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Posted: **Sat Nov 29, 2008 5:27 pm**

MNHockeyFan wrote:
Melvin44 wrote:My top 5 would be

1. Hopkins
2. Hill Murray (beat Stillwater 4-2)
3. Roseville (supposedly out shot Hopkins 2-1)
4. Edina (If they beat Blake would be #3)
5. Stillwater
I moved Stillwater up only because I'm just guessing they might beat Edina, but this is far from a sure thing. Since losing to HM in their opening game they've also beaten three good teams in North St. Paul, Cloquet and Mounds View by a combined score of 17-6. If they were to beat Edina that would be 4 straight wins, whereas HM will have only played 2 games (for some reason there seems to be a big gap in their schedule). And it seems the pollsters already have HM's win over Stillwater figured into the current rankings, and for some reason they have Stillwater ahead #4 to #5 (?).

All of this is speculation, but speculating is what makes this poll talk kind of fun!

It's ok to disagree with me. I just feel if a team beats another they deserve to be ranked higher. It's early and Stillwater will be top 3 by the end of the year. Edina should have beaten BSM and again by the end of the year they'll probably be tops again. Hopkins beat very good teams in Roseville and Centennial (who's also struggling but very good and will prove it soon).

This is fun!

Posted: **Sat Nov 29, 2008 10:32 pm**

joehockey wrote:So if Edina vs BSM is a tie.....how do polls change....still early...

1) Edina 2-0-1 (still have to play Blake today and Stillwater next Tuesday)
2) Roseville 2-1-0
3) Hopkins 3-0-0
4) Stillwater 3-1-0
5) Hill Murray 2-0

Edina was whipped by Blake 5-0. I think you have to drop Edina from the top 5. They might be a top ten team but its questionable after tonight.

Posted: **Sat Nov 29, 2008 10:47 pm**

Hopkins should go straight to the top next week. They are now 5-0-0. I agree Edina is maybe a top 8 team. Roseville and Hill-Murray should be 2 & 3.

OntheEdge wrote:
joehockey wrote:So if Edina vs BSM is a tie.....how do polls change....still early...

1) Edina 2-0-1 (still have to play Blake today and Stillwater next Tuesday)
2) Roseville 2-1-0
3) Hopkins 3-0-0
4) Stillwater 3-1-0
5) Hill Murray 2-0
Edina was whipped by Blake 5-0. I think you have to drop Edina from the top 5. They might be a top ten team but its questionable after tonight.

Posted: **Sun Nov 30, 2008 12:08 am**

Saw the Blake v. Edina game tonight and let me tell you, Edina is a hot mess. And no I don't think they will get it back together. And they switched coaches why?

My line up:
1. Hopkins-should be 1 until proven otherwise
2. Hill Murray-Have you seen this roster, WOW, toss up with hopkins
3. Stillwater-knows how to get it done
4. Grand Rapids/Greenway-Solid
5. Roseville-shown they can be taken off their game

Tell me where I went wrong.

Posted: **Sun Nov 30, 2008 12:43 am**

Oilers08 wrote:Saw the Blake v. Edina game tonight and let me tell you, Edina is a hot mess. And no I don't think they will get it back together. And they switched coaches why?

My line up:
1. Hopkins-should be 1 until proven otherwise
2. Hill Murray-Have you seen this roster, WOW, toss up with hopkins
3. Stillwater-knows how to get it done
4. Grand Rapids/Greenway-Solid
5. Roseville-shown they can be taken off their game

Tell me where I went wrong.

Coming into this weekend I thought HM was #1. I haven't watched any of the "top 5" play this year, but I'm just going off of what I knew of the teams from the past season, etc. Hopkins was somewhat unknown to me so wasn't sure what to expect there. I'd say Hopkins is #1 until proven otherwise too. #2 is HM but may be a toss up with Hopkins if they both keep rolling??? SW/RV 3/4... I think there is a period of acclimation with any new coach and I expect Edina to be right up there with their depth and talent come seasons end. The prior coach was outstanding but the current one is impressive as well.

Posted: **Sun Nov 30, 2008 10:57 am**

OntheEdge wrote:
joehockey wrote:So if Edina vs BSM is a tie.....how do polls change....still early...

1) Edina 2-0-1 (still have to play Blake today and Stillwater next Tuesday)
2) Roseville 2-1-0
3) Hopkins 3-0-0
4) Stillwater 3-1-0
5) Hill Murray 2-0
Edina was whipped by Blake 5-0. I think you have to drop Edina from the top 5. They might be a top ten team but its questionable after tonight.

