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Here is the opening day bracket on Monday, December 29th:

Austin vs. Willmar - noon

Minneapolis Novas vs. Northfield - 2:30 pm

Tartan vs. Simley - 5:00 pm

Albert Lea vs. New Prague - 7:00 pm

Looking forward to the tournament - Good Luck to all teams!

The shootout will be at 7:00 pm on Tuesday night

Interesting field, when I say interesting I mean I have no idea. If I had to guess, unfortunately, I'd say the 1A teams will be on the left side of the brackets.

ahshockeyphoto wrote:Here is the opening day bracket on Monday, December 29th:

Austin vs. Willmar - noon

Minneapolis Novas vs. Northfield - 2:30 pm

Tartan vs. Simley - 5:00 pm

Albert Lea vs. New Prague - 7:00 pm

Looking forward to the tournament - Good Luck to all teams!

The shootout will be at 7:00 pm on Tuesday night

I'll guess the games this way...Keep in mind these are only guesses and just for fun, I've only seen 2 of these teams play this year.

Willmar over Austin - No idea really
NFLD over Novas - NFLD is pretty solid. My guess is this will be the best game of the opening round
Tartan over Simley - No idea, just a guess
AL over NP - According to Mankato West, NP is down a bit this year. AL will have a little extra motivation since they won the tourney last year.

2nd Round
NFLD over Willmar
AL over Tartan

3rd place
Willmar

Championship
Duh! AL

I know absolutely nothing about Willmar, Tartan, and Simley.

From what I've seen when Nfld played AL and NP I think AL will beat NP. NP isn't as strong as they used to be and they seem to depend on just a few players. AL is a stronger team.

Nfld has lost to Novas the last two years in this tournament. I think last year may have even been in OT. They're looking for a little revenge.

Hopefully the tournament games will be close fun games to watch. And of course the shoot out is always enjoyable and fun spirited.

Personally I'm going to go with Simley to win this tourney but I am biased! They always hit a winning streak this time of year of 4-5 games so... =) Simley returns to the event after being at other tourneys the past 4-years...


Here's what the KRACH rankings say SHOULD happen:

Northfield is by FAR the statistical favorite...

QUARTERFINALS:
GAME 1: Austin (3.377-#86OA/#31A) vs. Willmar (3.364-#88OA/#33A) Austin is 1.004-to-1 favorite (essentially a toss up)
GAME 2: Minneapolis Novas (2.562-#96OA/#60AA) vs. Northfield (49.611-#25OA/#6A) Northfield is 19-to-1 favorite
GAME 3: Tartan (3.227-#90OA/#57AA) vs. Simley (1.563-#105OA/#41A) Tartan is 2-to-1 favorite (but Simley won prior matchup 3-0 AT Tartan and note this counts as a conf. game for these teams)
GAME 4: Albert Lea(0.294-#119OA/#52A) vs. New Prague (2.836-#92OA/#34A) New Prague is 10-to-1 favorite


CONSOLATION SEMIS:
GAME 5: Willmar (3.364-#88OA/#33A) vs. Minneapolis Novas (2.562-#96OA/#60AA) Willmar is 1.313-to-1 favorite (essentially a toss up)
GAME 6: Simley (1.563-#105OA/#41A) vs. Albert Lea(0.294-#119OA/#52A) Simley is 5-to-1 favorite


CHAMPIONSHIP SEMIS:
GAME 7: Austin (3.377-#86OA/#31A) vs. Northfield (49.611-#25OA/#6A) Northfield is 15-to-1 favorite
GAME 8: Tartan (3.227-#90OA/#57AA) vs. New Prague (2.836-#92OA/#34A) Tartan is 1.138-to-1 favorite (essentially a toss up)


7th:
GAME 9: Minneapolis Novas (2.562-#96OA/#60AA) vs. Albert Lea(0.294-#119OA/#52A) Minneapolis Novas is 9-to-1 favorite


CONSOLATION CHAMP (5th):
GAME 10: Willmar (3.364-#88OA/#33A) vs. Simley (1.563-#105OA/#41A) Willmar is 2-to-1 favorite


3rd:
GAME 11: Austin (3.377-#86OA/#31A) vs. New Prague (2.836-#92OA/#34A) Austin is 1.191-to-1 favorite (essentially a toss up)


CHAMPIONSHIP:
GAME 12: Northfield (49.611-#25OA/#6A) vs. Tartan (3.227-#90OA/#57AA) Northfield is 15-to-1 favorite


My guess is that with so many very evenly rated teams that anyone could come out the lower half/bracket of this tourney. Northfield will have an opportunity to prove that they are worthy of the high ranking and hype.

