AA Rankings for 12/27/09

[karl(east)]

There weren’t many games this week, but I think it’ll be nice to have everything in order for the upcoming holiday tournaments. (I am also stuck in Chicago a day longer than expected due to bad weather and bored. Why not rank hockey teams in my free time?) This is the third straight week with the same three top 15 teams; I suspect we’ll see some upheaval over the next few days.

Rather than trying to write out the many possible games this week, I’ll just note which tournament each team is in, then offer a few comments on each tournament involving a ranked team at the end.

1. Minnetonka
-The Skippers stay the obvious #1 with a win over then-#3 Blaine this past week. Though they controlled the game, the end result shows they could be beaten if enough things go right for the opposition. A win in the Schwan Cup could cement them in the top spot for quite some time. They also have a game against a decent team on Saturday.
This week: Schwan Cup Gold, Sat vs. Stillwater

2. Hill-Murray
-Had a week off and now head into the Schwan Cup, where they face a very difficult draw. Time to see where this team really fits in; as I mentioned last week, I’m not sure they really belong this high. I wouldn’t strongly disagree with anyone who puts them as low as sixth, but I couldn’t bring myself to put three Classic Suburban teams in a row at the top, and their one negative result--a tie against Benilde--is slightly more impressive than Wayzata’s tie with Osseo (despite the current rankings) or Edina’s 4-2 loss to Wayzata. No matter; we’ll get a real answer this week.
This week: Schwan Cup Gold

3. Wayzata
-Took care of business against Roseville and now find themselves in the surprising position of being the top-ranked team in the St. Louis Park tourney. They’ll have to earn the tourney win, as they did not get an easy draw.
This week: St. Louis Park Tournament

4. Edina
-Continue to surprise (as much as an Edina team can surprise, that is), and they’re in great position to cause an awful lot of problems in the Schwan Cup. Their good start is a testament to the depth of the Edina program and, yes, the coaching, as they haven’t missed a beat despite the loss of the deep senior class.
This week: Schwan Cup Gold

5. Blaine
-Two very tough 1-goal losses to top west Metro teams this past week; despite the results they played well enough that I think they deserve to stay up here. May get their chance at revenge against one or both teams in the Schwan Cup, though they sure have the toughest road to win the tournament, possibly going through 3 of the 4 teams ahead of them.
This week: Schwan Cup Gold

6. Bloomington Jefferson
-The lack of a major holiday tourney last year seriously hurt their shot at a higher ranking last year. This year, on the other hand, they do have a real chance to prove themselves, and the road to the final is a little easier than Wayzata’s is.
This week: St. Louis Park Tournament

7. Holy Angels
-Played well in their first game against a ranked opponent and now get a very real test against Minnetonka to open the Schwan Cup. We’ll finally get a good idea of where this team belongs in the coming days.
This week: Schwan Cup Gold

8. Eden Prairie
-Another tougher-than-expected-win for the Eagles against Burnsville. They’re idle this week, but they have plenty to practice for with a matchup against Minnetonka to start the new year on the 5th of January. Lack of a post-holiday tourney will make them harder to rank; next week their ranking will be at the mercy of whatever goes on around them.
This week: Idle

9. Cretin-Derham Hall
-Unlike most of the other top teams, they’re not in a very deep tourney this week. A good showing is essential to maintain position.
This week: Schwan Cup Silver

10. Roseau
-Had an off week in between their two holiday tournaments, with the second looking to be much easier than the first. As always their schedule causes headaches with ranking; their rematch with Moorhead is their only game left against a top-15 team.
This week: Roseau Holiday Classic

11. Osseo
-The win over Andover is another notch in their belt, proving that they do deserve to be up here. They now travel north for their holiday tourney, with one tough game in a slate of three.
This week: Warroad Invitational

12. Benilde-St. Margaret’s
-Don’t read too much into them getting nudged downwards; Blaine’s close loss to Tonka helped both Roseau and Osseo, and Benilde is hard to distinguish from them right now. With that said, they have the most riding on a holiday tourney than any other team out there. Their game against Wayzata will be their only one against another major 6AA opponent, meaning it has huge seeding implications, and though they have a couple nice non-conference games down the stretch, the North Suburban is not a very good proving ground for statewide rankings.
This week: St. Louis Park Tournament

