Class A Rankings 1-19-2014

[TTpuckster]

What the heck has happened to Breck?

Not as good as their record or rankings....

They looked pretty good when I saw them play EGF earlier this season. Haven't seen them since. Have they lost players to illness or injury?

I don't think it is unusual for teams to go through slumps during the season. Especially in High School.

As we all know, the perfect scenario is to peak at the end of the season.

[elliott70]

Not as good as their record or rankings....

They looked pretty good when I saw them play EGF earlier this season. Haven't seen them since. Have they lost players to illness or injury?

I don't think it is unusual for teams to go through slumps during the season. Especially in High School.

As we all know, the perfect scenario is to peak at the end of the season.

Injuries, illness, teenagers......

[Section 3A HockeyScout]

Another way to look at Class A http://minnesotahockeymag.com/2014/01/2 ... ten-12114/

MHM Class A Top Ten 1/21/14
By Tim Kolehmainen

Updated: January 21, 2014

In more ways than one, Duluth Marshall threw a significant monkey wrench into this week’s Class 1A rankings. The Hilltoppers did something no other Class 1A team had been able to do this year — beat previously No. 1-ranked Breck — but then dropped their next game to Roseville. It was Marshall’s sixth loss on the year, albeit several of them came when the team was not at full strength.

The big questions to come out of the week revolved around the Hilltoppers. How high to rank them? And how far to knock Breck?

The answers follow.

Class A rankings


1. Hermantown (13-2-0)

Last week: vs. Bemidji (6-2 W)

This week: vs. Proctor (1/21), vs. White Bear Lake (1/24), at New Prague (1/25)

The four-time Class 1A runners up jump over two teams to get to the top of the rankings for the first time this season. Hermantown won its only game of the week, beating a tough Class 2A team (Bemidji) by a 6-2 margin with six different goal scorers and 24 saves from goaltender Adam Smith (5-2-0, 3.09, .882). That’s the Hawks’ depth on display and a big reason they vault to the front. Coach Bruce Plante’s team has only lost to a pair of Class 2A powers (6-1 to Wayzata on opening night and 4-1 to Eagan in the final of the South St. Paul Premier tournament) and have beaten all nine Class 1A teams they’ve faced by a combined 64-14 score. Ten different players have scored at least three goals, led by Nate Pionk (13-15-28) and 15 have at least five points, paced by Ryan Kero (12-16-28) and Pionk.



2. East Grand Forks (13-2-1)

Last week: at Roseau (8-3 W), at Bemidji (postponed), at Lake of the Woods (4-0 W)

This week: at Thief River Falls (1/21), vs. Grand Forks Red River (1/23), vs. Moorhead (1/25)

Class 1A’s best defensive team certainly had a strong case to move up into the No. 1 slot, but remained at No. 2 for now. The Green Wave actually allowed a handful of goals against Class 2A Roseau, but still easily beat the Rams by a larger margin than rival Warroad (8-3 vs. 6-4). It was just the second time the Green Wave have allowed more than two goals all season, as they average just 1.38 goals against. Junior Josh Weber (9-1-1, 1.48. ,907) seems to have taken hold of the starting job in goal, as he’s started the past six games. Coach Tyler Palmiscno is happy to have Dixon Bowen (6-2-8) back from injury, as well, as he’s scored five goals in the last three games. If the Green Wave’s offense begins to surge, they’ll be tough to beat.



3. Warroad (14-2-1)

Last week: at Thief River Falls (postponed), vs. Moorhead (4-3 W)

This week: at Crookston (1/21), at Duluth Marshall (1/24), at Duluth Denfeld (1/25)

Due to more weather cancellations, Warroad had just one game last week but it was a big victory, 4-3 over Class 2A Moorhead. The top line of Kobe Roth (32-31-63), Jared Bethune (24-39-63) and Kyle Sylvester (22-36-58) again led the charge as it has all season, scoring three times and adding nine total points. Roth scored the game-winner from Bethune and Sylvester midway through the third period and goaltender Adam Burke (14-2-1, 1.75, .911) had 29 saves to make the lead stand up. Hard-hitting defenseman Blayke Nelson (3-11-14) got into the fun, as well, scoring a goal and adding two assists. The Warriors have a big trip to Duluth coming this weekend.



