Duluth East at Cloquet

[Houndhockey]

Tie. This helps Cloquet and hurts the Hounds.

I don't see this hurting the hounds. If everyone seems to think that an early season one goal loss on the road for STMA at East isn't bad, then a tie on the road when you have already also beaten that team can't be bad either. North Bear is right, CEC needed a win a lot more than East did, especially if they wanted to jump ahead of East. Now we wait and see who wins the CEC/STMA game and hosts the 4/5 qtr game. At this point, I'm inclined to give it nod to CEC if they tie due to overall body of work. I'm just not impressed with STMA's schedule. Yes, they beat Anoka and Andover which DE lost to and tied respectively, but neither of those are earth shattering wins. A couple of their losses are bad, and the wins just aren't impressive. Its reminds me of Grand Rapids up until this year. In the past, they just played too many soft teams that made their record look nice. This year, Rapids record isn't as good, but they've played a lot tougher teams, even winning some of those games and it will pay off for them with the #2 seed in the section. The wins against the real soft opponents don't help the players in the postseason. I'll take a loss to a top 10 school anyday over a win over Rogers. I hope STMA follows the lead of GR and steps up their schedule for the years to come. It sounds like they have a good program building, but playing those junk teams won't help them.

[crw]

Tie. This helps Cloquet and hurts the Hounds.

I don't see this hurting the hounds. If everyone seems to think that an early season one goal loss on the road for STMA at East isn't bad, then a tie on the road when you have already also beaten that team can't be bad either. North Bear is right, CEC needed a win a lot more than East did, especially if they wanted to jump ahead of East. Now we wait and see who wins the CEC/STMA game and hosts the 4/5 qtr game. At this point, I'm inclined to give it nod to CEC if they tie due to overall body of work. I'm just not impressed with STMA's schedule. Yes, they beat Anoka and Andover which DE lost to and tied respectively, but neither of those are earth shattering wins. A couple of their losses are bad, and the wins just aren't impressive. Its reminds me of Grand Rapids up until this year. In the past, they just played too many soft teams that made their record look nice. This year, Rapids record isn't as good, but they've played a lot tougher teams, even winning some of those games and it will pay off for them with the #2 seed in the section. The wins against the real soft opponents don't help the players in the postseason. I'll take a loss to a top 10 school anyday over a win over Rogers. I hope STMA follows the lead of GR and steps up their schedule for the years to come. It sounds like they have a good program building, but playing those junk teams won't help them.

I don't think East will realistically fall below 4.. As I said prior, I do think STMA could jump up to 3 but if they lose to Cloquet can fall to 5 and play Cloquet a week later... East is either 3 or 4, STMA is either 3 or 5, Cloquet is either 4 or 5 (IMO). And this is because everyone seems to think Rapids has already earned the 2...

And FYI, are you saying above that the STMA loss at East was bad? Sounds like it, then that doesn't say much about East beating them.. And when you beat a team and then later lose/tie them isn't that regressing? (I will give you the whole home and home rivalry though as it sounds like East outplayed them but couldn't put the puck in the net)..

And yes we can beat that dead horse about STMA and their weaker schedule, we all know that... But again if you want to have SOS mean anything then win some of those games or all it means is loses and ties..

As a parent/fan I would rather watch a 1-1 tie vs a good team than a 12-1 game vs a bad team. But for argument sake we would need to win some of those games for seeding purposes.. Now playing a tougher schedule may be an advantage to needing to win 3 games in a row...we shall see

We will find out 7days. From now

[Houndhockey]

Tie. This helps Cloquet and hurts the Hounds.

I don't see this hurting the hounds. If everyone seems to think that an early season one goal loss on the road for STMA at East isn't bad, then a tie on the road when you have already also beaten that team can't be bad either. North Bear is right, CEC needed a win a lot more than East did, especially if they wanted to jump ahead of East. Now we wait and see who wins the CEC/STMA game and hosts the 4/5 qtr game. At this point, I'm inclined to give it nod to CEC if they tie due to overall body of work. I'm just not impressed with STMA's schedule. Yes, they beat Anoka and Andover which DE lost to and tied respectively, but neither of those are earth shattering wins. A couple of their losses are bad, and the wins just aren't impressive. Its reminds me of Grand Rapids up until this year. In the past, they just played too many soft teams that made their record look nice. This year, Rapids record isn't as good, but they've played a lot tougher teams, even winning some of those games and it will pay off for them with the #2 seed in the section. The wins against the real soft opponents don't help the players in the postseason. I'll take a loss to a top 10 school anyday over a win over Rogers. I hope STMA follows the lead of GR and steps up their schedule for the years to come. It sounds like they have a good program building, but playing those junk teams won't help them.

I don't think East will realistically fall below 4.. As I said prior, I do think STMA could jump up to 3 but if they lose to Cloquet can fall to 5 and play Cloquet a week later... East is either 3 or 4, STMA is either 3 or 5, Cloquet is either 4 or 5 (IMO). And this is because everyone seems to think Rapids has already earned the 2...

And FYI, are you saying above that the STMA loss at East was bad? Sounds like it, then that doesn't say much about East beating them.. And when you beat a team and then later lose/tie them isn't that regressing? (I will give you the whole home and home rivalry though as it sounds like East outplayed them but couldn't put the puck in the net)..

And yes we can beat that dead horse about STMA and their weaker schedule, we all know that... But again if you want to have SOS mean anything then win some of those games or all it means is loses and ties..

As a parent/fan I would rather watch a 1-1 tie vs a good team than a 12-1 game vs a bad team. But for argument sake we would need to win some of those games for seeding purposes.. Now playing a tougher schedule may be an advantage to needing to win 3 games in a row...we shall see

We will find out 7days. From now

Not saying that the one goal road overtime loss to East was bad. Just pointing out that everyone seems to want to almost throw that game out since it was early season, and on the road and such. SOS is a dead horse, but it matters. As much as you don't want to hear it SOS is important even if they don't get a top 10 caliber quality win. Even the tie vs ER is worth more than a bunch of wins against Rogers and Monticello and such. Coaches realize this within the section and have voted that way for seeding purposes almost annually.

That being said, I really believe STMA/CEC are playing for the #4 seed and hosting the other a week later in the quarterfinals. I've gone back and forth on what would happen for seeding purposes if they tied and think both teams can make a good argument for hosting.

In regards to beating a team earlier in the season and then tying them being regression. That all depends on the team you are playing and the circumstances. This was definitely not a regression. For one, this game was an away game for East in a hostile environment against their biggest rival. They handled CEC for most of the game but couldn't bury the puck (their biggest shortfall this year).

[kniven]

For me, it does not get any better than this matchup especially in Cloquet. The arena is always full- every seat full of fans, and fans standing full around the top cheering for the red or purple. Randolph in his corner and Esse in his. These two coaches have the ultimate respect for each and their respective athletes. It's the greatest, and I'm just glad I am a witness to such great high school hockey in our state of hockey, Minnesota ))

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