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Feel free to add your rankings.

Here is my best shot....


Class A Poll
1. Breck-
• Bring back good talent and another good recruiting class. Will be very hungry after getting upset in Sections last year.

2. East Grand Forks-
• Ausmus leaving early drops them a bit lost some good players to graduation. However, the defending Champs will be very strong.

3. Hermantown-
• Great Group of AA Bantams coming in to already solid program. Heard goaltending is very shaky will hurt them against the top end teams.

4. Warroad
• Bring back both Roth and Bethune upfront return their goalie and some good d-man. Will be thin but have great top end talent.

5. Mahtomedi
• Very talented group of Juniors I think the this team will be very tough this year.

6. Duluth Marshall-
• Lost some very good kids to the public schools but should still be very tough this year.

7. St Cloud Cathedral
• Heard they have a big recruiting class coming with the move to 6A opening up the door to State for Central MN Kids.

8. Totino Grace
• Should be strong lost a good on early to the USHL but still have been a traditionally strong program.

9. St Paul Academy
• Up and Coming Private power has gotten better and better the last two seasons

10. Rochester Lourdes
• If they can stay healthy have a good core and the top goalie in Southern MN.

11. Duluth Denfeld
• Have some very good players coming back and have brought in a few kids they should be very tough.

12. Thief River Falls
• Always tough and well coached have always been a top 15 Class A Program.

13. Delano
• Had a great crop of A Bantams last year and have been a program knocking on the door just cant break through.

14. New Prague
• Well coached and bring back a very good goalie and some good pieces from last years 3rd place finish.

15. Blake
• A program that has been trying to get back on track bring back some good players the Bears look to be solid heading into the season.

Class A Section Break Downs
1A
Rochester Lourdes and New Prague
Look to be the top dogs. Both have a great goalies and looks to be a great battle down in SE MN.

2A
Breck, Orono, Delano, Blake
Deepest Section in Class A but I think Breck is on a Mission this year to get back to State and do some damage.

3A
New Ulm, Hutch, Luverne
Lots of Parity is Section 3A. New Ulm Bring back their whole team while Hutch is probably the deepest and Luverne has some Elite Top End Talent.

4A
Mahtomedi, Totino Grace, St Paul Academy
All three look to be very good this year. It will be a great 3 team race any of them could make a run some very nice squads. I think Mahtomedi is the favorite.

5A
Chisago Lakes, Spring Lake Park, Princeton
Chisago bring back the most talent as Spring Lake Park lost Long to Omaha AAA. Weakest overall section but I think you see Chisago repeat as champs.

6A
St Cloud Cathedral, Sartell, Alexandria
Cathedral should be the heavy favorite and I think you see Sartell to start to make a push good youth teams coming up and Alex should be solid.

7A
Hermantown, Duluth Marshall, Duluth Denfeld
Should be a great section. The top 3 are very good. But Virginia will be stout with great tending and Hibbing will be young and up and coming. Very good talent up north.

8A
East Grand Forks, Warroad, Thief River Falls
East Grand will be very talented and DEEP and Warroad has serious star power while TRF will play great hockey and get the most ourof what they have. Should be a fun battle.

Section 3A HockeyScout wrote:Here is my best shot....


Class A Poll
1. Breck-
• Bring back good talent and another good recruiting class. Will be very hungry after getting upset in Sections last year.

2. East Grand Forks-
• Ausmus leaving early drops them a bit lost some good players to graduation. However, the defending Champs will be very strong.

3. Hermantown-
• Great Group of AA Bantams coming in to already solid program. Heard goaltending is very shaky will hurt them against the top end teams.

4. Warroad
• Bring back both Roth and Bethune upfront return their goalie and some good d-man. Will be thin but have great top end talent.

5. Mahtomedi
• Very talented group of Juniors I think the this team will be very tough this year.

6. Duluth Marshall-
• Lost some very good kids to the public schools but should still be very tough this year.

7. St Cloud Cathedral
• Heard they have a big recruiting class coming with the move to 6A opening up the door to State for Central MN Kids.

