7A 2015-2016 Prediction

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rainier
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7A 2015-2016 Prediction

Post by rainier » Thu Mar 12, 2015 10:11 am

7A pretty much went as expected this season, but there were a couple surprises as Greenway proved their resurgence was for real by getting a top 5 seed and taking Hibbing to OT in the playoffs, and the Duluth Marshall opt up made a Cinderella-like run through 7A more realisitic, as now underdogs will only need one major upset to win the section.

It's early, but here's how I see it for next year:

1. Hermantown-Still the strong favorite to go to the X, the Hawks lose some offensive potency as they will return only 46% of their goal scoring and 47% of their points. However, this is a team that scored a ton of goals this past season, and they pretty much just reload every year.

Any offensive regression-albeit small-could be offset by their improved defense. They only lose one D-man from this year's team, and their top 4 of Aamodt, Gotz, Sandelin, and Samberg could be as good as any in the state. Add to this the fact that Olson will return in nets after a tremendous season this year, and the Hawks may not need any offense with how stingy they will be in their own end.

Hibbing may be able to close the gap a little this year, but will it be enough to finally unseat the Hawks?

2. Hibbing- As a young team this season, Hibbing had some impressive ups and some cringe-worthy downs. They will benefit from more maturity next year as they bring back a whopping 80% of their goals and 84% of their total scoring. Their senior class will have more talent this coming year, and if those seniors can provide solid leadership, then Hibbing should clearly be at least the #2 seed in 7A, and perhaps even make Hermantown look over their shoulder.

The Bluejackets bring back their top 3 D-men and have some JV/bantam talent that should bring decent depth to the 4th-5th D spots.

The real question for Hibbing will be in goal. Losing a solid netminder in Dilley hurts, but a talented youngster will try to step in without missing a beat. Ullan is one of the best goalies in the state for his age, and he was one of the state's top goalies in bantam AA two seasons ago as a seventh grader. He put up great numbers as an eight grader this season, and should win the starting varsity spot as a freshman next year. There's no doubt the size and physical tools are there for this kid, the only question is how long will it take him to adjust to the speed of varsity hockey. There may be some bumps along the way, but given he has been playing two years above his age group, he should make that adjustment and do well.

Hibbing should be a top 10 A team the whole season, but they will need to really put it together in order to take down Hermantown in the playoffs.

3. Greenway- The Raiders come into the season with something they haven't had for quite a while: high expectations. After struggling to be a top 8 seed for too long, their program is undergoing a renaissance and the results are starting to show. They will return an incredible 90% of their goals and 85% of their total scoring.

Having a healthy Lantz and getting some depth from a decent bantam squad should have this team looking at a home game in the first round of the playoffs, and they way they took it to Hibbing this year without Lantz even on the ice should give this team confidence that they are ready to try their hand at beating Hermantown in the 7A final.

As crazy as the thought of Greenway beating the Hawks sounds, the Raiders do have a goalie that can make such upsets enter the realm of the possible, as LaDoux (Mike?) had some fantastic games this year and could be ready to take the next step with an improved team in front of him.

With a rapidly improving varsity squad and some outstanding youth talent being developed, it is a good time to be a Raider fan. This is great to see and should remind any Range program that revivals are possible.

4. Denfeld- No team will see an exodus of scoring like the Hunters will, as they bring back a mere 17% of their goal scoring and 18% of their total points. Although it would seem the cupboard is bare in Denfeld, this is a team that has made a living off of transfers the past few seasons, so predicting who will actually be on the ice next year is difficult.

If no significant talent arrives, the Hunters may not even be seeded this high come playoff time. Their bantam team was weak and will likely not add much, but there may have been some talent at the JV level, given they were relatively deep this year.

They do have Alander in nets, and his numbers while splitting time with Cook this past year were outstanding. The west-siders will have plenty of openings for any disgruntled players on other teams looking for playing time, so the lure of top line minutes may entice some solid transfers.

5. Proctor- Trading the Hilltoppers for the Rails is a deal the rest of 7A was happy to make. Proctor seemed to get better as the season went along last year, and they will return 82% of their goals and 74% of their total points, so there is production that will be a year older.


6. Virginia- The Blue Devils likely reached their nadir this past season, as they had a year they would like to forget. They will return 54% of their goals and 53% of their total points, and a good chunk of this came from sophomores and freshman. These kids should be ready to make more of an impact this season and VMIB should be able to put out a top line capable of doing some damage.

