Final AA Rankings 2014

[karl(east)]

One last time before November:

1. EDINA
-Two in a row, three out of five: the Edynasty is here. The Hornets may have an edge in numbers and resources that others can only dream of, but these past two years, this team’s coaching staff has taken them to the next level in the playoffs. They set the bar for the rest of the state, and it’s up to everyone else to respond.
2. Lakeville North
-A laugher of a state title game does little to diminish an otherwise superb breakout season for the Panthers, who are now on the map and unlikely to be going away anytime soon. They dazzled with their depth and talent, and were one of my biggest misses in six years of rankings. That won’t be the case next year.
3. Eagan
-The gritty Wildcats might have gotten more out of less than any team this season, playing excellent defense and giving Edina its lone close game of the playoffs. On paper this looks to be the end of the line for a bit, but if the coaching staff can get similar defensive performances in the future, they’ll still be a factor.
4. Eden Prairie
-The Eagles went on a strong run through sections, and gave North all they could handle in an instant classic of a semifinal. Their top players gave some heroic performances, and they also found some of the balance that had eluded them at times over the course of the year. Despite the final two losses, it was a memorable year for the Eagles.
5. Roseau
-The Rams were one of the most impressive teams in St. Paul, giving North all they could handle in the semis before picking up a consolation title. Their stars were ready for the biggest stage, and they played strong enough defense to compete with anyone. Success for Roseau at State is always a good sign for Minnesota hockey, proving even the smallest communities are capable of great things.
6. Hill-Murray
-A strong season came crashing down in the section final for the Pioneers, and for the third time in four years, the end result was a bit disappointing. Still, we all know they’ll just be reloading for next year.
7. Wayzata
-The Trojans were looking like a serious title contender down the stretch, but it all came apart against Benilde in the section semis, and 6AA remains a minefield for any defending champion. They should be right back in the mix next year.
8. Duluth East
-The Hounds had a strong run through a difficult section to claim a sixth straight tournament berth, though their thin offense ran out of gas in St. Paul. Even if the front-end talent is down somewhat, this program still has good depth and a lot of momentum, and that won’t be changing any time soon.
9. Burnsville
-It was a year of ‘what could have been’ for the Blaze, as they suffered some of the highest-profile defections in the state, then stumbled in the section semis. The talent was there, and a regular season win over Edina was a nice step, but they still have yet to close the deal.
10. Blaine
-Like Burnsville, the Bengals came up short, and the tough results in sections are becoming a theme here. Still, that doesn’t take away from a regular season in which they competed with many of the best teams in the state. The end result was a tough loss for a very deep senior class.
11. St. Thomas Academy
-Like many of the teams in this part of the rankings, the Cadets fell short in sections despite high expectations. Still, it was a strong AA debut for a young team, and they could easily be a serious title contender next year.
12. Benilde-St. Margaret’s
-The Red Knights turned it on in sections after a somewhat disappointing regular season, knocking off Wayzata and coming ever so close to a Tourney berth. They’ll be back in the mix in the 6AA meat-grinder once again next year.
13. Centennial
-The Cougars went on a great run in sections, taking down Maple Grove and Blaine, and they gave Eden Prairie a good fight in the State quarterfinals as well. They may have gone 2-and-out the past two years, but that’s a bit deceptive, as they’ve been very competitive in the Tourney, and do a great job despite not being among the favorites.
14. Elk River
-The Elks came awfully close to making their way back to St. Paul, but came up empty in the 7AA final. There’s a lot of talent coming up here, and sooner or later they’ll break through.
15. Stillwater
-It was a breakthrough year for the Ponies, as they stunned White Bear and Hill and made their first trip to State. That State experience didn’t go particularly well, but it was an important first step, and judging by their youth program, this program should continue to be on the rise in the coming years.

Honorable Mention (In No Real Order)
Maple Grove
-Was in the top 15 all season long, though they fell to Centennial in the 5AA semis.
Eastview
-Like Maple Grove, spent a lot of time in the top 15, and had the misfortune of drawing STA in the 3AA semis, though they came close to beating them.
Bloomington Jefferson
-Had a decent year and scored a big upset in sections over Burnsville.
Farmington
-Put together a nice record and made their first AA section title game, which is an important step forward for the program.
Holy Family
-The Fire continued their slow but steady improvement by making their way into a 6AA semifinal.
Andover
-Went on a very nice run over the second half of the season, though they couldn’t quite follow it up with any playoff success.

