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blueblood wrote: ↑Tue Sep 11, 2018 8:53 am 7 thoughts about 7AA:

1) Duluth East is the favorite
2) Andover will be a tough out
3) 7A/7AA well represented in HDM with Greenway and Andover vs Tonka
4) Elks could be on the road for 7AA QF
5) Grand Rapids will be better
6) Flake, CI and St. Francis - good luck
7) C-E-C rollercoaster continues with Kniven in the front car

I don't think DE is the favorite here. I am leaning more towards Andover to come out of the section. They return just about everybody. Frits is coming back and if he grows like most do, his 7AA champ game will be normal, not a stand on his head game. DE had a big dump of guys heading out. Now I think that their growth will fill in for what was lost, but Andover will have more growth total with roughly the same growth per player.

Now how will a state 2nd run help the growth of East? We will see, but Andover beat East over the summer. It will be a fun game to go watch.

Don't sleep on Cloquet boys!

I agree Andover is the favorite but East does return 6 top
Forwards and 4 of their 6 D. Also they have an NHL draft prospect in Ryder Donovan. The kid is 6’4 and skates like the wind. He is going to turn heads this season. He is also playing the the top prospect game next week at the X.

7) C-E-C rollercoaster continues with Kniven in the front car

YIKES! The view from the front car can by scary at times. I just close my eyes though, and I hit the gas pedal. Cloquet, Esko, and Carlton will be ready to play puck in November.......

When is the last time Duluth East had a top 10 bantam AA team? I think it was when Randolph, Toninato, and Olson where all freshman.

I'm a big Andover fan and they have a great group of talented, experienced kids coming back. I think they have a ton of potential. But I can't help but wonder if the hype would be nearly as loud had they lost to Elk River in OT in the section semis. Let's not forget Duluth East completely dominated that section final game and you had a group of Andover kids that were pretty motivated by an emotional cause.

I think they have a very good chance to win the section next year. But the buzz may be just a half a notch too loud and we all may be a year ahead of ourselves on this one. I hope not, because I'll be pulling for them to get to state.

Usthockey13 wrote: ↑Tue Sep 11, 2018 5:58 pm I agree Andover is the favorite but East does return 6 top
Forwards and 4 of their 6 D. Also they have an NHL draft prospect in Ryder Donovan. The kid is 6’4 and skates like the wind. He is going to turn heads this season. He is also playing the the top prospect game next week at the X.

I am excited to watch how Donovan does this season. Last year he was the main set up guy for his line, but this year watching Summerfest, he was taking more chances and his linemates Baker and Lyle were setting him up more than he got last year. He should have a hell of a season.

Section 8 guy wrote: ↑Wed Sep 12, 2018 12:23 am I'm a big Andover fan and they have a great group of talented, experienced kids coming back. I think they have a ton of potential. But I can't help but wonder if the hype would be nearly as loud had they lost to Elk River in OT in the section semis. Let's not forget Duluth East completely dominated that section final game and you had a group of Andover kids that were pretty motivated by an emotional cause.

I think they have a very good chance to win the section next year. But the buzz may be just a half a notch too loud and we all may be a year ahead of ourselves on this one. I hope not, because I'll be pulling for them to get to state.

Duluth East dominated Andover the 2 times they played them last year, 2017-2018. The Greyhounds will be traveling to Andover for their regular season game though.....were Andover destroyed CEC last year.

Andover certainly looked worthy of the hype in the summer festival. I was especially impressed by the progress of their second line and their defense. The Huskies handled East there, though of course those summer games always come with asterisks. East did control both the blowout win and much of the section final, but Andover did have some flashes early in both games. They're capable of frustrating East with their speed, though we'll see if a game plan emerges to counter that. For what it's worth, Andover has never beaten East in a game that counts for the record. We could probably go round and round making points for a while here, but the bottom line is that they both look like top five teams on paper right now. And Cloquet is lurking there to spoil the party, too. Do we have an update on Stoyanoff's knee? Did he have surgery, and is there any hope he'll be back for at least some of the hockey season?

As for the East bantam question, their last great bantam team would've been the one the season after Toninato-Randolph-Olson, the team with the linkes of Meirs Moore, Conner Valesano, Alex Toscano, Andrew Kerr, and Ryan Lundgren. While it didn't have as much front-end talent, they were very, very deep, and may have been the best overall East bantam group in the past 10-15 years. They finished 3rd at State at seniors despite Valesano leaving early and another key player getting hurt during the regular season, and two comparatively thin classes (by East standards) behind them. But varsity has been snapping up at least one, and often more, players from Bantams every year since, so recent results there aren't exactly great predictors of future success. Randolph has decided to bring the development of most top players in house.

Do we have an update on Stoyanoff's knee? Did he have surgery, and is there any hope he'll be back for at least some of the hockey season?


Yes, he did have surgery. He will be out till February/March.

