*** December 16th, 2012 - My Great Eight AA Rankings ****
Posted: Sun Dec 16, 2012 6:02 pm
A wild week in AA hockey with some suprising outcomes.. Happy to see that Blaine demonstrated why they deserved to be at #5 in my rankings since week 1.. Here's this week's rankings.
1) Edina - Pretty easy choice here. No one else belongs.
2) Minnetonka - Skippers keep cruising along. Some tough games coming up which will be telling.
3) Benilde - Benilde took out their anger over the Hill loss against Holy Angels with an 11 goal outburst.. Tough loss to a very talented offensive team in Blaine after that.. Still belong here in the long term though. Just too much O talent and are adjusting to graduation and other losses on D/G.
4) Blaine Jump up a spot after upsetting BSM and have an offense that can compete with anyone. Still trying to find D/G answer which leaves them at #4 rather than #3.. Tough call. I thought about changing to a tie with #3 though I'll stick with my initial call..
5) Hill Murray Hill has been playing well on D and have one of the best goalies in the state (.97 GAA and .949 save % before STA game) though they are still trying to get their offense on track. The Lavalle, Brown, Slattery line hasn't been gelling the way most expected and the other lines aren't fairing much better, despite considerable talent. Lechner will continue tinkering.
6) Wayzata Trojans have been in my top 8 all along with the only blemish being an early 3-0 loss to Edina. Duluth East victory was a quality win. They remind me of Hill in terms of being a lower scoring team but tremendous on D/G. Dingman and Ahrens are a nice duo in net.
7 Duluth East - Regrouped after loss to Wayzata with a win over a mediocre Cloquet team. Don't play at home again until January 8th and this stretch will tell us much about the depth and offense of this team.
8 Tie Burnsville & Eagan Seems to be a gap between the top 7 and this 8th spot. Considered Grand Rapids, Lakeville North, and EP for this spot but have to go with the Blaze & Eagan by default. Eagan had a somewhat confusing win over LVS 6-5 which is a team that Hill beat 5-0. Burnsville, meanwhile, needed OT to get past Lakeville North, barely avoiding their 3rd loss of the young season.. So I'm not too high on either of these teams I'll let them break the tie when they play on Tuesday. I'm leaning towards Eagan...
[Previous Rankings]
Last Week = Benilde, Edina, Tonka, EP, Tie Hill & Blaine, Duluth East, Wayzata.
While I was one of few to have Duluth East ranked as low as I did and initially had them at #8 behind Wayzata, I misjudged Hill and EP in a major way.. Voters disagreed most with my ranking of Wayzata at #8 and Blaine tied for #5 but both have showed they belong... Here is week 2
[Great Eight] - December 9, 2012
#1 Edina - Moves up a spot after Benilde's loss and has shown no weaknesses this year..
#2 Hill Murray It's a stretch to move them all the way up to #2 but they have dispatched all comers and showed they can play with anyone. There is no longer this illusion that there is Benilde & Edina and then everyone else.. Hill's victory levels the top of the playing field somewhat and is good for high school hockey... Lavalle, Brown, & Slattery (SSM transfer) is now officially a line and Slattery showed why he belonged with the two returning 1st liners - and is an adequate Guentzel replacement for the line..The game winning 3rd goal against BSM was a thing of beauty as Brown had a chance to shoot but drew the goalie over before firing the pass to Lavalle where a near empty net awaited.. Good stuff.. Dugas is heart & soul of this team. He has faced #1,#7, #8, and LVS and has a GAA under 1...
#3 Minnetonka Eagan game was closer than I thought it should be though Tonka followed with a win over STA and definitely have shown that they belong in Top 5.. More of a D led team the past Tonka teams, perhaps, but until they lose, it's hard to argue about style..
#4 BSM Flip-flopped a little as I had Blaine here initially but one loss does not a slide make. Still a talented team and will be steaming in next couple of games...
#5 Blaine - Close win over Centennial surprised me a bit after the offense they displayed in previous games including 9-2 drubbing of Osseo but they did put 57 shots on goal in that OT win. In fact, they average over 45 shots on goal so far.. Tyler Cline leads the way though he has plenty of help.. They have Benilde this Saturday which should be a great and illuminating game. If this was Benilde's first game after the Hill loss, I would bet on them without reservation but Benilde will likely unleash their anger (as much as any Catholic school can allow:) from the Hill loss upon Holy Angels on Thursday.. Saturday's game should be a toss up.. I'm looking for a 4-2 BSM win..
