SiouxScore

Yes, Mack Motzko a Freshman Bob's son. Some pretty questionable calls have gone against EGF in this one. EGF probably feels pretty good about being down 1 headed to the 3rd when Cathedral has had 6 PPs including 2 long 5-on-3s while EGF has had just 1 PP.

EGF has to settle in here and also play a little more disciplined. Tied 1-1 halfway through the 1st and probably lucky for it to be that with Cathedral having 3 PPs including a long 5-on-3 early.

Hermantown wins it early in OT. Hats off to Luverne much better game than I or probably anyone who follows Minnesota hockey expected.

WOW! Luverne ties it with 2:08 left.

Unseeded Northfield leading #3 Mahtomedi 2-1 early in the 3rd. Could be our 2nd upset in as many games in the A tournament.

Wow Monticello pulls off the upset over #2 Delano 3-2. If this is any indication for how the tournament is going to be this year we are in for a very exciting few days.

Monticello leading #2 Delano 3-1 after 2. Pretty good game so far Monticello has played really well.

They have for a few years now. Last year they ended up making it free after a day because the stream was so terrible the first day.

I'd still say Eden Prairie is the favorite but I wouldn't be surprised with about 4 different teams winning it. EP did have a difficult time getting to the tournament but they play in probably the best section in the state. The Holy Family team they beat in the final is very good and could replace 3 or 4 different teams if they played in a different section. I actually think Moorhead has a decent road to the final though Hill is very talented and played them to OT. I'm not real high on St. Thomas and wouldn't be surprised to see them get beat by Lakeville South. I really hope Rapids beats Maple Grove and EP beats Wayzata because that would be a very fun semifinal Friday night. If those 2 matched up you would have I believe 6 players currently committed to high level D1 teams in the game. GR-Hain(UND), Miller(SCSU), McLaughlin(MN) EP-Mittlestadt(MN), Jensen(MN), Leiverman(Notre Dame). Definitely agree about Class A. Hermantown the clear favorite on 1 side and Delano the favorite on the other and while Hermantown will and should be favored Delano played them pretty well and had them down around Christmas time in Duluth before falling 4-3. Best game for Class A should be the nightcap Wednesday night with EGF and St.Cloud Cathedral who tied early this season. Could see Northfield giving Mahtomedi all they could handle in the quarters as well.

Wasn't always great execution this weekend but the guys accomplished exactly what they needed to this weekend and that was win 2 games, now we need the same thing next weekend.

Janatuinen

The seeds were released this morning. Class A gets underway Wednesday while AA will get going on Thursday. Class A Wednesday 11:00 am #2 Delano vs Monticello/Annandale/Maple Lake 30 minutes after game 1 #3 Mahtomedi vs Northfield 6:00 pm #1 Hermantown vs Luverne 30 minutes after game 3 #4 East Grand Forks vs #5 St. Cloud Cathedral Class AA Thursday 11:00 am #2 St. Thomas Academy vs Lakeville South 30 minutes after game 1 #3 Moorhead vs Hill-Murray 6:00 pm #1 Eden Prairie vs Wayzata 30 minutes after game 3 #4 Maple Grove vs #5 Grand Rapids

Bowen

Grand Rapids beats Duluth East 3-2 in 2OTs. Hain had 1 assist in the win.

UND will have at least 1 commit playing in the Minnesota State tournament next weekend. Ethan Frisch and Moorhead earned their spot with a 6-0 win over Roseau last night. Gavin Hain and Grand Rapids will try to clinch their spot tonight against Duluth East.

They do have a commitment from the #1 player in the state although he just moved there from Florida this fall/winter Benjamin Sapp III from Eden Prairie.Their isn't a whole lot of B1G level talent in Minnesota in the class of 2018. There really is only about 4 or so others the Gophers are really looking at Brevyn Spann-Ford-TE-St.Cloud probably closest to a offer all others may have to impress this summer at camp to get one, Trey Lance-QB/ATH-Marshall, David Alston-DE-Woodbury, and Ronnie Audette-OL-Elk River. They did just have a bunch of guys in for 1 of their Junior days but it doesn't sound like any are real close to offers and they want to evaluate them live in camp first. They did invite Spann-Ford back down to visit sometime soon so I wouldn't be surprised to see him get a offer then. It could be a very good year for the FCS schools in Minnesota though because from talking with some people it seems like there are a number of guys that are very talented but just not quite at that B1G level.

Bowen and Yon have both been very good this year. I'd put both of them and Smith as well in the time he has got ahead of Hoff. Hoff hasn't been real great at all this year. I expected more from him on the offensive end but it really hasn't been there and he has a long way to go with the defensive side of the game.

