AA Quarterfinal: Eastview vs. #1 Hill-Murray

Post by **karl(east)** » Sat Mar 02, 2013 5:08 pm

EASTVIEW VS. #1 HILL-MURRAY
6:00 Thursday
-A Tournament heavyweight faces off against an insurgent suburban school making just its second trip to State to kick off the AA primetime session. This is the first ever meeting between these two teams.

Eastview (18-9-1, #20, 3-seed in 3AA)
State appearances: 2 (first since 2001)
Key section win: 4-1 over #4 Eagan
-The Lightning pulled off a huge upset against Eagan in the 3AA final and looked good in doing so, putting together a complete team effort in front of goaltender Zach Driscoll (30), who is a legitimate budding star. Ryan McNamara (8) is their leading scorer, and Jake McGlocklin (20) has buried some big goals as well, but this squad lacks any real obvious standout skaters. Instead, they will look to rely on a balanced, defensive approach to limit opponents’ scoring chances and give Driscoll every opportunity to steal some games. The Lighting seem to have the depth necessary to hang around with the State’s best teams, too. The road ahead is not an easy one, but if they can beat Eagan, they can certainly beat a fairly similar Hill team.

Hill-Murray (25-2-1, #1, 1-seed in 4AA)
State appearances: 26 (2 in a row)
Championships: 3 (1983, 1991, 2008)
Key section win: 1-0 over #17 White Bear Lake
-The Pioneers had the strongest regular season of any team, though they are not as convincing a favorite as other recent top seeds in the Tournament. As always, coach Bill Lechner’s squad has excellent depth; Zach LaValle (21) and Mitchel Slattery (28) lead a strong top line, while Wille Brown (17) anchors the second line, which includes 8th-grader Joey Anderson (8). The third line is effective, and they are also deep on defense, though they lack the real standouts they’ve had on some of their best recent teams. Goaltender John Dugas (1) has had to bail them out at times, and the Pioneers’ coaching staff is good at making sure they are rarely outmanned, even if that comes at the expense of some offense. They are the most complete team in the state, but they will still have to get through three tough games to claim the crown.

Ogie · Post by **Ogie** » Sat Mar 02, 2013 5:11 pm

I'll go with the hot goalie.

allstatebenders · Post by **allstatebenders** » Sat Mar 02, 2013 5:12 pm

Eastview wins 2-0. Hill Murray fans should be very, very scared of this young goaltender. Eastview has nothing to lose.

Gems · Post by **Gems** » Sat Mar 02, 2013 10:08 pm

Pioneers win and move on to Friday night at the X...

Post by **east hockey** » Sat Mar 02, 2013 10:10 pm

Pioneer$ 3-1.

Lee

PuckU126 · Post by **PuckU126** » Sat Mar 02, 2013 10:27 pm

east hockey wrote:Pioneer$

Oh, Lee.

Post by **east hockey** » Sat Mar 02, 2013 10:32 pm

PuckU126 wrote:
east hockey wrote:Pioneer$
Oh, Lee.

Maybe I should change my name to ea$t hockey, huh?

Lee

PuckU126 · Post by **PuckU126** » Sat Mar 02, 2013 10:40 pm

east hockey wrote:
PuckU126 wrote:
east hockey wrote:Pioneer$
Oh, Lee.

Maybe I should change my name to ea$t hockey, huh?

Lee

I invite you to view Ea$t's quarterfinal thread.

Pioneerprideguy · Post by **Pioneerprideguy** » Sat Mar 02, 2013 11:25 pm

east hockey wrote:Pioneer$ 3-1.

Lee

Pot meet kettle.

Post by **east hockey** » Sat Mar 02, 2013 11:42 pm

Pioneerprideguy wrote:
east hockey wrote:Pioneer$ 3-1.

Lee
Pot meet kettle.

Nice to meet you, kettle. Altho we only burn singles for heat. Not Jackson's.

Lee

UntouchableFlow · Post by **UntouchableFlow** » Sun Mar 03, 2013 10:34 am

New stage for the Eastview boys and coaching staff. Hill's coaching staff and players have far more experience and will be far more prepared. Especially being a night session game, Hill will take this one. Also, don't discount Dugas because Driscoll has been hot lately, Dugas is just as capable of stealing a game as Driscoll, although I don't think the Pioneers will require him to do so.

Pioneers-4

Lightning-1

joris016 · Post by **joris016** » Sun Mar 03, 2013 10:48 am

Pioneers 3-0

almostashappy · Post by **almostashappy** » Sun Mar 03, 2013 11:08 am

UntouchableFlow wrote:New stage for the Eastview boys and coaching staff. Hill's coaching staff and players have far more experience and will be far more prepared.