The question will be their defense. Unless a forward gets moved back, there does not appear to be much talent on the blue line. The bantam team was average, so it doesn't seem much help could come from the young'ins.

What will hurt the most is the loss of Lucas Murray. It seems as if he has been playing varsity since the Clinton administration, and he gave his team a chance just about every night. Hopefully the Devils have someone ready to take over, but the kid may have to suffer from elephantitis in his feet in order to fill Murray's cavernous shoes.

7. North Shore- I may really be underrating the Storm by putting them at this spot, as they bring back 69% of their goals and total points from a team that showed some promise this year.

They have some excellent young players that if they stick around could push the team into the top 5 in 7A.

8. Eveleth-Gillbert- Had a decent season, but will return a relatively low 41% of goals and total scoring. They also lose a good goalie in Hietala, so replacing him may not be easy.

The Golden Bears also appear to be resurrecting their program, as they are starting to produce some really good teams at the youth levels. But for the next few years it appears E-G will stay in the back half of the 7A pack.

9. I-Falls- Had a terrible season, but hopefully the Broncos can be much better next year as they return 59% of their goals and 68% of their total scoring. This is a proud program and I expect them to bounce back, but maybe not just yet.

10. Ely- I'm glad the Wolves still have a team and they did have a youth team that was very good at the B level this year. (The highest level they play in.)

kniven
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Re: 7A 2015-2016 Prediction

Post by kniven » Thu Mar 12, 2015 3:06 pm

rainier wrote:7A pretty much went as expected this season, but there were a couple surprises as Greenway proved their resurgence was for real by getting a top 5 seed and taking Hibbing to OT in the playoffs, and the Duluth Marshall opt up made a Cinderella-like run through 7A more realisitic, as now underdogs will only need one major upset to win the section.

It's early, but here's how I see it for next year:

1. Hermantown-Still the strong favorite to go to the X, the Hawks lose some offensive potency as they will return only 46% of their goal scoring and 47% of their points. However, this is a team that scored a ton of goals this past season, and they pretty much just reload every year.

Any offensive regression-albeit small-could be offset by their improved defense. They only lose one D-man from this year's team, and their top 4 of Aamodt, Gotz, Sandelin, and Samberg could be as good as any in the state. Add to this the fact that Olson will return in nets after a tremendous season this year, and the Hawks may not need any offense with how stingy they will be in their own end.

Hibbing may be able to close the gap a little this year, but will it be enough to finally unseat the Hawks?

2. Hibbing- As a young team this season, Hibbing had some impressive ups and some cringe-worthy downs. They will benefit from more maturity next year as they bring back a whopping 80% of their goals and 84% of their total scoring. Their senior class will have more talent this coming year, and if those seniors can provide solid leadership, then Hibbing should clearly be at least the #2 seed in 7A, and perhaps even make Hermantown look over their shoulder.

The Bluejackets bring back their top 3 D-men and have some JV/bantam talent that should bring decent depth to the 4th-5th D spots.

The real question for Hibbing will be in goal. Losing a solid netminder in Dilley hurts, but a talented youngster will try to step in without missing a beat. Ullan is one of the best goalies in the state for his age, and he was one of the state's top goalies in bantam AA two seasons ago as a seventh grader. He put up great numbers as an eight grader this season, and should win the starting varsity spot as a freshman next year. There's no doubt the size and physical tools are there for this kid, the only question is how long will it take him to adjust to the speed of varsity hockey. There may be some bumps along the way, but given he has been playing two years above his age group, he should make that adjustment and do well.

Hibbing should be a top 10 A team the whole season, but they will need to really put it together in order to take down Hermantown in the playoffs.

3. Greenway- The Raiders come into the season with something they haven't had for quite a while: high expectations. After struggling to be a top 8 seed for too long, their program is undergoing a renaissance and the results are starting to show. They will return an incredible 90% of their goals and 85% of their total scoring.

Having a healthy Lantz and getting some depth from a decent bantam squad should have this team looking at a home game in the first round of the playoffs, and they way they took it to Hibbing this year without Lantz even on the ice should give this team confidence that they are ready to try their hand at beating Hermantown in the 7A final.

As crazy as the thought of Greenway beating the Hawks sounds, the Raiders do have a goalie that can make such upsets enter the realm of the possible, as LaDoux (Mike?) had some fantastic games this year and could be ready to take the next step with an improved team in front of him.

With a rapidly improving varsity squad and some outstanding youth talent being developed, it is a good time to be a Raider fan. This is great to see and should remind any Range program that revivals are possible.

