MrGoalieBoy wrote:Scout you better think your predictions through for tomorrow...
Its almost more fun to predict trouts predictions, than to predict the game.
Im thinking trout goes, Hutch 5 Luverne 1. He will say hutch has more talent, and the senior goalie will make the difference. Also will say the game in hutch has absolutely no bearing or give zero indication of what may happen at gustavus.
I bet he picks Willmar over New Ulm in overtime, or something along those lines. He is going to say both teams are good, but willmar has the seniors and the coaching to take this one.
MrGoalieBoy wrote:Scout you better think your predictions through for tomorrow...
Its almost more fun to predict trouts predictions, than to predict the game.
Im thinking trout goes, Hutch 5 Luverne 1. He will say hutch has more talent, and the senior goalie will make the difference. Also will say the game in hutch has absolutely no bearing or give zero indication of what may happen at gustavus.
I bet he picks Willmar over New Ulm in overtime, or something along those lines. He is going to say both teams are good, but willmar has the seniors and the coaching to take this one.
As for notTONIGHT's boring predictions.
Luverne 7 hutch 3
Willmar 4 NUSE 1
Luverne Fans have you not learned anything from last season. This game with Hutch is going to be a very tough and hard fought battle. There are no more blow games to be played. Let hope the players understand that because the fan have yet to figure it out.
MrGoalieBoy wrote:Scout you better think your predictions through for tomorrow...
Its almost more fun to predict trouts predictions, than to predict the game.
Im thinking trout goes, Hutch 5 Luverne 1. He will say hutch has more talent, and the senior goalie will make the difference. Also will say the game in hutch has absolutely no bearing or give zero indication of what may happen at gustavus.
I bet he picks Willmar over New Ulm in overtime, or something along those lines. He is going to say both teams are good, but willmar has the seniors and the coaching to take this one.
As for notTONIGHT's boring predictions.
Luverne 7 hutch 3
Willmar 4 NUSE 1
Luverne Fans have you not learned anything from last season. This game with Hutch is going to be a very tough and hard fought battle. There are no more blow games to be played. Let hope the players understand that because the fan have yet to figure it out.
It STILL amazes me how many people STILL think it's last season!
TooManyEagles wrote:They'd play the QF on Sat, give up their ice time at Gustavus, and then most likely reschedule for Gustavus for Monday. Monday would give kids a day off between each round. Tuesday would also be a possibility since the Final isn't until Wednesday, but probably less desirable as its unlikely the finalists would be able to afford to stay near Gustavus for the night. It's a 2h 15m drive for Luverne, the only other school with a 2h+ drive would be Morris-Benson, who will be eliminated by Luverne, so it shouldn't be that big of a deal for anyone either way, but it could be brutal on the skaters' legs to make that drive 3 times in 2 days before a section final. Not to mention the SF games themselves...
How in the world is a 2 hour drive on a charter bus "brutal" for skater's legs? I've never understood that. These are young kids in the best shape of their lives, not 80 year olds with artificial knees and hips.
TooManyEagles wrote:They'd play the QF on Sat, give up their ice time at Gustavus, and then most likely reschedule for Gustavus for Monday. Monday would give kids a day off between each round. Tuesday would also be a possibility since the Final isn't until Wednesday, but probably less desirable as its unlikely the finalists would be able to afford to stay near Gustavus for the night. It's a 2h 15m drive for Luverne, the only other school with a 2h+ drive would be Morris-Benson, who will be eliminated by Luverne, so it shouldn't be that big of a deal for anyone either way, but it could be brutal on the skaters' legs to make that drive 3 times in 2 days before a section final. Not to mention the SF games themselves...
How in the world is a 2 hour drive on a charter bus "brutal" for skater's legs? I've never understood that. These are young kids in the best shape of their lives, not 80 year olds with artificial knees and hips.
Hutch uses Charter Buses?.... Wow, Luverne bounces down the road in the Ole Bluebirds, but whichever. It's funny how when these kids played AAA or Summer Tournaments growing up they regularly played 5 games in 3 days, yet an over-nighter is now suddenly a concern when they are at (arguably) their physical peak. You only hear "Travel concerns" from people who just are not acclimated to it. Most of the Luverne Teams grew up thinking their HOME rink was in Minneapolis/St. Paul.
