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No change to the top 3. Probably won't be for the remainder of the season.

1. St Thomas Academy (14-4)
Secured a top 3 finish in the Classic Suburban Conference this week. Good non-conference 4A game this week and game to give Cadets opportunity at conference title. Both games this week are away.
-This week: @Totino-Grace (Thurs, 7pm), @Hill-Murray (Sat, 8pm)

2. Breck (15-2)
While allowing the same amount of goals, Breck beat Blake by one more goal than Minnetonka did. The Mustangs have three games this week, two conference games and a good 1A team.
-This week: @St Paul Johnson (Tues, 7:30pm), Rochester Lourdes (Thurs, 7:30pm), Providence Academy (Sat, 3pm)

3. Hermantown (15-2)
The Hawks beat Bemidji worse than all others Class A teams have. They probably have the top seed in 5A secured, while I doubt much they can do will get them higher than #2 at state. I do think they will be playing better competition this season and at sections that they could be voted higher than Breck at state.
-This week: @Cloquet (Thurs, 7:30pm), Monticello (Sat, 3pm)

4. Mahtomedi (15-4)
Play two good games this week. Thursday decides whether their hopes of a conference title or runner up are possible and Saturday decides whether they will be the #2 seed in 4A or lower.
-This week: @Hill Murray (Thurs, 8pm), Spring Lake Park (Sat, 3pm)

5. Warroad (13-3)
While they are still in line for #2 or #3 in 8A, going 2-0 against common opponents TRF went 1-1 against gives them the edge.
-This week: Roseau (Mon, 7:30pm), East Grand Forks (Sat, 4:30pm)

6. Thief River Falls (14-5)
See Warroad. Still in control of their 8A destiny, in my opinion, the Marshall loss was not a good one.
-This week: Crookston (Thurs, 7:30pm), Lake of the Woods (Sat, 7:30pm)

7. Virginia (14-5-3)
The Blue Devils have 3 games remaining, all quality Class A opponents. This week will help see how they make up with the best of 6A.
-This week: @Sartell (Sat, 3:30pm)

8. Blake (13-6)
Should they be this high? Personally I doubt it, but an OT loss to my #4 team says they can compete.
-This week: St Paul Como Park (Tues, 7:30pm), @St Paul Saints (Sat, 2pm)

9. Hibbing (9-7-2)
The Bluejackets don’t have much to prove this week except they should be at least a #3 seed in section 7A.
-This week: Proctor (Mon, 7:30pm), International Falls (Thurs, 7:30pm)

10. International Falls (9-6-1)
Tying Rapids this week shows a lot. The Broncos have two easy games this week and one away rematch to a section team they lost to at home in their first game of the season.
-This week: @Two Harbors (Mon, 7pm), @Hibbing (Thurs, 7:30pm), @Silver Bay (Sat, 7:30pm)

11. Duluth Marshall (8-10)
Will a team who ends the season under .500 get a top 2 seed in section 7A? If they win out, or even just beat Virginia, I would say they deserve the top seed. The Hilltoppers have two games at Heritage this week.
-This week: @Duluth Centrl (Mon, 7:30pm), @Duluth Denfeld (Thurs, 7:30pm)

12. St Cloud Cathedral (12-6)
I don’t like having Cathedral this high, but when a few teams they have beaten were all on the list, it seemed fitting to put them here.
-This week: @Litchfield (Sat, 3pm)

13. Sauk Rapids-Rice (10-8-1)
The Storm are 9-1 in their last 10 games. There really isn’t much for them to prove with their remaining schedule with only 2 remaining top-ish opponents.
-This week: River Lakes (Mon, 7pm)

14. Sartell-St Stephen (9-5-2)
Sartell won away against Detroit Lakes. Their next task is Alexandria this week and they seal up the #1 seed. All three of their games this week are at home, including Virginia on Saturday. In my opinion, if they win out and make it through sections, they should get the #4 seed at state.
-This week: Wilmar (Mon, 7pm), Alexandria (Thurs, 7pm), Virginia (Sat, 3:30pm)

15. Rochester Lourdes (12-4-2)
8-1 in their last 9 games. Would be much higher, but losing to an inconsistent Mound-Westonka team hurts. Should have sealed up the top seed in 1A
-This week: @Breck (Thurs, 7:30pm), New Prague (Sat, 7:30pm)

Bubble Teams:

Duluth Denfeld (11-8-1)
The Hunters started out really well but are 1-6 in their last 7 games. Can they beat the Hilltoppers?
-This week: Duluth Marshall (Thurs, 7:30pm)

Totino-Grace (10-6)
Good games this week. They play some good teams the rest of the way, should be interesting to see how it turns out.
-This week: Robbinsdale Cooper (Tues, 7pm), St Thomas (Thurs, 7pm), @ St Francis (Sat, 2pm)

Delano (11-6)
On a 5 game win streak. They lost to Orono the first time around; can they can to Orono this week and extend their win streak to 7? In control of being Wright County Conference champions.
-This week: @Litchfield (Thurs, 7pm), @Orono (Sat, 2pm)