8. Totino Grace
• Should be strong lost a good on early to the USHL but still have been a traditionally strong program.

9. St Paul Academy
• Up and Coming Private power has gotten better and better the last two seasons

10. Rochester Lourdes
• If they can stay healthy have a good core and the top goalie in Southern MN.

11. Duluth Denfeld
• Have some very good players coming back and have brought in a few kids they should be very tough.

12. Thief River Falls
• Always tough and well coached have always been a top 15 Class A Program.

13. Delano
• Had a great crop of A Bantams last year and have been a program knocking on the door just cant break through.

14. New Prague
• Well coached and bring back a very good goalie and some good pieces from last years 3rd place finish.

15. Blake
• A program that has been trying to get back on track bring back some good players the Bears look to be solid heading into the season.

Class A Section Break Downs
1A
Rochester Lourdes and New Prague
Look to be the top dogs. Both have a great goalies and looks to be a great battle down in SE MN.

2A
Breck, Orono, Delano, Blake
Deepest Section in Class A but I think Breck is on a Mission this year to get back to State and do some damage.

3A
New Ulm, Hutch, Luverne
Lots of Parity is Section 3A. New Ulm Bring back their whole team while Hutch is probably the deepest and Luverne has some Elite Top End Talent.

4A
Mahtomedi, Totino Grace, St Paul Academy
All three look to be very good this year. It will be a great 3 team race any of them could make a run some very nice squads. I think Mahtomedi is the favorite.

5A
Chisago Lakes, Spring Lake Park, Princeton
Chisago bring back the most talent as Spring Lake Park lost Long to Omaha AAA. Weakest overall section but I think you see Chisago repeat as champs.

6A
St Cloud Cathedral, Sartell, Alexandria
Cathedral should be the heavy favorite and I think you see Sartell to start to make a push good youth teams coming up and Alex should be solid.

7A
Hermantown, Duluth Marshall, Duluth Denfeld
Should be a great section. The top 3 are very good. But Virginia will be stout with great tending and Hibbing will be young and up and coming. Very good talent up north.

8A
East Grand Forks, Warroad, Thief River Falls
East Grand will be very talented and DEEP and Warroad has serious star power while TRF will play great hockey and get the most ourof what they have. Should be a fun battle.

Countdown to the skewering by the Luverne Rabid Faithful in 3....2....1

Lee

I haven't been following real close. That will hurt EGF. Lost top 4 D'men from last year. Top two lines will be scary good though. I guess it will have to go from "tenacious D to explosive O." EGF has been very fortunate avoiding departures. Bowen, Loven, Tweten line might be the best in the state this year, any or all of them could have left.

Section 8 will be between egf - warroad, and I'm picking warroad, for no other reason than I think they'll be hungrier.

No one else in the section will even be close to in the running.

I can't argue with you on that. In spite of all the attention Warroad gets about their first line talent, I think EGF will have a significant advantage. Weber looked good with those four D'men in front of him. If Ausmus is gone, I just don't see how they replace that kind of loss. I think Warroad is a favorite in 8A as well. Not by a large margin and it will come down to a section final, again!

Section 3A HockeyScout wrote:Here is my best shot....


Class A Poll
1. Breck-
• Bring back good talent and another good recruiting class. Will be very hungry after getting upset in Sections last year.

2. East Grand Forks-
• Ausmus leaving early drops them a bit lost some good players to graduation. However, the defending Champs will be very strong.

3. Hermantown-
• Great Group of AA Bantams coming in to already solid program. Heard goaltending is very shaky will hurt them against the top end teams.

4. Warroad
• Bring back both Roth and Bethune upfront return their goalie and some good d-man. Will be thin but have great top end talent.

5. Mahtomedi
• Very talented group of Juniors I think the this team will be very tough this year.

6. Duluth Marshall-
• Lost some very good kids to the public schools but should still be very tough this year.

7. St Cloud Cathedral
• Heard they have a big recruiting class coming with the move to 6A opening up the door to State for Central MN Kids.

