Northwest Suburban Conf.

[Stars67]

Who are the top three teams and the big name players to watch for here

[cheapshot]

Any of those four teams could win it. A lot of it will depend on goaltending. Blaine will be the best offensive team in the conference and Elk River will be the best defensive. Anoka has a nice mixture as does Centennial. I think Centennial has the best goalie in Hannah. Should be a very interesting season.

[Hockey=Life]

Wat do people see in Centennial this year. I saw them play Blaine and Anoka during scrimages and they tied Blaine due to a buzzer beating goal with 2 seconds left, and left half way thru the Anoka game and it was tied. I know they have great goaltending but the overall team depth just isn't there. I'd watch out for another head to head show down with Blaine and Elk River.

[straightsnipe14]

Why is MG not in the top 4? Armstrong is gonna be horrible.. true they do have thorson but who else? he was held up by his two line mates last year. and centennial only has a couple good players. MG has a power first line with an alrite goalie i think they will make it farther than expected this year.

[HockeyObserver19]

Maple Grove is going to be a very young team. Who are their top scorers that you are refering to? I would have to say the favorite is Elk River, just because they are always fairly good

[Stars67]

Why they will win it.

Anoka: Stellar set of forwards with oneill belisle scott and noonan. with a goalie who can make the big save when its needed. Theres just too much power in the forwards along with a game saver in net when he is on he is hard to beat.

Blaine: A very powerful offense as well but more deep then anoka they have a solid set of d as well.

Elks: Possibly the best set of D in the state with Martell and Slavik and a very good goalie as well in siebert.

Cenntennial: They play the best AS A TEAM they dont have the individuals that soar above and beyond they work together very well also they have a solid goalie who is big and quick hard to find.

Why they won't win!

Anoka: Weak set of D and the goalie can be inconsistant at times if he doesnt come with his top game they are in trouble because of the weakness at D.

Blaine: 1 Reason GOALTENDING who do they have?????????

Elks: What about scoring? Who is gonna be the big gun to put the puck away i have heard martell possibly might move up to forward? but offense is the problem here.

Centennial: They lost too much fire power and they dont have that game breaking player to carry the team.

[Hockey=Life]

" Blaine: 1 Reason GOALTENDING who do they have????????? "

I have heard a goalie will be tranfering over to Blaine, not just one but a chance of 2. But rumors arn't facts. And I'm not for sure on who they are but if they can find a good goalie, they should be hard to beat.

Also, can anyone give me more info on the goalie situation they have going on at Blaine, because all I know is they lost a solid Senior last year and I saw on stats there back up played just 2 games.

[betweenthepipes]

Im making this decision based on about 5 games I watched Blaine from last year. I dont think that they should have any problem replacing their last year at all. They did not make the state tournament because of their goaltending. Nor was their goaltending even a strong point at all in their game last year. Everyone always says when a team loses their starting goalie that hes going to struggle, but I rarely see that as the case. You have to remember that they have had a guy possibly 2 go through the A ranks of a quality program and will not have a problem making the transition. The reason that this team had so much success last was because of their high powered offense and their good team play. They have a lot of talented forwards for next year and I can see them doing better then the last.

[cheapshot]

I read in one of the other posts that somebody mentioned Blaine having some transfer goalie. Anyone else know anything about this...who is it and where are they from. Good to see O'Neil from Anoka making some noise with the 16's. Should be a lot of fun to watch games in this league next season. It seems to me that the NWSC is the best conference now and has been for the past several years.

[hockeyguy99]

Maple Grove is the sleeper here.

[hckyfan62]

Let's hear some predictions for final NWSC Standings.

[gomnhky]

I would agree with prior poster and predict this will be one of the most competitive and highly entertaining conferences next year and until some of the "rumors" are confirmed, very tough to predict, but will give it a shot.

#1 - Elk River - strong returning defensive core, including Slavik, Martell and Seibert in goal. If Brodhag were to "transfer" as rumored, this would be a big boost to their questionable offensive punch.

#2 - Blaine - will be the opposite of ER and should have a strong offensive punch with a lot of very good forwards returning but will be unproven with their defense and goaltending; however, two returning defense players will be solid and if able to get a good goaltender (won't need to be great), they should be competing again for the title.

#3 - Centennial - will not have star power of previous years but still have a good group of players and one of the best defensemen in the conference with Voitlander as well as strong and experienced goaltending. The younger players will be key and will probably have more balanced point production than in past years.

#4 - Coon Rapids (surprise!) - not much is said about this team but is my "sleeper" - new coach and majority of returning players. If team chemistry can be maintained and off-ice issues limited, they will be competitive with the best of them.

#5 - Anoka - will have strong returning forwards, particularly O'Neill who is coming off of a very successful offseason and will be fun to watch, but could be one of the weaker teams defensively and goaltending questionable.

