These are my thoughts on the game.
Duluth East outplayed Eden Prairie at least 4 out of 6 periods. East back checked very well, clogged the neutral zone and blocked 24 shots. Both teams were very physical. Greatest game I have ever seen. Could have gone either way, EP just got the lucky bounce.
The Goal: Don't anyone dare try to tell me Rau is the only one who could have scored that. It was luck. Was it a great effort on Rau's part? Yes. Are those goals part of hockey? Yes. I hate hearing people crown Rau king of the world because the took a diving swipe at a rolling puck. Its not like he lined up and shot a nice laser in a 2 inch space between the goalie and the pipe and it went in because he is so talented. He swiped at the puck, MISSED THE NET, and fortunately for him, it hit off the pipe, then Kerr's skate, and then went it. Kyle Rau is great player, but this goal does not make him the best player ever.
Kyle Rau: This kid is good. I have to give him credit. After Trevor Olson and Andrew Kerr made Rau their PLEASE BAN ME all night, knocking him off his skates at least ten times, he kept coming back for more, and made a diving effort between the two afore mentioned players that ended up going in. He will hopefully be a spark for the Gophers and make them more competitive with the Doggies
Utmost respect for him.
Jojo Jeanneta: Sorry Lindgren and Ford, but Jojo deserved the All Tournament Team more than you did. The saves he made throughout the tournament, including the WBL ones, which I will never forget, proved he was one of the states top tenders. Jojo played more periods than any other goalie in the tournament, logging 15 periods over 3 days. Without Jojo, East may not even be a story. He put that team on his back and was the goalie of the tournament. Great kid too.
Eden Prairie: A big round of applause for the seniors on EP. These kids stayed and played for their high school, together. They were clearly the #1 team in the nation all year until a pesky Duluth East team got in their way. I am glad to have watched these kids in two Championship games, although I wish one would have gone the other way
Alot of respect for these kids.
Section 216 To clear things up, the "Rau is a PLEASE BAN ME", "Ms. Hockey" and the various other chants were not by Duluth East, but rather by the mercenary supporters who are Section 216. This year they supported East. I was initially worried that they would turn the Rachel Sandell chant into something vulgar, but it was touching to hear them chant "We Love Rachel!" Great noise, and they were key in getting THE ENTIRE EXCEL ENERGY CENTER to boo Edina's constant spraying of Jeanetta. Great effort guys.
Mike Randolph:From an outsider, it seems like Randolph genuinely loves this team. I had never seen him as excited as this year, and the way he acted after the Championship was really classy. I know it probably hurt Randolph to see EP win with Rau after Flahrety, Forbort and Welinski all left in recent years, but it took courage to go into that locker room and give that speech. Has he softened up lately? Who knows, but he really impressed me this year.
Kyle Campion This kid absolutely crapped his breezers when he got thrown out there. He fell all over the place and just looked bad. But wait, im not ripping the kid, I would have done the same thing!
Not ripping the kid at all! After that first shift he played very well. He was solid in place of Hunter and I give him a big round of applause for stepping up.
Also was just made aware that Kyle was voted in as a member of the 2011 "State Tournament All Hockey Hair Team" Congrats Kyle!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9NW6KB9C8Y
East Seniors:You earned my respect boys. After being largely over shadowed by the first line, these men came soaring back in the State Tournament. Phil Johnson, Zach Schendel, and Luke Renier did some of the best two way skating I have seen in high school. They were constantly skating hard to back check, and still making crisp passes on the offensive. Hunter Bergerson is an un-sung hero of this team. He anchored their defensive corp and had he not gotten injured in the third period, who knows the outcome. Joel Perlinger is a very good goalie who just got beaten out by Jojo straight up. I would say that if Perlinger wanted to keep playing hockey, junior teams may be interested in him. I already talked about Jojo.
Rachel Sandell The team dedicated their 2011 run to her, and although they fell short, im sure she could not be any prouder. Everyone wishes her the best of luck with treatment. To me, that made this tourney the most memorable.
Why hasnt this been discussed?! Why was Kyle Rau not assessed a penalty for taking the puck after the whistle and shooting it in the net, and then celebrating? Besides the fact that he looked like a fool, I thought that was an automatic penalty?
Referees I thought they were really great this tournament. They let the kids play. The only gripe I had is, for hells sake you cannot let a team spray a tender 5-6 times without calling a penalty, and then give a kid a penalty for retaliating.
I think the X factor was that EP was fresher. East played the equivalent of 4 games in the Tourney, and I think that took a toll on them. Not an excuse, but credit them for playing as hard as they could.
This was the greatest 4 (section final) games I have seen, and the greatest tournament and championship. Eden Prairie deserved to win, as did the Greyhounds. Congrats EP, enjoy it for now, because we are coming like a freight train for the 'ship next year!
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