13. Duluth East
-A hard-fought tie with Moorhead wrapped up a strong start to the season for the Hounds, but now they head into their moment of truth with three very difficult Schwan Cup games (a tournament that has always given the Hounds problems) followed by Blaine and Minnetonka. Time for a young team to grow up in a hurry.
This week: Schwan Cup Gold

14. Moorhead
-The tie with East slides them up a spot in the rankings and shows that they’re not to be taken lightly, even if they’re not as talented as some of the opponents they’re about to run into.
This week: St. Louis Park Tournament

15. Elk River
-They’re playing good teams pretty well, but just like last year, they don’t seem able to come up with a big win in the early going. Last year, they put it together a bit down the stretch; this year, they have a shot at an earlier run in the SLP tourney. Time for this team to make a move.
This week: St. Louis Park Tournament
-------------
Holiday Tournaments (listed in order of first-round brackets). All tourneys are Monday-Wednesday unless otherwise noted.
-------------
Schwan Cup Gold

7 Holy Angels
1 Minnetonka

1(A) St. Thomas Academy
White Bear Lake

5 Blaine
2 Hill-Murray

13 Duluth East
4 Edina

-As usual, it’s absolutely loaded, with six of the very best teams in the state, another very good one, and…White Bear Lake (but they did pull off a big upset here last year, so perhaps we shouldn’t write off the Bears quite yet). It’s possible to do very poorly in this tourney and still be in very good shape in the rankings.
--------------
St. Louis Park Tourney

15 Elk River
Maple Grove

6 Bloomington Jefferson
14 Moorhead

Centennial
Woodbury

12 Benilde
3 Wayzata

-To me, this is easily the most intriguing tournament out there. A lot of teams here have a lot to prove--this is the biggest stage for Jefferson and Benilde this year, Wayzata has a golden opportunity to show just how far they’ve climbed, Elk River is in good position to make a statement, Moorhead is the sort of team no contender wants to face, and the three unranked teams have underachieved to some degree so far and could really use a big showing. The Centennial-Woodbury matchup is especially intriguing in this regard.
-------------
Schwan Cup Silver

9 Cretin
Lakeville South

Breck
Stillwater

Mahtomedi
Burnsville

Roseville
Blake

-The top half of the bracket is much more challenging than the bottom half; Cretin and Breck have to be the odds-on favorites, and failure to finish first and third by the two of them would be a disappointment.
--------------
Roseau Holiday Tourney (Tues-Thurs)
Round-robin; includes:
10 Roseau
Lake of the Woods
Faribault
Alexandria

-Roseau takes on three A teams; they should be able to dominate this one. Faribault will probably be the biggest test.
--------------
Warroad Invitational
Round-robin; includes:
Warroad
Grafton (ND)
Fargo North (ND)
11 Osseo

-Two of the better NoDak teams take on good teams in each class; should be a decent tournament, though the Minnesota teams should be favored.

Other tournaments involving bubble AA teams:
Duluth Heritage Classic
-Park and Bemidji should be the favorites in a quality tourney.
Also involved: Buffalo, Delano, Mound-Westonka, Cloquet, Duluth Denfeld, New Prague

Forest Lake Invitational
-The focus will be on the all-7AA lower bracket, with Andover as the favorite and the quietly strong host Forest Lake possibly playing spoiler.
Also involved: St. Paul Como Park, East Ridge, Sleepy Eye, Chisago Lakes, Cambridge, St. Francis

Kiwanis/Wells Fargo Festival (AA Bracket)
-A couple teams on the very distant bubble, Rochester Century and Brainerd, take on the Rochester publics, Eastview, Princeton, Richmond (WI), and Fargo South (ND).

Another notable bubble team, Eagan, already won its first game in the South St. Paul Premier Tournament. They will play South St. Paul in the semifinal and then either Hopkins or Hastings in the final round. It’s their tournament to lose.

[CB00]

Karl,

SLP stands for St.Louis Park Tournament, not Spring Lake Park. I believe BSM is hosting.

[karl(east)]

Karl,

SLP stands for St.Louis Park Tournament, not Spring Lake Park. I believe BSM is hosting.

