Official AA Seeds

[karl(east)]

AA seeds:

#1 Eden Prairie vs. Anoka
#2 Stillwater vs. Farmington
#3 Wayzata vs. Burnsville
#4 Grand Rapids vs. #5 Bemidji

[LASERBLUE135]

Wow, really not sure how they got there? This seeding thing is pretty ridiculous IMO. I understand you probably don't want Burnsville playing Anoka in the first round as you don't want EP playing Wayzata. I still say a random draw is the way to go. Then again, let the seeding continue. Upsets are fun. I think all the "favorites" could have their hands full this year (as happens most years in AA). I'm so excited for this years tournament!!!

[elliott70]

Not surprised.

Wayzata still the best.

[ilovemesomehockey]

AA seeds:

#1 Eden Prairie vs. Anoka
#2 Stillwater vs. Farmington
#3 Wayzata vs. Burnsville
#4 Grand Rapids vs. #5 Bemidji

Rematch coming of 2014 bantam state ?

[Doc Holliday]

Not surprised.

Wayzata still the best.

Agree

[TooManyEagles]

As a Wayzata fan, I'm fine with the 3. Keeps them away from EP, and still got an unseeded team in the draw. Jersey color doesn't matter if they get to Friday Night.

[elliott70]

4 vs 5 will be a good game (at least I hope the Jacks can stay with them).

[gorilla1]

For those that complain about the seeding it is really simple. Look at the schedule for the year. EP plays tough teams night in and night out with only 3 real breaks for the whole year--2 games against Hopkins who are in their conference and Cloquet, a team that beat Bemidji. Wayzata folks can mildly complain about not being number 1 and they absolutely should be number 2. Every other team in the tourney played Cup one might and Cake the next for most of their season. The Northern teams hands are somewhat tied in their scheduling because of their proximity to the TC, but the TC teams have no excuse. Their coaches control their schedules from year to year so if you want the top seed, start playing and scheduling a top schedule. Should be a great tourney for anyone to win.

[mulefarm]

For those that complain about the seeding it is really simple. Look at the schedule for the year. EP plays tough teams night in and night out with only 3 real breaks for the whole year--2 games against Hopkins who are in their conference and Cloquet, a team that beat Bemidji. Wayzata folks can mildly complain about not being number 1 and they absolutely should be number 2. Every other team in the tourney played Cup one might and Cake the next for most of their season. The Northern teams hands are somewhat tied in their scheduling because of their proximity to the TC, but the TC teams have no excuse. Their coaches control their schedules from year to year so if you want the top seed, start playing and scheduling a top schedule. Should be a great tourney for anyone to win.

Their coaches only control their non-conference schedule. Teams with large conferences may only have a handful of non-conference games, so their hands are tied.

[WestMetro]

a little surprised they didnt follow LPH and keep SW #1, but I can see logic for EP as well.

[inthetwine]

It's just a shame to have the 2 northern teams playing each other right off the bat.

[mulefarm]

It's just a shame to have the 2 northern teams playing each other right off the bat.

WHY?

[north_bear]

It's just a shame to have the 2 northern teams playing each other right off the bat.

WHY?

The good thing is a northern team is guaranteed a spot in the semis. Should be a good match up. Played to a tie to open Rapids season in Nov.

[Ogie]

Only got to watch a few games over Christmas/New Years holidays, on account of a season ski pass @ Alta.

But I'm coming for the tournament and really can't wait, with all the relatively fresh programs in it this season.

[warriors41]

Only got to watch a few games over Christmas/New Years holidays, on account of a season ski pass @ Alta.

But I'm coming for the tournament and really can't wait, with all the relatively fresh programs in it this season.

No kidding. Bemidji and Eden Prairie are the only teams returning from last year's tournament. I wonder what the record is for fewest returning teams from one year to the next

[BigWorm]

I've seen Eden Prairie play their last two games. As a whole I was never impressed with their team, but Mittlestedt is one of the better players I've seen at the high school level. If teams can shut him down (big if) they are very beatable as a #1 seed. Should make for a very interesting tourney. Really looking forward to a semi final matchup of Rapids/Bemidji vs. EP (assuming they advance). Classic North vs. Metro matchup.

[dherman8]

For those that complain about the seeding it is really simple. Look at the schedule for the year. EP plays tough teams night in and night out with only 3 real breaks for the whole year--2 games against Hopkins who are in their conference and Cloquet, a team that beat Bemidji. Wayzata folks can mildly complain about not being number 1 and they absolutely should be number 2. Every other team in the tourney played Cup one might and Cake the next for most of their season. The Northern teams hands are somewhat tied in their scheduling because of their proximity to the TC, but the TC teams have no excuse. Their coaches control their schedules from year to year so if you want the top seed, start playing and scheduling a top schedule. Should be a great tourney for anyone to win.

Their coaches only control their non-conference schedule. Teams with large conferences may only have a handful of non-conference games, so their hands are tied.

Agreed. Pretty funny statement right there when a team has to play conference games. Would Wayzata have received the same treatment with Eden Prairie's schedule? There is no doubt EP had it tough but can anyone argue that their schedule was far and away more tough than Wayzata? Wayzata went through a grind as well and it certainly looks like one can argue that Wayzata had it as rough if not more so than EP. If my math is correct, Wayzata played 6 games against AA state qualifiers while EP played 5. Both had schedules littered with top 20 competition with very few "breaks" as gorilla1 put it.

