HS AA/A Pre-Season Top 10

TheHockeyDJ · Post by **TheHockeyDJ** » Wed Nov 04, 2015 10:06 am

Bemidji I would pick as the favorite in 8AA, but I'd have STMA very close behind them. This STMA group has a lot of talent, but last year they couldn't of had a worse opponent to play at home and go into the game for the quarterfinals and be a bit too full of themselves. Hopefully for them they learned the lesson Dave Esse's Jacks provided. I would like to see Bemidji get back, but I too am a bit concerned about their losses in the offseason. Moorhead seems like they are always going to be lingering. Anyone have any thoughts on Brainerd or Roseau?

lovethisgame · Post by **lovethisgame** » Wed Nov 04, 2015 10:47 am

Any new ideas for a Class A top ten??

Shortshift · Post by **Shortshift** » Wed Nov 04, 2015 12:23 pm

How does this look for class A?

1. STA
2. BSM
3. Grand Rapids
4. Hill Murry
5. Holy Family
6. Duluth Marshall
7. Bemidji
8. AHA
9. Roseau
10. Cloquet
11. Hermantown

cigar · Post by **cigar** » Wed Nov 04, 2015 12:27 pm

bemidji and tonka both will be top 5.

Imported from MN · Post by **Imported from MN** » Wed Nov 04, 2015 12:34 pm

northwoods oldtimer wrote:
east hockey wrote:
TheHockeyDJ wrote: Mattson, Bischoff, Adams, Miller, Stampohar, Stejskal, Hain, McLaughlin, Heitkamp. I'd like my chances with those players. East has some good ones too, but I don't see any UND or U of M commits there.
Why would they commit to UND or U of M? Wouldn't they rather commit to a team which has an NCAA championship in the last ten years?

Lee
Lee, what DJ doesn't know is that all those East kids listed above will play D1 hockey.

All is a pretty far cry..
Altman could make it but will undoubtedly have to prove himself in juniors first. He had a little bit of luck growing as much as he did so quickly and making the smart choice going to F from D.
Dow is a good player but lacks the uncoachables. Height and weight could limit him severely.
Peterson is solid but again will need to play some juniors

East's lack of high school committed talent is somewhat troublesome in an age where college commitments are coming younger and younger.

As far as the colleges they choose maybe it has to do with what college puts out the most Pro ready players... I know UND and UM would be on the top of my list if that was my main concern.

PS can we hold of on the canonizing of Randolph it's only Nov. we have a long(not long enough) season ahead of us.

TheHockeyDJ · Post by **TheHockeyDJ** » Wed Nov 04, 2015 12:52 pm

The stats prove Rapids has a deeper roster. Again, I'll take any bet that Mattson alone plays more NHL games in his career than East's roster combined. Also, East's talent is younger. Rapids top line has more skill and far more muscle. At the end of the day, we are just looking at paper and the season hasn't even begun. No one really knows how the season will play out. I'll quote Trent Klatt from his KOZY interview a few weeks ago, "It doesn't matter what you did yesterday, it only matters what you will do tomorrow." Preseason talk and banter is fun for the fans and shows how much passion there is for HS hockey in Minnesota. Both Rapids and East should have very good seasons. Both teams have a lot of strengths going into the season and both have a question mark (defense for GR, goaltending for East IMO). I'm not writing Elk River off either, they have talent and a deep program, I just wonder how quickly they can recover from losing Lutz and Jaremko.

Btw northwoods, if you're so sure of your opinion I'm waiting for you to refute that stats put up by the GR players in the Elite league as was mentioned by someone vastly superior at analyzing the game: WestMetro

hawkenjonny · Post by **hawkenjonny** » Wed Nov 04, 2015 1:01 pm

TheHockeyDJ wrote:The stats prove Rapids has a deeper roster. Again, I'll take any bet that Mattson alone plays more NHL games in his career than East's roster combined. Also, East's talent is younger. Rapids top line has more skill and far more muscle. At the end of the day, we are just looking at paper and the season hasn't even begun. No one really knows how the season will play out. I'll quote Trent Klatt from his KOZY interview a few weeks ago, "It doesn't matter what you did yesterday, it only matters what you will do tomorrow." Preseason talk and banter is fun for the fans and shows how much passion there is for HS hockey in Minnesota. Both Rapids and East should have very good seasons. Both teams have a lot of strengths going into the season and both have a question mark (defense for GR, goaltending for East IMO). I'm not writing Elk River off either, they have talent and a deep program, I just wonder how quickly they can recover from losing Lutz and Jaremko.

