North Suburban Conference Next Season (05-06)

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slporiolesfan
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North Suburban Conference Next Season (05-06)

Post by slporiolesfan » Fri May 06, 2005 9:10 pm

St Louis Park will be new to the conference next year. The Orioles have played BSM, Cooper and Totino in the recent past, but I have very little idea on how good the other teams are. Who will be the teams to beat? Who will be the teams that are least competative? In fact, who ARE the teams? I think this is the grouping, but I'm not totally sure<br><br><!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>South</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END--><br>St Louis Park<br>Benilde<br>Cooper<br>Fridley<br>Irondale<br><br><!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>North</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END--><br>Totino<br>Spring Lake Park<br>St Francis<br>North Branch<br>Chisago Lake <p></p><i></i>

slporiolesfan
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Re: North Suburban Conference Next Season (05-06)

Post by slporiolesfan » Sat Sep 17, 2005 10:45 pm

So are there any North Suburban fans out there? I would have to think that BSM, Totino, St Louis Park and maybe Chisago Lakes would be the favorites. Is there a 'sleeper' team out there? <p></p><i></i>

husky5
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Re: North Suburban Conference Next Season (05-06)

Post by husky5 » Sat Sep 17, 2005 11:16 pm

slporiole fan,<br><br> Fridley is Tri-City (Fridley/Columbia Heights/Brooklyn Center). St. Francis is combined with North Branch and Spring Lake Park is combined with St. Anthony girls teams. Your "sleeper" team will be St. Francis/N. Branch as the Zebro girl is a player and can dominate. The other teams you mentioned are on the money. <p></p><i></i>

slporiolesfan
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Re: North Suburban Conference Next Season (05-06)

Post by slporiolesfan » Sun Sep 18, 2005 12:50 pm

Thanks for the info on the combnied schools. I am kind of surprised to only see two class A schools in this league - I guess I didn't know there were so many AA schools. Interesting.<br><br>So I would pick the confernence this way:<br><br>1. [6AA] Benilde<br>2. [2A] Totino<br>3. [4A] St Louis Park<br>4. [7AA] Chisago Lake/Pine City <br>5. [7AA] St Francis/North Branch<br>6. [3AA] Spring Lake Park/St Anthony<br>7. [3AA] Irondale<br>8. [4AA] Cooper<br>9. [3AA] Tri City (Fridley/Col Hghts/Brook Ctr)<br><br>Anyone else want to venture a guess in terms of how the standings will look at the end of the year?<br><br>Also, I heard rumors a while back the BSM would not be a full member of the North Suburban for both boys and girls hockey - something about wanting to play a stronger schedule of AA schools. Has anyone else heard that - any truth to that? <p></p><i></i>

MNhockeyfan09
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North Suburban Conference

Post by MNhockeyfan09 » Mon Sep 19, 2005 11:51 am

SLP- I would put the list like so.<br>The reason: with the loss of Brandi Frakie to T-breds and Angie Keseley to Graduation SLP will be lacking in scoring.<br>St. Francis/North Branch &<br>Chisago Lake/Pine City will be better teams.<br><br>1. [6AA] Benilde<br>2. [2A] Totino<br>3. [7AA] St Francis/North Branch<br>4. [7AA] Chisago Lake/Pine City <br>5. [4A] St Louis Park<br>6. [3AA] Spring Lake Park/St Anthony<br>7. [3AA] Irondale<br>8. [4AA] Cooper<br>9. [3AA] Tri City (Fridley/Col Hghts/Brook Ctr) <p></p><i>Edited by: <A HREF=http://p074.ezboard.com/bmnhs.showUserP ... eyfan09</A> at: 9/19/05 12:00 pm<br></i>

ghshockeyfan
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Re: North Suburban Conference

Post by ghshockeyfan » Mon Sep 19, 2005 12:13 pm

Agreed with the MNHockeyFan09 rating. That's how I would have had it too - for the same reason. <p></p><i>Edited by: <A HREF=http://p074.ezboard.com/bmnhs.showUserP ... ckeyfan</A> at: 9/19/05 12:14 pm<br></i>

onedogtoomany
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Re: North Suburban Conference

Post by onedogtoomany » Mon Sep 19, 2005 11:18 pm

I think the North Suburban will be an interesting conference to watch this year. St Louis Park & BSM share a rink together so there will be a natural rivalry there. Park & Cooper have been in a conference together for a long time so they know each other. I'm sure other good rivalries will emerge as we see who the contenders and pretenders are. <br><br>BSM has to be the favorite in this conference with their state titles and ability to recruit new talent each year (but let's not get into the public vs private thing again as it has been beat to death on this board for years).<br><br>I really don't know how the rest of the conference will shake out. I agree with the other posters that St Louis Park, Section 4A finalist last year, has lost a lot of talent and will be searching for a new identity as this new campaign gets underway.<br><br>Good luck to all the teams! <p></p><i></i>

slporiolesfan
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Who are the scorers?

