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Posted: **Mon Mar 04, 2013 1:07 pm**

I think Sanford in Bemidji or the National Hockey Center in St. Cloud would be good locations in a rotation with Amsoil. Regardless of how nice the facilities are, it still comes down to the fact that playing in your hometown and on one of your home rinks is an advantage.

Posted: **Mon Mar 04, 2013 1:16 pm**

norcon wrote:I think Sanford in Bemidji or the National Hockey Center in St. Cloud would be good locations in a rotation with Amsoil. Regardless of how nice the facilities are, it still comes down to the fact that playing in your hometown and on one of your home rinks is an advantage.

So, you are suggesting going from about 5500 to 6000 at Amsoil to potentially about 3500, or less at either Sanford in Bemidji or the NHC in St. Cloud? Because of some perceived home ice advantage? East played 1 game at AMSOIL this year. a win over Superior WI. ALL other HOME games were played at the Duluth Heritage Center. Look, I'm NOT an east fan, but I am a hockey fan, and the fact of the matter is that the population base for Section 7AA is located in the North. If the purpose of scheduling is to expose the game to potentially the most fans, there is NO other venue to even consider.

Posted: **Mon Mar 04, 2013 1:27 pm**

There were MORE Rapids fans at the game people! Enough with the home ice advantage.

Posted: **Mon Mar 04, 2013 1:58 pm**

redlightclub wrote:
hockey59 wrote:
east hockey wrote:Hats off to Rapids on a fine season. They gave East all they could handle tonight. Too bad they couldn't both compete at State. Rapids is set up for a run next season.

Lee

Agree that GR gave DE a great game and is set-up well for the future.

"And in the end, the Hounds got it done. 5 in a row, 14 of 20, 20 overall."

I think the golden 30 or so year run for the Hounds is beginning to near the end...they still will go to State often out of 7AA (don't get me wrong) but the domination will even out...based on the most recent Bantam AA ranking (before Regions start today) DE is not in the top 20...that in addition to the continued drain of players to DM...will even things out soon IMO. GR is on the rise...so is ER...and eventually Andover will be a factor. Hermantown is playing AA for Bantams....hopefully after STA ops up next year....hermantown will eventually follow to AA in say 5 years and so will DM around that time frame...allowing ER and Andover to return to a Twin Cities AA section down the road

LPH - Youth Rankings - February 28, 2013

Bantam AA

1 WAYZATA
2 Edina
3 Prior Lake/Savage
4 Elk River
5 Stillwater
6 Burnsville
7 Grand Rapids
8 Centennial
9 Hermantown
10 Mounds View
11 Anoka
12 Eden Prairie
13 Bloomington Jefferson
14 Rosemount
15 Bemidji
16 Osseo/Maple Grove
17 Lakeville North
18 Woodbury
19 St. Michael-Albertville
20 Blaine

Duluth East is sending teams to state in AA High School, Bantam AA and Peewee AA. Wayzata is doing the same.
Hat's off to the Duluth East Bantam AA team for advancing to State...they certainly proved my opinion (from last week) to be WRONG..(as cited above)

What really surprised me is they not only advanced to State after losing to GR in the semi-finals, (then Hermantown lost to GR in the Sunday morning Finals and had to play DE Sunday afternoon; but a highly regarded Hermantown team not only got beat by DE...but lost by a score of 7-0..because no way on god's green earth...did I expect the margin of victory to be anything like that... That said, Congrats to the Bantam AA Hounds and best of luck at State!

Posted: **Mon Mar 04, 2013 2:37 pm**

hockey59 wrote:
redlightclub wrote:
hockey59 wrote:
Agree that GR gave DE a great game and is set-up well for the future.

"And in the end, the Hounds got it done. 5 in a row, 14 of 20, 20 overall."

I think the golden 30 or so year run for the Hounds is beginning to near the end...they still will go to State often out of 7AA (don't get me wrong) but the domination will even out...based on the most recent Bantam AA ranking (before Regions start today) DE is not in the top 20...that in addition to the continued drain of players to DM...will even things out soon IMO. GR is on the rise...so is ER...and eventually Andover will be a factor. Hermantown is playing AA for Bantams....hopefully after STA ops up next year....hermantown will eventually follow to AA in say 5 years and so will DM around that time frame...allowing ER and Andover to return to a Twin Cities AA section down the road

LPH - Youth Rankings - February 28, 2013

Bantam AA

1 WAYZATA
2 Edina
3 Prior Lake/Savage
4 Elk River
5 Stillwater
6 Burnsville
7 Grand Rapids
8 Centennial
9 Hermantown
10 Mounds View
11 Anoka
12 Eden Prairie
13 Bloomington Jefferson
14 Rosemount
15 Bemidji
16 Osseo/Maple Grove
17 Lakeville North
18 Woodbury
19 St. Michael-Albertville
20 Blaine