I agree. The GR bantams have been solid the last couple years and those guys now have some high school experience. I also agree (sadly) that GR has not lived up to their potential (some call it hype). This is the year! Can you tell I am also a Vikings fan?

Btw northwoods, if you're so sure of your opinion I'm waiting for you to refute that stats put up by the GR players in the Elite league as was mentioned by someone vastly superior at analyzing the game: WestMetro

Wet Paint · Post by **Wet Paint** » Wed Nov 04, 2015 2:16 pm

TheHockeyDJ wrote:The stats prove Rapids has a deeper roster. Again, I'll take any bet that Mattson alone plays more NHL games in his career than East's roster combined. Also, East's talent is younger. Rapids top line has more skill and far more muscle. At the end of the day, we are just looking at paper and the season hasn't even begun. No one really knows how the season will play out. I'll quote Trent Klatt from his KOZY interview a few weeks ago, "It doesn't matter what you did yesterday, it only matters what you will do tomorrow." Preseason talk and banter is fun for the fans and shows how much passion there is for HS hockey in Minnesota. Both Rapids and East should have very good seasons. Both teams have a lot of strengths going into the season and both have a question mark (defense for GR, goaltending for East IMO). I'm not writing Elk River off either, they have talent and a deep program, I just wonder how quickly they can recover from losing Lutz and Jaremko.

Btw northwoods, if you're so sure of your opinion I'm waiting for you to refute that stats put up by the GR players in the Elite league as was mentioned by someone vastly superior at analyzing the game: WestMetro

How can you say that East has weak or questionable goaltending when the guy who is assumed to be in net for them (Meierhoff) played last year and did pretty well? At the high school level. Looking at the basic break down for the teams I think East is a better team. GR has some big name talent who might or might not come through for them this year like they did or didn't last year. Their D is weaker than East's is if for no other reasons than depth and experience and their goalies have not even played a high school game yet. Being a stud in Bantams is not the same as being a stud in high school. The biggest joker in this deck is the coaching from what I can see. I am NOT bashing Rapid's new coach but he has a couple of really big issues on his plate. Randolph for East is his biggest and then he has to try to get those Senior forwards to play consistently this year which they didn't do last year. Last year I saw a couple of the GR games and about half of the time I saw them I got the feeling that they either did not want to be there or that they were so mad at each other that they didn't want to send a pass to one of their line mates for fear that he might score and look good. I will sign up when I see him bench one of those guys for not working hard but until then I see East on top of this section with ER, CLoquet and GR all in the mix for 2 through 4.

I also took a college statistics class once upon a time and the instructor's opening statement was to remember that although statistics do not lie, liars use statistics. I am not saying that anybody is lying here but I watched that guy prove 4 vastly different things with the same data set depending on which set of factors he chose to emphasize and which he didn't.

ThePuckStopsHere · Post by **ThePuckStopsHere** » Wed Nov 04, 2015 2:47 pm

Wet Paint wrote:
TheHockeyDJ wrote:The stats prove Rapids has a deeper roster. Again, I'll take any bet that Mattson alone plays more NHL games in his career than East's roster combined. Also, East's talent is younger. Rapids top line has more skill and far more muscle. At the end of the day, we are just looking at paper and the season hasn't even begun. No one really knows how the season will play out. I'll quote Trent Klatt from his KOZY interview a few weeks ago, "It doesn't matter what you did yesterday, it only matters what you will do tomorrow." Preseason talk and banter is fun for the fans and shows how much passion there is for HS hockey in Minnesota. Both Rapids and East should have very good seasons. Both teams have a lot of strengths going into the season and both have a question mark (defense for GR, goaltending for East IMO). I'm not writing Elk River off either, they have talent and a deep program, I just wonder how quickly they can recover from losing Lutz and Jaremko.

Btw northwoods, if you're so sure of your opinion I'm waiting for you to refute that stats put up by the GR players in the Elite league as was mentioned by someone vastly superior at analyzing the game: WestMetro
How can you say that East has weak or questionable goaltending when the guy who is assumed to be in net for them (Meierhoff) played last year and did pretty well? At the high school level. Looking at the basic break down for the teams I think East is a better team. GR has some big name talent who might or might not come through for them this year like they did or didn't last year. Their D is weaker than East's is if for no other reasons than depth and experience and their goalies have not even played a high school game yet. Being a stud in Bantams is not the same as being a stud in high school. The biggest joker in this deck is the coaching from what I can see. I am NOT bashing Rapid's new coach but he has a couple of really big issues on his plate. Randolph for East is his biggest and then he has to try to get those Senior forwards to play consistently this year which they didn't do last year. Last year I saw a couple of the GR games and about half of the time I saw them I got the feeling that they either did not want to be there or that they were so mad at each other that they didn't want to send a pass to one of their line mates for fear that he might score and look good. I will sign up when I see him bench one of those guys for not working hard but until then I see East on top of this section with ER, CLoquet and GR all in the mix for 2 through 4.

