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Who are you likin this year in each bracket??
Here's a link to the brackets:
http://www.nscsports.org/sports/hockey/ ... esults.htm

Gold: Hill Murray or Edina. Duluth East has a decent chance but play Edina in the first game

Silver: Im not sure how Lakeville South is looking but Blake, Burnsville, and Holy Angels. I have a feeling winner between Burns/AHA will win

Bronze: Champlin Park

Open: No clue

Going for the darkhorse this year. STA in an upset of the bigs.

hockeyrocks wrote:Going for the darkhorse this year. STA in an upset of the bigs.

I wouldn't even consider it an upset really!

Lakeville South lost Osterberg. I'm not saying they can't win, I just don't see it happening here. I'd say Burnsville, AHA, or Blake....

Hill Murray and Minnetonka in Final- HM wins

Minnetonka will not be in the finals....

blueblood wrote:Minnetonka will not be in the finals....

Agreed. Lost WAAAAYYYYY to much talent. My prediction; Unfortunatley---It will be a battle of the St. Paul Privates HM vs. STA with STA pulling it off.

blueblood wrote:Minnetonka will not be in the finals....

From a self confessed homer.... thanks for the support Blueblood...
We'll take it...

blueblood wrote:Minnetonka will not be in the finals....

cont'd... I think STA will take make pretty easy work of Tonka and will take out HM in a tough final...

But then again as a homer I am in no way biased...

blueblood wrote:Minnetonka will not be in the finals....

From your view, how is Tonka going to be this year?

As everyone knows the team lost a lot of talent on the blue line and in the nets.

The schedule is probably top 5 in terms of difficulty in the state. I put the over/under win line at 16 for this year's team in the regular season and a loss in the 6AA semi-finals to EP.

I see 6AA as follows:

1) EP
2) Wayzata
3) BSM - my dark horse pick (I posted that at the end of last season)
4) Tonka

Individual Notes:

First Line will probably be Schutt - Coatta - Frawley. They will put up a majority of the points.

Frawley will need to prove he can play as a "Go To" guy. His elite league performance was sub par with 1G and 6A and no selection to the MN Red or White team.

Goaltending will be a big question mark. Last year's backup played in 6 to 7 games mostly against second tier competition.

Defense will be the bigger question mark. Tonka has no size to go with no senior leaders on the blue line, unless they move Helmer back. Penalty killing will be one of the areas that this team will need to excel in.

blueblood wrote:As everyone knows the team lost a lot of talent on the blue line and in the nets.

The schedule is probably top 5 in terms of difficulty in the state. I put the over/under win line at 16 for this year's team in the regular season and a loss in the 6AA semi-finals to EP.

I see 6AA as follows:

1) EP
2) Wayzata
3) BSM - my dark horse pick (I posted that at the end of last season)
4) Tonka

Individual Notes:

First Line will probably be Schutt - Coatta - Frawley. They will put up a majority of the points.

Frawley will need to prove he can play as a "Go To" guy. His elite league performance was sub par with 1G and 6A and no selection to the MN Red or White team.

Goaltending will be a big question mark. Last year's backup played in 6 to 7 games mostly against second tier competition.

Defense will be the bigger question mark. Tonka has no size to go with no senior leaders on the blue line, unless they move Helmer back. Penalty killing will be one of the areas that this team will need to excel in.

Excellent summary Blueblood and very helpful. As stated in another topic Frawley tried to play through mono in the elite league so he will probably deliver again but the blue line and goal tending questions seem like real challenges. We (STA) have them twice this year and hope they don't get it worked out until after we play them... . Is there any scenario where Tonka comes out on top in 6AA?

We all know Section 6AA is loaded. Could Tonka come out on top? Yes. Are they likely to? No.

With Edina, EP, Tonka and Wayzata all in the Lake conference, I could see the top team in 6AA having 3 to 4 losses.

BSM could end up being the benefactor of that and could snag a #1 or #2 seed if they were to sweep their conference and beat Hill, Edina and Tonka, which are all home games for BSM, and possibly Wayzata in their holiday tourney.

In the big picture, I don't think the #1 through #4 6AA seedings will make much of a difference, except for last change for key face-offs come play-off time.

In the end, the champion of this section will have to beat two excellent teams that are likely to be in the top 5 in the state at the end of the season.

