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These are my thoughts on some of the more interesting key matchups starting the week of January 21st. I thought I would start this a little early in case anyone would like to see other promising key games added to the list. If so post below and I will edit my first post here and add them in. Each team's current QRF rating and classification (as of January 16) are shown in parenthesis. Feel free to offer your predictions! For point scoring and some fun, we'll go with:

Pick the winner or correctly pick it's a tie game = +1 point
Pick a winner but the two teams tie = 0 points
Incorrect prediction of the winner = subtract 1 point (-1)
Pick the winner AND the correct final score = +3 bonus points


Monday, January 21
White Bear Lake (11AA) vs. Forest Lake (28AA)

Tuesday, January 22
Blaine (18AA) vs. Centennial (12AA)
Hibbing/Chisholm (9A) vs. Silver Bay (10A)
Proctor/Hermantown/Duluth Marshall (9AA) vs. Duluth (10AA)
Hopkins (7AA) vs. Wayzata (T-13AA)
Cloquet (15AA) vs. Eagan (8AA)
Warroad (4A) vs. Crookston (6A)

Thursday, January 24
Duluth (10AA) vs. Cloquet (15AA)
Burnsville (23AA) vs. Eastview (T-24AA)

Friday, January 25
Breck (2A) vs. Grand Rapids/Greenway (T-2AA)

Saturday, January 26
Mankato West (7A) vs. Rochester Mayo (29AA)
Edina (4AA) vs. Eden Prairie (1AA)
Forest Lake (28AA) vs. Roseville (T-2AA)
Wayzata (T-13AA) vs. Holy Angels (6AA)
Bemidji (T-24AA) vs. Alexandria (3A)
Hopkins (7AA) vs. Grand Rapids/Greenway (T-2AA)

Monday, January 21
White Bear Lake 4 vs. Forest Lake 2

Tuesday, January 22
Blaine 1 vs. Centennial 2
Hibbing 3 vs. Silver Bay 2
Proctor/Hermantown/Duluth Marshall 3 vs. Duluth 4
Hopkins 2 vs. Wayzata 2
Cloquet 2 vs. Eagan 5
Warroad 4 vs. Crookston 2

Thursday, January 24
Duluth 2 vs. Cloquet 1
Burnsville 3 vs. Eastview 2

Friday, January 25
Breck 3 vs. Grand Rapids/Greenway 5

Saturday, January 26
Mankato West 4 vs. Rochester Mayo 2
Edina 5 vs. Eden Prairie 3
Forest Lake 3 vs. Roseville 5
Wayzata 1 vs. Holy Angels 2
Bemidji 3 vs. Alexandria 1
Hopkins 3 vs. Grand Rapids/Greenway 4

Monday, January 21
White Bear Lake 5 vs. Forest Lake 1

Tuesday, January 22
Blaine 1 vs. Centennial 3
Hibbing/Chisholm 2 vs. Silver Bay 1
Proctor/Hermantown/Duluth Marshall 1 vs. Duluth 5
Hopkins 1 vs. Wayzata 2
Cloquet 1 vs. Eagan 4
Warroad 2 vs. Crookston 1

Thursday, January 24
Duluth 3 vs. Cloquet 1
Burnsville 2 vs. Eastview 1

Friday, January 25
Breck 1 vs. Grand Rapids/Greenway 4

Saturday, January 26
Mankato West 1 vs. Rochester Mayo 4
Edina 2 vs. Eden Prairie 3
Forest Lake 1 vs. Roseville 5
Wayzata 3 vs. Holy Angels 2
Bemidji 1 vs. Alexandria 3
Hopkins 1 vs. Grand Rapids/Greenway 4

Some great games this coming week, and as usual very hard to predict. Here are my best guesses:

Monday, January 21
White Bear Lake 3, Forest Lake 1

Tuesday, January 22
Blaine 3, Centennial 5
Hibbing/Chisholm 1, Silver Bay 3
Proctor/Hermantown/Duluth Marshall 4, Duluth 3
Hopkins 2, Wayzata 2, Tie
Cloquet 4, Eagan 2
Warroad 5, Crookston 2

