Looks good, I will start making my picks in round 2. Round 1 should be a cake walk. But it is never a guarantee. Remember this ?
In the 1995 Section 1 Playoffs. New Ulm rightfully recieved the #1 seed in the section. They got a first round bye and then played Mankato West who they had beat twice already that year by a combined score of something like 28-3. They beat them less than 2 weeks before in Mankato 18-1. Then come the 2nd rd of sections and MW has one of their players contract menengites and pass away. Even though this was a very tough loss to all the team, it really seem to rally them. MW goes into New Ulm, who is ranked 3rd in the state at the time with a 20-3 record, and bet them 2-1.
To me, playing on that New Ulm team, that was one of the biggest chokes of all time.
That was the BIGGEST upset I have ever seen in my life. Remember if you want to get to state, you need to show up and skate. If not, something like this can happen to any team.
Section 1A certainly does not lack any scorers. #1 seeded Rochester Lourdes Eagle has three 30+ point scorers in Jason Samuelson leading the way with 35 points (21 goals, 14 assists). Lourdes also presents Alex Funk with 31 points (12 goals, 19 assists) and also with 31 points (15 goals, 16 assists) Landon Farrell. The Scarlets of Mankato West present the most firepower out of any team in the section with Rantanen, Weber and Frentz combining for a total of 186 points (90 goals, 96 assists). Individually Ville Rantanen tallied for 80 points this season and led the state in goals with 48, but captain Drew Weber should not be forgotten as he has totaled 58 points with 22 goals and 36 assists.
The second-ranked Albert Lea Tigers have the crafty and always dangerous Eric Carlson, who has tallied 60 points this season with 35 goals and 25 assists. Carlson has shown he is also dangerous on the PK with 10 shorthanded goals this season. Andrew Scofield is providing the firepower for the Northfield Raiders with 34 points (22 goals, 12 assists). Faribault's duo Sean Lipinski and Jack Helgeson make up 46% of the Falcon's goals with Lipinski tallying 18 goals, 12 assists and Helgeson with 19 goals, 17 assists. New Prague's scoring this season has been mostly by committee led by the three C's of Cody Meyer (8 goals, 10 assists), Cole Mason (6 goals, 11 assists) and Curt Brezina (11 goals, 6 assists).
The Blue Line
The Lourdes blue line is deep with Alec Brandrup and Sam Slightam, but leading the Eagles is #21 Rory Vesel. This is Spaniol's go-to guy defensively, and he even contributes offensively with 10 goals and 13 assists in the regular season. Trojan's blue liner Zach Adams (4 goals, 11 assists) plays a very responsible defensive game in New Prague. Staying in the Missota Conference, defensemen Jared Docken is the team's second leading scorer with 18 points. The Falcon's defensive core is led by their senior Brandon Teske, who has 10 goals and 13 assists during the regular season. The Scarlets are led by the young pair of sophomore Billy Bigham and freshmen Scott Mckissick. The underclassmen have rarely shown their age this season for Mankato West.
The Goal Crease
There's nothing I like more than good goalies and Section 1A definitely has it's fair share. We'll start things off with the dark-horse, Faribault's Aaron Forgaard. The guy plays well in front of the net for the Falcons despite missing some substantial time this season for whatever reason, he's back now. He's added stability in the net for Faribault, which was their biggest need for the 10 games Forgaard didn't play. Because of him, he has this Faribault team running with upset written all over it. Nick Heimer for Rochester Lourdes has been nothing but great for the Eagles all season. He leads all section goalies in GAA (1.85) and Wins (21), and he is a very close second behind Chris Amsden (.916) of L-H/SP in SV% with a .914.