4. Denfeld- No team will see an exodus of scoring like the Hunters will, as they bring back a mere 17% of their goal scoring and 18% of their total points. Although it would seem the cupboard is bare in Denfeld, this is a team that has made a living off of transfers the past few seasons, so predicting who will actually be on the ice next year is difficult.

If no significant talent arrives, the Hunters may not even be seeded this high come playoff time. Their bantam team was weak and will likely not add much, but there may have been some talent at the JV level, given they were relatively deep this year.

They do have Alander in nets, and his numbers while splitting time with Cook this past year were outstanding. The west-siders will have plenty of openings for any disgruntled players on other teams looking for playing time, so the lure of top line minutes may entice some solid transfers.

5. Proctor- Trading the Hilltoppers for the Rails is a deal the rest of 7A was happy to make. Proctor seemed to get better as the season went along last year, and they will return 82% of their goals and 74% of their total points, so there is production that will be a year older.


6. Virginia- The Blue Devils likely reached their nadir this past season, as they had a year they would like to forget. They will return 54% of their goals and 53% of their total points, and a good chunk of this came from sophomores and freshman. These kids should be ready to make more of an impact this season and VMIB should be able to put out a top line capable of doing some damage.

The question will be their defense. Unless a forward gets moved back, there does not appear to be much talent on the blue line. The bantam team was average, so it doesn't seem much help could come from the young'ins.

What will hurt the most is the loss of Lucas Murray. It seems as if he has been playing varsity since the Clinton administration, and he gave his team a chance just about every night. Hopefully the Devils have someone ready to take over, but the kid may have to suffer from elephantitis in his feet in order to fill Murray's cavernous shoes.

7. North Shore- I may really be underrating the Storm by putting them at this spot, as they bring back 69% of their goals and total points from a team that showed some promise this year.

They have some excellent young players that if they stick around could push the team into the top 5 in 7A.

8. Eveleth-Gillbert- Had a decent season, but will return a relatively low 41% of goals and total scoring. They also lose a good goalie in Hietala, so replacing him may not be easy.

The Golden Bears also appear to be resurrecting their program, as they are starting to produce some really good teams at the youth levels. But for the next few years it appears E-G will stay in the back half of the 7A pack.

9. I-Falls- Had a terrible season, but hopefully the Broncos can be much better next year as they return 59% of their goals and 68% of their total scoring. This is a proud program and I expect them to bounce back, but maybe not just yet.

10. Ely- I'm glad the Wolves still have a team and they did have a youth team that was very good at the B level this year. (The highest level they play in.)
It is really interesting to see the "no interest" in discussing single A hockey amongst high school hockey fans across Minnesota. Double AA dominates. But I do like seeing Hibbing and possibly Greenway having some quality teams coming through the ranks. Hermantown reloads every year, but it doesn't mean they can't be beat.

greenway1969
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Post by greenway1969 » Thu Mar 12, 2015 9:06 pm

As usual Ranier, you've done a good job in team summaries. Hermantown is a 1/2 level above Hibbing which is a 1/2 level above the next group of teams. I see Greenway, Denfeld, North Shore, Proctor and Virginia as a group with a slight edge to Greenway. Denfeld lost all of its top players so will be a big unknown. Will be very excited with Greenway if they get the person as coach who has been mentioned around town. Greenway has a good shot at making it to Amsoil.

rainier
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Post by rainier » Thu Mar 12, 2015 10:06 pm

greenway1969 wrote:As usual Ranier, you've done a good job in team summaries. Hermantown is a 1/2 level above Hibbing which is a 1/2 level above the next group of teams. I see Greenway, Denfeld, North Shore, Proctor and Virginia as a group with a slight edge to Greenway. Denfeld lost all of its top players so will be a big unknown. Will be very excited with Greenway if they get the person as coach who has been mentioned around town. Greenway has a good shot at making it to Amsoil.
Agreed that the team groupings are as you stated.

Did the current coach get let go in Greenway? Is the candidate your hoping for a former Raider? I think I may know who you are speaking of, and yes, it would be a sweet acquisition.

Greenway should be at Amsoil for the semis for sure, as I would be shocked if they weren't the 3 or 4 seed playing at home versus a lower seed in the QF.

In the coming years there appears there will be a lot more parity between all of the Range teams with Greenway, Virginia, and Eveleth all having some good youth teams coming up. I just hope someone can beat Hermantown at some point to mix things up a bit.