8. Totino Grace
• Should be strong lost a good on early to the USHL but still have been a traditionally strong program.

9. St Paul Academy
• Up and Coming Private power has gotten better and better the last two seasons

10. Rochester Lourdes
• If they can stay healthy have a good core and the top goalie in Southern MN.

11. Duluth Denfeld
• Have some very good players coming back and have brought in a few kids they should be very tough.

12. Thief River Falls
• Always tough and well coached have always been a top 15 Class A Program.

13. Delano
• Had a great crop of A Bantams last year and have been a program knocking on the door just cant break through.

14. New Prague
• Well coached and bring back a very good goalie and some good pieces from last years 3rd place finish.

15. Blake
• A program that has been trying to get back on track bring back some good players the Bears look to be solid heading into the season.

Class A Section Break Downs
1A
Rochester Lourdes and New Prague
Look to be the top dogs. Both have a great goalies and looks to be a great battle down in SE MN.

2A
Breck, Orono, Delano, Blake
Deepest Section in Class A but I think Breck is on a Mission this year to get back to State and do some damage.

3A
New Ulm, Hutch, Luverne
Lots of Parity is Section 3A. New Ulm Bring back their whole team while Hutch is probably the deepest and Luverne has some Elite Top End Talent.

4A
Mahtomedi, Totino Grace, St Paul Academy
All three look to be very good this year. It will be a great 3 team race any of them could make a run some very nice squads. I think Mahtomedi is the favorite.

5A
Chisago Lakes, Spring Lake Park, Princeton
Chisago bring back the most talent as Spring Lake Park lost Long to Omaha AAA. Weakest overall section but I think you see Chisago repeat as champs.

6A
St Cloud Cathedral, Sartell, Alexandria
Cathedral should be the heavy favorite and I think you see Sartell to start to make a push good youth teams coming up and Alex should be solid.

7A
Hermantown, Duluth Marshall, Duluth Denfeld
Should be a great section. The top 3 are very good. But Virginia will be stout with great tending and Hibbing will be young and up and coming. Very good talent up north.

8A
East Grand Forks, Warroad, Thief River Falls
East Grand will be very talented and DEEP and Warroad has serious star power while TRF will play great hockey and get the most ourof what they have. Should be a fun battle.

TROUT FYI the CARDS have two of your top ten picks this year on the schedule hope they can crack the top 50 in the state again this year...

Best of luck to all the big fish in minny this year!

ted2you wrote:I can't argue with you on that. In spite of all the attention Warroad gets about their first line talent, I think EGF will have a significant advantage. Weber looked good with those four D'men in front of him. If Ausmus is gone, I just don't see how they replace that kind of loss. I think Warroad is a favorite in 8A as well. Not by a large margin and it will come down to a section final, again!

Yeah, agreed; it's both teams to lose. I too think egf is deeper.........unless some new faces show up in Warroad, lol !

I'm surprised Ausmus left. With his very small size, I just can't see him going to far, and to me, unless you're NHL bound, what's the point.

Guess we'll see.

From my vantage point it looks like this:
1-Hermantown
2-EGF
3-Breck
4-Mahtomedi
5-Warroad
6-Totino Grace
7-SCCathedral
8-Dul Denfield
9-Orono
10-Blake
11-New Prague
12- Delano
13-SPA
14-TRF
15-Bloom Kenn

Teams 1-15 are closer in talent than in years past. The higher ranked teams (#'s 1-5) appear to have an achilles heel, which could make them vulnerable unless they are able to find a solution. The teams that find the solution will emerge during the course of the year. It will be an interesting 2014/2015 season.

Isn't Blake losing their young Dman to Shattuck?

don't know about the Blake D-man but here's my list:

1. Hermantown
2. EGF
3. Blake
4. Mahtomedi
5. Breck
6. Warroad
7. Delano
8. Denfield
9. New Prague
10. SPA

It's Denfeld, not Denfield.

greenway1969 wrote:It's Denfeld, not Denfield.

When we were at East, we called them Dumbfeld

Lee

57special wrote:Isn't Blake losing their young Dman to Shattuck?

