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There's always some big early-season matchup games in November. Looking around briefly at the schedules, here's a few top-20 matchups to take in. I'm sure there's some good Thanksgiving tournament matchups too.

Feel free to add any I've missed:

11/13 Stillwater vs Wayzata
11/15 Eagan vs Eden Prairie
11/15 Centennial vs Hopkins
11/16 BSM vs CEC
11/16 Roseville vs Hibbing
11/17 Roseville vs GRG
11/17 Wayzata vs Hill Murray
11/20 Centennial vs Coon Rapids
11/20 Edina vs Roseville
11/21 Stillwater vs Hill Murray
11/27 GRG vs CEC
11/27 Wayzata vs BSM
11/27 Eagan vs Edina
11/28 CDH vs Blake
11/29 Centennial vs Rochester Mayo
11/30 BSM vs GRG
12/1 Edina vs Wayzata

11/16 Stillwater @ Bemidji

Hill at Roseau 11/30
Hill at Warroad 12/1

11/21 Holy Angels vs. BSM

11/23 Alex at Grand Rapids
11/24 Alex vs Hibbing at Grand Rapids
11/29 Moorhead at Alexandria


I am a big fan of the Alex Cards...look for them to have an excellent season

keepitreal wrote:There's always some big early-season matchup games in November. Looking around briefly at the schedules, here's a few top-20 matchups to take in. I'm sure there's some good Thanksgiving tournament matchups too.

Feel free to add any I've missed:

11/13 Stillwater vs Wayzata
11/15 Eagan vs Eden Prairie
11/15 Centennial vs Hopkins
11/16 BSM vs CEC
11/16 Roseville vs Hibbing
11/17 Roseville vs GRG
11/17 Wayzata vs Hill Murray
11/20 Centennial vs Coon Rapids
11/20 Edina vs Roseville
11/21 Stillwater vs Hill Murray
11/27 GRG vs CEC
11/27 Wayzata vs BSM
11/27 Eagan vs Edina
11/28 CDH vs Blake
11/29 Centennial vs Rochester Mayo
11/30 BSM vs GRG
12/1 Edina vs Wayzata

Only one "big game" for Eden Prairie listed? Eaqan should be pretty good but is probably not a Top 10 team. Does EP purposely avoid scheduling tough non-conference opponents? Their regular season schedule last year was pretty weak, and maybe it cost them in sections.

MNHockeyFan wrote:Only one "big game" for Eden Prairie listed? Eaqan should be pretty good but is probably not a Top 10 team. Does EP purposely avoid scheduling tough non-conference opponents? Their regular season schedule last year was pretty weak, and maybe it cost them in sections.

I think its called "Hiding Out"

On the flip side look at Wayzata's schedule. You could not have a tougher first month.

I applaud the aggressiveness.

Looking at the Preseason Lets Play Hockey Rankings the Hill Murray team has a schedule against some of the top AA & A teams over the course of the season:


Type  Date Opponent  Rank

Scrimmage 11/2/07 BSM 4 AA
Scrimmage 11/3/07 Hastings
Scrimmage 11/3/07 Duluth
Scrimmage 11/3/07 Eagan 15 AA

Game  11/13/07 WBL 
Game  11/17/07 Wayzata  7 AA
Game  11/21/07 @Stillwater 2 AA
Game  11/30/07 @Roseau  8 A

Game  12/1/07 @Warroad  3 A
Game  12/7/07 NSP  
Game  12/8/07 Cloquet  12 AA
Game  12/11/07 Simley  14 A
Game  12/14/07 @Henry Sibley 
Game  12/18/07 Tartan 
Game  12/21/07 @Mahtomedi 11A

Tournament 27 to 29-Dec @Edina, TBD 
All Top 20: Edina 3, BSM 4, Bemidji 6, Holy Angels 8, Grand Rapids 9, Blaine 17, Cretin 18, Hill-Murray

Game  1/4/08 Richfield  12A
Game  1/8/08 @SSP  9 A
Game  1/11/08 @NSP 
Game  1/15/08 @Simley  14 A
Game  1/18/08 Henry Sibley 
Game  1/19/08 Edina  3 AA
Game  1/22/08 @Tartan 
Game  1/25/08 Mahtomedi 11 A
Game  1/29/08 @Richfield  12 A

Game  2/1/08 SSSP  9 A
Game  2/5/08 @BSM  4 AA

11/13 Eden Prairie @ Minnetonka should be a good game. Saw Tonka in a tryout scrimmage, they looked very good.

