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As we approach the rough halfway point of the season, we have some new movement at the top, a number of the top ten teams solidifying their places, and a lot of teams starting to pile up the head-scratching results that make the later portions of the rankings tough to sort through. Still, I always start to feel better about this around this time of year, and most teams have now played enough games that we have a decent idea of who they are. Your rankings:

1. Minnetonka (10-0-2)
-The Skippers made the season’s biggest statement to date with a convincing win over Edina, and that plus the earlier win over St. Thomas give them the edge over the Cadets, whom they tied in the Schwan Cup finale, for the top spot. They proved they can skate with anyone in the state, and have the defensive discipline and goaltending necessary to hold up against top teams’ attacks. There’s no let-up in their schedule, with a top Class A team and another elite AA opponent up next.
This week: Tues at Orono, Sat vs. #5 Duluth East

2. St. Thomas (8-1-1)
-The Cadets won the shootout for the Schwan Cup Gold title (not that the rankings care about such things) and climb to #2 after a second overtime affair with the top-ranked Skippers. No one else has blemished their record yet, and the hardest parts of their schedule are now behind them, too. Their balance across all line, defensive pairings, and goaltending may be the best in the state right now, and (in a new development) seem to have a solid physical dimension to their game. The Mahtomedi game this week could be worth watching.
This week: Tues vs. North St. Paul, Sat vs. Mahtomedi

3. Edina (10-1)
-The Hornets got humbled by Minnetonka in the opening round of the Schwan Cup. Their second line was completely shut out across three games, and losing that production makes them beatable. But, they still won two games, and one loss isn’t going to . A three-game week awaits them, but the White Bear game would seem to be the only potential test among those.
This week: Tues vs. Burnsville, Thurs vs. #4 White Bear Lake, Sat vs. Holy Angels

4. White Bear Lake (8-0-2)
-The Bears took care of Jefferson to reach January undefeated. Their schedule so far certainly can’t match those of the teams of above them, but they are taking care of business, and have a chance at a statement game when they visit the Hornets.
This week: Thurs at #3 Edina, Sat vs. Rochester Century

5. Duluth East (6-0-3)
-The Hounds couldn’t get past Blaine with more than a tie, and while they too remain undefeated, there have certainly been blemishes, both in games like this one and their narrow escape wins. They have yet to really prove they belong in a tier with the top three, but will have their one regular season chance to do just that this coming weekend. They can’t sleep on the Ponies, either.
This week: Fri at Stillwater, Sat at #1 Minnetonka

6. Holy Family (10-2-1)
-The Fire have now rattled off seven wins in a row, with the win over Moorhead capping a strong run through the Hockey For Life three-game bill. They venture north this weekend and figure to win both, though Greenway certainly isn’t a free pass.
This week: Fri at Greenway, Sat at Grand Rapids

7. Cretin-Derham Hall (8-2-1)
-After a narrow win over St. Louis Park, the Raiders rolled through the rest of the Schwan Cup Silver to take home a trophy and further cement their contender status. They now settle into conference play for most of January, and with a few possible exceptions, that just means more wins.
This week: Thurs vs. East Ridge, Sat at Roseville

8. Centennial (6-2-2)
-I have mixed feelings on this one, but the Cougars’ two losses are to teams ahead of them, and they have a convincing win over Elk River. The Hill and Blaine ties aren’t great, but those two have clipped some other top teams also, and they’re not losses. I think they have more in common with the mess behind them than those ahead of them; Lucas McGregor needs some support offensively. But at least they’ve avoided bad losses, and are mostly doing what they need to do. An interesting week now awaits them, including a newly ranked opponent, a section rival, and a conference foe capable of causing problems.
This week: Tues vs. #13 Brainerd, Thurs at Maple Grove, Sat at Andover

9. Moorhead (9-4)
-Put together solid wins in the first two rounds of the Hockey for Life Classic, but they couldn’t close the deal against Holy Family, which leaves the Spuds lacking that signature win they could use to climb back into the conversation for a high seed at State. But, we’re getting ahead of ourselves: the Spuds have another Twin Cities road trip coming up, and it features one of the better teams in their section and a Wayzata team that is hard to read right now.
This week: Fri at St. Michael-Albertville, Sat at #14 Wayzata