Last year I remember someone complaining about a "Roadtrip" from Woodbury ALL THE WAY over to Wayzata being a problem.
#1 Luverne over #8 Morris Benson 13-2
LUVERNE — Luverne moved its way into the semifinals of the Section 3A boys hockey tournament with a 13-2 quarterfinal-round win over Morris-Benson Area Friday night at Blue Mound Arena.
Jumping early into a 5-1 lead through the first period, the Cardinals got plenty of players ice team as they finished off a three-game sweep over the Storm for this season. Luverne rested its top two lines in the final period.
Plenty of skaters had hands in scoring for the Cardinals. Senior forward Gunnar Olson, sophomore forward Chaz Smedsrud and eighth-grade forward Jaxon Nelson all had hat tricks for Luverne. Travis Frakes, Connor Hoffman, Eric Tofteland and Toby Sengvongxay had one score apiece.
Senior forward Logan Norman racked up three assists while junior forward Andrew Verhey, Smedsrud, Sengvongxay all had two.
Luverne will now face Hutchinson — today at 5:30 p.m. — in the first of two section semifinals at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter.
“My hope is that everybody’s ready to go. We’ve been building for this moment,” Luverne head coach Derrick Brown said. “They’re (Hutchinson) playing some of their best hockey right now, so we’ll have to play our best game of the season to beat them.”
#4 Hutchinson over #5 Marshall 6-2
HUTCHINSON - The storm that set the Marshall boys hockey playoff game back a day didn't affect the Tigers' opponents as Marshall fell 6-2 to Hutchinson on Friday.
"We knew we need to get a good start to be in the game," said Marshall head coach Michael Weiss. "We were feeling pretty good going into it."
The Tigers finish the season 12-13 on a four-game skid, winning only once in February.
Marshall skated hard out of the gate, but Hutchinson quickly built a 3-0 lead.
"Hutchinson came in pretty hard and got the first three on the board, which put us in a hole," Weiss said. "We called a timeout, told the guys to regroup and chip away.
Marshall's Taylor Rassmussen scored on a power play in the first period to make it 3-1.
"We ended up getting one back and just missed out on making it a one-goal game," We definitely had some energy after that goal. We had a couple more chances to get it within one and just came up short."
The Tigers buckled down in the second period, allowing only one goal, but were unable to score any of their own despite several close chances.
Marshall's offense picked up another power play goal in the third from Brent Haukom, but with Hutchinson adding another pair of goals, the Tigers fell 6-2.
"We fought hard. Hopefully it shows everyone that we need to work a little harder if we want to make that next step," said Weiss. "We had a lot of good things to take away."
Went to this game very good hockey played by Hutch. Cowger and Adams are clicking with each other. I like that adjustment. They got 2 goals from their 1st, 2nd and 3rd lines. Very balanced. Allen looked calm in nets. He made some big saves when the game was still in question. Campion and the Tigers played hard just were simply over matched. They lose many solid seniors. Will be interesting to see what Marshall looks like next year.
#2 Willmar over #7 Windom 7-0
ILLMAR — The senior-strong Willmar Cardinals wrapped up business Friday afternoon on their home ice, dispatching the Windom Eagles from the Section 3A tournament with a 7-0 whitewash.
The Cardinals hit the road Saturday to play New Ulm at 8 p.m. on the Gustavus Adolphus campus in St. Peter.
The Cardinals outshot the Eagles 49 to 11. Levi Goosmann took the shutout, needing two hard saves in the closing minutes for his first shutout.
T.J. Mattison, who scored the game’s opening goal, finished with three points as did linemate Riley Grabow. Cole Block, Hunter Mottinger and Isaac Kobienia notched two-point games and Trevor Tschida logged his first varsity point assisting on Mattison’s second goal early in the third.
Windom goalie Nate Monson did all he could to keep the Eagles in the game, including 17 saves the first 17 minutes.
With the player bus late arriving for the scheduled 3 p.m. faceoff, the start was delayed 1 hour and 10 minutes. One Windom fan described the tricky drive up on glazed U.S. Highway 71 as three-hours of “white-knuckle” driving.
