East Side Pioneer Guy wrote:Hey Karl, are the attendance figures bodies through the gates or "tickets sold"?
Tickets sold, so there definitely were some empty seats belonging to season ticket-holders.
Now, for an all-important set of rankings...the AA quarterfinal student sections!
1. Edina
-It's easy to have fun when you win big, but that was the best Edina student section I've seen (and they're never bad). Loved the beach theme, the many beach balls, the rowdy chants...they were excellent.
2. Duluth East
-Sure, I'm a homer, but they had great representation for a smaller, non-metro AA school, and they kept the noise up pretty much nonstop through the 3rd period. They also had the wardrobe change midway through the 3rd (never seen that before), and were classy as always with their signs honoring a Denfeld student with East ties battling brain cancer.
3. Centennial
-Great pastel colors and noise throughout.
4. Eagan
-Nice and big, though being scattered along the upper deck hurt their coordination some.
5. Stillwater
-Big, but uncoordinated, and no band.
6. Eden Prairie
-Way too small for their size, though nice and loud. No band.
7. Roseau
-Impossible to compare against the others given their size, but the Class A schools of comparable enrollment did a better job of coordinating.
8. Lakeville North
-Sitting down? Seriously? C'mon, kids, you're at the State Tourney!
First, the mundane stuff about the game. He thought the Hawks' effort was "a lot better, a lot gritter" than Wednesday. When a team plays someone they've beaten in sections, he says, "there's a little angst there" for the losing team, so that gives them some motivation. He wasn't happy with the penalties, especially since seniors were taking them, and "couldn't breathe the whole time."
Wasbotten--is this the year? "I hope so. We want it bad this year." Asked abut cellying in front of the New Prague student section after his EN, he said, "I skated over to their section just for fun. They weren't too happy."
Plante on Ryan Carlson: "he's our best defensive defenseman. He always wanted to be on the power play, but we don't let him...we call him Pronger."
Plante, on a 5th straight title game: "I suppose it would be pretty weird. I don't know what to think...[if we lose again] people call me so many names already. The one I like is when they compare me to Bud Grant. Bud shoots ducks and fishes and all that sh**. You can't believe how much I've thought about this. I'll be committing hari-kari if we finish second again. I'm not gonna be able to go out in public, at least not in Hermantown."
Reporter: but it'll be a good reason not to retire, right? "No, it might be a good reason to quit. I could get the hell out and go ice fishing with my buddy, Rick."
Coach Lonke had the unenviable task of following that up. He gave credit to the Hawks for using the last line change to their advantage, matching their top line against NP's top line, gave credit to Plante, and said turnovers in the neutral zone made them pay. The team was energized after the 2nd goal, saying "that'll make them start thinking" about losing at State yet again. But in the end Hermantown "blocked a ton of shots, and made us pay." He said he was proud of the Trojans' special teams and their seniors, and was happy that the team was "instantly positive" after the loss, and ready to go play for 3rd. He also talked about hockey being "on the map now" in NP.
Last edited by karl(east) on Fri Mar 07, 2014 2:41 pm, edited 1 time in total.
As usual, I'm backlogged at this point. First, EGF-SCC:
When asked to compare this season's semi to last year's, Palmscino said, "well, St. Thomas was pretty good....we were not ready for that moment." This year, they were, though it "got a little helter-skelter in the second period." The team has "worked for this all the way up," and they've grown both in the quality of their play and their maturity of late.
Their physical play is their MO, and "when we finish our checks, everything else comes."
SCC did a very good job of keeping them to the outside, he added. EGF hasn't seen Hermantown in a few years, but expects a battle.
Question--this is the first all public school final since 2003, do you put any stock in that? "No." Blunt and simple.
Coach Johnson from SCC began by expressing his pride for his team, talking about all they've been through in losing Poganski and Hall to juniors, and the senior leadership they had. They had some issues early on, but, to quote Ken Pauly, "what happens in December stays in December," and they had EGF right where they wanted them through 2 periods. They'll "be ready to bounce back tomorrow," and they responded to adversity "like veterans" all along.
Zach Fritz said the team played one of its best games, and credited EGF for their play on the game-winning 2-on-1.
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North-Eden Prairie notes:
First off, Tristen Hazlett couldn't make the press conference because of an injury, though we didn't get anything on his status for tomorrow.
Coach Eigner said "every step forward is a first" for the program at this point, and said "you go to funerals and always hear 'he was a great guy' and it's not always true, but it is with this group...both teams were a MASH unit late in the game, running out of gas." He talked about his confidence in all 3 lines.
