Polls and Rankings

[MNHockeyFan]

Post all of the various in-season polls and rankings you see here.

From today's Star Tribune - must have been voted on before Hill Murray's big win over Stillwater?:

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

Class 2A
1. Edina (3)
2. Stillwater
3. Roseville (1)
4. Hopkins (1)
5. Minnetonka
6. Grand Rapids/Greenway
7. Centennial
8. Hill-Murray
9. White Bear Lake
10. Eden Prairie
11. Holy Angels
12. Benilde-St. Margaret's
13. Duluth
14. Andover
15. Cloquet

Class 1A
1. Roseau (4)
2. Blake (2)
3. Breck (1)
4. Warroad
5. Alexandria
6. Crookston/Red Lake Falls
7. South St. Paul
8. Hibbing/Chisholm
9. Mankato West
10. New Prague
11. Mound Westonka
12. Henry Sibley
13. Totino-Grace
14. East Grand Forks
15. Albert Lea

[MNhockey24]

Andover at #14??... after getting beat 7-2 by Moundsview?

[FrankThom]

This differs from the LPH 11/20 poll online.

[joehockey]

Lets Play Hockey 11/20/08

Not sure if there was any changes or not....does not appear to be anything radicall if there are.

AA
1 EDINA
2 Stillwater
3 Roseville
4 Hopkins
5 Minnetonka
6 Grand Rapids/Greenway
7 Centennial
8 Hill-Murray
9 White Bear Lake
10 Eden Prairie
11 Holy Angels
12 Benilde-St. Margaret’s
13 Blaine
14 Irondale
15 Proctor/Hermantown
16 Duluth
17 Andover
18 Cloquet
19 Eagan
20 Wayzata

A
1 ROSEAU
2 Blake
3 Breck
4 Warroad
5 Alexandria
6 Crookston/Red Lake
7 South St. Paul
8 Hibbing/Chisholm
9 Mankato West
10 New Prague
11 Mound Westonka
12 Henry Sibley
13 Totino-Grace
14 East Grand Forks
15 Albert Lea
16 Hutchinson
17 Visitation/SPA United
18 Eveleth/Gilbert
19 Fergus Falls
20 Willmar

[MNHockeyFan]

Lets Play Hockey 11/20/08

Not sure if there was any changes or not....does not appear to be anything radical if there are.

The two polls are identical, except the Strib chooses to show only the top 15 in each class.

Also odd that the Strib shows the first place votes, but there were only 5 for Class AA vs. 7 for A?

It's early in the year so these polls don't mean much, if they ever do! But you like to see them make some sense at the time they are published. Having HM at No. 8 while Stillwater stays at No. 2 makes no sense at all, given the result two days earlier.

[MNhockey24]

The Class AA polls were identical through #12. 13-15 is where there was a discrepancy...

Per LPH:
13. Blaine
14. Irondale
15. Proctor/Hermantown

Per Star Trib:
13. Duluth
14. Andover
15. Cloquet

But as previously stated, at this point during the season the polls don't carry much significance.

[ghshockeyfan]

Also odd that the Strib shows the first place votes, but there were only 5 for Class AA vs. 7 for A?

Those votes - I assume - were due to having certain rankers rank only 1 of the classes vs. both. I agree with this if the case as it usually means that the rankers (selected by LPH) stick to what they know. Also, I know that some rankers don't contribute each week or get their rankings in in time for the paper to hit the press, thus the difference from week-to-week in "first place vote" totals.

[MNHockeyFan]

Also odd that the Strib shows the first place votes, but there were only 5 for Class AA vs. 7 for A?

Those votes - I assume - were due to having certain rankers rank only 1 of the classes vs. both. I agree with this if the case as it usually means that the rankers (selected by LPH) stick to what they know. Also, I know that some rankers don't contribute each week or get their rankings in in time for the paper to hit the press, thus the difference from week-to-week in "first place vote" totals.

Thanks, I was actually thinking of these as possibilities, but wasn't sure. Another I thought of was that the A teams are more spread out throughout the State, so it might take more people to judge how they compare to one another.

