Is St. Thomas Academy the best team in the State?

[MNHockeyFan]

You could certainly make a case that they are No. 1 overall. So far they have posted wins over AA powers Hill-Murray, Edina, and this evening Benilde-St. Margaret's. They have an overall record of 11-1-1, with their only blemishes being an early season 3-1 loss to Minnetonka and a 3-3 (official) overtime tie against Hill-Murray in the Schwan Cup Gold Division final.

Are they the State's real No. 1 overall, as of today?

And, given all of their success this season, do you suppose they are now wishing they had declared their intent to opt up to Class AA a year earlier that they finally did?

[Mite-dad]

Yeah, barring a 1980 USA over USSR type upset, the 1A tourney will be to decide 2nd place. Pretty sad.

[HockeyGuy952]

Once again they have a great team this year and the year they're having shows everyone that they don't just deserve to be in 2AA they NEED to be in 2AA

[BodyShots]

We will never know, because when it comes time to prove it, they will be playing in the JV tournament. Their choice !!!!!!!

[BlueLineSpecial]

I think they probably are, but unfortunately they won't get a chance to prove it when it matters. It'll all be speculation come end of season. But right now it'd be hard to argue against

[ghshockeyfan]

KRACH thinks they are as of this AM:
http://www.bgoski.com/b/KRACH_OA_20130111.htm
http://www.bgoski.com/b/KRACH_OA.htm

[Pioneerprideguy]

STA is the class of high school hockey in MN right now. They have speed, depth, skill, and solid goaltending. No major flaws. They have played & beat the best so far (with the exception of Tonka). They will toy with Class A teams in the Tourney (feel sorry for their 1st round-unseeded team....ouch) and will put another trophy in their trophy case. They will do so in a half empty arena in March.

It will be interesting to see which section they get placed in next year. It will also be interesting to see what happens down the road should they fail to make the Tourney, say for a couple years in a row. Will the players continue to come?

But for now, ya gotta give them their due. They are very good and have made the choice to opt up next year. Stomach this year then see what happens down the road.

[barry_mcconnell]

KRACH thinks they are as of this AM:
http://www.bgoski.com/b/KRACH_OA_20130111.htm
http://www.bgoski.com/b/KRACH_OA.htm

Tartan is #9 overall? Really?

[TTpuckster]

It'll be a great finish when EGF beats them in the A championship game:

[slyer]

princeton #13 ahead of blaine,bville,rapids they may have a good team but there is no way they could play with these teams

[ghshockeyfan]

I think we need a few more games to sort out exactly where teams like Tartan, Princeton, etc. are at from a computer ranking standpoint.

Some of these teams are winning all their games except those against the very top teams in the state.

The Tartan example is easiest to see this - they lost to HM & STA and won the rest. Not certain how highly ranked the next team is that they played and beat.

There was a similar discussion here:
http://www.ushsho.com/forums/viewtopic. ... ht=#610958

Back to the topic of this post - it seems many agree STA is #1 overall or at least deserving of consideration...

[bemused]

Yes. They dismantled the Knights..too bad they're two best D are in Ann Arbor

[WarmUpTheBus]

The Shattuck website shows St Thomas at Shattuck on Wed 1/16. Is this correct?
Don't see it on Hockey Hub.

[MNHockeyFan]

The Shattuck website shows St Thomas at Shattuck on Wed 1/16. Is this correct?
Don't see it on Hockey Hub.

SSM has it on their schedule, and it looks like the game will be streamed live:

http://ssmhockey.org/boys-prep-2012-13/

[EliteHockeyMind]

You could certainly make a case that they are No. 1 overall. So far they have posted wins over AA powers Hill-Murray, Edina, and this evening Benilde-St. Margaret's. They have an overall record of 11-1-1, with their only blemishes being an early season 3-1 loss to Minnetonka and a 3-3 (official) overtime tie against Hill-Murray in the Schwan Cup Gold Division final.

Are they the State's real No. 1 overall, as of today?

And, given all of their success this season, do you suppose they are now wishing they had declared their intent to opt up to Class AA a year earlier that they finally did?

I know very well that majority of the St. Thomas Academy fans & community have wanted the team to move up since they won in 2008. The fact is their headmaster and athletic director have held them back from moving up, mentioning that they are an academic institution first, athletics not being the priority. If they could have moved up any earlier, I believe they would have. It is clearly difficult for a team to win back to back state championships and celebrate, when they have asked to move up and their own headmaster won't approve.

Now they are going to 3peat this year, first time ever done in class A or AA, and feel guilty celebrating the season because everyone knows which class they should be in.

Too bad their headmaster didn't approve last year, because they could have opted to move to 2A in time for this year. But they were not able to opt up for this year, because you only have the option every 2 years.

So it looks like Hermantown will have to wait 1 more year to have the chance become something other than the "Public School 1A Champs."

