High School Players/Teams Observations

[brookyone]

http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/sports/high_school/7914775.htm

The updated list of scoring leaders in the twin cities metro area. May be of interest to those who are fans of various WCHA teams as the list contains girls destined for MSU, UMD & the U of M...and one that I know of headed to Northeastern in HE. I have not done much research on Wisconsin recruits so don't know if any here are headed to UW although I've heard that Badger coaches have their eye's on a couple underclassmen listed.

I think there has been a general ackowledgement among WCHA fans this season that league competition / parity has increased significantly. I would speculate that with the recruits the U of M, MSU & UMD have for next season that competition will intensify even more. Again, don't mean to ignore Wisconsin but as I said, I'm not familiar with their recruits. Obviously they'll be a player in the WCHA.

binnyrus, don't know if you follow this thread, Rachael Drazen is having a nice season, should fit in well at UMD.

[ARM]

The Minnesota state tourney is underway; here is a link for the section schedules:

http://www.mshsl.org/mshsl/showsection.asp?actnum=460

Check out some games near you and see a future D-I player in action.

[binnyrus]

Thanks for the link ARM. I'm going to try to get to some of the games this year.

[brookyone]

Should be some great games in 2AA & 3AA. Go Ponies !!! 2AA looks like one tough section with teams you'd have to give at least a chance to beat SSP.

[ARM]

Binnyrus, C/E/C in your neck of the woods is worth watching. In addition to Palkie, Ellison will definitely play D-I in a couple of years. Maybe Maunu as well.

Plus if you are in the cities for UMD/UM in two weeks, you could check out some of the games at the state tourney on Friday or Saturday night.

[binnyrus]

Originally posted by ARM
Plus if you are in the cities for UMD/UM in two weeks, you could check out some of the games at the state tourney on Friday or Saturday night.

No "if" about it. . . . we got the $4 tickets because we have a group of 15+ !! Wouldn't miss it ARM, wouldn't miss it.

Good suggestion too . . . I'll see if I can talk a few of the others into attending some H.S. games as well . . . though I'm more of a nut for the sport than most of the others . . .

[brookyone]

http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/sports/high_school/7933838.htm

Woodbury wins the play in game in 2AA, to play SSP now. That's jumpin into the fire.

[brookyone]

http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/sports/high_school/7938852.htm

Link to the tournament schedule.

[brookyone]

http://www.mshsl.org/mshsl/showsection.asp?actnum=460

Looks like Roseville arena is the place to be in the metro this week as the tournament continues. A few excellent 2AA & 3AA matchups taking place on 2/17, 2/19 & 2/21 featuring teams like North St. Paul, Hastings, Stillwater & of course, South ST. Paul. Girls to watch, North St. Pauls Allie Thunstrom, Stillwaters Chelsey Jones, Hastings Erica McKenzie & South St. Pauls...well, pretty much the whole roster as well as Blaines Kristina Bunker.

[ARM]

I see that Cloquet is out already. Also, Orono, who was a #1 seed in the small school side of the tourney.

[brookyone]

Yep, some very surprising early exits indeed. Roseville, Cloquet & Orono as you mentioned. A nice matchup Thurs. in 4A with Benilde St. Margarets vs. St. Louis Park. SLP with Angie Keseley who finished the regular season with 95 Pts. May have been the top scorer this year...not sure. SLP also having the second highest scorer in that conference. Should get very interesting here on out in both A & AA

[brookyone]

http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/sports/high_school/7978069.htm

Was able to attend these two games last night. Some good hockey...some not so good, with my old high school getting completely waxed by NSP

Lot's of WCHA team people in attendance with MSU & St. Cloud staff scouting the games as well as Gopher coach H & company.

[ARM]

I have to hand it to that MSU staff, they sure put the time in recruiting/scouting. So who do you think people were looking at besides Jones and Thunstrom? Obviously, Mankato already has Bunker signed.

It hurts the Gophs a little bit that they will be leaving for Columbus on Thursday and miss the section finals.

[brookyone]

Hard to say. It was clear they were paying close attention to Thunstrom & Jones. Other than the three you mention the one I thought stood out was Blaine's Sammy Nixon, a speedy little forward...but she is quite small.

I had not seen Bunker before. She is a nice two way player. Really does a nice job coming back on defense & still manages to rack up the points offensively. First I've actually watched Thunstrom also...she's fast. It was clear North St. Paul knew who to focus on against Stillwater. They were on Jones like stink on s*** everytime she touched the puck. Have to say though, Jones has a wicked wrist shot right now (as a 10TH grader) that would put many current D 1 players to shame.

I'm going to head back on Thursday night to catch McKenzie in action. I've never seen her play either & of course, last chance if Hastings should lose.

[ARM]

Originally posted by brookyone
I'm going to head back on Thursday night to catch McKenzie in action. I've never seen her play either & of course, last chance if Hastings should lose.
Only as a prep. I'd like to see a Hasting/SSP final. I don't think the Packers would shadow McKenzie. I figure they are more likely to just play their own game and let Hastings worry about stopping their offense. That might offer a good chance to see what she can do against high level competition.

Agree on Nixon; she was Blaine's best player when I saw them.

[brookyone]

ARM, if I was betting I would be betting on a Hastings / SSP final. You're probably correct on the SSP strategy, I don't see any real need for them to worry about another teams first line all too much. It would be pretty tuff to beat SSP going up & down the ice in a shooting match I think. Maybe the Badgers could shut SSP down ? ;)

[ARM]

I think the Badgers can shut anybody down. They haven't given up more than two goals in any game since the new year. I think a Wisconsin/Harvard game would be fun to watch.

[brookyone]

http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/sports/high_school/7986916.htm

A wrap up of some of last nights tournament action.

[brookyone]

http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/sports/high_school/7996521.htm

Some semi final results from 2/19/04

[ARM]

brookyone, I left last night's game with 90 seconds to go, so I didn't see McKenzie's EN'er and can't confirm whether or not Sibley attempted to shadow her during the postgame handshake. I'm not sure if I'll head to Richfield to watch Eagan play tonight, or if I'll opt for the Gopher men on the tube instead.