I have lost track of how many times I have made this mistake now this year.

Yay for mass editing.

[slapstkhound]

There weren’t many games this week, but I think it’ll be nice to have everything in order for the upcoming holiday tournaments. (I am also stuck in Chicago a day longer than expected due to bad weather and bored. Why not rank hockey teams in my free time?) This is the third straight week with the same three top 15 teams; I suspect we’ll see some upheaval over the next few days.

Rather than trying to write out the many possible games this week, I’ll just note which tournament each team is in, then offer a few comments on each tournament involving a ranked team at the end.

1. Minnetonka
-The Skippers stay the obvious #1 with a win over #X Blaine this past week. Though they controlled the game, the end result shows they could be beaten if enough things go right for the opposition. A win in the Schwan Cup could cement them in the top spot for quite some time. They also have a game against a decent team on Saturday.
This week: Schwan Cup Gold, Sat vs. Stillwater

2. Hill-Murray
-Had a week off and now head into the Schwan Cup, where they face a very difficult draw. Time to see where this team really fits in; as I mentioned last week, I’m not sure they really belong this high. I wouldn’t strongly disagree with anyone who puts them as low as sixth, but I couldn’t bring myself to put three Classic Suburban teams in a row at the top, and their one negative result--a tie against Benilde--is slightly more impressive than Wayzata’s tie with Osseo (despite the current rankings) or Edina’s 4-2 loss to Wayzata. No matter; we’ll get a real answer this week.
This week: Schwan Cup Gold

3. Wayzata
-Took care of business against Roseville and now find themselves in the surprising position of being the top-ranked team in the St. Louis Park tourney. They’ll have to earn the tourney win, as they did not get an easy draw.
This week: St. Louis Park Tournament

4. Edina
-Continue to surprise (as much as an Edina team can surprise, that is), and they’re in great position to cause an awful lot of problems in the Schwan Cup. Their good start is a testament to the depth of the Edina program and, yes, the coaching, as they haven’t missed a beat despite the loss of the deep senior class.
This week: Schwan Cup Gold

5. Blaine
-Two very tough 1-goal losses to top west Metro teams this past week; despite the results they played well enough that I think they deserve to stay up here. May get their chance at revenge against one or both teams in the Schwan Cup, though they sure have the toughest road to win the tournament, possibly going through 3 of the 4 teams ahead of them.
This week: Schwan Cup Gold

6. Bloomington Jefferson
-The lack of a major holiday tourney last year seriously hurt their shot at a higher ranking last year. This year, on the other hand, they do have a real chance to prove themselves, and the road to the final is a little easier than Wayzata’s is.
This week: St. Louis Park Tournament

7. Holy Angels
-Played well in their first game against a ranked opponent and now get a very real test against Minnetonka to open the Schwan Cup. We’ll finally get a good idea of where this team belongs in the coming days.
This week: Schwan Cup Gold

8. Eden Prairie
-Another tougher-than-expected-win for the Eagles against Burnsville. They’re idle this week, but they have plenty to practice for with a matchup against Minnetonka to start the new year on the 5th of January. Lack of a post-holiday tourney will make them harder to rank; next week their ranking will be at the mercy of whatever goes on around them.
This week: Idle

9. Cretin-Derham Hall
-Unlike most of the other top teams, they’re not in a very deep tourney this week. A good showing is essential to maintain position.
This week: Schwan Cup Silver

10. Roseau
-Had an off week in between their two holiday tournaments, with the second looking to be much easier than the first. As always their schedule causes headaches with ranking; their rematch with Moorhead is their only game left against a top-15 team.
This week: Roseau Holiday Classic

11. Osseo
-The win over Andover is another notch in their belt, proving that they do deserve to be up here. They now travel north for their holiday tourney, with one tough game in a slate of three.
This week: Warroad Invitational

12. Benilde-St. Margaret’s
-Don’t read too much into them getting nudged downwards; Blaine’s close loss to Tonka helped both Roseau and Osseo, and Benilde is hard to distinguish from them right now. With that said, they have the most riding on a holiday tourney than any other team out there. Their game against Wayzata will be their only one against another major 6AA opponent, meaning it has huge seeding implications, and though they have a couple nice non-conference games down the stretch, the Northwest Suburban is not a very good proving ground for statewide rankings.
This week: St. Louis Park Tournament

