi’s upset rank? (In the past 10 year.... give or take). I feel like people in years to follow will may forget due to it being 3 vs 4 matchup but honestly, Saturday morning had a much different feeling. If there was a Vegas line, it would have been around -400. When I took a look at results since 2010, I honestly think it has to be about 2 or 3 on the list.

Thoughts?
It’s been a fun thread

I actually don’t think it’s that big an upset. Mahtomedi was a top 10 A team all year. Top 7? Top 5? They beat Hill & STA this year. They were a seeded team at State. They beat seeded Delano and top seeded Warroad. And they had several great chances to score against Hermantown.

Shot differential in the championship game, the lopsided regular season score (Zephyrs lost by 7) and the general aura around Hermantown lately I think is causing some people to look at it through colored lenses. It’s an upset for sure, and will be mentioned on threads like this in the future. But I’m not convinced it’s a top 3 or 5 upset this last decade.
The City of Hill Murray is beautiful this time of year

WBLPuck99
Posts: 57
Joined: Mon Jan 07, 2019 9:46 am

Re: Biggest Tourney upsets

Post by WBLPuck99 » Thu Mar 12, 2020 11:03 am

BlueLineSpecial wrote:
Wed Mar 11, 2020 10:22 pm
50in15 wrote:
Wed Mar 11, 2020 9:57 pm
Enjoy reading all the stories and fun going down memory lane.

I probably should have labeled the thread where does mahtomedi’s upset rank? (In the past 10 year.... give or take). I feel like people in years to follow will may forget due to it being 3 vs 4 matchup but honestly, Saturday morning had a much different feeling. If there was a Vegas line, it would have been around -400. When I took a look at results since 2010, I honestly think it has to be about 2 or 3 on the list.

Thoughts?
It’s been a fun thread

I actually don’t think it’s that big an upset. Mahtomedi was a top 10 A team all year. Top 7? Top 5? They beat Hill & STA this year. They were a seeded team at State. They beat seeded Delano and top seeded Warroad. And they had several great chances to score against Hermantown.

Shot differential in the championship game, the lopsided regular season score (Zephyrs lost by 7) and the general aura around Hermantown lately I think is causing some people to look at it through colored lenses. It’s an upset for sure, and will be mentioned on threads like this in the future. But I’m not convinced it’s a top 3 or 5 upset this last decade.
This nails it. If you go up and down the top maybe 25 or so teams in the state (including A and AA) you would be hardpressed to find any team where an upset is really that much of a shocker.

The teams that performed well in the state tournament is really a matter of players/coaches who were able to get their teams/goalies playing the best hockey at the end of the year.

wbmd
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Re: Biggest Tourney upsets

Post by wbmd » Sat Mar 14, 2020 3:37 pm

WBLPuck99 wrote:
Mon Mar 09, 2020 9:58 am
There are too many "upsets" to count for my favorite team.

I think the one that stands out to me most recently would be 2005 when WBL, led by Ryan Braun and David Grun got upended by unranked Duluth East.
That was Justin Braun and now playing for the Flyers in the NHL.

jdh
Posts: 204
Joined: Tue Mar 03, 2015 5:10 am

Re: Biggest Tourney upsets

Post by jdh » Sat Mar 14, 2020 4:19 pm

The 1980 final with Grand Rapids and Hill Murray should be up there too. Hill was undefeated going into the final and lost 2-1, despite outshooting Rapids 32-16.

Sparlimb
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Re: Biggest Tourney upsets

Post by Sparlimb » Sun Mar 15, 2020 9:03 pm

jdh wrote:
Sat Mar 14, 2020 4:19 pm
The 1980 final with Grand Rapids and Hill Murray should be up there too. Hill was undefeated going into the final and lost 2-1, despite outshooting Rapids 32-16.
To be honest, it was one of those upsets that still keeps a guy up at night. #-o :lol:

WBLPuck99
Posts: 57
Joined: Mon Jan 07, 2019 9:46 am

Re: Biggest Tourney upsets

Post by WBLPuck99 » Mon Mar 16, 2020 10:29 am

wbmd wrote:
Sat Mar 14, 2020 3:37 pm
WBLPuck99 wrote:
Mon Mar 09, 2020 9:58 am
There are too many "upsets" to count for my favorite team.

I think the one that stands out to me most recently would be 2005 when WBL, led by Ryan Braun and David Grun got upended by unranked Duluth East.
That was Justin Braun and now playing for the Flyers in the NHL.
Whoops, I meant Justin Braun. now canceled spring training had my attention.

mnmouth
Posts: 621
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Re: Biggest Tourney upsets

Post by mnmouth » Mon Mar 16, 2020 11:18 am

jdh wrote:
Sat Mar 14, 2020 4:19 pm
The 1980 final with Grand Rapids and Hill Murray should be up there too. Hill was undefeated going into the final and lost 2-1, despite outshooting Rapids 32-16.
A couple things about the 1980 tournament. Nobody could have anticipated that after Rapids won the title it would be 37 years before another IRC team would win a championship (sorry, not counting Tier II or Class A champs). Maybe 2, 3 or even 4 years, but not 4 decades. The thought was that the metro was definitely poised to become more dominant but Range mines were still plugging along in 1980. By 1982, however, huge layoffs became the norm. As many as 10,000 Iron Range miners lost their jobs - 60% of Minnesota’s mining workforce - during the 80s. Perhaps it should have been obvious what was set to happen after 1980, but even in 1981, Rapids was poised to win another title. Yet that team lost to eventual champion Bloomington Jefferson in OT in the quarterfinals, but won the consolation title.

