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H.S. Hockey | Some notes (and changes to Kiwanis Festival lineup)

Posted by: Feldman

Whew. That was a fun Stanley Cup Final, eh? Too bad the last game had to be the least enjoyable of all, but congrats to L.A., what a run for the Kings as a No. 8 seed. And I'm sure glad I picked them to win; it's in print and everything (but don't go back and look at my prediction, just take my word for it. Please.)

On to some local hockey stuff.

* A reminder: The Minnesota Wild Road Tour will stop in Rochester on June 25. Players Matt Kassian and Charlie Coyle will be here, as well as former player Antti Laaksonen and TV color analyst Mike Greenlay will be here. They'll stop at the Wells Fargo on 55th St. NW from 4:15-5:15 p.m. More info. on the Road Tour can be found here.

* The annual Don Lucia Model Camp began on Monday, with 108 players from around the state (and some from bordering states) divided into six teams of 18 players. Players from our area/Section 1 who are competing this year: Jared Bromberg, F, Rochester John Marshall (will be a junior this fall); Soren Colstrup, F, Owatonna (junior); Luke LIjewski, F, New Prague (junior); Ryan Jutting, F, Mankato West (senior); Andrew Scofield, F, Northfield (senior); Ryan Drazan, D, New Prague (junior); Austin Kilian, F, New Prague (junior); and Colton Schmidt, F, New Prague (junior).

For more information on the camp, including full rosters for each team, click here.

* First off, congrats to former Lakeville North goalie Charlie Lindgren, who has committed to play at St. Cloud State. The Huskies and coach Bob Motzko, an Austin native, are getting a steal. Lindgren was a pain in the side for Section 1AA teams for four years; I'm certain the Rochester teams were happy to see him graduate.

Lindgren's rise to a D-I scholarship reminds me of the path former Rochester Century standout Alex Kangas took. All of us in this part of the state realized how special Lindgren was from the time he stepped in the goal as a freshman. Two years ago, we watched him nearly single-handedly lift his team past Lakeville South in the section final, then nearly single-handedly win two consy games at the state tournament. I can't wait to see how he does in St. Cloud and the new National Collegiate Hockey Conference, which begins play in the 2013-14 season.

* This is pretty cool: The Ottawa Citizen newspaper recently reviewed the book "Scarlet Ice," written by Roger Dier. It's the story of the 1995 Mankato West hockey team, the issues it had on and off the ice, and more importantly, the story of its sparkplug player, John Janavaras. Just 15, Janavaras was a workhorse. He also died that year after a outbreak of bacterial meningitis swept through the school. Read the review, then check out the book. The writing is quite good in spots, not so good in others, but Dier has put a tremendous story in print.

* For college puck fans, I talked with Minnesota State, Mankato, beat writer Shane Frederick (follow him on Twitter @Puckato -- great follow) last week at the state softball tournament. I asked him how things were going so far with new Mavs head coach Mike Hastings officially on the job. He said it sounds like MSU has seen a spike in season ticket sales; the real test might be to watch the sales of single-game tickets. We know MSU can sell tickets when the Gophers, Wisconsin and North Dakota come to town. How will Hastings' presence impact the sales for games against teams like Michigan Tech or Anchorage, though? I suppose it all comes down to winning.

Frederick also said he expects that MSU assistant coaches Darren Blue and Todd Knott will be retained, at least through this season, if not longer. It would be tough for Hastings to start searching for assistant(s) now, anyway, with a short time before players report to campus. Plus, St. Cloud State is already on the hunt for a top assistant, after Steve Johnson left to join head coach Dean Blais in Omaha.

* KIWANIS FESTIVAL NEWS

I fully admit I'm a dork, and I spend time in the middle of June digging through high school hockey schedules five months in advance of the season beginning. But as I did, I noticed a handful of teams who have been regulars at the Rochester Kiwanis Festival do not have the tourney listed on their schedules for this December.

I don't have the AA field (though I'll take a guess at most of it) yet, but I do have a tentative list of teams for the Class A field. I'll post what I know (and what I think I know) and let you formulate your opinions:

CLASS AA: Rochester Century, Rochester John Marshall, Rochester Mayo and Eau Claire Memorial all have the Festival listed on their schedules. I don't know this for certain, but I'm assuming long-time Festival attendees New Richmond (Wis.) and Fargo (N.D.) South will return. Those teams are a part of the Festival; it wouldn't be the same without them here. Eastview does not have its non-conference schedule posted as of yet, so there's a good chance the Lightning could return.

The eighth team in the AA field could be Richfield. The Spartans at one point had "Rochester tournament" listed on their schedule, but it noted "vs. Rochester Century" ... that has been removed from their schedule as of now. They only have 22 games listed -- three short of the 25 allowed by MSHSL rules -- so perhaps they're seeking a different tourney, or are waiting to confirm a spot in the Kiwanis? 