10. Eden Prairie (5-4-1)
-The Eagles had a strong showing in the Schwan Cup semis as they took St. Thomas to overtime, but turned around and tied Hill-Murray the following day. That just goes to show how tight the top teams are this year, and the Eagles will have plenty of chances over the second half of the regular season to make a bigger mark. On paper, though, they should be able to strengthen their record in the short term.
This week: Tues at Lakeville South, Thurs at Prior Lake

11. Duluth Marshall (8-3-1)
-Got a decent win over Brainerd in their own holiday tournament, but coughed up a late two-goal lead to continue their history of misery against Hermantown. The record is good, but they could benefit from a few more quality results. Maple Grove gives them a shot this week.
This week: Thurs at Superior, Sat vs. Maple Grove

12. Elk River (8-4)
-The Elks had a fairly strong performance in Prior Lake with wins over Stillwater and Benilde, and a competitive loss to Holy Family. They bleed their share of goals, but the offense is plenty potent, and if they can get good goaltending, they could be as troublesome as anyone for East in 7AA. They head back into conference play this week, with games against a section rival and another decent team that East just tied.
This week: Tues vs. Andover, Sat at Blaine

13. Brainerd (7-3)
-The Warriors improved their stock with a good showing in the Hilltopper Holiday Classic, as they lost narrowly to Marshall and got a quality win over Wayzata. They have another chance to boost their statewide standing against Centennial this week.
This week: Tues at #8 Centennial, Fri vs. Roseau

14. Wayzata (5-5-1)
-The Trojans had a fairly poor showing in Duluth, as a strong win over Cloquet was canceled out by a loss to a Hermantown team they’d beaten earlier and a defeat at the hands of Brainerd, too. Big week ahead as they try to right the ship against a section team and another top ten opponent.
This week: Fri vs. St. Louis Park, Sat vs. #9 Moorhead

15. Cloquet (9-4-1)
-The Jacks didn’t give Wayzata much of a game, but cleaned up on weaker competition in the Hilltopper Classic consolation bracket. They remain an enigma, with some quality results and a lot of lopsided wins against weaker teams, but also enough questionable performances that they’re barely in the top 15 here. An important 7AA visit to Andover is up this week.
This week: Thurs at Andover

The Next Ten

Maple Grove (4-3-2)
-A week off doesn’t do much to change the Crimson’s standing. A very busy week awaits them: they’ve got three games in three days, including a big 5AA clash with Centennial at home and then a road trip to Grand Rapids and Duluth Marshall. This stretch should tell us a lot about the Crimson.

Hill-Murray (4-4-4)
-The Pioneers had a pretty strong Schwan Cup compared to what they’d been doing previously, as they tied two teams above them in the rankings and gave Minnetonka a competitive game. To really climb here, though, their highest-quality win has to be over someone better than Burnsville. Their only game this week, which is home against Benilde, could be a small step in that direction.

Blaine (3-3-3)
-Ties with Hill-Murray, Centennial, and now Duluth East show the Bengals can hang with some quality teams; they were competitive with Eden Prairie in a loss, too. Less appealing are the Irondale and Andover losses. Like Maple Grove, their goaltending can make things interesting against anyone. Elk River will offer a conference challenge this Saturday.

St. Michael-Albertville (7-3)
-Beat Burnsville for a second time, but otherwise failed to hang in against the top-flight competition in the Schwan Cup. Their biggest regular season game of the year is up this week, as they host Moorhead in a chance to prove they have a shot in the section.

Eastview (9-3)
-Slipped by Champlin Park and cleaned up on Shakopee this past week. They’re mostly taking care of the teams they need to, and without a single team ranked ahead of them left on the schedule, they have a chance to run up a very good record. Up this week: Hastings.

Stillwater (6-2)
-Reality set in for the Ponies, as they lost to Elk River and Lakeville North in their visit to Prior Lake. The Cloquet win props up their rankings some, but they’ll need more to stay up here. This week’s Duluth East game will be instructive.

Chaska (7-4)
-I was ready to give the Hawks some credit, but a loss to improving Prior Lake hurts them here. Still, they’ve looked competitive against some ranked teams, and injuries to top players hurt this team as much as anyone. A game with Benilde this week could be interesting.

Lakeville North (4-6-1)
-The Panthers have been all over the map. They have a couple of wins against teams in this section of the rankings, and looked pretty competitive against Minnetonka and Duluth East, but they have a bunch of mediocre losses, too. But hey, they are the top-ranked team in their section, and their schedule eases up noticeably from here.

Eagan (8-3)
-A good record against a weak schedule; losing to Woodbury sure won’t help them here, but they’ve been a bit more consistent than a lot of teams in here. Hastings and Rosemount await this week.