“You always worry about a delay like that,” said Willmar head coach Dan Tollefson. “But the guys stayed loose and played very well. T.J., especially, had a really nice game.”
The coaches used the entire bench of 12 skaters, which included a dozen seniors dressed for their final game at the Cardinal Arena.
Six seniors on the Windom squad ended their last season 9-15.
Willmar takes a 12-12-1 record to the Section 3A final four at the Don Roberts Ice Rink this evening.
#3 New Ulm over #6 LDC 6-3
NEW ULM - Judd Davis recorded a hat trick and Brach Kraus allowed just one goal for 2 1/2 periods as New Ulm topped Litchfield-Dassel/Cokato 6-3 in the Section 3A quarterfinals on Friday night.
Davis' effort was aided by goals from Ethan Kraus, Alex Stark and Wyatt Peterson.
Peterson also added three assists with Colin Huffman adding two helpers. Brandon Helget, Lucas Heiderscheidt, Ethan Kraus and Stark each added an assist.
Brach Kraus recorded 25 saves.
Ethan Niemela, Mason Marelic and Bailey Emery scored the Dragons's goals.
New Ulm (16-10) will now meet Willmar, a 7-0 winner against Windom Area, at 8 p.m. on Saturday at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter in a semifinal game.
"Beating a team three times [in the same season] is never an easy thing to do," said New Ulm coach Erik Setterholm. "The boys came ready to play tonight. I was real pleased."
And pleased is what Setterholm was with the overall play of his team, especially Davis, who got the Eagles going with the first goal of the game and then added consecutive goals that built a 5-1 lead.
"He is the epitome of what we want a hockey player to be," Setterholm said. "He works hard every shift on the ice - he does not say anything - he does not get into any penalty trouble. He just goes hard. He is a big-game kid. He got us going tonight."
Davis' backhander on a feed from Peterson beat Dragon goalie Braeden Wahl (29 saves in the game) for a 1-0 lead at the 4:55 mark.
But Litchfield's Ethan Niemela knotted the contest less than two minutes later when the Eagles turned the puck over in their own zone.
Then perhaps the biggest goal of the game came from Ethan Kraus when the sophomore winger put the puck by Wahl with less than two minutes to go in the period for a 2-1 New Ulm lead.
Setterholm said that Kraus's score was huge.
"We gave them that goal back and that took some momentum away from us," Setterholm said. "But Ethan's goal definitely got us going. We knew that we could get the puck on [Wahl] and get the puck deep on him."
New Ulm did that with four consecutive goals - three in the second period - to take a commanding 6-1 lead.
Stark followed Kraus' goal with a one-timer at the 5:49 mark of the second period before Davis scored two consecutive goals less than four minutes apart.
Peterson's goal - one of two power-play goals in the game for the Eagles - made it 6-1 at the 8:47 mark of the third period.
Litchfield tallied two late goals to make it 6-3.
"We changed our game a little bit up 6-1 and we called the dogs off offensively," Setterholm said. "It came back to bite us."
New Ulm now faces a Willmar team that won 4-3 matchup at home earlier in the season.
"We match up pretty well with them (Willmar). I really like the matchup," Setterholm said.
MrGoalieBoy wrote:Scout you better think your predictions through for tomorrow...
Its almost more fun to predict trouts predictions, than to predict the game.
Im thinking trout goes, Hutch 5 Luverne 1. He will say hutch has more talent, and the senior goalie will make the difference. Also will say the game in hutch has absolutely no bearing or give zero indication of what may happen at gustavus.
I bet he picks Willmar over New Ulm in overtime, or something along those lines. He is going to say both teams are good, but willmar has the seniors and the coaching to take this one.
As for notTONIGHT's boring predictions.
Luverne 7 hutch 3
Willmar 4 NUSE 1
Luverne Fans have you not learned anything from last season. This game with Hutch is going to be a very tough and hard fought battle. There are no more blow games to be played. Let hope the players understand that because the fan have yet to figure it out.
Hutch has some very good athletes not the best when it comes to defense but last night it didnt matter. Allen looked fine but Hutch gives up too many quality scoring opportunities. Penalty kill is going to kill Hutch if they dont make some changes.