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Post by TheHockeyDJ » Thu Mar 12, 2015 10:11 pm

In spite of greenway1969's constant and relentless Grand Rapids bashing, I hope the Raiders have a good squad and end up playing a couple games at Amsoil Arena next February.
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rainier
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Post by rainier » Thu Mar 12, 2015 10:11 pm

My bad, I just saw the coach openings thread and read the news.

This seems to be a move that had to be made. Even though he had the team moving in the right direction, it sounds as if the community had had enough of the goon stuff.

If the new coaching candidate is who I think it is, I imagine enthusiasm at Greenway will grow even stronger.

Even though I'd hate for my Bluejackets to lose to your Raiders, a nice consolation prize would be to see Greenway face Hermantown in the 7A final and know that Greenway had a real chance of knocking them off.

kniven
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Post by kniven » Thu Mar 12, 2015 10:31 pm

TheHockeyDJ wrote:In spite of greenway1969's constant and relentless Grand Rapids bashing, I hope the Raiders have a good squad and end up playing a couple games at Amsoil Arena next February.
I think Hibbing will give Hermantown the biggest run. Coaching is huge. If Greenway gets their coach, things will I hope really get interesting. Denfeld recruits and Proctor guys get recruited. Virginia can be a scary wildcard. Nothing is better than great completion and 7A is heading there now that Marshall moved out.

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Post by greenway1969 » Thu Mar 12, 2015 10:45 pm

Thanks DJ. Right back at you. I'm just your reality check.

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Post by Froggy Richards » Fri Mar 13, 2015 8:13 am

greenway1969 wrote:As usual Ranier, you've done a good job in team summaries. Hermantown is a 1/2 level above Hibbing which is a 1/2 level above the next group of teams. I see Greenway, Denfeld, North Shore, Proctor and Virginia as a group with a slight edge to Greenway. Denfeld lost all of its top players so will be a big unknown. Will be very excited with Greenway if they get the person as coach who has been mentioned around town. Greenway has a good shot at making it to Amsoil.
Didn't Proctor beat Greenway pretty handily last year? Proctor doesn't lose much and should be better this year.

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Post by greenway1969 » Fri Mar 13, 2015 8:23 am

Proctor beat Greenway 3-1 in Proctor. This was after the Denfeld debacle when four players were serving a suspension and Greenway was going through a "transition".

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Post by Froggy Richards » Fri Mar 13, 2015 9:26 am

greenway1969 wrote:Proctor beat Greenway 3-1 in Proctor. This was after the Denfeld debacle when four players were serving a suspension and Greenway was going through a "transition".
Thanks for the insight. Would love to see Proctor get to Amsoil and be competitive this year. That program needs a shot in the arm. It's crazy to think how good they could be if all of their players were still there. They've got guys at Hermantown, East and Marshall.

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Re: 7A 2015-2016 Prediction

Post by pekyman » Fri Mar 13, 2015 10:12 am

rainier wrote:7A pretty much went as expected this season, but there were a couple surprises as Greenway proved their resurgence was for real by getting a top 5 seed and taking Hibbing to OT in the playoffs, and the Duluth Marshall opt up made a Cinderella-like run through 7A more realisitic, as now underdogs will only need one major upset to win the section.

It's early, but here's how I see it for next year:

1. Hermantown-Still the strong favorite to go to the X, the Hawks lose some offensive potency as they will return only 46% of their goal scoring and 47% of their points. However, this is a team that scored a ton of goals this past season, and they pretty much just reload every year.

Any offensive regression-albeit small-could be offset by their improved defense. They only lose one D-man from this year's team, and their top 4 of Aamodt, Gotz, Sandelin, and Samberg could be as good as any in the state. Add to this the fact that Olson will return in nets after a tremendous season this year, and the Hawks may not need any offense with how stingy they will be in their own end.

Hibbing may be able to close the gap a little this year, but will it be enough to finally unseat the Hawks?
Hawks lose 2 senior D, Kimball and Gibson not 1. Sandelin is actually a forward that played D and Samberg was injured most of the year and played very little.
If Sandelin plays forward, that only leaves Aamodt and Gotz as returners. Aamodt, one of the top D in the state as a junior, may decide to leave.

Hermantown loses 5 senior forwards from lines 1-3, and you don’t replace a Pionk-Kero combo. Major loses at forward for Hermantown.

Next year’s team will be more like last year’s team; a few seniors, mostly juniors and maybe a few sophomores.