I also took a college statistics class once upon a time and the instructor's opening statement was to remember that although statistics do not lie, liars use statistics. I am not saying that anybody is lying here but I watched that guy prove 4 vastly different things with the same data set depending on which set of factors he chose to emphasize and which he didn't.

Anyone else bored with the Rapids & East BS already

Here is how it will play out DJ Jazzy Jeff - East will go to State and will continue to go to state every year as long as Randolphs the coach and he gets to play the Semis and Finals on home ice.

Go Forest Lake!!!!

alcloseshaver · Post by **alcloseshaver** » Wed Nov 04, 2015 2:50 pm

I might go with Willard Ikola as the most successful HS coach in history.

TheHockeyDJ · Post by **TheHockeyDJ** » Wed Nov 04, 2015 3:05 pm

Wet Paint wrote:
TheHockeyDJ wrote:The stats prove Rapids has a deeper roster. Again, I'll take any bet that Mattson alone plays more NHL games in his career than East's roster combined. Also, East's talent is younger. Rapids top line has more skill and far more muscle. At the end of the day, we are just looking at paper and the season hasn't even begun. No one really knows how the season will play out. I'll quote Trent Klatt from his KOZY interview a few weeks ago, "It doesn't matter what you did yesterday, it only matters what you will do tomorrow." Preseason talk and banter is fun for the fans and shows how much passion there is for HS hockey in Minnesota. Both Rapids and East should have very good seasons. Both teams have a lot of strengths going into the season and both have a question mark (defense for GR, goaltending for East IMO). I'm not writing Elk River off either, they have talent and a deep program, I just wonder how quickly they can recover from losing Lutz and Jaremko.

Btw northwoods, if you're so sure of your opinion I'm waiting for you to refute that stats put up by the GR players in the Elite league as was mentioned by someone vastly superior at analyzing the game: WestMetro
How can you say that East has weak or questionable goaltending when the guy who is assumed to be in net for them (Meierhoff) played last year and did pretty well? At the high school level. Looking at the basic break down for the teams I think East is a better team. GR has some big name talent who might or might not come through for them this year like they did or didn't last year. Their D is weaker than East's is if for no other reasons than depth and experience and their goalies have not even played a high school game yet. Being a stud in Bantams is not the same as being a stud in high school. The biggest joker in this deck is the coaching from what I can see. I am NOT bashing Rapid's new coach but he has a couple of really big issues on his plate. Randolph for East is his biggest and then he has to try to get those Senior forwards to play consistently this year which they didn't do last year. Last year I saw a couple of the GR games and about half of the time I saw them I got the feeling that they either did not want to be there or that they were so mad at each other that they didn't want to send a pass to one of their line mates for fear that he might score and look good. I will sign up when I see him bench one of those guys for not working hard but until then I see East on top of this section with ER, CLoquet and GR all in the mix for 2 through 4.

I also took a college statistics class once upon a time and the instructor's opening statement was to remember that although statistics do not lie, liars use statistics. I am not saying that anybody is lying here but I watched that guy prove 4 vastly different things with the same data set depending on which set of factors he chose to emphasize and which he didn't.

I didn't say "weak", just that it is a question mark. Rapids put 5 goals on him in a route last year in East's barn. I suspect he will play well as East seems to get the best from their goalies, but he didn't show any consistency last year, which is why Howg got his job back. I would absolutely count Elite league play as HS experience, and Rapids players led North to a regular season and playoff title. When asked about sophomores such as McLaughlin and Hain playing in the Elite League, Greenway coach Grant Clafton's reply to those questioning it was, "How do you stop them?". You can go to hselitehockey.com to find the article.

kniven · Post by **kniven** » Wed Nov 04, 2015 3:12 pm

ThePuckStopsHere wrote:
Wet Paint wrote:
TheHockeyDJ wrote:The stats prove Rapids has a deeper roster. Again, I'll take any bet that Mattson alone plays more NHL games in his career than East's roster combined. Also, East's talent is younger. Rapids top line has more skill and far more muscle. At the end of the day, we are just looking at paper and the season hasn't even begun. No one really knows how the season will play out. I'll quote Trent Klatt from his KOZY interview a few weeks ago, "It doesn't matter what you did yesterday, it only matters what you will do tomorrow." Preseason talk and banter is fun for the fans and shows how much passion there is for HS hockey in Minnesota. Both Rapids and East should have very good seasons. Both teams have a lot of strengths going into the season and both have a question mark (defense for GR, goaltending for East IMO). I'm not writing Elk River off either, they have talent and a deep program, I just wonder how quickly they can recover from losing Lutz and Jaremko.

