I think it is time to rear the head of the undefeated teams. 8 teams left in A and AA. First off, let me say that I have had the pleasure of watching these teams play this season. Please fell free to add any comments.
A
Thief River Falls - One tie to West Fargo (power house in ND). Are they back to State Championship form?
East Grand Forks - Strong team and great goaltending. One tie to Warroad. Can they make the run they need?
3 very strong teams in Class A up north. (TRF, EGF and Warroad)
AA
Blaine - Could this team be as stronger as last year? Off to a good start but the test will be Dec 12th.
Blake - Are they ready for AA, YES. Watch this team make a run until Jan 20th. Then attend that game - Blake vs Edina.
Brainerd/Little Falls - Hard working, depth and skill filled team. Can see them going 13-0 or more.
Centennial - Strongest duo in MSHSL. Stop them and you will win.
Edina - So strong and deep. Will anyone knock them out this season? Can we start the Champions chant now?
Forest Lake - The team with unused talent. Win they score enough to win games?
Undefeated Teams MSHSL
Moderators: Mitch Hawker, east hockey, karl(east)
Re: Undefeated Teams MSHSL
EGF and TRF have both played a pretty meager schedule, but both are very strong teams. Class A is interesting with Blake out of the picture and no clear cut team to beat. The 3 northern teams plus Red Wing, Alexandria, Delano, Breck and SPU are all good. Breck has a brutal schedule. Tough to rank them all right now.IceHiker wrote:I think it is time to rear the head of the undefeated teams. 8 teams left in A and AA. First off, let me say that I have had the pleasure of watching these teams play this season. Please fell free to add any comments.
A
Thief River Falls - One tie to West Fargo (power house in ND). Are they back to State Championship form?
East Grand Forks - Strong team and great goaltending. One tie to Warroad. Can they make the run they need?
3 very strong teams in Class A up north. (TRF, EGF and Warroad)
AA
Blaine - Could this team be as stronger as last year? Off to a good start but the test will be Dec 12th.
Blake - Are they ready for AA, YES. Watch this team make a run until Jan 20th. Then attend that game - Blake vs Edina.
Brainerd/Little Falls - Hard working, depth and skill filled team. Can see them going 13-0 or more.
Centennial - Strongest duo in MSHSL. Stop them and you will win.
Edina - So strong and deep. Will anyone knock them out this season? Can we start the Champions chant now?
Forest Lake - The team with unused talent. Win they score enough to win games?
Brainerd looks very good and we will see at the Walser Holiday Tournament how they do against tougher competition.
Re: Undefeated Teams MSHSL
EGF has Fantastic coaching staff and unlimited ice time.zooomx wrote:EGF and TRF have both played a pretty meager schedule, but both are very strong teams. Class A is interesting with Blake out of the picture and no clear cut team to beat. The 3 northern teams plus Red Wing, Alexandria, Delano, Breck and SPU are all good. Breck has a brutal schedule. Tough to rank them all right now.IceHiker wrote:I think it is time to rear the head of the undefeated teams. 8 teams left in A and AA. First off, let me say that I have had the pleasure of watching these teams play this season. Please fell free to add any comments.
A
Thief River Falls - One tie to West Fargo (power house in ND). Are they back to State Championship form?
East Grand Forks - Strong team and great goaltending. One tie to Warroad. Can they make the run they need?
3 very strong teams in Class A up north. (TRF, EGF and Warroad)
AA
Blaine - Could this team be as stronger as last year? Off to a good start but the test will be Dec 12th.
Blake - Are they ready for AA, YES. Watch this team make a run until Jan 20th. Then attend that game - Blake vs Edina.
Brainerd/Little Falls - Hard working, depth and skill filled team. Can see them going 13-0 or more.
Centennial - Strongest duo in MSHSL. Stop them and you will win.
Edina - So strong and deep. Will anyone knock them out this season? Can we start the Champions chant now?
Forest Lake - The team with unused talent. Win they score enough to win games?
Brainerd looks very good and we will see at the Walser Holiday Tournament how they do against tougher competition.
TRF is benefiting from the best facilities in the state.
Brainerd young strong fast need to play upper level teams.
