Schwan Cup Championships | Xcel Energy Center
Gold Bracket
#1AA Minnetonka (9-0-0) vs. #5AA Edina (10-1-0), 8:30 PM
Minnetonka:
F Max Gardiner (12) (Out) 11 goals, 18 assists
:: Gardiner is out with a broken wrist for up to six weeks.
F Max Coatta (9) 9 goals, 8 assists
:: Coatta, a freshman, has scored nine goals in his last four games. Coatta is sneaky. He somehow is able to slide into the slot without being detected and snipes in the puck. Gardiner, though, is usually one of the important guys that sets Coatta up with a pass into the slot. Gardiner has set Coatta up three times. Derek Frawley has assisted on five Coatta goals.
F Derek Frawley (11) - 5 goals, 10 assists
F Thomas Schutt (11) - 7 goals, 4 assists
:: Schutt will need to step up in Gardiner's absence. After scoring six goals in his first four games, Schutt has cooled off with just one goal in his last five games.
D Andrew Prochno (12) - 5 goals, 14 assists
D Troy Hesketh (12) - 2 goals, 5 assists
G Jim Kruger (12) - 8-0-0, 1.38 GAA, .933 Save %, 20.5 faced shots per game
College recruits:
F Max Gardiner - University of Minnesota
D Troy Hesketh - University of Wisconsin
D Justin Holl - University of Minnesota
D Andrew Prochno - St. Cloud State University
Edina:
F Charlie Taft (12) - 8 goals, 5 assists
:: Taft has just one goal in his last four games.
F Steven Fogarty (11) - 4 goals, 8 assists
:: Fogarty too has been quiet in the scoring category of late. He has one goal in his last seven games.
F Michael Sit (11) - 6 goals, 5 assists
:: Sit has two goals in his last two games.
F Jake Sampson (11) - 7 goals, 3 assists
G Johnny Ankeny (12) - 8-0-0, 1.25 GAA, .949 Save %, 24.8 shots faced per game
G Connor Girard (11) - 2-1-0, 1.33 GAA, .938 Save %, 21.3 shots faced per game
College recruits: None
Note: Minnetonka senior forward and University of Minnesota recruit Max Gardiner is out due to a broken wrist that he suffered on Wednesday against St. Thomas Academy. Reports are that he will be out for six weeks.
Edina has been an interesting team. After being an offensive juggernaut last season, the Hornets went on the defensive this year. The Hornets have only given up 14 goals in 11 games. They have record five shutouts in those 11 games. The list of teams that have been stung by the Hornets stingy defense and goaltending include Burnsville, St. Louis Park, Grand Rapids, #7AA Blaine, and #13AA Duluth East.
Edina has scored just seven goals in their last three games, 2.33 goals per game, and they went 3-0 in those three games against Blaine TWICE and Duluth East. They have no players that stand out offensively. They have 10 players that have two or more goals, Minnetonka 11. Yet, Edina only has four players with 10 or more points, Minnetonka seven.
Minnetonka has an explosive offense and, if you think about it, have a team similar to what Edina had last year. However, the Skippers have a better defense than the Hornets had last year. Minnetonka can claim four shutouts on the season and have given up just 11 goals in nine games.
This is the first meeting of at least three games between these two teams this season. Edina is Section 2AA and Minnetonka is in Section 6AA so it is quite possible that they could also meet in the state tournament.
I don't expect a lot of scoring between these two rivals tonight. I expect a lot more checking and physical play than scoring. If I lived in the Twin Cities, I would not miss this game.
Prediction: Minnetonka 3, Edina 1
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Silver Bracket
#2A Breck School (6-1-0) vs. #5 Mahtomedi (6-2-0), 6:00 PM
Note: These two teams met at the beginning of the year and the Breck School Mustangs had no problems with Mahtomedi, 7-1. Breck School outshot the Zephyrs 32-17. Tyson Fulton had two goals, two assists and six other goal scorers in the win.