Btw northwoods, if you're so sure of your opinion I'm waiting for you to refute that stats put up by the GR players in the Elite league as was mentioned by someone vastly superior at analyzing the game: WestMetro
How can you say that East has weak or questionable goaltending when the guy who is assumed to be in net for them (Meierhoff) played last year and did pretty well? At the high school level. Looking at the basic break down for the teams I think East is a better team. GR has some big name talent who might or might not come through for them this year like they did or didn't last year. Their D is weaker than East's is if for no other reasons than depth and experience and their goalies have not even played a high school game yet. Being a stud in Bantams is not the same as being a stud in high school. The biggest joker in this deck is the coaching from what I can see. I am NOT bashing Rapid's new coach but he has a couple of really big issues on his plate. Randolph for East is his biggest and then he has to try to get those Senior forwards to play consistently this year which they didn't do last year. Last year I saw a couple of the GR games and about half of the time I saw them I got the feeling that they either did not want to be there or that they were so mad at each other that they didn't want to send a pass to one of their line mates for fear that he might score and look good. I will sign up when I see him bench one of those guys for not working hard but until then I see East on top of this section with ER, CLoquet and GR all in the mix for 2 through 4.

I also took a college statistics class once upon a time and the instructor's opening statement was to remember that although statistics do not lie, liars use statistics. I am not saying that anybody is lying here but I watched that guy prove 4 vastly different things with the same data set depending on which set of factors he chose to emphasize and which he didn't.
Anyone else bored with the Rapids & East BS already

Here is how it will play out DJ Jazzy Jeff - East will go to State and will continue to go to state every year as long as Randolphs the coach and he gets to play the Semis and Finals on home ice.

Go Forest Lake!!!!

Grand Rapids and Duluth East both have a large number of diehard fans. I run into them all the time at games between our squads during the year. From my perspective, they are crazy but that's what we diehards are for our programs. All are diehards but always totally respectful of my players, program, and coaches. It's all good

Usthockey13 · Post by **Usthockey13** » Wed Nov 04, 2015 4:01 pm

http://www.hselitehockey.com/stats/team ... ol=1616517

here are the stats for the HEL North team...

WestMetro · Post by **WestMetro** » Wed Nov 04, 2015 4:48 pm

DJ, just to clarify my thoughts, since you are quoting me:

Both teams have excellent talent which did well in Elite. In fact both teams talent performed above my expectation going in. Rapids gets a little extra credit on that front since they had so many sophomores that performed well on the Elite stage.

Frankly the Elite Team North may have been the best Elite League team and most fun to watch in many many years. Of course, the HT and Hibbing talent was also a big part of that

Both Hounds and Hawks have high point production scorers, perhaps an offensive depth advantage to Rapids, advantage probably to Hounds on defense, and advantage probably to Rapids in goaltending. Advantage Hounds on coaching.

We need to see things come together at Rapids with new coach, and show us what they can do as a team.

Thats why Ive got Rapids ranked 6 and the Hounds in the top 5.

Rapids needs to beat either LVN on Dec 12, or either Ed or EP at Braemar tourney, and stay close with the others, and be otherwise undefeated through that time, otherwise they dont belong in top 5 at that point

Duluth East should be fairly easily undefeated though December and needs to beat Blaine Jan 2, which should be their first real test.

I believe the Rapids/Hounds game is Jan 7 with Rapids at home, and that should give us a clearer picture of which, or both, are justifiably top 5 teams. Rapids will have faced much stiffer competition going into that game, the sophomores should be battle hardened.

Very likely they will face each other in the Section 7 finals. Sometimes I say to myself I wish there was a way both Section 7 finalists could be at the X, last year as example and likely again this upcoming year.. This year we could very well have two top five ranked teams in Section 7 finals, but only one playing at the X.

