Duluth East at Elk River 1/31 7PM

[sanryam]

Agreed, East's defensive scheme seemed to really interrupt the Elks' normally high powered offense. They definitely broke up the usual chemistry of JJ-Lutz and Murray-Zerban. Blocked shots were superb on East's part.

This is the first time all season that the Elks were held to under 3 goals. But while the offense struggled for the first time, goaltender Ben Meyers had his best game of the year. He was spectacular (as was Howg), saving 33/34 shots. Excellent improvement as the season goes on by the ER sophomore goalie.

[Bayside Tigers]

All these post game assessments seem to be fair & accurate. I told you (In my best Wes Herman voice) that this section is anybodies to take. You all can spend your every waking moments connecting the dots on scoresheets, adding up stats and downright psychoanalyzing every pass of every game all season long to come up with your playoff rankings, but I'm telling you-a bingo ball hopper is the answer. Besides, no team gets a bye anyways, so who cares. All these teams are going to come to play-and to win-come tournament time, and I don't think there will be a single blowout.

I legitimately don't think I've heard the Elk River arena as quiet as it was during their (and the game's only) power play, which they scored on with 1 second remaining. My God did they have to work hard for that goal. Both teams hit crossbars, scoring chances both ways, goalies each played great games. Plenty of nacho cheese with my nacho tray. Nothing worse than running out of cheese before chips. Other than a tie. I'd rather walk out of that building with a loss than a tie.

MWS Coach don't be fooled by Anoka, they're not a bad team either.

To say the 7AA bracket in February is going to be interesting as well as entertaining is an understatement.

[hockey59]

Howg stopped both JJ and Zerban on breakaways early on. DE picked up the D zone coverage after that. Shots were 8-2 at that point in favor of the Elks. Hounds outworked Elks for stretches of the game. How in the world did the hounds lose to Anoka??? Must not have played even close to the game they played against the Elks. Sections games should be hotly contested an a lot of fun to watch!

Anoka's 5-3 win over DE Tuesday is looking better and better...after DE's performance tonight against ER

Anoka won tonight 4-3 over MG (too).

[green4]

But once again Randolph has his guys ready and peaking at the right time

Let's take a step back. It's a nice result when playing a solid team like ER, but it's only a tie. Not to mention they just lost to Anoka, who is better than the credit they get, but I woudnt say a loss and a tie has East "peaking".
Let's see how they do against their remaining schedule.

[TheHockeyDJ]

But once again Randolph has his guys ready and peaking at the right time

Let's take a step back. It's a nice result when playing a solid team like ER, but it's only a tie. Not to mention they just lost to Anoka, who is better than the credit they get, but I woudnt say a loss and a tie has East "peaking".
Let's see how they do against their remaining schedule.

East gets a loss and a tie and they are "peaking". Rapids does the same thing at any point in the season and they are the worst team in the history of hockey and the program should just be shut down.

[WestMetro]

Was freshman Luke LaMaster a force in this game for the Hounds?

[Houndhockey]

But once again Randolph has his guys ready and peaking at the right time

Let's take a step back. It's a nice result when playing a solid team like ER, but it's only a tie. Not to mention they just lost to Anoka, who is better than the credit they get, but I woudnt say a loss and a tie has East "peaking".
Let's see how they do against their remaining schedule.

East gets a loss and a tie and they are "peaking". Rapids does the same thing at any point in the season and they are the worst team in the history of hockey and the program should just be shut down.

Let's just remember who are making these comments, not the normal die hard East fans. I am cautiously pleased with the result on Saturday. This team has been so up and down that unless they finish strong the rest of the way, this game could be meaningless, with the exception that they know they can skate with the best in 7AA. I will wait to see how they fare against CEC tonight before getting to optimistic for playoffs. This game certainly did help their section seed though. Strong enough case for a #3 seed even with a loss to CEC I believe. Sections can't come soon enough.

[TheHockeyDJ]

Let's take a step back. It's a nice result when playing a solid team like ER, but it's only a tie. Not to mention they just lost to Anoka, who is better than the credit they get, but I woudnt say a loss and a tie has East "peaking".
Let's see how they do against their remaining schedule.

East gets a loss and a tie and they are "peaking". Rapids does the same thing at any point in the season and they are the worst team in the history of hockey and the program should just be shut down.

Let's just remember who are making these comments, not the normal die hard East fans. I am cautiously pleased with the result on Saturday. This team has been so up and down that unless they finish strong the rest of the way, this game could be meaningless, with the exception that they know they can skate with the best in 7AA. I will wait to see how they fare against CEC tonight before getting to optimistic for playoffs. This game certainly did help their section seed though. Strong enough case for a #3 seed even with a loss to CEC I believe. Sections can't come soon enough.

I disagree with East getting a 3 seed if they lose tonight. If East loses to CEC and they don't beat LVS or Blaine, they should be the 5 seed playing at STMA. Just my honest opinion.

[Houndhockey]

East gets a loss and a tie and they are "peaking". Rapids does the same thing at any point in the season and they are the worst team in the history of hockey and the program should just be shut down.

Let's just remember who are making these comments, not the normal die hard East fans. I am cautiously pleased with the result on Saturday. This team has been so up and down that unless they finish strong the rest of the way, this game could be meaningless, with the exception that they know they can skate with the best in 7AA. I will wait to see how they fare against CEC tonight before getting to optimistic for playoffs. This game certainly did help their section seed though. Strong enough case for a #3 seed even with a loss to CEC I believe. Sections can't come soon enough.

I disagree with East getting a 3 seed if they lose tonight. If East loses to CEC and they don't beat LVS or Blaine, they should be the 5 seed playing at STMA. Just my honest opinion.

Not sure how CEC beating East jumps them up that high. This should be a overall body of work that we are basing them off of. That means they would have split the season series, they split with GR and East lost to GR. CEC lost to FL and East beat them. CEC lost to Denfeld and Hopkins who East beat both of. They both tied Andover. I believe their section record is 3-3-1 at this point while Easts is 4-1-2. So even a loss to CEC and the section record is still better. Overall body of work is pretty even when you look at it. CEC beat DMarshall and tied Hermantown. East doesnt have a signature win, but beat the teams below them (CEC and STMA) being a couple of those teams, and tied ER. Plus, East does still have the opportunity to get a good win over Blaine, LakevilleS or Minnetonka while CEC has to win or else will definitely slide to #5. I think the CEC vs STMA game decides the #4 seed. If they tie, who knows, but CEC has looked better as of late so I could see them getting the nod.