[ghshockeyfan]

Thanks, I was actually thinking of these as possibilities, but wasn't sure. Another I thought of was that the A teams are more spread out throughout the State, so it might take more people to judge how they compare to one another.

Just some guesses on my part... I "voted" in these rankings for a number of years and it's not easy to know all the teams well enough always. I hated early season rankings the most. Often went back and forth on these right up to the vote submission deadline, especially after the first few teams back then it was really a toss up at times for how you would "rank" 3 on... Often cutting it off at 20 was hard as I could justify 5+ teams that were probably just as good as 15-20 on any given night. That's a great statement on parity and where the girls came has come though too I believe... Class A was even harder as far as this was concerned...

[joehockey]

Here is the Pioneer Press Poll from 11/24 (with an Eastside Metro Bias.... strange to compare 11/14 below vs. this Edina gone with Eastview and Woodbury replacing?? Although maybe they are getting it right with no EP....sorry Eagle Nation )

Girls high school hockey standings and statistics
Pioneer Press

Updated: 11/24/2008 11:10:24 PM CST


RANKINGS

1. Roseville 2-0-0

2. Hopkins 2-0-0

3. Hill-Murray 1-0-0 (Hill is actually 2-0 having played WB and Stillwater)

4. Stillwater 2-1-0

5. Blake 2-0-0

6. Farmington 3-0-0

7. Eastview 2-0-1

8. South St. Paul 4-0-0

9. Woodbury 2-0-0 (Nice to see this for a program that has struggled - I think this is a much better team over the last couple of years - young but with some talented players)

10. Irondale 1-1-0

Here was initial poll on 11/14

PIONEER PRESS POWER RANKINGS

1. Stillwater: The 2007 Class AA champions look as if they can win another.

2. Edina: A strong nucleus returns for rookie coach Laura Slominski, a pioneer of the sport.

3. Roseville: Many talented young players return; depth is excellent.

4. Eden Prairie: The defending Class AA champions lost 12 seniors, but the Eagles never seem to have a down year.

5. Hill-Murray: Strong, tough and well-coached. Could be the state champion if it advances out of the section.

6. Hopkins: An experienced team with strong forwards.

7. Blake: Sally Komarek and Margaret Chute might be the best one-two punch in Class A.

8. Breck: Will challenge Blake for Section 5A title.

9. Irondale: The young, talented Knights are knocking on the door of the state tournament.

10. South St. Paul: Strong defensively, the perennial state power can't be taken lightly.

[SuperStar]

No offense taken Joe...


Long live Eagle Nation! (well atleast until our next game!)

[hockeyrube7]

So what happened to Roseau on either of these lists?

[mnhkylvr]

Warroad and Minnetonka as well.

I was surprised to see Breck come off the listing. I thought they were expected to do very well this year.

[keepitreal]

Unless these are metro rankings it's a travesty there are no northern teams here. Not buying into So St Paul or Woodbury yet but I guess it sells newspapers.

[Bensonmum]

I really don't think Girls' Hockey rankings will sell one newspaper in St. Paul this year. However, yes, this has always been a metro ranking, as are other Pioneer Press rankings in other sports. The fact that they have a writer dedicated to Girls' hockey is an improvement from the past. I agree that the rankings and especially the change in 2 weeks is nonsensical.

[FrankThom]

This one has Farmington at 3-0. I thought Farmington lost to Hastings?

[hockeyrube7]

Warroad and Minnetonka as well.

I was surprised to see Breck come off the listing. I thought they were expected to do very well this year.

Unless these are metro rankings it's a travesty there are no northern teams here. Not buying into So St Paul or Woodbury yet but I guess it sells newspapers.

Agree on both of these. Even if it is a metro ranking, they must not be very serious. No Minnetonka or Breck on the list, and Woodbury and SSP make the list. My guess would be they are looking at wins and losses only, but that does not explain Irondale remaining on the list?

[MNHockeyFan]

Reminds me of last season, when it was pretty much agreed here that the Pioneer Press put out the least accurate poll.