MrGoalieBoy wrote:Scout you better think your predictions through for tomorrow...
Its almost more fun to predict trouts predictions, than to predict the game.
Im thinking trout goes, Hutch 5 Luverne 1. He will say hutch has more talent, and the senior goalie will make the difference. Also will say the game in hutch has absolutely no bearing or give zero indication of what may happen at gustavus.
I bet he picks Willmar over New Ulm in overtime, or something along those lines. He is going to say both teams are good, but willmar has the seniors and the coaching to take this one.
As for notTONIGHT's boring predictions.
Luverne 7 hutch 3
Willmar 4 NUSE 1
Luverne Fans have you not learned anything from last season. This game with Hutch is going to be a very tough and hard fought battle. There are no more blow games to be played. Let hope the players understand that because the fan have yet to figure it out.
Well we are finally here the best day of the year in Section 3A Hockey. Semi-final Saturday at Gustavus!
The Final Four are set and it is what most have predicted it would be since late December.
Semifinal #1 @ 5:30 PM
# 1 Luverne vs. #4 Hutchinson-
I have predicted this would be the end of the road for the Cards AGAIN this season. I am very confident in that predication after watching Hutch dismantle Marshall last night. I look for Hutch to play a good playoff type game. I see them jumping out early and taking control from there. Adams and Cowger play well together they were separated in the first match-up also the emergence of Young Piechowski on their second who was a key member to the State A Bantam team last year will be huge. Finally, Allen the Senior has given the Tigers what they were in desperate need for all year SOLID GOALTENDING. I think he is the X Factor today I really like his game in the nets. He will have be key to the Tigers Upset. The core of these Tigers were part of the upset run to the Section Final last year and A Bantam State team. They know how to play in the postseason!
The Luverne faithful will be re living last year. They have had a very good team all year but have they really gotten any better? Honestly, have they really progressed as a team or did maybe they peak after their win over Willmar in Mid-January?
I am sticking with this prediction I have never backed off it and I have been calling it since the start of the new year. Hutch 5 Luverne 2
Semifinal #2 @ 8:00 PM
#2 Willmar vs. #3 New Ulm
This is going to be a dandy of a game the. The offensive high flying Eagles vs. the defensive minded grind it out Cards. Willmar has played a solid schedule all year as have the New Ulm Eagles. They are both battle tested. Both have very good tenders in Goosman vs. Kraus. Senior heavy lineup for Willmar vs. the Junior laden New Ulm Eagles. Match-up to watch. The Top Lines of New Ulm Perterson-Helget-Davis & Kraus-Huffman-Kopacek vs. the Willmar D-core of Tollefson, Ackerman, Block and Pendill. That will be a key battle. Willmar will need their top line of Mottinger-Kobienia-VanDenEinde to play big and score some goals. New Ulm’s Defense will have to play solid and limit the amount of turn over they are prone to in their end of the ice.
This should be a classic battle of back and forth hockey. They matchup with each other extremely well. I really think this one is heading for an OT classic which is what as a fan everyone loves to see.
I will take New Ulm over Willmar 4-3 in OT. I really think it could either way but I think New Ulm has more proven scorers and that will help them prevail.
We will be down to just TWO after today. Good Luck to Players and Safe Travels to Fans. Going to be a great night of hockey!!
Section 3A HockeyScout wrote:Well we are finally here the best day of the year in Section 3A Hockey. Semi-final Saturday at Gustavus!
The Final Four are set and it is what most have predicted it would be since late December.
Semifinal #1 @ 5:30 PM
# 1 Luverne vs. #4 Hutchinson-
I have predicted this would be the end of the road for the Cards AGAIN this season. I am very confident in that predication after watching Hutch dismantle Marshall last night. I look for Hutch to play a good playoff type game. I see them jumping out early and taking control from there. Adams and Cowger play well together they were separated in the first match-up also the emergence of Young Piechowski on their second who was a key member to the State A Bantam team last year will be huge. Finally, Allen the Senior has given the Tigers what they were in desperate need for all year SOLID GOALTENDING. I think he is the X Factor today I really like his game in the nets. He will have be key to the Tigers Upset. The core of these Tigers were part of the upset run to the Section Final last year and A Bantam State team. They know how to play in the postseason!