Griffin Wangen has solid in net for Albert Lea. The Tigers have lacked goaltending for much of the season, but Wangen has definitely stepped up. The Tigers have not lost since January 13th vs. Mankato West in Mankato where they lost 5-6. They are currently the hottest team in the section with 10 straight wins, and Wangen has played a big role in their streak. Mankato West's Jake Kaufman has been streaky this season, and he has shown flashes of greatness but also some flashes of disappointment. Kaufman will play as a major component for a Mankato West run at the State Tournament. If he's on, he could make this Mankato West team extremely dangerous. New Prague's Joe Morris will be a vital key for the Trojan's, and he has shown that he's capable of playing great during sections. With little of what I've seen of Isaak Tjaden, he's a good goaltender for Northfield, and I was a little disappointed not to see him get the start vs. West when West came to Northfield late this season.
Last edited by scarlethockey33 on Wed Feb 23, 2011 5:06 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Dog_Log17 wrote:Looks good, I will start making my picks in round 2. Round 1 should be a cake walk. But it is never a guarantee. Remember this ?
In the 1995 Section 1 Playoffs. New Ulm rightfully recieved the #1 seed in the section. They got a first round bye and then played Mankato West who they had beat twice already that year by a combined score of something like 28-3. They beat them less than 2 weeks before in Mankato 18-1. Then come the 2nd rd of sections and MW has one of their players contract menengites and pass away. Even though this was a very tough loss to all the team, it really seem to rally them. MW goes into New Ulm, who is ranked 3rd in the state at the time with a 20-3 record, and bet them 2-1.
To me, playing on that New Ulm team, that was one of the biggest chokes of all time.
That was the BIGGEST upset I have ever seen in my life. Remember if you want to get to state, you need to show up and skate. If not, something like this can happen to any team.
guy who died of meningitis is John Janavaras, there's an award given in the Mankato West hockey program every year named after him, can't quite remember the details of the award though
Dog_Log17 wrote:Looks good, I will start making my picks in round 2. Round 1 should be a cake walk. But it is never a guarantee. Remember this ?
In the 1995 Section 1 Playoffs. New Ulm rightfully recieved the #1 seed in the section. They got a first round bye and then played Mankato West who they had beat twice already that year by a combined score of something like 28-3. They beat them less than 2 weeks before in Mankato 18-1. Then come the 2nd rd of sections and MW has one of their players contract menengites and pass away. Even though this was a very tough loss to all the team, it really seem to rally them. MW goes into New Ulm, who is ranked 3rd in the state at the time with a 20-3 record, and bet them 2-1.
To me, playing on that New Ulm team, that was one of the biggest chokes of all time.
That was the BIGGEST upset I have ever seen in my life. Remember if you want to get to state, you need to show up and skate. If not, something like this can happen to any team.
Dog_Log17 wrote:Looks good, I will start making my picks in round 2. Round 1 should be a cake walk. But it is never a guarantee. Remember this ?
In the 1995 Section 1 Playoffs. New Ulm rightfully recieved the #1 seed in the section. They got a first round bye and then played Mankato West who they had beat twice already that year by a combined score of something like 28-3. They beat them less than 2 weeks before in Mankato 18-1. Then come the 2nd rd of sections and MW has one of their players contract menengites and pass away. Even though this was a very tough loss to all the team, it really seem to rally them. MW goes into New Ulm, who is ranked 3rd in the state at the time with a 20-3 record, and bet them 2-1.
To me, playing on that New Ulm team, that was one of the biggest chokes of all time.
That was the BIGGEST upset I have ever seen in my life. Remember if you want to get to state, you need to show up and skate. If not, something like this can happen to any team.
Dog that sounds like a cool stroy. Did West do anything different, change goalies or systems, anything?
Yes they did. That Scarlet team was coached by Mike Carroll who now coaches the Gustavus Women. They played the neutral zone trap and executed it to perfection. The result was one of the biggest upsets in Minnesota Boys High School Hockey History.
This is a MUST story for a coach to tell him team this time of year.