6) Eden Prairie One of the biggest surprises of the season (besides Andover) has been EP's play.. On paper and based upon performance of players like Spinner, Bergh, Knudsen, Snuggerud & Warner last season as well as in the Elite League this fall, it seems like they should be playing at a higher level and beating lower caliber teams by a higher margin. Just not clicking yet though and Goalie may be an issue. Sophmore Jake Kielly has a .833 save percentage and allowed 5 goals on 26 shots against Holy Angels and 5 goals on 25 shots against Burnsville (Jake Gerdes has played one game, a 4-2 win over anoka w/ 26 saves on 28 shots). I was not at any of these games so I cannot comment on root of the problem though, from reports, it sounded like D was playing undisciplined as well. Snugs always thinks O first, though Hunter Warner is a solid, stay at home guy.. Likely a combination of factors at play here but they have to solve this to stay in top 8. Time will tell if they can play together as a team and collectively rise to the level of their individual talent.
7) Wayzata - I had the Trojans here briefly last week before flip-flopping and putting them at #8 behind Duluth East. Should have went with initial instinct.. I have seen them in 3 games and they are growing up as a team, even though Duluth tested them on Saturday.. The strength of this team is D and a great pair of goalies. The small, quick forwards like Wahl, Freytag & Zimmer should only get better as the season goes on..They do need to improve on the Power Play as that is a definite weakness..The penalty kill however is phenomenal, killing off all 17 shorthanded situations.. My post last week discussed my concern about the ability of this team to put shots on net.. The 12 shots against Duluth did not alleviate my concerns here and it would be difficult to see them higher than #7 until they can consistently put the puck on net.. In fact, they have scored less than two goals a game, on average, over their last 6 games. Still, a 6-1 start, with a 1.39 GAA, against some tough competition says a lot. They play D and just find a way to win..
#8) Duluth East Body of work so far is slim and a 1-0 loss to Wayzata was not encouraging. They did outshoot Wayzata 28-12 but a loss is a loss. Obviously a strong defensive team but they need to find their O on a consistent basis to compete with the big boys..
1) Edina - Pretty easy choice here. No one else belongs.
2) Minnetonka - Skippers keep cruising along. Some tough games coming up which will be telling.
3) Benilde - Benilde took out their anger over the Hill loss against Holy Angels with an 11 goal outburst.. Tough loss to a very talented offensive team in Blaine after that.. Still belong here in the long term though. Just too much O talent and are adjusting to graduation and other losses on D/G.
4) Blaine Jump up a spot after upsetting BSM and have an offense that can compete with anyone. Still trying to find D/G answer which leaves them at #4 rather than #3.. Tough call. I thought about changing to a tie with #3 though I'll stick with my initial call..
5) Hill Murray Hill has been playing well on D and have one of the best goalies in the state (.97 GAA and .949 save % before STA game) though they are still trying to get their offense on track. The Lavalle, Brown, Slattery line hasn't been gelling the way most expected and the other lines aren't fairing much better, despite considerable talent. Lechner will continue tinkering.
6) Wayzata Trojans have been in my top 8 all along with the only blemish being an early 3-0 loss to Edina. Duluth East victory was a quality win. They remind me of Hill in terms of being a lower scoring team but tremendous on D/G. Dingman and Ahrens are a nice duo in net.
7 Duluth East - Regrouped after loss to Wayzata with a win over a mediocre Cloquet team. Don't play at home again until January 8th and this stretch will tell us much about the depth and offense of this team.
8 Tie Burnsville & Eagan Seems to be a gap between the top 7 and this 8th spot. Considered Grand Rapids, Lakeville North, and EP for this spot but have to go with the Blaze & Eagan by default. Eagan had a somewhat confusing win over LVS 6-5 which is a team that Hill beat 5-0. Burnsville, meanwhile, needed OT to get past Lakeville North, barely avoiding their 3rd loss of the young season.. So I'm not too high on either of these teams I'll let them break the tie when they play on Tuesday. I'm leaning towards Eagan...