It took Mahtomedi two overtime games in the first two rounds of the Schwan Cup to make it to the Silver Bracket championship game. They defeated Burnsville 5-4 in the quarterfinal and then Blake School in the semifinal, both in overtime.
On the other side, Breck School outscored their first two opponents of the Schwan Cup 10-2. They defeated Stillwater Area 4-2 in the quarterfinals and Lakeville South, who upset Cretin-Derham Hall in their quarterfinal game, 6-0.
Brandon Zurn (10-11-21), Charlie Adams (9-8-17), and University of Minnesota recruit defenseman Ben Marshall (4-9-13) will not be enough to defeat a team in Breck School that has tremendous depth. Senior goaltender Brad Wohlers, who should be in goal for the Zephyrs, will need to have a 2009 Section 4A championship-like game in order for Mahtomedi to win this one.
For Breck, senior Chase Nystedt is red hot having scored 9 goals in his last four games. He had a hat trick and an assist against Lakeville South in the semifinal game. John Russell is 5-1-0 in goal with a 2.11 goals against average and a .925 save percentage.
Prediction: Breck School 6, Mahtomedi 3
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Bronze Bracket
Orono (6-2-0) vs. Rogers (4-3-1), 3:00 PM
Note: Both teams are trying to gain some respect in Class A.
Orono defeated #9A Sartell-St. Stephen in their quarterfinal game 3-2. But, earlier in the season, they were blown out by #2A Breck School 13-1 and, also, defeated by #3A Warroad 5-2 at the start of the season. Besides Sartell-St. Stephen, the Spartans defeated Owatonna 5-2 in the semifinal game to make to the Bronze Bracket championship.
Rogers tied #9A Sartell-St. Stephen 2-2 just before the Schwan Cup, they dominated #8A St. Cloud Cathedral 4-1 on December 15th, but they lost to a good but unranked Mound-Westonka team and were blown out by Class AA teams Maple Grove and Osseo. Rogers defeated St. Paul Academy 7-2 in the quarterfinal and Hudson (WI) 2-1 in the semifinal game to advance to championship game against Orono.
For Orono, junior forward Ross Luedtke is by far the team's leading goal scorer with 12 goals on the season. He had three goals total in the first two games of the Schwan Cup.
For Rogers, their scoring is more balanced. Senior forward Matt Limoseth (5-3-8), senior forward Eric Moening (4-5-9), and sophomore Brandon Bistodeau (4-3-7) lead the Royals who are actually a very young team. They have just six seniors, a lot of juniors, and even more sophomores on the team.
Prediction: Orono 3, Rogers 2
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Open Bracket
Minnehaha Academy (4-3-0) vs. Northfield (3-3-0), 12:30 PM
Note: Both teams in the Open Bracket have been primarily quiet up until now.
After just a six win season last year, Minnehaha Academy already has four wins in seven games this season. The Redhawks defeated Irondale 5-1 in the quartefinal game and North Metro 5-4 in overtime in the semifinal game.
The Redhawks are led in scoring by senior captain Peter Knutson (5-8-13) and the other senior captain Matt Wolpert (5-5-10).
Northfield started the season later than most teams. Their first game was on December 3rd and they lost to Albert Lea 5-2. Their next was postponed and they did play again until December 15th. They lost to #6AA Holy Angels 8-1. So, four weeks into the season, they had only played two games.
Since going 0-2, Northfield has gone 3-1-0. They defeated a good Rochester Lourdes team 3-0, they lost 5-4 in overtime to #11A Faribault, they defeated Winona, who is a Class AA school and was undefeated at the time, in the quarterfinal game of the Schwan Cup, and then proceeded to defeat #19A Providence Academy in overtime in the semifinal game. Northfield has a good team.
Northfield is led in scoring by senior forward Alex Pumper (6-4-10), freshman forward Andrew Scofield (2-4-6), sophomore forward Kody Beckers (2-4-6), and senior forward Jordin Crawford (3-2-5).
Prediction: Northfield 4, Minnehaha Academy 1
