AA Rankings

[blueblood]

EliotT:

Good luck with that. While we are at, why don't we:

1) Get the Lakeville's out of 1AA and have a true "Southern MN presence"
2) Rebalance 2AA and 3AA
3) Move Cretin to 3AA
4) Add Breck to 6AA
5) Put Hermantown in 7AA
6) Put Elk River, Buffalo, STMA, and Rogers in 9AA
7) Put all the privates in 10AA with Edina (Ha Ha!)
8 ) Seed all teams

[redtundra]

Back to the topic at hand, I do think this is as wide open as last year was, and really there are up to 10 teams that can win this again. Like Bantams 3 years ago with this group. EP should not be pre-ordained. Very good team, but far from a juggernaut. Grand Rapids, Stillwater, Elk River, Wayzata, Holy Family and possibly Edina and St. Thomas should all be in the discussion as well. Lakeville South also if they can get the goaltending they think they have. Minnetonka and Centennial still a year away. Any team with strong tending and D can win this. How far will Benilde fall after last year's great team?

[edgeless2]

Back to the topic at hand, I do think this is as wide open as last year was, and really there are up to 10 teams that can win this again. Like Bantams 3 years ago with this group. EP should not be pre-ordained. Very good team, but far from a juggernaut. Grand Rapids, Stillwater, Elk River, Wayzata, Holy Family and possibly Edina and St. Thomas should all be in the discussion as well. Lakeville South also if they can get the goaltending they think they have. Minnetonka and Centennial still a year away. Any team with strong tending and D can win this. How far will Benilde fall after last year's great team?

I'll take GR EP Stillwater you can have the field. Though if you allow me a dark horse it will be ER. One of those squads is your winner. Far from the 10 you mention.

[elliott70]

Back to the topic at hand, I do think this is as wide open as last year was, and really there are up to 10 teams that can win this again. Like Bantams 3 years ago with this group. EP should not be pre-ordained. Very good team, but far from a juggernaut. Grand Rapids, Stillwater, Elk River, Wayzata, Holy Family and possibly Edina and St. Thomas should all be in the discussion as well. Lakeville South also if they can get the goaltending they think they have. Minnetonka and Centennial still a year away. Any team with strong tending and D can win this. How far will Benilde fall after last year's great team?

I'll take GR EP Stillwater you can have the field. Though if you allow me a dark horse it will be ER. One of those squads is your winner. Far from the 10 you mention.

To be fair he mentioned 5. Added 2 dark horses to your 1. Mentioned 2 that are a year away and 1 that is a player away.

[kniven]

Back to the topic at hand, I do think this is as wide open as last year was, and really there are up to 10 teams that can win this again. Like Bantams 3 years ago with this group. EP should not be pre-ordained. Very good team, but far from a juggernaut. Grand Rapids, Stillwater, Elk River, Wayzata, Holy Family and possibly Edina and St. Thomas should all be in the discussion as well. Lakeville South also if they can get the goaltending they think they have. Minnetonka and Centennial still a year away. Any team with strong tending and D can win this. How far will Benilde fall after last year's great team?

I'll take GR EP Stillwater you can have the field. Though if you allow me a dark horse it will be ER. One of those squads is your winner. Far from the 10 you mention.

To be fair he mentioned 5. Added 2 dark horses to your 1. Mentioned 2 that are a year away and 1 that is a player away.

It's nice too see 7AA has 2 horses in the preseason chatter. I'm surprised Duluth East isn't in the conversation this year. I know that each of the last 2 years East brought 4 bantams up early to play high school and the bantams thusly have been nonexistent the last few years. East will always and forever be a tough out.

7AA is a gauntlet to get through. Forget about thinking of a state appearance.....getting through this section is brutal by itself. It's always fun though.....the competition! I love it

[redtundra]

Would agree EP, Rapids and Stillwater odds on favorites this year. But the only one of those 3 who is almost guaranteed of making it to State is Stillwater. The other 2 will have to face at least one other top 5 team in the State in sections. Ignorant question: What is the actual process regarding section seeding? Seems that may play a bigger role this year. Best goalie won't hurt either. And which team can survive going to their 2nd goalie in case of injury/illness if need be?

Back to the topic at hand, I do think this is as wide open as last year was, and really there are up to 10 teams that can win this again. Like Bantams 3 years ago with this group. EP should not be pre-ordained. Very good team, but far from a juggernaut. Grand Rapids, Stillwater, Elk River, Wayzata, Holy Family and possibly Edina and St. Thomas should all be in the discussion as well. Lakeville South also if they can get the goaltending they think they have. Minnetonka and Centennial still a year away. Any team with strong tending and D can win this. How far will Benilde fall after last year's great team?