Edina - OnEdge so what is the issue with Edina - to much turkey

? Or is it just at #1 everyone else has been fired up to beat them and have played them tough? Past coach didn't run good practices was the issue most offered for why he was asked to leave. New coach has great background and is working team hard and teaching - appears they have a more disciplined breakout than the chip the puck & fly the wings of last year. Is the goaltending or D short? Scoring, the team didn't have "a scorer" outside of Buie but looked like every player could and would score.....will they right the ship against Stillwater 12/2, Roseau 12/5 and Warroad 12/6? Lots of talent and a lot of games yet to play!

Hopkins - Looks to be the team to beat and should be #1. Goaltending wins - plus they have 6-7 strong offensive weapons that can be patient and work together - big challenge when there is a lot of talent.

Hill Murray - Has had been off since 12/18 win over Stillwater 4-2 (scrimmages with AHA 11/26 and Breck 12/2) and will play again 12/5-6 when Warroad & Roseau comes to the metro. Scheduling has been a blessing as 5 top players were out in first 2 games and appears 2-3 may still miss 12/5-6 games. December will be busy leading up to Edina tourney, @ GRG on 12/13, @ Cloquet on 12/27. Should be a very good team when top 17 are healthy looking forward to seeing what happens.

Stillwater - Tuesday night will show a lot they are 3-1 (Hill-Murray L 4-2, @ North St. Paul W 7-2, Cloquet/Esko/Carlton W 5-2, @ Mounds View W 5-2). NSP is 1-3 only beating Park 2-1; Cloquet is 4-1; Moundsview is 2-2. Stillwater is scoring (Dahl, Tuuri, King, Charpentier, Eder-Zdechlik, Salomen....) which is what they will have to do to take pressure off the D. I think they should beat Edina on Tuesday at home although maybe Edina gets on track - this will be a great game and tell a lot.

Roseville - Roseville and Stillwater is the game I want to see and I think Roseville will win, to bad it is not until 1/6/09!

December should be great hockey with many of these teams meeting. After the Edina Tourney 1/1-3/09 it should be much clearer who the top teams are.

Posted: **Sun Nov 30, 2008 10:39 pm**

Oilers08 wrote:Saw the Blake v. Edina game tonight and let me tell you, Edina is a hot mess. And no I don't think they will get it back together. And they switched coaches why?

My line up:
1. Hopkins-should be 1 until proven otherwise
2. Hill Murray-Have you seen this roster, WOW, toss up with hopkins
3. Stillwater-knows how to get it done
4. Grand Rapids/Greenway-Solid
5. Roseville-shown they can be taken off their game

Tell me where I went wrong.

Hopkins should be #1 in the polls. Roseville beat GRG and outshot them 57-14. How sure are you that GRG is 'solid'? Edina will belong back in the top 5 when they get their act together IMO.

Posted: **Mon Dec 01, 2008 12:27 am**

joehockey wrote:
OntheEdge wrote:
joehockey wrote:So if Edina vs BSM is a tie.....how do polls change....still early...

1) Edina 2-0-1 (still have to play Blake today and Stillwater next Tuesday)
2) Roseville 2-1-0
3) Hopkins 3-0-0
4) Stillwater 3-1-0
5) Hill Murray 2-0
Edina was whipped by Blake 5-0. I think you have to drop Edina from the top 5. They might be a top ten team but its questionable after tonight.
Edina - OnEdge so what is the issue with Edina - to much turkey ? Or is it just at #1 everyone else has been fired up to beat them and have played them tough? Past coach didn't run good practices was the issue most offered for why he was asked to leave. New coach has great background and is working team hard and teaching - appears they have a more disciplined breakout than the chip the puck & fly the wings of last year. Is the goaltending or D short? Scoring, the team didn't have "a scorer" outside of Buie but looked like every player could and would score.....will they right the ship against Stillwater 12/2, Roseau 12/5 and Warroad 12/6? Lots of talent and a lot of games yet to play!

Its early Joe. Turkey probably had something to do with it but it wasn't the kind that you put on the table

. As far as being number 1AA I'm sure that it was extra motivation for Blake but if you live in Edina you expect everyone to give you their best effort whether you are #1 or unranked, if you know what I mean. Its not fair to Slomo to bring up the old coach. Slomo is now our coach.

Edina is definitely struggling right now and its anybody's guess on whether they will get out of their funk soon. I am confident that it will get better but I just don't know when. After last weekend, I think we are farther away than I originally thought (we did not play well against BSM either).

Lets just say that nothing has been going right so far. No sense in pointing fingers especially in a public forum. The talent is there but we aren't playing very well right now. I think our D has been pretty good except for the Blake game. Even in the Blake game there weren't many shots against us (I think it was less than 20). It was just one of those nights. I was more concerned about the lack of offense.

