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With only one month to go until sections, we’re heading into the final push for section seeds and high rankings. The top two spots seem to be solidifying, but beyond that, nothing is really settling into place quite yet. The simple truth is that this is one of the most wide-open races we’ve seen, and that we’ll have plenty of movement in the last few weeks of the season as well. But right now, this is where they stand:

1. Wayzata (15-2)
-While most of the rest of the top ten outside of the top two descends into turmoil, the Trojans simply keep on plugging along, as they nailed down two-goal wins over section rivals Holy Family and Eden Prairie. Their steadiness has been remarkable, yet the Lake schedule leaves them with no time to enjoy that success: this week, they bring two more top ten teams into the Plymouth Ice Center, including a section rival and one of the two teams to beat them. Two more wins would certainly silence the doubters here.
This week: Thurs vs. #6 Minnetonka, Sat vs. #7 Edina

2. Hill-Murray (14-2-1)
-The Pioneers rolled to two easy wins, including a demolition of decent Lakeville North. They are now deep into the Classic Suburban portion of their schedule, which should free them up for their share of stat-padding—except this coming Thursday, of course, when they take their third crack at the team with the best résumé in the state to date.
This week: Thurs vs. St. Thomas Academy, Sat vs. Tartan

3. Benilde-St. Margaret’s (12-5)
-One could pick names out of a hat in order to sort out the teams ranked 3-7 this week, and it would probably make as much sense as what I have here. Just when it seemed like the Red Knights were rounding into form, they saw a lead slip away in the frigid wind on Pokegama Lake and lost to Grand Rapids. Given the game conditions, I’m giving them something of a reprieve, but the losses are starting to mount here; they’re really only staying at #3 because of their very difficult schedule, and because I’m not quite convinced that any of the teams behind them deserve to move up this high. Their only game this week is against Elk River, whom they defeated 5-3 in late December.
This week: Tues vs. #14 Elk River

4. Eagan (13-3-1)
-The Wildcats sandwiched a narrow victory over Bloomington Jefferson between two blowout wins, which puts them comfortably atop the South Suburban. Their lack of games against teams in this elite tier really complicates their ranking, and another misstep will probably have them at the back of this pack. Seven of their last eight are in the conference; both of this week’s games should be wins, though Lakeville South gave them a good run back in December.
This week: Tues vs. Lakeville South, Thurs at Rosemount

5. Duluth East (13-4)
-The Hounds gave up a few more goals than they might have liked in their 3-game week, but they also found some offensive spark in back-to-back double digit wins. They’ve had their moments of doubt this season, but they do have wins over the two teams right below them, and if they can find a happy medium between the defensive dominance they showed earlier in the month and the scoring outburst this past week, they’ll be tough to beat. Up next is 7AA opponent Forest Lake, and who knows what they can expect out of Maple Grove this coming Saturday.
This week: Tues vs. Forest Lake, Sat vs. Maple Grove

6. Minnetonka (11-4-1)
-After a long stretch of less-than-convincing play, the Skippers rebounded this past week by scoring a big win at Edina and dispatching of Hopkins with relative ease. There’s a case for putting them higher, but then, one can make a case for just about anything in this part of the rankings, and I want a second big win before deciding to write off that tough stretch they went through. Their ugly loss to Benilde is their only section game to date, but that will change this coming week, as they face both Wayzata and Eden Prairie. Time to learn where this team belongs in the 6AA picture.
This week: Tues at Holy Angels, Thurs at #1 Wayzata, Sat vs. Eden Prairie

7. Edina (13-4)
-In this mess in the 3-7 range, someone has to drop by a seemingly unfair number of spots. The Hornets are the odd team out, largely because of their recent struggles—while all of their losses are quality losses, they have lost to the two teams immediately ahead of them, and their one win against a team in the top seven—Wayzata—was a long time ago. It’s not all bad news here: Edina has been known to go into slumps around this point in January, and Connor Hurley, who had been quiet lately, broke out of his slump with a big game against Holy Angels. But giving up 6 goals to the Stars isn’t exactly confidence-inspiring, either. A win over Wayzata would turn all of this around in a hurry.
This week: Thurs vs. Hopkins, Sat at #1 Wayzata