[Previous Rankings]
Last Week = Benilde, Edina, Tonka, EP, Tie Hill & Blaine, Duluth East, Wayzata.
While I was one of few to have Duluth East ranked as low as I did and initially had them at #8 behind Wayzata, I misjudged Hill and EP in a major way.. Voters disagreed most with my ranking of Wayzata at #8 and Blaine tied for #5 but both have showed they belong... Here is week 2
[Great Eight] - December 9, 2012
#1 Edina - Moves up a spot after Benilde's loss and has shown no weaknesses this year..
#2 Hill Murray It's a stretch to move them all the way up to #2 but they have dispatched all comers and showed they can play with anyone. There is no longer this illusion that there is Benilde & Edina and then everyone else.. Hill's victory levels the top of the playing field somewhat and is good for high school hockey... Lavalle, Brown, & Slattery (SSM transfer) is now officially a line and Slattery showed why he belonged with the two returning 1st liners - and is an adequate Guentzel replacement for the line..The game winning 3rd goal against BSM was a thing of beauty as Brown had a chance to shoot but drew the goalie over before firing the pass to Lavalle where a near empty net awaited.. Good stuff.. Dugas is heart & soul of this team. He has faced #1,#7, #8, and LVS and has a GAA under 1...
#3 Minnetonka Eagan game was closer than I thought it should be though Tonka followed with a win over STA and definitely have shown that they belong in Top 5.. More of a D led team the past Tonka teams, perhaps, but until they lose, it's hard to argue about style..
#4 BSM Flip-flopped a little as I had Blaine here initially but one loss does not a slide make. Still a talented team and will be steaming in next couple of games...
#5 Blaine - Close win over Centennial surprised me a bit after the offense they displayed in previous games including 9-2 drubbing of Osseo but they did put 57 shots on goal in that OT win. In fact, they average over 45 shots on goal so far.. Tyler Cline leads the way though he has plenty of help.. They have Benilde this Saturday which should be a great and illuminating game. If this was Benilde's first game after the Hill loss, I would bet on them without reservation but Benilde will likely unleash their anger (as much as any Catholic school can allow:) from the Hill loss upon Holy Angels on Thursday.. Saturday's game should be a toss up.. I'm looking for a 4-2 BSM win..
6) Eden Prairie One of the biggest surprises of the season (besides Andover) has been EP's play.. On paper and based upon performance of players like Spinner, Bergh, Knudsen, Snuggerud & Warner last season as well as in the Elite League this fall, it seems like they should be playing at a higher level and beating lower caliber teams by a higher margin. Just not clicking yet though and Goalie may be an issue. Sophmore Jake Kielly has a .833 save percentage and allowed 5 goals on 26 shots against Holy Angels and 5 goals on 25 shots against Burnsville (Jake Gerdes has played one game, a 4-2 win over anoka w/ 26 saves on 28 shots). I was not at any of these games so I cannot comment on root of the problem though, from reports, it sounded like D was playing undisciplined as well. Snugs always thinks O first, though Hunter Warner is a solid, stay at home guy.. Likely a combination of factors at play here but they have to solve this to stay in top 8. Time will tell if they can play together as a team and collectively rise to the level of their individual talent.
7) Wayzata - I had the Trojans here briefly last week before flip-flopping and putting them at #8 behind Duluth East. Should have went with initial instinct.. I have seen them in 3 games and they are growing up as a team, even though Duluth tested them on Saturday.. The strength of this team is D and a great pair of goalies. The small, quick forwards like Wahl, Freytag & Zimmer should only get better as the season goes on..They do need to improve on the Power Play as that is a definite weakness..The penalty kill however is phenomenal, killing off all 17 shorthanded situations.. My post last week discussed my concern about the ability of this team to put shots on net.. The 12 shots against Duluth did not alleviate my concerns here and it would be difficult to see them higher than #7 until they can consistently put the puck on net.. In fact, they have scored less than two goals a game, on average, over their last 6 games. Still, a 6-1 start, with a 1.39 GAA, against some tough competition says a lot. They play D and just find a way to win..
#8) Duluth East Body of work so far is slim and a 1-0 loss to Wayzata was not encouraging. They did outshoot Wayzata 28-12 but a loss is a loss. Obviously a strong defensive team but they need to find their O on a consistent basis to compete with the big boys..