[joehockey]

Let's Play Hockey Ranking
November 26, 2008

AA
11/26-11/20 Ranks

1/1 EDINA 2-0-0
2/3 Roseville 3-0-0
3/4 Hopkins 3-0-0 (have outscored opponents 26-3)
4/2 Stillwater - 3-1-0 Down 2 (lost head to head 4-2 to HM)
5/8 Hill-Murray - 2-0 Up Three
6/5 Minnetonka - 2-2-0 (have scored 8 and given up
7/6 Grand Rapids/Greenway 2-1-0
8/7 Centennial 1-2-0 (have given up 14 goals and scored
9/9 White Bear Lake 2-2-0 (socred 11 and given up 11)
10/14 Irondale - 2-1-0 Up 4
11/15 Proctor/Hermantown - 3-0-0 Up 4 (beat Irondale 7-2)
12/12 Benilde-St. Margaret’s
13/13 Blaine 1-1-0
14/19 Eagan - 4-1-0 Up 5! (have socred 23 and given up
15/11 Holy Angels - Down 4
16/16 Duluth
17/18 Cloquet
18/20 Wayzata - Up 2
19/10 Eden Prairie
20 Andover - NEW 1-3-0


A
1 ROSEAU
2 Blake
3 Warroad
4 Breck
5 Crookston/Red Lake
6 Alexandria
7 Mankato West
8 South St. Paul
9 Hibbing/Chisholm
10 Mound Westonka
11 Hutchinson
12 Henry Sibley
13 Totino-Grace
14 East Grand Forks
15 New Prague
16 Eveleth-Gilbert
17 Fergus Falls
18 Visitation/SPA United
19 Northfield
20 Faribault

[hockeyrube7]

That looks a lot better, yet I still don't get moving Irondale up, nor Andover moving in. Last I recall, both teams are 1 or 2 player teams, is there no team more note worthy?

[OntheEdge]

That looks a lot better, yet I still don't get moving Irondale up, nor Andover moving in. Last I recall, both teams are 1 or 2 player teams, is there no team more note worthy?

I agree but I still think Edina is too high. I would put them around 5. As far as your comment on Irondale and Andover, its early but I think teams such as Maple Grove, Burnsville, Eastview, Hastings, and Lakeville South might be candidates for the Top 20 in the future. Bemidji was pretty good last year. I haven't seen them play. Does anyone know how they look this year? I see that their only loss was to a strong Roseau team 5-3.

[joehockey]

Woodbury is at 4-0 and plays Hastings next Tuesday and Tartan on Thursday could go to 6-0.

[SuperStar]

They have EP ranked way, way too far down the list - Should be more like #1................

[OntheEdge]

They have EP ranked way, way too far down the list - Should be more like #1................

Sorry SuperStar this is the girls hockey website. You must be thinking football.

[chickendance]

That looks a lot better, yet I still don't get moving Irondale up, nor Andover moving in. Last I recall, both teams are 1 or 2 player teams, is there no team more note worthy?

I agree but I still think Edina is too high. I would put them around 5. As far as your comment on Irondale and Andover, its early but I think teams such as Maple Grove, Burnsville, Eastview, Hastings, and Lakeville South might be candidates for the Top 20 in the future. Bemidji was pretty good last year. I haven't seen them play. Does anyone know how they look this year? I see that their only loss was to a strong Roseau team 5-3.

Andover, Irondale, and Centennial all appear to be in this poll still based on what the voters hope they are rather than their performance so far. Andover had a nice win against Anoka, and so they may be turning a corner, but you have to consider their losses and the opponents. These teams have been talked up over the summer, so it is logical that it sticks. It's real early to worry too much about the rankings.

Your question about Bemidji is a good one. I went and looked at their roster. 12 seniors on that team. Their only wins so far are against weaker opponents. Looking at their schedule, they will not play alot of top teams, so it will be somewhat difficult to gauge them as well. Looks like there troubles were in the D end of the ice last year and there does not look like a lot of new names on that end.