Post by slporiolesfan » Tue Sep 20, 2005 4:38 pm

I have seen BSM and Totino - I know they are decent teams. I have not seen St Francis and Chisago Lakes - so a couple of questions about them. When I look at the Star Trib Hockey stats site I really don't see a lot of big scorers on either of those teams, and when I check strength of schedule from last year they both appear to be middle to lower middle in terms of strength of teams they were playing. Also, I assume that each of those teams must have graduated someone. So if they didn't have tons of scorers last year, and they didn't play a super tough schedule, why would we expect that they would vault past St Louis Park this next season?<br><br>Obviously Keseley and Frakie were (are) very good players for SLP, but there was more depth to the Park team than has ever been there before. A team with just Angie K and Brandi would have scored, but wouldn't have won 20 games. There's just as much reason to expect that the Oriole girls left behind will step up as there is to expect the St Francis and Chisago Lakes teams will improve.<br><br>Additionally, over the summer many (8?) returning Varsity players from Park were involved in programs like CODP - in other words kids worked hard over the summer. I'm sure that's true for other teams too, but I guess I wouldn't automatically see teams like St Francis and Chisago Lakes jumping past St Louis Park. <br><br>So, bottom line, who is on those teams that will drive them past Park? <p></p><i></i>

ghshockeyfan
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Re: Who are the scorers?

Post by ghshockeyfan » Tue Sep 20, 2005 6:06 pm

I guess for me personally I would point to the fact that these teams didn't have to rely on one or two scorers as a resason why they vault past Park to START the season. They've done it before more as a team effort, and both should be prepared to do so right away, where as Park will likely have some acclimaiton to playing without two amazing players in Kesley and Frakie. I understnad that the rest of the Park team may be good, and I believe they actulaly have quite a bit of other strong talent in the program, I'm just not sold that they will be used to their new team makeup so quickly with losses of two players of that caliber. It would be the equivalent of taking Wendell and Darwitz off the Gophers and saying that that won't have an impact if one believes that the departure of those two won't be felt.<br><br>Just my opinion, and I expect that once the season gets going that they will adapt to the new team situation. then it will be interesting to see who steps up and how they play under those circumstances. <p></p><i></i>

The machine took my quart
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Re: Who are the scorers?

Post by The machine took my quart » Tue Sep 20, 2005 8:48 pm

SLP.... God bless your heart for the little birdies!<br><br>I am guessing that you are new to the HS girls scene? I am just guessing. Chisago has been one of the hidden gem programs of girls HS hockey. They have made the state tournamemt in AA and have always put out a top 20 AA talent. I don't have to go back very far in my memory to think at how weak the orioles were. The team I am sure is improving but without those two they won't even be in the same hemishphere. CODP if you didn't know is just an overhyped summer hockey clinic. They hide behind a special code name and high fees, and you are supposed to believe that Darwitz's they all will be... I call it summer hockey. They do NOTHING different than any decent program. <p></p><i></i>

slporiolesfan
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Some of that makes sense

Post by slporiolesfan » Tue Sep 20, 2005 10:55 pm

ok - some of that makes sense. SLP will indeed take some time to get accustomed to playing without Keseley and Frakie. <br><br>I have a little harder time understanding the comments from "the Machine took my quarter." Is the "little birdies" comment supposed to be demeaning? It always seems to me that if people have to resort to name calling it must mean that they don't have a very strong argument.<br><br>Also, just to clear up a point regarding CODP, I didn't claim any CODP magic - in fact if you look at my post I said "CODP like" programs. The point is not whether they played in CODP or any other similar summer clinic - the point is that a number of girls were skating quite a bit over the summer. That might be no big news for some programs, but that is a big step for SLP, and I think it will help.<br><br>Regarding the 1) hidden gem of Chisago Lakes and 2) supposedly SLP is nothing without Keseley and Frakie - those bear a little more questioning. First of all, whatever SLP might have been a few years ago is kind of irrelevant. Keseley and Frakie both played for 5 years. Is your point that SLP was not very good 6 years ago? yeh - so what? The point I have been making is that while Keseley and Frakie are without question big time players, they weren't the only players on the team last season. <br><br>Secondly, the question I have been trying to get answered is why would St Francis or Chisago Lakes be better - who and why? Let's focus on Chisago Lakes for a second. I believe their leading scorer (Grossman) was a Sr last season. So she's gone, right? Their leading returning scoring forward was Fredrickson - 8g, 23p. SLP has Amy Goldfine with 11g, 22pts. On Defense Chisago Lakes leading returning scorer is Lexy Parenteau 7g, 18pts. SLP has Lisa Martinson 9g, 23pts. SLP played Wayzata twice, Edina twice, BSM, Holy Angels - did Chicago Lakes play anyone at that level of play?<br><br>I'm not trying to rip down Chicago Lakes (or anyone else), but I am wondering why people would say that a team that also lost it's leading scorer, has returning players with less points than SLP, after playing a lesser strength schedule than SLP, would be considered a favorite over the Orioles?<br><br>There must be more to Chisago Lakes (and St Francis) than I can see in the stats - so what is it - what are the intangibles that make them better?<br> <p></p><i></i>

The machine took my quart
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Re: Some of that makes sense