The Luverne faithful will be re living last year. They have had a very good team all year but have they really gotten any better? Honestly, have they really progressed as a team or did maybe they peak after their win over Willmar in Mid-January?
I am sticking with this prediction I have never backed off it and I have been calling it since the start of the new year. Hutch 5 Luverne 2
Semifinal #2 @ 8:00 PM
#2 Willmar vs. #3 New Ulm
This is going to be a dandy of a game the. The offensive high flying Eagles vs. the defensive minded grind it out Cards. Willmar has played a solid schedule all year as have the New Ulm Eagles. They are both battle tested. Both have very good tenders in Goosman vs. Kraus. Senior heavy lineup for Willmar vs. the Junior laden New Ulm Eagles. Match-up to watch. The Top Lines of New Ulm Perterson-Helget-Davis & Kraus-Huffman-Kopacek vs. the Willmar D-core of Tollefson, Ackerman, Block and Pendill. That will be a key battle. Willmar will need their top line of Mottinger-Kobienia-VanDenEinde to play big and score some goals. New Ulm’s Defense will have to play solid and limit the amount of turn over they are prone to in their end of the ice.
This should be a classic battle of back and forth hockey. They matchup with each other extremely well. I really think this one is heading for an OT classic which is what as a fan everyone loves to see.
I will take New Ulm over Willmar 4-3 in OT. I really think it could either way but I think New Ulm has more proven scorers and that will help them prevail.
We will be down to just TWO after today. Good Luck to Players and Safe Travels to Fans. Going to be a great night of hockey!!
Aren't you the same guy that predicted so many other trap games?? Hmmm....
Unless this game isn't played. The cards will roll in this one!!
Good luck in fish sniffing this afternoon TROUT!!!
Section 3A HockeyScout wrote:Well we are finally here the best day of the year in Section 3A Hockey. Semi-final Saturday at Gustavus!
The Final Four are set and it is what most have predicted it would be since late December.
Semifinal #1 @ 5:30 PM
# 1 Luverne vs. #4 Hutchinson-
I have predicted this would be the end of the road for the Cards AGAIN this season. I am very confident in that predication after watching Hutch dismantle Marshall last night. I look for Hutch to play a good playoff type game. I see them jumping out early and taking control from there. Adams and Cowger play well together they were separated in the first match-up also the emergence of Young Piechowski on their second who was a key member to the State A Bantam team last year will be huge. Finally, Allen the Senior has given the Tigers what they were in desperate need for all year SOLID GOALTENDING. I think he is the X Factor today I really like his game in the nets. He will have be key to the Tigers Upset. The core of these Tigers were part of the upset run to the Section Final last year and A Bantam State team. They know how to play in the postseason!
The Luverne faithful will be re living last year. They have had a very good team all year but have they really gotten any better? Honestly, have they really progressed as a team or did maybe they peak after their win over Willmar in Mid-January?
I am sticking with this prediction I have never backed off it and I have been calling it since the start of the new year. Hutch 5 Luverne 2
Semifinal #2 @ 8:00 PM
#2 Willmar vs. #3 New Ulm
This is going to be a dandy of a game the. The offensive high flying Eagles vs. the defensive minded grind it out Cards. Willmar has played a solid schedule all year as have the New Ulm Eagles. They are both battle tested. Both have very good tenders in Goosman vs. Kraus. Senior heavy lineup for Willmar vs. the Junior laden New Ulm Eagles. Match-up to watch. The Top Lines of New Ulm Perterson-Helget-Davis & Kraus-Huffman-Kopacek vs. the Willmar D-core of Tollefson, Ackerman, Block and Pendill. That will be a key battle. Willmar will need their top line of Mottinger-Kobienia-VanDenEinde to play big and score some goals. New Ulm’s Defense will have to play solid and limit the amount of turn over they are prone to in their end of the ice.
This should be a classic battle of back and forth hockey. They matchup with each other extremely well. I really think this one is heading for an OT classic which is what as a fan everyone loves to see.
I will take New Ulm over Willmar 4-3 in OT. I really think it could either way but I think New Ulm has more proven scorers and that will help them prevail.
