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What is it? Go ahead and state your theories. I'll post mine after I see a few.

(post 7090)

Eden Prairie losing and not getting to state.

Sioux Rule wrote:Eden Prairie losing and not getting to state.

That is a very good one, but they did have a few close games this year...I guess I was less shocked this year then if it would have happened last year.

I was surprised that North Metro made the championship game for AA.
They definately peaked at the right time.

Sioux Rule wrote:Eden Prairie losing and not getting to state.

This has to be the biggest development during the year, but like boblee says it didn't come as a huge surprise to many observers who watched them struggle a lot more than last year. Their schedule was relatively weak, and they managed to win many close games against teams that last year would have been no match for them. You do have to give them a lot of credit for winning these close games - good teams do this - but they were not nearly as dominant this year. In the Section 6AA playoffs any of the four semi-final teams could have won it and it wouldn't have been a huge surprise.

One big surprise at least to me was Holy Angels not making the tournament. They were an excellent team and big favorites in their section. But as they say, in any one game anything can happen...

I was not suprised to see Stillwater win the tournament. Their gritty defensive play and great goal tending sure paid off down the strech. Their forwards really started to click at the end off the season. They capitalized on every oppotunity their opponents gave them.

BSM vs N Metro was shocking, I thought they had the strongest team out of Section 6. Suprising to see their chemistry as a team melt away in such a short period of time.

My biggest surprise of the season is two part:

First, the success of the Edina team this year. I knew they were solid, and had a good program, but at times they looked like the team to beat this year. They played solid and consistent most the season, beat some quality teams.

With that said the the most shocking night in the history of girls hockey was 2/14 as EP, Edina, & AHA all lost section games on the same night. On one hand it was a shame we didn't get to see those talented teams at state, but on the other hand it's good for the game, it gave some other teams a chance to make it to the big dance.

My biggest surprise was Cloquet's year in general, shakey, to say the least.

AND....

GRG's struggles at the beginning of the season, Havel coming out as a big time player, Hammann playing her role on the team, Horgen really stepping up in her new defensive position, and seeing that team at the X at the end of the season!

How about Stillwater losing their superstar from last year and then winning the state tournament.


hockeyfan#4 wrote:

I was not suprised to see Stillwater win the tournament. Their gritty defensive play and great goal tending sure paid off down the strech.

I'd bet anything that after the Ponies were 0-3-1 hockeyfan#4 (or anybody else, including me) wouldn't haven't bet a penny on them winning state.

Bensonmum wrote:How about Stillwater losing their superstar from last year and then winning the state tournament.


hockeyfan#4 wrote:

I was not suprised to see Stillwater win the tournament. Their gritty defensive play and great goal tending sure paid off down the strech.

I'd bet anything that after the Ponies were 0-3-1 hockeyfan#4 (or anybody else, including me) wouldn't haven't bet a penny on them winning state.

Not true at all, after losing Jones and Zilles from the previous year everyone in this state did not think Stillwater could win. And the team had heard that repeatedly through out the entire year, from the press and all of the states greatest hockey critics. (no offense to anyone)
The Team they had this year was over shadowed by an incredible talent and Duo J&Z last year. Nobody gave the rest of the team a second thought. At 0-3-1 they really did not play that bad of hockey, it took some time for them to find their identity. Great job by Schied to pull this group of kids together he has a way of building great chemistry.

GivinYaTheBusiness wrote:My biggest surprise was Cloquet's year in general, shakey, to say the least.

AND....

GRG's struggles at the beginning of the season, Havel coming out as a big time player, Hammann playing her role on the team, Horgen really stepping up in her new defensive position, and seeing that team at the X at the end of the season!

Horgen did play "D" about half of last year.

boblee wrote:What is it? Go ahead and state your theories. I'll post mine after I see a few.

(post 7090)

Now that you had the opportunity to read a few theories.
I'm interested in hearing yours???

In all honesty, I have three.

1) Stillwater winning it all. I was not surprised once I saw them play Bemidji in the qrts...but before that.

2) North Metro coming together and making the run they made.

3) The joke that is Pioneer Press All State.

The biggest surprise to me was that five school administrations and five athletic departments could agree to have one team: NM. That to me is unfathomable. I think it would have been interesting to have sat in on some of the preliminary meetings. Let's see, "We would have a better chance of being competitive if School A and B combine. No, we would be even better if we added School C. But School D doesn't have enough players to be competitive either. And what about School E? They don't want to be left out. Oh, what the heck; let's combine all of them."

Pioneer Press All State was a joke. We must remember they are the experts.

In all honesty giving these kids an opportunity to play hockey is great, they were not denied the excitement of competitive sports.
However, I would like to know how the decision was made to combine all 5 schools. And what is stopping any combination of schools to do the same thing.

Read this:
http://www.ushsho.com/forums/viewtopic. ... 8&start=25

OR some of this...

ghshockeyfan



Joined: 05 Jun 2003
Posts: 3869
Location: Edina/IGH/NSP MN
Posted: 24 Feb 2007 15:43 Post subject:

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I hate to jump in the middle of this, but some thoughts on the matter:

NMS is a great story, but it's starting to get tainted on here as they're now being treated the same way that some hate privates, OE-heavy teams, and now we have co-ops added to that list. I don't buy the idea that a co-op is any worse/better than a private or OE heavy school that so too can draw kids from wherever. If I had to guess who has an easier time drawing top talent, it would obviously be OE/Private situations. I highly doubt NMS attracted any such kids.

The 8th grade G and some opportunistic scoring made all the difference last night. BSM was obviously more talented, but NMS believed they had a shot. Did it make any difference that BSM was playing against their prior coach? It was a difficult situation to say the least and I'm sure the players had mixed emotions about everything. The GWG for NMS was scored by a 9th grader that will likely be one of the better HS players in the state by the time she's done.

It's no secret that NMS is NOT the favorite once again, but it seems they have done well in this role. SW is a heck of a team though and once again it will take some amazing goaltending and opportunistic scoring for NMS to give SW a run. It's not impossible, but we'll see what happens. If nothing else, I know Gravel & Co. will have that NMS team believing they can give SW a game, but we'll see what SW has to say about that too...
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ghshockeyfan



Joined: 05 Jun 2003
Posts: 3869
Location: Edina/IGH/NSP MN
Posted: 24 Feb 2007 15:50 Post subject:

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Related discussion re: NMS from Summer-Fall...

http://www.ushsho.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=7218

ALSO - more recent related discussion:
http://www.ushsho.com/forums/viewtopic. ... c&start=14

And, this was related info. about the Duluth Co-op for this year:
http://www.ushsho.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=7359

And, here's the info. on the Roch. co-op changes:
http://www.ushsho.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=4443
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