But to put it in perspective, if I remember correctly, at mid-season last year no one thought that CDH would win their section or that BSM would beat Hopkins in their section or that Breck would beat Blake in their section. All that matters is that we play well enough to get a decent seeding in our section and that we are playing our best hockey at the end of the season.

I'm hoping we can break out of our funk against Stillwater. I personally think that we match up with Stillwater pretty well but we need to get off to a fast start in order to have a chance. If we don't it could get ugly again.

Posted: **Mon Dec 01, 2008 5:31 am**

OntheEdge wrote:
joehockey wrote:
OntheEdge wrote: All well said you have a great coach, talent and tradition - as they say "the race is long....." we are going to make the hike to St. Croix to watch the action on Tuesday night should be a classic match up! Good Luck!

Posted: **Tue Dec 02, 2008 12:15 am**

Edina is a mess. They lost some play-makers from last year and now play individual hockey at the forward positions. Defense is good. Goal tending is ok-to-good. It's really the 9 up front that will determine whether they can make it happen.

Hopkins is the team. Mark it down.

Posted: **Tue Dec 02, 2008 1:17 am**

sodakred wrote:Edina is a mess. They lost some play-makers from last year and now play individual hockey at the forward positions. Defense is good. Goal tending is ok-to-good. It's really the 9 up front that will determine whether they can make it happen.

Hopkins is the team. Mark it down.

Just out of curiosity what "playmakers" are you referring to?

Posted: **Tue Dec 02, 2008 5:39 am**

PIONEER PRESS RANKINGS 12/2/08

1. Hopkins 5-0-0

2. Roseville 3-1-0

3. Hill-Murray 2-0-0

4. Stillwater 3-1-0

5. Blake 4-0-0

6. Wayzata 3-1-0

7. Eastview 4-0-1

8. Eagan 5-1-0

9. Coon Rapids 3-0-0

10. Irondale 1-1-0

Posted: **Tue Dec 02, 2008 8:54 am**

joehockey wrote:PIONEER PRESS RANKINGS 12/2/08

1. Hopkins 5-0-0
2. Roseville 3-1-0
3. Hill-Murray 2-0-0
4. Stillwater 3-1-0
5. Blake 4-0-0
6. Wayzata 3-1-0
7. Eastview 4-0-1
8. Eagan 5-1-0
9. Coon Rapids 3-0-0
10. Irondale 1-1-0

Comparing this and last week's polls:

Hopkins and Roseville switch places at #1 and #2
HM, Stillwater and Blake hold at #3, 4 and 5
Wayzata makes its first appearance at No. 6
Eastview holds at #7
Eagan and Coon Rapids move into Top 10 at #8 and #9
Irondale holds at #10
Farmington, South St. Paul and Woodbury drop out

Posted: **Wed Dec 03, 2008 9:15 pm**

thehocksdad wrote:
sodakred wrote:Edina is a mess. They lost some play-makers from last year and now play individual hockey at the forward positions. Defense is good. Goal tending is ok-to-good. It's really the 9 up front that will determine whether they can make it happen.

Hopkins is the team. Mark it down.
Just out of curiosity what "playmakers" are you referring to?

I can't refer to what hocksdad is speaking of, but I would say the loss of Latta is a big one, she did a lot for that team last year. In the games I saw she logged a ton of min. at both F/D depending on the opponent. I would say there will be a learning curve for the new coach to discover what each players strengths are, and get them in the proper spots. That may take over one season, the problem is there is a lot boiling under the surface, and will people be patient if the new coach doesn't win right away. It has the makings of a situation that could get very ugly unless they start getting better as a group. Only time will tell.

Posted: **Wed Dec 03, 2008 9:43 pm**

allhoc11 wrote:
thehocksdad wrote:
sodakred wrote:Edina is a mess. They lost some play-makers from last year and now play individual hockey at the forward positions. Defense is good. Goal tending is ok-to-good. It's really the 9 up front that will determine whether they can make it happen.

Hopkins is the team. Mark it down.
Just out of curiosity what "playmakers" are you referring to?
I can't refer to what hocksdad is speaking of, but I would say the loss of Latta is a big one, she did a lot for that team last year. In the games I saw she logged a ton of min. at both F/D depending on the opponent. I would say there will be a learning curve for the new coach to discover what each players strengths are, and get them in the proper spots. That may take over one season, the problem is there is a lot boiling under the surface, and will people be patient if the new coach doesn't win right away. It has the makings of a situation that could get very ugly unless they start getting better as a group. Only time will tell.