We will be down to just TWO after today. Good Luck to Players and Safe Travels to Fans. Going to be a great night of hockey!!
I think Hutch gives them a much closer game than last time, however for Hutch to win I think they'll need to score at least 6 goals. I think they fall just short.
Hutch 4 Luverne 6
As for NU- Willmar, I think Kraus plays much better than he did a month ago. I've always liked how Judd Davis plays the game. He's already got 3 goals in the playoffs and I think he'll cash in two more.
NU 3 Willmar 1.
Section Final
I've thought all season long that NU is the only team in the section who has the firepower and goaltending to knock of Luverne. I'll predict them to be Heavily outshot but Kraus comes up big.
I can tell you after watching the thumping that Luverne put on MB last night, I wouldn't call this game yet. Luverne isn't just going threw the motions and coasting. They played the game last night with some added intensity and when MB started to get physical, Luverne was there (unless the two MB guys took each other out) and playing physical with them. The goals they had were very nice and not just dump the puck in and smash it in the net either. The blue liners of Luverne played extremely well lastnight limiting MB's scoring chances all night. I think if they play as well as they did last night Hutchinsons scoring chances are going to be few 10,22,17,40 are playing lights out.
MrGoalieBoy wrote:Scout you better think your predictions through for tomorrow...
Its almost more fun to predict trouts predictions, than to predict the game.
Im thinking trout goes, Hutch 5 Luverne 1. He will say hutch has more talent, and the senior goalie will make the difference. Also will say the game in hutch has absolutely no bearing or give zero indication of what may happen at gustavus.
I bet he picks Willmar over New Ulm in overtime, or something along those lines. He is going to say both teams are good, but willmar has the seniors and the coaching to take this one.
As for notTONIGHT's boring predictions.
Luverne 7 hutch 3
Willmar 4 NUSE 1
I find it hilarious how close your scout predictions were haha.
I got luverne winning this one 5-2, just too much firepower for hutch to handle.
I have NUSE wining by one goal or maybe even in OT. Two dead even teams but earlier this year I said they'll take them in playoffs so im going to stick to my prediction.
I've been saying for quite some time, maybe not on here that if Luverne gets to the Semifinals undefeated its wont be a good thing for the Cardinals. Yes they are confident but you can learn so much more from a loss, and with Hutchinson playing a tougher schedule and experiencing some losses it will be their advantage tonight
Hutch 4, Luverne 3
Is it a bold pick, absolutely. Luverne is a great team and I'm excited to see them play but I'm sticking with my prediction because its playoffs and anything can happen.
As for the Willmar-NU game well this is interesting. Obviously about Eagles Off vs. Willmars D. But it will come down to which goaltender steps up big. Both Seniors and willing to do anything to avoid elimination.
MrGoalieBoy wrote:Scout you better think your predictions through for tomorrow...
Its almost more fun to predict trouts predictions, than to predict the game.
Im thinking trout goes, Hutch 5 Luverne 1. He will say hutch has more talent, and the senior goalie will make the difference. Also will say the game in hutch has absolutely no bearing or give zero indication of what may happen at gustavus.
I bet he picks Willmar over New Ulm in overtime, or something along those lines. He is going to say both teams are good, but willmar has the seniors and the coaching to take this one.
hockeyfan26 wrote:I've been saying for quite some time, maybe not on here that if Luverne gets to the Semifinals undefeated its wont be a good thing for the Cardinals. Yes they are confident but you can learn so much more from a loss, and with Hutchinson playing a tougher schedule and experiencing some losses it will be their advantage tonight
Hutch 4, Luverne 3
Is it a bold pick, absolutely. Luverne is a great team and I'm excited to see them play but I'm sticking with my prediction because its playoffs and anything can happen.
As for the Willmar-NU game well this is interesting. Obviously about Eagles Off vs. Willmars D. But it will come down to which goaltender steps up big. Both Seniors and willing to do anything to avoid elimination.
New Ulm 3, Willmar 2
Good Predictions!
Last year everyone got on me because I picked Marhall and Hutch in the semis. I was called everything in the book..... We know how that turned out. I am looking for the second year and a row to go 2 for 2 on my Semi-Final Predictions!!