4. Breck (11-4-1)

Last week: vs. St. Cloud Cathedral (6-1 W), vs. Duluth Marshall (3-2 L), vs. Minneapolis (10-2 W)

This week: vs. Totino-Grace (1/21), vs. Blake (1/23), vs. St. Thomas Academy (1/25)

The Mustangs’ recent trend of losing one, winning one finally caught up to them in the rankings this week with a 3-2 defeat to Duluth Marshall. Over its past eight games, Breck is 4-4-0 and has neither a winning nor losing streak greater than one game. With the other “big three” winning convincingly last week, coach Les Larson’s club falls all the way to No. 4 in the rankings, just ahead of the team it lost to. Sandwiched on either side of the loss to Marshall, though, were big wins over St. Cloud Cathedral and Minneapolis by a combined 16-3 score, showing Breck’s power. Mark Sharp (13-11-24) had three goals and three assists in the two games and leads the team in goals. Breck has a big week coming up with games against Class 1A rivals Totino-Grace and Blake and a showdown with former rival St. Thomas Academy.



5. Duluth Marshall (10-6-1)

Last week: at Breck (3-2 W), at Roseville (3-2 L)

This week: vs. Hibbing/Chisholm (1/21), vs. Warroad (1/24), vs. Thief River Falls (1/25)

So, the question is whether Duluth Marshall is the potential state championship contender that just beat Breck or the middling team that has lost to St. Cloud Apollo and struggled over the holidays in its own tournament. The answer? Both. The Hilltoppers are certainly a state title caliber team, but one that had been searching for consistency in the wake of injuries. Now with the team mostly healthy, coach Brendan Flaherty is looking to plug all the pieces in the right places. It’s a big week coming for the Hilltoppers, who will be tested by Hibbing/Chisholm and visits from two of the northwest’s best in Warroad and Thief River Falls. They’ll need an effort like the second period at Breck, when Lane Eliason (6-6-12), Anthony Miller (6-4-10) and leading scorer Luke Pavelich (13-12-25) all scored to stake them to a 3-0 lead.



6. New Prague (12-2-2)

Last week: at Red Wing (10-1 W), vs. Northfield (6-3 W)

This week: at Albert Lea (1/21), vs. Chanhassen (1/24), vs. Hermantown (1/25)

Two more games, two more victories for a surging New Prague team last week. The Trojans have now won eight straight games since a 2-1 loss to Eagan in the semifinals of the South St. Paul Premier tournament. But last week, coach Chris Lonke’s team powered up its offense. The 10-spot against Red Wing on Tuesday was the team’s highest output of the season and its 16 goals was the most over a two-game span. Most encouraging, the goals came from multiple sources. Lucas Binger (7-4-11), Alex Gregor (13-11-24) and Augie Isaacson (14-20-34) scored two goals each against Northfield and Gregor and Seth Kriha (7-24-31) followed with a pair of goals against the Wingers. In all, eight different Trojans scored in the two games.



7. Mankato West (14-2-0)

Last week: vs. Northfield (8-2 W)

This week: at Mankato East (1/21), at Austin (1/23), vs. Owatonna (1/25)

Northfield had a week to forget, as the Raiders fell big to both No. 6 New Prague and in an 8-2 loss at No. 7 Mankato West last Saturday. The Scarlets finally got their offense on track as Nick Campbell (15-15-30), Zach Erickson (5-2-7) and Max Mettler (9-20-29) each had two goals while leading scorer Derek Frentz (15-26-41) added three assists. It was the first time since the holidays that the Scarlets had exploded for a big offensive night. In the previous four games, they’d had just nine goals and went 2-2-0.



8. Luverne (17-0-1)

Last week: vs. Redwood Valley (16-0 W)

This week: at Morris/Benson Area (1/25)

Ouch. Luverne returned to Southwest Conference play last week and drilled Redwood Valley, 16-0. The “youngster line” with eighth-grader Jaxon Nelson (24-23-47) and freshman Chaz Smedsrud (27-33-60) came up big as both players scored four goals each, while crafty defenseman Toby Sengvongxay (10-19-29) and senior Gunnar Olson (18-18-36) had two each. Luverne has built a powerhouse in the southwest corner of the state that seems a step above its conference this winter. We may see similar scores in the coming weeks until the playoffs begin.



