STA @ HM

[stpaul]

St. Thomas Academy (3-0-1) vs. Hill-Murray (3-0) at Aldrich tonight. STA was very impressive beating Minnetonka 4-1 on Tuesday. Hill-Murray beat Benilde-St. M. 7-3 on Saturday. STA-HM split 1-1-1 last year. Both teams are auditioning goaltenders.

[Tenoverpar]

STA makes a AA statement..."we're here... 5-3 STA"

[Sats81]

Hill 3-2

[almostashappy]

STA makes a AA statement..."we're here... 5-3 STA"

Not much of a "we're here" moment when STAA has regularly played HM and several other AA schools over the years.

Sections is the time to make declarative statements...on both sides of center ice.

[elliott70]

8 - 1 Hill

[elliott70]

Not what I think will happen but what I would like to see happen.

[hshockeyfan8]

Hill 5-2

[EliteHockeyMind]

Everybody can dog private schools, but when these two teams play eachother it is some of the best hockey to watch in the state. Haven't seen either team play, so my prediction is solely based on what I have heard in the threads, and seen on paper.

HM wins 4 - 3.

[HShockeywatcher]

STA makes a AA statement..."we're here... 5-3 STA"

Not much of a "we're here" moment when STAA has regularly played HM and several other AA schools over the years.

Sections is the time to make declarative statements...on both sides of center ice.

You clearly don't know much about the history between these two teams. I don't know that STA has swept Hill in the last 15 years, or maybe even ever, even in some of the best years of the program. Winning, in any fashion, would make a statement.

[thestickler07]

STAA was misspelled in OP.

[stpaul]

HM is 66-16-1 all time vs. STA. Even during the last 8 years when STA won 5 State A titles - HM is 11-5-1.

Nevertheless should be an even match tonight.

On my way to Aldrich...

[green4]

any info on this game?
Hockey hub has it STA-2 Hm-1 After 2

[karl(east)]

Hill just tied it early in the 3rd.

[sachishi4]

HM wins on a Joey Anderson goal with 53 ticks left

[sachishi4]

Hill 3-2

we have a winner

[East Side Pioneer Guy]

HM is 66-16-1 all time vs. STA. Even during the last 8 years when STA won 5 State A titles - HM is 11-5-1.

Nevertheless should be an even match tonight.

On my way to Aldrich...

They're our b*****s.

[stpaul]

Fun hockey game at Aldrich tonight. Very well matched teams. HM's Slattery & Anderson and STA's Novak & Versich are the real deal. HM has a little more depth, size and strength. They hit and wore STA down a bit in the 3rd. In addition to Slattery and Anderson, Dusty Krueger scored for HM. He is a very strong and tough kid. He's been the running back on the football team. STA could easily have won. They hit 2 pipes - one by Novak late when it was 2-2. Anderson's winner for HM was a beauty. He got a takeaway at the blue line, skated in and put it in past Hallett with 53 seconds left. Coach Vannelli threw his usual tantrum. Sam Illgen continues to be a nice surprise in goal for HM. STA only scored on the power play, one of which was on a 5 on 3. He made 29 stops and was very solid.

[bemused]

Fun hockey game at Aldrich tonight. Very well matched teams. HM's Slattery & Anderson and STA's Novak & Versich are the real deal. HM has a little more depth, size and strength. They hit and wore STA down a bit in the 3rd. STA could easily have won. They hit 2 pipes - one by Novak late when it was 2-2. Anderson's winner was a beauty. He got a takeaway at the blue line, skated in and put it in past Hallett with 53 seconds left. Coach Vannelli threw his usual tantrum. Sam Illgen continues to be a nice surprise in goal for HM.

Reasonable take on the game except...
"The takeaway" was a tape to tape pass from an STA
D-man. He did make a nice move on the breakaway

[Nuts&Bolts]

Drove to Maplewood for the game and it was well worth my monetary donation. First some disclaimers. No there was not mass before the game. No this is not my confession. No the Pope didn't drop the puck. No I don't know the zip code in Maplewood or where any of the players live. No none of these smart a$$ comments were lifted from the BSM vs. Holy Family string though that appeared to be another fun game between privates. And no I didn't have a kid playing but did sit on the STAA side since it was more open. Was a bit surprised not to see a bigger crowd but enjoyed old Aldrich arena, the HM band, and the student section with the appropriately held sign reading "God Given".

STAA had the chances and lead most of the way. I thought they came out a bit flat in the 3rd period leading 2-1. HM fans will complain about the penalties they received. I thought the calls were good with the exception of a very weak cross-check call with 20 seconds left in the game which gave STAA a 6 on 4. STAA fans will gripe about the second HM goal which was in fact about 12 inches off sides (swear to.... never mind). The ref flat out missed the call being close to the offending player that had slid both feet over the line while looking across the ice only to the player carrying the puck. My angle was divine. Slatterly is fun to watch as he's so calm with the puck and creates opportunities for himself and teammates. As a senior he has to be one of the favorites for Mr. Hockey. Big and powerful but slows things down and is so controlled. STAA had maybe 2 seniors that played at all but is loaded with a junior class. Probably 3 guys that could be Mr. Hockey finalists next year (not sure if this has ever happened) but Novack wins it hands down if he comes back for his senior year. The kid is unbelievable with the puck and has great speed and power.