Prior Lake -- a team I was really hoping would return this year -- is out. The Lakers have the Schwan's Cup Silver Division listed on their schedule.

CLASS A: Here's the way the Class A field shakes out, tentatively, I'm told. Looks like long-time tourney participant Albert Lea is out, as are St. Michael-Albertville and Northfield, both of which were in it last year. Albert Lea is scheduled to play in Simley's tournament, in Inver Grove Heights.

The Kiwanis Class A tournament appears to include the following: Lourdes (defending champ), Dodge County, New Ulm (2010 champ), Ashwaubenon (Wis.), Verona (Wis.), WSFLG (Wis.), Northland Pines (Wis.) and Kansas City.

That would mean half the field has turned over. Lourdes (defending champ), Ashwaubenon (4th place last year), New Ulm (6th) and Dodge County (8th) are back; the other four teams are new.

Verona could be a nice addition; it went 22-1 in the regular season last year and qualified for the state tournament, where it lost in the semifinals to eventual state champion Notre Dame Academy.

That's all I know for now; I'll pass on more about the tournament as I find out.

H.S. Hockey | All-Big Nine Team announced

Posted by: Feldman

The All-Big Nine Conference boys hockey team was released on Thursday. As you'd expect, the conference champion Century Panthers led the way with six players on the team, plus four honorable mention. Big 9 runner-up Mayo has five players on the team, plus four honorable mention; JM has two players on the team and six honorable mention. 

Here's the complete list, which you can also find by going to the Big 9 website and clicking the link that says "2011-12 Big 9 Boys Hockey All-Conference."

BIG 9 ALL-CONFERENCE

Century: F Nick Jacobs, Sr.; D, Brandon Kautz, Sr.; G, Erik Wennberg, Sr.; F, Dalton Travis, Jr.; F, Hayden Ashworth, So.; D, Riese Zmolek, Fr.
Mayo: D Steve Serratore, Sr.; G Case Hansen, Jr.; F Adam Alcott, Jr.; F, Ryan Martin, Jr.; F, Max Whitney, Jr.
John Marshall: F, Gavin Sandwick, Jr.; D, Alec McGinn, Jr.
Owatonna: F, Justin Brown; F, Soren Colstrup; F, Matt Ratzloff.
Mankato West: F, Tyler Resnar; G, Zach Fox.
Albert Lea: F, Levi Hacker; D, Auston Larson.
Winona: D, Luke Hemker.
Austin: F, Ethan Larson.
Mankato East: G, Lucas Weihe.
Faribault: None.

HONORABLE MENTION
Century: D, Matt Sturchio; F, Blake Heroff; F, Tyler Iverson; F, Isaac St. Marie.
Mayo: D, Jack Dingle; D, Tommy Fjelsted; D, Will Holtan; F, Nolan Edwards.
JM: G, Jacob Garvey; D, Matt Broman; D, Ryan Lakin; F,  Alex Lovett; F, Hunter Heightland; F, Kyle Andrews.
Owatonna: G, Luke Ebeling; Aaron Kirsch; Robert Dietz; Tyler Yentsch; Alex Whited.
Mankato West: D, Billy Bingham; Josh Christenson.
Albert Lea: None.
Winona: F, Cameron Kelly; F, Ryan Grant.
Austin: F, Marcus Stoulil.
Mankato East: None.
Faribault: G, Cody Morsching.

Boys Hockey | Looking at Section 1AA

Posted by: Feldman

The boys hockey regular season comes to a close on Saturday and it doesn't look like much can happen in Saturday's games to alter the way teams will be seeded in next week's Section 1A and 1AA tournaments.

Section 1AA appears pretty clear cut, aside from the Nos. 5 and 6 seeds.

Before my long-winded theory on those two seeds, here's how the section should shake out (explanations shouldn't be necessary, aside from the 5-6 seeds): 1. Lakeville South, 2. Lakeville North, 3. Rochester Century, 4. Rochester Mayo, 5. Rochester John Marshall, 6. Owatonna, 7. Farmington, 8. Winona, 9. Dodge County.

The actual seeds will be determined Sunday afternoon. JM should be the No. 5 seed and Owatonna should be No. 6. For the past few weeks, it looked like it should fall the other way around, but a few games in the past week have changed things.

First, JM went to Owatonna last Saturday and shut out the Huskies, 2-0. That gave the teams a split of the season series, with Owatonna having beaten JM, 2-1 in OT, when the teams played in Rochester on Jan. 10.

Second and third, JM beat Austin on Thursday night, while Owatonna lost to Mankato West.

