Class A and AA STATE TOURNAMENTS - YOUR PREDICTIONS!

quickfeet · Post by **quickfeet** » Wed Feb 25, 2009 9:00 am

Class A - Upper Bracket
Warroad 5 vs. Hutchinson 2
Fergus Falls 1 vs. Red Wing 2 ot
Semifinal Winner: Warroad 4 over Red Wing 0

Class A - Lower Bracket
Blake 9 vs. New Ulm 2
Eveleth-Gilbert 2 vs. Mahtomedi 5
Semifinal Winner: Blake 6 over Mahtomedi 0

Class A Champion: Warroad 2 over Blake 1

Class AA - Upper Bracket
Hopkins 2 vs. Irondale 3
Edina 4 vs. Cloquet/Esko/Carlton 1
Semifinal Winner: Edina 1 over Irondale 0

Class AA - Lower Bracket
Stillwater 4 vs. Lakeville South 0
Eagan 4 vs. Elk River/Zimmerman 2
Semifinal Winner: Eagan 1 over Stillwater 0 ot

Class AA Champion: Edina 2 over Eagan 1

MNHockeyFan · Post by **MNHockeyFan** » Wed Feb 25, 2009 2:24 pm

Warroad ekes out a 12-0 win over hapless Hutchinson in Game 1, so all 21 contestants pick up a point. nuetralregroup came closest on the score, having predicted 9-0.

It sounds like the second game is much more interesting, with Fergus Falls holding a 2-1 lead after two periods. It was a little surprising that in our contest 14 of 21 predicted Red Wing would win this game, even though Fergus Falls is the seeded team.

MNHockeyFan · Post by **MNHockeyFan** » Wed Feb 25, 2009 3:34 pm

14 of our prognosticators ended up calling this correctly as Red Wing scores a PP breakaway goal with just 50.6 seconds left to beat Fergus Falls, 3-2. MNHockey2199, trojangoalie241 and nuetralregroup all got the score correct and are tied for 1st place with 4 points each. Eleven are tied for second with 2 points, and the remaining seven have a point apiece.

In tonight's Class A action, we have another probable mismatch with all 21 of us saying Blake will handle New Ulm. The second game looks to much closer, with 12 liking #4 seeded Eveleth-Gilbert vs. 9 believing Mahtomedi will pull the upset. Our three leaders are all picking Eveleth-Gilbert to win, so we'll see what happens!

pondhockey · Post by **pondhockey** » Wed Feb 25, 2009 4:24 pm

MNHockeyFan wrote:Warroad ekes out a 12-0 win over hapless Hutchinson in Game 1, so all 21 contestants pick up a point. nuetralregroup came closest on the score, having predicted 9-0.

It sounds like the second game is much more interesting, with Fergus Falls holding a 2-1 lead after two periods. It was a little surprising that in our contest 14 of 21 predicted Red Wing would win this game, even though Fergus Falls is the seeded team.

As it turns out to be a heartbreaking loss for Fergus Falls, but the majority picking Red Wing to win, I think all can agree that the Otters were under rated on this forum for this match. They are a much better team than they were given credit for.

MNHockeyFan · Post by **MNHockeyFan** » Wed Feb 25, 2009 8:44 pm

pondhockey wrote:...I think all can agree that the Otters were under rated on this forum for this match.

Not the 7 of us here in this thread who thought they were going to win!

MNHockeyFan · Post by **MNHockeyFan** » Wed Feb 25, 2009 8:49 pm

Another lopsided win tonight, as most expected. Blake shuts out New Ulm and their 100+ point scorer, 9-0. As with the Warroad game, everyone picks up a point, and again no correct scores. Several came very close, with Gopher25 saying 10-0 and five others guessed 8-0.

Like this afternoon, tonight's second matchup will hopefully be closer.

Hansonbrother · Post by **Hansonbrother** » Wed Feb 25, 2009 9:02 pm

MNHockeyFan wrote:Another lopsided win tonight, as most expected. Blake shuts out New Ulm and their 100+ point scorer, 9-0. As with the Warroad game, everyone picks up a point, and again no correct scores. Several came very close, with Gopher25 saying 10-0 and five others guessed 8-0.

Like this afternoon, tonight's second matchup will hopefully be closer.

I guess when 100 point scores get a steady diet of playing nobodys all year, you end up finding out how good you really are when you play someone of caliber...too bad it had to be at the xcel

MNHockeyFan · Post by **MNHockeyFan** » Wed Feb 25, 2009 9:32 pm

After two periods, Mahtomedi 1, Eveleth-Gilbert 1. Mahtomedi will be on the power play to start the 3rd.

