Cake Eater Classic

The tournament is over, and I've taken three things away from it. First of all Breck grow some balls and move up to AA. Secondly Hill Murray was the best team in the tournament. And lastly Minnetonka and they're three Division I defensemen were extremely overrated.
The high school tournament is divided into the big schools in AA and the small schools in A. Most private schools fall into the A category. It's kind of misleading since they can recruit they're players. So there are a handful of teams that play in AA because they have pride in the program and want to compete with the best teams. So kudos to Hill Murray, Cretin Derham Hall, Benilde St. Margerat, and Holy Angels. Add in Roseau who plays in AA even though it only has 350 kids in they're school. So give those schools credit for playing up a class, because they feel like they can belong there. Any one of those schools could move down and play in class A and dominate every year. Just like Breck, St. Thomas Acadamey, Blake, and often times Totino Grace. These private schools are able to recruit they're players, and take players away from some of the leagues top schools. They are smaller in attendance, so are able to play in the A tournament. They take pride in winning year after year. Since 2000 out of the twenty teams that have played in the class A state championship, 12 of them have been small private schools, and 8 of the 10 champions have been again, small private school with Breck winning four of those. The reason that high school hockey split into two classes was to give the smaller schools who don't pull from the same size groups as the bigger schools, and don't have the resources the bigger schools have. But these private schools can pull from all over, they aren't restricted by boundaries like the bigger public schools are. And they have resources and money, unlike most public schools. So my question is does the High School League really think they're accomplishing there goal? That is fine if you want to have two tournaments, but keep the A tournament open to those smaller schools. Make these private schools move up and play with the big boys.
I watched every game from the AA tournament this past week, and there is no question that Hill Murray was the best team. Unfortunately they weren't able to get past a hot Minnetonka goalie, and wore down through the four overtime periods. The funny thing about a tournament like this is the fact that three different teams finish 2-1. But depending upon when they lose, they finish 5th, 3rd, or 2nd.
Lastly for those of us who follow high school hockey, all we heard about all year was Minnetonka, and they're 5 division I recruits. There is often times bias in the metro for the southern teams, even though only two of the last 10 state champions would be considered southern metro. But beyond that Minnetonka was billed as one of the all time teams. They went through the season with only one loss. But after watching them play the last three games, I do not see where the hype came from. Max Gardiner looked ordinary, and they're three DI defensemen wouldn't play on Hill Murrays first two defensive lines, and made big mistakes that took them out of the championship game.
All in all the tournament was pretty bland. The big name players didn't live up to their names. Other than a great Friday night game between Hill Murray and Minnetonka, the tournament lacked close games. That doesn't mean any changes need to be made, but it wouldn't hurt for some of these "champions of class A to come play in front of the big crowds."