In my mind, those results sealed JM as the 5 seed for a couple of reasons. One, JM will now finish above the Huskies in the Big Nine Conference standings by at least one point. Two, JM is playing better hockey right now, having won four in a row, and the teams' records are nearly identical (JM is 12-5-0 in the Big Nine, 13-10-2 overall; Owatonna is 10-5-1, 13-8-3).

JM is done with its regular season, while Owatonna plays  host to Austin on Saturday, an almost certain victory.

Of course, coaches are human and emotion often plays a part in the seeding process when it really doesn't need to. We saw that a couple years ago in Section 1A when Faribault coach Brad Ryan seeded Rochester Lourdes No. 4, when all reasonable logic said the Eagles should have been no worse than No. 2 on every ballot. (In the end, Faribault got the top seed, but was knocked off by Red Wing in the section semifinals).

And though JM's record is just slightly worse than Owatonna's, that shouldn't really be a factor. Last season, Mayo was awarded the No. 3 seed ahead of JM, despite JM having beaten Mayo two out of three times in the regular season and having three more wins than the Spartans. Mayo had defeated JM in their final regular season meeting and, in all fairness, the Spartans were playing better than any team in the Big Nine when the regular season ended.

The seedings didn't work out for either team. Mayo lost to No. 6 seed Century in the quarterfinals, while JM lost at home to No. 5 Farmington.

The twist if JM gets the No. 5 seed ahead of Owatonna: it sets up a fourth meeting of the season between Mayo and JM. Mayo won two of the previous three. A fourth meeting would be a tossup. There's not much, at this point, these two teams don't know about each other. I could be wrong, but I bet both teams would be OK with not playing a fourth game against its oldest rival this year. The fans may want it, the players and coaches may get jacked up for it, but it also probably would cause coaches on both sides some restless nights next week.

From an unbiased perspective, I'd love to see JM and Mayo play again. There's nothing much better than rivals facing off with their seasons on the line. Of course, we will have an intra-city showdown if JM ends up as the 6 seed, too. The Rockets would stay on their home ice and face No. 3 Century in Thursday's quarterfinals.

Thursday can't get here soon enough!

High School Hockey | Breaking down the Big 9 race

Posted by: Feldman

While the boys hockey regular season is two-thirds complete, most Big Nine Conference teams are only halfway through their conference schedules. Still, to me, it's not too early to break down the race for the conference crown.

I know, teams are ultimately judged on what they do once the Section 1 tournament starts, but let's not discount the significance of the bragging rights, the banner and the great memories that come with winning a conference championship.

Austin and Mankato East are officially eliminated from winning the conference; Winona and Faribault are on the verge of elimination.

Mayo, Owatonna, Century, John Marshall and Albert Lea all still have realistic hopes of winning the Big Nine; Mankato West can still be considered a contender, too, though they'll need a little more help than others to win the conference.

So, here's where the contenders for the Big Nine title stand with about three weeks to go in the regular season:

ROCHESTER MAYO
Currently: 8-1-0 Big Nine, first place, 18 points
Conference loss: John Marshall 
Points remaining to play for: 16
Total possible points: 34
Notes: Mayo has the best-case scenario on its side. The Spartans get to use the cliche, they "control their own destiny." Indeed, if they win out, they win the Big Nine. They're the only one-loss team left, though they still have games left against four of the other five teams with hopes of winning the conference. The Spartans have avenged their only conference loss twice, beating JM at the Kiwanis Festival and again last Saturday.

OWATONNA
Currently: 7-3-1, second place, 17 points
Conference losses: Albert Lea, Century, Mayo.
Conference tie: Century
Points remaining to play for: 12
Total possible points: 29
Notes: The Huskies hold one-goal wins against JM and Mankato West, a tie and a one-goal loss against Century, and a one-goal loss against Mayo. In other words, they're a couple of bounces away from leading the conference right now. ... If the Huskies are going to capture the Big Nine crown, they'll have to be road warriors. They have road games remaining against Albert Lea, Mayo and Mankato West.

JOHN MARSHALL
Currently: 7-4-0, T-3rd place, 16 points
Conference losses: West, Century, Owatonna, Mayo
Points remaining to play for: 12
Total possible points: 28
Notes: JM holds victories against two of the Big Nine teams it lost to -- Mayo and Century. The Rockets can avenge their other two conference losses, with games against West (Thursday) and at Owatonna (Feb. 11) still to come. ... JM plays four of its final six conference games on the road.

ALBERT LEA
Currently: 7-3-0, T-3rd place, 16 points
Conference losses: Mayo, Century, JM
Points remaining to play for: 14
Total possible points: 30
Notes: The Tigers will have to find some consistency if they hope to challenge for the conference title into the final week. They had a five-game winning streak early in the season (Dec. 6-Dec. 20), but have not won two games in a row since then. 