The other thing about the 1980 Grand Rapids team was just how good John DeCenzo was for the Indians. Besides scoring the short handed goal that gave Rapids a vital 1-0 lead in the 1st period against Hill Murray, DeCenzo was electric any time he had the puck. This was during the era when most clubs still skated or passed the puck into the offensive zone - dump and chase was seen more at the NHL level. DeCenzo was as skilled a puck handler as was ever seen in the state tournament, and he consistently skated the puck out of trouble or into the opponent’s end as if he had a bubble around him.

jdh
Posts: 204
Joined: Tue Mar 03, 2015 5:10 am

Re: Biggest Tourney upsets

Post by jdh » Mon Mar 16, 2020 1:07 pm

Sparlimb wrote:
Sun Mar 15, 2020 9:03 pm
jdh wrote:
Sat Mar 14, 2020 4:19 pm
The 1980 final with Grand Rapids and Hill Murray should be up there too. Hill was undefeated going into the final and lost 2-1, despite outshooting Rapids 32-16.
To be honest, it was one of those upsets that still keeps a guy up at night. #-o :lol:
Rapids had Hill’s number in Hill’s early years in the Tournament, beating them five times from ‘75-‘80 either in the championship bracket or consolation.
I student-taught in Grand Rapids in 1970 and had several of the Championship team kids in class as eighth graders, including John Rothstein.

Doc Holliday
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Re: Biggest Tourney upsets

Post by Doc Holliday » Wed Mar 18, 2020 2:25 pm

1997 Edina winning the title.

They may have only had 3 losses, but they were clearly the #4 team in that field behind Duluth East, Hill Murray & Moorhead. May argue them behind Rochester Mayo.

Listed for winning 2 upsets:
-Championship over undefeated Duluth East: It was an upset, but if you watch that game, you can argue Edina may have deserved to win that game.
-Semis over Hill-Murray: I have ZERO idea how Edina won this game. I'm pretty sure Brandom Sampair & Jesse Unklesbay had approximately 634 breakaways and/or point blank scoring chances.....

defense
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Location: right here

Re: Biggest Tourney upsets

Post by defense » Wed Mar 18, 2020 2:58 pm

Doc Holliday wrote:
Wed Mar 18, 2020 2:25 pm
1997 Edina winning the title.

They may have only had 3 losses, but they were clearly the #4 team in that field behind Duluth East, Hill Murray & Moorhead. May argue them behind Rochester Mayo.

Listed for winning 2 upsets:
-Championship over undefeated Duluth East: It was an upset, but if you watch that game, you can argue Edina may have deserved to win that game.
-Semis over Hill-Murray: I have ZERO idea how Edina won this game. I'm pretty sure Brandom Sampair & Jesse Unklesbay had approximately 634 breakaways and/or point blank scoring chances.....
Having a hard time with Edina being labeled a historic underdog
Otter Hockey Rocks

grindiangrad-80
Posts: 2548
Joined: Fri Dec 01, 2006 8:00 pm

Re: Biggest Tourney upsets

Post by grindiangrad-80 » Wed Mar 18, 2020 11:50 pm

mnmouth wrote:
Mon Mar 16, 2020 11:18 am
jdh wrote:
Sat Mar 14, 2020 4:19 pm
The 1980 final with Grand Rapids and Hill Murray should be up there too. Hill was undefeated going into the final and lost 2-1, despite outshooting Rapids 32-16.
A couple things about the 1980 tournament. Nobody could have anticipated that after Rapids won the title it would be 37 years before another IRC team would win a championship (sorry, not counting Tier II or Class A champs). Maybe 2, 3 or even 4 years, but not 4 decades. The thought was that the metro was definitely poised to become more dominant but Range mines were still plugging along in 1980. By 1982, however, huge layoffs became the norm. As many as 10,000 Iron Range miners lost their jobs - 60% of Minnesota’s mining workforce - during the 80s. Perhaps it should have been obvious what was set to happen after 1980, but even in 1981, Rapids was poised to win another title. Yet that team lost to eventual champion Bloomington Jefferson in OT in the quarterfinals, but won the consolation title.

The other thing about the 1980 Grand Rapids team was just how good John DeCenzo was for the Indians. Besides scoring the short handed goal that gave Rapids a vital 1-0 lead in the 1st period against Hill Murray, DeCenzo was electric any time he had the puck. This was during the era when most clubs still skated or passed the puck into the offensive zone - dump and chase was seen more at the NHL level. DeCenzo was as skilled a puck handler as was ever seen in the state tournament, and he consistently skated the puck out of trouble or into the opponent’s end as if he had a bubble around him.
You are spot on about DeCenzo. If I remember correctly that short handed goal he scored in that game was from his knees.

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