13. Duluth East
-A hard-fought tie with Moorhead wrapped up a strong start to the season for the Hounds, but now they head into their moment of truth with three very difficult Schwan Cup games (a tournament that has always given the Hounds problems) followed by Blaine and Minnetonka. Time for a young team to grow up in a hurry.
This week: Schwan Cup Gold

14. Moorhead
-The tie with East slides them up a spot in the rankings and shows that they’re not to be taken lightly, even if they’re not as talented as some of the opponents they’re about to run into.
This week: St. Louis Park Tournament

15. Elk River
-They’re playing good teams pretty well, but just like last year, they don’t seem able to come up with a big win in the early going. Last year, they put it together a bit down the stretch; this year, they have a shot at an earlier run in the SLP tourney. Time for this team to make a move.
This week: St. Louis Park Tournament
-------------
Holiday Tournaments (listed in order of first-round brackets). All tourneys are Monday-Wednesday unless otherwise noted.
-------------
Schwan Cup Gold

7 Holy Angels
1 Minnetonka

1(A) St. Thomas Academy
White Bear Lake

5 Blaine
2 Hill-Murray

13 Duluth East
4 Edina

-As usual, it’s absolutely loaded, with six of the very best teams in the state, another very good one, and…White Bear Lake (but they did pull off a big upset here last year, so perhaps we shouldn’t write off the Bears quite yet). It’s possible to do very poorly in this tourney and still be in very good shape in the rankings.
--------------
St. Louis Park Tourney

15 Elk River
Maple Grove

6 Bloomington Jefferson
14 Moorhead

Centennial
Woodbury

12 Benilde
3 Wayzata

-To me, this is easily the most intriguing tournament out there. A lot of teams here have a lot to prove--this is the biggest stage for Jefferson and Benilde this year, Wayzata has a golden opportunity to show just how far they’ve climbed, Elk River is in good position to make a statement, Moorhead is the sort of team no contender wants to face, and the three unranked teams have underachieved to some degree so far and could really use a big showing. The Centennial-Woodbury matchup is especially intriguing in this regard.-------------
Schwan Cup Silver

9 Cretin
Lakeville South

Breck
Stillwater

Mahtomedi
Burnsville

Roseville
Blake

-The top half of the bracket is much more challenging than the bottom half; Cretin and Breck have to be the odds-on favorites, and failure to finish first and third by the two of them would be a disappointment.
--------------
Roseau Holiday Tourney (Tues-Thurs)
Round-robin; includes:
10 Roseau
Lake of the Woods
Faribault
Alexandria

-Roseau takes on three A teams; they should be able to dominate this one. Faribault will probably be the biggest test.
--------------
Warroad Invitational
Round-robin; includes:
Warroad
Grafton (ND)
Fargo North (ND)
11 Osseo

-Two of the better NoDak teams take on good teams in each class; should be a decent tournament, though the Minnesota teams should be favored.

Other tournaments involving bubble AA teams:
Duluth Heritage Classic
-Park and Bemidji should be the favorites in a quality tourney.
Also involved: Buffalo, Delano, Mound-Westonka, Cloquet, Duluth Denfeld, New Prague

Forest Lake Invitational
-The focus will be on the all-7AA lower bracket, with Andover as the favorite and the quietly strong host Forest Lake possibly playing spoiler.
Also involved: St. Paul Como Park, East Ridge, Sleepy Eye, Chisago Lakes, Cambridge, St. Francis

Kiwanis/Wells Fargo Festival (AA Bracket)
-A couple teams on the very distant bubble, Rochester Century and Brainerd, take on the Rochester publics, Eastview, Princeton, Richmond (WI), and Fargo South (ND).

Another notable bubble team, Eagan, already won its first game in the South St. Paul Premier Tournament. They will play South St. Paul in the semifinal and then either Hopkins or Hastings in the final round. It’s their tournament to lose.

Woodbury just took on Bloomington Jefferson in a controlled scrimmage. The first 35 minutes, Woodbury won 5-2 with both teams using their backup goalie. Second 35 minutes, Jags won 2-1 with their starter in net and the Woodbury JV goalie in net. Maybe the Woodbury boys have turned the corner.