CENTURY
Currently: 7-2-1, 5th place, 15 points
Conference losses: JM, Mayo
Conference tie: Owatonna
Points remaining to play for: 16
Total possible points: 31
Notes: Along with Mayo, Century has the most remaining points to play for. The Panthers have been battling some injury issues, particularly on defense, but it appears as though they may be getting healthy in time for the stretch run and the postseason. They also have two four-point games remaining -- at Austin and at Mankato East. Four of Century's six remaining conference games are on the road.

MANKATO WEST
Currently: 6-5-0, 6th place, 12 points
Conference losses: Albert Lea, Mayo, Century (x2), Owatonna.
Points remaining: 14
Total possible points: 26
Notes: The Scarlets need to win out and get a lot of help; they need Mayo to lose at least three more times, and need the other teams in front of them to lose at least once. West has games remaining against JM, Albert Lea, Mayo and Owatonna. Five of the Scarlets' final eight games are at home, including their last three.

High School Hockey | Thursday Night Playback (Century-JM; 'brawl' in Winona)

Posted by: Feldman

It's been nearly a month since Rochester Century lost a boys hockey game. The Panthers can thank their defense for playing a huge part in their 6-0-1 streak since losing to Rochester John Marshall on Dec. 13.

The Panthers avenged that loss on Thursday night, beating JM 4-1 in a game that wasn't very pretty at times. Some of that "ugliness" was due to the emphasis both teams have placed on playing good defense first.

Here's the game story from today's P-B.

Some other thoughts from Thursday's game:

* Century and JM each had just eight shots through two periods. Century was limited by JM's defense in the neutral zone. The Panthers had no time or space between the blue lines to move the puck in the opening two periods. JM was able to get the puck into Century's end, and maintain possession in stretches, but the Rockets couldn't generate scoring chances. I didn't keep track, but I'd guess Century players blocked 10 or more shots through two periods.

* Both goalies -- JM's Jacob Garvey and Century's Erik Wennberg -- played well for a majority of the game, though both allowed a goal in the third period that they'd like to have back. Even so, it was good to see Garvey back in goal after missing the entire Kiwanis Festival last week with an injury. And Wennberg was again praised by coach Josh Klingfus for preserving the Panthers' 1-0 lead through two periods. 

* Wennberg's shutout streak was snapped at 171:24 -- more than 10 periods of playing time -- when Alec McGinn scored at 6:34 of the third period to pull JM within 3-1. The goal was the first allowed by Wennberg since the second period of a Kiwanis Festival semifinal game against Fargo South on Dec. 29.

* After two periods, Century held a 1-0 lead. If that score had held up as the final score, Wennberg would have had three consecutive shutouts in which Century had scored a total of two goals. Of course, that became moot when the teams combined for four goals in the final 12 minutes of the game.

* Century pulled into a three-way tie for first place in the Big Nine with Albert Lea and Mayo. JM is in fourth, two points behind those three teams.

* * *

'BRAWL' IN WINONA

It's clear that the paralyzing injury suffered by Benilde-St. Maragaret's hockey player Jack Jablonski last week has opened eyes throughout the hockey community in Minnesota and around the country. Jablonski was checked from behind into the boards head-first by two players during a JV game. He underwent surgery on Wednesday, after which doctors said it's "very unlikely" he'll ever have the use of his hands and won't be able to walk or skate again.

(Here's a link to the CaringBridge page set up for Jablonski. And if you would like to see more tributes, links to articles, etc., go to Twitter and search "#Jabs")

The hit that injured Jablonski is obviously on the minds of players throughout the state. Last night, in the Owatonna at Winona game, a similar hit sparked a fight that caused 10 players to be tossed from the game.

Owatonna's Matt Ritter checked Winona's Ryan Grant into the boards from behind during the second period. Grant got up and went after Ritter, tackling him to the ice. At that point, all 10 players on the ice skated over to where Ritter and Grant were scrapping and began a fight that lasted a couple of minutes, according to a report on mnhockeyhub.com. 

"Being hit in the back [just as Jablonski was] caused that reaction by Ryan," Winona coach Fran McDevitt told mnhockeyhub.com. "He's too good a kid to react that way."

Grant was not injured by the check and none of the players who were thrown out were injured.

Again, this raises the question: How do we prevent these types of hits?

I wrote in Thursday's P-B that maybe a two- or three-game suspension is warranted for players who are called for checking from behind. I've had three people since then respond the same way: You can't do that because kids will be scared to check, and it will take checking out of the game.

Nobody wants that, but if the punishment for a check from behind isn't more severe, how do kids learn how big of a problem it can cause? Coaches can tell kids over and over and over about the dangers of hitting from behind, but most coaches I know have always done that, so what will it take for those words to actually sink in with players?