St. Cloud (7-2)
-Hung nine goals on a decent St. Louis Park team. They’ve got losses to Minneapolis and Chaska, and some decent Class A wins. They’ll need a lot more to climb further, but they’ve done enough to deserve a mention here.

And now, sections:

1AA
23 Lakeville North
Lakeville South
Rochester Century
Farmington
-North has been competitive more often than not against top teams, and combined South’s adventures against a weaker schedule, that makes the order seem easy for now. Their two meetings come unusually late this season. Century, meanwhile, got a nice win over Farmington, and has a strong record, albeit against a thin schedule. This week’s game against White Bear will give us another chance to see if they might have any prayer against the Lakevilles.

2AA
1 Minnetonka
6 Holy Family
10 Eden Prairie
-The Skippers have staked their claim to the top seed with their strong start, and this order really doesn’t seem controversial at all at the moment. Chaska gave Tonka a fairly interesting game, but I’m not sure they have the schedule to climb any higher than the 4-seed; their loss to Prior Lake this past week may consign them to the 5 in spite of a better record. The only section games left of any import are the two Eden Prairie-Minnetonka Lake Conference meetings, so Holy Family will need some help to have any chance at the top seed.

3AA
2 St. Thomas Academy
24 Eagan
20 Eastview
Rosemount
-After the top spot, Eagan, Eastview, and Rosemount all have pretty strong records. Eagan is in position for the 2-seed given their win over Eastview right now, and the Lightning beat the Irish; Eagan and Rosemount have yet to play. But, there are a lot more games within the section, so it’s pretty early to be concluding anything. Rosemount is on a nice little run and could climb into the ranking conversation if this keeps going.

4AA
4 White Bear Lake
17 Hill-Murray
21 Stillwater
-The Bears are in command here after beating Hill, though they still have their two with Stillwater to lock up the top seed. The lack of a Hill-Stillwater game means those two will likely be scrapping back and forth for the 2-seed, but if Hill keeps up its recent improvement, that may not be that big a question in the end. Tartan is also off to a good start and is the 4-seed at the moment.

5AA
8 Centennial
16 Maple Grove
18 Blaine
-Early results suggest Centennial is not on some other level from Maple Grove and Blaine, and once again, this section’s teams are looking like they’ll be on the outside looking in for State seeds. After this coming week’s Centennial-Maple Grove clash, the big three will all have played each other once, so we can start to say more decisive things about seeds. For now, they’re just in ranking order.

6AA
3 Edina
7 Cretin-Derham Hall
14 Wayzata
Benilde-St. Margaret’s
St. Louis Park
-This one gets messy after the Hornets. Cretin has the best record, but lost to Wayzata; Wayzata has a respectable body of work, but lost to Blake. For now I’m going in ranking order, but it’s not hard to see other rankings getting justified. It’s hard to separate St. Louis Park and Benilde after their tie, but they’ll have another crack at each other, and the Orioles get a chance to make a statement against Wayzata this week. For now I’m leaving Blake behind the pack since Wayzata is their only real good win, but that could change with time.

7AA
5 Duluth East
11 Duluth Marshall
12 Elk River
15 Cloquet
-East is settling in to the top spot here, with three rivals all packed into a tight chase group after them that will take some time to sort out. Andover will likely drop from its high QRF ranking following the Forest Lake loss, and I expect St. Francis to fall at some point, too; that could well leave Andover and Elk River looking at a quarterfinal date, given the Elks’ somewhat more challenging schedule. We’ll watch this one develop weekly what with the new seeding format.

8AA
9 Moorhead
13 Brainerd
19 St. Michael-Albertville
25 St. Cloud
-Spuds, then what? Brainerd is on a decent run right now, while STMA lurks and will have a crack at Moorhead shortly. Brainerd and the Spuds have their rematch next week, too. St. Cloud has climbed into position for a quarterfinal home game with a good start, but Roseau and perhaps Bemidji could yet disrupt that. As usual, there are a lot of games among these teams down the stretch.

Nice read KarlEast . Happy New Year too!

Where is Andover?

Record 8-2, losses only to East and FL (fluke?)

3 scorers over 20 points
Fritsinger is 89%, pretty good

WestMetro wrote:Where is Andover?

Record 8-2, losses only to East and FL (fluke?)