[MNHockeyFan]

12. Benilde-St. Margaret’s
Their game against Wayzata will be their only one against another major 6AA opponent, meaning it has huge seeding implications, and though they have a couple nice non-conference games down the stretch, the Northwest Suburban is not a very good proving ground for statewide rankings.

Karl, what you say about BSM's conference not being a good proving ground is very true, but it's the North Suburban, not Northwest. The Northwest is considerably tougher.

[defense]

Warroad tournement: Grafton-Park River may end up being a contender in North Dakota this year, with complete likelyhood that they will be in the State tournement. Fargo North however, stands at 1-7-1. Graffton in all likelyhood should be the third best team, but don't be surprised by them, they are NoDak's Warroad or Roseau...
Roseau should have a good three games, but Alexandria may surprise....

[wblhockeyfan8]

"and....White Bear Lake."

[ACDCfan]

In the tournaments (pairings are below), every one of the top six teams is playing teams that could beat them. Next week's rankings could be completely different.

A couple of wins from any combination of Holy Angels, Blaine, Duluth East, Benilde and Moorhead sould really shake things up. All of these are good teams and I would not be surprised to see two or three of them win in their opening round.

Pairings
Schwanns Cup

7 Holy Angels
1 Minnetonka

1(A) St. Thomas Academy
White Bear Lake

5 Blaine
2 Hill-Murray

13 Duluth East
4 Edina

--------------
St. Louis Park Tourney

15 Elk River
Maple Grove

6 Bloomington Jefferson
14 Moorhead

Centennial
Woodbury

12 Benilde
3 Wayzata

[karl(east)]

12. Benilde-St. Margaret’s
Their game against Wayzata will be their only one against another major 6AA opponent, meaning it has huge seeding implications, and though they have a couple nice non-conference games down the stretch, the Northwest Suburban is not a very good proving ground for statewide rankings.

Karl, what you say about BSM's conference not being a good proving ground is very true, but it's the North Suburban, not Northwest. The Northwest is considerably tougher.

Ah, yes. I'll fix that. I also fixed a small error in the Minnetonka write-up.

They really should get more creative with the conference names in the Metro area.

Thanks once again to my collection of careful editors.

[Goldfishdude]

Karl.... you're a college student residing in the nation's capital. It's inevitable and natural that you will make a "few mistakes" coming from that area....

'Fool me once, shame on... shame on you.. fool me ...you can't get fooled again."

"I have opinions of my own - strong opinions - but I don't always agree with them."

Both by George W Bush...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5skcF6Kljtw&feature=fvw

So, after reading these, and seeing this youtube video, please note that an error will happen from time to time...

Just note that even though I have a college degree in Mass Communication/Journalism, I am the only college graduate whose blood alcohol average surpassed his grade point average...

So, you will always have my respect, Karl, regardless if I am driving thru Spring Lake Park, or if I get lost and am driving thru St. Louis Park.. or if I feel I am driving north, but my odometer says northwest.

My opinion is that, if you want to change some of these confusing conference names, I suggest we just follow one of the state's great resources.... and let's change the Northwest Conference to the DELTA Conference!!!

[MNHockeyFan]

It was a very minor point, and I hope I didn't come across as nitpicking. What really matters is the research and thoughtful analysis you put into your rankings, which contributes so much to this board.

[karl(east)]

Karl.... you're a college student residing in the nation's capital. It's inevitable and natural that you will make a "few mistakes" coming from that area....

'Fool me once, shame on... shame on you.. fool me ...you can't get fooled again."

"I have opinions of my own - strong opinions - but I don't always agree with them."

Both by George W Bush...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5skcF6Kljtw&feature=fvw

So, after reading these, and seeing this youtube video, please note that an error will happen from time to time...

Just note that even though I have a college degree in Mass Communication/Journalism, I am the only college graduate whose blood alcohol average surpassed his grade point average...

So, you will always have my respect, Karl, regardless if I am driving thru Spring Lake Park, or if I get lost and am driving thru St. Louis Park.. or if I feel I am driving north, but my odometer says northwest.

