Big Nine Conference

universaldegreaser · Post by **universaldegreaser** » Fri Sep 05, 2008 3:34 pm

Any predictions for the year? who will be good? who not so good?

Goldy Gopher · Post by **Goldy Gopher** » Fri Sep 05, 2008 5:00 pm

Looking back to last year's predictions I would say Lucia4President is the man to ask about the big 9

Lucia4President · Post by **Lucia4President** » Sat Sep 06, 2008 2:36 pm

Goldy Gopher wrote:Looking back to last year's predictions I would say Lucia4President is the man to ask about the big 9

Mayo takes the conference.

gabT · Post by **gabT** » Tue Sep 09, 2008 10:47 pm

Lucia4President wrote:
Goldy Gopher wrote:Looking back to last year's predictions I would say Lucia4President is the man to ask about the big 9
Mayo takes the conference.

Any reasons why?

dpsaucer5 · Post by **dpsaucer5** » Wed Sep 10, 2008 9:23 am

sir i dont know what your thinking when you say mayo? i dont know of any bantams moving up to play for them and they lost their big gun Charlie Thauwald to the USHL

Lucia4President · Post by **Lucia4President** » Thu Sep 11, 2008 8:48 pm

They may have lost Thauwald, but they have 6 of their top 7 point-getters back, and each of those 6 had over 15 points. Also, they have Jordan Yaggy coming back, who had a .907 save percentage last season in 18 games. With West and Albert Lea losing so much, and Mayo returning so much, I don't see how you can't put them as the preseason favorites.

boca93 · Post by **boca93** » Fri Sep 12, 2008 6:29 pm

Austin could be a dark horse. They could surprise some people.

Rocket78 · Post by **Rocket78** » Sat Sep 13, 2008 6:08 pm

dpsaucer5 wrote:sir i dont know what your thinking when you say mayo? i dont know of any bantams moving up to play for them and they lost their big gun Charlie Thauwald to the USHL

Thauwald was only their #4 scorer last year according to the Big 9 website. He had the most skill on the ice but doesn't work with his team and I guess there was some ego clashes. Addition by subtracting, maybe?

Marty McSorely · Post by **Marty McSorely** » Sun Sep 14, 2008 10:22 pm

what about Owatonna, JM and Century?

Lucia4President · Post by **Lucia4President** » Mon Sep 15, 2008 5:48 pm

Marty McSorely wrote:what about Owatonna, JM and Century?

I think Owatonna will be competitive. They did lose their top 2 scorers and their 2 goalies from last year, though.

JM was bad last year, but they were pretty young. Who knows; they have a great coach, so they should be better this year. It might be a year or two before they are back to .500, though.

Century lost their 2 best players from last year, Ewing and Ordahl, but they always find a way to win. Before last year, they had played in 7 straight section 1AA finals. They also play a tough non-conference schedule, which will make they better in the tough conference games.

I think Mayo will win the conference, though.

hockeygroupie · Post by **hockeygroupie** » Tue Sep 16, 2008 1:15 pm

Look out...Faribault has a new coach that took a team to state, and they have come awesome 10th graders coming into the program this year. They also will be a dark horse.

maverickshockey33 · Post by **maverickshockey33** » Tue Sep 16, 2008 11:25 pm

Rochester Mayo will be very tough considering they were contending with a varsity roster full of juniors. West lost their whole team except the forward Bruggeman. Century contends for the big 9 title annually. My prediction is Mayo.

Forget Flyer · Post by **Forget Flyer** » Wed Sep 17, 2008 5:10 pm

maverickshockey33 wrote:Rochester Mayo will be very tough considering they were contending with a varsity roster full of juniors. West lost their whole team except the forward Bruggeman. Century contends for the big 9 title annually. My prediction is Mayo.

Campbell......Weber......

gabT · Post by **gabT** » Wed Sep 17, 2008 6:02 pm

west will be fine this year..not as good as last year but not awful by any means

maverickshockey33 · Post by **maverickshockey33** » Thu Sep 18, 2008 6:23 pm

yea west isn't gonna be terrible. but we're talking about who's going to win the big 9. bruggeman, campbell and webber aren't going to carry the team to a big 9 championship i'm sorry to burst your bubble. you need to have a balanced team to win a conference championship and i don't think west has the team anymore to compete for the crown.

badgerman18 · Post by **badgerman18** » Thu Sep 25, 2008 9:50 pm

Rocket78 wrote:
dpsaucer5 wrote:sir i dont know what your thinking when you say mayo? i dont know of any bantams moving up to play for them and they lost their big gun Charlie Thauwald to the USHL
Thauwald was only their #4 scorer last year according to the Big 9 website. He had the most skill on the ice but doesn't work with his team and I guess there was some ego clashes. Addition by subtracting, maybe?

i wouldn't really say this is true, thauwald would probably work more with his team if he was put with some better players. Last year he was put on the 4th line for part of the season...

aspartame · Post by **aspartame** » Fri Sep 26, 2008 3:51 am

ok, everyone should know the big 9 is up for grabs. There is not just one team that will take the conference, with a lot of teams that have some talent. In my mind i still want to say that Mankato West will take the conference or else they will be fourth. They have lost the most talent out of any team in the big 9 (no one can compare to the talent they had in the 07-08 year). I believe that Coach Essay will lead MW to a conference championship. If it is not MW it will be Al they have the 2 best coaches in the conference hands down. No one can compare to what they have.