9. Orono (12-5-0)

Last week: vs. Holy Family Catholic (8-2 L), vs. Delano (3-2 W), vs. Hopkins (5-4 W)

This week: vs. Mound-Westonka (1/21), at Hutchinson (1/25)

Despite a loss to Class 2A Holy Family Catholic to start last week, Orono retains its No. 9 spot in the rankings. The Spartans responded to that loss — their first since a 5-3 loss to Rogers on Dec. 26 — with a pair of impressive one-goal victories over Delano (3-2) and Class 2A Hopkins (5-4). Joey Luedtke (7-15-22) scored with 20 seconds left to give Orono the tight win over Section 2A rival Delano, then Sam Challgren (5-12-17) scored twice against Hopkins and Luedtke had four points. Orono isn’t a high-scoring team, but the Spartans play tight defense in front of goaltender Jonathon Flakne (11-4-0, 1.94, .917).



10. Alexandria (11-3-2)

Last week: at St. Cloud Apollo (3-1 W), vs. River Lakes (4-1 W), at Brainerd (2-2 T)

This week: vs. Sartell-St. Stephen (1/21), at Bemidji (1/25)

Alexandria returns to the rankings this week with a nice 2-0-1 showing, beating St. Cloud Apollo and River Lakes and tying a tough Class 2A Brainerd team. Defense led the way, as the Cardinals allowed just four goals in the three games and are averaging just 2.06 goals per game. Senior goaltender Sam Goetsch (10-3-2, 2.06, .912) has been stellar, stopping 67 of 71 shots in the three games, while Ryan Marciniak (9-6-15) scored twice to improve his team-leading totals.



Others receiving votes:

DelanoTotino-Grace, Thief River Falls, Mahtomedi, St. Paul Academy, Chisago Lakes, Virginia/Mt. Iron-Buhl, St. Cloud Cathedral

[rbkhockey97]

I don't see why everyone is having a panic attack about Breck. They lost to Edina, East, and a Moorhead team that typically fields a competitive AA tournament team. And as far as their single A losses, Duluth Marshall is a solid team, and the loss to Totino I think shows how underrated Totino is this year. Saw them play vs two top AA teams (St. Thomas, Holy Family) and TG looked very solid defensively and as a team only losing 3-1 (STA) and 2-1 (HF).

[dueling21]

I don't see why everyone is having a panic attack about Breck. They lost to Edina, East, and a Moorhead team that typically fields a competitive AA tournament team. And as far as their single A losses, Duluth Marshall is a solid team, and the loss to Totino I think shows how underrated Totino is this year. Saw them play vs two top AA teams (St. Thomas, Holy Family) and TG looked very solid defensively and as a team only losing 3-1 (STA) and 2-1 (HF).

No panic attack, they just get dropped behind those top three who continue to win.

[HShockeywatcher]

I don't see why everyone is having a panic attack about Breck. They lost to Edina, East, and a Moorhead team that typically fields a competitive AA tournament team. And as far as their single A losses, Duluth Marshall is a solid team, and the loss to Totino I think shows how underrated Totino is this year. Saw them play vs two top AA teams (St. Thomas, Holy Family) and TG looked very solid defensively and as a team only losing 3-1 (STA) and 2-1 (HF).

No panic attack, they just get dropped behind those top three who continue to win.

I think it's really important to remember that despite a Tri-Metro Conference, Breck has the hardest Class A schedule in the state. They have played much better teams than most teams. Duluth Marshall went for the beginning of the season losing just as much as they won but were ranked because of their schedule.
Will Breck be in the Top 5 next week? No. Is there likely anyone that would want to meet them at state? I doubt it.

They are still the favorite in their section and will be ranked when they make it unless something crazy happens.

[rbkhockey97]

Okay Duluth Marshall is good and could beat Breck, but what about the loss to TG ? What does that say about Breck and what does it say about TG?[/quote]

[HShockeywatcher]

Okay Duluth Marshall is good and could beat Breck, but what about the loss to TG ? What does that say about Breck and what does it say about TG?