TheHockeyDJ · Post by **TheHockeyDJ** » Wed Nov 04, 2015 5:15 pm

I wholeheartedly agree with your post. I think Rapids home game vs BSM will be tough and if they lose I'm not gonna hit the panic button. The thing I'm trying to get through northwoods thick skull is Rapids belongs near the top 5 with East. And as yourself and Karl have stated GR is deeper at forward. Hain and McLaughlin are gonna be a force early. Can't wait for the season to get going. Rapids has two scrimmages Friday the 13th will Hill and the 21st vs BSM. Listening to 2 interviews with Klatt on Kozy (which is on their website) he says all the right things and has a vast knowledge and I think knows the game enough to give Mike a run for his money.

TheHockeyDJ · Post by **TheHockeyDJ** » Wed Nov 04, 2015 5:25 pm

I wholeheartedly agree with your post. I think Rapids home game vs BSM will be tough and if they lose I'm not gonna hit the panic button. The thing I'm trying to get through northwoods thick skull is Rapids belongs near the top 5 with East. And as yourself and Karl have stated GR is deeper at forward. Hain and McLaughlin are gonna be a force early. Can't wait for the season to get going. Rapids has two scrimmages Friday the 13th will Hill and the 21st vs BSM. Listening to 2 interviews with Klatt on Kozy (which is on their website) he says all the right things and has a vast knowledge and I think knows the game enough to give Mike a run for his money.

alcloseshaver · Post by **alcloseshaver** » Wed Nov 04, 2015 6:27 pm

DJ, take it down a notch here, practice hasn't even started yet. Rapids has a great opportunity to step up and contend this year. Can't rank them near the top five in a preseason poll based on potential. There is know way to know if Trent Klatt is the next Fred Shero or not based on Kozy radio interviews. He is a good guy and has a boatload of hockey experiences but so did Rothstein. I do think you will be in good hands with him though. As Mike Tice would say "enjoy the season".

TheHockeyDJ · Post by **TheHockeyDJ** » Wed Nov 04, 2015 6:53 pm

alcloseshaver wrote:DJ, take it down a notch here, practice hasn't even started yet. Rapids has a great opportunity to step up and contend this year. Can't rank them near the top five in a preseason poll based on potential. There is know way to know if Trent Klatt is the next Fred Shero or not based on Kozy radio interviews. He is a good guy and has a boatload of hockey experiences but so did Rothstein. I do think you will be in good hands with him though. As Mike Tice would say "enjoy the season".

Isn't there speculation on the potential or lack thereof of every team in a ranking? Take Elk River for example. Anyone who puts them in a ranking is going to do so based on their perceived potential. If they had Lutz and Jaremko coming back, then one is not going so much on potential as they would be solid evidence of what they have seen. In the end Rapids did play very good at the end of last season and just ran into a hot goalie (Again, people want to reference Mike Randolph as a great coach yet ignore his own words on them winning only because of Howg). The effort was there and you can't control the result. I would say by the end of the year they had lived up to the hype, but overly simplistic minds can't grasp that. I just don't understand automatically giving East a pass as the dominant team when they relied so heavily on a hot goalie and that is a big question mark for them going into this season. At the end of the day, the rankings don't matter, I know. That said, talking section 7 to me it feels like a year where Rapids and East meet in the Finals and who knows who will win or who will be the higher seed. Elk River will be a tough opponent in the semi-finals for sure, I just think the Elks end up a 3 seed as I just don't know who can be as dominant up front for them as Jaremko was last season.

TTpuckster · Post by **TTpuckster** » Wed Nov 04, 2015 7:06 pm

Shortshift wrote:How does this look for class A?

1. STA
2. BSM
3. Grand Rapids
4. Hill Murry
5. Holy Family
6. Duluth Marshall
7. Bemidji
8. AHA
9. Roseau
10. Cloquet
11. Hermantown

Sorry, but none of these teams, except for maybe Hermytown, are good enough to be rated in the top ten in A.

Sats81 · Post by **Sats81** » Wed Nov 04, 2015 7:07 pm

It's official. NO group of HS hockey diehards are crazier than GR. In fact, it's not even close. What's the point of even playing the season? Lets just hit the Fast Forward button to first Sat night in March with the Thunderhawks at center ice at the X with State Championship! My God!

Relax. Enjoy the season. Lets see what the Bantams coming up got. I know they are good, but HS is diff than Bantams. If this team doesn't go undefeated and win state I think IRA may get burned to the ground by DJ!