My opinion is that, if you want to change some of these confusing conference names, I suggest we just follow one of the state's great resources.... and let's change the Northwest Conference to the DELTA Conference!!!

Thanks...and I really do appreciate people catching the little errors.

[HShockeywatcher]

After Maple Grove's game today, they really are making a case to be ranked. Just beat Elk River 4-0. They are 6-2-1, with two 1-2 losses to Edina and Duluth East.

Giving up less goals than both Holy Angels and Edina did to Elk River and scoring more than Eden Prairie did.

They will be a surprise team this year.

[besthockeyfan]

After Maple Grove's game today, they really are making a case to be ranked. Just beat Elk River 4-0. They are 6-2-1, with two 1-2 losses to Edina and Duluth East.

Giving up less goals than both Holy Angels and Edina did to Elk River and scoring more than Eden Prairie did.

They will be a surprise team this year.

If beating Jefferson basically means nothing for Eagan to crack the top 15 do you really think beating a (shouldn't be ranked) Elk River team will do it. Think again. Maybe now that 7 of these top 15 teams just lost today and Eagan won convincingly again Karl will wise up. Some of you doubters should maybe go see them play before commenting any furrther!

[Roseauverrated]

After Maple Grove's game today, they really are making a case to be ranked. Just beat Elk River 4-0. They are 6-2-1, with two 1-2 losses to Edina and Duluth East.

Giving up less goals than both Holy Angels and Edina did to Elk River and scoring more than Eden Prairie did.

They will be a surprise team this year.

If beating Jefferson basically means nothing for Eagan to crack the top 15 do you really think beating a (shouldn't be ranked) Elk River team will do it. Think again. Maybe now that 7 of these top 15 teams just lost today and Eagan won convincingly again Karl will wise up. Some of you doubters should maybe go see them play before commenting any furrther!

They won 4-1 today against a sub-average South St. Paul team. I'm sorry but until Eagan can get a win over a high quality opponent to prove Jefferson wasn't a fluke, I'd keep them right where they're at; unranked or at the lower end on the rankings.

[besthockeyfan]

After Maple Grove's game today, they really are making a case to be ranked. Just beat Elk River 4-0. They are 6-2-1, with two 1-2 losses to Edina and Duluth East.

Giving up less goals than both Holy Angels and Edina did to Elk River and scoring more than Eden Prairie did.

They will be a surprise team this year.

If beating Jefferson basically means nothing for Eagan to crack the top 15 do you really think beating a (shouldn't be ranked) Elk River team will do it. Think again. Maybe now that 7 of these top 15 teams just lost today and Eagan won convincingly again Karl will wise up. Some of you doubters should maybe go see them play before commenting any furrther!

They won 4-1 today against a sub-average South St. Paul team. I'm sorry but until Eagan can get a win over a high quality opponent to prove Jefferson wasn't a fluke, I'd keep them right where they're at; unranked or at the lower end on the rankings.

As I said in my comments, go see them play before commenting further! They outshot SSP 50-16 and SSP's goalie is going to the U. Hill outshot them by about the same and Mahtomedi only outshot them 29-19. SSP is better than sub average. Eagan also beat Lakeville South who crushed #7 Cretin today (oh I guess that doesn't count)!!

[HappyHockeyFan]

If beating Jefferson basically means nothing for Eagan to crack the top 15 do you really think beating a (shouldn't be ranked) Elk River team will do it. Think again. Maybe now that 7 of these top 15 teams just lost today and Eagan won convincingly again Karl will wise up. Some of you doubters should maybe go see them play before commenting any furrther!

SSP is NOT a sub-average team, they are ranked 14th in class A and have an elite goalie. A day earllier SSP put up 9 goals, today Eagan dominated them and allowed 1 goal on 16 shots. What you got against Eagan Roseuverated? Did Eagan beat your team or something or you got an ex from Eagan or something. They have passed every test that is on there schedule, they deserve some recognition and if they win this tournament they should get it, as in top 15.


They won 4-1 today against a sub-average South St. Paul team. I'm sorry but until Eagan can get a win over a high quality opponent to prove Jefferson wasn't a fluke, I'd keep them right where they're at; unranked or at the lower end on the rankings.

