Big Nine Conference

[Edger]

golfreak ...
Always enjoy your take on AL's squad.
How are they getting it done this year?
I've thoroughly enjoyed watching Breuer/Trail/Walton/Ahrendt/etc thru the years (as an opponent).
They have earned my respect thru the years. Roy and staff are top-notch.
They'll always be competitive because of that, but I really thought there would be a slight drop-off this season. There doesn't seem to be.
Are there some new guys getting it done, or is it just the whole "high expectations" thing working for them?
Keep the reports coming.
The Big Nine seems incredibly competitive this season.
Great conf for the southern part of the state.
East is improved, West did not drop off as much as expected, and the Roch schools will always have enough to compete.
Enjoy the season, Big 9 fans.

[The BuLLfrog Bomber]

Mayo is the most overrated team in the big nine.. no doubt about it.. BAT line just runs to the refs and says each one of them got an assist so its no wonder they rack up the points.. Austin will win two maybe three conference games all year.. west im not too sure about (they have their senior goalie who carried the team last year with nobody to help him out).. Owattonna-no.. East-god no.. jm- improved a lot from the previous year but no.. winona- no.. albert lea- upset century but they are not that strong.. Faribault- might make a run for the third or fourth spot but not conference champs.. [b]century probly has the overall best team in the big nine and it wouldnt surprise me if they take the conference if they come ready to play every game[/b].. thats my opinion

[scarlethockey33]

bullfrog, the goalie from last year, tyler bruggeman went to play for the Force for juniors

[danglepastdmen]

bullfrog, the goalie from last year, tyler bruggeman went to play for the Force for juniors

way to point that pout Tyler

[gabT]

bullfrog, the goalie from last year, tyler bruggeman went to play for the Force for juniors

way to point that pout Tyler

good try buddy. the bored has already established that i am tyler. good try though

[The BuLLfrog Bomber]

oh my bad.. i didnt do my research

[ALL-STAR ROOKIE]

Golfreak,


Did you play in the AL VS Century game or are you giving us play by play from the bench ?


Have Fun your senior year. I will miss ya on the chat board next year, I won't have anyone to pick on.

[san yo assassin]

Austin could be a dark horse. They could surprise some people.

all i have to say is good luck to there goalie the amount of shots hes faced is rediculous, hopefully he isnt dead by the end of the year.

[hockeyblitz]

The big 9 this year should be very competitive as there is alot of parity amongst it. However, nobody in the big nine will win it's section there is no great team. Mayo as we just found out on saturday are a little overrated as owatonna took it to them pretty good just after mustering only 20 shots against faribault. Albert lea showed that they will compete in the big nine with a comeback win over century but they only have one line which scored all 4 goals in the game. You can't continue to count on that the rest of the season. I would agree that century might have the all around better team but consistency is going to be a big part of who wins the big 9. Section 1a looks to be the most competitive section as lourdes, new prague and red wing will battle it out for the crown. One of the lakeville schools should handedly have the other section.

[cheese]

i couldnt disagree with hockey blitz more! first off, there are about six teams that could win section 1a and 1aa is really a mystery. i dont know how you can say one of the lakeville schools will handily win, if im not mistaken lakeville north is 1-5. i will give you south they are a mediocre AA team but i just dont think they will win the section handily.

overall i think its too hard to accomplish who is gonna win what, but it is great to see signs of a very balanced and competitive conference. should make for an exciting season and legendary finish

[SEMNHOCKEYFAN]

didnt south get moped up on the other night like 10-2?

[Marty McSorely]

The Lakevilles play a much harder schedule then anyone else in the section.

[hockeyblitz]

Marty Mcsorely you said it!!!! I guess I didnt' explain why I think one of the lakeville schools will win the section. Cheese this is why. South as of right now has played chaska, eastview, eagan, burnsville and the strong bloomington Jefferson. They are 2-3 with only having one blowout which was against Jefferson. The rest of the games were competitive hockey games against very good teams. Mayo and Century whom I think are the top teams in the big 9 would not have beaten any of these teams along with lakeville south. My god Mayo just dumped a game against a very young inexperienced owatonna team 4-1. And Century lost 4-3 to albert lea in which they were up 3-1 going into the 3rd period. It is night and day with schedules and in the end lakeville again will handedly win the section. North has roughly played some of the same teams as South along with cretin-durham and eden prairie which were not blowouts but losses. They have already beaten Century but it was a close game 4-3. Now South is much better than North in which you can see which direction I am going on this. Cheese I will need more than "I couldn't disagree more" to for an arguement. As for section 1a you are crazy if you think anyone else is even close to lourdes , new prague, and red wing. I have seen albert lea and mankato west play and they are not even close. Don't let the records fool ya Albert Lea has not played anybody yet besides West and that was a close game 5-3 I think. I watched new prague and lourdes play and there is no way either albert lea or west beats those guys when it counts.

