LPH Rankings-A

[Roman Legion]

Simley should be in the top 3 teams in A right now. They will get the #1 seed in the section 2A tournament and should be #1 in the state by that time. It should be great when #3 SSP takes on Simley in league play. I am certain the Simley is the real deal. They look like a state tournament team.

[ghshockeyfan]

The Simley freight train keeps on rolling. Beating a quality AA team has to convince (neighborhood rival Sibley last night) --even if it's still early, they now deserve the respect.

Simley should be in the top 3 teams in A right now. They will get the #1 seed in the section 2A tournament and should be #1 in the state by that time. It should be great when #3 SSP takes on Simley in league play. I am certain the Simley is the real deal. They look like a state tournament team.

If we play like we did last night on Tue vs Hill we'll lose badly though as you don't get as lucky as we did 2x in a row usually & we did catch Sibley with injuries. Goalie Gerten won the game for us with 25 stops in the third alone and 45 in the game. The rematch should be interesting for these reasons.

It's a long season, and we'll see what happens. Our kids love playing SSP as that's their rival and they've never beat them in 10+ seasons from what I've been told and many games have been lost by more than a touchdown. Just hoping for a good game this time around.

[Sioux Rule]

You would have to include Section 8A as one of the top sections this year.
They have 3 teams ranked in the top 10.

[ghshockeyfan]

Class 1A

• 1. Blake (6), 2. Crookston, 3. South St. Paul, 4. Hibbing/Chisholm, 5. New Prague (1), 6. Alexandria, 7. Breck, 8. Simley, 9. Warroad, 10. Roseau, 11. Shakopee, 12. Richfield, 13. Farmington, 14. Austin, 15. Totino-Grace.

[xk1]

LPH top 20 12-14

1 BLAKE
2 Crookston
3 South St. Paul
4 Hibbing/Chisholm
5 New Prague
6 Alexandria
7 Breck
8 Simley
9 Warroad
10 Roseau
11 Shakopee
12 Richfield
13 Farmington
14 Austin
15 Totino-Grace
16 Silver Bay/Two Har.
17 Faribault
18 Mahtomedi
19 New Ulm
20 Mankato West

[ghshockeyfan]

HOCKEY • GIRLS

• Associated Press polls for Minnesota girls' high school hockey, provided by Let's Play Hockey newspaper. First-place votes are in parentheses.

• Class 1A: 1. Blake (6), 2. Crookston, 3. New Prague, 4. Hibbing/Chisholm, 5. Alexandria, 6. Simley, 7. South St. Paul, 8. Breck, 9. Warroad, 10. Shakopee, 11. Roseau, 12. Richfield, 13. Farmington, 14. Mahtomedi, 15. Austin.

[xk1]

12-21 LPH

1 BLAKE
2 Crookston
3 New Prague
4 Hibbing/Chisholm
5 Alexandria
6 Simley
7 South St. Paul
8 Breck
9 Warroad
10 Shakopee
11 Roseau
12 Richfield
13 Farmington
14 Mahtomedi
15 Austin
16 Totino-Grace
17 Silver Bay/Two Harb.
18 Faribault
19 New Ulm
20 Mankato West

[Roman Legion]

Crookston beat Alex by 1. Blake losses to BSM in the Championship of Schwan's.

Is there a new #1 on the horizon?

Personally, I don't think so.

[ghshockeyfan]

We won't see a new set until this coming week - off last week...

[trilogy]

My humble opinions, let's debate this perhaps?

1 Blake
2 Breck
3 Crookston
4 Hibbing
5 New prague
6 Simley
7 Alex
8 Warroad
9 South St Paul
10 Farmington

Blake - can't discount their losses to top ranked AA teams

Breck - give them the benefit of the doubt (and see what Thursday's game v Blake brings)

New Prague - played strong with the big guys at Kaposia

Simley - young but determined

SSP - nope, can't put them in top 5 at the moment

Farmington - my personal pick for rising star

[Bensonmum]

I agree with most and I don't care what order you put the top ten in, but I would have Richfield in there.