Edit: With about 10 minutes to go in the 3rd, Mahtomedi leads 3-2.

MNHockeyFan · Post by **MNHockeyFan** » Wed Feb 25, 2009 10:42 pm

Mahtomedi hangs on to defeat Eveleth-Gilbert by a 3-2 score. Out of our 21 contestants, 9 gain a point with goalzilla getting two bonus points for picking the correct score. Our three leaders after the first two games all had Eveleth-Gilbert winning this game, so they lose a point each on this one (as did 9 others). So after Day 1 goalzilla takes a two point lead on the field:

1. goalzilla - 6 points (4 for 4 + 2 bonus points)
2. OntheEdge - 4 (4 for 4)
2. Hansonbrother - 4 (4 for 4)
2. hockeyheaven - 4 (4 for 4)
2. gopher25 - 4 (4 for 4)
2. Bensonmum - 4 (4 for 4)
2. quickfeet - 4 (4 for 4)
2. MNHockey2199 - 4 (3 for 4 + 2 bonus points)
2. trojangoalie241 - 4 (3 for 4 + 2 bonus points)
2. nuetralregroup - 4 (3 for 4 + 2 bonus points)
11-16. Six tied with 2
17-21. Five tied with 0

Joethehockeydad · Post by **Joethehockeydad** » Wed Feb 25, 2009 10:58 pm

Where's the love...........I have 3 correct.

MNHockeyFan · Post by **MNHockeyFan** » Wed Feb 25, 2009 11:24 pm

Joethehockeydad wrote:Where's the love...........I have 3 correct.

Joe, see the rules in the first post. This is exactly how we did it last year for the Tournament Games. For each game where you don't get the winner right, you lose a point. So you have 1+1+1-1=2. Don't feel bad, I have 1-1+1-1=0!

Joethehockeydad · Post by **Joethehockeydad** » Thu Feb 26, 2009 9:06 am

Ahhhhh, so I still got a shot of going under par. Sweet!

MNHockeyFan wrote:eyFan"]
Joethehockeydad wrote:Where's the love...........I have 3 correct.
Joe, see the rules in the first post. This is exactly how we did it last year for the Tournament Games. For each game where you don't get the winner right, you lose a point. So you have 1+1+1-1=2. Don't feel bad, I have 1-1+1-1=0!

MNHockeyFan · Post by **MNHockeyFan** » Thu Feb 26, 2009 9:17 am

Joethehockeydad wrote:Ahhhhh, so I still got a shot of going under par. Sweet!

Last year there was one person (who shall remain nameless) that finished 4 under! For you to break the 'course record' this year it would take some major upsets the rest of the way.

Edit: Thinking through this a little more, actually you have no shot at going 5 under. After the quarterfinals, you can only GAIN points. With only 4 quarterfinal games to go, the worst you could do would be to finish -2. The guy last year managed to miss 7 of the 8 quarterfinal games, but on the other (8th) game got a correct score (-7+3=-4), then got no other positive points the rest of the way.

MNHockeyFan · Post by **MNHockeyFan** » Thu Feb 26, 2009 1:32 pm

Final today was 6-0 Hopkins, Becky Kortum with the hat trick. All but three of our 21 contestants pick up a point, but nobody guessed it would be 6-0 (although we did have a 5-0 and a 6-1).

Point totals will be updated after the Edina/Cloquet game.

MNHockeyFan · Post by **MNHockeyFan** » Thu Feb 26, 2009 3:41 pm

The second game ends 6-3 Edina with Edina's Sami Reber scoring an empty net goal in the final minute. This was a higher scoring game than anyone predicted, as most predicted more of a defensive battle. Once again, there were no correct scores. Our leader, goalzilla, had the only opportunity in the 3rd, when the score was 5-2, but each team was able to net another goal to make it a 6-3 final.

Point standings heading into this evening:

1. goalzilla - 8 points (6 for 6 + 2 bonus points)
2. OntheEdge - 6 (6 for 6)
2. Hansonbrother - 6 (6 for 6)
2. hockeyheaven - 6 (6 for 6)
2. gopher25 - 6 (6 for 6)
2. MNHockey2199 - 6 (5 for 6 + 2 bonus points)
2. trojangoalie241 - 6 (5 for 6 + 2 bonus points)
8. joethehockeydad - 4 (5 for 6)
8. joehockey - 4 (5 for 6)
8. hockeygroupie - 4 (5 for 6)
8. Bensonmum - 4 (5 for 6)
8. quickfeet - 4 (5 for 6)
8. nuetralregroup - 4 (4 for 6 + 2 bonus points)
14-19. Six tied with 2

20-21. Two tied with 0

For all those at 6 hoping to catch/surpass goalzilla, tonight he has Stillwater beating Lakeville South 4-2 and Eagan beating Elk River 4-1.