8. Centennial (13-3-1)
-The Cougars just keep on winning, and the victory over Jefferson is a nice added boost to the résumé as well. Though they’ll be favored in all three games this week, the Mounds View game could certainly be an interesting one, and we’ll see what sort of shape Maple Grove is in for the big 5AA match-up on Thursday.
This week: Tues vs. Mounds View, Thurs at Maple Grove, Sat vs. Champlin Park

9. Burnsville (9-7-1)
-Took care of business against the Lakevilles, which helps strengthen the weakest record among the top ten. On paper this is one of their easier weeks of South Suburban play, but with Eastview on the rise lately, they can’t take anything for granted.
This week: Tues vs. Rosemount, Sat vs. Eastview

10. Blaine (11-4-1)
-A host of suspensions took some of the drama out of the Bengals’ meeting with Maple Grove, and they coasted to some measure of revenge for that ugly loss in sections last season. They continue with a fairly easy stretch against Northwest Suburban teams this week, all in preparation for the early February meeting with Centennial.
This week: Thurs vs. Robbinsdale Armstrong, Sat at Osseo

11. Bloomington Jefferson (10-6)
-It was a tough week for the Jaguars, who dropped two one-goal games against top ten teams. Their competitiveness is a good sign, as is a tighter loss to Eagan the second time around, but it also shows they’re still on the outside looking in when it comes to the top ten. This week, they have rematches of their two biggest wins to date; if they can repeat those results, they should lock themselves into this section of the rankings, and could take some strides toward locking up a spot in the top 3 in 2AA.
This week: Tues at #12 Prior Lake, Thurs vs. Eden Prairie, Sat vs. Bloomington Kennedy

12. Prior Lake (10-6)
-The Lakers’ stint in the top ten was short-lived, and unsurprisingly, it was their offense that abandoned them in a loss to surging Eastview. The week ahead is a big moment for them; they lost to both Jefferson and South in their first meetings, and a second loss to Jefferson could really trouble their hopes to avoid Edina in the semifinal round of the playoffs.
This week: Tues vs. #11 Bloomington Jefferson, Sat at Lakeville South

13. Grand Rapids (11-4-3)
-A big overtime victory over Benilde vaults the Thunderhawks back into the top 15. This team has had its valleys this year, and a second tie against Cloquet proves they aren’t going to be sailing through sections. But they certainly have shown that they can beat anyone when they’re on, and this win should be enough to secure a top-3 seed in 7AA, at the very least. There’s a case for putting them higher, but there are just enough question marks here that one big outdoor win can’t get me to pull the trigger. With the two teams above them facing off this week, there’s a good chance they’ll be sliding up further fairly soon anyway. Their schedule over the last four weeks is rather sparse, with only six games, all against northern teams.
This week: Fri at International Falls

14. Elk River (11-7)
-Escaped a key section game against Andover with an overtime victory, and beat Champlin Park as well. It hasn’t always been pretty, but the Elks are doing what they need to do to stay relevant in the rankings. A huge test against Benilde looms; I’m curious to see what they make of it, especially after section opponent Rapids’ win over the Red Knights.
This week: Tues at #3 Benilde-St. Margaret’s, Thurs at Anoka

15. Holy Family (10-4)
-Played a pretty even game with Wayzata, which is a good sign for their chances heading into sections; the narrow loss actually makes me more satisfied with their place in the top 15 than any number of wins over conference opponents. They face three Class A teams this week, though one of them gave them a one-goal game the first time around, and Lourdes has some talent that could make things interesting, too.
This week: Tues at Litchfield-Dassel-Cokato, Thurs vs. Rochester Lourdes, Fri vs. Delano

The Next Ten

Cloquet (11-4-2)
-A second tie with Grand Rapids has the Jacks edging up the 7AA table, and a convincing win over a decent Denfeld squad is another big plus. They can lock up a spot in the top four in the section with a win over Andover in their only game this week, which falls on Tuesday.