Section 3A HockeyScout wrote:Well we are finally here the best day of the year in Section 3A Hockey. Semi-final Saturday at Gustavus!
The Final Four are set and it is what most have predicted it would be since late December.
Semifinal #1 @ 5:30 PM
# 1 Luverne vs. #4 Hutchinson-
I have predicted this would be the end of the road for the Cards AGAIN this season. I am very confident in that predication after watching Hutch dismantle Marshall last night. I look for Hutch to play a good playoff type game. I see them jumping out early and taking control from there. Adams and Cowger play well together they were separated in the first match-up also the emergence of Young Piechowski on their second who was a key member to the State A Bantam team last year will be huge. Finally, Allen the Senior has given the Tigers what they were in desperate need for all year SOLID GOALTENDING. I think he is the X Factor today I really like his game in the nets. He will have be key to the Tigers Upset. The core of these Tigers were part of the upset run to the Section Final last year and A Bantam State team. They know how to play in the postseason!
The Luverne faithful will be re living last year. They have had a very good team all year but have they really gotten any better? Honestly, have they really progressed as a team or did maybe they peak after their win over Willmar in Mid-January?
I am sticking with this prediction I have never backed off it and I have been calling it since the start of the new year. Hutch 5 Luverne 2
Semifinal #2 @ 8:00 PM
#2 Willmar vs. #3 New Ulm
This is going to be a dandy of a game the. The offensive high flying Eagles vs. the defensive minded grind it out Cards. Willmar has played a solid schedule all year as have the New Ulm Eagles. They are both battle tested. Both have very good tenders in Goosman vs. Kraus. Senior heavy lineup for Willmar vs. the Junior laden New Ulm Eagles. Match-up to watch. The Top Lines of New Ulm Perterson-Helget-Davis & Kraus-Huffman-Kopacek vs. the Willmar D-core of Tollefson, Ackerman, Block and Pendill. That will be a key battle. Willmar will need their top line of Mottinger-Kobienia-VanDenEinde to play big and score some goals. New Ulm’s Defense will have to play solid and limit the amount of turn over they are prone to in their end of the ice.
This should be a classic battle of back and forth hockey. They matchup with each other extremely well. I really think this one is heading for an OT classic which is what as a fan everyone loves to see.
I will take New Ulm over Willmar 4-3 in OT. I really think it could either way but I think New Ulm has more proven scorers and that will help them prevail.
We will be down to just TWO after today. Good Luck to Players and Safe Travels to Fans. Going to be a great night of hockey!!
Thanks for the recap and the predictions.
I am taking Luverne 5 to 2.
And Willmar 4 to 2.
Nice Plagiarism again this year 3A (Scout? whatever) At least give credit to the real reporters!!!
Attachment to actual newspaper articles for each game below:
hockeyfan26 wrote:I've been saying for quite some time, maybe not on here that if Luverne gets to the Semifinals undefeated its wont be a good thing for the Cardinals. Yes they are confident but you can learn so much more from a loss, and with Hutchinson playing a tougher schedule and experiencing some losses it will be their advantage tonight
Hutch 4, Luverne 3
Is it a bold pick, absolutely. Luverne is a great team and I'm excited to see them play but I'm sticking with my prediction because its playoffs and anything can happen.
As for the Willmar-NU game well this is interesting. Obviously about Eagles Off vs. Willmars D. But it will come down to which goaltender steps up big. Both Seniors and willing to do anything to avoid elimination.
New Ulm 3, Willmar 2
Good Predictions!
Last year everyone got on me because I picked Marhall and Hutch in the semis. I was called everything in the book..... We know how that turned out. I am looking for the second year and a row to go 2 for 2 on my Semi-Final Predictions!!
Trout you will be the only choking on your predictions this year!
Rumor has it Gustavus is having a fishing tourney starting at 5:30 hope the trout are fresh!!!
Cards by a touchdown!
Ps. Hope you and bettmans bender didn't start to early this morning.
Maybe the trout will sober you up!!!
You only hear "Travel concerns" from people who just are not acclimated to it. Most of the Luverne Teams grew up thinking their HOME rink was in Minneapolis/St. Paul. 
At least give credit to the real reporters!!!