Gold: St. Thomas (4) - Hill Murray (2)
Silver: Lakeville (3) - Burnsville (6)
Broonze: Champlin Park (5) - Mouns View (2)
Open: Winona (5) - St. Paul Academy (1)

It's to bad Breck wasn't in the Gold division last year. It would have been fun to see how they would have faired agaisnt the Tonka and Edina. This year they will probably be facing an uphill battle. My guess is Edina wins it all with Hill and Saint Thomas also in the mix.

GOLD DIVISION
-top bracket
I think STA will handle Tonka in the first game as the Skippers will still be working out some kinks. I think STA will than handle White Bear (who plays Blaine) in the semis.
-bottom bracket
Hill-Murray should be able to beat Breck without much of a problem, Breck needs to replace a lot. And the Edina and Duluth East should be the best quarterfinal matchup. I am going to take Edina in that game and to come out of the bottom part of the bracket.
PREDICTION: STA 4 Edina 2

SILVER DIVISON
-top bracket
Rogers and Stillwater in the first game. Rogers moving to silver with winning the Bronze last year. The Ponies will be too much and will move on to face Lakeville South who will pull off a win over Cretin for the second year in a row at the Schwans. I think Phil Housley and Stillwater will earn their spot in the championship game.
-bottom bracket
The best quarterfinal matchup will be Burnsville and AHA, i got the Blaze winning this one as AHA will still be trying to find their identity. I got Roseville winning the other game but they will be no match for Burnsville in the semis
PREDICTION: Burnsville 5 Stillwater 2

BRONZE DIVISION
-top bracket
In the first quarterfinal game Orono will beat Sartell moving a step closer to another Bronze division championship game. But Mounds View will stand in their way as they will beat the kids from Wisconsin (Hudson).
-bottom bracket
I see this side as the stronger part of the bracket. I will take Northfield over Owatonna in a good Southern team matchup. And the Champlin Park should be the best matchup in the quarterfinals. I am going to take Holy Family in a upset. Than i will take Northfield over the Fire in a close one.
PREDICTION: Mounds View 3 Northfield 2


And i will take Providence Academy easily in the Open Division

I think housley will not be at the schwan cup due to the world juniors

just bumping this thread back up as the tourney is coming up.
my picks:
Gold: edina over sta
silver: burnsville over CDH
bronze: champlin over orono
open:providence over marshall

I like Orono in the bronze division. They outscored their opponents 18-1 in their last two games, they're the real deal.

hockeyfan1022 wrote:I like Orono in the bronze division. They outscored their opponents 18-1 in their last two games, they're the real deal.

They haven't played very tough competition. And it seems like their "real deal" top guy isn't doing very much.

GOLD DIVISION

Breck (wrong year) and WBL (wrong decade) won't win a game. Hill vs Tonka with a lopsided Hill Win.

Redlight wrote:GOLD DIVISION

Breck (wrong year) and WBL (wrong decade) won't win a game. Hill vs Tonka with a lopsided Hill Win.

Look back at the stats for WBL in the Gold division, they have done ok....

Aside from predictions on the outcome, this tournament needs to get it's act together. I can see what's in it for the teams involved, they get some good competition, and a chance to get familiar with the Xcel before March. But there isn't much in it for fans. Maybe 800 spectators in a cavernous building means there is almost no atmosphere. It's spread out over four days and three venues. The third place game is in the evening on New Years Eve? It's at the X, unless they can find another event that can sell over 1,000 tickets.

What's needed is a facility that is appropriately sized and WANTS to host it.
Then a guy could get a Coke for less than $5, too.

Mariucci may prove to be small enough to feel like you're at an event, but I don't think the U is interested in or able to turn their building over for three days during that week every year.

East Side Pioneer Guy wrote:Aside from predictions on the outcome, this tournament needs to get it's act together. I can see what's in it for the teams involved, they get some good competition, and a chance to get familiar with the Xcel before March. But there isn't much in it for fans. Maybe 800 spectators in a cavernous building means there is almost no atmosphere. It's spread out over four days and three venues. The third place game is in the evening on New Years Eve? It's at the X, unless they can find another event that can sell over 1,000 tickets.

What's needed is a facility that is appropriately sized and WANTS to host it.
Then a guy could get a Coke for less than $5, too.

Mariucci may prove to be small enough to feel like you're at an event, but I don't think the U is interested in or able to turn their building over for three days during that week every year.

The Gold Division is at Mariucci this year. The only games at the X are the finals of the 4 divisions this year it looks like.

I agree on the venue though; in some past years the caliber of teams have been as good as (or maybe better than) state and the place is empty. Selling out a smaller venue would be much more exciting.