State Seedings: AA

[wbmd]

Seven out of 10? perhaps but they finished behind South in the lake and both teams lost key players to injury.

Opinion only..but w/ AV's goalie and the team they are right now.. yep 7 0f 10

by the way AV goalie held them in and at least one of the goals woodbury's goalie should of stopped and the 3rd the defencemen got burned "trying to pinch" leading to that 2 on 1

I wouldnt get too exited over that win , considering its woodbury which i believe tonka scored 9 goals on earlier this season without a open net

and the real question is how do you think the AV goalie will hold up against a team like tonka / edina ?

And the fact that Woodbury only won two games outside of conference opponents this season (over Tartan and Eastview).

[Hoops]

Seven out of 10? perhaps but they finished behind South in the lake and both teams lost key players to injury.

Opinion only..but w/ AV's goalie and the team they are right now.. yep 7 0f 10

by the way AV goalie held them in and at least one of the goals woodbury's goalie should of stopped and the 3rd the defencemen got burned "trying to pinch" leading to that 2 on 1

I wouldnt get too exited over that win , considering its woodbury which i believe tonka scored 9 goals on earlier this season without a open net

and the real question is how do you think the AV goalie will hold up against a team like tonka / edina ?

It's the getting a team healthy for the last 3 games...outplaying Eagan only to lose in OT, skating w/ and outshooting EP in a losing effort..and then dominating sections that gets me thinking....yes they dominated Eagan. Their goalie might be the best in the tourney.
Fun tourney though..we'll find out soon.

[bigfanofhockey]

I think an argument can be made for Roseau being ranked fourth if Blaine loses.

1. Minnetonka
2. Edina
3. Hill Murray
4. Roseau

Why? Roseau and Duluth East shared 3 common opponents. Roseau had 2 wins and one loss to Moorhead while Duluth East tied them 2 - 2. Roseau beat Grand Rapids 3 - 0 while Duluth East beat them only 5 - 4. Roseau lost to Blaine 5 - 4 and Duluth tied them 2 -2. In my opinion it is close but Roseau should get the upper hand. However, if Blaine wins this is a moot point.

[blueblood]

1 - Tonka
2 - Edina
3 - Hill-Murray
4 - Blaine

Whoever draws East is in for a tough game with Jeanetta playing well down the stretch.

The other 3 QF games will be 3+ goal games....

[Gov78]

1 - Tonka
2 - Edina
3 - Hill-Murray
4 - Blaine

Whoever draws East is in for a tough game with Jeanetta playing well down the stretch.

The other 3 QF games will be 3+ goal games....

Yep, that's my picks also.

Only team of the four I haven't watched is Hill but you need to give them credit for their record. On paper I agree DE will be the toughest opponent in the QF round but AV is playing their best right now and if their opponent takes them lightly wounldn't surprise me with a first round upset.

30+ years of watching this a hot goalie changes everything and there's some good ones this year and the fans love to jump on the underdog bandwagon.

[MNHockey75]

1. Minnetonka -- Obvious #1
2. Edina -- Obvious #2, IMHO
3. Blaine -- Beat Hill, play MUCH tougher schedule
4. Hill -- Don't play anybody, play in a very weak section.

[Gov78]

Just to rock the boat a bit even though it's moot point, Wayzata would probably be #2 or #3 if there was a way for them to be there.

Probably a discussion for another thread for those who want the "top" 8 in state... not saying I'm one of those.

[njmarshall20]

Is this legit?! Didn't know it would be posted so early:

http://www.mshsl.org/mshsl/showxmlbrack ... acket=5015

[minnesotaice]

1. Minnetonka -- Obvious #1
2. Edina -- Obvious #2, IMHO
3. Blaine -- Beat Hill, play MUCH tougher schedule
4. Hill -- Don't play anybody, play in a very weak section.

I agree with this seeding the most. I guess everyone forgot about the whooping blaine put on Hill-Murray in the schwann cup

[ACTUALFORMERPLAYER]

1. Minnetonka -- Obvious #1
2. Edina -- Obvious #2, IMHO
3. Blaine -- Beat Hill, play MUCH tougher schedule
4. Hill -- Don't play anybody, play in a very weak section.

This is the one.

[ACTUALFORMERPLAYER]

Edina vs. Roseau
Blaine vs Apple Valley
Tonke vs Lakeville N
Hill vs DE

[sllek]

AA Seedings are up at the MSHSL site:

11:00 #2 Edina vs. Roseau
1:00 #3 Blaine vs. Apple Valley
6:00 #1 Minnetonka vs. Lakeville North
8:00 #4 Hill-Murray vs. Duluth East

With the possible exception of Roseau, Duluth East and Apple Valley, which you could argue could switch places among themselves, it looks like the same match-ups you would h ave had with 1-8 seeding.

[HShockeywatcher]

AA Seedings are up at the MSHSL site:

11:00 #2 Edina vs. Roseau
1:00 #3 Blaine vs. Apple Valley
6:00 #1 Minnetonka vs. Lakeville North
8:00 #4 Hill-Murray vs. Duluth East

With the possible exception of Roseau, Duluth East and Apple Valley, which you could argue could switch places among themselves, it looks like the same match-ups you would h ave had with 1-8 seeding.