Skills competition should be fun. #8 of Simley has an amazing move for the breakaway that amazed many at Red Wing last year when she pulled it off...

Tartan lost to Simley 4-2 in their first meeting this year. Giving Simley so far their only win i hear.
Tartan could pull off a win against them there's no doubt about that, just depends what team comes to play.

Northfield will definitely be the contender in this tournament. they're 9-1 so far.

the shoot out is going to be very exciting! especially between the goaltenders!
it's too bad that the JV teams only get two games and no shootout though.

Correct on the 4-2 Simley/Tartan game. I was wrong on that! Simley also beat Bloomington Kennedy 7-2 and tied Visitation/St. Paul Academy I believe.

it's ok.
i believe they have! so i guess i was wrong on the winnings there.

it should be interesting to see the A vs AA teams in this tournament for sure.

The Strenght of Schedule consideration for AA teams may help them coming into a tourney with Class A teams but who knows - it seems like it should be a good event with a lot of parity among participants...

I'll still go with Simley to reach the championship game against Northfield but again that's my bias even as a Tartan alum... =)

Can any poster please provide a Varsity tournament link so out of town fans can look at the Mon.- Wed. scheduling and make travel plans? Thanks in advance.

This is what I found on the Star Trib site:

AUSTIN MERCHANTS TOURNAMENT
Quarterfinals Monday
Austin vs. Willmar, noon
Mpls. Novas vs. Northfield, 2:30 pm
Tartan vs. Simley, 5 pm
Albert Lea vs. New Prague, 7 pm
Games Tuesday
Semifinals, 1 and 3 pm
Games Wednesday
Championship, 2 pm
Third place, noon

ghshockeyfan wrote:Here's what the KRACH rankings say SHOULD happen:

GAME 4: Albert Lea(0.294-#119OA/#52A) vs. New Prague (2.836-#92OA/#34A) New Prague is 10-to-1 favorite

According to KRACH AL is one of the worst teams in the State...Homer or not, I find that hard to believe. Regardless of the odds (10:1), I'll take that bet

im just excited!
im playing in this tournament and excited to see the teams compete against one another.

haha i am a tartan student at the moment! but im not trying to be biased because i just wanna play some hockey!
although i am being biased with the varsity and jv because i think it's weird that the jv only gets 2 games and no like skills competition! short end!

chickendance found most of the bracket. here is the full version:

Monday
Game 1 - noon: Austin vs. Willmar
Game 2 - 2:30: Mpls Novas vs. Northfield
Game 3 - 5:00: Tartan vs. Simley
Game 4 - 7:00: Albert Lea vs. New Prague

Tuesday
Game 5 - 9:00 am: Loser of Game 1 vs Loser of Game 2
Game 6 - 11:00 am: Loser of Game 3 vs. Loser of Game 4
Game 7 - 1:00 pm: Winner of Game 1 vs. Winner of Game 2
Game 8 - 3:00 pm: Winner of Game 3 vs. Winner of Game 4

7:00 pm THE SHOOTOUT! (free admission) shooters and goalies be sure to have your dancin skates on at the end of the shootout ;0)

Wednesday
8:00 am - 7th place game
10:00 am - consolation game
noon - third place game
2:00 pm - championship game

I'm really looking forward to this year's tourney. This field of teams has to be one of the most balanced ones that we've had in the many years that I've volunteered for it. Any team that skates to its potential has a chance to do very well. We should have some great games.

