Class A QF: Monticello/Maple Lake vs. #1 Hermantown

[karl(east)]

MONTICELLO/MAPLE LAKE VS. #1 HERMANTOWN
-The evening session opens with a rematch of last season’s double overtime championship game thriller. That Hawk win was their only recent meeting.

Monticello/Maple Lake (19-7-2, #15, 1-seed in 5A)
State appearances: 2 (2 in a row)
Key section win: 4-1 over #18 North Branch
-The feel-good story of last year’s Tournament returns for an encore, and this time around they didn’t sneak up on anyone. They’re without their two big scorers from a season ago, but they do have the highly productive Troy Dahlheimer (18) leading the way. Nick Foldesi (29) is their second leading scorer, Jeffrey Henrikson (5) is second on the team in goals, and Jack Saunders (15) is a productive defenseman for the Moose. Goalie Tyler Klatt (33) is a veteran of last season’s great run. With Hermantown up first they face a tall task, and their handful of games against top Class A teams have not gone well. But they have won on this ice before, and gave the Hawks all they could handle, so a repeat performance isn’t out of the question.

Hermantown (20-6-2, #1, 1-seed in 7A)
State appearances: 15 (9 in a row)
State championships: 3 (2007, 2016, 2017)
Key section win: 5-4 (2OT) vs. #3 Greenway
-The goliaths of Class A return as the favorite yet again after escaping against Greenway in 7A. This time they’re led by senior Tyler Watkins (18), who seems to rise to the occasion in big gaems, and sophomore star-in-the-making Blake Biondi (27), who is the lone D-I committed player in the Class A field. Jacob Herter (7) rounds out the top line, and while the scoring depth isn’t what it has been in recent seasons, the Hawks’ lineup can still hold its own with any other Class A team, and Elliott Peterson (22) adds a physical presence to lead the second line. The Hawks are strong in back, where Darian Gotz (14) is the leader, and Sam High (21) is a Tournament veteran as well. Cole Manahan (33) had a strong season in goal. This Hawks team is more beatable than the past two, but they also have a knack for pulling out the tight ones.

[JerseyDave]

Free audio stream on YouTube of this game:

https://youtu.be/ZYdj_1h2Dgo

[Joe2015]

Monticello:
best sweaters in the state tournament
best fans at the state tournament

Hope they pull the huge upset tonight

[hockey59]

Monticello:
best sweaters in the state tournament
best fans at the state tournament

Hope they pull the huge upset tonight

Did Ben Ward return from the NAHL for this tourney?

[JerseyDave]

Has the game started yet? Because there’s nothing at the YouTube link yet.

UPDATE

New link

https://youtu.be/4A-67YQK_nE

[Stang5280]

MML (no more MAML) unfortunately getting shot, to steal a line from last week’s podcast.

[hockey59]

I REALLY like the new white Hermantown jerseys with the big HAWKS letters diagonally on the front. BIG IMPROVEMENT over past years In fact...they finally look like AA jerseys!

[elliott70]

I thought I read 1300+ for enrollment for Monticello??

Is that right?

[alcloseshaver]

I thought I read 1300+ for enrollment for Monticello??

Is that right?

1,061

[alcloseshaver]

Coop number? Maybe

[MrBoDangles]

I thought I read 1300+ for enrollment for Monticello??

Is that right?

I think it said 1,336.. North Branch (780 students) outshot and had quite a few more scoring chances in the section final, but ran in to a very good goalie performance... Should be a great rivalry the next few years if Monticello somehow stays in class A.

[Stang5280]

I thought I read 1300+ for enrollment for Monticello??

Is that right?

I think it said 1,336.. North Branch (780 students) outshot and had quite a few more scoring chances in the section final, but ran in to a very good goalie performance... Should be a great rivalry the next few years if Monticello somehow stays in class A.

Monticello (1,061) + Maple Lake (277) = 1,338 (Per MSHSL enrollments page)

Supposedly they dropped Annandale prior to the season to get below the Class A cut off, but that would not be enough since St. Louis Park (1,240) is the last AA school by enrollment. Maybe they also dropped ML? I still have no idea how they stayed in A but that horse was probably beaten to death already.

[goldy313]

The MSHSL needs to get consistent on who is A and who is AA, off the top of my head Monticello, Minneapolis, Bloomington Kennedy, Johnson, and Highland Park all are AA by enrollment yet play A hockey.....which in turn forces 5 would be A schools into AA. If teams that opt up don't force other teams into class A, why would teams that appeal to go down force schools up into class AA?

Maybe somewhat ironically, I think Hermantown has the smallest enrollment in the class A field.

[Teak]

Hermantown, beating adversity, with the win. Only two more adversities to go.

[Joe2015]

I thought I read 1300+ for enrollment for Monticello??

Is that right?

I think it said 1,336.. North Branch (780 students) outshot and had quite a few more scoring chances in the section final, but ran in to a very good goalie performance... Should be a great rivalry the next few years if Monticello somehow stays in class A.