3 scorers over 20 points
Fritsinger is 89%, pretty good

Fluke losses stink. Cloquet has one of those losses loosing to Superior. They stink for sure (not Superior WI stinks.....but the loss) Cloquet at Andover on Thursday. Battle of the “fluke” loss for sure. I hope I can be their for this game. Coach Manny is awesome, and his team will be ready to chop down the Lumberjacks.

WestMetro wrote:Where is Andover?

Record 8-2, losses only to East and FL (fluke?)

3 scorers over 20 points
Fritsinger is 89%, pretty good

They have compiled this record against the 65th toughest schedule (based on PageStat) in the state. Let's not forget that this loss to East was a six-goal loss.

Lee

WBL may have a 8-0-2 record but I give HF the 5, WBL the 6 based on who HF has beaten vs WBL current Wins. WBL can make noise with a tie or miracle win at Edina this week

kniven wrote:Cloquet has one of those losses loosing to Superior. They stink for sure (not Superior WI stinks.....but the loss).

Actually, Superior itself does kind of stink My sister is a UMD alumnus, and every visit seemed to end up in a journey across the bridge to the dumpy Superior bars. Years ago the city had a stupid tourism billboard on I-35 that read, “Next to Duluth, We’re Superior,” which was pretty comical.

So Lee, you’re saying their first half schedule was a little weak ?

Oh Btw, they beat Blaine who just tied East

Westy, Andover at the current 7 seed Elk River on Tuesday. Pick em game.

Al CS

Yes , couple tough Section games this week for Andover .

In my mind, if they can beat Blaine they should be able to keep both close , or even split ?

I still wonder -should be somewhere in top 25/20?

Btw, is Huskie coach Menne related to Centennial Jack Menne?

What about Blake? Wins over Orono and Wayzata.

HappyHockeyFan wrote:What about Blake? Wins over Orono and Wayzata.

Maybe losses matter in these rankings. Losing to Minneapolis and Blake is not great.

I have the same top ten teams and order as Karl, except I swapped Duluth East and WBL. Since the Hounds have a top ten win in Centennial, and the Bears don't have a top ten win yet, that was the difference maker. Otherwise, I think the two teams are pretty comparable as their early season tie suggests.

http://www.minnpuck.com/2017/12/minn-pu ... 23117.html

Karl, bit surprised by East so far, not getting much secondary scoring in the games played. Is Randolph still line juggling to get the right mix?

Anybody know what is going on with Moorhead? Expected them to be dominate this season.

Plenty of season left to work out the kinks.

green4 wrote:

HappyHockeyFan wrote:What about Blake? Wins over Orono and Wayzata.

Maybe losses matter in these rankings. Losing to Minneapolis and Blake is not great.

So you mean Wayzata losing to Blake and Brainerd [and Hermantown] in their last 4 games should matter, right?

Blake is still a question mark for me in AA. I don’t think I’d have them in a top 15, but definitely in the next 10. 3 games this week and more good teams on their schedule; time will tell who they are.

HShockeywatcher wrote:

green4 wrote:

HappyHockeyFan wrote:What about Blake? Wins over Orono and Wayzata.

Maybe losses matter in these rankings. Losing to Minneapolis and Blake is not great.

So you mean Wayzata losing to Blake and Brainerd [and Hermantown] in their last 4 games should matter, right?

Blake is still a question mark for me in AA. I don’t think I’d have them in a top 15, but definitely in the next 10. 3 games this week and more good teams on their schedule; time will tell who they are.

Yeah, those losses that Wayzata has taken do mean something. That is why Karl has dropped Wayzata from 9 (12/17) to 14 (12/31) since those losses took place.
My comment was more of a slight on Happy's rankings where he does not believe in losses or something.
Direct quote "I'm not concerned about losses, anybody can have a bad game, I track wins, not everybody can beat good teams."

green4 wrote:

HShockeywatcher wrote:

green4 wrote: Maybe losses matter in these rankings. Losing to Minneapolis and Blake is not great.

So you mean Wayzata losing to Blake and Brainerd [and Hermantown] in their last 4 games should matter, right?

Blake is still a question mark for me in AA. I don’t think I’d have them in a top 15, but definitely in the next 10. 3 games this week and more good teams on their schedule; time will tell who they are.

Yeah, those losses that Wayzata has taken do mean something. That is why Karl has dropped Wayzata from 9 (12/17) to 14 (12/31) since those losses took place.
My comment was more of a slight on Happy's rankings where he does not believe in losses or something.
Direct quote "I'm not concerned about losses, anybody can have a bad game, I track wins, not everybody can beat good teams."

