The Boys in Powder Blue

[dynamicD]

So after tonight's thrashing of Apple Valley I'm starting to thinks these things:

How good exactly is this team? I mean they are undefeated at this point and if they can keep this up versus EP, who will beat them??? I mean they have Grand Rapids and Moorhead on the schedule and a weak conference schedule with the exception of EP and maybe one or two other teams. I really don't see a whole lot of competiton for the Jags.

So with this said, are the Jags undefeated up to this point because it seems as if there competition isn't very good or is this team turning into a scary good team and something for the Cakeeaters of Edina to watch out for come time sections

[Teak]

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing about Jefferson after seeing that they had cleaned up over in North Dakota. Eden Prairie has a very good squad, but still lost to Edina. If Jefferson can whup EP, then a matchup with Edina would be fun to watch.

And yet.....there is Hill, on a hill, awaiting all takers.

[flatontheice]

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing about Jefferson after seeing that they had cleaned up over in North Dakota. Eden Prairie has a very good squad, but still lost to Edina. If Jefferson can whup EP, then a matchup with Edina would be fun to watch.

And yet.....there is Hill, on a hill, awaiting all takers.

They will choke when it matters. History has a way of repeating itself.

[gophermadman]

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing about Jefferson after seeing that they had cleaned up over in North Dakota. Eden Prairie has a very good squad, but still lost to Edina. If Jefferson can whup EP, then a matchup with Edina would be fun to watch.

And yet.....there is Hill, on a hill, awaiting all takers.

They will choke when it matters. History has a way of repeating itself.

choke when it matters? they are 5-0 in the state championship and a winning record against hill

[breakout]

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing about Jefferson after seeing that they had cleaned up over in North Dakota. Eden Prairie has a very good squad, but still lost to Edina. If Jefferson can whup EP, then a matchup with Edina would be fun to watch.

And yet.....there is Hill, on a hill, awaiting all takers.

They will choke when it matters. History has a way of repeating itself.

choke when it matters? they are 5-0 in the state championship and a winning record against hill

Did Sats come out of retirement?

[gophermadman]

They will choke when it matters. History has a way of repeating itself.

choke when it matters? they are 5-0 in the state championship and a winning record against hill

Did Sats come out of retirement?

haha! good point, I admit defeat on that point

[breakout]

choke when it matters? they are 5-0 in the state championship and a winning record against hill

Did Sats come out of retirement?

haha! good point, I admit defeat on that point

Seriously, I thought Bloomington was going to be good this year. Didn't think they would be undefeated at this point. We'll see how they do against some tough foes in the next few weeks.

[hockeyhockeyhockey]

quote]

They will choke when it matters. History has a way of repeating itself.[/quote]

you might be the most foolish poster ever... you need to find find find a new hobby.

[gopher1]

So after tonight's thrashing of Apple Valley I'm starting to thinks these things:

How good exactly is this team? I mean they are undefeated at this point and if they can keep this up versus EP, who will beat them??? I mean they have Grand Rapids and Moorhead on the schedule and a weak conference schedule with the exception of EP and maybe one or two other teams. I really don't see a whole lot of competiton for the Jags.

So with this said, are the Jags undefeated up to this point because it seems as if there competition isn't very good or is this team turning into a scary good team and something for the Cakeeaters of Edina to watch out for come time sections

It's hard to tell how good the team is going to be. They did have many players play in the Elite league. Other than their trip to Fargo and EP & Grand Rapids (which is down this year) and the Lake Conference schedule. They should come close to being undefeated. Maybe the coach could have scheduled tougher competition. We'll see what they do from here to the end of the season.

[TooManyEagles]

They were actually fairly underwhelming against Wayzata. If the Blue and Gold had stayed out of the box by avoiding the horrible penalties, that very easily could have been a Trojan win. Wayzata skated with them and outplayed them for the majority of the game. And lets be honest, Wayzata is not the toughest competition BJ will face this year...

[theoneandonly1]

The Jaguars are a true threat this year and should make a fun Section tournament. They have outscored their opponents 54 to 9 in 9 games, but the real test will be Jan. 3 when the eagles come to town.

[dynamicD]

Yea i agree that Wayzata game easily could have gone either way but I've seen the Jags play quite a few games this year so far and honestly they played sub par in that game. Anyway, last year this team had some promise but early injuries to players in the beginning of the year slowed them down a bit but now that they have all those underclassmen stepping up and their goaltending has been better than expected, they seem to be back to normal Jefferson form.

Sure wish the Jags were back in the Schwans cup like they used to be before their down year because i believe that tourny is the ultimate indicator of how good you are up to this point, playing against teams from north dakota doesn't tell me anything...

[redfirehockey1]

yeah but with a young team and a goalie who never saw varsity time before this year i can see why lindquist would want to bring em up north to ND, have a good time, and crush the competition up there to boost the teams confidence.

[flatontheice]

quote]

They will choke when it matters. History has a way of repeating itself.

you might be the most foolish poster ever... you need to find find find a new hobby.[/quote]

What exactly would you call last years game against Burnsville? OR maybe the State Tournament game against Minnetonka a few years back.

[Aaronnessisgod]

I watched Jefferson play against Apple Valley on tuesday, and they were a solid team, but im my opinion not a top 5 and arguably not even a top 10 team. AV played with them tthe first period and part of the second, and then a couple fluke goals went in and it was over. The just didnt look that impressive and dominant.

