Conference Previews

[Mitch Hawker]

Post your conference previews here. Post only quality previews in which you mention each team and give reasons for any predictions you make.<br><br>Keep it factual and positive. You can write about difficulties that teams may face but lay off individual players or coaches.<br><br>Be sure to post the conference name that you are previewing in the subject. <br><br>Do not reply in this thread to previews posted in this thread except to correct factual inaccuracies or omissions. <br><br>Enjoy! <p></p><i>Edited by: <A HREF=http://p100.ezboard.com/bmnhs.showUserP ... wker>Mitch Hawker</A> at: 11/18/05 2:50 pm<br></i>

[BigBubba004]

Big 9<br><br>Roch. Century:Lost 9 starters including their top scoring line <br> and one of the top goalies in the state.<br> Return 2 Elite 1 forwards and 3 good players on<br> defense. Picked up a goalie from outstate<br> to cushion the loss of Kangas.<br><br>Roch. Mayo: Lost 7 starters.<br> Return top player in the conference (Canzanello)<br> who's played both defense and forward for Mayo.<br> Also return a couple of good junior forwards and <br> 2 experienced defensemen.Return one of the top<br> goalies in the conference in Donohue.<br><br>Mankato East: Lost 3 starters.<br> Return 8 of 9 forwards, 3 of top 5 defensemen<br> and one of the top goalies in the big-9.<br><br>Austin: Lost 5 starters. Their top forward and 2 of their top<br> top defensemen.<br> Return their top player (Kirby) 2 other defensemen and <br> 6 varsity forwards.Both goalies return as 3 year <br> starters.<br><br>Faribault: Lost 6 starters, 3 forwards and 3 defensemen,plus<br> one of the top goalies in the conference.<br> Return 3 strong forwards, 3 other forwards and 2<br> defensemen.The big ? here is in net. If they get<br> some good play there they'll be a very tough team.<br><br>Roch. JM: Lost 9 starters,including 5 of their top 6 scorers,<br> plus their goalie.<br> Return 2 good forwards and 2 good defensemen, <br> but may have some trouble replacing the goalie.<br><br>Albert Lea: Lost 9 starters, including 8 of their top 9 players.<br> Return 3 forwards and one of their top defenseman<br> Also return a 2 year starter in nets.Goal tending<br> will be the strength of the team.<br><br>Mankato West: Lost 2 starters.<br> Return the rest of their team including their top<br> scorer and a good goalie.Still a relatively young<br> team with 4 jrs. and 5 sophs. starting. Showed<br> signs this summer of making some noise in the <br> conference this year.<br><br>Owatonna: Lost 6 starters, including 3 of their top 4 players.<br> Return 1 good forward 5 other forwards and 2 <br> defensemen.Goal tending will be a ? for them again<br> this year.<br><br>Winona: Lost 6 starters including a good goalie and<br> top 2 forwards.<br> Return 1 good forward 3 other forwards all<br> defensemen and a goalie who split time in <br> nets. <br> <br> <br><br><br><br><br> <p></p><i></i>

[Hillfan]

Classic Suburban<br><br>1. Hill-Murray: 2 lines of very talented forwards return along with a 3rd line with potential. Many goals should be seen. 4 solid, veteran defensemen return along with 2 new, talented and smart players on the line.<br><br>2. St. Thomas Academy: Return many young talented players including upcoming star, Jordan Schroeder.<br><br>3. Tartan: Lost a good amount of important seniors from last year, but return experience in the nets (Cary Wood)<br><br>4. North St. Paul: Return experience in the nets as well (Sophomore Tom Horner) along with forward Ben Arnt.<br><br>As for the bottom 5, here they are:<br>5. Richfield- Younger Paskewicz(sp, I killed that) comes up<br>6. Mahtomedi<br>7. Simley<br>8. South St. Paul<br>9. Sibley <p></p><i>Edited by: <A HREF=http://p100.ezboard.com/bmnhs.showUserP ... Hillfan</A> at: 11/24/05 11:13 am<br></i>

[hockeydad]

Classic Suburban....<br><br>What about Richfield? There are 9 teams in this conference. <p></p><i></i>

[Hillfan]

I knew I had made a mistake there. Thank you hockeydad. <p></p><i></i>

[boblee]

I wanted to wait for some teams to play before I did this, but here it is...<br>Favorites:<br>Grand Rapids--Looks like the Patrick White line can score some goals. They have gotten quality goaltending from Reidar Jensen and they have a lot of experience in the first 2 lines and the first few defense. They seem to be playing well as a team and have a lot of confidence.<br><br>Hibbing--A lot of quality players. I really like Luke Davis, he is fast, shifty and knows how to score goals. They have big, strong, quality defensemen with a great goaltending in Jasha Marchuk. They won't give up many shots, therefore won't give up many goals. The offense will do fine with the likes of Davis and Decenzo.<br><br>Virginia--Although they lost a great player in Matt Niskanen, they may recover. They have a lot of skilled offense players such as Nicco Sichetti, Scott Kishel, and Mark McGilvary. They haven't proven, atleast to me, to have many solid defensive players, however. They do have an above average goalie in Logan Hoche. They return some state tournament experience, too. They will score a lot and give up a lot. You can expect them to be among the conference lead in goals scored.<br><br>Not Likelys:<br>International Falls:<br>Don't seem to have any offense. They always have quality goaltending, this year is no different, but their defense lack speed. They are not a very fast team overall and willnot do much scoring. They will play along with Eveleth and Greenway, but expect the 3 favorites to consistently put them into running time.<br><br>Eveleth:<br>Might suprise some people. They have a trio or so of players who have good offensive minds and could do a little bit of scoring. They have a solid pair of defensemen and a decent goaltender. They will give up a lot of goals to good teams and play right with the average teams. Don't be suprised if they hover right around .500 this year.<br><br>Greenway:<br>They might not win a conference game. They lack experience, speed, physical play, and many other things. They have one good player, Joey Westlake, but he has no one to play with. Their goaltending/defense is atrocious. They just need some help. They give up too many shots, which leads to too many goals. They lost to Hastings 16-2, I don't qualify Hastings as a top ten school. Could be a long season for the Raiders. <p></p><i></i>