As I said in my comments, go see them play before commenting further! They outshot SSP 50-16 and SSP's goalie is going to the U. Hill outshot them by about the same and Mahtomedi only outshot them 29-19. SSP is better than sub average. Eagan also beat Lakeville South who crushed #7 Cretin today (oh I guess that doesn't count)!!

[HappyHockeyFan]

SSP is NOT a sub-average team, they are ranked 14th in class A and have an elite goalie. A day earllier SSP put up 9 goals, today Eagan dominated them and allowed 1 goal on 16 shots. What you got against Eagan Roseuverated? Did Eagan beat your team or something or you got an ex from Eagan or something. They have passed every test that is on there schedule, they deserve some recognition and if they win this tournament they should get it, as in top 15.

[toptitty96]

If beating Jefferson basically means nothing for Eagan to crack the top 15 do you really think beating a (shouldn't be ranked) Elk River team will do it. Think again. Maybe now that 7 of these top 15 teams just lost today and Eagan won convincingly again Karl will wise up. Some of you doubters should maybe go see them play before commenting any furrther!

They won 4-1 today against a sub-average South St. Paul team. I'm sorry but until Eagan can get a win over a high quality opponent to prove Jefferson wasn't a fluke, I'd keep them right where they're at; unranked or at the lower end on the rankings.

As I said in my comments, go see them play before commenting further! They outshot SSP 50-16 and SSP's goalie is going to the U. Hill outshot them by about the same and Mahtomedi only outshot them 29-19. SSP is better than sub average. Eagan also beat Lakeville South who crushed #7 Cretin today (oh I guess that doesn't count)!!

Eagan should probably be ranked top 15 and they continue to prove it, but why sit here and complain about rankings? In the end, opinions of a team won't matter much. What counts is how well a team does in conference, sections, and state. If Eagan wins 3AA, good for them. People worry too much about Karl's rankings. He does a great job, and if he is wrong, Eagan, and any other team that may arguably be better than what they are ranked, will prove it in the long run.

[HappyHockeyFan]

They won 4-1 today against a sub-average South St. Paul team. I'm sorry but until Eagan can get a win over a high quality opponent to prove Jefferson wasn't a fluke, I'd keep them right where they're at; unranked or at the lower end on the rankings.

As I said in my comments, go see them play before commenting further! They outshot SSP 50-16 and SSP's goalie is going to the U. Hill outshot them by about the same and Mahtomedi only outshot them 29-19. SSP is better than sub average. Eagan also beat Lakeville South who crushed #7 Cretin today (oh I guess that doesn't count)!!

Eagan should probably be ranked top 15 and they continue to prove it, but why sit here and complain about rankings? In the end, opinions of a team won't matter much. What counts is how well a team does in conference, sections, and state. If Eagan wins 3AA, good for them. People worry too much about Karl's rankings. He does a great job, and if he is wrong, Eagan, and any other team that may arguably be better than what they are ranked, will prove it in the long run.

In the end you are right toptitty, but everyone likes to be noticed for doing good things. Maybe for the teams that are regularaly in the top 10/15 its no biggie, but when your not and your having a nice season it would be nice to be recognized for it. I mean this team is undefeated and has beat the #3 ranked team in the state and still cannot get any credit. What happens if they lose tomorrow to Hopkins? Any slim chance they had for recognition will go out the door. I mean at what point do you get recognized, what does it take. Do they have to go 15 - 0 or 20 -0 to some credit. Look at Cretin, what the heck have they done all year. They # 7 and WAY overrated, tonight they lost bad to LV South. I mean seriously, it gets old that the traditional high ranked teams can do nothing and get a high ranking and a less notable team has to reach amazing hights to get any recognition. In the end the rankings dont mean anything, but during the season they do mean something if only on a psychological level of being recognized for doing well.

[ACDCfan]

Two losses in the top five yesterday. 2HM loses to 5Blaine, which lost to 4Edina by 1-0. Won't hurt the pioneers too much, unless HM loses again this week.

12Benilde beats 3Wayzata, which should put both teams in the 5-10 range. If Benilde or Jefferson win the SLP tournament, that team might replace Wayzata in the top five. Their semi-final opponents today might have a word or two to say about that.