That's right!! And my solid rankings for this week will be out tomorrow.

green4 wrote:

HShockeywatcher wrote:

green4 wrote: Maybe losses matter in these rankings. Losing to Minneapolis and Blake is not great.

So you mean Wayzata losing to Blake and Brainerd [and Hermantown] in their last 4 games should matter, right?

Blake is still a question mark for me in AA. I don’t think I’d have them in a top 15, but definitely in the next 10. 3 games this week and more good teams on their schedule; time will tell who they are.

Yeah, those losses that Wayzata has taken do mean something. That is why Karl has dropped Wayzata from 9 (12/17) to 14 (12/31) since those losses took place.
My comment was more of a slight on Happy's rankings where he does not believe in losses or something.
Direct quote "I'm not concerned about losses, anybody can have a bad game, I track wins, not everybody can beat good teams."

Sure, that's fair. I'm not knowledgeable enough of the rankings you are referencing. I merely do think Blake is an interesting situation. I also would like to know more specifics about Minneapolis before I judge their wins/losses, since they have beaten Orono by 1 and Maht by 2 recently.
Blake lost to CDH by 3 on the road. EP, who is ranked 10 right now, lost to CDH by 3 at home. The one loss that raises eyebrows is the Bemidji shut out, which was on the road in their second game of the season.

TLDR; I think Blake should be mentioned. I doubt they'll win their section, but a 3 seed seems like a real possibility.

Some good comments, as always. Responses on a few of the teams:

Andover: they have the nice Blaine win, but that's their only quality win. They're certainly right there on the border of the top 25 and I wouldn't object to them slipping in, but I do think they clearly belong, either. And their coach's last name is Manney, not Menne, so no relation to the Centennial boss.

Blake: Another team in Andover's boat in that they could be mentioned (and were last week), but I don't think they clearly belong in the top 25. I'm not wildly impressed by their Orono win; Orono is 42nd in the PageStat, around the likes of Roseau and Bemidji, who I don't think anyone is trying to claim are top 25 teams. That leaves just the Wayzata win, which is good, but with two borderline/questionable losses (Bemidji is 45th in PageStat, Minneapolis 53rd), I don't think it adds up to something too impressive. We're at the point now where I want to see a second quality win out of teams.

Moorhead: Mostly I think that other teams have figured out that if you can stop their top line, they're beatable. A couple of the defensemen they lost to graduation may have hurt a little more than expected. And as solid as they were last season, it's worth remembering the teams that they beat on their way to the title game: a bunch of good-but-not-great 8AA teams, a Hill team that upset its way to the Tourney, and a Lakeville South team that upset STA in the quarters. It wasn't exactly murderers' row.

East: Oldtimer, the Hounds have been tough to read so far, even for someone who watches most of their games. There's been some continued line-juggling, though not a ton. The lower lines generate great zone time but the finishing has been lacking. The top line has moments where it looks untouchable, but a couple of its members seem to wander into and out of games a bit more than they should. Goaltending remains uncertain. I've never seen a team that's undefeated feel less undefeated than this one...at least they've done well mentally and haven't coughed any of these games up. Really curious to see what they do on Saturday at Pagel, which has been a house of horrors for East in the past.

Re: the Superior comments: http://www.quickmeme.com/meme/35zs2b

karl(east) wrote:Hill-Murray (4-4-4)

Blaine (3-3-3)

It struck me as funny to see two teams with equal numbers of wins, losses, and ties at this point of the season. Of course, these two have been all over the map with their performances, and it seems like there has been an inordinate number of ties among the top AA teams so far.

karl(east) wrote:East: Oldtimer, the Hounds have been tough to read so far, even for someone who watches most of their games. There's been some continued line-juggling, though not a ton. The lower lines generate great zone time but the finishing has been lacking. The top line has moments where it looks untouchable, but a couple of its members seem to wander into and out of games a bit more than they should. Goaltending remains uncertain. I've never seen a team that's undefeated feel less undefeated than this one...at least they've done well mentally and haven't coughed any of these games up. Really curious to see what they do on Saturday at Pagel, which has been a house of horrors for East in the past.

Tough to top that analysis. But I would add that the amount of time East appears loose and disorganized - mostly in their own end, but plenty of times all over the rink - ought to be of some concern. Even the WMD line has had issues with this. Plenty of time to work through it but with the amount of returning players East has, all familiar with the System, they should be more disciplined.