[cheese]

haha im gonna be honest hockey blitz you kind of stumped me there, you definitely know the lakevilles better then i do and in a sense you are right. century could have 10 more wins then south or north but when you are playing that competition in the cities it really makes you better. i guess my argument is that in my opinion i think come playoffs, younger kids will have developed and there could be some upsets or close games.

in general you are right i just think that come playoffs you never know and it may be a cake walk for south in sections, i just dont see century or mayo or even north for that matter getting stomped in the section finals. as for A i think your right it will most likely be one of those three but dont be surprised if a west or albert lea pulls off an upset. but again you made numerous good points and we will see what happens

[golfreak]

AL- 6
Faribault- 3

[toepull7]

This Conference has a lot of parity....AL, RM, and MW should be a top come the end....AL is looking good early and I would assume will be strong late....RM will be good if they can get some punch from 2-3 lines and MW will be strong if they get goaltending. They have 2 very strong lines and are missing one of their top 2 line players until mid to late Jan. Essay a top notch coach. Owatonna will make a bit of a splash also IMO. Faribault not quite there yet...will be good come 09-10 and 10-11. Looks like Century wiil be in mix also!!

[Frozen Water]

Century 5
Owatonna 4
Century jumped out to an early 3-0 lead before Owatonna would rally and tie it up at 4-4. Century scored a late goal to win it.

[SEMinnHockeyNut]

Century badly outshot LN in that 4-3 loss.
LN has a great goalie which could help win some tight games.
LS probably has more talent, and could surprise even w/ the loss of their goalie.
Mayo, Century, and Owatonna should also all have a chance in 1AA. Again, this is a section that will not get a seed at state.

1A is not as deep as last year, but I would not count out AL or MW in a single game - you never know what can happen on any day, but I do agree the top three seem to be a bit ahead of the pack.

It is interesting from game to game. Mayo stunk Saturday night, then looked great tonight. They beat Roseville, but lose to Owatonna. They dominate Champlin Park (yes, a loss, but the action was in the Rebels end most of the night), but let JM hang with them.

Winona hangs with M. West, but gets blown out tonight by Mayo.

[golfreak]

WINONA- 6
AL- 4

BIG let down for the Tigers

[ALL-STAR ROOKIE]

Golfreak,


What happened?

Is Winona good this year or did you guys think easy win? Normally you beat this team by about 8 goals.

Coach Nystrom just quoted in the local paper " Our first line is DYNAMITE" , " If we get beat it's because we got out hustled. "

[Black Ice]

WINONA- 5
AL- 3

BIG let down for the Tigers

Pointstreak had the boxscore at 6-4 Winona.Stolt,Prihoda(2),Sorenson for AL and Theis(3),Grossell(2),Moran for Winona.Is this the first time Winona has beaten Albert Lea?Was AL missing any key players?Puts a crimp in their big nine title hopes.

Mankato East goes down to Dodge Cty 7-4. East is 1-4. Last year they started 0-5. So far they've scored 16 goals,but given up 37. Last year they only scored 5 and gave up 34 in their first 5 games.They've definately improved their scoring punch,but defensively and in the nets not so much yet.It's early,but they've got alot of work to do in that area.

[toepull7]

WOW...shocking score AL v Winona! Again, goes to show parity in Big 9 and if you dont show up on a regular basis what can happen.......uncharacteristic for a Nystrom team!!

[LZ94]

WINONA- 5
AL- 3

BIG let down for the Tigers

It was 6-4 with an eng.

A.L. had 51 shots, didn't score enough and didn't play ANY defense. I heard tonight that it doesn't count in the Big 9 standings (not that it's acceptable by the Tigers) because it's the second game that is the standings game. Does anyone know about how the standings work this year?

[spartanfan2121]

They stopped the 4-point games and made the last game each team meets during the season as the conference game.

[hockeyblitz]

Albert Lea's goaltending is going to be a huge question this year. This is one of there weakest spots. There first line is good but goes south after that. Some young kids down below on the 2nd line. I can't believe Winona put 6 up on them but goes to show without a good netminder things can change no matter what kind of lines you put out there. No need to worry I think Albert Lea will fair pretty well in the big 9 due to it not being that strong. Sections against redwing, new prague, and of course #1 Lourdes will be a stretch for them. Not enough depth or goaltending to compete.