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With Falls having a weak schedule they will not be at the 7A final. Marshall and Hibbing I believe will be at the DECC. Virginia plays a weak schedule Hibbing plays one of the toughest in the state. Hibbing's win over I-Falls made a statement they just have to finish strong. And a team that plays a tougher schedule usually benefits them at the end of the year. Marshall and Hibbing have that Virginia and Falls dont.

GoGoGophers wrote:With Falls having a weak schedule they will not be at the 7A final. Marshall and Hibbing I believe will be at the DECC. Virginia plays a weak schedule Hibbing plays one of the toughest in the state. Hibbing's win over I-Falls made a statement they just have to finish strong. And a team that plays a tougher schedule usually benefits them at the end of the year. Marshall and Hibbing have that Virginia and Falls dont.

I have to disagree with you I think i would take Falls and Marshall in the final.

Falls schedule will hurt them and and young goalie.

GoGoGophers wrote:With Falls having a weak schedule they will not be at the 7A final. Marshall and Hibbing I believe will be at the DECC. Virginia plays a weak schedule Hibbing plays one of the toughest in the state. Hibbing's win over I-Falls made a statement they just have to finish strong. And a team that plays a tougher schedule usually benefits them at the end of the year. Marshall and Hibbing have that Virginia and Falls dont.

Stay in school son

THE Falls schedule incudes two games with Fort Frances, Ontario.
It gives them little in the SOS factor. I am not saying it is as tough as Hibbings, but the disparity is not as great as some would believe. Also, the difference will diminish as the last 3/4 games are played.

Preparation based on the difference in their SOS is minimal. They both have similar finishes to their schedule with a balance of tough opponents and games that will allow for some resting/healing.

Hart has proved he is capable in the goal. He will get some rest at the end of the schedule.

The semi will be in GR (if everything pans out as expected) between these two teams.
A definite benefit to IFalls.

GoGoGophers wrote:With Falls having a weak schedule they will not be at the 7A final. Marshall and Hibbing I believe will be at the DECC. Virginia plays a weak schedule Hibbing plays one of the toughest in the state. Hibbing's win over I-Falls made a statement they just have to finish strong. And a team that plays a tougher schedule usually benefits them at the end of the year. Marshall and Hibbing have that Virginia and Falls dont.

Since when does a schedule win a playoff game?

There is also a very good chance that it will be impossible to achieve this as a section final. They will probably be in the same side of the bracket.

How does a section semi game in Rapids benefit the Falls?

nikebauer_07 wrote:How does a section semi game in Rapids benefit the Falls?

It doesn't.
But since everyone else gets to say something to support their cause that has no basis, I thought I would try it.

Nice catch, nikeee.

elliott70 wrote:

nikebauer_07 wrote:How does a section semi game in Rapids benefit the Falls?

It doesn't.
But since everyone else gets to say something to support their cause that has no basis, I thought I would try it.

Nice catch, nikeee.

lol

PuckRanger wrote:

GoGoGophers wrote:With Falls having a weak schedule they will not be at the 7A final. Marshall and Hibbing I believe will be at the DECC. Virginia plays a weak schedule Hibbing plays one of the toughest in the state. Hibbing's win over I-Falls made a statement they just have to finish strong. And a team that plays a tougher schedule usually benefits them at the end of the year. Marshall and Hibbing have that Virginia and Falls dont.

Since when does a schedule win a playoff game?

There is also a very good chance that it will be impossible to achieve this as a section final. They will probably be in the same side of the bracket.

Your right puckranger, a strong schedule(as you were reffering to) doesn't win a playoff game. But here is what a weak schedule gives a team:
1. Bad Habits- Playing down to a weaker team's level, laziness(in D zone and forcheck)
2. Arrogance- An arrogance built up from playing weak teams results in frustration playing behind (on the scoreboard) a strong team. This leads to dumb penalties, and the overall lack of discipline on the ice.
So, no, a strong or weak schedule won't straight out win or lose a playoff game, but a weak one sure isn't going to give a team much for preparation.

Thank you!

rangehockey14 wrote:Your right puckranger, a strong schedule(as you were reffering to) doesn't win a playoff game. But here is what a weak schedule gives a team:
1. Bad Habits- Playing down to a weaker team's level, laziness(in D zone and forcheck)
2. Arrogance- An arrogance built up from playing weak teams results in frustration playing behind (on the scoreboard) a strong team. This leads to dumb penalties, and the overall lack of discipline on the ice.
So, no, a strong or weak schedule won't straight out win or lose a playoff game, but a weak one sure isn't going to give a team much for preparation.

I don't buy into that. While I agree it has its advantages, there is no statistical history that proves that the team that plays a tougher schedule has a better chance at winning a section game. It helps a team move up the rankings and things like that, but that's about it. The teams that really benefit from this are the inexperienced teams that need to learn how to play under pressure. In this case, International Falls and Virginia have had plenty of close games, so its not an issue in my opinion. Neither are winning all of their games in running time. It would be a different story if their schedules were like that of an Ely or Silver Bay - but they are not. If it is an issue, it would only be with Virginia because they are very young. I Falls has 9 seniors and 6 juniors, many of which are in their 3rd or 4th year of varsity level hockey. Those kids played behind on the scoreboard plenty in the past few years. A good coach will keep those "habits" to a minimum anyway.

Its beside the point anyway, because I don't agree with the statement that these teams are playing weak schedules. I dug up some data to back me up. Here is where these teams rank in class A in schedule strength according to USHSHO's rankings page:

2- Duluth Marshall (12.4)
5- Hibbing (11.9)
13- International Falls (11.2)
26- Virginia (10.5)
30- Greenway (10.4)

St. Thomas Academy is #1 at 13.4 and Sleepy eye is last at #83 with a 3.6. The average schedule strength for a class A team is 9.2. (For AA teams, the average is 11.3) As you can see these teams all play "tougher" schedules according to this than the vast majority of class A teams.

Nice job, puck.
Case closed!

GoGoGophers wrote:Thank you!

quit necro-posting. if you dont have someting constructive to this thread or relative to the topic, dont say it at all!!!!!


Now, like said before, depending on the side that hibbing and the Falls are on, its either going to be Marshall Vs. Falls in the section final, or Marshall Vs. Hibbing. OR who knows an underdog team could come up and take the victory!!!


LundqvistRoy

IT LOOKS LIKE YOUR GIVING MARSHALL THE # 1 SEED, DON'T BE TO QUICK TO GIVE THEM THAT SEED YET.

i believe that it will be hibbing and duluth marshall at the decc. if the bracket pans out the way i think it is going to. marshall will be there for sure. im thinking hibbing but i'falls could be too

i also heard though that hibbing has lost two senior players due to having alcohol on there myspace page or something. so this would not be good for the jackets