Monticello (1,061) + Maple Lake (277) = 1,338 (Per MSHSL enrollments page)

Supposedly they dropped Annandale prior to the season to get below the Class A cut off, but that would not be enough since St. Louis Park (1,240) is the last AA school by enrollment. Maybe they also dropped ML? I still have no idea how they stayed in A but that horse was probably beaten to death already.

I believe that had to petition to stay in Class A

[MrBoDangles]

The MSHSL needs to get consistent on who is A and who is AA, off the top of my head Monticello, Minneapolis, Bloomington Kennedy, Johnson, and Highland Park all are AA by enrollment yet play A hockey.....which in turn forces 5 would be A schools into AA. If teams that opt up don't force other teams into class A, why would teams that appeal to go down force schools up into class AA?

Maybe somewhat ironically, I think Hermantown has the smallest enrollment in the class A field.

Looks like all demographics besides Monticello... many others make way more sense as was discussed last year.

[Stang5280]

The MSHSL needs to get consistent on who is A and who is AA, off the top of my head Monticello, Minneapolis, Bloomington Kennedy, Johnson, and Highland Park all are AA by enrollment yet play A hockey.....which in turn forces 5 would be A schools into AA. If teams that opt up don't force other teams into class A, why would teams that appeal to go down force schools up into class AA?

Maybe somewhat ironically, I think Hermantown has the smallest enrollment in the class A field.

There is a provision by which schools with more than 50% of students qualifying for free or reduced lunches can opt down a class in any sport. I believe that Minneapolis, Bloomington Kennedy, Johnson, and Highland Park all fall into that category.

[goldy313]

The MSHSL needs to get consistent on who is A and who is AA, off the top of my head Monticello, Minneapolis, Bloomington Kennedy, Johnson, and Highland Park all are AA by enrollment yet play A hockey.....which in turn forces 5 would be A schools into AA. If teams that opt up don't force other teams into class A, why would teams that appeal to go down force schools up into class AA?

Maybe somewhat ironically, I think Hermantown has the smallest enrollment in the class A field.

There is a provision by which schools with more than 50% of students qualifying for free or reduced lunches can opt down a class in any sport. I believe that Minneapolis, Bloomington Kennedy, Johnson, and Highland Park all fall into that category.

Yea, but 50% is a pretty arbitrary number. In most places even kids from double the income of the federal F/R lunch program standard are not playing hockey. Plus, 50% of 2500 kids is still more students than 60% from an enrollment of 1400. AND the MSHSL already has a multiplier in use for kids on the F/R lunch program. Using one standard or the other is fine to me, using both seems a bit much.

[fastncrash]

The MSHSL needs to get consistent on who is A and who is AA, off the top of my head Monticello, Minneapolis, Bloomington Kennedy, Johnson, and Highland Park all are AA by enrollment yet play A hockey.....which in turn forces 5 would be A schools into AA. If teams that opt up don't force other teams into class A, why would teams that appeal to go down force schools up into class AA?

Maybe somewhat ironically, I think Hermantown has the smallest enrollment in the class A field.

There is a provision by which schools with more than 50% of students qualifying for free or reduced lunches can opt down a class in any sport. I believe that Minneapolis, Bloomington Kennedy, Johnson, and Highland Park all fall into that category.

Yea, but 50% is a pretty arbitrary number. In most places even kids from double the income of the federal F/R lunch program standard are not playing hockey. Plus, 50% of 2500 kids is still more students than 60% from an enrollment of 1400. AND the MSHSL already has a multiplier in use for kids on the F/R lunch program. Using one standard or the other is fine to me, using both seems a bit much.

IF there is a consistent exception to the Rules.... then the RULES are basically useless.

[Stang5280]

There is a provision by which schools with more than 50% of students qualifying for free or reduced lunches can opt down a class in any sport. I believe that Minneapolis, Bloomington Kennedy, Johnson, and Highland Park all fall into that category.

Yea, but 50% is a pretty arbitrary number. In most places even kids from double the income of the federal F/R lunch program standard are not playing hockey. Plus, 50% of 2500 kids is still more students than 60% from an enrollment of 1400. AND the MSHSL already has a multiplier in use for kids on the F/R lunch program. Using one standard or the other is fine to me, using both seems a bit much.

IF there is a consistent exception to the Rules.... then the RULES are basically useless.

I’m just the messenger, guys, don’t shoot me. I was just answering a query posed about those particular schools being in A. Regardless of whether the 50% cutoff is arbitrary, it is a bright-line cutoff that has been codified in the MSHSL bylaws for a number of years now and is itself a rule. FYI, Johnson and Highland Park are well below the enrollment cutoff after reviewing the list more closely. So we are really just talking about a few schools.

To me, the petitions to opt down are far more problematic since they involve a high degree of subjectivity.