Wayzata loads up on purpose. Coach Amber figures that you need to beat the best to get to the State Tournament so you may as well get used to it early.

keepitreal wrote:There's always some big early-season matchup games in November. Looking around briefly at the schedules, here's a few top-20 matchups to take in. I'm sure there's some good Thanksgiving tournament matchups too.

Feel free to add any I've missed:

11/13 Stillwater vs Wayzata
11/15 Eagan vs Eden Prairie
11/15 Centennial vs Hopkins
11/16 BSM vs CEC
11/16 Roseville vs Hibbing
11/17 Roseville vs GRG
11/17 Wayzata vs Hill Murray

As the season gets into full swing, there are a lot of interesting matchups this week. In addition to the above, how about:

11/13 White Bear Lake vs Hill Murray
11/13 Eden Prairie vs Minnetonka
11/15 Mayo vs. North Metro
11/15 Edina vs Burnsville
11/15 Blake vs Wayzata
11/17 Warroad vs Holy Angels
11/17 North St. Paul vs Hopkins
11/17 Stillwater vs Cloquet

HS Ref wrote:11/13 Eden Prairie @ Minnetonka should be a good game. Saw Tonka in a tryout scrimmage, they looked very good.

Agree, Tonka could be a sleeper this year. They will be getting an infusion of young talent from U14 and they picked up a young goalie transfer from Hopkins I believe. I'm going to defer to the more experienced team here though. Tonka could make some noise this season, but I think they might need a year to gel. Certainly can't look past them, especially later in the season.

MNHockeyFan wrote: In addition to the above, how about:

11/13 White Bear Lake vs Hill Murray
11/13 Eden Prairie vs Minnetonka
11/15 Mayo vs. North Metro
11/15 Edina vs Burnsville
11/15 Blake vs Wayzata
11/17 Warroad vs Holy Angels
11/17 North St. Paul vs Hopkins
11/17 Stillwater vs Cloquet

Thanks MNH, you've always got your finger on the pulse of girls HS hockey-- how could I have missed some of those? Good luck in Cloquet this weekend.

On this topic, this weekend Cloquet (CEC) will take on Benilde-St. Margaret's and Stillwater in FRI/SAT back-to-back games. Wow, how many coaches would schedule that? Like Grand Rapids who will similarly square off vs. White Bear and Roseville this weekend, they are not afraid to seek out the toughest competition they can find and should be commended. Later on, CEC will play Centennial, Hill Murray, Wayzata and Edina, among others. GRG has some good ones coming up too. These two teams are great rivals and represent some of the best of outstate hockey!

keepitreal wrote:On this topic, this weekend Cloquet (CEC) will take on Benilde-St. Margaret's and Stillwater in FRI/SAT back-to-back games. Wow, how many coaches would schedule that?

Agreed, Cloquet always schedules many tough non-conference opponents.

The other one that comes to mind is Wayzata - look at who they play in non-conference this year:

Stillwater (defending AA champ)
Blake (defending A champ)
Hill Murray
BSM (defending AA 3rd Place)
North Metro (defending AA runner-up)
Burnsville (another '07 state tournament team)
Roseville (ditto)
Cloquet
Holy Angels

In addition, they play conference opponents Edina and Hopkins twice each. If they get through all of this with a winning record, kudos to them. And even if they don't, they'll be all the better for it, come sections.

keepitreal wrote:

MNHockeyFan wrote: In addition to the above, how about:

11/13 White Bear Lake vs Hill Murray
11/13 Eden Prairie vs Minnetonka
11/15 Mayo vs. North Metro
11/15 Edina vs Burnsville
11/15 Blake vs Wayzata
11/17 Warroad vs Holy Angels
11/17 North St. Paul vs Hopkins
11/17 Stillwater vs Cloquet

Thanks MNH, you've always got your finger on the pulse of girls HS hockey-- how could I have missed some of those? Good luck in Cloquet this weekend.

