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elliott70 · Post by **elliott70** » Sun Feb 11, 2007 7:35 pm

Bemidji and Grand Rapids have developed a good rivalry from 12U on up.

Bemidji plays Cloquet at the HS level annually, but not as much at the youth level. And they also have Hibbing on the schduel at the youth and HS ranks.

I cannot speak for all of section 8AA & A, but I know Bemidji, players, coaches and fans have respect for section 7.

And I wish I could see the Cloquet (CEC) vs Grand Rapids/Greenway game.

I will rely on boblee to give me details.

But I will show my bias - Go Lightening!

Oiler - you may kiss my hockey ring and bow, thank you.

hockeywild7 · Post by **hockeywild7** » Sun Feb 11, 2007 7:45 pm

Bemidji or whoever wins section 8AA has to get by the section 3AA and 2AA champs before they can dream of playing EP. In my humble opinion they will not be able to beat either of those teams and dont be surprised if EP does not even make it to state. I wouldnt bet against them but it is far from a sure thing. 2AA will most likely be Roseville and 3AA is a tossup, but I would put my money on either centennial or stillwater. I think it will be stillwater. I would like to see Bemidji and Grand Rapids make it from up north as I have been told they are both good teams.

elliott70 · Post by **elliott70** » Sun Feb 11, 2007 9:48 pm

Live the dream!

gopher9 · Post by **gopher9** » Sun Feb 11, 2007 10:05 pm

elliott70 wrote:Live the dream!

AND THEN YOU WOKE UP!!!!

Goalie35 · Post by **Goalie35** » Mon Feb 12, 2007 11:55 am

The Sections have been set up like this for years and brackets are "remade" every two years. Why change things now? The BCS has proven that they still can't find a good system and any time you have human voting the underdogs will be screwed. So why not just leave things as they are and win your section if you are so good! We will see how good you really are at the state tournament... Since who the champion is all that really matters!

SEhockeyDAD · Post by **SEhockeyDAD** » Mon Feb 12, 2007 12:08 pm

Goalie35 wrote:The Sections have been set up like this for years and brackets are "remade" every two years. Why change things now? The BCS has proven that they still can't find a good system and any time you have human voting the underdogs will be screwed. So why not just leave things as they are and win your section if you are so good! We will see how good you really are at the state tournament... Since who the champion is all that really matters!

Simply and well said.

xk1 · Post by **xk1** » Mon Feb 12, 2007 12:09 pm

I assume there used to be more teams in section 4AA before the North Metro co-op was formed. I think it's reasonable to consider moving Wayzeta to 4AA like it is for boys next year. Does anyone know how long the North Metro co-op will persist?

notahockeyguy · Post by **notahockeyguy** » Mon Feb 12, 2007 1:06 pm

Probably won't see much change in AA. Sections 1, 2 ,3 and 7 have 8 teams and sections 4, 5, 6 and 8 have 9 teams. I think it would be hard to put 10 teams in one section and 7 in another. But you never know. My mistake section 8 has 10 teams.

xk1 · Post by **xk1** » Mon Feb 12, 2007 1:13 pm

True but they could shuffle some teams on the north side so there was no more than 9 just to match the boys configuration. I have always suspected there is a little politics that goes on with this as well.

unbelievable · Post by **unbelievable** » Mon Feb 12, 2007 1:54 pm

xwildfan wrote:I will preface this by saying that I have had four daughters play hockey and have enjoyed every minute watching them play.

A couple of previous posters have mentioned the boys game in this thread and have lamented the fact that the girls game and the state tourney have not caught the the public's eye. It is very simple: the girls game does not come close to the speed and excitement of the boy's game. The girl's game is interesting and exciting to the girl's fans and parents. And that really is the extent of it. The non-related hockey fan thinks that this type of hockey is boring; and I can understand this type of fan thinking this way. It doesn't bother me. I feel the same way about most girls HS basketball games.