And will the Every Day I Need Attention parents remain calm enough to let the coach work? or will they pop a cork ?
They need to understand it will take time!
Parents- Be patient there is plenty of talent in your midst Rome was not built in a day! probably not even a year.
Give her time, and expect you kids to be the best they can be!

Posted: **Wed Dec 03, 2008 10:19 pm**

hockeya1a wrote:
allhoc11 wrote:
thehocksdad wrote: Just out of curiosity what "playmakers" are you referring to?
I can't refer to what hocksdad is speaking of, but I would say the loss of Latta is a big one, she did a lot for that team last year. In the games I saw she logged a ton of min. at both F/D depending on the opponent. I would say there will be a learning curve for the new coach to discover what each players strengths are, and get them in the proper spots. That may take over one season, the problem is there is a lot boiling under the surface, and will people be patient if the new coach doesn't win right away. It has the makings of a situation that could get very ugly unless they start getting better as a group. Only time will tell.

And will the Every Day I Need Attention parents remain calm enough to let the coach work? or will they pop a cork ?
They need to understand it will take time!
Parents- Be patient there is plenty of talent in your midst Rome was not built in a day! probably not even a year.
Give her time, and expect you kids to be the best they can be!

People will be patient and they know it will take time but I think the highlighted portion of your blog is what people are worried about (especially some of the seniors and their parents). We have a rookie coach. How long will it take her to adjust? You are right, Rome wasn't built in a day, but this isn't the building of Rome from scratch so I don't really like your analogy. If Edina is Rome then the new coach is more like an early Emperor. The foundation is in place, she doesn't need to build the city, just lead it to greatness.

Posted: **Wed Dec 03, 2008 11:35 pm**

OntheEdge wrote:We have a rookie coach. How long will it take her to adjust?

Is she really a rookie? Didn't she coach at HS and college?

Posted: **Thu Dec 04, 2008 12:05 am**

No doubt Edina's off to a slower start than what was hoped for by their team and fans, but is it really fair to pin this on the new coach? Maybe the expectations and their No. 1 ranking were a little too high to start?

I'm not at all close to the situation, but obviously she has plenty of experience playing at a very high level, and from all indications she was highly thought of as an assistant at the U. Plus she was presumably chosen out of many applicants for a reason.

Edina also plays a VERY difficult schedule. The reports are they really stepped it up in the last half of the game against Stillwater. Losing is very frustrating, but if the players don't get down on themselves and support one another, the tough schedule should only make them more prepared for when it really matters.

Posted: **Thu Dec 04, 2008 6:32 am**

MNHockeyFan wrote:No doubt Edina's off to a slower start than what was hoped for by their team and fans, but is it really fair to pin this on the new coach? Maybe the expectations and their No. 1 ranking were a little too high to start?

I'm not at all close to the situation, but obviously she has plenty of experience playing at a very high level, and from all indications she was highly thought of as an assistant at the U. Plus she was presumably chosen out of many applicants for a reason.

Edina also plays a VERY difficult schedule. The reports are they really stepped it up in the last half of the game against Stillwater. Losing is very frustrating, but if the players don't get down on themselves and support one another, the tough schedule should only make them more prepared for when it really matters.

It is still early, and I would rather be on fire at the end of the season!

Posted: **Thu Dec 04, 2008 8:38 am**

I would have to guess the over rated part might be in effect to start, but not that over rated, and the tough schedule will help in the long run. Over all they have had close games against highly rated teams if I'm correct. Looks like it doesn't get much easier at all either. Yet not to be too hard on a coach, but what kind of HS success did she have prior to Edina?

Posted: **Thu Dec 04, 2008 8:51 am**

hockeyrube7 wrote:I would have to guess the over rated part might be in effect to start, but not that over rated, and the tough schedule will help in the long run. Over all they have had close games against highly rated teams if I'm correct. Looks like it doesn't get much easier at all either. Yet not to be too hard on a coach, but what kind of HS success did she have prior to Edina?

I don't think her prior HS experience is relevant. It was her first experience and it was only one year at a weak program. She has good experience as an assistant at D1 programs but going to a new community and setting up your own program takes time. She will do a great job in the long run. I think the worry in Edina is regarding how long it will take and not whether or not she can lead Edina to great things.

I also think that Edina was rated too high in the polls but I also think that Edina is not playing good hockey right now. The only sign that team might be getting better was the play in the third period of the Stillwater game. The defense has been solid except for the Blake game. In 4 games other than the Blake game Edina has given up only one goal that was scored 5 on 5. The other 4 goals were on power plays. Edina needs to figure out ways to score more. They might have to move some of the D to forward to generate more offense. They have some very offensive minded defenders that can score but it appears that their new system is not set up to take advantage of this so moving some defenders to forward might make sense.