The talk about 1AA being a weak section doesn't bother Eigner. He said it is true for the most part, but he just worries about his program. He's following the blueprints laid by Randolph and Giles, he said, in how he wants to build this program, and also cited Motzko and Gwozdecky as influences.
They'll now go "pump these kids full of fluids" and be ready to go tomorrow.
Nick Poehling couldn't describe the feeling (his coach told him he was allowed to answer 'no' to that question). He asked Eigner if he could say what he said to the team after the wide open first period, to which Eigner responded "I dunno." He chose not to say it, whatever it was. Oettinger humbly gave all the credit for his performance to defense.
The Eden Prairie conference was among the more memorable I've seen. Steven Spinner came in sporting as massive welt on his neck, and Luc Snuggerud broke down in tears. Coach Smith described the scene on the bench vividly, saying he came off the ice with cramps and was "wailing and lying down" on the bench. He said his two big guns raised their game to a "Leddy/Rau level" tonight.
Spinner described Snuggerud as the "heart and soul" of the team, and when he goes down, that "sparks the team to battle twice as hard..."the amount of pain he was in was ridiculous." Jake Gerdes said the injuries to Spinner and Snuggerud had the rest of the team saying "let's do it for them," and "if he [Snuggerud] can play like that [with the broken hand], we can make a dream come true."
Coach Smith said he "didn't want a run-and-gun game," as they'd had the first time around, but that's what he got in the 1st period. They played on their heels some in the 2nd, though, and North put in two goals while Snuggerud was in the box on a coincidental minor late in the 2nd. He also said they stopped shooting when they had Oettinger on the ropes somewhat in the 2nd, which let him gain some composure.
Smith said he would really miss this group of seniors; they had a player's dad die before sections, and another was sick. They were "playing hard for their community," he concluded.
Last edited by karl(east) on Fri Mar 07, 2014 11:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.
As always, I have a vote on the all-tourney teams, so if you have any input, I'd gladly have it. Voting closes after the 1st period of the championship games.
karl(east) wrote:As always, I have a vote on the all-tourney teams, so if you have any input, I'd gladly have it. Voting closes after the 1st period of the championship games.
Tough for me to take a shot, since I didn't see every game, but here are a few from each team that I would probably start my list with.
Centennial - Gorowsky, Anderson
Edina - Nanne, Fidler,Malmquist
EP - Snuggerud, Jack Sullivan, Spinner
Lakeville North - Poehlings, Hazlett, Oettinger - Goalie
Eagan - Wolff, Jensen, Lindgren - Goalie
Roseau - Yon, Bjugson, Anderson - Goalie
Stillwater - Stotts, Reinke
Duluth East - Beaulieu, Kolar
Coach Palmsicno: "When we play our best, it's tough for anyone to beat us. We had yet to do that in the first two games of the Tournament...I thought we won the game in the first period, killing all those penalties." They didn't want to change their gameplay after all those penalties, "just stay more disciplined in how we reacted." He was struggling to recall all of the EGF goals in the second period, as there were so many. He added that "we knew what we had" on offense, even though they were doubted at times this season.
Reed Corbid, on the hit that set up a key goal: "he had his head down, so I made him pay." He was skating off the ice and didn't even see the puck go in.
Eddie Eades: "We did it for all the times we came up short," he said, adding a shoutout to last year's team. There was some talk about EGF's work in the weight room, but he had a better explanation: "The deli at school got closed this year, so there were fewer cookies and ice cream. Maybe we're on to something."
Coach Palmscino concluded by talking about what this little run they're on has done for EGF hockey: "We had a record number of termites this year. I hope it continues." When asked, he said his dad, a former EGF coach, was a key role model.
Bruce Plante time.
Plante: "They got the momentum, it snowball, we were reeling...they're nasty and physical and fast. They played great and took it to us."
On 5 straight losses: "If it didn't hurt so much, I'd laugh...this one was totally, completely okay. We played so hard. It was a rebuilding team, and we went so far. I love em to death. We ran into a better team...it feels a lot better losing to East Grand than anyone else. They're the same kind of simple program we are. I'm sure I'll hear a lot about that...social media...it's a good thing I don't read any of that. Some of my coaches do and they tell me about it...it's just a joke. I'm kind of a longer guy anyway, I like to hag around at the lake. People treat me great."
Are you coming back next year, Bruce? "That's to be determined. Maybe someone else can take them all the way. It gets to be a a pretty big sack of rocks on your back." [Anyone else reading the writing on the wall here?]