[ghshockeyfan]

Girls hockey

Minnesota Associated Press Poll

By Let’s Play Hockey

CLASS A

1. Blake (5)

2. Crookston (2)

3. Hibbing-Chisholm

4. Alexandria

5. Breck

6. New Prague

7. South St. Paul

8. Simley

9. Warroad

10. Farmington

11. Shakopee

12. Richfield

13. Roseau

14. Austin

15. Silver Bay

[ghshockeyfan]

1/11

Girls hockey

Minnesota AP Poll

By Let’s Play Hockey

First-place votes

in parentheses

CLASS A

1. Blake (5)

2. Crookston/Red Lake Falls (2)

3. Hibbing-Chisholm

4. Alexandria

5. Breck

6. New Prague

7. South St. Paul

8. Farmington

9. Simley

10. Warroad

11. Shakopee

12. Richfield

13. Roseau

14. Austin

15. Silver Bay Area

[ghshockeyfan]

1/11 #1-20 LPH/AP

1 BLAKE
2 Crookston/Red Lake Falls
3 Hibbing/Chisholm
4 Alexandria
5 Breck
6 New Prague
7 South St. Paul
8 Farmington
9 Simley
10 Warroad
11 Shakopee
12 Richfield
13 Roseau
14 Austin
15 Mahtomedi
16 Silver Bay/Two Harb.
17 Totino-Grace
18 Faribault
19 Mound-Westonka
20 New Ulm

[ghshockeyfan]

HOCKEY • GIRLS

ASSOCIATED PRESS POLLS

• Class 1A: 1. Blake (6), 2. Crookston/Red Lake Falls (1), 3. Hibbing/Chisholm, 4. Alexandria, 5. Breck, 6. New Prague, 7. Farmington, 8. South St. Paul, 9. Warroad, 10. Simley, 11. Richfield, 12. Shakopee, 13. Roseau, 14. Austin, 15. Mahtomedi.

16 Silver Bay/Two Harb.
17 Totino-Grace
18 Mound-Westonka
19 Faribault
20 New Ulm

[ghshockeyfan]

KRACH top 25 as of 1-24:

RK TEAM RATING SOS RK SOS RATING GP W L T PTS GF AVG GA AVG PCT
1 Blake 195.406 47 51.318 22 18 4 0 36 114 5.18 32 1.45 0.818
2 Alexandria 144.020 94 77.800 20 19 1 0 38 141 7.05 22 1.10 0.950
3 Crookston 129.734 56 56.158 20 16 3 1 33 94 4.70 38 1.90 0.825
4 Breck 125.577 77 68.524 21 19 2 0 38 113 5.38 27 1.29 0.905
5 Warroad 111.264 49 52.000 23 18 4 1 37 98 4.26 33 1.43 0.804
6 Austin 47.269 109 84.700 20 18 2 0 36 123 6.15 33 1.65 0.900
7 Hibbing/Chisholm 43.245 9 34.273 22 11 10 1 23 64 2.91 50 2.27 0.523
8 Farmington 35.808 72 63.095 21 15 5 1 31 88 4.19 46 2.19 0.738
9 New Prague 34.798 48 51.810 21 12 7 2 26 98 4.67 54 2.57 0.619
10 South St. Paul 33.014 52 53.864 22 15 7 0 30 92 4.18 46 2.09 0.682
11 Simley 18.536 73 65.400 21 14 7 0 28 68 3.24 35 1.67 0.667
12 Silver Bay/Two Harbors 17.804 59 56.714 22 11 10 1 23 81 3.68 47 2.14 0.523
13 Shakopee 16.591 62 59.429 21 10 7 4 24 64 3.05 45 2.14 0.571
14 Roseau 16.141 54 54.667 22 12 10 0 24 88 4.00 52 2.36 0.545
15 Richfield 15.736 63 59.900 22 13 8 1 27 53 2.41 39 1.77 0.614
16 Mahtomedi 13.112 46 50.952 21 9 11 1 19 64 3.05 74 3.52 0.452
17 Mound-Westonka 10.429 82 69.850 20 12 8 0 24 68 3.40 62 3.10 0.600
18 Totino-Grace 10.151 55 55.550 22 10 10 2 22 66 3.00 73 3.32 0.500
19 New Ulm 8.472 111 86.059 19 13 6 0 26 105 5.53 43 2.26 0.684
20 Faribault 7.476 97 78.750 20 12 7 1 25 102 5.10 54 2.70 0.625
21 Marshall 6.861 113 90.571 22 16 6 0 32 118 5.36 36 1.64 0.727
22 Mankato West 6.701 89 74.150 21 12 9 0 24 88 4.19 71 3.38 0.571
23 Albert Lea Tigers 4.395 107 83.429 21 12 8 1 25 75 3.57 50 2.38 0.595
24 St. Paul United 4.052 87 73.235 20 10 9 1 21 61 3.05 41 2.05 0.525
25 Fergus Falls 3.729 80 68.952 21 9 11 1 19 77 3.67 69 3.29 0.452

[ghshockeyfan]

HOCKEY

Polls provided for the Associated Press by Lets' Play Hockey Magazine

• Class 1A: 1. Blake (7); 2. Alexandria; 3. Hibbing/Chisholm; 4. Crookston/Red Lake Falls; 5. Breck; 6. Warroad; 7. New Prague; 8. Farmington; 9. South St. Paul; 10. Simley; 11. Roseau; 12. Richfield; 13. Austin; 14. Shakopee; 15. Mahtomedi
16 Silver Bay/Two Harb.
17 Totino-Grace
18 Mound-Westonka
19 Faribault
20 New Ulm

[CJG2009]

Simley's awful high here. I just watched them throw up 6 shots against Mahtomedi in getting swept for the season scoring 0 in two games.

