mainefan wrote:The only time Edina was the best consistently was when a ranger Willard Ikola-Mr. iron range hockey god to you- was coaching Edina. But alas those days are gone and the Hornet's stingers have never been or will be as great again........
I see............Ikola had no talented players, he merely coached a bunch of ankle skaters to the state titles because of his fondness for flannell:roll:
Just possibly, the great again you refer to is now!
Such was his greatness.........
It was quite a feat to coach them in the ways of the hockey deities of the Northland. A feat made harder by the fact that their knuckles kept dragging on the rink and creating gouges in the hard ice which by the way, didn't bode well for their puck handling. Yes, it was his fondness for all things flannel and his ability to make players out of the city dwellers that made Edina the team they were and are today.
mainefan wrote:The only time Edina was the best consistently was when a ranger Willard Ikola-Mr. iron range hockey god to you- was coaching Edina. But alas those days are gone and the Hornet's stingers have never been or will be as great again........
I see............Ikola had no talented players, he merely coached a bunch of ankle skaters to the state titles because of his fondness for flannell:roll:
Just possibly, the great again you refer to is now!
Such was his greatness.........
It was quite a feat to coach them in the ways of the hockey deities of the Northland. A feat made harder by the fact that their knuckles kept dragging on the rink and creating gouges in the hard ice which by the way, didn't bode well for their puck handling. Yes, it was his fondness for all things flannel and his ability to make players out of the city dwellers that made Edina the team they were and are today.
Great again? Yet to be determined.
I'll buy that
Now I know why all of my friends have scars on their hands. Ike is an evolutionary hero like Darwin.
So Edina will never be great again because Ikola is no longer coach? Wow. Some of their title teams were so loaded Bert or Ernie could have coached them to the crown.
With the strength of their youth program today I'm sure there will be more joy in Mudville.
Kids win titles, not coaches. Programs and the community facilitate development of kids. Ikola wouldn't have had all the state appearances and all the titles at Forest Lake or Austin.
I'm not sure which one is the best, but I believe congratulations are in order.
Everyone was picking these guys all year and to be able to get through sections and back to the X is pretty tough.
This old Indian fan tips his hat to both teams.
Good luck and enjoy the ride.
This is one of those topics that you just cant say hands down either way. MY heart tells me Roseau is better and so does my head. However someone close to the Edina program is going to argue the same things I do so why bother? Heres all I can say at this point Roseau is the defending State Champs, they are unbeaten. Until they are beaten by someone they have to be the top team in the state. Should they lose then someone else can make that claim but if you look at it from those two points Roseau at this time is the best team in the state
O-townClown wrote:So Edina will never be great again because Ikola is no longer coach? Wow. Some of their title teams were so loaded Bert or Ernie could have coached them to the crown.
With the strength of their youth program today I'm sure there will be more joy in Mudville.
Kids win titles, not coaches. Programs and the community facilitate development of kids. Ikola wouldn't have had all the state appearances and all the titles at Forest Lake or Austin.
And this is coming from an Ikola fan.
Why do you think their teams were so loaded? I'm sure it had nothing to do with the fact that Ike was coach. I see humor is lost on some of us.
as far as having a great youth program you should with the number of kids you have. Roseau builds a great program with a hand full of kids year after year. yes kids do win championships but not without good coaches you can take all the good hockey players you want and put them on one team and they will win games but when it comes to championships good coaching makes the difference
With all these upsets occurring...
Does this lead us down an easier path to a Roseau - Edina final?
It looks that way to me... If so...
Saturday March 8th Championship game
Edina 3
Roseau 4 OT
Lee stops Budish on the doorstep, Ness picks it up, wheels, dangles, then with the flick of the wrist he sets up Landman skating in all alone for the winner
I'm just hoping for a Roseau v Edina championship game. Both teams will, however, have to survive those tournament upsets that often knock off top seeded teams.
grindiangrad-80 wrote:I'm not sure which one is the best, but I believe congratulations are in order.
Everyone was picking these guys all year and to be able to get through sections and back to the X is pretty tough.
This old Indian fan tips his hat to both teams.
Good luck and enjoy the ride.
There should be more comments like this on this forum. I tip my hat to you sir.
Does anybody know how many more times Roseau would have won the state championship had they not had to play Edina? Edina beat Roseau at state even when Roseau had a forward line featuring Neal Broten, Aaron Broten and Butsy Erickson....all future NHLers.
How? As I recall they did it by playing a highly energized and very diciplined style of hockey, every minute of the game. And Ikola was in charge. That was then, as painful as it is to remember, and now is now.
Every time they have met it's the David/Goliath thing. Like watching the movie "Hoosiers". Edina has the advantage of numbers, Roseau kids the advantage of ice time (and a pee wee coach by the name of Dick Johnson).
I can't wait to see what happens this week. This is all so great for the game.
However, my vote goes to Roseau, 28-0.
Last edited by OldTexasRam on Mon Mar 03, 2008 8:47 pm, edited 1 time in total.
OldTexasRam wrote:Edina beat Roseau at state even when Roseau had a forward line featuring Neal Broten, Aaron Broten and Butsy Erickson....all future NFLers.
Neal was a guard, Aaron was a tackle and Butsy was a tight end.
