Class AA Championship - Hill-Murray v Benilde-St. Margaret

Sparlimb · Post by **Sparlimb** » Fri Feb 21, 2014 10:42 pm

Well down to the last 2. Hill-Murray won the regular season matchup 3-2. Both teams playing excellent hockey. Who do you think will win?

I'm taking HM. BSM clearly has more talent offensively, but HM has been stifling on defense. Holding the Lake champions to 8 shots is crazy. In 2 state tournament games, HM has given up 19 shots. It likely will be pretty close, but I'll take HM 3-1 with an empty netter.

BlueLineSpecial · Post by **BlueLineSpecial** » Sat Feb 22, 2014 1:22 am

This is a tough call. My heart is with Hill but I have some worries about BSM. Hill's D against EP was ridiculous. But with that said I wasn't impressed with EP's offensive rushes. No vision or exceptional passing by the forwards bringing the puck into Hill's zone. Whether that is because of Hill's suffocating D or a poor gameplan by EP I don't know.

Good luck to both teams tomorrow. My family will be rooting for Hill but applaud their effort regardless. This team is going to get better and better in the next couple of years. A title is just a matter of time IMHO.

I'll take HM 3-1

sinbin · Post by **sinbin** » Sat Feb 22, 2014 2:51 am

No offense to EP, but they didn't really seem to have much energy or sense of urgency, even when time was running out and down by a goal. HM's defense was great, but EP didn't seem to want to win the races. It was kind of weird, in a way. I would have expected this more out of Lakeville, after staying up late with 3 OT's last night, but they had much more energy than EP.

MNHockeyFan · Post by **MNHockeyFan** » Sat Feb 22, 2014 9:13 am

sinbin wrote:No offense to EP, but they didn't really seem to have much energy or sense of urgency, even when time was running out and down by a goal. HM's defense was great, but EP didn't seem to want to win the races. It was kind of weird, in a way. I would have expected this more out of Lakeville, after staying up late with 3 OT's last night, but they had much more energy than EP.

I was scratching my head trying to figure out why they couldn't get anything going too. The Pioneers did play a great game, but I don't think we saw EP play their normal game. I agree that it was weird.

MN_Bowhunter · Post by **MN_Bowhunter** » Sat Feb 22, 2014 9:49 am

I think it will come down to goaltending. Benilde wins.

Sparlimb · Post by **Sparlimb** » Sat Feb 22, 2014 11:04 am

MNHockeyFan wrote:
sinbin wrote:No offense to EP, but they didn't really seem to have much energy or sense of urgency, even when time was running out and down by a goal. HM's defense was great, but EP didn't seem to want to win the races. It was kind of weird, in a way. I would have expected this more out of Lakeville, after staying up late with 3 OT's last night, but they had much more energy than EP.
I was scratching my head trying to figure out why they couldn't get anything going too. The Pioneers did play a great game, but I don't think we saw EP play their normal game. I agree that it was weird.

Well Hill did shut them out twice now this year. Looked like it was more a matchup issue between teams as EP didn't do well skating around HM cloggers in the neutral zone.

I was not at the regular season matchup between BSM and HM, but looks like it will come down to how well HM can slow down the talented Knights offense. Or conversely, how many good scoring chances BSM can generate. They definitely have the players who have the speed to get quality chances.

Nimrod · Post by **Nimrod** » Sat Feb 22, 2014 1:45 pm

I think it will be a great game. My only prediction is that this will be the first private school champion at AA. If I had to vote I would give the nod to BSM but I am biased.

goaline · Post by **goaline** » Sat Feb 22, 2014 5:02 pm

Nimrod wrote:I think it will be a great game. My only prediction is that this will be the first private school champion at AA. If I had to vote I would give the nod to BSM but I am biased.

Is it too late for Lakeville N and EP to play for the title, or even Stillwater and Wayzata?

BlueLineSpecial · Post by **BlueLineSpecial** » Sat Feb 22, 2014 9:22 pm

Great game! Congrats to the Pioneers on their championship. This was a very even game, the difference being that Hill took more advantage of their opportunities. BSM had their chances but Hill capitalized

Hang another banner in Aldrich

sinbin · Post by **sinbin** » Sat Feb 22, 2014 10:00 pm

I'd say that timely netminding by the HM keeper had something to do with BSM not capitalizing. In a fairly even game, I think she was the difference, the big saves at the right time.

stpaul · Post by **stpaul** » Sat Feb 22, 2014 10:48 pm

Congratulations to Coach Schafhauser and the Pioneers. The boys were the first private school to win a MSHSL hockey title in 1983 and now the girls are the first private school to win the AA Girls Hockey tournament. Fantastic to have them add to the great hockey tradition at Hill-Murray.