Pathetic effort all the way around tonight. This team knew going into this weekend their season was really kind of on the line these last 4 games and they show zero sign of any urgency or desperation. Way too many times this year it hasn't been a lack of talent and skill it has been a lack of focus, energy, toughness, and just determination and those are things you just don't really teach. Show a little determination and desperation and win 4 games in a row and see where we are at. A lot of guys on this team need to start playing for the program and play with the type of effort and determination that those who have come before them have played with. No excuses find a way.

Tucker Poolman

Gavin Hain scored 3 3rd period goals to help #4 Grand Rapids come back from a 2-0 3rd period deficit and beat #1 Elk River 5-3. Rapids will face either #2 Duluth East or #3 Cloquet Thursday with a trip to the state tournament on the line.

Central would be one of the top contenders to win Minnesota class A this season but it would be a battle with Hermantown and Breck or Delano. AA if they were in 8AA I don't think they would get out of the section. I've watched both Central and Moorhead a few times each this year and think Moorhead would beat them but it would be kind of a coin flip game although basically everything in 8AA has been a coin flip aside from Moorhead in the 2nd half of the season. All quarterfinal games except for the Moorhead/Rogers game were 1 goal games including a OT and 2 OT game. Moorhead is the best team in 8AA and should get to state but strange things happen at playoff time. The past few years 8AA has been very good at the top but this year there is much more depth to the section and still a very good team at the top. Moorhead can compete if they get to state too. Their top line is very good and does the majority of the scoring they also have a solid goalie and a very good defensive group. Moorhead is also a pretty young team and has some very talented kids coming up so they might be a team that is really a year away from being a state championship contender if all of their talent stays in Moorhead. They have played some good AA schools and had success beating the #2 team in the state Holy Family 6-1, Minnetonka 9-5, Grand Rapids 4-0, and Hill Murray 4-3. I just hope Roseau can win at Albertville today and Moorhead beats Brainerd today to set up another great battle at The Little Ralph in Thief River Wednesday. Roseau would maybe be the favorite in this section this year if Ben Helgeson who is committed to Wisconsin I believe stayed in Roseau instead of transferring to Hill Murray. You are completely right about 8A being real down this year. I don't know if the section has ever lost a 1st round game in the state tournament but this year that may be in jeopardy. EGF has the most talent but is a pretty inconsistent team and nobody in the section really has a player or goalie that can take over the game which has been pretty common the last few seasons. If the top seeds win each of the sections it looks like EGF would be in the 4/5 game likely facing St.Cloud Cathedral who they tied earlier this season.

Jost

Saw that last night and knew EGF would dominate but I don't think I've ever seen a team not at least get a shot or 2 on net. I'm sure the Bagley team and fans were still just pretty happy to be there. I played in 8A and have continued to follow it at least somewhat and I don't think Bagley had ever even made it to the quarterfinals before this season.

Definitely seems like there are some towns in that area who have put a lot of effort and are investing into improving the quality but there are still some that are pretty down and that kind of still holds back the teams that have been better and trying to take the next step. They don't get as much competition as they need and would probably like to keep improving the quality at the pace they want to. The other part is it just takes some time like you said hockey just isn't as big of focus in that area as it is in other parts of the state it has certainly grown and having players like the Gopher commit Jaxon Nelson of Luverne will help increase youth participation and build more excitement about hockey in SW Minnesota because young kids will want to be the next Nelson.

There really is no comparison between high school hockey in Minnesota and North Dakota. Minnesota has so much more depth and so many more elite programs that a lot of the top AA programs play a schedule where you don't get a night off. While North Dakota has what like 18 teams total and some of them really struggle. When you look for elite programs in North Dakota really only 2 come to mind Central and Red River. Both states have some bad teams, in Minnesota you have some that really struggle especially in the southwest part of the state. Looking at a couple teams that weren't great in either state Breckenridge/Wahpenton was the #9 seed in section 6A and played Bottineau earlier this year and beat them 5-2. They also played Wadena who they lost to 6-1 and Wadena was the #7 seed in section 6A. Worthington who was 2-20 this year and plays in a weak section and is usually one of the worst teams in the state also played Breckenridge/Wahpenton and lost 5-2. Looking at a couple ND state tournament teams Devils Lake beat the #6 seed in a weaker than usual section 8A Lake of the Woods 2-1 this year and Minot also played Lake of the Woods in that same Christmas tournament and tied them 2-2. Both Devils Lake and Minot also faced Roseau in that tournament who is the #3 seed in 8AA this year and they each lost 6-2.