Another way to look at peewee A teams (Feb 27)

[frederick61]

All year long, I have focused on looking at the peewee A teams by district and eventual regional play. In the end, the team most likely ranked #1 in the state is the state tourney winner. Independent of regional draw, this is my ranking of the final 32 teams left standing after district playoffs. After this weekend, I will narrow this to the eight regional winners.

1. Wayzata-In the 60’s, Southwest had the derisive name “Cake Eaters”. After Hopkins upended Maple Grove in the semifinals of D3 playoffs, Wayzata now has that title. Playing poorly they still managed to beat Hopkins in the finals. Because of their season play, they are #1 going into the regionals.
2. Woodbury-Their forwards are not as dominant as early in the season, but still dangerous. They play their positons very well and played an excellent game in the D10 finals beating Eagan.
3. Cloquet-Ended-#1 in D11 by beating Duluth East twice 4-0 and 3-1. The greenness their defense had at the start of the year is gone and they are playing well just before Regionals. Being at home will help them.
4. Eden Prairie-A physical team with a smart coach, but can they kept the intensity needed for their style of play to win through regionals. Their loss in a tough Roseau tourney to TRF is still bothering.
5. Coon Rapids-In 42 games out of the first fifty Coon Rapids played, they have held a tough group of opponents to 2 or less goals. In the D10 playoff finals they lost 3-2 to St. Cloud. Defense is their key asset. Scoring is not.
6. Eagan-A powerful team with size that seems to have had their eyes on the prize. A key injury slowed them in the D10 playoffs and they looked off physically. Can they refocus?
7. North St. Paul-This team can beat any of these teams in a single game with a day or two rest. Their first line is a real winner, their second line contributes, but there is no third line. Now they play three games in a tough region. They better have energy bars in the locker room.
8. Edina-The Hornets seemed restless in the D6 playoffs and it showed losing twice to a dedicated Chaska team. The problem that they have is the flag the Hornets carry is not D6, but one that says “all year hockey”. Has their interest sagged?
9. Little Falls-A team I have not seen, but has impressed by winning some tough tourneys and dominating D15.
10. Roseau- A team I have not seen, but dominated D16 for most of the year. The question is how strong is their defense? It will be tested.
11. East Grand Forks- A team I have not seen, but seem to have come together for the playoffs.
12. Maple Grove-Which team will show up in Regionals, the one that passes the socks off the opponent or the other? In the D3 final playoff game, they soundly beat Hopkins 6-0 to take the #2 Seed.
13. Chaska-If any team deserves to be rately highly because of their play, Chaska does. Touble is, if you see them play, they don’t impress. They were not pushed in D6 playoffs physically by having to play tough games each day. They were the rested team with the advantage. Playing the regionals at home will help, but are they strong enough to play four games in three days?
14. St. Cloud-This team works hard and has emerged out of D10 as #1. Once on a roll in any game, they can score goals. Unfortunately, they have had to many games where they never got to "roll" to be rated higher.
15. Duluth East-In their last 10 games, they have played a quality schedule against a variety of tough teams from all over the state. The problem is they lost six of those games. Has their power play improved?
16. Grand Rapids-A mystery team that has struggled from mid-January on when they beat the last significant team (Eden Prairie in Roseau tourney). They really struggled on their January swing through the cities.
17. Faribault-This team has set an ambitious schedule to improve and has improved. They earn respect, but can they win in a tough South Regional?
18. Hermantown-This team is a grinder and seems to be always one goal short of beating the good team.
19. White Bear Lake-It will take one period for a good team to solve their power play and an eternity trying to stop the defensemen rushing.
20. Roseville-When you expect them to win, they lose. When you expect them to lose, they win.
21. Hopkins-In the D3 final playoff game, they didn’t have the gas to take on Maple Grove. Given that they just had a tough loss in the D3 championship game to Wayzata 6-5, one can see them having an off day. But can they come together? They will play Wayzata again in the East Regional at St. Louis Park, almost a home arena.
22. Buffalo-A bunch of riverboat gamblers on the D, but I like this team. Will they show up for the West Regional rusty?
23. Fergus Falls-Another team I have not seen play, but has had a solid record.
24. Mpls Park- A team that can win any one game as Maple Grove knows, can they win the one needed to go to state?
25. Moorhead-Have worked hard in the past month and challenged themselves. Like Park, can they win one?
26. Crookston- A team I have not seen, played a .500 regular season with the only significant victory an early season win over Fergus Falls.
27. Hibbing-A sound team with a workmanlike attitude (saw them play in the Eveleth Tourney). They could be dangerous in another region, but have a tough draw in the North where the other three teams need to their scalp.
28. Highland-This team was a last minute entry into the Bloomington Tourney and was a pleasant surprise, almost eliminating a tough Minnetonka team. They were improving in January, but the big loss to Mpls Park in the D1 championship is worrying.
29. New Prague-Like Faribault, this team continues to find ways to improve itself. It’s worked so far, they are in the Regionals and are most likely one victory away from State providing they can handle Mpls Park first.
30. Irondale-A feisty team that continues to improve, but like most D1 teams they seem to get going late in the season then the other teams in the tourney.
31. Mound Westonka-Unlike other teams in this tourney, this team disappeared from the day they dropped out of the Bloomington tourney at Christmas time. They lost a key regular season game to Buffalo and with it the regular season championship. Then they came back to win the D5 #2 seed by winning the D5 playoff.
32. International Falls- A team I have not seen. Some team has to be last and to my knowledge, the Falls have won just one regular season game. They are truly the “Cinderella” team.

[lamplighter]

Thanks for keeping things fun, Freddy. You are awesome.

[love2skate]

Fredrick, which Region games are you going to try and see this weekend?

[frederick61]

I was waiting for the snow and it looks messy enough tomorrow morning to keep it local. I will probably split my time between St. Louis Park and Chaska. I'm tempted to hit Brainerd on Saturday, but the Roseau/Little Falls 8AM start time is discouraging. So I plan to figure out Sat/Sun after tomorrow.

[love2skate]

Looking forward to your analysis of the games you see! You always have the best posts regarding PWA teams. Thanks for the time you put into your analysis of the teams around the state! Have fun this weekend.

[Air Force 1]

I was waiting for the snow and it looks messy enough tomorrow morning to keep it local. I will probably split my time between St. Louis Park and Chaska. I'm tempted to hit Brainerd on Saturday, but the Roseau/Little Falls 8AM start time is discouraging. So I plan to figure out Sat/Sun after tomorrow.

The EGF/Moorhead game in Brainerd on Saturday at 12:00 PM should be a pretty good matchup too. I cannot be there so if Fredrick was to go up there, the recap would be like being there.

[DMom]

Looking forward to your analysis of the games you see! You always have the best posts regarding PWA teams. Thanks for the time you put into your analysis of the teams around the state! Have fun this weekend.

It can never be said enough!!

[beast___]

HOW do you have that much time on your hands Frederick?

[Air Force 1]

I was waiting for the snow and it looks messy enough tomorrow morning to keep it local. I will probably split my time between St. Louis Park and Chaska. I'm tempted to hit Brainerd on Saturday, but the Roseau/Little Falls 8AM start time is discouraging. So I plan to figure out Sat/Sun after tomorrow.

The EGF/Moorhead game in Brainerd on Saturday at 12:00 PM should be a pretty good matchup too. I cannot be there so if Fredrick was to go up there, the recap would be like being there.

I guess EGF/Moorhead was good, Eastside down 3-0 going into the third, came back to tie it 3-3 and eventually win it in the 3rd OT!