EP had just 1 less loss than Wayzata. They also had 1 more tie. Equal amount of wins and pretty similar schedules. (Going off of what I see on mshsl.org) Maybe I am on the wrong path but it seems to me if you put EP ahead of Stillwater, not putting Wayzata at 2 is dreadful. Just stay consistent. Seems like name recognition could have come into play here.

[East Side Pioneer Guy]

If any seeded team loses in the first round this year (or 4 loses to 5), it can hardly be described as an upset. I can't recall a more even tournament field. Now, maybe Farmington over Stillwater would be a legitimate upset. But Stillwater played a very weak schedule, and the struggled to beat a not great Hill, so it wouldn't be a shocker. I could say something similar for Wayzata - Burnsville.

Random draws suck. We wouldn't dream of random draws for sections, why would we do them for state? Of course upsets can and do happen, at some point you do have to play the game and win. Does the NCAA have random draws for Div I basketball? Imagine how that'd go over.

The important thing to remember with seeding is that you don't get the top 2 or 3 teams meeting in the quarters. They draw unseeded teams in the first round, and that's fair. Once you get to Friday night, anything can happen.

[LASERBLUE135]

If any seeded team loses in the first round this year (or 4 loses to 5), it can hardly be described as an upset. I can't recall a more even tournament field. Now, maybe Farmington over Stillwater would be a legitimate upset. But Stillwater played a very weak schedule, and the struggled to beat a not great Hill, so it wouldn't be a shocker. I could say something similar for Wayzata - Burnsville.

Random draws suck. We wouldn't dream of random draws for sections, why would we do them for state? Of course upsets can and do happen, at some point you do have to play the game and win. Does the NCAA have random draws for Div I basketball? Imagine how that'd go over.

The important thing to remember with seeding is that you don't get the top 2 or 3 teams meeting in the quarters. They draw unseeded teams in the first round, and that's fair. Once you get to Friday night, anything can happen.

When EVERY "underdog" won a few years back that should have been the wake up call that the seedings were unnecessary. Or it was just a wake up call that they don't matter. Either way, in AA I would vote random.

[allhoc11]

Maybe I am on the wrong path but it seems to me if you put EP ahead of Stillwater, not putting Wayzata at 2 is dreadful. Just stay consistent. Seems like name recognition could have come into play here.

I think this speaks more about the system they use than the actual voters. Unlike sections where teams get to state their case for where they belong, and talk about SOS, or common opponents. Coaches just have to go online and rank the other teams 1-7 with really no background info, and this is one of 100 things they have to do in a 24 hour time period.

I have no issue with ranking teams at state, but just think the manner in which it is done is not perfect. I know it's a different issue, but I think it would be more important to set up a system that gave all teams an equal chance to get to state than actually ranking the teams that do make it.

I'm not a fan of the random draw, but I do miss the old way it was done with assigned sections facing each other. That wasn't a great system except it gave coaches a chance to scout teams they may be facing the first game of state. With the system now you have no idea who you will face, and if it's a team you haven't seen or scouted it puts greater pressure on your in game/period adjustments.

[BodyShots]

For those that complain about the seeding it is really simple. Look at the schedule for the year. EP plays tough teams night in and night out with only 3 real breaks for the whole year--2 games against Hopkins who are in their conference and Cloquet, a team that beat Bemidji. Wayzata folks can mildly complain about not being number 1 and they absolutely should be number 2. Every other team in the tourney played Cup one might and Cake the next for most of their season. The Northern teams hands are somewhat tied in their scheduling because of their proximity to the TC, but the TC teams have no excuse. Their coaches control their schedules from year to year so if you want the top seed, start playing and scheduling a top schedule. Should be a great tourney for anyone to win.

Agree strength of schedule was the difference in the final seeding. But come on, losing 1 of every 3 tough games should not earn the #1 seed!

Oh well, it doesn't matter much this season, as every team has a chance and needs to play well for 3 games to win it all.

[East Side Pioneer Guy]

For the life of me, I don't know why the MSHSL doesn't live stream the random draw and put it on You Tube. The conspiracy theories are tiresome and annoying. There's really no benefit to the MSHSL, and they couldn't conspire their way out of a paper bag.

My guess it will be a long time before the 3 unseeded teams win their quarterfinal games. I don't consider 5 beating 4 an upset. Most years it's a pretty fine line between 4 & 5 anyway.

No system is perfect, and this one is pretty good. I'm old enough to have seen the consensus top 3 teams in the same bracket several times when the pairings were rotated, which basically amounted to a random draw.

[Green and White Fan]

Why not EP and Wayzata in the first round or Burnsville and Anoka. It is okay to have Bemidji vs. Rapids, though??? I say if this is how the seedings are going to go, go back to the old rotation. The excuse is you want the two best teams in the state championship is baloney. They both can't win it anyway, so what is the difference if they play in the first round. The metro bias to eliminate a northern team right away is a disgrace to high school hockey and the allure of the tournament!

[LASERBLUE135]

My guess it will be a long time before the 3 unseeded teams win their quarterfinal games. I don't consider 5 beating 4 an upset. Most years it's a pretty fine line between 4 & 5 anyway.

No system is perfect, and this one is pretty good.

The 3 unseeded teams have already won before. It happened a few years ago.

That's why they can seed the teams of not. Doesn't matter. That said, I agree with you that no system is perfect and this one is ok.

[TheMNhockey1]

Can someone explain this conspiracy? the way i look at it EP, Stillwater and Wayzata all belong in the top 3 (The order may be questionable) And i don't think there is anyway you can rank Farmington, Anoka or Burnsville ahead of Bemidji and Rapids...Maybe Farmington but going 0-2 against and prior lake the going 0-1-1 against Burnsville i just don't see how they could be changed..