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IMHO Two factors:<br><br>1) No one was going to catch M/L, so a Big 9 title was out. This freed the coaches to experiment with different player combinations. The only important consideration was to get 2, 3, 6 or 7 seed and be out of New Prague's bracket but get a first (and preferably second) round...

<!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>For the benefit of non-Big 9 or Section 1A visitors:</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END--><br>Any AL/Austin matchup is huge because they are only 20 miles apart and have been competitors at <!--EZCODE UNDERLINE START--><span style="text-decoration:underline">everyt...

Neutral Turf<br><br>Early Game 6 pm<br>#1 New Prague vs #4 New Ulm<br>Late Game 8:15 pm<br>#2 Austin vs #6 Albert Lea<br><br>Since we all did so well at picking West to face NP in the finals, does anyone want to go out on a limb?<br><br>In the regular season:<br> First game Austin 1 Albert Lea 3<br>...

#6 Albert Lea 5<br>#3 Mankato West 2<br><br>#1 New Prague 11<br>#9 Waseca 0<br><br>#2 Austin 5<br>#7 Marshall 2<br><br>#4 New Ulm 6<br>#5 Faribault 3<br><br>New Prague vs New Ulm<br>Albert Lea vs Austin<br><br>AL vs West 0-1-1 in regular season<br>AL vs Austin 1-1-0 in regular season<br>AL vs New Ul...

Major upset in 1A<br><br>#6 Albert Lea 5<br>#3 Mankato West 2<br><br>First period: AL 1 MW 0<br>Second period: AL 3 MW 0<br>West got on the board 4 minutes into the third.<br>Closed to 3-2 before AL opened it up<br><br>AL went 0-1-1 against #3 MW in regular season<br>AL went 1-1-0 against #2 Austin ...

#6 Albert Lea 5<br>#3 Mankato West 2<br><br>First Period: AL 1 West 0<br>Second Period: AL 3 West 0<br>West didn't get on the board until 4 minutes into the third<br>Closed to 3-2 before Albert Lea opened it up.<br><br>Albert Lea went 0-1-1 against West in regular season.<br>Albert Lea went 1-1-0 ag...

Kudos to Coach Falk of Albert Lea and Coach Sipe of West for showing restraint and sportsmanship. Each team could have easily run up their respective scores into double digits against weak opponents, but instead the coaches benched their big guns.<br><br>Senior Laura Hillman (AL) also showed great m...

Any prognostications on who the final four will be on Friday?<br>The final two? <p></p><i></i>

Albert Lea fought back from a 0-3 deficit at the start of the third period to tie Winona 3-3 (OT). All 3 goals scored in a 2 minute window. <p></p><i></i>

AL vs<br><br>NP 0-1-0<br>AHS 1-1-0<br>MW 0-1-1<br>NU 1-1-0<br>FHS 1-1-0<br><br>In each victory, it was the first game of the series, not the second. In each two game series, AL lost each second game.<br><br>Unless some things change, AL will make an early exit.<br><br>West looks to have the better c...

Mankato West @ Albert Lea<br>MW 3 AL 0 <p></p><i></i>

Jensen is an excellent player on both defense and offense.<br>There are other worthy players on the squad too.<br><br>But Hillman has defined the AL girl's hockey team for multiple seasons, just as Woodside defined Tiger boy's basketball for multiple seasons. She remains at the top of every opposing...

Laura Hillman- Albert Lea <p></p><i></i>

A disappointing outing for the Tigers.<br><br>If you compare the two games (Nov 22 vs Jan 21):<br> M/L got more SOG in the second game<br> M/L got more SOG in the first period of the second game<br> M/L got more goals in the first period of the second game<br> AL got fewer SOG in the second game<br>...

In this game, defense will be the key- especially for the Tigers. Assuming Olchefske is between the pipes (and doesn't go cold) and the defense can keep SOG at 32 or below, Albert Lea can pull off a 3-2 upset. The first 5 minutes will be critical; AL has to come out strong and focused at each positi...

I completely agree, 22-0 is unnecessary. To paraphrase former ALHS BB coach Matt Addington in the article- not everyone agrees with the policy and some will not follow it initially.<br><br>The community has established what it considers acceptable behavior and the community must accept it's responsi...

Blowouts (and this discussion) are not unique to hockey- it cuts across every sport.<br><br>Unfortunately, it is not an ethical issue either. All of us know people in sports, business or other competitive venues where their ethics are quite comfortable with demolishing and demoralizing an opponent; ...

Then remove the incentive to do so.<br><br>In other venues they use a maximum differential rule...typically 3. Nothing magical about 3; it is just what I have seen used. Maybe 6 is the magic number.<br><br>That way, a 24-3 pasting is reported as 9-3 by MSHSL. The losing team can report all their sta...

Then remove the incentive to do so.<br><br>In other venues they use a maximum differential rule...typically 3. Nothing magical about 3; it is just what I have seen used.<br><br>A 17-3 pasting is reported as 6-3 by MSHSL. The losing team can report all their stats, but the winning team can only repor...

Then remove the incentive to do so.<br><br>In other venues they use a maximum differential rule...typically 3. Nothing magical about 3; it is just what I have seen used.<br><br>A 17-3 pasting is reported as 6-3 by MSHSL. The losing team can report all their stats, but the winning team can only repor...

By conference, who is the best in each position (F, D, G)?<br>Who is honorable mention (2nd) by conference?<br><br>Please don't overlook impact players on weaker teams.<br>For example: strong defense can compensate for weak goalkeeping and vice versa. <p></p><i></i>

Austin has the best chance to up end M/L. Austin will have a 5 day break after facing East. Mayo will have 3 days rest after facing Albert Lea. Barring injury or illness, the Packers are playing well and will give M/L more trouble than last time.<br><br>Albert Lea has the next best shot. The Tigers ...

We still play hockey outside the 7 county mosquito control district. Posts have been too metro centered lately.<br><br>No one in the conference or the section has done it yet, so who in the Big 9 is going to take M/L down? <p></p><i></i>

Albert Lea could be a sleeper team. New coach (Falk) was boy's assistant coach for several years under Nystrom. After dropping first two to Farmington and Mayo, AL has gone 4-0-1. Gave up 2-18 goal differential in the first two games but 21-10 in the last 5. Tough games ahead, but Tigers may finish ...