The bottom line is that it's a player's responsibility to know the difference between a clean hit and one that is against the rules. If it means a player might have to sit out a couple of games as a consequence, and if it means players become a little less physical (or they have to think before delivering a check), isn't that better than having one more kid suffer an injury like Jablonski's? 

I've also read in more than one place that now isn't the time to talk about ways to change the game or eliminate the bad hits. I'd say it's the perfect time to talk about those things.

I get it. Hockey, just as football, is an extremely physical sport, often with violent collisions. Maybe there are better ways to curb the illegal hits than by suspending offending players for two or three games. But, in time, Jablonski's story will fade from the front of everyone's minds. That's why now is the ideal time to get everyone's ideas out there about how to make the sport safer. 

High School Hockey | Thursday Night Playback

Posted by: Feldman

Thursday night treated Rochester high school hockey teams much better than Tuesday. Mayo, Century and JM went a combined 0-2-1 on Tuesday night. Thursday, Lourdes, JM and Century combined to go 3-0-0. They won by a combined 18 goals and a combined score of 21-3.

Here are links to the stories (click on the scores to take you to the P-B stories):

Lourdes 8, Red Wing 0: The No. 5-ranked Eagles were fast out of the gate and never let the Wingers have much hope. Lourdes led 4-0 after one. Red Wing put a bit of a flurry together in the first six minutes of the second, but Lourdes popped in a couple quick goals after that, and it was over at that point. Lourdes just had too much speed for the Wingers, up and down the lineup. As Wingers coach Mike Belisle said, "Speed kills."

It was a very good performance by Lourdes, a great way to start the season. The good news for the coaching staff is that there are still things to work on. The Eagles were 1-for-5 on the power play and struggled early to keep the puck in the zone with a man advantage. Red Wing also missed a couple of chances that faster teams might capitalize on.

But that's being nitpicky after an 8-0 win. One thing that I can't remember if I put in my game story was a comment about the play of junior forward Ben Weir. He played a very strong, aggressive game in both ends. He was more physical than I remember him being a year ago. That line -- with Ryan Nicolay centering Weir and Connor Nellans -- was really good throughout the night. I believe it ended up with only two points (a goal and an assist from Nicolay), but they did a great job of keeping the Wingers top line neutralized.

---

JM 7, Bloomington Kennedy 1: Five Rockets had three points each as they earned their first win of the season, and the first under new head coach Jay Ness. 

Ness had good things to say about JM's lineup, up and down, from starting goalie Jimmy Casazza earning his first win of the year, to the strong play of the entire defensive group (limiting Kennedy to 19 shots).

As far as the offensive outburst, Ness was very pleased with the Rockets' balance. Yes, five guys had three points (Alex McGinn, Nick Paulson, Hunter Heightland, Alex Lovett and Jared Bromberg), but a total of eight players got on the scoresheet.

JM plays host to St. Paul Johnson on Saturday and I'm just guessing here, but I'd imagine we'll see junior Jacob Garvey back in goal for the Rockets. Again, just guessing, but I'd suspect Garvey and Casazza will rotate until one of them really siezes the job. If they both continue to perform at a high level, that's a bonus for the Rockets. One of the things Ness told me prior to the season was, a team cannot get through a season with just one goalie. It looks like the Rockets might have two to choose from. 

---

Century 6, Farmington 2: Like JM, Century earned its first victory of the season and the first under new head coach Josh Klingfus. 

The Panthers veterans really stepped up tonight and produced. Nick Jacobs, a senior co-captain, had four points. Brandon Kautz, another senior co-captain, had three assists. For a second consecutive game, forwards Isaac St. Marie and Dalton Travis had two goals each. Sophomore Hayden Ashworth netted his first varsity goal, and freshman Jake Roth had an assist (as did junior D Matt Sturchio).

Century peppered the Tigers net, outshooting Farmington 43-21. 

It was a nice bounce-back win for Century, after facing two very good opponents (No. 16 White Bear Lake and defending section champ Lakeville North) to start the season.

Century now has a week to prepare for its Big Nine Conference opener, next Thursday against Faribault at the Rec Center.

---

AROUND THE AREA: Either Mankato East has improved defensively, or Mankato West really did lose a majority of its talent from a year ago. West beat East by a score of just 4-0 on Thursday. ... In a matchup of Section 1A teams, Northfield proved it's a team to watch. The Trojans went to Albert Lea City Arena -- not an easy place to play -- and thumped the Tigers, 7-2. Tyler Grave had a hat trick for Northfield. ... Skyler Grossell and Ryan Grant each had two goals and an assist for Winona in a 5-0 win against La Crosse Logan. Winona will take a 2-0-0 record into its Big Nine Conference opener against Mankato West on Saturday.