As always, I have a lot of people to thank for making this all possible. MN Hockey Prospects, for giving these rankings a platform beyond the forum. Mitch and Lee, for their quality computer rankings that are the basis for much of what I do. HSHockeywatcher, for continuing to pick up the slack in Class A. Doug at FollowThePuck, for his heroic work night in and night out collecting scores. The Hub, which even in its diminished state was essential for my work with its box scores. The people at MN Hockey Magazine, for snapping up some of the Hub’s old stars and starting to generate some great original content—I hope we see continued improvement. The many people who tweeted scores at me. The many people who make high school games available over the air or online, whether it be via radio, TV, or live streaming—every bit helps, and there’s a wonderful amount of producing and announcing talent across this state, even at the local level. (Gary Thorne is awesome, but he’s a luxury, and you don’t need people on his level when you can get Peter Waggoner or Jim Erickson or Jeff Pappas in your home at least once a week, to name just a few. While we had an unfortunate lack of a statewide streaming service this year, a lot of teams or local channels helped fill the gap by getting many of their teams’ games up online, and I was still able to see all of the big teams play on a semi-regular basis, even from Duluth.) All of the people out there who get things online in other formats, whether in the form of blogs or team websites that can go deeper than the basic local reporting. And, last but not least, the posters on this forum for serving as my eyes for games I cannot see, my editors, and my critics—and I can’t get better without you. Thanks again.

The reflection essay will be along soon—hopefully tomorrow. Thanks for your patience.

[Doc Holliday]

Great job, as always....

I'm excited for the next few years to see if the Prior Lake's & Holy Family's can take the next step, if the Duluth East's & Eagan's, who have been told after each season "the drop off is about to begin" continue giving everyone a nice big sh!tburger to eat, and for the Edina teams coming up the ranks that are winning at all levels and others trying to derail them.

Along with every other story line...

[Roy01]

I gotta ask, where's Hill Murray in the rankings? Or did the loss to Stillwater take them completely out of it.

[Cadets16]

I gotta ask, where's Hill Murray in the rankings? Or did the loss to Stillwater take them completely out of it.

6.

[alcloseshaver]

Appears to be weighted for state tournament appearances, Wayzata seems low, Centennial? Although teams that make it played well in the postseason in some cases winning a close game. If you took some of the section runner-ups they would have preformed well at State.

[beaconpuck]

Didn't watch a ton of LN besides State Tourney, but sure didn't see any depth. That Poehling line was out there over 60% of the game, doesn't exactly scream depth.

[Sats81]

Thanks for all the great work.

[cake83]

Didn't watch a ton of LN besides State Tourney, but sure didn't see any depth. That Poehling line was out there over 60% of the game, doesn't exactly scream depth.

I'm with you... apart from youth at goal, and the Poehling's for one more year, I don't see them being significant for too long. With as close as their first two games were in the tournament, they could have easily gone 0-2 rather than 2-0 against Roseau and EP.

I would like to see them keep up a high level of play for at least one more year. I'm so excited at the prospect of an Edina / LN rematch at some point in next year's tournament. I would like to see cleaner play (nothing dirty), but both teams are young enough that some bad blood should carry over to next season.

[Roy01]

I gotta ask, where's Hill Murray in the rankings? Or did the loss to Stillwater take them completely out of it.

6.

Ah, missed that. Thanks!

[cigar]

beaconpuck,

i saw LN numerous times during the regular season and i thought they were one of the deepest teams in state..

i also have to say i was very disappointed in how much they played its first line in the tourney. i thought they were overplaying that line and not relying on its depth.. but they still made it to the title game, i'm not sure if it would have otherwise and i guess we shall never know..

[karl(east)]

beaconpuck,

i saw LN numerous times during the regular season and i thought they were one of the deepest teams in state..

i also have to say i was very disappointed in how much they played its first line in the tourney. i thought they were overplaying that line and not relying on its depth.. but they still made it to the title game, i'm not sure if it would have otherwise and i guess we shall never know..

I would agree. I think there is a temptation to rely on top players at the State Tourney, especially when you have the TV timeouts that let teams bring back their big players more often. Some teams (Eagan being the obvious example this year) can get a lot out of riding a few top players. But at the same time, teams should play to their strengths. Within the Tourney field, I'd say only Edina had a better 3rd line, yet you wouldn't have known it, since North they didn't see a whole ton of ice time. That can take a toll, especially when you play 3 games in 3 days, the second of which was brutal. But this was North's first appearance as a real contender, so I suspect they'll learn.

And yes, if it wasn't obvious, playoff performance gets heavy extra weight in these rankings.