Thursday, January 24
Duluth 2, Cloquet 3
Burnsville 4, Eastview 3

Friday, January 25
Breck 2, Grand Rapids/Greenway 5

Saturday, January 26
Mankato West 1, Rochester Mayo 3
Edina 3, Eden Prairie 2
Forest Lake 1, Roseville 4
Wayzata 2, Holy Angels 3
Bemidji 3, Alexandria 4
Hopkins 3, Grand Rapids/Greenway 5

[quote="MNHockeyFan"]Some great games this coming week, and as usual very hard to predict. Here are my best guesses:
Saturday, January 26
Bemidji 3, Alexandria 4
With all due respect to you and Bemidji - that is a very high scoring game for Alexandria, especially considering common opponents and scores in this season's games. I'm curious, what lead you to this prediction?

I agree. It will be low-scoring. Should be a good one though!

pondhockey wrote:With all due respect to you and Bemidji - that is a very high scoring game for Alexandria, especially considering common opponents and scores in this season's games. I'm curious, what lead you to this prediction?

Alex has scored an average of 5 goals a game vs. Bemidji's 4. I just knocked each down a goal a piece because each should face better defenses and goaltending than the average opponents each has played.

As I've learned in this prognostication thread, these games that are pretty even "on paper" can be a real crapshoot. A bounce here, a bounce there...one team wanting it more than the other...one goalie having a great game...you just never know.

Feel free to post your own predictions for all of the games!

MNHockeyFan wrote:

pondhockey wrote:With all due respect to you and Bemidji - that is a very high scoring game for Alexandria, especially considering common opponents and scores in this season's games. I'm curious, what lead you to this prediction?

Alex has scored an average of 5 goals a game vs. Bemidji's 4. I just knocked each down a goal a piece because each should face better defenses and goaltending than the average opponents each has played.

As I've learned in this prognostication thread, these games that are pretty even "on paper" can be a real crapshoot. A bounce here, a bounce there...one team wanting it more than the other...one goalie having a great game...you just never know.

Feel free to post your own predictions for all of the games!

Granted - a game can go either way and any one team is capable of winning against any other team at any time. Look at Breck v Blake - no one gave Breck much odds and they ended up in a tie. It is interesting to know how you came up with your prediction, and I appreciate you sharing that. Don't you also need to look at GAA to make a guesstimate of an outcome score? I think looking at the scores of the games with common opponents would also be a contributing factor in decisions. Just fodder for thought and discussion.

pondhockey wrote:It is interesting to know how you came up with your prediction, and I appreciate you sharing that. Don't you also need to look at GAA to make a guesstimate of an outcome score? I think looking at the scores of the games with common opponents would also be a contributing factor in decisions. Just fodder for thought and discussion.

You are right, this game will probably be lower scoring than what I guessed. There have been a lot of upsets lately. Again, feel free to join in and predict the outcomes of all of the games!

I'll give it a try, probably can''t compete against the best predicters!

Monday, January 21
White Bear Lake 4 vs. Forest Lake 2

Tuesday, January 22
Blaine 2 vs. Centennial 3
Hibbing/Chisholm 0 vs. Silver Bay 2
Proctor/Hermantown/Duluth Marshall 3 vs. Duluth 1
Hopkins 4 vs. Wayzata 2
Cloquet 1 vs. Eagan 2
Warroad 4 vs. Crookston 2

Thursday, January 24
Duluth 2 vs. Cloquet 1
Burnsville 3 vs. Eastview 2

Friday, January 25
Breck 3 vs. Grand Rapids/Greenway 2

Saturday, January 26
Mankato West 1 vs. Rochester Mayo 4
Edina 3 vs. Eden Prairie 2
Forest Lake 1 vs. Roseville 4
Wayzata 2 vs. Holy Angels 3
Bemidji 1 vs. Alexandria 3
Hopkins 2 vs. Grand Rapids/Greenway 4

Monday, January 21
White Bear Lake 2 vs. Forest Lake 1
My take: They tied last game. WBL seems to play a more physical game, which I think will keep the score lower in this match. WBL has a goalie who has been playing very well. They have had similar outcomes with common opponents, so I think it will be a closer match than what the rankings say, although WBL has been playing better than FL last half of this season.