Personally, I think it means there is parity in Class A.
Over the last 3 years or so, everyone knew in November who the top 3 seeds would be at state and there wasn't much question of them making it, only the order. This year there are 5 different sections it wouldn't be a total surprise to see the winner come from and only one of those sections has a clear favorite at this point.

[ted2you]

I don't like the word parity, I think its an exceptional year for A hockey. There is more strength and quality than I can remember. Certainly STA moving up changes the landscape somewhat, but EGF, Warroad, Hermantown, Marshall, and Breck would all have a chance to Make the AA Tournament. This will be an intesting month

[HShockeywatcher]

Kennedy with a 6-2 win over Apple Valley. It'll be very interesting to see how they get seeded in 2A, how sections go and how their schedule changes for next year.

With a 3-2 win over Princeton, Chisago does not seem to have the hold on 5A I thought. Should be a good battle.

With the 4-2 win over Willmar, Sauk Rapids-Rice makes things very interesting in 6A. While they have a 5-4 section record they have wins over Cathedral and now Willmar. They play Fergus and Alex next week, if they were to pick up two wins, that would make for interesting seeding.

I don't like the word parity, I think its an exceptional year for A hockey. There is more strength and quality than I can remember. Certainly STA moving up changes the landscape somewhat, but EGF, Warroad, Hermantown, Marshall, and Breck would all have a chance to Make the AA Tournament. This will be an intesting month

Parity isn't a bad thing, it simply means there is a lot of similarly good teams. I would say you could probably throw a few more teams in that mix. If you note that Breck beat St Thomas less than a month ago, it makes this all the more interesting. There is normally 1-3 teams in the top tier, a handful in the second and a bunch looking on, but this year seems like the top is much bigger. That's all I'm saying.

[notTONIGHT]

Kennedy with a 6-2 win over Apple Valley. It'll be very interesting to see how they get seeded in 2A, how sections go and how their schedule changes for next year.

With a 3-2 win over Princeton, Chisago does not seem to have the hold on 5A I thought. Should be a good battle.

With the 4-2 win over Willmar, Sauk Rapids-Rice makes things very interesting in 6A. While they have a 5-4 section record they have wins over Cathedral and now Willmar. They play Fergus and Alex next week, if they were to pick up two wins, that would make for interesting seeding.

I don't like the word parity, I think its an exceptional year for A hockey. There is more strength and quality than I can remember. Certainly STA moving up changes the landscape somewhat, but EGF, Warroad, Hermantown, Marshall, and Breck would all have a chance to Make the AA Tournament. This will be an intesting month

Parity isn't a bad thing, it simply means there is a lot of similarly good teams. I would say you could probably throw a few more teams in that mix. If you note that Breck beat St Thomas less than a month ago, it makes this all the more interesting. There is normally 1-3 teams in the top tier, a handful in the second and a bunch looking on, but this year seems like the top is much bigger. That's all I'm saying.

Is it because More teams are "better"? Or because the ceiling is lower?

[hockeydad]

Kennedy with a 6-2 win over Apple Valley. It'll be very interesting to see how they get seeded in 2A, how sections go and how their schedule changes for next year.

Remember Kennedy is switching conferences next year. Their Metro West Conference includes Jefferson, Chaska, Chanhassen, Cooper, St. Louis Park, Richfield and Benilde-SM

[goldy313]

Kennedy plays a tough schedule with Eagan, Lakeville North, Burnsville, and Eastview. They'll be battle tested come sections.

Interestingly, Luverne is still a pretty much unknown team yet as Kennedy rises show should Luverne, as they beat Kennedy.

[notTONIGHT]

Kennedy plays a tough schedule with Eagan, Lakeville North, Burnsville, and Eastview. They'll be battle tested come sections.

Interestingly, Luverne is still a pretty much unknown team yet as Kennedy rises show should Luverne, as they beat Kennedy.

Thats sounds like an awful lot of common sense. Common sense does not reign when talking about a team people dont think should be able to compete. haha

[karl(east)]

Is it because More teams are "better"? Or because the ceiling is lower?

