Couple thoughts on Centennial and the State Tourney

[Sparlimb]

First of all, the hype about Centennial was all wrong. Everyone said they were an offensive powerhouse, which, in retrospect, was wrong. If You had been told they would have a total of 6 goals in the tourney you would not have picked them as champs. The fact is, when they played the better teams, (section final through state final) they didn't put huge numbers up. On the other hand, their ability to forecheck and backcheck made them unparalled in several years on defense. I still wonder how Hill score twice on them and almost tied the game. Congrats to Centennial for an outstanding finish to the year and marking their spot in history. <br><br>Now the question I have been thinking about. How would this Centennial team have done against the 1993 undefeated Crowley (Jefferson) Jaguars? I haven't seen such domination since that team. I remember Hill playing relatively well in the finals and still lsoing 4-0. Personally, I think Jefferson would win the matchup, but I'm sure many of you may disagree. It would be interesting to hear thoughts on that fictional matchup.<br><br>And even though Moorhead is trying, Hill still holds the record for futility in the championship game with 6 runner-up trophies. Granted they've won 2 championships which does count for something. But I figure it means something that Moorhead has made 5 finals. Make the fact Jefferson is 6-0 in championship games that much mroe impressive. Moorhead will win one sometime, maybe next year. Moorhead had very limted chances in the championship, but they did have a few. I believe they weren't used to having to capitalize on the few chances they had. But Centennial played out of their minds and Stutz had a record tournament that won't ever be bested. You can't even argue that Centennial didn't play the best teams as all 3 games were possible land mines. So congrats to Centennial and see you next year. <p></p><i></i>

[nolookpassguy]

The thought that always comes to mind when I think about that Jefferson team is that it seemed they would score more goals than their apponent would have shots on goal. They were something else. I believe they had 4-5 D1 kids on that team, which this current Cent team does not. I expected Cent to be good this year, but not as dominant as they were. They were balanced and what I thought was a definciency going into playoffs, turned out to be a strength (goaltending). Congrats to them & their entire program. They have built from within and have to be considered one of the best youth hockey programs in the state. It will be interesting to see if/when some of their under classmen opt for Juniors and/or the US Developmental Program. I did read where one of their sophs (name escapes me right now) has been offered a try-out with the program in Michigan. If/when this happens to their program, you will see a slight decline in their overall success. I expect them to be strong again next year but will be surprised if they remain dominant. The change is conference will force them to play a full 3 periods, rather than pull back the reigns as they had to do a few times this year. My only hope, as a Hill guy, is to see Cent realligned to section 4AA, to open the door slightly to my Pioneers...just speaking from the heart. But congrats to Centennial & all the other high school programs for providing another exciting year of hockey. The beauty of following high school sports is that nobody ever puts a gun to our heads and threatens to leave if we don't build a stadium and we don't hear about players holding out over contract issues. They play the game for the pure enjoyment of it. Thanks guys! <p></p><i></i>

[cliff77]

<br>Holy Angels outshot Centennial 22-15. Probably the first game all year where that occured. Holy Angels also scored a goal against them that was not counted. Gorowsky had exactly 1 shot against AHA, which happened to be the game winner.<br><br>I agree that Centennial is the hardest working high school team I have ever seen, but AHA did outplay them on Thursday and had more opportunities than they did. Stutz played great during the tourney, but he did allow one goal. Had they allowed instant replay, the outcome of the game might have been different.<br><br> <p></p><i></i>

[blueliner10]

i thought that the cent. golie was solid at best. it wasn't like he had to make any great saves, i would give muvh more of the credit to his defensemen, i though he was a little onthe cocky side as well bringing the puck over to the faceoff dot, that was uncalled for, he is good but by no means great, more props to the d men great d zone coverage <p></p><i></i>

[jr]

This team was very offensive but was FAR from full strength in the tourney. Remember they scored 16 goals in 3 games at the EXCEL tourney over the holidays against very good competition.<br><br>They proved they can win more than one way! <p></p><i></i>

[nollafo]

wow- where to go with this one. stutz came up large when he needed to and did give tons of credit to his defense men if you watched any of the post game interviews. he made several clutch saves. watched the game over and over last night..... particularly the questionable save early in the 3rd. i watched it real time and slowed down and have to say that if it were a football game and reviewed by refs that one could argue that there wasn't "conclusive evidence" that it was for sure a goal. just not a great angle shot to review. it was definitely close without a doubt. do you give a goal to a team when "maybe" it crossed the line while up in the air hitting his pad but fell down on the line and wasn't clearly across without a shadow of a doubt?? someone make a case for giving them that goal and i will listen but that's about it. <br><br>this team will return as a definite contender for their conference and section and hopefully state as well. ryan was going to look at ann arbor (ushl) today but is having his shoulder and collar bone looked at instead. speaking of ryan.... just maybe there could have been some more scoring chances with him in the game against wayzatta and moorhead. <br><br>bottom line. great club that realized a goal they set out for themselves after missing it last year. worked hard, stayed focused and are enjoying their time. this board was new to me this year and i have had fun reading the posts. great insight and entertainment. sorry i didn't reply about the original point of this thread. <p></p><i></i>

[oldschool]

I, too am one for the way Centennial played defense...VERY impressive. I could tell from the first period that they were NOT going to let any pretty goals in; on the one timer atempts that Moorhead had, the pass was either blocked or deflected, or the Centennial guy was hovering around and struck at the right time with a stick check. The goalie was good, he had to be to shut out 3 state tournement teams, but in the Championship I never really saw Moorhead crash the net that hard for the nice rebound. WHen they gave their half shot at it, they were defended very nicely. I also noticed that Centennial did a great job sucking Moorhead into their game. They pretty much forced Moorhead to play the "pass it around the rink and forget about hitting style. Had Moorhead threw their weight around a little more it would've made for a very interestign ending in wich they probably would've won. In the 5 minute penalty kill in the second period that is what Moorhead did and they were controlling the game...bottom line: great job to Centennial and Defense, congrats to the goalie for history.................. <p></p><i></i>