The best way to get interest in the State Tourney is to make it more diffcult to attend; this obviously means moving it back to Ridder. Keep it there until demand for tickets mandates a move to a bigger venue. The move to the X was a big step backward for girls hockey.

Related to the section 6 situation; this could be solved by creating a "back-door" section. Many years ago there used to be a back-door section up north that allowed an additional team from the north to play in the state boys tourney. This was created because there were many more good teams up north as compared to the south part of the state.

But none of this will happen. The powers at be are not interested in an exciting atmosphere at State (move to X); are interested in diminishing the exclusiveness of making it to State (Expanding to 2 classes); they are interested in allowing more teams to enjoy making it to state - but doesn't allowing more teams into state diminish the specialness (prob. not a word) of making it to state?

I would be in favor of creating 8 super-sized sections made up of A & AA teams. Perhaps one or two smaller A teams might make it to State. Then you would have a possible David v Goliath match-up at State. This type of game the general public might be interested in watching. This scenario would make the season longer; but who cares, it's more hockey to enjoy.

Perhaps I would like this scenario because my daughter's team is done for the year. Now, what the heck are we going to do? Hop on the EP bandwagon, I suppose.

xwild,

Nice summary. I concur. Except for the EP bandwagon thingy...

I too have a daughter that plays and I am a huge proponent of girls hockey. No offense to others out there, but I had agreed with Bensonmum on her point that the best boys hockey in the state (year in and year out) is the section 3AA tourney. Why is this the jewel of boys hockey in Minnesota? Two reasons: History and Venue. It is an awesome spectacle (sorry Howard) as you have schools and families that have been playing against each other for decades... grandfathers, uncles, dads, brothers, sons, etc., etc. History so deep and colorful that you can feel the tension mounting at all of the grill/pubs surrounding the Venue. The State Fair Coliseum. Which is packed to the rafters with people... literally! With hundreds of people standing on the ledge at the rim of the roof to get a glimpse of history being made that night. The student bodies cheering and taunting each other. Thank God they don't let people smoke in there anymore (like the vintage photos I've seen where the players are skating in a cloud). The atmosphere is electric and it is the pinnacle of boys high school hockey in Minnesota, IMHO.

So why keep pointing this out? I understand (as do many of you out there) that girls/womens hockey is a different product than boys/men and therefore it needs to be packaged and marketed differently. The fan base is smaller and (realistically) probably always will be. And the rivalries have not been entrenched for decades and generations. Please note that I do not consider these drawbacks, to me they are attributes. So let's concentate on those special and distinct characteristics for the betterment of girls hockey overall. Taking this approach opens up a lot of exciting possibilities, and it's fantastic what some of you have offered up thus far:

Does that mean proposing to change the section assignments?
Maybe rivalries are measured differently (less important) girls vs boys (i.e. less history)?
Does the section assignment model need to become dynamic so that every year it is based on some predetermined ranking or are they more static?
Perhaps mixing A and AA back together?
Changing some of the venues to match ticket sales to maximize "atmosphere"?
Extending the season?

The possibilities are endless. What we can get approved through the MSHSL may be substantially narrower in scope. So...

That brings me back to the root question GHS has posed for a few other topics: What is the objective? To solve the "current" 6AA issue? Or is there a larger issue to be addressed?

TheGame · Post by **TheGame** » Mon Feb 12, 2007 2:26 pm

With the incorporation of OE ruling by MHSL I would like to see the section assignments take into account the size of the youth programs. Right now 3 of the top 5 youth programs with the most girls are sitting in section 6AA. This should be spread out more....

xk1 · Post by **xk1** » Mon Feb 12, 2007 2:57 pm

There are fewer section rivalries than boys for a good reason, girls sections make big changes often. In the early years it was 4 sections, then 8, then they went to A and AA. Throughout that period the numbers of schools was changing so the sections required reorganizing. Check this site out, it goes back to 1998-99 for some history (and entertainment).
http://www.minnhock.com/archives.htm