This may be an unpopular opinion, but I do think the ceiling is a bit lower. Looking at the 2-class computerized rankings, there are zero Class A teams in the top ten; Mitch's doesn't even have any in the top 15. No STA makes things easier for some teams. Breck and Hermantown are still both very good, but I certainly wouldn't say they're better than they have been in the past few years. Breck is losing a little more than usual, and while Hermantown has looked great against Class A competition, their roster is a bit on the young side and lacks the front-end stars they've had in recent years.

I don't think that's a bad thing, though--the point of Class A is to have a competitive tournament for the smaller schools, and I think we're getting that this year. There were some great games between the Big 3 over the past few years, but in the end I think most casual fans like to see a good, competitive tournament, and we should have that this year. And some teams are on the way up--EGF, Warroad, Mankato West, New Prague, to name a few. They're not on the level of STA these past few years, but they don't have to be to be great Class A teams, and that's okay.

I'm more excited for the Class A tournament this year than I have been in a while. There's a good mix of old and new, there are interesting storylines even in the weaker sections, and nothing is predictable. There's also a fun mix of styles that you don't get much of in AA anymore, since just about everyone at the Tourney (with the occasional exception) will be a deep program from a large urban area.

[urban iceman]

Great analogy!

[HShockeywatcher]

Not to really agree or disagree with karl, but I'd say that it's really hard to tell. The top AA teams and Breck play multiple top teams throughout the year. Other top A teams play maybe one or two games against top end competition, so it's really hard to get a good picture.

Using numbers from PageStat, #29 EGF throttled #6 Blaine earlier this year. They lost to #19 Breck the next night, tied #14 Warroad and beat #20 Roseau pretty handily.

#19 Breck has tied #10 Holy Family, beaten #7 St Thomas, lost by 1 to #17 Duluth East and went to OT with #28 Moorhead.

#32 Duluth Marshall beat #24 Grand Rapids and went to OT with #9 Benilde.

You can dig apart all of the teams, but this year I think it's hard to get a really good conclusion more than other years. I think the toughest thing is the number of games they play against the top teams. The associative property doesn't work for hockey, but it definitely makes this harder to figure out.

Take a look at a team like Hermantown. They have played all of 2 teams currently in the top 25 and went 0-2 in those games. Then compare that to #1 Burnsville who was 0-3 in their first 3 games against top end competition to start the season. Ultimately, it's a much smaller sample size and much harder to draw a quality conclusion from.
Hermantown has remaining games against #26 WBL and #24 Rapids fyi.

Personally, I think there are more teams this year that can play with some of the good AA teams than there have been in quite some time. But it's entirely possible I'm just wrong.

[karl(east)]

Personally, I think there are more teams this year that can play with some of the good AA teams than there have been in quite some time. But it's entirely possible I'm just wrong.

That may well be true...but I'd argue that the ceiling in AA is lower this season, too. There isn't anything even resembling a dominant team there (everyone has at least 3 losses already), and just about anyone in the top 10 can beat anyone else on any given night.

The end result may be something of a wash.

[TTpuckster]

Personally, I think there are more teams this year that can play with some of the good AA teams than there have been in quite some time. But it's entirely possible I'm just wrong.

That may well be true...but I'd argue that the ceiling in AA is lower this season, too. There isn't anything even resembling a dominant team there (everyone has at least 3 losses already), and just about anyone in the top 10 can beat anyone else on any given night.

The end result may be something of a wash.

Maybe Karl.
But maybe there are just a lot of very good teams in A and AA this year. Maybe not so many standout players but several very deep teams. You just can't get by with just one good line.

[HShockeywatcher]

I'd argue that the ceiling in AA is lower this season, too.

Agree 100%.
I'm comparing A to AA, not to past years' ability. A is up relative to AA but AA is down as a whole.

But maybe there are just a lot of very good teams in A and AA this year.

If everyone is good, then is anyone actually good?

[urban iceman]

I'd argue that the ceiling in AA is lower this season, too.

Agree 100%.
I'm comparing A to AA, not to past years' ability. A is up relative to AA but AA is down as a whole.

But maybe there are just a lot of very good teams in A and AA this year.

If everyone is good, then is anyone actually good?

I think it comes down to maybe AA being a little watered down lately with the so-called top ender's leaving the HS ranks for the next level. The USHL and LIKE LEAGUES, has damaged HS hockey IMO.