Detroit Lakes (13-5-2)
Will probably still be a section top 3 seed. There’s one tough game remaining on their schedule.
-This week: @Little Falls (Sat, 7pm)

East Grand Forks (10-11)
While the record is not that great, losses are to AA teams, ND teams, Hermantown and Thief River Falls with a win against Warroad. Play two good section 8 teams this week.
-This week: Moorhead (Thurs, 7:30pm), @Warroad (Sat, 4:30pm)

Alexandria (12-5-1)
I don’t think they’ve proven much, but they will probably be a top 3 team in 6A and we’ll find out this week where it’ll be.
-This week: @St Cloud Tech (Mon, 7pm), @Sartell (Thurs, 7pm)

Redwood Valley (15-2)
While they have proven little this season and will probably not get to the section finals in one of the worst sections in the state, they have won their last 14 games.
-This week: Sleepy Eye (Thurs, 7pm), Fairmont (Sat, 3pm)

New Ulm (10-6)
While they don’t play that difficult of a schedule, they have played some good competition. They are the biggest dark horse, in my opinion, to have a shot at winning a game out of 1A or 3A.
-This week: Dodge County (Mon, 7:30pm), @Marshall (Thurs, 7:30pm), @Minnehaha Academy (Sat, 2pm)

Fairbault (12-6)
Have a convincing win over New Ulm earlier this season, but after starting the year 5-0, the Falcons have only lost to teams worth mentioning.
-This week: Rochester Century (Thurs, 7:30pm), Rogers (Sat, 7:30pm)

Is there another team outside of the top 15 you would like to see recognized I didn’t mention?

Albert lea should be on this they are a better team than fairbault and almost beat virginia but penalties killed them due to there 2 or 3 powerplay goals at the end of the game

1 Breck 2 good games this last week.

2 Hermantown playing good hockey

3 St. Thomas Academy pull off 4-3 win on 10-8 team,slipping

4. Warroad played 2 stellar games this week

5 Mahtomedi two weak wins 5-4 over NSP but a nice come from behind 4-1 to nip SSP 7-4

6Thief River Falls still playing to there ablility no surprises this weekend

7 St Cloud Cathdral a couple of slips but there losses to quality teams and playing good at the right time.

8 Virginia

9 Blake

10 Hibbing

the top 4 would make for a good state semi finals, if they get out of there sections, stranger things have happened

nungitchida wrote:1 Breck 2 good games this last week.

How do you figure? They won, but played an unproven Blake team and and sub .500 Minnehaha Academy. Not much there.

nungitchida wrote:3 St. Thomas Academy pull off 4-3 win on 10-8 team,slipping

This is why you take how good teams do against bad teams with a grain of salt. Not only was St Thomas' back up goalie playing but I'm guessing they were mixing up their lines or giving the bottom lines more playing time.

blackpuck22 wrote:Albert lea should be on this they are a better team than fairbault and almost beat virginia but penalties killed them due to there 2 or 3 powerplay goals at the end of the game

They lost to Duluth Central and are sub .500

1. St. Thomas Academy
2. Breck
3. Hermantown
4. Mahtomedi
5. Warroad
6. Thief River Falls
7. Virginia
8. Hibbing
9. St. Cloud Cathedral
10. Alexandria
11. Sartell
12. Blake
13. Mound-Westonka
14. Rochester Lourdes
15. International Falls
On watch: Orono, Faribault, Duluth Marshall, Duluth Denfeld, New Prague

STA and Breck should be a toss up for #1. They both have key points that would make the case to have the top spot. Breck being the defending State Champs, Schwann's Cup Silver Champs and top scoring team in the State. STA and their schedule, even though much is made out of all the quaility AA teams they play, it should be noted that the only ranked AA win they have is against a fairly week CDH (which Breck also beat in a scrimmage this year) and have a 1-4 record against ranked AA schools. Let's face it, their biggest win of the season came in the first game against Breck in a lopsided penalty filled OT win. No question they are a very talented team, but unless they can pull off a victory against Hill (and I think they have a very good chance of it), or the Mustangs are upset in one of their final 8 games this issue will remain cloudy at best.

Hermantown and Warroad are both good very teams as well and likely participants at the X, but they are still a bit behind these two. Can't see any scenario that doesn't have 2 of these four playing for the championship and will go even further and predict that either Breck or STA if not both will be playing in that Saturday afternoon game.

Goldy23 wrote:STA and Breck should be a toss up for #1. They both have key points that would make the case to have the top spot. Breck being the defending State Champs, Schwann's Cup Silver Champs and top scoring team in the State. STA and their schedule, even though much is made out of all the quaility AA teams they play, it should be noted that the only ranked AA win they have is against a fairly week CDH (which Breck also beat in a scrimmage this year) and have a 1-4 record against ranked AA schools. Let's face it, their biggest win of the season came in the first game against Breck in a lopsided penalty filled OT win. No question they are a very talented team, but unless they can pull off a victory against Hill (and I think they have a very good chance of it), or the Mustangs are upset in one of their final 8 games this issue will remain cloudy at best.

