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sanryam wrote:

Mouse in the corner wrote:

northwoods oldtimer wrote: 100%

I would not be so sure. Given that ER played them on day three of a three day stretch where they played Edina and Eden Prairie the two previous days

What's your point? Elk River also played Edina and EP the previous two days. On top of that, ER had a game the Tuesday before that. That was the Elks' busiest part of the schedule for the season. So, if anything, ER was more exhausted than GR.

I'd say, at this point, the only thing that could knock ER off the #1 seed would maybe be an overwhelming win by DE when they match up at the end of this month.

East does not have the team to overwhelm ER, and their overall record will be below .500 most likely. There would have to be some major politics from the 3 northern schools to stick it to ER. Will be interesting to see how teams jockey for matchups in the playoffs.

I don't see any way Elk River doesn't get the 1 seed as long as they beat East and Andover, which seems to be in the bank given these are home games for the Elks. The way things are trending right now, I would see the semifinals being the Elks vs the winner of East/STMA at noon, followed by Rapids playing Cloquet who will beat Forest Lake in the quarterfinals.

TheHockeyDJ wrote:I don't see any way Elk River doesn't get the 1 seed as long as they beat East and Andover, which seems to be in the bank given these are home games for the Elks. The way things are trending right now, I would see the semifinals being the Elks vs the winner of East/STMA at noon, followed by Rapids playing Cloquet who will beat Forest Lake in the quarterfinals.

Even if East were to knock off ER it would be not be rationale to have them ahead of them even if it happened today. Thought that head to head mattered last year and it didn't. STMA is more competitive this year and as they become a factor they will see how it works.

I don't see how anybody but Elk River can be the #1 seed in 7AA. Even if they do get beat by East or somebody assuming that it is not a 20 0 blowout with half of their team giving up hockey for basketball, they have to be ranked #1. Very consistant, played a hard schedule and have taken care of business. The kind of politics that would have to happen for ER to get it stuck to them would rival what goes on in Chicago. In my mind the #2 seed is what is at stake here and for now it comes down to Rapids and CEC.

For what it is worth I have said from pretty much day 1 that I think that Rapids goes to state this year. Looking at their season so far I think that is still the case, although I have to admit that rooting for this team this year must have been what it was like to date Sybil.

Mouse in the corner wrote:I don't see how anybody but Elk River can be the #1 seed in 7AA. Even if they do get beat by East or somebody assuming that it is not a 20 0 blowout with half of their team giving up hockey for basketball, they have to be ranked #1. Very consistant, played a hard schedule and have taken care of business. The kind of politics that would have to happen for ER to get it stuck to them would rival what goes on in Chicago. In my mind the #2 seed is what is at stake here and for now it comes down to Rapids and CEC.

For what it is worth I have said from pretty much day 1 that I think that Rapids goes to state this year. Looking at their season so far I think that is still the case, although I have to admit that rooting for this team this year must have been what it was like to date Sybil.

Sybil A ER/GR final would be a great matchup with their history of close games.

Even though Rapids thoroughly demolished East last night, I still don't think that the #2 seed is either Rapids' or Cloquet's for the taking necessarily. If Cloquet goes in and beats Rapids, and East beats Cloquet for the 2nd time later this year, then who gets it? East will figure it out against Forest Lake and likely end the section season with 2 losses. They're definitely down, but they're not out.

I'd hate to be a Rapids fan. One day you're on the ledge thinking about jumping, and the next day, you're going to State. The fans are as bi polar as the team is.

Houndhockey wrote:Even though Rapids thoroughly demolished East last night, I still don't think that the #2 seed is either Rapids' or Cloquet's for the taking necessarily. If Cloquet goes in and beats Rapids, and East beats Cloquet for the 2nd time later this year, then who gets it? East will figure it out against Forest Lake and likely end the section season with 2 losses. They're definitely down, but they're not out.

I'd hate to be a Rapids fan. One day you're on the ledge thinking about jumping, and the next day, you're going to State. The fans are as bi polar as the team is.