Posted: **Thu Dec 04, 2008 9:00 am**

Star Tribune Poll 12/4/08
(provided by Let's Play Hockey newspaper. First-place votes are in parentheses.)

Class 2A
1. Hopkins (4)
2. Roseville (1)
3. Stillwater (1)
4. Hill-Murray
5. Edina
6. Grand Rapids/Greenway
7. Minnetonka
8. Proctor/Hermantown/Duluth Marshall
9. Irondale
10. Benilde-St. Margaret's
11. White Bear Lake
12. Centennial
13. Blaine
14. Eagan
15. Cloquet

Class 1A
1. Roseau (4)
2. Blake (4)
3. Warroad
4. Breck
5. Alexandria
6. Crookston/Red Lake Falls
7. Mankato West
8. Mound Westonka
9. South St. Paul
10. Hutchinson
11. Henry Sibley
12. Hibbing/Chisholm
13. Totino-Grace
14. Northfield
15. Visitation/SPA United

Posted: **Thu Dec 04, 2008 9:30 am**

OntheEdge wrote: I don't think her prior HS experience is relevant. It was her first experience and it was only one year at a weak program. She will do a great job in the long run. I think the worry in Edina is regarding how long it will take and not whether or not she can lead Edina to great things.

I'm not so sure you can't weigh that a little, she had a good number of blue chip caliber players who were young, but the coach prior to her had headed in the right direction. If she would've been committed to the program for the long term, who knows what Kennedy could've accomplished if Stoa, Feste, Ludwigson, Westberg, Johnasson stayed and played their. I have a feeling if the previous coached would've stayed in place, these girls would've most likely stuck it out, and they would've been a good team. Unfortunately they followed the lead of new HC, and all bolted for greener pastures.

You can feel the unrest of the Upperclassmen parents in Edina already, how this coach handles that pressure will decide her fate. It will be fun to watch from a distance.

Posted: **Thu Dec 04, 2008 10:21 am**

Wow Edina is a hockey power and expectations run high!

I hope they get back on track with Roseau and Warroad. As noted before this is a group of girls that have played together a long time and had success at every level. Observations from some would say they aren't playing team hockey. This is seen often in girls hockey when a team gets behind each girl attempts to do it all themselves.

Congrats to Hopkins are the top spot they have earned it the old fashion way and hard to argue. Some big movements this week. Here is kind a tracking of the rankings over the last three weeks - lots of games to play and many head to heads across this list so expect changes! I still believe Edina will be in the thick of things come Feb!

AA Coaches Rankings 12/4-11/26-11/20

Class 2A
1/3/4 Hopkins (4)
2/2/3 Roseville (1)
3/4/2 Stillwater (1)
4/5/8 Hill-Murray
5/1/1 Edina
6/7/6 Grand Rapids/Greenway
7/6/5 Minnetonka
8/11/15 Proctor/Hermantown/Duluth Marshall
9/10/14 Irondale
10/12/12 Benilde-St. Margaret's
11/9/9 White Bear Lake
12/8/7 Centennial
13/13/13 Blaine
14/14/19 Eagan
15/17/18 Cloquet

Posted: **Thu Dec 04, 2008 10:44 am**

joehockey wrote:Wow Edina is a hockey power and expectations run high!

I hope they get back on track with Roseau and Warroad. As noted before this is a group of girls that have played together a long time and had success at every level. Observations from some would say they aren't playing team hockey. This is seen often in girls hockey when a team gets behind each girl attempts to do it all themselves.

Congrats to Hopkins are the top spot they have earned it the old fashion way and hard to argue. Some big movements this week. Here is kind a tracking of the rankings over the last three weeks - lots of games to play and many head to heads across this list so expect changes! I still believe Edina will be in the thick of things come Feb!

AA Coaches Rankings 12/4-11/26-11/20

Class 2A
1/3/4 Hopkins (4)
2/2/3 Roseville (1)
3/4/2 Stillwater (1)
4/5/8 Hill-Murray
5/1/1 Edina
6/7/6 Grand Rapids/Greenway
7/6/5 Minnetonka
8/11/15 Proctor/Hermantown/Duluth Marshall
9/10/14 Irondale
10/12/12 Benilde-St. Margaret's
11/9/9 White Bear Lake
12/8/7 Centennial
13/13/13 Blaine
14/14/19 Eagan
15/17/18 Cloquet

They won't.

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