#6 - Champlin Park - should be a competitive team with not a lot of individual standouts, with the exception of Brodhog (and if he were to leave, I would move down a notch or two) but if they play a strong "team" game, will win more than a few games.

#7 - Maple Grove - lost some key players but have some good young talent coming up - should be competitive.

#8 - Park Center - this team could give a lot of team fits this season; will not have the overall individual talent depth but will bring their "lunch box" to every game and with their strong goaltending tandem and addition of Wentland for scoring, will be improved and competitive.

#9 - Andover - could be higher depending on the supporting cast that surrounds Mellem; good goaltender that could help them win games they maybe shouldn't win.

#10 - Osseo - only because I don't know what they have returning and only familar with what they lost from last year's team.

[Stars67]

COON RAPIDS???
Well the new coach is the coach they had a couple of years ago that had NO success they had one solid year under his tenure and that was because of their goalie. I heard they played aboka in a mid summer scrimmage and got beat 8-2

[hockeyguy99]

1. Elk River-Good defense and good goaltending. That always takes you a ways.
2. Blaine-Very good offense. The only question mark is who they will have in goal.
3. Centenial-Should be fairly good as usual. A pretty good sophomore could make some noise.
4. Maple Grove-Very unpredictable golie, but when he plays his game they will make some noise. They also are going to be very young.
5. Anoka-Good Goaltending, and great offensive punch. Oneil, Belise, Scott, Noonan will be very strong.
6. Champlin Park-Losing Brodhag will be very tough for this team if it is true.l
7. Coon Rapids-Returns most of their players from last year. They could upset a few of the higher ranked teams.
8. Osseo-You can never take these guys lightley, because they will catch you off guard. They have a solid Senior core and should be strong.
9. Anodover-Mellem will carry this team on his back, along with a very strong young goaltender.
10. Park Center-I do not follow this team, so I do not know what to expect.

[Hockey=Life]

Coon Rapids will not be that good of a team this year, they have 2 good forwards (Elinna, Ghizoni) But other then that I can't see them doing very good.
And on Elk River, Brodhag would be great for the elks. They need someone who can burry the puck. And on looking at his previous stats he can get the job done.
And on Blaine, yet to hear who the goalie transfer is but would like to know. But that is the key there.

[cheapshot]

With myself included i have seen people talk about Burrell to Champlin (would be a huge loss for PC), Brodhog to ER (another big loss) and the rumors I read about Blaine getting one or even TWO new goalies. Is there anyone that can confirm one of these rumors? All three of these would be big gains for each team.

[Stars67]

im gonna go ahead and agree with hockey guy but im gonna move centennial ahead of blaine and bring anoka up to 3 the elks will be tough but against high power offense they will struggle with the lack of a big scorer, but on the transfers, it is very late to transfer now i know in the anoka hennipen district which includes anoka champlain blaine and coon rapids doesnt allow any transfers unless they have proof of residence the deadline was sometime back in january so that rules out schwartz for blaine

[Hockey=Life]

Last I heard Schwartz wasn't in the picture. I over heard someone from Utah or somewhere. Not for sure. Hope not, I really dislike Blaine. GO ELKS!

[hckyfan62]

If we are talking about Colton Schwartz, he is already enrolled at BSM, and is practicing with them.

[cheapshot]

Did a little checking with my Blaine sources and found out that the Schwartz kid is going to enroll at Blaine. How good is he? Also I think that the rumor on Brodhog is going to be true...sounds like he will be a Elk. Still waiting to hear on another goalie to Blaine. Someone mentioned Utah (are we talking the state or a last name???) Haven't confirmed the Burell rumors yet... anyone know?

[hockeyguy99]

I've heard Burrell is going to stay at PC from a couple of quality sources.

[Hockey=Life]

Cheapshot,

I heard the state of Utah, that's all that came to mind when I heard it, but who knows.

[Stars67]

I recently talked to broghog and he confirmed the rumor so it is true the burrell thing was true until he caught wind of the brodhog transfer so he decided to stay brodhog didnt look very good today in his first game at the exposure tourny. but im sure its just rust! look for the elks to put a little more pressure on with him but i think they need one more solid forward to complement Rogers and now broadhog

[gomnhky]

What exposure tournament are you referring to and who else is in it?

[cheapshot]

Thanks for the info. Very interesting about Burrell. Champlin is going to be hurting without Brodhag and could have been much improved with Burrell and Brodhag there. I think it is sad to see kids leave (especially during their senior years). I also agree that ER is still a little short up front to be dominant next season. I am picking Blaine to win it especially with the additions that they have coming (according to other posters). I did see a post the other day that said Centenial is adding a player from the suburban east.... do we know who this is?