Centennial needs to outscore its opponets.
Blaine tough to tell right now
Blake and Edina are the Class of AA
Forest Lake, Back end makes up for mediocre front end.
Re: Undefeated Teams MSHSL
I agree with you 98%.Mnnstar wrote: EGF has Fantastic coaching staff and unlimited ice time.
TRF is benefiting from the best facilities in the state.
Brainerd young strong fast need to play upper level teams.
Centennial needs to outscore its opponets.
Blaine tough to tell right now
Blake and Edina are the Class of AA
Forest Lake, Back end makes up for mediocre front end.
The duo needs to outscore its opponents.
Blaine will show us in the next few games with they are ready.
Was fortunate to travel NE and watch this FLake team last night. They resemble the FL State Champion U12 team of a few years ago. Dump the puck and put on pressure. The D will not get it out any time soon. Although their front end has put on an average of 41 shots per game this season (if stats are correct). But if you are talking about the goalies making up the difference, than it is 100% agree with you.
Its been a pretty interesting season thus far:
Thoughts by section:
1AA:
Farmington: Upcoming games vs Eagan next week then Maple Grove and Blake in January should give a better indication if they are contenders beyond their section.
the Lakeville's: Sort of easy to get confused still for me who is who and who is better the current year.
2AA: EP & Tonka. EP down this year...man they miss Rogge and her 25 shots a game. Tonka always comes on strong. Is there a better D pairing in the state than Langenfels & Nicholson (maybe Wethington & Willoughby?)? Could this be the year that Prior Lake or Shakopee make it to state? I doubt it...Chanaska could be a contender in a couple of years?
3AA: Eagan? So far so good and they seem to be the STRONG favorite out of a relatively weak section. If they could have won against Centennial they might have had the easiest route to an undefeated regular season with Farmington being their toughest looking opponent (they play em 2x). And no I am not predicting they win out to playoffs but they could...I think that they lose a couple times.
4AA: Hill or WBL? Wow. Rock solid goalies? Check. Forwards that can score? Check. Defense...? Defends on who shows up beyond their top 2...I pick WBL top 2 but beyond that who knows...should be an interesting section final!
5AA: Centennial looks like an offensive juggernaut...until last night...ER gave em a game! Feels like Blaine, Maple Grove, & Centennial all match up fairly well when they play each other...Centennial has to be the favorite but would not be surprised by any of those 3 teams at state.
6AA: This has to be the overwhelming section favorite to win the state championship...or at least make a championship game type run. But thats why they play the games...upsets happen a lot at the Xcel...at least in AA a couple of the past years.
Edina: Dominant. HM game could have easily been 2-1 if goal #1 does not go off of a skate or leg. Unlucky for HM goalie. Also the goal with 2 seconds left in 2nd period that was sort of chunked from the blue line. Last goal was a breakaway that skater lost in front of goalie and on missed move dribbled in. Yes some big ifs and buts...also of note that the power line of Fidler, Oden, Bowlby had no points (that alone could have changed the outcome if they were hot). They are so, so good...excited to see them play or hear about the games against Centennial, Blake, and ER/Z. They should dominate conference play.
Blake: Wayzata game. Great goaltending along with a rock solid defensive gameplan = a tie. Blake did not score...if you do not score in a game (or score very little a great goalie and a lucky goal or two offensively can steal a win or in this case a tie. The Wayzata goal was not lucky but the combo of timely scoring matters. Blake's only goal was off of a crossbar rebound then in. They hit several posts and crossbars. They can beat anyone anytime...but obv can tie or lose to teams you would expect them to blow out of the rink. Gotta show up every game with a dominating mindset and work ethic. Edina seems to do this best right now.
Others: See Wayzata vs Blake.
7AA: FLAKE, ER/Z, Andover? Can FLAKE score? enough? Can ER finally break thru as a slight underdog? Can the upstart, young(er) Andover squad put it together? The Andover schedule thru Jan 13 is about as tough as it gets without playing Edina or Hill.
8AA: Brainerd. They appear to be the heavy favorite for the section. Eagan & Brainerd are the 2 easiest teams to project to St Paul in February.
