I don't think you need to watch every game to get a good idea of how the teams are doing. You can check the stat sheets on any team at www.mnhockeyhub.com
I try and get to at least one or two game a year. I like to pick a game that's not going to be a blow-out, like Austin , Waseca , Winona (Not this year.)
The good home games this year should be Red Wing , Rochester Century , Rochester Lourdes ( maybe ) and Owatonna.
I will miss the Red Wing game, because I will be in Ann Arbor, MI. To watch my kid play in the JR'S top prospects tournament.
So you haven't seen them play then. Ok. That's fine. Seemed like you knew so much about them that you must have seen them play.
I've only seen them play a couple times myself. Seem like an up and down club. They may still be in the mix for 1A by the end though.
I Don't think the Tigers have the scoring power this year against a strong team. Look at the Rochester Lourdes game, the 1st line couldn't even put the puck in the net.
Coach Roy Nystrom quoted in the Albert Lea paper that the 1st line is "DYNAMITE" , but that was after they beat a weaker team by a few goals. I guess he forgot to light the " FUSE" against Lourdes.
There best game so far has to be there come back win over Rochester Century. Now that should be a great re-match.
Last edited by ALL-STAR ROOKIE on Mon Jan 05, 2009 2:18 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Albert lea is a solid club, they've had a pretty good team in the last couple of years. They're good this year but as you can see not good enough to compete with the lourdes. They have a great coaching staff I expect them to start winning late. As for the Winona game, i wouldnt take that much from it, they'll meet in early Feburary again for Big9, which i'm sure the Tigers will come out with a win. As for the section, I'll predict a second round lost. They're not deep enough to beat teams like New Prague, Rochester Lourdes or even Red Wing.
Albert Lea went to the state tournament a few years ago. I think this was due to a weaker playoff run. They didn't have Lourdes,New Prauge or Red Wing in there way.
The year they won the consolation title , I think that was the best team they have had since they moved down from class AA to Class A.
PS. I think that the Tigers have a good chance of winning the Big 9 this year. There is a big differnce this year between the Big 9 and the section playoffs.
PS. I think that the Tigers have a good chance of winning the Big 9 this year. There is a big differnce this year between the Big 9 and the section playoffs.
the Big9 looks like a toss up this year, there are possibly 5 different teams that seem like they could win it this year. Watching how that plays out might be pretty interesting
Good win for West over Owatonna. What's Owatonna's deal? This is the group of seniors that made 2 trips to state as bantams, and they just don't seem to be able to pull it together.
Don't sweat the small stuff.
It's all small stuff.
Good win for West over Owatonna. What's Owatonna's deal? This is the group of seniors that made 2 trips to state as bantams, and they just don't seem to be able to pull it together.
I was very impressed on how AL played last night against virginia.. the score was tied with about 2 minutes left and Virginia scored a powerplay goal then got the empty netter.
Mankato West plays at Albert Lea tomorrow, should be an interesting game. They met earlier in December with the final score 4-2 Albert Lea with empty net in the end. The game will be pretty big to decide who wins the Big9 as well.
The big game that is going to give you an idea who will win the big 9 is this thursday mayo vs. albert lea. I really don't think west will be in contention as much as these two teams. Owatonna if they find out how to play consistent will be a factor as well. Century getting beat by J.M last night really puts perspective on how inconsistant play is a big factor this year in the big 9. I will take mayo over albert lea 4-3. I think it will be a very competitive game.
West will have a chance of winning the Big Nine, seeing some scores the only team in the conference they might lose to is Mayo. Which would leave them with only 2 conference losses. Unless Winona pulls something off, but i don't see that happening. Ultimately it comes down to AL and Mayo. With Mayo having to beat West, AL, Fairbault, and Owatonna. I see AL as the front runner right now. Although this seems to be the year of inconsistency, anything could happen.
i thought the little goalie for west played pretty well, he made the save on the first shot most all night long, except for on the first goal which was a 2 on 1 break for the tigers, the tigers goals came on their second, third or even fourth shots in a flurry, he could have had a little better rebound control, but many of the tigers first shots were from in close, west needed to do a better job of clearing those rebounds, and the tigers first line was to fast for west they had many odd man rushes in the game
at the end of the day you have to give the bulk of the blame to the goalie, 8 goals in 36 shots? If you're a real stats person that's about a 78% save percentage that's simply not gotta cut it.
its a team game, there was plenty of room for improvement all the way around for West, like I said Troutman should have done a better job with his rebound control, and West should have done a better job clearing some of those rebounds, also one of those eight goals was an empty netter at the end of the game, and another one of the goals was scored on the other West goalie Kaufman, who came in for a minute, when the West coach was trying to settle down Troutman after he pushed the net off the pins in anger, so troutman gave up 6 out of the 8 goals scored by Albert Lea not 8, still room for improvement for the goalie and the whole West team, West also needs to get some production out of their second line, their first line is very good, but so is the Tigers, I thought the difference was that Albert Lea got points out of their 2nd line and defense and West did not
(Not this year.)