Yes, and their goalie left for boarding school. But CG, ML, and MC are very good. This may be the year they knock off a beatable Breck team in sections.

Where's the iron range?

Mite-dad wrote:Where's the iron range?

Kinda North and West of Duluth and South and West of Ely.

puckbreath wrote:

ted2you wrote:I can't argue with you on that. In spite of all the attention Warroad gets about their first line talent, I think EGF will have a significant advantage. Weber looked good with those four D'men in front of him. If Ausmus is gone, I just don't see how they replace that kind of loss. I think Warroad is a favorite in 8A as well. Not by a large margin and it will come down to a section final, again!

Yeah, agreed; it's both teams to lose. I too think egf is deeper.........unless some new faces show up in Warroad, lol !

I'm surprised Ausmus left. With his very small size, I just can't see him going to far, and to me, unless you're NHL bound, what's the point.

Guess we'll see.

Just to be sure: Ausmus is leaving?

Thanks,

TTpuckster wrote:

puckbreath wrote:

ted2you wrote:I can't argue with you on that. In spite of all the attention Warroad gets about their first line talent, I think EGF will have a significant advantage. Weber looked good with those four D'men in front of him. If Ausmus is gone, I just don't see how they replace that kind of loss. I think Warroad is a favorite in 8A as well. Not by a large margin and it will come down to a section final, again!

Yeah, agreed; it's both teams to lose. I too think egf is deeper.........unless some new faces show up in Warroad, lol !

I'm surprised Ausmus left. With his very small size, I just can't see him going to far, and to me, unless you're NHL bound, what's the point.

Guess we'll see.

Just to be sure: Ausmus is leaving?

Thanks,

Yes He is going to the Lincoln Stars of the USHL he confirmed this on his Twitter account back in July.

https://twitter.com/AusmusTye/status/489948239441850370

Big LOSS for the Defending Champs

Here's what I think the Top 15 will look like to start:

1) Hermantown
2) EGF
3) Warroad
4) Breck
5) Blake
6) Mahtomedi
7) St. Cloud Cathedral
Totino-Grace
9) New Prague
10) Duluth Marshall
11) Duluth Denfeld
12) Delano
13) Thief River Falls
14) SPA
15) Luverne

Others: Orono, Spring Lake Park, Hibbing, Chisago Lakes, Minnehaha Academy, St. Cloud Apollo, Alexandria, Princeton, New Ulm, and Rochester Lourdes.

I don't understand Ausmus leaving. He is a small 165 pound D'man and to be honest was the 4th best Defenseman on last years championship team. He would have been the defensive leader of what obviously would have been an outstanding team. Is a year in Lincoln going to prepare him for D1? Now if you told me that Tweten, Bowen, or Loven were leaving I could make a good case for each of those.

Ausmus's brother is at UND so I would think he has a connection there already and if he really had confidence in his ability he'd have stayed. Personally, I think he is a stretch to be a big time recruit.

Bowen is a lock to wind up at UND (his father played there), I would guess that Tweten and Loven would have to play their way out of scholarships from UND as well and may leave after this season. IMO Ausmus should have stayed another year in HS and then played his 1-2 years at Lincoln.

ted2you wrote:I don't understand Ausmus leaving. He is a small 165 pound D'man and to be honest was the 4th best Defenseman on last years championship team. He would have been the defensive leader of what obviously would have been an outstanding team. Is a year in Lincoln going to prepare him for D1? Now if you told me that Tweten, Bowen, or Loven were leaving I could make a good case for each of those.

Ausmus's brother is at UND so I would think he has a connection there already and if he really had confidence in his ability he'd have stayed. Personally, I think he is a stretch to be a big time recruit.

Bowen is a lock to wind up at UND (his father played there), I would guess that Tweten and Loven would have to play their way out of scholarships from UND as well and may leave after this season. IMO Ausmus should have stayed another year in HS and then played his 1-2 years at Lincoln.

Yeah, agree with your comments.

To be honest, I'd be worried about him getting pounded/hurt in the USHL.