[upnorthfan]

I like your comment when referring to Roseau, that small communities can still do great things. A little perspective. Roseau had the smallest enrollment at the state tourney, either class. Roseau's enrollment is around 320, the next smallest AA school was around 1575. Eden Prairie's enrollment of over 2800 is larger than the total population of the city of Roseau!

[RoseauHockeyFan]

Karl, thanks so much for providing one more year of your sublime rankings and analyses of Minnesota high school hockey! I have loved reading them each and every week!

[black sheep]

it'd be interesting to fit the class A's into that. If Roseau is #5 and they were solidly swept by a couple class A teams...that would mean they have to fit in above them in the top 5.

how high is an interesting thought.

seems like the AA / A gap is closing for top teams...AA just has much more depth overall likely.

[upnorthfan]

I always love the argument that teams lost to A teams, so they need to be ranked higher. The move up to AA and play.

[warriors41]

I always love the argument that teams lost to A teams, so they need to be ranked higher. The move up to AA and play.

If team A sweeps team B it's pretty reasonable to assume that team A is better regardless of class. I have great respect for Roseau and their program. My mom graduated from there, my grand parents still live, and I even went to elementary school there. This statement isn't meant to belittle them in any way. However, when we look at the boxscores for the EGF-Roseau games this year, we all know EGF was the better team this year. It's beyond ridiculous to say Roseau is better than the class A champs because they play in class AA.

[BlueLineSpecial]

Edina has almost immeasurable advantages and there really isn't an end in sight. They have the community size (50,000 strong), financial support, resources, desire and tradition to continue steamrolling their way to a handful of titles every decade.

The thing is, Minnesota needs a better villain. What can all the public school advocates say when one of their own casts a shadow like this over the MN hockey landscape? Money? Mega school? Weak arguments compared to the vitriol spouted about privates on a regular basis. Your enemy is one of your own

You see Minnesota, you need Hill Murray. You need an enemy you can truly despise. Perhaps to set things right, to defeat a common enemy, one day we could become friends. Friends that ride majestic translucent steeds, shooting flaming arrows across the bridge of Hemdale.

[almostashappy]

The thing is, Minnesota needs a better villain. What can all the public school advocates say when one of their own casts a shadow like this over the MN hockey landscape? Money? Mega school? Weak arguments compared to the vitriol spouted about privates on a regular basis. Your enemy is one of your own

Money is not a weak argument, and, "We are the 99%" probably applies.

The money that Edina parents save by not sending their kids to private school is spent instead on the higher mortgage payment required to own a home within the Edina school district. Anything left over goes to purchasing home and away jerseys each and every year that their kid plays in Edina's youth hockey program.

[BlueLineSpecial]

The thing is, Minnesota needs a better villain. What can all the public school advocates say when one of their own casts a shadow like this over the MN hockey landscape? Money? Mega school? Weak arguments compared to the vitriol spouted about privates on a regular basis. Your enemy is one of your own

Money is not a weak argument, and, "We are the 99%" probably applies.

The money that Edina parents save by not sending their kids to private school is spent instead on the higher mortgage payment required to own a home within the Edina school district. Anything left over goes to purchasing home and away jerseys each and every year that their kid plays in Edina's youth hockey program.

"We are the 99%" doesn't include Eagan of course, correct?

Edina
Median income for a household 76,805.00
2.0% of families below poverty line
3.3% of total population below poverty line

Eagan
Median income for a household 67,388.00
1.9% of families below poverty line
2.9% of total population below poverty line

Those poor, disadvantaged Eagan youth

[almostashappy]

"We are the 99%" doesn't include Eagan of course, correct?

Edina
Median income for a household 76,805.00
2.0% of families below poverty line
3.3% of total population below poverty line

Eagan
Median income for a household 67,388.00
1.9% of families below poverty line
2.9% of total population below poverty line

Those poor, disadvantaged Eagan youth

How about we look at real estate values, since that's what I actually talked about in my post?

Edina
Median sales price, single family home (Dec 13-Mar14): $375,000
Average list price for homes currently on market: $776,242
Average price per square foot: $247

Eagan
Median sales price: $211,850
Average list price: $320,127
Average price per square foot: $108

So what's the increase in monthly mortgage payment if you're financing an extra $160,000? Roughly $1000/month for a 30yr fixed rate mortgage. Throw in increased property taxes and insurance, and the difference in house payments has to be $13-14,000/year.

That's not too far off private school tuition, right?

[MNHockeyFan]

"We are the 99%" doesn't include Eagan of course, correct?