I'll post my Tuesday's match up predictions later today.

MNHockeyFan wrote:These are my thoughts on some of the more interesting key matchups starting the week of January 21st. I thought I would start this a little early in case anyone would like to see other promising key games added to the list. If so post below and I will edit my first post here and add them in. Each team's current QRF rating and classification (as of January 16) are shown in parenthesis. Feel free to offer your predictions! For point scoring and some fun, we'll go with:

Pick the winner or correctly pick it's a tie game = +1 point
Pick a winner but the two teams tie = 0 points
Incorrect prediction of the winner = subtract 1 point (-1)
Pick the winner AND the correct final score = +3 bonus points


Monday, January 21
White Bear Lake (11AA) vs. Forest Lake (28AA)

Tuesday, January 22
Blaine (18AA) vs. Centennial (12AA)
Hibbing/Chisholm (9A) vs. Silver Bay (10A)
Proctor/Hermantown/Duluth Marshall (9AA) vs. Duluth (10AA)
Hopkins (7AA) vs. Wayzata (T-13AA)
Cloquet (15AA) vs. Eagan (8AA)
Warroad (4A) vs. Crookston (6A)

Thursday, January 24
Duluth (10AA) vs. Cloquet (15AA)
Burnsville (23AA) vs. Eastview (T-24AA)

Friday, January 25
Breck (2A) vs. Grand Rapids/Greenway (T-2AA)

Saturday, January 26
Mankato West (7A) vs. Rochester Mayo (29AA)
Edina (4AA) vs. Eden Prairie (1AA)
Forest Lake (28AA) vs. Roseville (T-2AA)
Wayzata (T-13AA) vs. Holy Angels (6AA)
Bemidji (T-24AA) vs. Alexandria (3A)
Hopkins (7AA) vs. Grand Rapids/Greenway (T-2AA)

This is now my FAVORITE thread.

Could we also enter QRF? I'm not sure, but I think a person could simply add one teams points per game and their opponent's points against per game then divide by two and estimate the score.

cluelessinminnesota wrote:This is now my FAVORITE thread.

Could we also enter QRF? I'm not sure, but I think a person could simply add one teams points per game and their opponent's points against per game then divide by two and estimate the score.

I'm sure everyone has their own method of determining how they think the games will go. Remember this is just for fun and how you end up doing it is totally your call.

So far for tonight's White Bear-Forest Lake game the predictions are:

hockeygod has WBL 4-2
hockeyrube7 has WBL 5-1
MNHockeyFan has WBL 3-1
ice29 has WBL 4-2
pondhockey has WBL 2-1
boblee has WBL 4-1
twowayplay has WBL 3-1 (no chance, that's what I have)

It's unanimous, which can only mean one thing: Forest Lake will win!

I want the Bears tonight. I am not passing on them the feeling goes their way.

WBL 4
FLake 1

Here are mine

Monday, January 21
White Bear Lake 3 vs. Forest Lake 1

Tuesday, January 22
Blaine 1 vs. Centennial 2
Hibbing/Chisholm 1 vs. Silver Bay 3
Proctor/Hermantown/Duluth Marshall 3 vs. Duluth 2
Hopkins 3 vs. Wayzata 1
Cloquet 1 vs. Eagan 3
Warroad 5 vs. Crookston 4

Thursday, January 24
Duluth 1 vs. Cloquet 3
Burnsville 5 vs. Eastview 2

Friday, January 25
Breck 2 vs. Grand Rapids/Greenway 4

Saturday, January 26
Mankato West 2 vs. Rochester Mayo 4
Edina 3 vs. Eden Prairie 2
Forest Lake 1 vs. Roseville 4
Wayzata 2 vs. Holy Angels 5
Bemidji 2vs. Alexandria 1
Hopkins 2 vs. Grand Rapids/Greenway 4

Monday, January 21
White Bear Lake 2 vs. Forest Lake 1
My take: They tied last game. WBL seems to play a more physical game, which I think will keep the score lower in this match. WBL has a goalie who has been playing very well. They have had similar outcomes with common opponents, so I think it will be a closer match than what the rankings say, although WBL has been playing better than FL last half of this season.