If there ever was a year for somebody to knock Hermantown out at sections, 2015/16 would be it.
I would pick Hibbing to do just that, but there seems to be a nasty curse against all the teams that try...

rainier
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Re: 7A 2015-2016 Prediction

Post by rainier » Fri Mar 13, 2015 12:13 pm

pekyman wrote:
rainier wrote:7A pretty much went as expected this season, but there were a couple surprises as Greenway proved their resurgence was for real by getting a top 5 seed and taking Hibbing to OT in the playoffs, and the Duluth Marshall opt up made a Cinderella-like run through 7A more realisitic, as now underdogs will only need one major upset to win the section.

It's early, but here's how I see it for next year:

1. Hermantown-Still the strong favorite to go to the X, the Hawks lose some offensive potency as they will return only 46% of their goal scoring and 47% of their points. However, this is a team that scored a ton of goals this past season, and they pretty much just reload every year.

Any offensive regression-albeit small-could be offset by their improved defense. They only lose one D-man from this year's team, and their top 4 of Aamodt, Gotz, Sandelin, and Samberg could be as good as any in the state. Add to this the fact that Olson will return in nets after a tremendous season this year, and the Hawks may not need any offense with how stingy they will be in their own end.

Hibbing may be able to close the gap a little this year, but will it be enough to finally unseat the Hawks?
Hawks lose 2 senior D, Kimball and Gibson not 1. Sandelin is actually a forward that played D and Samberg was injured most of the year and played very little.
If Sandelin plays forward, that only leaves Aamodt and Gotz as returners. Aamodt, one of the top D in the state as a junior, may decide to leave.

Hermantown loses 5 senior forwards from lines 1-3, and you don’t replace a Pionk-Kero combo. Major loses at forward for Hermantown.

Next year’s team will be more like last year’s team; a few seniors, mostly juniors and maybe a few sophomores.

If there ever was a year for somebody to knock Hermantown out at sections, 2015/16 would be it.
I would pick Hibbing to do just that, but there seems to be a nasty curse against all the teams that try...
Yeah, I only was counting the top 4 D, as I didn't see Gibson on the ice much in the games I watched.

I also did see Sandelin get moved to D, but figured Plante may keep him there as it has always seemed he prefers to keep the majority of his talent at defense.

Now it makes sense why Samberg didn't play much; didn't know he was injured. Unless there is a bantam/jv player ready to step in to a top 4 D role, I would guess Sandelin stays on the blue line. Especially if Aamodt leaves.

If Aamodt leaves, then Hibbing would have no excuse for not beating Germantown, that kid is fantastic .

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Re: 7A 2015-2016 Prediction

Post by pekyman » Fri Mar 13, 2015 12:30 pm

rainier wrote:
pekyman wrote:
rainier wrote:7A pretty much went as expected this season, but there were a couple surprises as Greenway proved their resurgence was for real by getting a top 5 seed and taking Hibbing to OT in the playoffs, and the Duluth Marshall opt up made a Cinderella-like run through 7A more realisitic, as now underdogs will only need one major upset to win the section.

It's early, but here's how I see it for next year:

1. Hermantown-Still the strong favorite to go to the X, the Hawks lose some offensive potency as they will return only 46% of their goal scoring and 47% of their points. However, this is a team that scored a ton of goals this past season, and they pretty much just reload every year.

Any offensive regression-albeit small-could be offset by their improved defense. They only lose one D-man from this year's team, and their top 4 of Aamodt, Gotz, Sandelin, and Samberg could be as good as any in the state. Add to this the fact that Olson will return in nets after a tremendous season this year, and the Hawks may not need any offense with how stingy they will be in their own end.

Hibbing may be able to close the gap a little this year, but will it be enough to finally unseat the Hawks?
Hawks lose 2 senior D, Kimball and Gibson not 1. Sandelin is actually a forward that played D and Samberg was injured most of the year and played very little.
If Sandelin plays forward, that only leaves Aamodt and Gotz as returners. Aamodt, one of the top D in the state as a junior, may decide to leave.

Hermantown loses 5 senior forwards from lines 1-3, and you don’t replace a Pionk-Kero combo. Major loses at forward for Hermantown.

Next year’s team will be more like last year’s team; a few seniors, mostly juniors and maybe a few sophomores.

If there ever was a year for somebody to knock Hermantown out at sections, 2015/16 would be it.
I would pick Hibbing to do just that, but there seems to be a nasty curse against all the teams that try...
Yeah, I only was counting the top 4 D, as I didn't see Gibson on the ice much in the games I watched.

I also did see Sandelin get moved to D, but figured Plante may keep him there as it has always seemed he prefers to keep the majority of his talent at defense.