Thursday's Games:
9 Saint Peter LH Bulldogs at 1 Rochester Lourdes Eagles
5 Red Wing Wingers at 4 Mankato West Scarlets
7 Faribault Falcons at 2 Albert Lea Tigers
6 Northfield Raiders at 3 New Prague Trojans
Make your picks folks! The RW/MW and FBO/AL games really interest me here, it'll be fun to see how things turnout!
GopherPuck15 wrote:Thursday's Games:
9 Saint Peter LH Bulldogs at 1 Rochester Lourdes Eagles
5 Red Wing Wingers at 4 Mankato West Scarlets
7 Faribault Falcons at 2 Albert Lea Tigers
6 Northfield Raiders at 3 New Prague Trojans
Make your picks folks! The RW/MW and FBO/AL games really interest me here, it'll be fun to see how things turnout!
After that Little Falls game it just proves anything can happen in sections
Lourdes will beat L-H/SP but Amsden will keep the Bulldogs within a respectable range 6-0
I like Mankato West over Red Wing, just more firepower than Red Wing it'll be close but West at home is a big for the Scarlets 4-2 with the empty net!
Albert Lea is strong over at home, I think that really gives them the edge over Faribault. I imagine Forgaard to play well, keeping Carlson at bay will be vital for Faribault. They've got a good shot at it, but I like AL to move on here 3-1 AL
New Prague has had Northfield's number all season playing in the Missota Conference, I like New Prague in this one 3-0 over Northfield. Tjaden vs. Morris will be an interesting matchup but the Trojans scoring by committee has been really impressive this season
Rookie19 wrote:This section is over. Lourdes wins easily in championship by 3 or 4. Does not matter if it is Albert Lea or new prague.
Nice post, it suits you very well, "Rookie."
No way Lourdes walks through this section. In fact I have AL or West knocking them off.
LOL. So you're saying a team that tied to Mayo is going to knock off a 20+ win team. A team that almost beat St. Thomas Academy and tied to Totino Grace along with beating breck? HA
Rookie19 wrote:This section is over. Lourdes wins easily in championship by 3 or 4. Does not matter if it is Albert Lea or new prague.
Nice post, it suits you very well, "Rookie."
No way Lourdes walks through this section. In fact I have AL or West knocking them off.
LOL. So you're saying a team that tied to Mayo is going to knock off a 20+ win team. A team that almost beat St. Thomas Academy and tied to Totino Grace along with beating breck? HA
Some teams tend to step up their game when they are playing a top team, and play down to lower teams. I sometimes think that is what happens at times.
Dog_Log17 wrote:
Nice post, it suits you very well, "Rookie."
No way Lourdes walks through this section. In fact I have AL or West knocking them off.
LOL. So you're saying a team that tied to Mayo is going to knock off a 20+ win team. A team that almost beat St. Thomas Academy and tied to Totino Grace along with beating breck? HA
Some teams tend to step up their game when they are playing a top team, and play down to lower teams. I don't I sometimes think that is what happens at times.
Maybe, but the only team I see knocking off Lourdes in the section is Albert Lea. Watch out for Red Wing too, they could be a dark horse in this section.
GopherPuck15 wrote:Thursday's Games:
9 Saint Peter LH Bulldogs at 1 Rochester Lourdes Eagles
5 Red Wing Wingers at 4 Mankato West Scarlets
7 Faribault Falcons at 2 Albert Lea Tigers
6 Northfield Raiders at 3 New Prague Trojans
Make your picks folks! The RW/MW and FBO/AL games really interest me here, it'll be fun to see how things turnout!
Lourdes didn't almost beat STA, the game was only close because the Cadets goaltending was awful, 5 goals on 11 shots through 2 periods, and the stupid penalties STA commited. If they play again it will be running time, STA won't play that way again.
Outside of STA class A hockey is pretty weak this year. Lourdes put together a nice season but they wouldn't beat anyone in the top 20. Ironic that they gripe and complain about having to play Mankato, Albert Lea, Austin, Faribault, etc. in bantams then when they get to Lourdes they want to play those teams instead of Lakeville, Edina, Wayzata, etc.