High School Hockey Today | Nov. 26, 2011

FELDY: Here we go!

It's been more than nine months since Kyle Rau made an unbelievable "hustle" play to tap a puck into an open net in the third overtime of a classic Class AA state championship game. Rau is now a Gopher, tearing up the WCHA as a rookie forward, and Duluth East -- the team that lost to Rau's Eden Prairie club in the state final -- is the No. 1 ranked team in Class AA to start the season.

A good number of games were played around the state on Friday, including one Big Nine team playing. Owatonna lost to Delano, 5-0.

The season gets going in Rochester tonight, as Century head coach Josh Klingfus makes his debut when the Panthers play host to No. 18-ranked White Bear Lake at 7:30 p.m. at the Rec Center. So, here you go, the first edition of the season of High School Hockey Today:

GAMES IN ROCHESTER

No. 18 WHITE BEAR LAKE at CENTURY
When: 7:30 p.m. tonight
Where: Rec Center
Records: WBL 0-0 (22-7-2), Century 0-0 (11-16-0 in 2010-11)
Coaches: WBL, Tim Sager; Century, Josh Klingfus.
About the Bears: WBL made it to the Class AA state tournament last season, where it placed sixth. It played a total of seven overtimes in its three tournament games, yet finished 1-2 in the tournament. WBL lost to eventual state runner-up Duluth East, 4-3 in double OT, in the state quarterfinals; then defeated Blaine, 4-3, in double OT in the consolation semifinals, before falling to Section 1AA champion Lakeville North, 4-3, in triple OT in the fifth-place game.
WBL players to watch: The Bears lost their top three scorers -- the clear-cut top three on their team -- to graduation: Brandon Wahlin (34-31--65), Mac Jansen (38-17--55) and Max Birkinbine (19-23--42). That's a total of 162 points. Senior F Mitch Morrisette (7-12--19) is the top returning scorer for WBL. The strength of the Bears will be from their blue line back, with four top defensemen returning (seniors RJ Majkozak and Jack Morrisette, and juniors Lance Carney and Thomas Delaney) and a third-year goalie, senior Jared Schletty. Schletty is built more like a defensive lineman (he's listed at 6-1, 247), but he put up very good numbers last year (17-4-2, 2.31 GAA, .907 save pct.) and Century will have to figure out a way to solve him. He had three shutouts last season, including one against Century in the season opener at WBL.
Century player to watch: I'm more interested in seeing how Century performs as a team, what looks different about it with a new head coach in charge. As for a particular player, I'll probably spy No. 4 quite a bit. Junior F Dalton Travis will anchor the team's second line after putting up 10 points (3-7--10) as a sophomore. He'll be joined by senior Isaac St. Marie and freshman Jake Roth. Coach Klingfus called Travis the most consistent forward on the team throughout last week's scrimmage fest at Graham Arena. Klingfus said Travis did a very good job of adapting to what the opponents were doing and what Century's coaches were asking him to do.
Useless trivia: White Bear Lake is the only boys hockey team in the state with the words "White" or "Bear" in its name (excluding nicknames, of course). (Yeah, I know you don't care, that's why I called it "useless" trivia).

AROUND THE STATE
SATURDAY'S GAMES OF INTEREST
* No. 2 Breck at No. 14 Duluth Marshall, 4 p.m.

High school football picks | Section semifinals

FELDY: I'm cleaning off a spot on my shelf for our traveling football picks trophy, the P-B Cup (which, really, is just an old coffee mug that former P-B sports writer Steve Webb left behind in the desk I inherited).

Anyhow, I'm 47-16; Phersy is 41-22. He's going to have to make some bold moves this week and next. Unfortunately for me, we're getting to the point that all of these games could really go either way.

As Phersy would say, #letsgetiton ... Is that what he says? Doesn't matter, I guess.

I'm going to select the games and pick first, as Phersy is avoiding his computer right now. Hopefully he gets his picks in by game time.

I'm also including the seed of each team:

SECTION 1AAAAA
No. 2 Owatonna 27, No. 3 JM 21: Huskies rebounded well last week after that tough, last-minute loss to Mayo in the regular season finale. One thing about this JM, team, though, it seems like they're able to get themselves mentally prepared and are intense for every game. And, after watching tape of the Mayo-Owatonna game, the Rockets know the Huskies are beatable.

SECTION 1AAAA
No. 3 Northfield 14, No. 2 Red Wing 12: These teams were separated by just one score when they met in the regular season. The Raiders flip the tables on the Wingers this time.

SECTION 1AAA
No. 1 Lourdes 26, No. 5 Stewartville 19: Stewy handed Lourdes its only loss this season. The Eagles have probably thought about it every day since. It wouldn't surprise me if the Tigers win again, but I'll give Lourdes the home-field advantage.

