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Boys State Hockey Pairings
CLASS 2A
Thursday
11 am: Prior Lake vs. 2 seed Cretin-Derham Hall
1 pm: Edina vs. 3 seed Maple Grove
6 pm: Lakeville South vs. 1 seed Hill-Murray
8 pm: 5 seed Andover vs. 4 seed Moorhead

Hill was hot to end the year. Guess the coaches bought into that.

I like it that (it appears) the soft schedule of Cre-tine was taken into account. A soft schedule down the stretch did not serve BSM well, I don't think it will serve Cre-tine well. A soft schedule did not serve Gentry well, though in fairness they may have been unsuccessful in attempting to play better AA teams.

I hate to say it but the other team playing well down the stretch is Edina, I am putting them in the final against HM. I know people will think I am crazy but they always play well down to the end.

Zamman wrote: ↑Sat Mar 05, 2022 10:14 am I hate to say it but the other team playing well down the stretch is Edina, I am putting them in the final against HM. I know people will think I am crazy but they always play well down to the end.

I'm with you. Edina is a scary team right now. They easily could have beat Hill twice this year, but instead split. I'm glad they are in the other half.

East Side Pioneer Guy wrote: ↑Sat Mar 05, 2022 10:11 am I like it that (it appears) the soft schedule of Cre-tine was taken into account. A soft schedule down the stretch did not serve BSM well, I don't think it will serve Cre-tine well. A soft schedule did not serve Gentry well, though in fairness they may have been unsuccessful in attempting to play better AA teams.

Yup, I'm sure schedules played a big role. In the last 10 regular season games, here's who Cretin and Hill played from Karl's final top 25 ranking and how they faired:

Hill
Beat #3 Moorhead
Beat #5 Maple Grove
Tied #6 Grand Rapids
Beat #7 Edina
Lost #7 Edina
Beat #13 Minnetonka
Beat #18 St Thomas Academy
Beat #21 Blake

Cretin
Beat #15 Eden Prairie

A few random thoughts :

Hottest goalies - Clarkowski and Belak?

MH vs Andover going to be heckofa game

Which PL team will show up? No reason they couldn’t stay in the game , EV put up 35 shots against the Raiders

Edina v Maple Grove is a fantastic quarterfinal matchup. Edina comes in as one of the hottest teams in the state, winning 8 straight including sections. Wins over Hill, Wayzata (twice), Benilde, and Minnetonka in that stretch.

But so does Maple Grove! Including sections they've won 12 of 13, including wins over Hermantown, Andover, Grand Rapids, STA, Centennial & Rogers. Their only loss in that stretch was to #1 seed Hill Murray.

It's difficult to recall every seeded v unseeded quarterfinal game over the years; they tend to blend together. But in recent memory it's hard to recall a better quarterfinal matchup. Two teams that could absolutely win the title. I'm sure fans of both teams are not thrilled with the draw.

WestMetro wrote: ↑Sat Mar 05, 2022 10:38 am A few random thoughts :

Hottest goalies - Clarkowski and Belak?

MH vs Andover going to be heckofa game

Which PL team will show up? No reason they couldn’t stay in the game , EV put up 35 shots against the Raiders

Coach Manney vs his alma mater Awesome 4 vs 5

Edina vs MG Tons of Talent from best two youth associations

Prior Lake vs CDH... Two fresh programs to start off AA I think the Lakers can win

HM vs South is a Yawner

But fn QF AA Day 1 should be a great Tourney in AA

My initial reaction:

A little surprised Hill ended up with the #1 spot over Cretin, mostly because Cretin was the #1 ranked team in the state for most of the year. As I mentioned earlier, SOS in the 2nd half of the year I'm sure played a big role. As did Hill's finish, with big wins against many of the state's best.

Maple Grove gets one of the harder unseeded draws I can recall. Should be a fantastic game.

Andover v Moorhead is a beauty of a game. Moorhead beat Andover 6-1 very early in the year; I'd be shocked if this game had a similar score. Andover had a mixed bag of results down the stretch but may have found their footing again in sections.

Prior Lake seems to have some swag right now. Curious to see how they do v Cretin. Upset, or at least very close game, wouldn't surprise me.

Yes, Hill and Edina have been surging, and Maple Grove had a nice finish too. MG got the toughest unseeded team, but given they are the 3 seed they can't complain at all. Clearly The Hornet would be the #6 seed.

And I'd almost call the Cre-tine/PL game a pick 'em. A lot will depend on how each team responds to playing under the bright lights in front of a full house. If one of them can jump out to a two goal lead and hold it for 17 minutes, that may be all it takes.

That Hill and The Hornet split not long ago makes for a nice back story. From what I've seen over the years, in section play, when two fairly equal teams split during the season, the team that won the first game prevails in the second. Not always, but that seems to be the most frequent occurrence. It'd be cool for a film crew to do a behind the scenes deal on a Lex vs. Giles match up.

who are the kids to watch that look levels above the other kids?

A little surprised to see HM get the #1 seed. Aside from strength of schedule playing a role, I believe common opponents played a role. Cretins 2 losses to STA and Hill’s 2 wins against STA may have been the deciding factor.

Excited as always for a great tourney.