TheHockeyDJ · Post by **TheHockeyDJ** » Wed Nov 04, 2015 7:33 pm

Sats81 wrote:It's official. NO group of HS hockey diehards are crazier than GR. In fact, it's not even close. What's the point of even playing the season? Lets just hit the Fast Forward button to first Sat night in March with the Thunderhawks at center ice at the X with State Championship! My God!

Relax. Enjoy the season. Lets see what the Bantams coming up got. I know they are good, but HS is diff than Bantams. If this team doesn't go undefeated and win state I think IRA may get burned to the ground by DJ!

Award for person with the worst perception in humanity goes to Sats81. Hold on while I go get that from Northwoods

northwoods oldtimer · Post by **northwoods oldtimer** » Wed Nov 04, 2015 7:56 pm

Sats81 wrote:It's official. NO group of HS hockey diehard is crazier than HockeyDJ. In fact, it's not even close. What's the point of even playing the season? Lets just hit the Fast Forward button to first Sat night in March with the Thunderhawks at center ice at the X with State Championship! My God!

Relax. Enjoy the season. Lets see what the Bantams coming up got. I know they are good, but HS is diff than Bantams. If this team doesn't go undefeated and win state I think IRA may get burned to the ground by DJ!

Hockey DJ

TheHockeyDJ · Post by **TheHockeyDJ** » Wed Nov 04, 2015 8:02 pm

northwoods oldtimer wrote:
Sats81 wrote:It's official. NO group of HS hockey diehard is crazier than HockeyDJ. In fact, it's not even close. What's the point of even playing the season? Lets just hit the Fast Forward button to first Sat night in March with the Thunderhawks at center ice at the X with State Championship! My God!

Relax. Enjoy the season. Lets see what the Bantams coming up got. I know they are good, but HS is diff than Bantams. If this team doesn't go undefeated and win state I think IRA may get burned to the ground by DJ!
Hockey DJ

Northwoods:

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Immigrant Fan · Post by **Immigrant Fan** » Wed Nov 04, 2015 10:02 pm

I won't get into predictions. I expect Rapids and East will both have good teams. But, there are three things I think are the biggest concerns for me, given GR's apparent advanced talent-level this year:
1) Conditioning;
2) Chemistry; and
3) Mental toughness.
If Coach Klatt can solve those three issues, then I think it could be a very exciting season. If not, I expect another season of not uncommon frustration and frequent anxiety when facing any reasonably competent team.

I am experimenting with a new pre-game concoction combining the standard Orange Crush soda and Tang with orange juice concentrate. If GR loses a game I figure I can add an appropriate amount of Triple Sec for a post-game sedative to coax me off the ledge.

Section 8 guy · Post by **Section 8 guy** » Thu Nov 05, 2015 12:51 am

spudlover wrote:Section 8 guy-you could be right about Moorhead, but heres how I see it. Bemidji lost their goalies, some good D and their top scorer. They also lost one of their top F to AAA who would have been a Senior and surely would have been one of their top 2 point getters. Their goalie situation is not good-but they certainly have some really nice returners in other positions. Moorhead also has goalie questions, with probably 1 of 2 Sophs as a starter-they are both very good coming from an excellent BAA team last year that went 48-3, went to State and throttled Bemidji 3 times, but have never played yet at the HS level. We also return 2 of the top 3 scoring forwards from last year, 3 dmen and another dman has returned from playing AAA the last 2 years, and he is a dandy. Our top scoring JV player from last yr who also had some Varsity time will be a big contributor along with a few other Sophs who were excellent last yr with the BAA. Also return a kid who played his first yr for us last yr as a Jr who will definitely contribute. So have to disagree that Bemidji is far and away the clear favorite-not even close to a clear favorite. I see it as very close between MHD, Bem and STMA. And if Bem does make it out of section 8, it will be the last time for a long time as MHD has a very talented Soph class and underclassmen coming up. Just because Bemidji has been to State once in the last 29 years doesn't mean they are going back-this feels like the GR hype.

Fair enough Spud. I can't disagree with any of your takes and you very well could be right. I wouldn't mind a bit as I want no part of STMA seeing success in Section 8. Big picture I'm just not sure where Moorheads scoring is going to come from this season unless the Sophomore center has a huge year, and I think he's a year away from being a high impact player at the high school level. Combine that with young tenders..... And I think it's still Bermidjis section for one last year.

I fully agree on your last point. After this season it should be Moorhead's section for the most part for a solid handful+ of years unless STMA can prove to be a factor in some of those seasons.

Sorry to interrupt. Now back to the arm wrestling match between Duluth East and Rapids. Carry on.