[ghshockeyfan]

Simley should fall in the rankings below Mahtomedi based on the game results this season. Head-to-head is the biggest factor in seeding/ranking IMHO. The problem comes when you look at head-to-head for multiple teams.

Sec 2A is a good example of this problem. Using head-to-head Richfield should be above both New Prague & Farmington since they beat both. Then, New Prague should be ahead of Farmington since they swept them head-to-head. Similarly, Simley ahead of Richfield since they swept Richfield head-to-head. But, Simley lost to Farmington 2-1 OT, so then what do you do as suddenly that could jump Farmington to the top of this group of teams - although can you really do that with the NP & RF head-to-head losses for Farm??? Common opponents help but even then the picture doesn't become entirely clear for similar reasons... It will be fun seeding Section 2A for this reason... Of course, you have to keep in mind that "one game doesn't a season make" too, etc. but series sweeps are pretty decisive. For comparison, KRACH has the order Farm, NP, Sim, RF. LPH says NP, Farm, Sim, RF. QRF says Farm, NP, Sim, RF. It seems that all polls point to Farm/NP as top 2, RF/Sim as next 2, in some order that will be decided at seeding - of course hard part is RF beat Farm & NP head-to-head... Seeding is Sun.

re: Sim/Maht - I believe the shot count was 31-11 Maht & Sim only managed 1 shot per period in 1st & 2nd while Maht put up 12 each period? 3rd was 9-7 Sim shot advantage once Maht got deep into their bench. Goal #1 was 5v4 PP, Goal #2 was 5v3 PP, Goal #3 was 5v4 PP, and Goal #4 was 1st ES when Sim G cleared puck into her own net (we got her the puck for her 1st goal ). I didn't get a scoresheet unfortunately so I'll have to look in the paper tomorrow to see if I have this right as I'm going off of memory.

Mahtomedi's #1 did one of the classiest things I've ever seen DURING the game. She skated over to our bench and said some kind words to our goaltender between the 2nd & 3rd period. It's rare to see that ever these days, but to do it when she did and how she did it (and I heard every word of it) says a lot about her as a person.

What I've found is that the Mahtomedi-Simley series each year usually comes down to 1-goal games. In 2004-5 Simley won all three 3-2 including 2 in OT (including a first round section game). Last year they split (3-2 Sim & 3-1 Maht). This year it was all Mahtomedi (1-0 & 4-0 tonight). In the past three seasons the series is 4-3 Simley. This is some of the most evenly matched hockey usually between two class A teams when both teams are full strength. Always a joy to watch Laura May play too I might add.

[mnhockgal]

Simley's awful high here. I just watched them throw up 6 shots against Mahtomedi in getting swept for the season scoring 0 in two games.

A word of advice, dont bother arguing the rankings, as you can see you already got a novel length response on it, and logic goes out the window on this topic - so trust me, it isnt worth it.

However, Just so you know, no your not crazy. Of course the ranking is ridiculous - its ludicrous they are ranked at all. Conf record they are below .500 and tied for 2nd to last place in a very weak conference. This is easily, the weakest Class Sub in 10 years. They are 15-9, despite playing in the very down conf, and more importantly despite playing a joke of a non conf schedule (with exactly one tough game on it - Farmington, which they lost). But, they beat Richfield twice, so they should be ranked! Its insulting to anyone's intelligence, but yet we get marathon long posts (that will probably be soon deleted!) justifying the ranking. Its completely hysterical.

[ghshockeyfan]

Simley's awful high here. I just watched them throw up 6 shots against Mahtomedi in getting swept for the season scoring 0 in two games.

A word of advice, dont bother arguing the rankings, as you can see you already got a novel length response on it, and logic goes out the window on this topic - so trust me, it isnt worth it.