[espnmobile8]

What exactly would you call last years game against Burnsville? OR maybe the State Tournament game against Minnetonka a few years back.

That was in Sections not at State. Maybe if you were informed I would take you seriously.

So they lost two games? Burnsville beat them three times last year it's not like Jefferson was supposed to win that game.

[oneIdmonsta]

i dnt see how people can say they didnt look that impressive in a game where they won by more then a few everyone keeps saying the team is getting lucky or doesnt look that good well how can a 9-0 not look good it doesn't matter how u win them as long as you win them.

[hockeylover]

The jags are off to a great start and are a really good team but so far most of their games have been great for the stat sheets and not so good for preparing them for section games against teams like Edina and AHA. It is too bad the Lake doesn't have more competition for them this year.

[JV State Champs]

I saw them in ND and they dominated every game from start to finish. With a weak scheduele I think there is a very good chance they go undefeated in the regular season. And with Edina not what we expected they could easily come out of the section.

[Off Sides]

The Jags are for real. They have talent, depth and an attitude. I love teams where the top players play like their team has something to prove every night and to me thats the way the Jags play.
Wayzata? they are better than anyone gives them credit for. What they lack in talent they make up for in desire and they have a goalie thats capable of stealing a couple of goals from anyone.

[happymama]

Look at the competition they have played this year and it is not a very impressive list. IF they are so good, they need to step out and play some people that are considered top contenders. Going to ND and beating up on a couple teams is not what a "top" team does. Look for some tough competition and see how you do against them.

So far they beat:
Burnsville 4-2 (close game and BV was missing several key players)
Rosemount 8-1 (Rosemount is 0-9...not exactly a tough opponent)
Chaska 6-0 (Chaska lost some of its best players from this age group)
Lakeville S. 10-2 (great goal scoring but against a 3-4 team; who cares)
Wayzata 3-2 (the one tougher team they have played and they barely beat them - record for Wayzata 4-3-1)
Grand Forks Red River 4-1 and Grand Forks Central 8-0 === YAWN!!!

Look at the records of the other "top" teams and you will see that they have challenged themselves by going out to find and play tough competition. Most of them are in the Schwann Cup and many have taken on tough opponents in their non-conference games (Edina played HM and now Blaine for example).

Jefferson is good but they are not going to be great unless they can win the big games against big opponents. Until then, they are just decent team with a deliberately soft schedule.

[dynamicD]

To be fair it's not like at the beginning of the season the Jags had the choice to be in the Schwans cup and they turned it down or something.
Second, most schedules are made well in advance so all you can really do is go out and beat every team on your schedule and thats what the jags have done.
Third, yes i agree the lake conference is down this year but you know that every team in the Lake gives Jefferson their best game when they play the Jags so you can't really rip on them because they scores are somewhat close

maybe a dominating win on FSN over EP will silence the doubters...

[gophermadman]

Look at the competition they have played this year and it is not a very impressive list. IF they are so good, they need to step out and play some people that are considered top contenders. Going to ND and beating up on a couple teams is not what a "top" team does. Look for some tough competition and see how you do against them.

So far they beat:
Burnsville 4-2 (close game and BV was missing several key players)
Rosemount 8-1 (Rosemount is 0-9...not exactly a tough opponent)
Chaska 6-0 (Chaska lost some of its best players from this age group)
Lakeville S. 10-2 (great goal scoring but against a 3-4 team; who cares)
Wayzata 3-2 (the one tougher team they have played and they barely beat them - record for Wayzata 4-3-1)
Grand Forks Red River 4-1 and Grand Forks Central 8-0 === YAWN!!!

Look at the records of the other "top" teams and you will see that they have challenged themselves by going out to find and play tough competition. Most of them are in the Schwann Cup and many have taken on tough opponents in their non-conference games (Edina played HM and now Blaine for example).

Jefferson is good but they are not going to be great unless they can win the big games against big opponents. Until then, they are just decent team with a deliberately soft schedule.

this is just rediculous

Jefferson does challenge itself, it plays in the lake conference, which is usually the toughest conference in the state. The last two years the lake has been down, and thats not Jefferson's fault. The lake will be on the upswing by next year. As for the Schwanns cup, they were not invited to play this year, however for the better part of the last decade they played in the gold division.

You need to keep in mind that when it comes down too it Jefferson is a public HIGH SCHOOL. This is not Notre Dame or USC football, they are a highschool with a limited budget. They are not a hockey academy, so theyre focus, as it should be, is on providing a education for their students as best as they can rather than spend all their time planning how each sesaon they can put together the most pretigious teams for their varsity hockey team to play. I, like you enjoy picking on the dynasty hockey schools most of the time on these forums, but in this case its not warranted. Jefferson, like the other top publics right now including D. East, Centennial, and Edina are all doing the best they can with what they are given and I for one and extremely impressed.

Bottom line, dont under-estimate this team, my pick for dark horse.

[hockeylover]

The Lake was not down last year, it was extremely tough. You had Rosemount, Burnsville, Jefferson, EP and Lakeville So had a great goalie. Most games were a battle unlike this year.

[hockeylover]

forgot,add Eastview to last years list of good teams.