Now it makes sense why Samberg didn't play much; didn't know he was injured. Unless there is a bantam/jv player ready to step in to a top 4 D role, I would guess Sandelin stays on the blue line. Especially if Aamodt leaves.

If Aamodt leaves, then Hibbing would have no excuse for not beating Germantown, that kid is fantastic .
No excuse, except for "THE CURSE" :lol:

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Post by kniven » Mon Apr 06, 2015 5:57 pm

greenway1969 wrote:As usual Ranier, you've done a good job in team summaries. Hermantown is a 1/2 level above Hibbing which is a 1/2 level above the next group of teams. I see Greenway, Denfeld, North Shore, Proctor and Virginia as a group with a slight edge to Greenway. Denfeld lost all of its top players so will be a big unknown. Will be very excited with Greenway if they get the person as coach who has been mentioned around town. Greenway has a good shot at making it to Amsoil.
I was talking with some Hermantown folks last night. I mentioned that Hibbing and Greenway might put up a fight next year. They looked at me like I was on drugs......but yet these are the same that say Hermantown can't compete in 2A.

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Post by kniven » Mon Apr 06, 2015 5:57 pm

greenway1969 wrote:As usual Ranier, you've done a good job in team summaries. Hermantown is a 1/2 level above Hibbing which is a 1/2 level above the next group of teams. I see Greenway, Denfeld, North Shore, Proctor and Virginia as a group with a slight edge to Greenway. Denfeld lost all of its top players so will be a big unknown. Will be very excited with Greenway if they get the person as coach who has been mentioned around town. Greenway has a good shot at making it to Amsoil.
I was talking with some Hermantown folks last night. I mentioned that Hibbing and Greenway might put up a fight next year. They looked at me like I was on drugs......but yet these are the same that say Hermantown can't compete in 2A.

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Post by rainier » Tue Apr 07, 2015 11:06 am

kniven wrote:
greenway1969 wrote:As usual Ranier, you've done a good job in team summaries. Hermantown is a 1/2 level above Hibbing which is a 1/2 level above the next group of teams. I see Greenway, Denfeld, North Shore, Proctor and Virginia as a group with a slight edge to Greenway. Denfeld lost all of its top players so will be a big unknown. Will be very excited with Greenway if they get the person as coach who has been mentioned around town. Greenway has a good shot at making it to Amsoil.
I was talking with some Hermantown folks last night. I mentioned that Hibbing and Greenway might put up a fight next year. They looked at me like I was on drugs......but yet these are the same that say Hermantown can't compete in 2A.
Yeah, there does seem to be a tendency amongst Hawk fans to mistakenly believe the phrase "compete with" means the same thing as "win every time". For example, "We aren't ready to go to AA yet because we can't compete with Edina or Eden Prairie" is Hermantownese for "We'll be ready to opt up to AA as soon as we can beat every AA team all the time."

So the bewildered reaction you got for suggesting that Hibbing and Greenway might be able to "compete with" Hermantown next year isn't surprising given that what they heard was: "Hibbing and Greenway are guaranteed to beat Hermantown every time they play next year."

:D :D :D

Seriously though, Hermantown will still be a strong favorite in 7A next year, but I think Hibbing and Greenway will have closed the gap some. Hopefully such as shift can reclassify an upset of Hermantown from "mind-boggling" down to a mere "mildly shocking".

It will be interesting to see if more Hermantown youth stars opt up to AA Duluth Marshall for high school. One Hermantown youth hockey parent I know is convinced that last year's mini-exodus is only the beginning.

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Post by pekyman » Tue Apr 07, 2015 1:07 pm

kniven wrote:
greenway1969 wrote:As usual Ranier, you've done a good job in team summaries. Hermantown is a 1/2 level above Hibbing which is a 1/2 level above the next group of teams. I see Greenway, Denfeld, North Shore, Proctor and Virginia as a group with a slight edge to Greenway. Denfeld lost all of its top players so will be a big unknown. Will be very excited with Greenway if they get the person as coach who has been mentioned around town. Greenway has a good shot at making it to Amsoil.
I was talking with some Hermantown folks last night. I mentioned that Hibbing and Greenway might put up a fight next year. They looked at me like I was on drugs......but yet these are the same that say Hermantown can't compete in 2A.
Were you? :wink:

I'm from HT and I think Hibbing has an excellent chance of beating the Hawks next year if they can get their players on the ice and in the weight room during the off season.
In talking with Hibbing parents at the state tourney, they mentioned that their summer program is not good/non-existent.
Hermantown's summer/off-season program is excellent players are expected to participate.
If Hibbing/etc. wants to take their team to the next level, they need to get their off-season program going for the entire team.