There will probably be an upset, but it is very possible this is a year we see no upsets in the first round. That would make for a very Class AA semi-finals.

[pioneers]

1. Minnetonka -- Obvious #1
2. Edina -- Obvious #2, IMHO
3. Blaine -- Beat Hill, play MUCH tougher schedule
4. Hill -- Don't play anybody, play in a very weak section.

I agree with this seeding the most. I guess everyone forgot about the whooping blaine put on Hill-Murray in the schwann cup

I wouldn't call getting beat 6-4 with an empty netter and H-M outshooting Blaine 32-21 as a whooping.

[mngophs04]

1. Minnetonka -- Obvious #1
2. Edina -- Obvious #2, IMHO
3. Blaine -- Beat Hill, play MUCH tougher schedule
4. Hill -- Don't play anybody, play in a very weak section.

I agree with this seeding the most. I guess everyone forgot about the whooping blaine put on Hill-Murray in the schwann cup

I wouldn't call getting beat 6-4 with an empty netter and H-M outshooting Blaine 32-21 as a whooping.

It wasn't, but Hill's weak schedule puts them behind Blaine anyway.

[sllek]

I agree with the seedings, but I also think a second look needs to be taken at the "strength of schedule" argument. A team has no control over who is in its section and very little control over the conference it plays in. This leaves it up to the non-conference. To its credit, Blaine played a tremendous non-conference schedule, but you could make the argument that Hill's non-conference slate was also strong. According to the schedule on the MSHSL site, Hill played Burnsville, Duluth Marshall, Benilde, White Bear Lake (twice), Blaine, Duluth East, Holy Angels and Moorhead. Except for Marshall, which is normally a trong team but was down this year, that's a very respectable schedule. Hill's problem is that the bottom of the Classic Suburban is horrible, but the only alternative they would have would be to play as an independent in hockey, which is probably not economically feasible in today's world and might not even be allowed by conference bylaws. Bottom line, I think the coaches got the seedings right, but that the weakness of Hill's schedule is being slightly overstated.

[Rich Clarke]

The strength of schedule argument essentially allows people to compare actual accomplishments instead of merely comparing records. This year, Edina beat Minnetonka, Eden Prairie, Blaine (twice), Burnsville, Jefferson, Duluth East, Elk River, Holy Angels, Benilde, Maple Grove, and Woodbury. Hill beat Burnsville when Burnsville was playing its worst hockey of the year. They beat no other top ten teams. They did beat top 20 teams Duluth East and Holy Angels, but one could argue that they didn't beat a single team ranked in the top ten team at the time of the game.

Instead, they lost to Blaine in the one chance they had to beat a top opponent. I was there, I thought they looked very strong, but they lost. They also tied Benilde and lost to St. Thomas. Good teams, but not of the caliber of the several top ten wins Edina had.

Edina lost a bad game to Cretin 3-1, but otherwise each of their five losses came against Minnetonka and Wayzata. They also tied Holy Angels and Hopkins during their annual January slump, but came back to beat both.

Absent a strength of schedule argument, Hill would automatically get the higher seed. The argument allows the coaches to look beyond records at a team's accomplishments and failures.

I keep hearing people say that teams should not be "punished" for playing a weak schedule because "they had no control over who they could play." What does any of that have to do with the issue? Hill was not punished. However, it also was not rewarded for playing a soft schedule. Edina was rewarded--not for playing a tough schedule, but for consistently beating top ten teams. Had HM beaten Blaine, EP, or maybe beaten both Jefferson and Centennial, they could have made a much stronger argument. It may not be their FAULT that they didn't play any of them but Blaine, but it is their fault that in the few games they played against decent teams they were far below perfect.

The funny thing is that I think Hill may well be better than Edina and Blaine, and I at least give them a shot against Minnetonka if they can beat East again. However, unlike Edina and Blaine, who have earned their rankings, Hill needs to prove itself on the ice, not just in people's minds. They will have a chance to prove themselves next week like they did two years ago, but until then it's reasonable to reward the three teams whose accomplishments to date surpass theirs.

[Pioneerprideguy]

Very well put, "RC". The Pioneers are not upset about their seed, but you know they will use it as motivation.

[karl(east)]

I agree with Rich.

I recall Hill being a 4-seed that wasn't given much attention coming into the tournament 2 years back. If the same thing happens again, the Pioneers might just coast to another title.

[Gov78]

I agree with Rich.

I recall Hill being a 4-seed that wasn't given much attention coming into the tournament 2 years back. If the same thing happens again, the Pioneers might just coast to another title.

coast?

[karl(east)]

I agree with Rich.

I recall Hill being a 4-seed that wasn't given much attention coming into the tournament 2 years back. If the same thing happens again, the Pioneers might just coast to another title.

coast?

Well, I sure hope not.

But they certainly did in 08.