And STMA is still in the conversation.

East looked pretty bad last night.. But, one thing I have learned is to never count Mike Randolph out. The Hounds might not get a great seed but will be very relevant come playoff time. They need to figure out a lot of things between now and the first section game.

Houndhockey wrote:Even though Rapids thoroughly demolished East last night, I still don't think that the #2 seed is either Rapids' or Cloquet's for the taking necessarily. If Cloquet goes in and beats Rapids, and East beats Cloquet for the 2nd time later this year, then who gets it? East will figure it out against Forest Lake and likely end the section season with 2 losses. They're definitely down, but they're not out.

I'd hate to be a Rapids fan. One day you're on the ledge thinking about jumping, and the next day, you're going to State. The fans are as bi polar as the team is.

Now that is funny! We high school hockey fans love our teams that's for sure. I'm addicted to my CEC Lumberjacks that's for sure. No 12 step program for me though.

Was never ready to jump off the ledge! Will support GR even when it defies all logic. I agree, some of the THawks fans like most fans out there get frustrated and look to blame SOMETHING. I would love to see this team make a run but certainly not talking state at this point. One game at a time and need to see the team we saw yesterday EVERY day. Just been hard to see a successful bantam group struggle to transition to high school. Hoping for this to be an indication that they have turned the corner. Never give up hope and stay off the ledge GR fans.

TheInsider wrote:East looked pretty bad last night.. But, one thing I have learned is to never count Mike Randolph out. The Hounds might not get a great seed but will be very relevant come playoff time. They need to figure out a lot of things between now and the first section game.

I'd put 3 things on that list:

1. Find a goalie
-Defense, not goaltending, has been the Hounds' biggest issue, but someone needs to step up and make a big save every now and then to keep them in a close game when the D breaks down. Meierhoff is still the goalie of the future, but Howg has the experience, and while his numbers won't be as good as last season, I think he's better than he's shown so far this year. Someone needs to make a statement to grab the job.

2. Figure out the PP
-The Hounds really didn't score a ton at even strength the past two seasons, but it didn't matter because the had 40% PPs. I'd be happy with 20% at this point...

3. Get to their game in the first period (and get back to it right away if they lose it)
-East is a system team. When the system works, they can skate with just about anyone--they had good periods with STA and even a passable one against Edina in the Schwan Cup. When it doesn't, as in the first period yesterday, the emperor suddenly has no clothes, and they look terrible. There were a lot of bad (but mostly correctable) errors in the first period--little things that kept them from building the attack, and this team is not designed to play from behind and mount comebacks from 2-3 goals down.

Keep it close, and I still like East's odds against its rivals in a pressure-packed playoff game. Even when they drew within 2 last night, for everything that had gone wrong, GR started to run around a bit. Fortunately for them, an ill-advised penalty gave them the chance to seal the W. This may be the end of the run, but even if it is, I don't expect East to go out with a whimper. If certain defensemen don't make silly mistakes, they won't.

East still has half its season to go. There's obvious cause for concern, but certainly no cause for panic. Still lots of hockey to be played.

karl(east) wrote:

TheInsider wrote:East looked pretty bad last night.. But, one thing I have learned is to never count Mike Randolph out. The Hounds might not get a great seed but will be very relevant come playoff time. They need to figure out a lot of things between now and the first section game.

I'd put 3 things on that list:

1. Find a goalie
-Defense, not goaltending, has been the Hounds' biggest issue, but someone needs to step up and make a big save every now and then to keep them in a close game when the D breaks down. Meierhoff is still the goalie of the future, but Howg has the experience, and while his numbers won't be as good as last season, I think he's better than he's shown so far this year. Someone needs to make a statement to grab the job.

2. Figure out the PP
-The Hounds really didn't score a ton at even strength the past two seasons, but it didn't matter because the had 40% PPs. I'd be happy with 20% at this point...

