Ranking the Rankings

[O-townClown]

Consensus AA Preseason Rankings

1. Roseau (currently #5 Mitch, #5 PS2)
2. Edina 2/1
3. Hill-Murray 3/3
4. Holy Angels 12/16
5. Duluth East 8/8
6. Eden Prairie 14/14
7. Burnsville 13/9
8. Blaine 10/10
9. Moorhead 15/11
10. Centennial 7/6
11. Benilde-St. Margaret’s 6/7
12. Cloquet 30/34
13. Rosemount 11/13
14. Anoka 23/18
15. White Bear Lake 16/19
16. Grand Rapids 19/17
17. Minnetonka 1/2
18. Cretin-Derham Hall
19. Roseville
20. Wayzata
21. Eastview 17/20
22. Elk River

St. Thomas, an A school, is #4 in both computer rankings. Marshall and Warroad also affect relative placement of some AA schools.

Roseau is undefeated, so a computer ranking of something other than 1 is obviously due to schedule.

The big surprises:
• Minnetonka is not only better than advertised, they are an elite team.
• Holy Angles lost more than expected. I feel they are the one team that is playing significantly better now than they were in the first month.
• Eden Prairie isn’t quite as good as most thought.
• Cloquet has been a disappointment
• Benilde is a mild surprise (keep in mind that once you take STA out B-SM is 5/6 in AA).

So how did everyone do?

Star-Tribune: they rank Top 10 Metro. They had Blaine 4 and Eden Prairie 5. Other than that it looks pretty good. Like everyone else, they ignored Minnetonka.

Pioneer Press: had Hill over Edina, which doesn’t look too bad. Went out on a limb and had Roseville 9. They also rank Top 10, including A teams. Take STA out and they actually had Roseville 8 for AA.

AP: looks pretty much like the consensus. AHA 4, Cloquet 6, EP 7.

Let’s Play Hockey: they rank Top 20 for A and AA separately. Had Minnetonka 17. AHA 4. To their credit they didn’t have Cloquet high, 16.

My Fox Hockey: had Blaine 3, which looks pretty bad but may be validated if they keep playing like they are tonight as they pound Centennial. Hill-Murray was dismissed as too young; 10 for them was obviously too low. The good: no one else had Holy Angels (7) as low or Benilde (5) as high. The bad: no one else had Burnsville (4) or Anoka (8) as high.

Follow the Puck: went out on a limb with Duluth East at 3. Like everyone, they whiffed on Holy Angels (4). Liked Rosemount more than anyone else at 7, which may yet be validated. Going 20 deep in AA, they had Minnetonka 18.

Who’s the best? I don’t think any are as good as the consensus. Similarly, the AP is a poll versus just the opinion of any one guy. A logical conclusion is that it is best to blend them all together instead of putting too much stock in any one.