No. 2 P-E-M 37, No. 3 Kasson-Mantorville 31 (OT): This could be the game of the night in the area and possibly the state. It's the best matchup in arguably the best section in the state. I'll take the 'Dogs D to make a stand in OT, then their offense gets the winning points.

SECTION 1AA
No. 2 Chatfield 17, No. 3 Zumbrota-Mazeppa 14: I'll go with the 3-point home-field advantage for coach Jeff Johnson and the Gophers. Hopefully coach Johnson (he's also the Gophs' softball coach) doesn't flash ahead and think this is a Chatty-ZM softball showdown. Might be trouble if he calls for the fastball on EVERY play.

SECTION 1A
No. 3 Southland 16, No. 2 Fillmore Central 9: The Falcons beat Southland, 7-0, in their regular season matchup. This is a tough one to call because it's another one of those sections where I could see any of the four remaining teams winning the championship. (Blooming Prairie and Goodhue meet in the other Section 1A semifinal).

SECTION 1 9-MAN
No. 2 Grand Meadow 24, No. 3 Mabel-Canton 16: M-C beat Grand Meadow during the regular season by one score. I'll say the Larks flip that result today. And, as usual, Cougars fans should be overjoyed because I pick 9-man games as well as the Rangers close out World Series games.

****

PHERSY: Yeah, yeah, yeah I'm not good ... it's about time you win this thing after five straight years of losing.

I'm going for broke this week ... because let's face it, I'm already broke.

SECTION 1AAAAA

No. 3 JM 22, No. 2 Owatonna 19: Ugh, the Rockets will have to play a lot better than they did last week to pull off this upset. But I'm in trouble in the standings ... so go Rockets!

SECTION 1AAAA

No. 2 Red Wing 16, No. 3 Northfield 6: Red Wing didn't look good last week in the rain, cold and wind. But the weather is nice today, so Newman will do enough and the defense will carry the Wingers to victory.

SECTION 1AAA

No. 1 Lourdes 20, No. 5 Stewartville 19: The Eagles get their revenge. Sorry Tigers!

No. 3 Kasson-Mantorville 28, No. 2 P-E-M 17, : Winner of this game is a state-title contender. This is a great wrestling rivalry, so I hate Feldy for doing this to me ... but I'm going with the KoMets.

SECTION 1AA

No. 3 Zumbrota-Mazeppa 14, No. 2 Chatfield 13:This would be a huge upset, but I have to get crazy to catch Feldy. ZM survived a scare last week. Let's hope it motivates them.

SECTION 1A

No. 2 Fillmore Central 21, No. 3 Southland 7: Fillmore knows it can beat the Rebels. They'll do it again.

SECTION 1 9-MAN

No. 3 Mabel-Canton 26, No. 2 Grand Meadow 24, : This one is a no-brainer ... I always do the opposite when Feldy is picking Nine-Man games. LOL. Go M-C!

H.S. Hockey | Another coaching change in the area

Posted by: Feldman

The boys hockey coaches in the Big 9 Conference might have to have a get together -- maybe a potluck, or a campfire where they make s'mores or something -- before the season starts, to get to know the new faces.

A third coaching change in the conference has occurred, this time in Owatonna. Long-time head coach Will Fish will not have his contract renewed by the Owatonna School Board, though he will keep his teaching job, according to the Owatonna People's Press.

The other coaching changes in the Big Nine occurred in Rochester, where Jay Ness takes over at JM and Josh Klingfus will be the new head coach at Century.

I've heard from a couple of people (and the reader comments on the article at Owatonna.com) that, in recent years there had been some unrest with parents in the Owatonna program (where doesn't that happen these days?), so perhaps that played into it. If that's the case, maybe the school board should let that group of parents coach by committee this season. ... but that's a rant for another day.

Fish, who played for Lorne Grosso at Mayo, told the Owatonna paper that he was "given the opportunity to resign, which I can't in good conscience do. I'm excited about the program."

Fish was the Huskies' head coach for 11 seasons. They went 4-10-0 in the Big Nine last season and 7-19-0 overall. They lost to eventual Section 1AA champ Lakeville North, 7-1, in the section quarterfinals. After getting off to a 4-2-0 start, Owatonna struggled, going 3-17-0 the rest of the way, including an eight-game losing streak.

The Huskies won 19 games overall and finished third in the Big Nine in 2007-08, Fish's best season as head coach. They were 13-3-0 in the conference that season and advanced to the Section 1AA semifinals, where they lost by a goal to North.

H.S. Hockey | Breaking down the brackets (1AA)

FELDY: Who's ready for some playoff hockey? Me too!