3. Get to their game in the first period (and get back to it right away if they lose it)
-East is a system team. When the system works, they can skate with just about anyone--they had good periods with STA and even a passable one against Edina in the Schwan Cup. When it doesn't, as in the first period yesterday, the emperor suddenly has no clothes, and they look terrible. There were a lot of bad (but mostly correctable) errors in the first period--little things that kept them from building the attack, and this team is not designed to play from behind and mount comebacks from 2-3 goals down.

Keep it close, and I still like East's odds against its rivals in a pressure-packed playoff game. Even when they drew within 2 last night, for everything that had gone wrong, GR started to run around a bit. Fortunately for them, an ill-advised penalty gave them the chance to seal the W. This may be the end of the run, but even if it is, I don't expect East to go out with a whimper. If certain defensemen don't make silly mistakes, they won't.

East still has half its season to go. There's obvious cause for concern, but certainly no cause for panic. Still lots of hockey to be played.

Will Duluth East go the way of Staples and Granite Falls? Or worse, the Greyhound football program?

northwoods oldtimer wrote:Rapids has the most bipolar fan base. Tuesday night they blamed the web site guy, the bantams and the coaching on the seasons funk. Today they are going to state. Worth a good laugh.

This might be my favorite post of all time.

boblee wrote:

northwoods oldtimer wrote:Rapids has the most bipolar fan base. Tuesday night they blamed the web site guy, the bantams and the coaching on the seasons funk. Today they are going to state. Worth a good laugh.

This might be my favorite post of all time.

Agreed!!

boblee wrote:

northwoods oldtimer wrote:Rapids has the most bipolar fan base. Tuesday night they blamed the web site guy, the bantams and the coaching on the seasons funk. Today they are going to state. Worth a good laugh.

This might be my favorite post of all time.

Everyone has always known there was something wrong with GRIndian-THawk fans.

Sats81 wrote:

boblee wrote:

northwoods oldtimer wrote:Rapids has the most bipolar fan base. Tuesday night they blamed the web site guy, the bantams and the coaching on the seasons funk. Today they are going to state. Worth a good laugh.

This might be my favorite post of all time.

Agreed!!

I loved the Website angle..... ...

elliott70 wrote:

boblee wrote:

northwoods oldtimer wrote:Rapids has the most bipolar fan base. Tuesday night they blamed the web site guy, the bantams and the coaching on the seasons funk. Today they are going to state. Worth a good laugh.

This might be my favorite post of all time.

Everyone has always known there was something wrong with GRIndian-THawk fans.

Everything was "FIXED" on Wednesday!

All I can think about last nights game is 2003..

Last regular season East loss to GR: 2003. It dropped East to 3-8-4. They beat GR in the section final.

Slammer wrote:All I can think about last nights game is 2003..

Last regular season East loss to GR: 2003. It dropped East to 3-8-4. They beat GR in the section final.

Was that real 3-8-4 or a "we had ineligible players playing" 3-8-4?

Rapids also won that game on a fluky goal by JJ Swalboski I believe. It certainly wasn't a 5-1 game that Rapids controlled from opening face-off.

alcloseshaver wrote:

TheHockeyDJ wrote:I don't see any way Elk River doesn't get the 1 seed as long as they beat East and Andover, which seems to be in the bank given these are home games for the Elks. The way things are trending right now, I would see the semifinals being the Elks vs the winner of East/STMA at noon, followed by Rapids playing Cloquet who will beat Forest Lake in the quarterfinals.

Even if East were to knock off ER it would be not be rationale to have them ahead of them even if it happened today. Thought that head to head mattered last year and it didn't. STMA is more competitive this year and as they become a factor they will see how it works.

I think something to point out about last year was that while East lost to ER head-to-head it was early in the season. Additionally, the final LPH rankings had East ranked higher than ER.

If I could see East beating ER this year (which I can't), then I could certainly see the same thing happening. Elk River finishing with a higher statewide ranking and even though they lost the head-to-head still get seeded higher in the section.

elliott70 wrote:Will Duluth East go the way of Staples and Granite Falls? Or worse, the Greyhound football program?