Duluth East is sending teams to state in AA High School, Bantam AA and Peewee AA. Wayzata is doing the same.
Hat's off to the Duluth East Bantam AA team for advancing to State...they certainly proved my opinion (from last week) to be WRONG..(as cited above)

What really surprised me is they not only advanced to State after losing to GR in the semi-finals, (then Hermantown lost to GR in the Sunday morning Finals and had to play DE Sunday afternoon; but a highly regarded Hermantown team not only got beat by DE...but lost by a score of 7-0..because no way on god's green earth...did I expect the margin of victory to be anything like that... That said, Congrats to the Bantam AA Hounds and best of luck at State!
Off topic but anybody know what happened to the Herm BNAA's?
They were 3-0 against East this year beating them 4-0, 2-0 and 2-1...

Posted: **Mon Mar 04, 2013 2:40 pm**

northwoods oldtimer wrote:
karl(east) wrote:
Jbird wrote:Now that I have seen the hit I can make the decision that the 7 pages of this thread that rapids had a quality complaint and east fans are not looking at the hit objectively.
It is very tough to play an East team anywhere on any ice in any part of the state. They are extremely well coached and run their system flawless. It is unfair to have the section finals and semi finals in what is essentially a home rink year in and year out. That East team gets plenty of practice ice at Amsoil to state it is essentially a home game for East. Rapids lost on two poor turnovers on passes in their own slot that lead to goals you cannot make those mistakes against East and expect to win. Despite that Rapids was resilient in its comeback attempt and the non call on the obvious 2 minute minor snowballed into a 5 minute major for Rapids. The 7 pages are frustration of Duluth East getting the deck stacked in its favor in the section. That is NOT FAIR TO THE REST OF THE TEAMS IN SECTION 7!!!
I agree with NorthwoodsOldtimer 100% on this one...the fact is any Duluth (or located within 15 miles of Duluth) team, including DM and DD in single A, DE and Cloquet in AA, and Hermantown (although they don't play their section games at Amsoil) get a BIG advantage at AMSOIL, especially for theThursday night FINAL game (if the players are required to attend class on Thursday). The only way around this for ER or Andover (or GR for that matter) to bus up on Wed. night, stay in a hotel, and then play Thursday (I know for a fact that ER actually did this a few years ago, but still lost Thursday night)...but the obvious problem is $$$ in this scenario for a public HS.

No doubt Amsoil is a perfect facility for the 7AAFinal (and the SP Col. is a total dump)...but it's still a BIG hometown (if not strictly home ice) edge for the local teams, because even the drive from GR can be 2 hrs on bus, expecially if it snows.

Some kind of rotation to St Cloud NHC or SP Col...as much as it makes you hold your nose...is still more equitable to all teams involved...than everything at Amsoil every year.

Of course the solution is for DM, Hermantown and maybe Hibbing to move up...then 7AA could return to a true North section again...which most people would prefer anyway. and North folks could settle this issue among themselves (between Sanford Arena and Amsoil Arena).

Posted: **Mon Mar 04, 2013 2:44 pm**

Can we just lock this up, it has gotten so far off topic that the game it was about is almost not relevant anymore. Let's focus on the big picture and bring the hardware back up North where it belongs.

Posted: **Mon Mar 04, 2013 2:54 pm**

I'd prefer sweeping the 7AA Final location debate under the rug too...if I was a fan of Duluth East

...by all means, lets get back on topic...go Hounds!

Posted: **Mon Mar 04, 2013 2:56 pm**

hockey59 wrote: I agree with NorthwoodsOldtimer 100% on this one...the fact is any Duluth (or located within 15 miles of Duluth) team, including DM and DD in single A, DE and Cloquet in AA, and Hermantown (although they don't play their section games at Amsoil) get a BIG advantage at AMSOIL, especially for theThursday night FINAL game (if the players are required to attend class on Thursday). The only way around this for ER or Andover (or GR for that matter) to bus up on Wed. night, stay in a hotel, and then play Thursday (I know for a fact that ER actually did this a few years ago, but still lost Thursday night)...but the obvious problem is $$$ in this scenario for a public HS.

No doubt Amsoil is a perfect facility for the 7AAFinal (and the SP Col. is a total dump)...but it's still a BIG hometown (if not strictly home ice) edge for the local teams, because even the drive from GR can be 2 hrs on bus, expecially if it snows.

Some kind of rotation to St Cloud NHC or SP Col...as much as it makes you hold your nose...is still more equitable to all teams involved...than everything at Amsoil every year.