Both teams are very good and will only get better. Haven't looked at the final shots but it seemed pretty close with maybe STAA having a small advantage. Both tenders played well. It's still early so I look forward to the conference rematch at STA. STAAs power play is very good and they had chances with a pipe in the 2nd and a crossbar by Novack in the 3rd with 4 minutes left which would have put them up 3-2 instead of ending up on the losing end with a bad defensive turnover with a minute left in the game. There's promise for STAA per the faithful playing Karl's #1 rated team to a 3-2 score missing 3 of there top 5 D because of injury or illness. Honestly not sure if HM had any notable absences but I couldn't find anything obvious looking at the roster. HM maybe has a bit more depth and more experience from a larger group of seniors. All in a good and clean game by two well coached and disciplined teams.

[HShockeywatcher]

Fun hockey game at Aldrich tonight. Very well matched teams. HM's Slattery & Anderson and STA's Novak & Versich are the real deal. HM has a little more depth, size and strength. They hit and wore STA down a bit in the 3rd. In addition to Slattery and Anderson, Dusty Krueger scored for HM. He is a very strong and tough kid. He's been the running back on the football team. STA could easily have won. They hit 2 pipes - one by Novak late when it was 2-2. Anderson's winner for HM was a beauty. He got a takeaway at the blue line, skated in and put it in past Hallett with 53 seconds left. Coach Vannelli threw his usual tantrum. Sam Illgen continues to be a nice surprise in goal for HM. STA only scored on the power play, one of which was on a 5 on 3. He made 29 stops and was very solid.

Interesting take.

The one time I saw Vannelli upset was when a HM player shot the puck in the net a while after the whistle, which to my understanding is supposed to be a penalty. Silly rule imo, but rule's are rules.
It likely can be additionally upsetting when reffing don't talk to you. Every game I've been to this season refs have gone and talked to the coaches about calls multiple times a game, but they were like magnets tonight.

I was quite disappointed in the reffing overall. But that's just coming from a guy who'd prefer that the serious penalties be called and offsides be called consistently all night.

It was a really good game. Two very evening matched teams I'm definitely not one who blames the kicker who missed the last second field goal for "losing the game" when there was a whole rest of the game for you to score. It isn't what lost the game, but the officiating the third period was quite bad.

Looking forward to the rematch.

[Nuts&Bolts]

Good additional points. I neglected to mention the puck in the net well after the whistle was blown. Back in the day that may have lead to something more physical but the STAA coaches did question the refs on the action. There's no way one of them didn't see what happened but the few times I've seen a player dump the puck in the net after the whistle I've never seen a penalty called. Vannelli also seemed upset about the game winner contending the linesman had raised his hand for offsides. I honestly didn't see if he did or didn't but a disappointing way for STA to lose. Will make the re-match that much better.

[slacsap]

There's no possible way the game winner could have been offside. Anderson picked off a cross ice pass (horrible decision by the STA defenseman) and went in alone to score. Now, the tying goal was another matter. It certainly looked like Kruger was offside on the right wing as Slattery entered the zone on the left side. The linesman was in perfect position, but was probably focusing on Slattery and the puck rather Kruger. All in all, an excellent game that was pretty well officiated, except for the last penalty that was called with15 seconds left

[HShockeywatcher]

There's no possible way the game winner could have been offside. Anderson picked off a cross ice pass (horrible decision by the STA defenseman) and went in alone to score. Now, the tying goal was another matter. It certainly looked like Kruger was offside on the right wing as Slattery entered the zone on the left side. The linesman was in perfect position, but was probably focusing on Slattery and the puck rather Kruger. All in all, an excellent game that was pretty well officiated, except for the last penalty that was called with15 seconds left

I'll admit I have a small sample size, but I have not been impressed with officiating this season overall, or this game, with reference to safety of the players. Lots of head shots, late hits and boarding that are being allowed.
Then I saw a hard, clean hit called, likely to send some sort of a message to the teams. I know I'm not on the popular side of this issue whenever it's discussed, but the rules should be called for the safety of the players.

I wasn't watching the line on the last goal, but the second one was clearly offsides. In a close game where they'd been calling offsides very tight all night, it is unfortunate that wasn't called.

How often is putting the puck in the net after the whistle called a penalty? It's not something I see almost ever, but it is supposed to be a penalty.

Either way, none of the above issues lost the game; the team that scored more goals in the pretty close game ended up winning, but supporting a team who has multiple injured from bad hits already this season you are reminded that the safety of teenagers is more important than all else.

[Tenoverpar]

"Dusty Krueger scored for HM"

Always great to see a Stillwater kid doing well at Hill Murray..

[Nuts&Bolts]

I'm not clear if Watcher is referring solely to last night or his overall sample size of games seen this year but the penalties last night seemed right. I didn't see a penalty called on a clean hard hit last night. There maybe could have been a hook called on STAA in the 3rd and probably the most dangerous hit seemed a bit from behind and could have lead to a major against HM. Overall it was the cleanest game I've seen all year. Nothing over the top with reckless play, cheap running and head shots or one team solely trying to intimidate a higher skilled team.

Not to split hairs with Slacsap but HMs tying goal that we've agreed was offsides was by the player in the left wing position and the call was missed by one of the referees and not the linesman. I remember the orange sleeves vividly (and no I'm not the parent of or related to the linesman). As for the game winner by Anderson on the picked pass, this was a no call that involved the linesman and IF it was offsides it happened just a couple of seconds before the cross ice D to D attempt that was intercepted so it was clearly part of the overall play. It is what it is. Overall an entertaining game. On to tonight and maybe Blaine vs EGF!