However, Just so you know, no your not crazy. Of course the ranking is ridiculous - its ludicrous they are ranked at all. Conf record they are below .500 and tied for 2nd to last place in a very weak conference. This is easily, the weakest Class Sub in 10 years. They are 15-9, despite playing in the very down conf, and more importantly despite playing a joke of a non conf schedule (with exactly one tough game on it - Farmington, which they lost). But, they beat Richfield twice, so they should be ranked! Its insulting to anyone's intelligence, but yet we get marathon long posts (that will probably be soon deleted!) justifying the ranking. Its completely hysterical.

I pray for those that are so bitter & negative and subsequently find it necessary to take shots at people, programs, and KIDS - especially knowingly taking shots at KIDS when they're down. I don't understand how some can mistake the passion, enthusiasm, and positives that others post about the game & their programs and G Hockey in general as personal attacks against them & their program as some have claimed before. I'm truly sorry that some people are offended in any way by a positive approach. Such positive remarks about the sport and certain programs aren't directed at anyone, and are simply enthusiasm for a great game in which negativity & hostility have no place IMHO.

I should add (to add to yet another novel ) that the Classic Sub. conf. is WAY down over years past. It's the weakest I've seen it in some time - if not ever. Next year doesn't look to be better at this point in time either. That being said, some of the Class A teams in this conf. have adjusted their schedules to play some NC competition that is more in line with Class A hockey as cited above. This is a fact.

As to how one rates/ranks Class A, I go back to the point about what the strength of Class A means relative to ranking considerations. It's all relative. Meaning, you will have many Class A "top 20" teams that won't even be ranked in the top half of the "overall" ranking in the state (as is shown by KRACH & composite QRF). This too is a fact.

A couple other facts that are being ignored in the discussion above are that:
1) All the Class A teams in the Classic Sub are ranked.
2) The teams ahead of these teams in the Classic Sub are AA.

[mnhockgal]

Simley's awful high here. I just watched them throw up 6 shots against Mahtomedi in getting swept for the season scoring 0 in two games.

A word of advice, dont bother arguing the rankings, as you can see you already got a novel length response on it, and logic goes out the window on this topic - so trust me, it isnt worth it.

However, Just so you know, no your not crazy. Of course the ranking is ridiculous - its ludicrous they are ranked at all. Conf record they are below .500 and tied for 2nd to last place in a very weak conference. This is easily, the weakest Class Sub in 10 years. They are 15-9, despite playing in the very down conf, and more importantly despite playing a joke of a non conf schedule (with exactly one tough game on it - Farmington, which they lost). But, they beat Richfield twice, so they should be ranked! Its insulting to anyone's intelligence, but yet we get marathon long posts (that will probably be soon deleted!) justifying the ranking. Its completely hysterical.

I pray for those that are so bitter & negative and subsequently find it necessary to take shots at people, programs, and KIDS - especially knowingly taking shots at KIDS when they're down. I don't understand how some can mistake the passion, enthusiasm, and positives that others post about the game & their programs and G Hockey in general as personal attacks against them & their program as some have claimed before. I'm truly sorry that some people are offended in any way by a positive approach. Such positive remarks about the sport and certain programs aren't directed at anyone, and are simply enthusiasm for a great game in which negativity & hostility have no place IMHO.

I should add (to add to yet another novel ) that the Classic Sub. conf. is WAY down over years past. It's the weakest I've seen it in some time - if not ever. Next year doesn't look to be better at this point in time either. That being said, some of the Class A teams in this conf. have adjusted their schedules to play some NC competition that is more in line with Class A hockey as cited above. This is a fact.

As to how one rates/ranks Class A, I go back to the point about what the strength of Class A means relative to ranking considerations. It's all relative. Meaning, you will have many Class A "top 20" teams that won't even be ranked in the top half of the "overall" ranking in the state (as is shown by KRACH & composite QRF). This too is a fact.

A couple other facts that are being ignored in the discussion above are that:
1) All the Class A teams in the Classic Sub are ranked.
2) The teams ahead of these teams in the Classic Sub are AA.

I better quote it, so it wont get deleted late! Whats sad is someone not having a decent argument to use on a debate, because there isnt any fact that can be used, and so then instead spin a simple, albeit unimportant argument into someone is "bitter & negative and subsequently find it necessary to take shots at people, programs, and KIDS". That is just plain embarrassing. Initially, the post was first about the rankings, and that it isnt liked that clearly not much time/effort is put into them, and then yes, a large sin of NOT caving in on arguing a silly point, on whether a team should be ranked. It has however, gone way past ridiculous and therefore, this gal is out of this topic.

[ghshockeyfan]

Back on track - I agree to disagree as well!

I found this interesting - KRACH as of today...