This is very much a good point. I hadn't thought about it from the perspective of the non-NE schools. It does seem that a rotation that would include the National Hockey center should be done.

I wonder how the 7AA sites are determined. Do the coaches vote on it and it's a case of the non-NE schools getting outvoted?

And yes, the SP Coliseum is a dump even by my very low standards when it comes to rinks.

Posted: **Mon Mar 04, 2013 4:00 pm**

Nothing could be better than watching the 4AA and 5AA finals at the Lee and Rose Warner Coliseum. You 7AA people don't know class/tradition when you see it.

By the way, did you notice the attendance for Friday night was 7,100 +.

Warner Coliseum
Como Ave, St Paul, MN, 55108
The Lee and Rose Warner Coliseum located within the MN State Fair grounds in St. Paul Minnesota is home to numerous horse, and cattle shows, and houses many small businesses in the concourse during the Minnesota State Fair each year come late August. The Coliseum with seating for 5,250 people also features an underground refrigeration system that is used in the winter months for the Minnesota State High School Hockey tournament AA and A playoff rounds, and as a municipal ice rink for many other local… Show more ice-hockey leagues. More importantly the Coliseum "was" the former home to the St. Paul Athletic Club in the "former" St. Paul Hippodrome. The original Hippodrome was built in 1906 for the mighty St. Paul Athletic Club hockey team. This "original hippodrome" was torn down in 1942 prior to the Coliseum being erected in 1951. Today the only remnants of the original 1906-1942 Hippodrome are in old photos and in published newspaper stories of the great teams and players that once skated in this location. Each winter when Minnesota State High School players take to the ice at "todays" Lee and Rose Warner Coliseum they are not only skating in a magnificant building to play hockey in, but are playing in one of Minnesotas "Most hallowed hockey grounds", where some of the most legendary players that ever played the game in Minnesota during the St. Paul AC's era. One could say, "at the MN State fair grounds, and in this coliseum- it is the most storied building from Minnesota's hockey history- a building in which Minnesota became "The State-of-Hockey"

Posted: **Mon Mar 04, 2013 6:14 pm**

Even though there are only 3 northern schools in this 9 team section I don't see a scenario where thay could play anywhere else. Girls section can pick a rink based on the team playing a few days before the game.
The southern teams would not want go to Bemidji, St. Cloud maybe for the southern teams would be their only argument.
Would like to hear from Andover or ER people if it is not the best place to play? If East has an advantage it is based on their continued success, Just get better and beat them. I'm sure East doesn't practice or play regular season games at the rink in question. They have a solid program that is the standard in this section, get to that level and beat them then celebrate in Duluth.

Posted: **Mon Mar 04, 2013 7:19 pm**

Great game and great atmosphere. It was nice to see a packed house after a poor showing in the semis. The student sections were active with plenty of chants back and forth. Rapids looked great the first 5 or 6 min, lots of offensive pressure and even a PP to boot, then East took over and racked up a lot of zone time and shots. The East goal at the end of the 2nd, Forbort, was definitely the most frustrating thing all night(ref's non call 2nd) I couldn't believe that I had just witnessed that. It was 5 on 5 and not one player on Rapids picks up an East player skating freely around the net, I was about to jump on the ice and show them how its done. I was also frustrated most of the night with the lack of physicality from Rapids, you have to be physical with East and finish your checks. That being said, GR battled all night and showed great resiliency, never giving up. Jake Bischoff really turned it up in the 3rd, his goal batting the puck out of the air was gorgeous. They almost tied it up on the last PP, the puck was up in the air and landed on top of the net about 2 inches from falling behind the goalie. Oh well, just another agonizing 1 goal loss to East. Best wishes to the GR seniors, it was a fun ride!

I had been thinking this might be GR's best team for awhile but with Avery, Jonah, Sheppard and the new additions from the Bantam team they will probably be pretty good for awhile, though it hurts to lose that many quality senior defenseman.

Posted: **Mon Mar 04, 2013 9:47 pm**

Enough about the home ice advantage, the fact is East beat them in the regular season. Using criteria from other sections, with the better record and head to head East would have had home ice anyhow. If home ice is such a big advantage outstate teams are cheated at every state tournament. Personaly I think outstate kids love going to the cities to play. And I dont think they feel as though its a disadvantage.

Posted: **Mon Mar 04, 2013 9:56 pm**

duluth dave wrote:Enough about the home ice advantage, the fact is East beat them in the regular season. Using criteria from other sections, with the better record and head to head East would have had home ice anyhow. If home ice is such a big advantage outstate teams are cheated at every state tournament. Personaly I think outstate kids love going to the cities to play. And I dont think they feel as though its a disadvantage.