[thestickler07]

We'll never know, the Vannelli's will just have to settle for executing New Ulm in the 1st round again instead of squaring off with one of the big boys.

Thankfully we can all start calling them STAA next year.

[defense]

You could certainly make a case that they are No. 1 overall. So far they have posted wins over AA powers Hill-Murray, Edina, and this evening Benilde-St. Margaret's. They have an overall record of 11-1-1, with their only blemishes being an early season 3-1 loss to Minnetonka and a 3-3 (official) overtime tie against Hill-Murray in the Schwan Cup Gold Division final.

Are they the State's real No. 1 overall, as of today?

And, given all of their success this season, do you suppose they are now wishing they had declared their intent to opt up to Class AA a year earlier that they finally did?

untill it is proven otherwise I think they are making one helluva case to be the best team in the state.
And, quite honestly I couldn't care less which division they play in.

[minnscout]

They are one of five teams that could we best in state. Its only Jan. You want to be playing best in frb and march.

[rockcrusher]

After spotting STA 3 goals on their first 7 shots, Duluth Marshall skated to a 1-1 tie with the Cadets for the next 2 1/2 periods.

[Just Checking]

After spotting STA 3 goals on their first 7 shots, Duluth Marshall skated to a 1-1 tie with the Cadets for the next 2 1/2 periods.

Why did they spot STA 3 goals?

[thestickler07]

After spotting STA 3 goals on their first 7 shots, Duluth Marshall skated to a 1-1 tie with the Cadets for the next 2 1/2 periods.

That was a pretty eloquent way of saying they got their a**es beat.

[7A22A]

After spotting STA 3 goals on their first 7 shots, Duluth Marshall skated to a 1-1 tie with the Cadets for the next 2 1/2 periods.

That was a pretty eloquent way of saying they got their a**es beat.

Sounds like the Alabama / Notre Dame football game.

[TTpuckster]

After spotting STA 3 goals on their first 7 shots, Duluth Marshall skated to a 1-1 tie with the Cadets for the next 2 1/2 periods.

That was a pretty eloquent way of saying they got their a**es beat.

Sounds like the Alabama / Notre Dame football game.

True, but the Al -ND game was FOR the championship.
It might be better to wait for a statement like that.

[Mite-dad]

You could certainly make a case that they are No. 1 overall. So far they have posted wins over AA powers Hill-Murray, Edina, and this evening Benilde-St. Margaret's. They have an overall record of 11-1-1, with their only blemishes being an early season 3-1 loss to Minnetonka and a 3-3 (official) overtime tie against Hill-Murray in the Schwan Cup Gold Division final.

Are they the State's real No. 1 overall, as of today?

And, given all of their success this season, do you suppose they are now wishing they had declared their intent to opt up to Class AA a year earlier that they finally did?

I know very well that majority of the St. Thomas Academy fans & community have wanted the team to move up since they won in 2008. The fact is their headmaster and athletic director have held them back from moving up, mentioning that they are an academic institution first, athletics not being the priority. If they could have moved up any earlier, I believe they would have. It is clearly difficult for a team to win back to back state championships and celebrate, when they have asked to move up and their own headmaster won't approve.

Now they are going to 3peat this year, first time ever done in class A or AA, and feel guilty celebrating the season because everyone knows which class they should be in.

Too bad their headmaster didn't approve last year, because they could have opted to move to 2A in time for this year. But they were not able to opt up for this year, because you only have the option every 2 years.

So it looks like Hermantown will have to wait 1 more year to have the chance become something other than the "Public School 1A Champs."

It's curious to me that playing hockey at the AA level would mean they are less of an academic institiution.?????

[elliott70]

You could certainly make a case that they are No. 1 overall. So far they have posted wins over AA powers Hill-Murray, Edina, and this evening Benilde-St. Margaret's. They have an overall record of 11-1-1, with their only blemishes being an early season 3-1 loss to Minnetonka and a 3-3 (official) overtime tie against Hill-Murray in the Schwan Cup Gold Division final.

Are they the State's real No. 1 overall, as of today?

And, given all of their success this season, do you suppose they are now wishing they had declared their intent to opt up to Class AA a year earlier that they finally did?

I know very well that majority of the St. Thomas Academy fans & community have wanted the team to move up since they won in 2008. The fact is their headmaster and athletic director have held them back from moving up, mentioning that they are an academic institution first, athletics not being the priority. If they could have moved up any earlier, I believe they would have. It is clearly difficult for a team to win back to back state championships and celebrate, when they have asked to move up and their own headmaster won't approve.

Now they are going to 3peat this year, first time ever done in class A or AA, and feel guilty celebrating the season because everyone knows which class they should be in.

Too bad their headmaster didn't approve last year, because they could have opted to move to 2A in time for this year. But they were not able to opt up for this year, because you only have the option every 2 years.

So it looks like Hermantown will have to wait 1 more year to have the chance become something other than the "Public School 1A Champs."