CL is the rank in the Class 1-25, 1/25 is the LPH rank from 1/25, ST is the State/Overall Rank, Rating is the rating value, RK is the SOS (Strength-of-Schedule) rank (1-124 in the state), 2nd Rating is the avg rank of opponents (SOS - the lower the better)

CL 1/25 ST TEAM RATING RK RATING
1 2A 5 Alexandria 239.760 90 74.478
2 1A 7 Blake 202.759 49 52.739
3 4A 13 Crookston 140.324 64 60.364
4 6A 16 Warroad 114.593 50 53.476
5 5A 18 Breck 100.674 81 69.292
6 13A 28 Austin 57.899 107 83.739
7 3A 31 Hibbing/Chisholm 47.459 12 36.042
8 8A 33 Farmington 38.815 70 65.174
9 9A 34 South St. Paul 37.419 51 54.125
10 7A 38 New Prague 31.960 46 51.783
11 14A 44 Shakopee 18.607 59 57.609
12 16A 47 Silver Bay/Two Harbors 18.165 57 56.238
13 11A 50 Roseau 15.929 54 54.783
14 10A 52 Simley 15.390 71 65.522
15 15A 55 Mahtomedi 14.415 42 50.043
16 12A 58 Richfield 13.317 62 58.727
17 18A 59 Mound-Westonka 13.285 86 71.174
18 17A 64 Totino-Grace 10.472 45 51.762
19 19A 69 Faribault 8.478 98 79.042
20 N/A 70 Mankato West 7.437 93 75.870
21 20A 71 New Ulm 6.719 111 85.714
22 N/A 73 Marshall 6.397 113 92.636
23 N/A 80 Fergus Falls 4.213 77 67.826
24 N/A 81 Detroit Lakes 4.030 89 73.619
25 N/A 83 Albert Lea Tigers 3.792 101 80.174

[ghshockeyfan]

What this shows is a few distinct "groups" within Class A according to KRACH.

The first group of 5 teams at the very top stands out KRACH wise:

CL 1/25 ST TEAM RATING RK RATING GP W L T
1 2A 5 Alexandria 239.760 90 74.478 23 22 1 0
2 1A 7 Blake 202.759 49 52.739 23 19 4 0
3 4A 13 Crookston 140.324 64 60.364 23 19 3 1
4 6A 16 Warroad 114.593 50 53.476 24 19 4 1
5 5A 18 Breck 100.674 81 69.292 24 21 3 0



Then you have a "next five" pretty well defined:

CL 1/25 ST TEAM RATING RK RATING GP W L T
6 13A 28 Austin 57.899 107 83.739 23 21 2 0
7 3A 31 Hibbing/Chisholm 47.459 12 36.042 24 12 10 2
8 8A 33 Farmington 38.815 70 65.174 23 17 5 1
9 9A 34 South St. Paul 37.419 51 54.125 24 17 7 0
10 7A 38 New Prague 31.960 46 51.783 23 13 8 2


Followed by a group of only 8 more teams considered "above average" (rating of 10 +) overall in the state (ranked between 44 & 64 overall of 124 teams in state):

CL 1/25 ST TEAM RATING RK RATING GP W L T
11 14A 44 Shakopee 18.607 59 57.609 23 11 8 4
12 16A 47 Silver Bay/Two Harbors 18.165 57 56.238 22 11 10 1
13 11A 50 Roseau 15.929 54 54.783 24 13 11 0
14 10A 52 Simley 15.390 71 65.522 24 15 9 0
15 15A 55 Mahtomedi 14.415 42 50.043 23 10 12 1
16 12A 58 Richfield 13.317 62 58.727 24 13 10 1
17 18A 59 Mound-Westonka 13.285 86 71.174 23 15 8 0
18 17A 64 Totino-Grace 10.472 45 51.762 23 10 11 2


From there you need a couple more teams that rank just below the "average" in the state overall to compile your Class A top 20 ranking:

CL 1/25 ST TEAM RATING RK RATING GP W L T
19 19A 69 Faribault 8.478 98 79.042 24 15 8 1
20 N/A 70 Mankato West 7.437 93 75.870 24 14 9 1
21 20A 71 New Ulm 6.719 111 85.714 23 15 8 0
22 N/A 73 Marshall 6.397 113 92.636 24 18 6 0
23 N/A 80 Fergus Falls 4.213 77 67.826 23 10 12 1
24 N/A 81 Detroit Lakes 4.030 89 73.619 22 10 9 3
25 N/A 83 Albert Lea Tigers 3.792 101 80.174 23 12 10 1

[xk1]

I would say the most over rated team in this group is Austin. They really never traveled away from home to play any of the better A teams so Krach has no way of doing a proper SOS.