Plante added that this team probably didn't deserve favorite status; it was more because of Hermantown's reputation, "but they were okay with it. There were a lot of google-eyed guys." He said he tried switching line match-ups, but couldn't do a very good job of it since EGF had the last change, and said "we were counting on our goalie to keep it close" when things started snowballing, and "it didn't happen." He said he didn't think about making the switch until the 3rd. He knew they were in trouble when they didn't score on those 3 straight power plays, as "the refs have marbles in their pockets....they're gonna even them up." When asked about EGF's depth, he used it as an opportunity to talk about how tenuous he sees Hermantown's depth--they were down to 3 D toward the end of the game due to injuries, and will "have a 5'5" goalie next year." So that would seem to answer any questions about Hermantown opting up in the immediate future.
Karl, find someone from the X and get the scoop on the concessions. It seems they didn't get the memo about the lack of fisheaters on this tournament. Apparently, they ran out of brats before EP & LN went into OT. And they were way over on walleye baskets.
Class A all-tourney team: I was a lot further off than I normally am. I voted for no one from 4th place Cathedral, and 3 made it. I had a different Totino player, and voted for 3 EGF defensemen, yet one of the two who made the team wasn't one of the ones I voted for. (He was deserving, I think, but how on earth does Eades not make it?) I had another New Prague forward, and a different Hermantown forward. Oh well.
karl(east) wrote:Class A all-tourney team: I was a lot further off than I normally am. I voted for no one from 4th place Cathedral, and 3 made it. I had a different Totino player, and voted for 3 EGF defensemen, yet one of the two who made the team wasn't one of the ones I voted for. (He was deserving, I think, but how on earth does Eades not make it?) I had another New Prague forward, and a different Hermantown forward. Oh well.
Starting to plan my AA ballot now.
I was wondering that too. 4th place cathedral has three, while 2nd place hermantown had two and eades and BOWEN (who I thought should have been ATT for sure) didn't make it.
Giles sits down at the press conference, and when no one says a word for the first two words, he says, "okay, we're done. We can go."
When asked about the turning point this season, Tyler Nanne talked about the 6-1 loss to Hill. "We got bag skated right when we got back to the rink. It was a turning point...we'd be nothing without our coaching staff." It was a similar moment to the Schwan Cup losses last year.
Someone asked Giles if he was at all worried after the wide open first. "We were fine. We just work within the system, and it'll all settle itslef down." He said the team was fortunate to have good depth, and pointed to Kieffer Bellows (seated to his right) as someone who'd dropped to the 3rd line midseason but bought in and made the team better.
When asked about Edina's occasional lack of discipline, Giles said it was "no concern. We want kids who have an edge...there's a fine line. We want them to be emotionally involved...it's a lot better to have to tone them down than jack them up. They've got to be disciplined."
When asked about the successful underclassmen, he said there was "no different treatment. The expectations are the same."
Giles didn't think about a possible repeat much, though it was hard not to hear some of the talk about it. In the end, though, "nothing compares. We've got a coach who has won four Stanley Cups, and he's just as excited about this." He went on to say how fortunate he was to have the youth program and the community he has supporting the team, and said this team had the best chemistry and leadership of any he's had.
He concluded: "Winning championships isn't what I enjoy most--it's working with the kids. There's a rap against Edina that the kids are spoiled, they're handed everything, they're not tough. It's not true. They work hard, they're respectful, they care...it's a blast."
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Trent Eigner's first question was whether it was better to lose a laugher like this than a close one, and he said, "I need some time to think about it. We didn't play very well...we got all out of sorts early on. That green and gold jersey is worth a goal."
He had "one fear going in": that physical fatigue would lead to emotional fatigue. "Fatigue makes cowards of us all," he said. (Eigner is wonderfully quotable.) "They came and got us...it was our first kick at the can. We responded well in the first."
He was asked again about the effort to build a program on the level of Edina or Duluth East, and cited Edina's "quality hockey people throughout the community...when the funnel gets small at the top, it spits out a pretty good team...I'm not going to wait for that good group to come up every 4-5 years."
"It was a challenge clawing back. We were running on fumes already, and it was a huge hurdle to climb...they guys in white jerseys had more to do with 14 shots on goal than fatigue."
"Thanks, guys. I had a great weekend."
I'll agree with that last one. As always, I'll have some end-of-season rankings and a little essay over the next few days, though it might take a little longer than usual, as I'm backlogged and spent more time messing around on Twitter and such. Thanks for your patience...it's been a delightfully hectic weekend.