I had a chance this morning to peek at how the coaches voted in Section 1A and Section 1AA, which left a few interesting notes. The whole voting process intrigues me somewhat, so I thought I'd share a few thoughts. I won't reveal how the individual coaches voted, because there weren't a whole lot of surprises.

Coaches aren't allowed to vote for their own team, so in 1AA they are asked to rank the other eight teams on a 1-to-8 scale, with 1 being the best. In 1A, the coaches rank the other 11 teams on a 1-to-11 scale, again with 1 being the best. The highest vote and lowest vote for each team is thrown out, so, if a team gets six first-seed votes, a second-seed vote and a third-seed vote, one of the first-seed votes would be thrown out, as would the third-seed vote.

Teams receive 1 point for a first-seed vote, 2 points for a second-seed vote, etc., on down through 8 points for an eighth-seed vote.

We'll stick with 1AA here, and have a separate blog post on the 1A bracket a little later today.

It's no shock that Lakeville South received all eight first-seed votes, while Lakeville North earned seven second-seed votes and one first-seed vote (South gave North its vote for the No. 1 seed, since South cannot vote for itself).

Rochester Mayo earned the third seed, even though it had the broadest range of votes. The Spartans received two second-seed votes, three thirds, two fourths and a fifth (so the fifth and one of the seconds were thrown out).

JM, the fourth seed, finished two points behind Mayo in the voting, with 28 points. The Rockets received five thirds, two fourths and a fifth. The fifth-seed vote got tossed out (as did one of the third-seed votes). I'm still scratching my head as to how JM could possibly have received that fifth-seed vote.

All right, enough about the process, let's get to the bracket:

THE FAVORITES

* Lakeville South: The top-seeded Cougars (14-8-2) have to be viewed as the favorite in the section. They have three of the most dynamic players in the section -- Jr. F Justin Kloos (35-43--78), Jr. F Alex Harvey (29-30--59) and Sr. D Drew Brevig (11-32--43). South faced only three Section 1AA opponents during the regular season, but rolled to three wins by a combined score of 25-6.

* Lakeville North:The defending section champion Panthers don't have the firepower that South has, but North has junior goalie Charlie Lindgren, who has shown in the past that he can take over a game. The Panthers will need Lindgren and the defense to play well throughout the tournament. They have just one player with more than 24 points, Jr. F Blake Winiecki (21-21--42). And North hasn't been able to hang with South in either of their two meetings this season (South holds 7-2 and 6-1 wins against North).

AN OUTSIDE CHANCE

* Rochester Mayo: The Spartans are the hottest team in the section, having lost just once in their past 11 games. After a 4-10-0 start, Mayo pushed Albert Lea down to the final day of the regular season for the Big Nine Conference title, before Albert Lea pulled it out. Mayo has improved by leaps and bounds since the first half of the season. Its power play -- led by Sr. D Bill Norman at the point -- has become lethal. The Spartans have a chance to win the section title because they have a goalie (Sr. Alex Van Galder) who has proved capable of carrying them to a win, and they know how to win games by playing defense first.

* Rochester John Marshall: The Rockets are in this group for two big reasons: The play of senior goalie Bryan King, and the leadership and urgency that eight experienced seniors provide. Those eight seniors have practiced and played for three years with this week in mind. It's their last shot at winning a section tournament game. If JM can stay out of the penalty box, it can adapt its style to keep itself in the game against the top teams in the section. It has received some big contributions from underclassmen, too, which will be needed throughout the section tournament.

THE FIELD

* No. 5 Farmington lost its regular season matchup to John Marshall, who they'll face in Thursday's section quarterfinals at the Rochester Rec Center. But the Tigers are on a bit of a roll, having won four consecutive games. JM will need to have its eyes on No. 17 for Farmington at all times. Senior F Tyler Grubb has 51 points this season, including eight in the past three games.

* No. 6 Rochester Century has battled through injuries and illnesses for much of the season, relying mainly on two lines over the last few weeks of the regular season. Century's defensemen are capable of jumping into the play and creating offensive chances, too, so Mayo will have to be aware of that. The Panthers shouldn't have to search far for motivation. They are 1-2 against quarterfinal opponent Mayo this year, having lost twice to the Spartans in the past month, by a combined score of 8-0.

* No. 7 Owatonna has its hands full with North in the first round. The Huskies have to solve their own offensive issues before they worry too much about the Panthers. Owatonna has scored just six goals in its past six games. They've given up 33 goals in that same span.

* No. 8 Dodge County showed in last year's playoffs what can happen when a high seed underestimates its opponent. The Wildcats pushed Lakeville South in a 4-2 South victory in the quarterfinals, but D.C. had a lead in that game and it was tied 2-2 after two periods. The Wildcats have a bunch of seniors who play with confidence. They have to get past Winona first, and if they do, it's safe to say that Lakeville South will not underestimate D.C. this time.