rainier
Posts: 1599
Joined: Sat Feb 26, 2011 10:30 pm
Location: Earth

Post by rainier » Tue Apr 07, 2015 1:10 pm

pekyman wrote:
kniven wrote:
greenway1969 wrote:As usual Ranier, you've done a good job in team summaries. Hermantown is a 1/2 level above Hibbing which is a 1/2 level above the next group of teams. I see Greenway, Denfeld, North Shore, Proctor and Virginia as a group with a slight edge to Greenway. Denfeld lost all of its top players so will be a big unknown. Will be very excited with Greenway if they get the person as coach who has been mentioned around town. Greenway has a good shot at making it to Amsoil.
I was talking with some Hermantown folks last night. I mentioned that Hibbing and Greenway might put up a fight next year. They looked at me like I was on drugs......but yet these are the same that say Hermantown can't compete in 2A.
Were you? :wink:

I'm from HT and I think Hibbing has an excellent chance of beating the Hawks next year if they can get their players on the ice and in the weight room during the off season.
In talking with Hibbing parents at the state tourney, they mentioned that their summer program is not good/non-existent.
Hermantown's summer/off-season program is excellent players are expected to participate.
If Hibbing/etc. wants to take their team to the next level, they need to get their off-season program going for the entire team.
Agree 100%. There is a big push now at Hibbing to get all athletes into the weight room consistently and also spring and summer hockey programs are now being offered/improved. I hope results follow...

Froggy Richards
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Joined: Thu Mar 07, 2013 11:15 am

Post by Froggy Richards » Tue Apr 07, 2015 1:31 pm

rainier wrote:
pekyman wrote:
kniven wrote:
greenway1969 wrote:As usual Ranier, you've done a good job in team summaries. Hermantown is a 1/2 level above Hibbing which is a 1/2 level above the next group of teams. I see Greenway, Denfeld, North Shore, Proctor and Virginia as a group with a slight edge to Greenway. Denfeld lost all of its top players so will be a big unknown. Will be very excited with Greenway if they get the person as coach who has been mentioned around town. Greenway has a good shot at making it to Amsoil.
I was talking with some Hermantown folks last night. I mentioned that Hibbing and Greenway might put up a fight next year. They looked at me like I was on drugs......but yet these are the same that say Hermantown can't compete in 2A.
Were you? :wink:

I'm from HT and I think Hibbing has an excellent chance of beating the Hawks next year if they can get their players on the ice and in the weight room during the off season.
In talking with Hibbing parents at the state tourney, they mentioned that their summer program is not good/non-existent.
Hermantown's summer/off-season program is excellent players are expected to participate.
If Hibbing/etc. wants to take their team to the next level, they need to get their off-season program going for the entire team.
Agree 100%. There is a big push now at Hibbing to get all athletes into the weight room consistently and also spring and summer hockey programs are now being offered/improved. I hope results follow...
If Hibbing is looking good maybe Mr. Gotz will call the wife and tell her to bring the kids back home for next year. That would close the gap even more.

rainier
Posts: 1599
Joined: Sat Feb 26, 2011 10:30 pm
Location: Earth

Post by rainier » Tue Apr 07, 2015 1:37 pm

Froggy Richards wrote:
rainier wrote:
pekyman wrote:
kniven wrote:
greenway1969 wrote:As usual Ranier, you've done a good job in team summaries. Hermantown is a 1/2 level above Hibbing which is a 1/2 level above the next group of teams. I see Greenway, Denfeld, North Shore, Proctor and Virginia as a group with a slight edge to Greenway. Denfeld lost all of its top players so will be a big unknown. Will be very excited with Greenway if they get the person as coach who has been mentioned around town. Greenway has a good shot at making it to Amsoil.
I was talking with some Hermantown folks last night. I mentioned that Hibbing and Greenway might put up a fight next year. They looked at me like I was on drugs......but yet these are the same that say Hermantown can't compete in 2A.
Were you? :wink:

I'm from HT and I think Hibbing has an excellent chance of beating the Hawks next year if they can get their players on the ice and in the weight room during the off season.
In talking with Hibbing parents at the state tourney, they mentioned that their summer program is not good/non-existent.
Hermantown's summer/off-season program is excellent players are expected to participate.
If Hibbing/etc. wants to take their team to the next level, they need to get their off-season program going for the entire team.
Agree 100%. There is a big push now at Hibbing to get all athletes into the weight room consistently and also spring and summer hockey programs are now being offered/improved. I hope results follow...
If Hibbing is looking good maybe Mr. Gotz will call the wife and tell her to bring the kids back home for next year. That would close the gap even more.
That would be nice as both those kids are excellent players, but I don't see that toothpaste getting put back in the tube. Never know, though...