On this topic, this weekend Cloquet (CEC) will take on Benilde-St. Margaret's and Stillwater in FRI/SAT back-to-back games. Wow, how many coaches would schedule that? Like Grand Rapids who will similarly square off vs. White Bear and Roseville this weekend, they are not afraid to seek out the toughest competition they can find and should be commended. Later on, CEC will play Centennial, Hill Murray, Wayzata and Edina, among others. GRG has some good ones coming up too. These two teams are great rivals and represent some of the best of outstate hockey!

Very good comments. I agree to the fullest. Should be a great start to the year.

boblee wrote:Very good comments. I agree to the fullest. Should be a great start to the year.

Boblee, how do you see Section 7 measuring up between GRC and Cloquet? Anyone else that could pose a threat to these two?

MNHockeyFan wrote:

boblee wrote:Very good comments. I agree to the fullest. Should be a great start to the year.

Boblee, how do you see Section 7 measuring up between GRC and Cloquet? Anyone else that could pose a threat to these two?

I would say GRG is the favorite for the simple reason of returning players. Clafton, Horgen at the point. Gallop, Erickson, Arola up front. Most importantly, Havel in goal. I wouldn't be surprised at all if they split the season series and met up in the section finals. I would give a slight edge to GRG. They will both be ready though, extremely difficult schedules on both ends. Look out for Forest Lake, though. They could be extremely tough.

11/20 Bemidji vs. Roseau @ Roseau
Alot of talent among the 2 teams. Last year Bemidji won only 3-1 with an open netter. Both teams are hungry for that win , should be a good one!

Another biggie on Tuesday evening is Roseville at Edina - 7:00 pm at Braemar.

MNHockeyFan wrote:Another biggie on Tuesday evening is Roseville at Edina - 7:00 pm at Braemar.

I think Edina has a pretty tough schedule with lots of biggies. It will be a difficult road for a very young team.

Roseville 11/20
Breck 11/23
Either Blake or Shakopee 11/24
Eagan 11/27
@Wayzata 12/1
Holy Angels 12/6
@Hopkins 12/8
Buffalo 12/11
Armstrong 12/15
@Minnetonka 12/18
Stillwater 12/22
Holiday Tournament 12/27-12/29 featuring HM, BSM, CDH, Grand Rapids, Bemidji, AHA and Blaine
@Grand Rapids 1/4
@Cloquet 1/5
Wayzata 1/8
Hopkins 1/12
@Hill Murray 1/19
@Armstrong 1/22
@EP 1/26
Minnetonka 1/29
Duluth 2/2

1AA section pre-finals will happen after turkey day when Mayo takes on both Lakeville teams. This should be a nice look into the future of the section 1AA playoffs this year.

Proctor/Hermantown/Marshall has the following teams on their schedule:
South St. Paul, Burnsville, Blaine, Minnetonka, Wayzata, Grand Rapids, Cloquet(twice). Following Cloquet's lead of scheduling tough opponents...

11/23 Alexandria at Grand Rapids
11/24 Alexandria vs Hibbing at Grand Rapids

The Lady Cards are looking forward to the excellent competition this Thanksgiving weekend. They've never played Grand Rapids-Greenway to my knowledge and have a rivalry against Hibbing after losing 1-0 in OT at the State tournament.

My predicitions:
Alexandria 3 - GRG 1
Alexandria 2 - Hibbing 0

Two big games tonight (11/21):

Holy Angels @ Benilde
Hill Murray @ Stillwater


The picture should start to look clearer after this weekend's games. Some early observations:

--Centennial looks very strong; clear favorite in North Suburban with upstart Elk River challenging
--Stillwater is answering the critics with four straight over quality opponents
--Teams are emerging up north that will challenge the perennial powers, Silver Bay and Roseau upsets, Duluth emerging, Warroad could surprise
--South St. Paul is back
--Look out for Edina; killer schedule next two weeks but they are solid as always; senior goalie giving them the edge
--The Suburban East is loaded
--Eden Prairie should stay on a roll with a relatively light schedule; their tournament schedules will be the best way to get a bead on this team