Section 7AA

[darkdemon]

Should be an interesting section tournament to say the least. Cross your fingers that a team from the north takes this section.

[PuckRanger]

Puck,
Are you implying in your statement above that East has a "cupcake" schedule? If you are, you have lost all credibility with me and I would assume a few other readers or fans of your knowlege. CUPCAKE??? DOn't agree there, also if you know anything about randolph, he and sarsland are good buds and I know Sarsland knows who deserves the #1 seed. He was lucky to have pulled out that victory in Elk RIver, and he knows who the best team was that night for the majority of the game.

You are a ranger, face it, you hate East too, can't help it, but you do. Oh well. Good luck to your Bluedevils.

I'm not implying that at all. I NEVER said a word about East's schedule, nor was I trying to imply any kind of comparison. I was only saying that Anoka's schedule isn't easy (in other words, you can't say they didn't earn their overall record)... I never even said anything about East at all!

I do not hate East. I don't know where you ever came up with that idea. I have never said a bad word about them. If you read my entire posts, you would see that I said:

Doesn't mean I necessarily agree with it, by the way!

... And in another post, you would see that I also agreed with rapidsrapids with what he said about the 4-0 East win over Anoka. There is no need to read into things any further, please take what I say at face value. If I wanted to say East played a cupcake schedule, I would -- But we all know that is a very ridicuolous statement, and certainly one I would never make! All I did was objectively post what I think is a vey realistic possibility with the outcome of the seeding meeting. I never once said thats how I wanted it to turn out!

[Duluth 4]

East: 4
Anoka: 0

'nuff said.

[hockey59]

Duluth4 quote:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

East: 4
Anoka: 0

'nuff said.
_________________
state bound hounds.

You sound pretty confident...but I'm sure you were equally confident the past 2 years ...I'm guessing the other Section 7AA teams will bother to show up and play in 2 weeks.

[karl(east)]

[quote="rapidsrapids"]One can hate East and still put it aside and look at the seedings from a neutral standpoint. I have East as the #1 seed. Although, I want them number one because then they'll play CEC and I think the Jacks have the best chance to beat em in the semi's.[/quote]

As an East fan, I'd agree with this too. Cloquet simply takes their game to another level whenever they play East. I'm not gonna shy away from that matchup, though, because I'd love to see them play again.

And hockey59...yes, I am more confident about East this year than in the past two. 2 years ago, East's win over Cloquet was in OT and we all knew going into that quarterfinal that it was practically a dead-even game. When they couldn't beat the Tyler Johnson-less Cloquet team in the 2nd regular season game last year, I really started to doubt East...and sadly, my opinion ended up being justified. But this year they've beaten everyone with a realistic shot to take them down. Cloquet needed a 5-on-3 PP to score on East, and the wins over Rapids and Anoka were pretty convincing. Of course that doesn't come close to guaranteeing anything; just look at East-Rapids last year. But I would say East's edge in raw talent and (especially) depth is greater than in recent years.

[Duluth 4]

Duluth4 quote:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

East: 4
Anoka: 0

'nuff said.
_________________
state bound hounds.

You sound pretty confident...but I'm sure you were equally confident the past 2 years ...I'm guessing the other Section 7AA teams will bother to show up and play in 2 weeks.

actually no. i didnt think we'd go the last two years.

[grindiangrad-80]

East and Anoka are certainly 1 and 2.
The rest is still a little muddled.
They will have to slug it out the rest of the way.
This will be an exciting sectional no matter what.

[hockey59]

One can hate East and still put it aside and look at the seedings from a neutral standpoint. I have East as the #1 seed. Although, I want them number one because then they'll play CEC and I think the Jacks have the best chance to beat em in the semi's.

As an East fan, I'd agree with this too. Cloquet simply takes their game to another level whenever they play East. I'm not gonna shy away from that matchup, though, because I'd love to see them play again.

And hockey59...yes, I am more confident about East this year than in the past two. 2 years ago, East's win over Cloquet was in OT and we all knew going into that quarterfinal that it was practically a dead-even game. When they couldn't beat the Tyler Johnson-less Cloquet team in the 2nd regular season game last year, I really started to doubt East...and sadly, my opinion ended up being justified. But this year they've beaten everyone with a realistic shot to take them down. Cloquet needed a 5-on-3 PP to score on East, and the wins over Rapids and Anoka were pretty convincing. Of course that doesn't come close to guaranteeing anything; just look at East-Rapids last year. But I would say East's edge in raw talent and (especially) depth is greater than in recent years.

DE has the edge in depth...YES...but raw talent? NO...especially not at forward...Tardy is creative and very shifty...but Anoka's top 3 forwards are all explosive carrying the puck AND creative.

These 2 teams are on a collision course ...Feb 28th

[hockey59]

I attended the DE-Cloquet game on Wednesday and was impressed by the DE defensmen...especially the depth they have..arguably as deep as any team in the state...Forbort and Arbour in particular are top notch...but the other 4 are very solid...they each have a variety of strenghs...teams really have to work to score on DE.

Its really hard to gauge how strong Cooper is between the pipes..while he is certainly good...but many tough chances does he typically face each game?

#21 also played well Wednesday...scoring a key goal and ringing one off the pipe... 23, 10, 18 & 17 were very solid...and 27 is very dangerous if you don't put a body on him...Anoka played sub-par the 1st time around...but the knowledge they gained from that game will help them should they earn a meeting with DE in the final.

[karl(east)]

Glad you got to experience DE-CEC at the DECC, it's always an amazing atmosphere. If they meet in sections those empty seats behind the net will all be filled.
As for the East players, the depth at D is wonderful for them, and they can run 4 lines if they want and not suffer for it. The Tardy-Johnson-Boese line is obviously the scoring line, but the others all do many things well. As for Cooper in net, I've seen a ton of improvement since earlier in the year...he's controlling rebounds better and not taking dangerous trips out of the net. I was extremely impressed with his poise...even Ben Leis struggled in his first East-Cloquet game. His stats right now are extremely impressive, and the schedule East faces only enhances that. No, he doesn't face a ton of shots in a game, but that's not really an issue since East does a great job of controlling the flow of games and canhold their own even against any team in the state.

I remember a few weeks ago Anoka broke up the O'Neill-Belisle-Scott line...are they still doing that?