Actually there are quite a few cities in Minnesota that are "richer" than Edina if you define it by median household income. In this ranking Edina comes in at No. 61!

http://www.usa.com/rank/minnesota-state ... y-rank.htm

According to this survey there are six Minnesota cities that are at least as big as Edina but have higher median household incomes:

#26 Maple Grove - $92,768
#29 Lakeville - $91,631
#30 Woodbury - $91,383
#37 Eden Prairie- $89,493
#44 Plymouth - $85,340
#54 Minnetonka - $81,324

#61 Edina - $79,535

P.S. I was very surprised to see where Wayzata comes in:
#140 Wayzata - $64,369

[east hockey]

"We are the 99%" doesn't include Eagan of course, correct?

Actually there are quite a few cities in Minnesota that are "richer" than Edina if you define it by median household income. In this ranking Edina comes in at No. 61!

http://www.usa.com/rank/minnesota-state ... y-rank.htm

According to this survey there are six Minnesota cities that are at least as big as Edina but have higher median household incomes:

#26 Maple Grove - $92,768
#29 Lakeville - $91,631
#30 Woodbury - $91,383
#37 Eden Prairie- $89,493
#44 Plymouth - $85,340
#54 Minnetonka - $81,324

#61 Edina - $79,535

P.S. I was very surprised to see where Wayzata comes in:
#140 Wayzata - $64,369

Man, what a bunch of freaking Richie Rich's! Duluth is #510. The town I live in now (Proctor) weights in at a lofty #257. Guess Duluth was more Ma & Pa Kettle than I thought.

Lee

[cake83]

"We are the 99%" doesn't include Eagan of course, correct?

Actually there are quite a few cities in Minnesota that are "richer" than Edina if you define it by median household income. In this ranking Edina comes in at No. 61!

http://www.usa.com/rank/minnesota-state ... y-rank.htm

According to this survey there are six Minnesota cities that are at least as big as Edina but have higher median household incomes:

#26 Maple Grove - $92,768
#29 Lakeville - $91,631
#30 Woodbury - $91,383
#37 Eden Prairie- $89,493
#44 Plymouth - $85,340
#54 Minnetonka - $81,324

#61 Edina - $79,535

P.S. I was very surprised to see where Wayzata comes in:
#140 Wayzata - $64,369

I would be really curious to see what the percentage of single income homes is in all those communities. I don't know but I guess I would assume there are a lot more stay at home mom's in Edina and that might factor into it.

Can anyone find that stat?

[BlueLineSpecial]

"We are the 99%" doesn't include Eagan of course, correct?

Edina
Median income for a household 76,805.00
2.0% of families below poverty line
3.3% of total population below poverty line

Eagan
Median income for a household 67,388.00
1.9% of families below poverty line
2.9% of total population below poverty line

Those poor, disadvantaged Eagan youth

How about we look at real estate values, since that's what I actually talked about in my post?

Edina
Median sales price, single family home (Dec 13-Mar14): $375,000
Average list price for homes currently on market: $776,242
Average price per square foot: $247

Eagan
Median sales price: $211,850
Average list price: $320,127
Average price per square foot: $108

So what's the increase in monthly mortgage payment if you're financing an extra $160,000? Roughly $1000/month for a 30yr fixed rate mortgage. Throw in increased property taxes and insurance, and the difference in house payments has to be $13-14,000/year.

That's not too far off private school tuition, right?

You also mentioned "We are the 99%ers". Many suburban cities have plenty of money to go around and don't necessarily excel in hockey. How'd Tonka do this year?

My original post was, apparent to most, in jest.

[BlueLineSpecial]

"We are the 99%" doesn't include Eagan of course, correct?

Actually there are quite a few cities in Minnesota that are "richer" than Edina if you define it by median household income. In this ranking Edina comes in at No. 61!

http://www.usa.com/rank/minnesota-state ... y-rank.htm

According to this survey there are six Minnesota cities that are at least as big as Edina but have higher median household incomes:

#26 Maple Grove - $92,768
#29 Lakeville - $91,631
#30 Woodbury - $91,383
#37 Eden Prairie- $89,493
#44 Plymouth - $85,340
#54 Minnetonka - $81,324

#61 Edina - $79,535

P.S. I was very surprised to see where Wayzata comes in:
#140 Wayzata - $64,369

Man, what a bunch of freaking Richie Rich's! Duluth is #510. The town I live in now (Proctor) weights in at a lofty #257. Guess Duluth was more Ma & Pa Kettle than I thought.

Lee

Duluth at 510?!?! I guess DE should play this song at home games when they come out for warmups:

http://youtu.be/iIGKlicb8n0