pekyman
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Post by pekyman » Tue Apr 07, 2015 1:52 pm

rainier wrote:
Froggy Richards wrote:
rainier wrote:
pekyman wrote:
kniven wrote:
greenway1969 wrote:As usual Ranier, you've done a good job in team summaries. Hermantown is a 1/2 level above Hibbing which is a 1/2 level above the next group of teams. I see Greenway, Denfeld, North Shore, Proctor and Virginia as a group with a slight edge to Greenway. Denfeld lost all of its top players so will be a big unknown. Will be very excited with Greenway if they get the person as coach who has been mentioned around town. Greenway has a good shot at making it to Amsoil.
I was talking with some Hermantown folks last night. I mentioned that Hibbing and Greenway might put up a fight next year. They looked at me like I was on drugs......but yet these are the same that say Hermantown can't compete in 2A.
Were you? :wink:

I'm from HT and I think Hibbing has an excellent chance of beating the Hawks next year if they can get their players on the ice and in the weight room during the off season.
In talking with Hibbing parents at the state tourney, they mentioned that their summer program is not good/non-existent.
Hermantown's summer/off-season program is excellent players are expected to participate.
If Hibbing/etc. wants to take their team to the next level, they need to get their off-season program going for the entire team.
Agree 100%. There is a big push now at Hibbing to get all athletes into the weight room consistently and also spring and summer hockey programs are now being offered/improved. I hope results follow...
If Hibbing is looking good maybe Mr. Gotz will call the wife and tell her to bring the kids back home for next year. That would close the gap even more.
That would be nice as both those kids are excellent players, but I don't see that toothpaste getting put back in the tube. Never know, though...
Their "Home" is in Hermantown.

greenway1969
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Joined: Fri Oct 27, 2006 8:29 am

Post by greenway1969 » Thu Jun 25, 2015 9:41 am

Optimistic and realistic goals for the teams in 7A.

Hermantown - State championship (optimistic). State runner-up (realistic)
Hibbing - Section championship (optimistic). Section finalist (realistic)
Denfeld, Greenway, Proctor - Section finals (optimistic). Section semifinals (realistic)
North Shore, Virginia, Eveleth - Section semifinals (optimistic). Home ice for first round (realistic).
International Falls - Home ice first round (optimistic). Better record than last year (realistic)
Ely - Winning a section game (optimistic). Better record than last year (realistic).

Biggest variable is how many transfers Denfeld gets this year. If they don't get some quality transfers they may be in for a rough year. Next biggest variable is the new coach at Greenway.

rainier
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Joined: Sat Feb 26, 2011 10:30 pm
Location: Earth

Post by rainier » Thu Aug 06, 2015 9:56 am

Good to see new coaches at Greenway and I-Falls, hopefully they will continue to improve their programs.

As far as 7A, I haven't seen much that would change any of my predictions from last March, except that Hermantown may be even better than I thought.

With 6 players on Team North and another 3 (Samberg, Valure, Olson) that are clearly Elite League-level players, the Hawks will be loaded. They did lose alot of scoring last year, but Jaques, Valure, Sandelin, and Samberg are all likely to make a huge step this season as juniors, and Watkins is as good as any sophomore in the state.

I see Hermantown having two excellent lines, three elite defenseman, and a proven top notch goalie. They should be heavy favorites to win the Class A title this season.

kniven
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Location: Duluth area

Post by kniven » Fri Aug 07, 2015 11:11 am

rainier wrote:Good to see new coaches at Greenway and I-Falls, hopefully they will continue to improve their programs.

As far as 7A, I haven't seen much that would change any of my predictions from last March, except that Hermantown may be even better than I thought.

With 6 players on Team North and another 3 (Samberg, Valure, Olson) that are clearly Elite League-level players, the Hawks will be loaded. They did lose alot of scoring last year, but Jaques, Valure, Sandelin, and Samberg are all likely to make a huge step this season as juniors, and Watkins is as good as any sophomore in the state.

I see Hermantown having two excellent lines, three elite defenseman, and a proven top notch goalie. They should be heavy favorites to win the Class A title this season.
Hermantown will be the 7a favorite for eternity.

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