Now there's a terrifying thought. Oh, Hounds football. Pretty soon we'll be turning into a bouncyball school. The horror.

There were no forfeits in 2003--they actually were 3-8-4 on the ice. East's next game after the Rapids loss was against Anoka, the eventual state champion. They beat the Tornadoes in dramatic fashion, and that keyed an 11-2 run through the end of sections.

East typically does have a much better record over the second half of the season, but of course we can't blindly count on history being their savior. The players need to step up and deliver.

karl(east) wrote:

elliott70 wrote:Will Duluth East go the way of Staples and Granite Falls? Or worse, the Greyhound football program?

Now there's a terrifying thought. Oh, Hounds football. Pretty soon we'll be turning into a bouncyball school. The horror.

There were no forfeits in 2003--they actually were 3-8-4 on the ice. East's next game after the Rapids loss was against Anoka, the eventual state champion. They beat the Tornadoes in dramatic fashion, and that keyed an 11-2 run through the end of sections.

East typically does have a much better record over the second half of the season, but of course we can't blindly count on history being their savior. The players need to step up and deliver.

Which year was the forfeit-laden season. 04-05?

boblee wrote:

karl(east) wrote:

elliott70 wrote:Will Duluth East go the way of Staples and Granite Falls? Or worse, the Greyhound football program?

Now there's a terrifying thought. Oh, Hounds football. Pretty soon we'll be turning into a bouncyball school. The horror.

There were no forfeits in 2003--they actually were 3-8-4 on the ice. East's next game after the Rapids loss was against Anoka, the eventual state champion. They beat the Tornadoes in dramatic fashion, and that keyed an 11-2 run through the end of sections.

East typically does have a much better record over the second half of the season, but of course we can't blindly count on history being their savior. The players need to step up and deliver.

Which year was the forfeit-laden season. 04-05?

Yep, that was the year. Had to forfeit their first seven games (in which they'd gone 4-3) after two out of state transfers did not sit out the the then-required half season.

Traxler wrote:

alcloseshaver wrote:

TheHockeyDJ wrote:I don't see any way Elk River doesn't get the 1 seed as long as they beat East and Andover, which seems to be in the bank given these are home games for the Elks. The way things are trending right now, I would see the semifinals being the Elks vs the winner of East/STMA at noon, followed by Rapids playing Cloquet who will beat Forest Lake in the quarterfinals.

Even if East were to knock off ER it would be not be rationale to have them ahead of them even if it happened today. Thought that head to head mattered last year and it didn't. STMA is more competitive this year and as they become a factor they will see how it works.

I think something to point out about last year was that while East lost to ER head-to-head it was early in the season. Additionally, the final LPH rankings had East ranked higher than ER.

If I could see East beating ER this year (which I can't), then I could certainly see the same thing happening. Elk River finishing with a higher statewide ranking and even though they lost the head-to-head still get seeded higher in the section.

Shouldn't have mattered if it was early in the season, can't play all your games in February. Randolph convinced people they were really improved and Cloquet put them at the three seed. can't vote for your own team but East had ER at the 1 seed. Short of a free fall there is no rationale reason not to have ER at 1.

alcloseshaver wrote:

Traxler wrote:

alcloseshaver wrote:Even if East were to knock off ER it would be not be rationale to have them ahead of them even if it happened today. Thought that head to head mattered last year and it didn't. STMA is more competitive this year and as they become a factor they will see how it works.

I think something to point out about last year was that while East lost to ER head-to-head it was early in the season. Additionally, the final LPH rankings had East ranked higher than ER.

If I could see East beating ER this year (which I can't), then I could certainly see the same thing happening. Elk River finishing with a higher statewide ranking and even though they lost the head-to-head still get seeded higher in the section.

Shouldn't have mattered if it was early in the season, can't play all your games in February. Randolph convinced people they were really improved and Cloquet put them at the three seed. can't vote for your own team but East had ER at the 1 seed. Short of a free fall there is no rationale reason not to have ER at 1.

You ignored the point about the statewide rankings at the end of the year.