JV Schedule:

Monday
noon - Mpls Novas vs Northfield
2:00 pm - Tartan vs Simley
4:00 pm - Austin vs. New Prague

Tuesday
noon - Northfield vs Simley
2:00 pm - Tartan vs. Austin
4:00 pm - New Prague vs Novas

Sorry 'bout the JV gettin the short end, kalciumxx30. You gotta love your enthusiasm for hockey tho!
We will have to keep that in mind for future JV tourneys. The JV portion is back in the Austin tourney after being gone for a few years. We also have to be sure that we can fill all of the volunteer positions. It takes a lot of friendly help to make these run smoothly.

Hope to see you at the varsity games. If you are on JV, we will see you for sure at the shootout, rooting on your teammates. We like to make a lot of noise during that event.

RSI wrote:

ghshockeyfan wrote:Here's what the KRACH rankings say SHOULD happen:

GAME 4: Albert Lea(0.294-#119OA/#52A) vs. New Prague (2.836-#92OA/#34A) New Prague is 10-to-1 favorite

According to KRACH AL is one of the worst teams in the State...Homer or not, I find that hard to believe. Regardless of the odds (10:1), I'll take that bet

I hear you on the ratings and feel the way about Simley and some other teams. The ratings/rankings are changing a lot still as they really don't have a lot of games (10 isn't much per team) to use to figure it all out. I'm sure we'll see things change a lot by the end of the holiday tourneys and as we head into the sections this last month of the season...

ahshockeyphoto wrote:JV Schedule:

Monday
noon - Mpls Novas vs Northfield
2:00 pm - Tartan vs Simley
4:00 pm - Austin vs. New Prague

Tuesday
noon - Northfield vs Simley
2:00 pm - Tartan vs. Austin
4:00 pm - New Prague vs Novas

Sorry 'bout the JV gettin the short end, kalciumxx30. You gotta love your enthusiasm for hockey tho!
We will have to keep that in mind for future JV tourneys. The JV portion is back in the Austin tourney after being gone for a few years. We also have to be sure that we can fill all of the volunteer positions. It takes a lot of friendly help to make these run smoothly.

Hope to see you at the varsity games. If you are on JV, we will see you for sure at the shootout, rooting on your teammates. We like to make a lot of noise during that event.

oh you'll see me! numba 31 for tartan! haha im the goalie. we only have 2 goalies so yea.
i jsut love hockey !

Can someone please post the arena where the Varsity tournament will be played?

anderc14 wrote:Can someone please post the arena where the Varsity tournament will be played?

Riverside Arena

WOW! what an exciting day for hockey! Great job to all teams!!!

Day 1 results:

Austin 8 - Willmar 3

Northfield 1 - Mpls Novas 0

Tartan 2 - Simley 0

Albert Lea 2 - New Prague 1

A lot of great hockey and fun - see you all tomorrow!

ghshockeyfan wrote:

RSI wrote:

ghshockeyfan wrote:Here's what the KRACH rankings say SHOULD happen:

GAME 4: Albert Lea(0.294-#119OA/#52A) vs. New Prague (2.836-#92OA/#34A) New Prague is 10-to-1 favorite

According to KRACH AL is one of the worst teams in the State...Homer or not, I find that hard to believe. Regardless of the odds (10:1), I'll take that bet

I hear you on the ratings and feel the way about Simley and some other teams. The ratings/rankings are changing a lot still as they really don't have a lot of games (10 isn't much per team) to use to figure it all out. I'm sure we'll see things change a lot by the end of the holiday tourneys and as we head into the sections this last month of the season...

And AL did indeed win! =)

Nice to see all the section 1A teams advance. It is Tartan against 1A or basically Tartan against the world.

Congrats ladies.

Best game of the tournament was the Northfield- Novas game as both teams were closely matched. Novas outshot Northfield in both the second and third period. Northfield is physical and has solid goaltending.

If the tournament wouldn't have seeded these two teams against each other, both would have advanced to the top rounds. Forget all the hype about the power rankings, these were two closely matched teams. The statistics are just a bunch of numbers without alot of bearing.

I didn't see a boxscore on the Novas/NF game... What was the final shot count?

I wouldn't read too much into any rankings but they're fun to debate =)