What is the goalie scouting report for Duluth East?
Karl(east)?
other 218rs?

muckandgrinder65 wrote: ↑Sat Sep 22, 2018 10:02 am What is the goalie scouting report for Duluth East?
Karl(east)?
other 218rs?

In short, they've got options. Lukan Hanson is playing Elite League and has been reasonably good there. He was rotating with Brody Rabold in the Edina tournament, who looked pretty capable then. They've also got Konrad Kausch, who could use a growth spurt but was a star up through the youth ranks. I expect they'll all get some looks before Randolph settles on a hot hand.

with hermantown joining 7AA next winter, will it be elk river or andover that jettisons from section 218 hockey rules!!! i think it will be elk river. i dont think andover really cares what section they are in. i think elk river hates, hates, hates being in 7AA

It’s gonna be Duluth Marshall as I see them going back to A.

kniven wrote: ↑Thu Sep 27, 2018 1:33 pm with hermantown joining 7AA next winter, will it be elk river or andover that jettisons from section 218 hockey rules!!! i think it will be elk river. i dont think andover really cares what section they are in. i think elk river hates, hates, hates being in 7AA

Although I hope this is true; is this a fact or are you starting another Hermantown to AA thread?

Usthockey13 wrote: ↑Thu Sep 27, 2018 3:06 pm It’s gonna be Duluth Marshall as I see them going back to A.

Interesting. I think you might be right.....

If Htown does move up and DM stays AA I would think it’s Andover they would move out of the section.

Andover would trade places/sections with St Thomas Academy-the circle of hockey life would be complete-

Upfan111 wrote: ↑Thu Sep 27, 2018 3:24 pm

kniven wrote: ↑Thu Sep 27, 2018 1:33 pm with hermantown joining 7AA next winter, will it be elk river or andover that jettisons from section 218 hockey rules!!! i think it will be elk river. i dont think andover really cares what section they are in. i think elk river hates, hates, hates being in 7AA

Although I hope this is true; is this a fact or are you starting another Hermantown to AA thread?

it's true. I was in grand rapids filming team noristh last weekend and was talking to parents of the hermantown in the stands as i was filming. they told me this will be the case next year. now the parents dont make the decision, but it seems this is a geranal consensus among the parents. the old/Plante regime is over. it's time for a new mission statement for hermantown hockey they were saying

Guessing Elk will move out of 7AA, only question is 8AA or 5AA. You could make a logic case for each .

Doubtful , But possibly a tweak re-organization of 6 AA and 5 AA might accompany the decision?

WestMetro wrote: ↑Thu Sep 27, 2018 6:24 pm Guessing Elk will move out of 7AA, only question is 8AA or 5AA. You could make a logic case for each .

Doubtful , But possibly a tweak re-organization of 6 AA and 5 AA might accompany the decision?

I agree with you metro. It would be Elk River who leaves. But, I do think Duluth Marshall will be opting down after this winter. I've talked to people up here, and it seems both their boys and girls programs aren't in good shape, as far as recruiting, There are too many very nice public hockey programs in the Duluth area. Marshall isn't going to have much luck with 218 kids. Their success will be with recruiting non 218 boys.

Would like to see them stay in 7AA with more recruiting out of the metro, like grannis

kniven wrote: ↑Thu Sep 27, 2018 6:30 pm

WestMetro wrote: ↑Thu Sep 27, 2018 6:24 pm Guessing Elk will move out of 7AA, only question is 8AA or 5AA. You could make a logic case for each .

Doubtful , But possibly a tweak re-organization of 6 AA and 5 AA might accompany the decision?

I agree with you metro. It would be Elk River who leaves. But, I do think Duluth Marshall will be opting down after this winter. I've talked to people up here, and it seems both their boys and girls programs aren't in good shape, as far as recruiting, There are too many very nice public hockey programs in the Duluth area. Marshall isn't going to have much luck with 218 kids. Their success will be with recruiting non 218 boys.

I see your guy JL15 coached in the prospects game and won, you must be proud of him? too bad he was not good enough to be an assistant coach at HIS ALMA MATTER!!

Poor Elk River sure gets bounced around. If Marshall decides to play in A, both Elk River and Andover might stay in 7AA as that would keep the section at the same number of teams. If the MSHSL wants another team in Section 8 then Elk River would seem to be the likely candidate. Mileage-wise there is only about a 10 mile difference to Duluth with Elk River being farther away than Andover. You never can figure what the MSHSL will do, after all, they put Cretin-Derham Hall in Section 6.

Usthockey13 wrote: ↑Thu Sep 27, 2018 3:06 pm It’s gonna be Duluth Marshall as I see them going back to A.

Unfortunately, you're probably right. Marshall didn't have much even before they lost their best player to Juniors this year. The cupboard is bare and they will be lucky to win 3 games this year. Guessing we'll be seeing them in 7A next year, but they most likely won't be a factor if you look at what they have in the pipeline. I really respect coach Flaherty for taking a run when he had the horses though.