Exactly because the neutral fan pulls for the underdog or perceived underdog which is most often the northern team

Posted: **Tue Mar 05, 2013 10:34 am**

duluth dave wrote:Enough about the home ice advantage, the fact is East beat them in the regular season. Using criteria from other sections, with the better record and head to head East would have had home ice anyhow. If home ice is such a big advantage outstate teams are cheated at every state tournament. Personaly I think outstate kids love going to the cities to play. And I dont think they feel as though its a disadvantage.

It does help somewhat, but yes not a ton. The Section 1AA as far as I know has been in Rochester forever and it's pretty much been the Lakeville teams going to state from there.

Posted: **Tue Mar 05, 2013 7:59 pm**

redlightclub wrote:
hockey59 wrote:
east hockey wrote:Hats off to Rapids on a fine season. They gave East all they could handle tonight. Too bad they couldn't both compete at State. Rapids is set up for a run next season.

Lee

Agree that GR gave DE a great game and is set-up well for the future.

"And in the end, the Hounds got it done. 5 in a row, 14 of 20, 20 overall."

I think the golden 30 or so year run for the Hounds is beginning to near the end...they still will go to State often out of 7AA (don't get me wrong) but the domination will even out...based on the most recent Bantam AA ranking (before Regions start today) DE is not in the top 20...that in addition to the continued drain of players to DM...will even things out soon IMO. GR is on the rise...so is ER...and eventually Andover will be a factor. Hermantown is playing AA for Bantams....hopefully after STA ops up next year....hermantown will eventually follow to AA in say 5 years and so will DM around that time frame...allowing ER and Andover to return to a Twin Cities AA section down the road

LPH - Youth Rankings - February 28, 2013

Bantam AA

1 WAYZATA
2 Edina
3 Prior Lake/Savage
4 Elk River
5 Stillwater
6 Burnsville
7 Grand Rapids
8 Centennial
9 Hermantown
10 Mounds View
11 Anoka
12 Eden Prairie
13 Bloomington Jefferson
14 Rosemount
15 Bemidji
16 Osseo/Maple Grove
17 Lakeville North
18 Woodbury
19 St. Michael-Albertville
20 Blaine

Duluth East is sending teams to state in AA High School, Bantam AA and Peewee AA. Wayzata is doing the same.

DE will always be a strong contender for state high school tournament each year. There will always be recruits, I mean transfers, coming into the program just like there has been for years. So even though the DE Bantams and Pee Wees might not be the strongest right now, look for some new talent to find its way onto the high school team.

Posted: **Tue Mar 05, 2013 8:37 pm**

Bantam AA East beatthat top ranked hermantown team 6-0 couple days ago to go to state.

Posted: **Tue Mar 05, 2013 9:32 pm**

The Hammer wrote:
redlightclub wrote:
hockey59 wrote:
Agree that GR gave DE a great game and is set-up well for the future.

"And in the end, the Hounds got it done. 5 in a row, 14 of 20, 20 overall."

I think the golden 30 or so year run for the Hounds is beginning to near the end...they still will go to State often out of 7AA (don't get me wrong) but the domination will even out...based on the most recent Bantam AA ranking (before Regions start today) DE is not in the top 20...that in addition to the continued drain of players to DM...will even things out soon IMO. GR is on the rise...so is ER...and eventually Andover will be a factor. Hermantown is playing AA for Bantams....hopefully after STA ops up next year....hermantown will eventually follow to AA in say 5 years and so will DM around that time frame...allowing ER and Andover to return to a Twin Cities AA section down the road

LPH - Youth Rankings - February 28, 2013

Bantam AA

1 WAYZATA
2 Edina
3 Prior Lake/Savage
4 Elk River
5 Stillwater
6 Burnsville
7 Grand Rapids
8 Centennial
9 Hermantown
10 Mounds View
11 Anoka
12 Eden Prairie
13 Bloomington Jefferson
14 Rosemount
15 Bemidji
16 Osseo/Maple Grove
17 Lakeville North
18 Woodbury
19 St. Michael-Albertville
20 Blaine

Duluth East is sending teams to state in AA High School, Bantam AA and Peewee AA. Wayzata is doing the same.

DE will always be a strong contender for state high school tournament each year. There will always be recruits, I mean transfers, coming into the program just like there has been for years. So even though the DE Bantams and Pee Wees might not be the strongest right now, look for some new talent to find its way onto the high school team.
Just curious who's on there this year that shouldn't be? Anyone...? Anyone...?

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7AA Final: #2 Grand Rapids vs. #1 Duluth East