Post by The machine took my quart » Wed Sep 21, 2005 6:31 am

I am sorry you made me do this friend...<br><br>But as usual I am right. <br><br>EVERYBODY...go and check out the score sheets from all of the BIG games against stronger teams against SLP last year. When they played BSM, Coon Rapids, Wayzata in what I would call their 6 big games etc... ALMOST DOWN TO A POINT, it was Keesely and Frakie. Don't forget the HUGE win over BSM happened! It wasn't an 8th greder...Hard to argue with that not mention graduating the senior goalie that played almost every minute. The team DOES have a future and I am sure have learned much from those 2 great players! Is Frakie coming back there? There are some good young kids and I am glad the program is improving. It will take MORE TIME before I am on your band wagon that is all. Chisago is in AA and Section 7AA, not one of the strongest but they have made it to the SHOW and SLP hasn't. Grossman is gone and was a great player but didn't do as much as FRAKIE AND KEESELY. They have TRADITIONALLY been stronger. They have played some solids cities and Northern teams. Hibbing, Grand Rapids, Cloquet, East, Wright County BSM and Totino. Nothing wrong with that schedule. I feel their CONFERENCE is what is weak in their schedule personally! I am not putting down the ORIOLES mascot. Just being playful there. Does SLP have a shot? Sure, I just think it will take more time. I can see your stuck on the age old points discussion and yes it fun like opening gifts on Christmas, but don't mention a players points mattering when it comes to what makes a good team to Cloquet. They win big games by a goal when it matters. We will have to wait and see what happens. You may be right, but I would bet a grand against you. <p></p><i></i>

coachcorner
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Re: Some of that makes sense

Post by coachcorner » Wed Sep 21, 2005 7:38 am

Machine, I will agree with you Chisago puts out a very tough team year after year. It appears that the teams they play are not you EP or Way teams but they have played some tough schedules. They will be a tough team to beat. It must be the green,lol..They play a nasty brand of hockey, clean but nasty. They would do very well I think even in the Lake, they would not win it but be very competetive..So to put this to rest they will not be push overs..... <p></p><i></i>

slporiolesfan
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Let me sum up what I think I've heard

Post by slporiolesfan » Wed Sep 21, 2005 10:35 pm

Ok, I think there are some facts that are being overlooked, but at this point I’m really most interested in figuring out a new conference. So, this is how I sum up what I’ve heard this far: Some people believe SLP is unlikely to be able to overcome the loss of Keseley and Frakie, at least in the short term, because the Orioles have only won games in the past because Keseley and Frakie scored lots of goals. Take those two off the ice and Park would not have been able to compete for the past few years. Park will not be able to score much this year without them. They will have to change styles to become a defensive team. That will take awhile – it might or might not work. Still, even without any scoring they are probably better than Irondale, Cooper, Tri Cities and Spring Lake Park.<br><br>Conversely, Chisago Lakes is a “clean but nasty” team that doesn’t rely on high scores, rather they already play a strong defensive style, so the fact they lost their prime scorer is not really relevant. They win 2-1 type games by banging bodies. They don’t really have any dominant players – just a bunch of solid girls who play a good “team style” game.<br><br>Do I have that right? If so, I’ve learned something about Chisago Lakes. Now, how about the rest of the conference? Why St Francis – are they also a “bang the bodies” low scoring team? How about Irondale, Tri Cities and others? Are there players of note on any of those teams? Are there any notable players – anyone with college aspirations anywhere other than BSM / Totino?<br> <p></p><i></i>

ghshockeyfan
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Re: Let me sum up what I think I've heard

Post by ghshockeyfan » Wed Sep 21, 2005 11:48 pm

I just believe that there will be a period of acclimation after the loss of two players such as Kesley and Frakie. That's all I'm saying. No other team in this conference has lost two players of that caliber to my knowledge. Any team that does will have to adjust. I agree that SLP had a good supporting cast besides Frakie and Kesley - else they wouldn't have done as well as they did with them.<br><br>I can remember my first introduction to these two. Kesley scored 8 against my team, Yes, I said 8, and Frakie had assists on 5 and scored the 9th goal of the game for 6 total pts. Stoa/Feste/Ludwigson kept pace with them for a while, but we lost 9-6. <!--EZCODE LINK START--><a href="http://startribune.sportshuddle.com/Fan ... B1812DDEA1}" target="top">game</a><!--EZCODE LINK END--> All wonderful players. <p></p><i>Edited by: <A HREF=http://p074.ezboard.com/bmnhs.showUserP ... ckeyfan</A> at: 9/21/05 11:57 pm<br></i>

The machine took my quart
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Re: Let me sum up what I think I've heard

Post by The machine took my quart » Thu Sep 22, 2005 9:58 pm

I think we are all on the same page here. I didn't mention their style of play but would say it has been portrayed as accurate. Yes, Oriole I am referring to short term. Although I think this year will not be like the last I feel that these 2 girls have raised the bar for the future and they look to be getting much better with their depth for the future on Varsity. SLP is strangled by the better programs around them, the elites... There are many city areas in the same boat. I do not feel comfortable speaking on the other teams beyond these 2 based on what I have personally seen. SLP will need to change their expectations or atleast style of play... <p></p><i></i>

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