I also do not think if would be unreasonable to break up the WMD line here and there. Dropping Mageau to the second line and bumping up Lyle to work with Worth and Donovan, for example. A second line of Mageau, Baker/Anderson, Lanigan would rock.

Lastly, is Donovan just not a goal scorer? The kid is too skilled, too physically gifted and too much of a presence in the offensive end to not be more of a finisher. He's piling up the assists, but 2 goals (please correct if wrong ) in 9 games as the first line center seems way low.

karl(east) wrote: Re: the Superior comments: http://www.quickmeme.com/meme/35zs2b

That’s hilarious stuff, Karl. Thanks for giving me a good laugh!

karl(east) wrote: Moorhead: Mostly I think that other teams have figured out that if you can stop their top line, they're beatable. A couple of the defensemen they lost to graduation may have hurt a little more than expected. And as solid as they were last season, it's worth remembering the teams that they beat on their way to the title game: a bunch of good-but-not-great 8AA teams, a Hill team that upset its way to the Tourney, and a Lakeville South team that upset STA in the quarters. It wasn't exactly murderers' row.

Good observations on Moorhead. At the end of the regular season, they were sitting towards the bottom ten in the rankings before their run in the playoffs and state tournament. They only made the jump into the top ten because they were unbeaten in their last ten games of the regular season, so it wasn't like they were tearing it up as one of the elite teams all year.

[quote="karl(east)"


East: Oldtimer, the Hounds have been tough to read so far, even for someone who watches most of their games. There's been some continued line-juggling, though not a ton. The lower lines generate great zone time but the finishing has been lacking. The top line has moments where it looks untouchable, but a couple of its members seem to wander into and out of games a bit more than they should. Goaltending remains uncertain. I've never seen a team that's undefeated feel less undefeated than this one...at least they've done well mentally and haven't coughed any of these games up. Really curious to see what they do on Saturday at Pagel, which has been a house of horrors for East in the past.
[/quote]

No doubt that the 1 line at East can be dynamic as any in the state on any given night. It's the off nights that are puzzling to figure out. I have to pump the brakes when folks wish to compare them to Randolph, Toninato, Olson that is a pretty rare and special group to get at HS level as I am sure Rapids fans are also quickly figuring out with the loss of their point getting 1 line.

mnmouth wrote:

karl(east) wrote:East: Oldtimer, the Hounds have been tough to read so far, even for someone who watches most of their games. There's been some continued line-juggling, though not a ton. The lower lines generate great zone time but the finishing has been lacking. The top line has moments where it looks untouchable, but a couple of its members seem to wander into and out of games a bit more than they should. Goaltending remains uncertain. I've never seen a team that's undefeated feel less undefeated than this one...at least they've done well mentally and haven't coughed any of these games up. Really curious to see what they do on Saturday at Pagel, which has been a house of horrors for East in the past.

Tough to top that analysis. But I would add that the amount of time East appears loose and disorganized - mostly in their own end, but plenty of times all over the rink - ought to be of some concern. Even the WMD line has had issues with this. Plenty of time to work through it but with the amount of returning players East has, all familiar with the System, they should be more disciplined.

I also do not think if would be unreasonable to break up the WMD line here and there. Dropping Mageau to the second line and bumping up Lyle to work with Worth and Donovan, for example. A second line of Mageau, Baker/Anderson, Lanigan would rock.

Lastly, is Donovan just not a goal scorer? The kid is too skilled, too physically gifted and too much of a presence in the offensive end to not be more of a finisher. He's piling up the assists, but 2 goals (please correct if wrong ) in 9 games as the first line center seems way low.

I think that line combination suggestion is worth tinkering with.

Donovan did have a somewhat more normal goals-to-assists ratio last season, and had about even numbers of goals and assists in the Elite League. He certainly can score himself; it's just not happening a ton yet this season. There are times when I think he should go to the net more.

It does seem like there has been an inordinate number of ties this season, which is a little odd because it also seems like scoring is up some, which would not lead you to expect more ties. Those are just general senses, though. We'll see if they continue.

And yes, the Spuds weren't a clear top 5 regular season team last year, either. I had them at #10 heading into sections, and someone in every other section was ahead of them, so if not for a rash of upsets in sections, they probably wouldn't have been seeded at State last season, either. But, on the flip side, Minnetonka was even lower than them at the end of the regular season last year, and that hasn't hurt the Skippers...