A teams:
Breck...tough schedule, a 7th grader between the pipes the last couple of games (yes a 7th grader vs Edina only gives up 5 goals!).
Red Wing: Heise-powered.
Alexandria: see you in St Paul.
Warroad, TRF, EGF. Wow. The toughest section in A by a landslide.
Thoughts by section:
1AA:
Farmington: Upcoming games vs Eagan next week then Maple Grove and Blake in January should give a better indication if they are contenders beyond their section.
the Lakeville's: Sort of easy to get confused still for me who is who and who is better the current year.
2AA: EP & Tonka. EP down this year...man they miss Rogge and her 25 shots a game. Tonka always comes on strong. Is there a better D pairing in the state than Langenfels & Nicholson (maybe Wethington & Willoughby?)? Could this be the year that Prior Lake or Shakopee make it to state? I doubt it...Chanaska could be a contender in a couple of years?
3AA: Eagan? So far so good and they seem to be the STRONG favorite out of a relatively weak section. If they could have won against Centennial they might have had the easiest route to an undefeated regular season with Farmington being their toughest looking opponent (they play em 2x). And no I am not predicting they win out to playoffs but they could...I think that they lose a couple times.
4AA: Hill or WBL? Wow. Rock solid goalies? Check. Forwards that can score? Check. Defense...? Defends on who shows up beyond their top 2...I pick WBL top 2 but beyond that who knows...should be an interesting section final!
5AA: Centennial looks like an offensive juggernaut...until last night...ER gave em a game! Feels like Blaine, Maple Grove, & Centennial all match up fairly well when they play each other...Centennial has to be the favorite but would not be surprised by any of those 3 teams at state.
6AA: This has to be the overwhelming section favorite to win the state championship...or at least make a championship game type run. But thats why they play the games...upsets happen a lot at the Xcel...at least in AA a couple of the past years.
Edina: Dominant. HM game could have easily been 2-1 if goal #1 does not go off of a skate or leg. Unlucky for HM goalie. Also the goal with 2 seconds left in 2nd period that was sort of chunked from the blue line. Last goal was a breakaway that skater lost in front of goalie and on missed move dribbled in. Yes some big ifs and buts...also of note that the power line of Fidler, Oden, Bowlby had no points (that alone could have changed the outcome if they were hot). They are so, so good...excited to see them play or hear about the games against Centennial, Blake, and ER/Z. They should dominate conference play.
Blake: Wayzata game. Great goaltending along with a rock solid defensive gameplan = a tie. Blake did not score...if you do not score in a game (or score very little a great goalie and a lucky goal or two offensively can steal a win or in this case a tie. The Wayzata goal was not lucky but the combo of timely scoring matters. Blake's only goal was off of a crossbar rebound then in. They hit several posts and crossbars. They can beat anyone anytime...but obv can tie or lose to teams you would expect them to blow out of the rink. Gotta show up every game with a dominating mindset and work ethic. Edina seems to do this best right now.
Others: See Wayzata vs Blake.
7AA: FLAKE, ER/Z, Andover? Can FLAKE score? enough? Can ER finally break thru as a slight underdog? Can the upstart, young(er) Andover squad put it together? The Andover schedule thru Jan 13 is about as tough as it gets without playing Edina or Hill.
8AA: Brainerd. They appear to be the heavy favorite for the section. Eagan & Brainerd are the 2 easiest teams to project to St Paul in February.
A teams:
Breck...tough schedule, a 7th grader between the pipes the last couple of games (yes a 7th grader vs Edina only gives up 5 goals!).
Red Wing: Heise-powered.
Alexandria: see you in St Paul.
Warroad, TRF, EGF. Wow. The toughest section in A by a landslide.
1AA - I predicted Farmington would be at or very near the top 10 all year.massalsa wrote:Its been a pretty interesting season thus far:
Thoughts by section:
1AA:
Farmington: Upcoming games vs Eagan next week then Maple Grove and Blake in January should give a better indication if they are contenders beyond their section.
the Lakeville's: Sort of easy to get confused still for me who is who and who is better the current year.