DmanDad1980 · Post by **DmanDad1980** » Fri Sep 26, 2008 9:10 am

badgerman18 wrote:
Rocket78 wrote:
dpsaucer5 wrote:sir i dont know what your thinking when you say mayo? i dont know of any bantams moving up to play for them and they lost their big gun Charlie Thauwald to the USHL
Thauwald was only their #4 scorer last year according to the Big 9 website. He had the most skill on the ice but doesn't work with his team and I guess there was some ego clashes. Addition by subtracting, maybe?
i wouldn't really say this is true, thauwald would probably work more with his team if he was put with some better players. Last year he was put on the 4th line for part of the season...

Hmmmmmm...
Best player... 4th line... personal attitude problem...?

Could this be addition by subtraction...

Dog_Log17 · Post by **Dog_Log17** » Fri Sep 26, 2008 2:27 pm

aspartame wrote:ok, everyone should know the big 9 is up for grabs. There is not just one team that will take the conference, with a lot of teams that have some talent. In my mind i still want to say that Mankato West will take the conference or else they will be fourth. They have lost the most talent out of any team in the big 9 (no one can compare to the talent they had in the 07-08 year). I believe that Coach Essay will lead MW to a conference championship. If it is not MW it will be Al they have the 2 best coaches in the conference hands down. No one can compare to what they have.

I would have to agree with this this post. The Big 9 is very much up for grabs. You can not rule out teams like Mankato West and Albert Lea. They both are very well Coached and always put a quality team on the ice.

maverickshockey33 · Post by **maverickshockey33** » Mon Sep 29, 2008 6:07 pm

I seem to recall in 2005-2006 when west was in the cellar of the big 9 conference. what makes you think it won't happen again?

pepper brooks · Post by **pepper brooks** » Mon Sep 29, 2008 7:41 pm

Thaulwald got kind of screwed last year....Mayo is full of family/cousin relationships which would always get playing time no matter how good thaulwald did

HShockey2180 · Post by **HShockey2180** » Mon Sep 29, 2008 9:58 pm

Have you seen the stats the Fisher, Whitney, Alexander line put up last season? It would make absolutely no sense to put Thauwald on that line, he is a completely different player than those three. Just because a player may have the most skill, doesn't automatically earn him a spot on the first line... I think a line's chemistry with each other and play making ability is far more important than the overall talent of the line.

maddog · Post by **maddog** » Tue Sep 30, 2008 2:06 pm

I agree if the line has good chemistry and is putting up points then why switch it up just for thauwald they were a dominationg line one of the best in the big nine and this year they will dominate again

Mac15 · Post by **Mac15** » Tue Sep 30, 2008 3:50 pm

pepper brooks wrote:Thaulwald got kind of screwed last year....Mayo is full of family/cousin relationships which would always get playing time no matter how good thaulwald did

Mayo is South but not that far South! (I don't hear banjo music) How are you defining family/cousin relationships...Not like Deliverance I hope. As far as I know Whitney & Alexander are related but they are not 1st cousins. Whitney is the AC's kid. Buske is the god-son of the head coach but I don't know if he played much varsity last year. Other than those three kids I don't think Mayo has any more or less relatives on their team than Austin, Albert Lea, Faribault etc.

I had the pleasure of coaching Thauwald back in squirts. He was a good kid with good parents. How much or little he played or why he had certain linemates in high school is really known only by those directly involved and the rest of us on the outside are only speculating. Good Luck to Charlie in the USHL and hopefully in college hockey.

Rippentrop · Post by **Rippentrop** » Fri Oct 03, 2008 10:43 pm

Mayo to win big 9...Thauwald is nice, didn't get screwed, didn't fit in very well, good luck to him...If anything, when you have family involved on a team, the scrutiny is harder, so really, those kids get pushed and criticized more than anybody because of perception...they are just kids...let 'em play their hearts out...The question mark on this team will be the same as it has always been with Mayo teams....Defense??? Can Grosso work some magic and get the team to buy into his systems and play good team defense...The offense will definately be there this year.

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Big Nine Conference

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