Sparlimb · Post by **Sparlimb** » Sun Feb 23, 2014 1:01 am

sinbin wrote:I'd say that timely netminding by the HM keeper had something to do with BSM not capitalizing. In a fairly even game, I think she was the difference, the big saves at the right time.

Benilde's goalie didn't seem to have the same puck luck. Bounces went right for HM, but a lot of that has to do with hard work. BSM did actually outshoot HM, which hasn't happened much this year at all. I'd say one of the other keys was that HM was able to get scoring from all 3 lines tonight and BSM only had one line contribute.

Benilde sure loses a lot of talent and it will be a much different team next year (I know, they seem to always just rebuild). HM loses some key players but not as many as BSM and should be really tough again next year.

Nimrod · Post by **Nimrod** » Sun Feb 23, 2014 1:37 am

Congrats to HM on a great season. They played hard and earned the win.

Nevertoomuchhockey · Post by **Nevertoomuchhockey** » Sun Feb 23, 2014 2:47 am

goaline wrote:
Nimrod wrote:I think it will be a great game. My only prediction is that this will be the first private school champion at AA. If I had to vote I would give the nod to BSM but I am biased.
Is it too late for Lakeville N and EP to play for the title, or even Stillwater and Wayzata?

Really??? That debate just never gets old.

sinbin · Post by **sinbin** » Sun Feb 23, 2014 11:03 am

Sparlimb wrote:
sinbin wrote:I'd say that timely netminding by the HM keeper had something to do with BSM not capitalizing. In a fairly even game, I think she was the difference, the big saves at the right time.
Benilde's goalie didn't seem to have the same puck luck. Bounces went right for HM, but a lot of that has to do with hard work. BSM did actually outshoot HM, which hasn't happened much this year at all. I'd say one of the other keys was that HM was able to get scoring from all 3 lines tonight and BSM only had one line contribute.

Benilde sure loses a lot of talent and it will be a much different team next year (I know, they seem to always just rebuild). HM loses some key players but not as many as BSM and should be really tough again next year.

Agreed, Spar. Much has been made of BSM "two first lines" and with 6 D1 players, you'd think there would have been more contributions outside of Pannek (at least that showed up on the scoreboard). Perhaps if these two teams play 10 times, they each win 5, but HM won the important (and actual) one. BSM will always recr, er . . . rebuild and HM looks strong for the forseeable future.

With Tonka and Hopkins down a few notches next year, that opens things up for other schools, but also gives BSM an easier path to State. EP has been to State two years in a row and will have that U12 class another year older and better. I'm sure others will have plugs for their schools, too, but it should be wide open again.

Overall, 4 1-goal semi-final games in A and AA and 1-goal and 2-goal championship games certainly was fun to watch.

Sparlimb · Post by **Sparlimb** » Sun Feb 23, 2014 2:51 pm

sinbin wrote:
Sparlimb wrote:
sinbin wrote:I'd say that timely netminding by the HM keeper had something to do with BSM not capitalizing. In a fairly even game, I think she was the difference, the big saves at the right time.
Benilde's goalie didn't seem to have the same puck luck. Bounces went right for HM, but a lot of that has to do with hard work. BSM did actually outshoot HM, which hasn't happened much this year at all. I'd say one of the other keys was that HM was able to get scoring from all 3 lines tonight and BSM only had one line contribute.

Benilde sure loses a lot of talent and it will be a much different team next year (I know, they seem to always just rebuild). HM loses some key players but not as many as BSM and should be really tough again next year.
Agreed, Spar. Much has been made of BSM "two first lines" and with 6 D1 players, you'd think there would have been more contributions outside of Pannek (at least that showed up on the scoreboard). Perhaps if these two teams play 10 times, they each win 5, but HM won the important (and actual) one. BSM will always recr, er . . . rebuild and HM looks strong for the forseeable future.

With Tonka and Hopkins down a few notches next year, that opens things up for other schools, but also gives BSM an easier path to State. EP has been to State two years in a row and will have that U12 class another year older and better. I'm sure others will have plugs for their schools, too, but it should be wide open again.

Overall, 4 1-goal semi-final games in A and AA and 1-goal and 2-goal championship games certainly was fun to watch.

I thought they said EP only had two seniors, which means they should be really good again next year. Maybe if BSM, Hopkins and Tonka are all down then it will be the year for Maple Grove or Wayzata to make a move. HM's JV also was extremely strong this year (outscoring opponents something like 168-17 and going 23-2 and losing to EP and Lakeville South), which isn't so bad...

If Lakeville South really has that talent coming up (they beat HM's JV 5-1) it will be interesting to watch their battles with North. Anyone know more about South?

http://www.hmgirlshockey.com/page/show/257434-schedule

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Class AA Championship - Hill-Murray v Benilde-St. Margaret

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