I'll take GR EP Stillwater you can have the field. Though if you allow me a dark horse it will be ER. One of those squads is your winner. Far from the 10 you mention.

[hadenuf]

Well if it comes down to the "back up" goalie, Rapids has a huge advantage.
Both are Elite League tenders. I have watched these kids for years and years and firmly believe that they are 2 of the best in the state. Klatt can flip a coin and feel confident any day.

[BP]

Would agree EP, Rapids and Stillwater odds on favorites this year. But the only one of those 3 who is almost guaranteed of making it to State is Stillwater. The other 2 will have to face at least one other top 5 team in the State in sections. Ignorant question: What is the actual process regarding section seeding? Seems that may play a bigger role this year. Best goalie won't hurt either. And which team can survive going to their 2nd goalie in case of injury/illness if need be?

Back to the topic at hand, I do think this is as wide open as last year was, and really there are up to 10 teams that can win this again. Like Bantams 3 years ago with this group. EP should not be pre-ordained. Very good team, but far from a juggernaut. Grand Rapids, Stillwater, Elk River, Wayzata, Holy Family and possibly Edina and St. Thomas should all be in the discussion as well. Lakeville South also if they can get the goaltending they think they have. Minnetonka and Centennial still a year away. Any team with strong tending and D can win this. How far will Benilde fall after last year's great team?

I'll take GR EP Stillwater you can have the field. Though if you allow me a dark horse it will be ER. One of those squads is your winner. Far from the 10 you mention.

Coaches have a meeting and they all rank their teams in order. Then the add up the numbers. Team with lowest is 1 seed and so on.

[redtundra]

Thanks BP. Curious in those ranking meetings if some coaches have more influence than others and how that plays out. Really doesn't matter so much if you are flipping 2 and 3, but who get's 1 (between 1 and 2) and who get's 4 (between 3 and 4) must be pretty contentious some years... I assume strength of schedule can trump total wins only to a point.

Would agree EP, Rapids and Stillwater odds on favorites this year. But the only one of those 3 who is almost guaranteed of making it to State is Stillwater. The other 2 will have to face at least one other top 5 team in the State in sections. Ignorant question: What is the actual process regarding section seeding? Seems that may play a bigger role this year. Best goalie won't hurt either. And which team can survive going to their 2nd goalie in case of injury/illness if need be?

I'll take GR EP Stillwater you can have the field. Though if you allow me a dark horse it will be ER. One of those squads is your winner. Far from the 10 you mention.

Coaches have a meeting and they all rank their teams in order. Then the add up the numbers. Team with lowest is 1 seed and so on.

[BP]

Thanks BP. Curious in those ranking meetings if some coaches have more influence than others and how that plays out. Really doesn't matter so much if you are flipping 2 and 3, but who get's 1 (between 1 and 2) and who get's 4 (between 3 and 4) must be pretty contentious some years... I assume strength of schedule can trump total wins only to a point.

Would agree EP, Rapids and Stillwater odds on favorites this year. But the only one of those 3 who is almost guaranteed of making it to State is Stillwater. The other 2 will have to face at least one other top 5 team in the State in sections. Ignorant question: What is the actual process regarding section seeding? Seems that may play a bigger role this year. Best goalie won't hurt either. And which team can survive going to their 2nd goalie in case of injury/illness if need be?

Coaches have a meeting and they all rank their teams in order. Then the add up the numbers. Team with lowest is 1 seed and so on.

No one coaches vote isn't anymore than the next. Most sections, they are all in a room together. Outstate teams usually have a conference call.

The rankings first go by head to head of other teams in section, then record/strength of schedule. Gets dicey when teams all beat each other during the year or if teams split when they play each other twice. For the most part, it works out the way it should and is pretty straight forward.

[Slapper Al]

for the state tournament the process is the same but it is all over a conference call. You rank all the teams (except your own) 1-7 and submit it prior to the call and then the committee tabulates.

[elliott70]

ttt

[WestMetro]

Karl, when are we going to see your preseason rankings?

Is the list of early departs complete, or might be a surprise or two next week?

[karl(east)]

Karl, when are we going to see your preseason rankings?

Is the list of early departs complete, or might be a surprise or two next week?

I gave a top ten on the podcast we recorded today, but the print version should come out next week, after the first day of practice--I hold off just in case someone doesn't return from juniors. (The podcast should be up tonight.)