MNHockeyFan · Post by **MNHockeyFan** » Thu Feb 26, 2009 8:10 pm

Final: Stillwater 6, Lakeville South 1.

Yet again, nobody gets the score and bonus points. I had guessed 6-0, and a total of five others (Silent But Deadly, gopher25, Stinkin Rootbeer, Bensonmum and hockeytribe) also narrowly missed at 5-1. Everybody had picked Stillwater to win, so goalzilla maintains his 2 point lead and everybody else also adds one point to what I posted above.

If our contestants are right the last quarterfinal game of the tournament would appear to be much more evenly matched. 11 of us favor Eagan, but 10 say unseeded Elk River/Zimmerman will come out on top. With virtually no chance to win this thing anymore, I'm personally just hoping for a competitive, well played game, like 3-1 Eagan, with an empty netter at the end.

MNHockeyFan · Post by **MNHockeyFan** » Thu Feb 26, 2009 10:40 pm

Final in tonight's second game was Elk River/Zimmerman 4, Eagan 3. This came despite Elk River/Zimmerman getting outshot by a 38-14 margin. Sounds like goaltending was a huge factor in the outcome...at least it was a close, hard-fought game until the end.

Picking Eagan to win, our leader goalzilla slipped up just a bit and let Hansonbrother and hockeyheaven move into a tie for 1st Place. Seven others are right behind tied for 2nd with 6 apiece. Since we are now out of the quarterfinal games, and there are no more bonus points for picking correct scores, this race will likely come down to the Class A final (Blake/Warroad if everybodys' semifinal predictions come through) and the horse they're riding in AA. I can easily see the tiebreaker rules coming into play at the end...

For tomorrow's semi's it's 3 points (or 0) for each matchup, or a maximum of 12 points for the day.

1. Hansonbrother - 8 [8 for 8]
1. hockeyheaven - 8 [8 for 8]
1. goalzilla - 8 [7 for 8 + 2 bonus points]
2. joethehockeydad - 6 [7 for 8]
2. OntheEdge - 6 [7 for 8]
2. gopher25 - 6 [7 for 8]
2. hockeygroupie - 6 [7 for 8]
2. MNHockey2199 - 6 [6 for 8 + 2 bonus points]
2. trojangoalie241 - 6 [6 for 8 + 2 bonus points]
2. nuetralregroup - 6 [6 for 8 + 2 bonus points]
11-17. Seven tied with 4
18-20. Three tied with 2
21. One with 0

Good luck to everyone tomorrow!

MNHockeyFan · Post by **MNHockeyFan** » Fri Feb 27, 2009 1:32 pm

First game today ended 7-2 Warroad over Red Wing. Our contestants were unanimous on this one, so just add 3 points to everyone's point totals above. I will problably be posting a very similar message after this afternoon's Blake/Mahtomedi game!

MNHockeyFan · Post by **MNHockeyFan** » Fri Feb 27, 2009 4:30 pm

MNHockeyFan wrote:First game today ended 7-2 Warroad over Red Wing. Our contestants were unanimous on this one, so just add 3 points to everyone's point totals above. I will problably be posting a very similar message after this afternoon's Blake/Mahtomedi game!

Yet another Class A blowout, 7-0 Blake, and so predictable with all 21 of us forecasting it would be Warroad and Blake playing for the Championship. Lack of parity in Class A...but that's a topic for another thread. Tomorrow's final should be VERY exciting and I'm really looking forward to it. In the meantime add another 3 points to everyone's scores above - 6 total for this afternoon.

Tonight should be much better than most of what we've seen so far, in particular the Edina/Hopkins matchup. I saw Edina twice in sections, and they are REALLY playing well, but then again so is Hopkins. Edina might not have the true goal scorers (snipers) like Hopkins, but you could argue they possibly have better team balance (depth) and team defense? But then again Hopkins has Billadeau as their backstop when their defense gets soft occasionally...very tough to beat.

Also Elk River has also been a real surprise so far, and Stillwater (though heavily favored) better not be looking at their record and taking them lightly.

Later....should be a fun evening!