There is always the chance that the Eastview kids will take a "just happy to be here" attitude into the game, but I doubt it.

As for gameplans....if EV doesn't have HM game film I'm sure that there are more than a few programs that'd be happy to share.

Even if they don't...as somebody else mentioned, HM style of play isn't all that different than Eagan's. And if you're riding a really hot goalie, don't have to be all that elaborate...or do much more than WBL did on Friday.

Todd Park · Post by **Todd Park** » Sun Mar 03, 2013 11:53 am

EV bench is deeper than ppl give them credit for look at the Eagan box score of the producers. Hill should not take these boys lightly...doubtful they will be intimidated. Their parents drive nice cars too.

East Side Pioneer Guy · Sun Mar 03, 2013 12:15 pm

Todd Park wrote:EV bench is deeper than ppl give them credit for look at the Eagan box score of the producers. Hill should not take these boys lightly...doubtful they will be intimidated. Their parents drive nice cars too.

So we won't hear the "Daddy's money"? Oh that's right, that was directed at Edina when they were playing the poor staring children from MINNETONKA, which tells you how clueless these people are.

LCHockey · Post by **LCHockey** » Sun Mar 03, 2013 1:10 pm

I have seen both of these teams play, on more than one occasion for the Pioneers. Hill is the clear favor. As was Eagan. We know how big of a difference one player can make, especially at the goalie position like Eastview has.

Hill has it all, coaching, experience, depth and pure talent. Many people viewed EV as terrible without Driscoll. I will leave you with this one note on the team that may prove they have a bit more depth than many people believe.

Tuesday, December 4th. Wayzata 3 Eastview 1. (Per hub)

Driscoll did NOT play. If he is on his game, it could only take 1.

thorhockey · Post by **thorhockey** » Sun Mar 03, 2013 1:26 pm

Hill - 4
EV - 3 OT

Pioneerprideguy · Post by **Pioneerprideguy** » Sun Mar 03, 2013 1:35 pm

thorhockey wrote:Hill - 4
EV - 3 OT

Just for that I will leave 2 tickets at will call for Thurs night.

thorhockey · Post by **thorhockey** » Sun Mar 03, 2013 1:47 pm

UMM Can ya make em for Friday nite instead? It'll be a much better game against Wayzata

WarmUpTheBus · Post by **WarmUpTheBus** » Sun Mar 03, 2013 2:14 pm

Slattery was injured late in the WBL game. Anyone know his status?

UntouchableFlow · Post by **UntouchableFlow** » Sun Mar 03, 2013 2:44 pm

WarmUpTheBus wrote:Slattery was injured late in the WBL game. Anyone know his status?

According to his Twitter account it was something to do with his shoulder, but he said that he'll be able to play this week.

1_2_Know · Post by **1_2_Know** » Sun Mar 03, 2013 3:16 pm

One thing to note. Even though Eastview hasn't been to the big stage in hockey, a LOT of the kids on this team played on the State champ Lacrosse and Soccer team in the last year. I don't think the bright lights will affect them.

Nuts&Bolts · Post by **Nuts&Bolts** » Sun Mar 03, 2013 3:24 pm

Granted it was early December but if Eagan had Driscoll playing in nets there is no way Eagan loses 3-2 in OT to Hill Murray. I'll take the small upset of EV over HM by a score of 2-1.

almostashappy · Post by **almostashappy** » Sun Mar 03, 2013 3:41 pm

1_2_Know wrote:One thing to note. Even though Eastview hasn't been to the big stage in hockey, a LOT of the kids on this team played on the State champ Lacrosse and Soccer team in the last year. I don't think the bright lights will affect them.

Lacrosse championship was held at Chanhassen High School, in front of a few thousand fans. And check out this picture of Eastview's soccer team celebrating with their championship trophy.

http://www.mnsoccerhub.com/news_article ... ferrer_id=

The bright lights might not catch their notice, but stepping out onto the ice and seeing 18,000 filled seats certainly will.

Pioneerprideguy · Post by **Pioneerprideguy** » Sun Mar 03, 2013 5:08 pm

UntouchableFlow wrote:
WarmUpTheBus wrote:Slattery was injured late in the WBL game. Anyone know his status?
According to his Twitter account it was something to do with his shoulder, but he said that he'll be able to play this week.

The bigger question is will he be able to pass the puck?

HighSchoolHockeyForums.com

AA Quarterfinal: Eastview vs. #1 Hill-Murray

Who wins?

AA Quarterfinal: Eastview vs. #1 Hill-Murray