Tuesday, January 22
Blaine 1 vs. Centennial 3
Hibbing/Chisholm 4 vs. Silver Bay 3
Proctor/Hermantown/Duluth Marshall 3 vs. Duluth 1
Hopkins 3 vs. Wayzata 4
Cloquet 2 vs. Eagan 3 - Eagan will be inspired by the great northern fresh air once they leave their area code!
Warroad 6 vs. Crookston 3

From the MGHCA website: WBL 5 - FL 4
I should give it up now. Although it was a close game score, as I predicted. WBL had 34 SOG. Forest Lake scored 4 times in 18 shots - twice on power plays. I'll humbly take the point.

pondhockey wrote:From the MGHCA website: WBL 5 - FL 4

I'll take the point.

boblee wrote:

pondhockey wrote:From the MGHCA website: WBL 5 - FL 4

I'll take the point.

Yeah, me too. The score was closer than most of us predicted. I see where WBL pulled it out by scoring two in the last 3 1/2 minutes.

Everybody gets one point - nobody guessed the 5-4 score.

Tomorrow night's games with updated QRF's:

Tuesday, January 22
Blaine (T-17AA) vs. Centennial (10AA)
Hibbing/Chisholm (10A) vs. Silver Bay (7A)
Proctor/Hermantown/Duluth Marshall (11AA) vs. Duluth (14AA)
Hopkins (7AA) vs. Wayzata (15AA)
Cloquet (T-12AA) vs. Eagan (9AA)
Warroad (4A) vs. Crookston (8A)

We'll try this for Tuesday:

Tuesday, January 22
Blaine 3, Centennial 2
Silver Bay 2, Hibbing 1
Duluth 3, PHM 1
Hopkins 4, Wayzata 3
Cloquet 3, Eagan 2
Warroad 6, Crookston 3

Any consulation for getting one teams score correct? Just kidding! I'll take the point also.

Tuesday, January 22
Blaine (18AA) vs. Centennial (12AA) Blaine 3-2
Hibbing/Chisholm (9A) vs. Silver Bay (10A) Hibbing 2-1
Proctor/Hermantown/Duluth Marshall (9AA) vs. Duluth (10AA) PHD 3-3 tie
Hopkins (7AA) vs. Wayzata (T-13AA) Wayzata 3-1
Cloquet (15AA) vs. Eagan (8AA) Eagan 4-2
Warroad (4A) vs. Crookston (6A) Warroad 4-2

Thursday, January 24
Duluth (10AA) vs. Cloquet (15AA) Cloquet 3-1
Burnsville (23AA) vs. Eastview (T-24AA) Burnsville 5-1

Friday, January 25
Breck (2A) vs. Grand Rapids/Greenway (T-2AA) GR/G 4-2

Saturday, January 26
Mankato West (7A) vs. Rochester Mayo (29AA) Mankato 4-3
Edina (4AA) vs. Eden Prairie (1AA) EP 5-2
Forest Lake (28AA) vs. Roseville (T-2AA) Roseville 3-0
Wayzata (T-13AA) vs. Holy Angels (6AA) Holy Angels 3-1
Bemidji (T-24AA) vs. Alexandria (3A) Alex 2-1
Hopkins (7AA) vs. Grand Rapids/Greenway (T-2AA) GR/G 4-1

Looks like Hansonbrothers missed the game last night. Guess that's a -1? Looks like he could make up for it on Friday, should that become an upset.