2AA: EP & Tonka. EP down this year...man they miss Rogge and her 25 shots a game. Tonka always comes on strong. Is there a better D pairing in the state than Langenfels & Nicholson (maybe Wethington & Willoughby?)? Could this be the year that Prior Lake or Shakopee make it to state? I doubt it...Chanaska could be a contender in a couple of years?
3AA: Eagan? So far so good and they seem to be the STRONG favorite out of a relatively weak section. If they could have won against Centennial they might have had the easiest route to an undefeated regular season with Farmington being their toughest looking opponent (they play em 2x). And no I am not predicting they win out to playoffs but they could...I think that they lose a couple times.
4AA: Hill or WBL? Wow. Rock solid goalies? Check. Forwards that can score? Check. Defense...? Defends on who shows up beyond their top 2...I pick WBL top 2 but beyond that who knows...should be an interesting section final!
5AA: Centennial looks like an offensive juggernaut...until last night...ER gave em a game! Feels like Blaine, Maple Grove, & Centennial all match up fairly well when they play each other...Centennial has to be the favorite but would not be surprised by any of those 3 teams at state.
6AA: This has to be the overwhelming section favorite to win the state championship...or at least make a championship game type run. But thats why they play the games...upsets happen a lot at the Xcel...at least in AA a couple of the past years.
Edina: Dominant. HM game could have easily been 2-1 if goal #1 does not go off of a skate or leg. Unlucky for HM goalie. Also the goal with 2 seconds left in 2nd period that was sort of chunked from the blue line. Last goal was a breakaway that skater lost in front of goalie and on missed move dribbled in. Yes some big ifs and buts...also of note that the power line of Fidler, Oden, Bowlby had no points (that alone could have changed the outcome if they were hot). They are so, so good...excited to see them play or hear about the games against Centennial, Blake, and ER/Z. They should dominate conference play.
Blake: Wayzata game. Great goaltending along with a rock solid defensive gameplan = a tie. Blake did not score...if you do not score in a game (or score very little a great goalie and a lucky goal or two offensively can steal a win or in this case a tie. The Wayzata goal was not lucky but the combo of timely scoring matters. Blake's only goal was off of a crossbar rebound then in. They hit several posts and crossbars. They can beat anyone anytime...but obv can tie or lose to teams you would expect them to blow out of the rink. Gotta show up every game with a dominating mindset and work ethic. Edina seems to do this best right now.
Others: See Wayzata vs Blake.
7AA: FLAKE, ER/Z, Andover? Can FLAKE score? enough? Can ER finally break thru as a slight underdog? Can the upstart, young(er) Andover squad put it together? The Andover schedule thru Jan 13 is about as tough as it gets without playing Edina or Hill.
8AA: Brainerd. They appear to be the heavy favorite for the section. Eagan & Brainerd are the 2 easiest teams to project to St Paul in February.
A teams:
Breck...tough schedule, a 7th grader between the pipes the last couple of games (yes a 7th grader vs Edina only gives up 5 goals!).
Red Wing: Heise-powered.
Alexandria: see you in St Paul.
Warroad, TRF, EGF. Wow. The toughest section in A by a landslide.
2AA - Agreed. Tonka is probably going to come out of this one on top.
3AA - Eagan has a nice team. They shouldn't have any issues in this section. Took advantage of power plays against Centennial, and got a 6-on-5 goal toward the end, but no 5-on-5 goals.
4AA - WBL is going to take a nice jump up in their number of wins over last year. HM is looking good as usual right now. I'd say the deeper team takes it and that's probably HM right now.
5AA - As noted, the next big test for both Cent and Blaine is Dec 12th. ER/Z gave Cent a nice game, but ER/Z goals came on a penalty shot and a 5-on-3 power play. Blaine is looking strong and I'm impressed with how they're doing after graduating so many seniors. Much like Cent, they go upon how well their top line does. But Blaine has the proven goalie. It's all too close to call.
6AA - Talking about too close to call. Anyone got a coin? Please flip it. Nice documentation for each team. It all equals equality. I can't wait for Jan 20th, 4pm, Blake Arena. Be there or be square.
7AA - I hoped or thought Andover would have a stronger season, but it's not looking so right now. It will come down to FLake and ER/Z again. I give the nod to FLake.
8AA - Brainerd.