Good points here. I think STA and Breck are clearly the 1 and 2, depending on your opinion. It's interesting how STA and Breck literally have exact opposite schedules. Besides the STA game and some decent AA and A opponents in the Schwann Cup (and Shattuck of course), Breck plays some pretty bad teams (SPA, Minnehaha, Como, Johnson, Saints). STA has White Bear, Tonka twice, HM twice, Blaine, CDH , Lourdes, Mahtomedi twice. I know people are getting sick of hearing about STA's schedule, but I think the hard schedule will ultimately be a good thing for this team in the end.

if i was warroad and trf i would be scared of the greenwave this year. Unlike most teams coming out of east grand forks, they are a very hardworking close nit team. And can no longer be considered the mob. I pick them to cause a little ruckus this year at sections and would also put them as a top sleeper

bender09 wrote:if i was warroad and trf i would be scared of the greenwave this year. Unlike most teams coming out of east grand forks, they are a very hardworking close nit team. And can no longer be considered the mob. I pick them to cause a little ruckus this year at sections and would also put them as a top sleeper

Believe me, Warroad and TRF are very aware of EGF. They already beat Warroad and the TRF/EGF game was a tight one all the way through. And this isn't the first hardworking EGF team in recent years. They were state participants in 98,99,01, and 02. And they were a goal or two away from getting back there in 06 and 08. They're usually in the thick of things every season. They have a good coaching staff and Jake Useldinger will have this team ready to go down the stretch.

Yeah, we'll see on saturday how egf really stacks up against warroad. I'll predict egf loses by no less than 4 goals...

Sartell the #4 seed at state????!!!!!! Are you serious? What justification for this?

Mite-dad wrote:Sartell the #4 seed at state????!!!!!! Are you serious? What justification for this?

A little puzzled by this one as well

bender09 wrote:if i was warroad and trf i would be scared of the greenwave this year. Unlike most teams coming out of east grand forks, they are a very hardworking close nit team. And can no longer be considered the mob. I pick them to cause a little ruckus this year at sections and would also put them as a top sleeper

..and what number are you on the roster? We'll see Saturday if EGF is for real!

Mite-dad wrote:Sartell the #4 seed at state????!!!!!! Are you serious? What justification for this?

Remember, I said if they win out.

Currently, I would put it as:
1. STA
2. Breck
3. Hermantown
4. Virginia
5. 8A
6. Sartell

Personally, I would say that the top three not making it is highly unlikely. So we are playing for one spot. Despite where the 8A teams are now, I would say Virginia winning out and making it puts them at #4 for sure. The 8A teams have proven little outside of section play, in my opinion, so stock could drop without them losing. Plus, both Warroad and TRF have losable games left and EGF making it would stir things up a bit.

If Sartell wins out and makes it to state, they will be on a 13 game win streak.

1. St. Thomas Academy
2. Breck
3. Hermantown
4. Mahtomedi
5. Warroad
6. Thief River Falls
7. Virginia
8. Hibbing
9. Duluth Denfeld
10. Alexandria
11. Blake
12. Orono
13. Delano
14. St. Cloud Cathedral
15. International Falls

Notables: Sartell/St. Stephen and Mound-Westonka

If warroad makes it out of the section they will get seeded at state, you can count on that one, you could almost say that based on pure reputation alone.
What do you mean warroad hasn't done much out outside their section, they already have 12 wins against none section opponents.

starmvp wrote:

Mite-dad wrote:Sartell the #4 seed at state????!!!!!! Are you serious? What justification for this?

A little puzzled by this one as well

Don't take it too seriously....... Sartell is a strong team, and maybe could do damage at state if they make it, no one is going to give them a top four seed though...

defense wrote:

starmvp wrote:

Mite-dad wrote:Sartell the #4 seed at state????!!!!!! Are you serious? What justification for this?

A little puzzled by this one as well

Don't take it too seriously....... Sartell is a strong team, and maybe could do damage at state if they make it, no one is going to give them a top four seed though...

If they win out and make it, which is what I said, what does Warroad have over them aside from reputation? And if Warroad doesn't make it, it's really up in the air. If they beat Virginia and make it, they are definitely #5, but I doubt anyone will vote them over Warroad.

HShockeywatcher wrote:

defense wrote:

starmvp wrote: A little puzzled by this one as well

Don't take it too seriously....... Sartell is a strong team, and maybe could do damage at state if they make it, no one is going to give them a top four seed though...

If they win out and make it, which is what I said, what does Warroad have over them aside from reputation? And if Warroad doesn't make it, it's really up in the air. If they beat Virginia and make it, they are definitely #5, but I doubt anyone will vote them over Warroad.

Exactly. Little Falls for the last 5 years was way better than Sartell this year and it took untill the 5th year before anyone cared. Regardless how Sartell finishes the year, they have not proven themselves to the level that anyone will take them seriously. This ranking has stated that they have not proven themselves.....
People around the Central Lakes Conference figure that Sartell is pretty good, and they are. If they go to state, they may make some people notice, that is why they play the game. They definitely can compete with the top 10 in the state in class a. After all of this, they will not be a top four seed at the state tournement because they are called Sartell.