OntheEdge · Post by **OntheEdge** » Fri Feb 27, 2009 10:51 pm

MNHockeyFan wrote:
MNHockeyFan wrote:First game today ended 7-2 Warroad over Red Wing. Our contestants were unanimous on this one, so just add 3 points to everyone's point totals above. I will problably be posting a very similar message after this afternoon's Blake/Mahtomedi game!
Yet another Class A blowout, 7-0 Blake, and so predictable with all 21 of us forecasting it would be Warroad and Blake playing for the Championship. Lack of parity in Class A...but that's a topic for another thread. Tomorrow's final should be VERY exciting and I'm really looking forward to it. In the meantime add another 3 points to everyone's scores above - 6 total for this afternoon.

Tonight should be much better than most of what we've seen so far, in particular the Edina/Hopkins matchup. I saw Edina twice in sections, and they are REALLY playing well, but then again so is Hopkins. Edina might not have the true goal scorers (snipers) like Hopkins, but you could argue they possibly have better team balance (depth) and team defense? But then again Hopkins has Billadeau as their backstop when their defense gets soft occasionally...very tough to beat.

Also Elk River has also been a real surprise so far, and Stillwater (though heavily favored) better not be looking at their record and taking them lightly.

Later....should be a fun evening!

The Hopkins/Edina game was a good game. Hats off to Billadeau and the Hopkins power play which made the difference.

goalzilla · Post by **goalzilla** » Sat Feb 28, 2009 10:11 am

Hopkins/Stillwter tonight will probably be similar to the 3 Stillwater/Roseville games this year. Will be decided by defense and who has the hottest goalie. Only one major difference I see is; that if it comes down to power play advantage Hopkins gets the nod.

MNHockeyFan · Post by **MNHockeyFan** » Sat Feb 28, 2009 10:45 am

Our standings look a little different after last night's big semifinal games. Congrats to Stillwater and Hopkins for clearly earning their Nos. 1 and 2 pre-tournament seeding positions by advancing to the Championship game. Same goes to Blake and Warroad in Class A although their paths in getting to the final were quite a bit easier. I guess you could say that the first year of seeding the teams for the Tournament was a big success, as we clearly get to see the best teams fight it out for the Champiohship in both classes.

For contest purposes both games will be worth 5 points apiece. Here is where we stand heading into them, and because the leaders' projections are fairly evenly split I thought I would also show who has picked whom (shown by either a B or a W, and either a S or an H):

1. Hansonbrother - 20 (B&S)
1. goalzilla - 20 (B&H)
3. joethehockeydad - 18 (W&H)
3. MNHockey2199 - 18 (B&H)
3. hockeygroupie - 18 (W&S)
3. trojangoalie241 - 18 (B&H)
7. hockeyheaven - 17 (W&S)
8. Silent But Deadly - 16 (B&H)
8. Stinkin Rootbeer - 16 (B&S)
8. hockeytribe - 16 (B&S)
11. OntheEdge - 15
11. gopher25 - 15
11. nuetralregroup - 15
14. nmnhockeydad -14
14. MNHockeyFan - 14

14. hockeyrube7 - 14
17-19. Three tied with 13
20. One with 12
21. One with 10

Good luck to all four teams playing today!

starmvp · Post by **starmvp** » Sat Feb 28, 2009 11:25 am

Who does everyone have winning today?
I have Blake winning 5-4 and Hopkins winning 5-2.

MNHockeyFan · Post by **MNHockeyFan** » Sat Feb 28, 2009 12:06 pm

starmvp wrote:Who does everyone have winning today?
I have Blake winning 5-4 and Hopkins winning 5-2.

Out of 21 here the votes are very evenly split: Blake 11, Warroad 10.

MNHockeyFan · Post by **MNHockeyFan** » Sat Feb 28, 2009 2:43 pm

Blake 4, Warroad 3 in a very exciting game that went right down to the wire. Congrats to all of the Blake players and coaches on a tremendous season.

First place honors is now down to two contestants, Hansonbrother and goalzilla. They are tied at 25 points each and have picked different winners for tonight's Class 2A Championship. Hansonbrother has picked Stillwater to win, while goalzilla is going with Hopkins.

MNHockey2199 and trojangoalie241 are right behind these two with 23 points each, and both have Hopkins winning. Stinkin Rootbeer and hockeytribe, with 21 points each, would finish in the top 3 if Stillwater pulls out the win. Here are our leaders and who they've picked:

1. Hansonbrother - 25 (S)
1. goalzilla - 25 (H)
3. MNHockey2199 - 23 (H)
3. trojangoalie241 - 23 (H)
5. Stinkin Rootbeer - 21 (S)
5. hockeytribe - 21 (S)
5. Silent But Deadly - 21 (H)

Looking forward to another great Championship game tonight!