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Mite-dad wrote: ↑Tue Feb 21, 2023 9:30 am My take on Section 5A is that any of the top 4 could win it. Even though LF is the 1 seed, not sure them not winning the section would be much of an upset. But I get it that them being the 1 assumes if they lose it would be an "upset". That said, you folks picking SCC to win, IMO the game at Monicello is a coin flip. It appears the game at the MAC was very close in shots and on the scoreboard. I could easily see Monticello winning the section. If an upset occurs in 5, I think it will be Monticello that wins it.

elliott70 wrote: ↑Tue Feb 21, 2023 9:46 am

Mite-dad wrote: ↑Tue Feb 21, 2023 9:30 am My take on Section 5A is that any of the top 4 could win it. Even though LF is the 1 seed, not sure them not winning the section would be much of an upset. But I get it that them being the 1 assumes if they lose it would be an "upset". That said, you folks picking SCC to win, IMO the game at Monicello is a coin flip. It appears the game at the MAC was very close in shots and on the scoreboard. I could easily see Monticello winning the section. If an upset occurs in 5, I think it will be Monticello that wins it.

That is a possibility but can't cheer for them...
Too close to AA size.

Mite-dad wrote: ↑Tue Feb 21, 2023 9:30 am My take on Section 5A is that any of the top 4 could win it. Even though LF is the 1 seed, not sure them not winning the section would be much of an upset. But I get it that them being the 1 assumes if they lose it would be an "upset". That said, you folks picking SCC to win, IMO the game at Monicello is a coin flip. It appears the game at the MAC was very close in shots and on the scoreboard. I could easily see Monticello winning the section. If an upset occurs in 5, I think it will be Monticello that wins it.

elliott70 wrote: ↑Mon Feb 20, 2023 11:55 am Section 5
1. Little Falls
2. Monticello
3. St. Cloud Cathedral
4. Cambridge-Isanti
5. Princeton
6. River Lakes
7. Pine City
8. Sauk Rapids-Rice
9. Becker/Big Lake
10. Mora/Milaca

This is another one that just shouts upset.

elliott70 wrote: ↑Mon Feb 20, 2023 11:55 am Section 5
1. Little Falls
2. Monticello
3. St. Cloud Cathedral
4. Cambridge-Isanti
5. Princeton
6. River Lakes
7. Pine City
8. Sauk Rapids-Rice
9. Becker/Big Lake
10. Mora/Milaca

This is another one that just shouts upset.

ClassAGuy wrote: ↑Tue Feb 21, 2023 11:20 am

Mite-dad wrote: ↑Tue Feb 21, 2023 9:30 am My take on Section 5A is that any of the top 4 could win it. Even though LF is the 1 seed, not sure them not winning the section would be much of an upset. But I get it that them being the 1 assumes if they lose it would be an "upset". That said, you folks picking SCC to win, IMO the game at Monicello is a coin flip. It appears the game at the MAC was very close in shots and on the scoreboard. I could easily see Monticello winning the section. If an upset occurs in 5, I think it will be Monticello that wins it.

Mite-dad how do you feel about your Flyers chance in 5A. They seem to have peaked later unlike last year when they faded coming into postseason play. The 9th grader in net has been good since taking over curious how he will handle the pressure of his first postseason run. Since moving the sophomore Welinski back up to Line 1 and the 9th grader down to Line 2 seems to have shored up the forward depth. They cant afford any injuries as they seem play just 4 D and 2 Lines a ton but a season later it seems like Coach Hanowski's beefed up schedule helped this team find its way down the stretch. Going (10-1-0) in last 11 is impressive but the home ice in the first two round might hurt this team they were actually worse at home.

Curious if you think this Flyers group has a 5A title in them it might be awhile before they have another shot at one.

Mite-dad wrote: ↑Wed Feb 22, 2023 9:48 am

ClassAGuy wrote: ↑Tue Feb 21, 2023 11:20 am

Mite-dad wrote: ↑Tue Feb 21, 2023 9:30 am My take on Section 5A is that any of the top 4 could win it. Even though LF is the 1 seed, not sure them not winning the section would be much of an upset. But I get it that them being the 1 assumes if they lose it would be an "upset". That said, you folks picking SCC to win, IMO the game at Monicello is a coin flip. It appears the game at the MAC was very close in shots and on the scoreboard. I could easily see Monticello winning the section. If an upset occurs in 5, I think it will be Monticello that wins it.

Mite-dad how do you feel about your Flyers chance in 5A. They seem to have peaked later unlike last year when they faded coming into postseason play. The 9th grader in net has been good since taking over curious how he will handle the pressure of his first postseason run. Since moving the sophomore Welinski back up to Line 1 and the 9th grader down to Line 2 seems to have shored up the forward depth. They cant afford any injuries as they seem play just 4 D and 2 Lines a ton but a season later it seems like Coach Hanowski's beefed up schedule helped this team find its way down the stretch. Going (10-1-0) in last 11 is impressive but the home ice in the first two round might hurt this team they were actually worse at home.

Curious if you think this Flyers group has a 5A title in them it might be awhile before they have another shot at one.

I think their chances are as good as anyone's in the section. The two comments above are laughable in a way as LF just beat SCC twice and punched them in the mouth on their home ice. Monticello is scary to me because I haven't seen them play in a long time and they are well coached. To me the top three are pretty equal (assuming LF can beat CI, lol). I agree with you that moving Welinski up and Kalis have been big improvements. I mentioned at the start of the season in our preseason banter that I wouldn't be surprised to see Kalis in net as the starter eventually. Kalis has shown poise beyond his age. Coach Joe has mentioned he's amazed at how cool and patient he is and not prone to panic. Kalis comes from a family of very good athletes so maybe not surprising. He may have been the best goalie in LF when he was playing bantams last year.

As far as scheduling, it was good......and it was bad. A lot of road games against good teams has been good for preparing them for sections. I think in the past we had far too many weak games at the end of the season that didn't prepare the team for sections very well. The bad part of the schedule this year was a long layoff at the end of the season....which could have sapped them of some momentum. This team did not cope well with long layoffs when weather caused cancelations. They were finally in a groove at the end of the season, then had like a 9 or 10 day layoff. Not good, and I think if showed last night against SR. LF was outshot by a significant margin. Against a better team, that probably would have been curtains. They didn't play particularly well defensively last night either. They may not get past CI if they play similar on Saturday. But overall, like I said, I think the section is a toss-up. I like LF chances as much as anyone's and might have the slight edge over everyone else based on that top line. Teams will have to find a way to shut it down. If teams can shut down that top line, LF doesn't have a lot of scoring depth.

And don't count LF out after this year. They will have a great goalie, and some returning scoring. There is a core there that will make them competitive in the coming years. Probably not a favorite in section but one capable of winning it.