Eastview (11-6)
-Two wins in a row over top teams for the surprising Lightning, who are doing a fine job of shutting down some quality opponents. We’ll see if they can keep the momentum going through the final month of South Suburban play. Burnsville poses this biggest challenge this week, though they can’t take Lakeville North for granted, either. If they knock off the Blaze, look out.

Eden Prairie (7-8-1)
-The Eagles are oddly consistent, though that isn’t really a good thing. Their last thirteen games have been decided by two goals or less, and in their last twelve, they have scored between one and four goals while giving up between one and four goals. All of this has come against a very difficult schedule, too. A below .500 season is becoming a distinct possibility, though all of these tough games mean they’ll never be short of opportunities to move up with a big win or two. This week they play at Jefferson, who beat them in December, and section opponent Minnetonka.

Maple Grove (9-8)
-Lost to Blaine, but the focus on the Crimson this week was off the ice, as the team must cope with a number of suspensions. The incident came at a very bad time, as they continue to face several top teams. Ranking teams in such situations is never easy, as one can logically argue that these games should be ignored as unrepresentative of a team’s abilities, or kept in play as punishment for their transgressions. I’ve settled for dropping them a few spots, though I will give them something of a pass on ugly results this week. For section seeding purposes, however, any losses this week—even to Anoka—should be taken into account.

Mounds View (11-4-2)
-Losing to Benilde is perfectly excusable, and the Mustangs hung with the Red Knights for longer than the 8-2 final score would suggest. The 5-1 loss to Cretin, however, is a second nasty loss to a Suburban East team. While they remain the class of the conference, losses like that make it very hard to consider them anything more than the best among a muddled group of borderline contenders.

White Bear Lake (7-7-1)
-With two one-goal losses to top ten teams and two comfortable wins against SEC competition in their last four, it looks like the youthful Bears are pulling it together. The week ahead is a huge one, with games against both Stillwater and Mounds View; they could be up to #2 or down to #5 or #6 in 4AA, depending on how those two go.

Brainerd (13-4)
-The streaking Warriors have won nine in a row, including wins over Moorhead and Roseau that suddenly have them sitting atop 8AA. They have a lot to do if they want to stay there—most notably this coming week, when they face a St. Cloud Tech team that beat them in December, plus a second Roseau game in eight days, with this one coming on the road. A perfect week would leave them in great shape for the top week in the section; a loss or two makes it very messy.

Moorhead (9-8-1)
-The Spuds restored some order this past week, ending a five-game skid with a win over previously undefeated East Grand Forks, and coasting to victory over Warroad. Only one game this week, but it’s a huge one, as they head up to Roseau to battle for positioning in 8AA.

Lakeville South (8-8)
-It wasn’t an overly impressive week for the Cougars, who gave up six to Burnsville and only narrowly defeated Rosemount. They kick off a very difficult two-week stretch on Tuesday when they visit Eagan, and Prior Lake also looms this week. Unless someone like Rochester Mayo knocks off the Lakevilles, there’s a decent chance the 1AA champion will not have a winning record in the regular season.

Roseau (10-6-1)
-The Rams’ offense abandoned them in consecutive shutout losses to East Grand Forks and Brainerd, though they atoned for that in a romp over St. Clout Tech. This week is their moment of truth, as both Moorhead and Brainerd make their way up to Memorial Arena—can they take move back to the top of 8AA, or will they drop out of the top 25?

On the bubble: Cretin-Derham Hall, Andover

As always, I appreciate your feedback. Until next week…

Nice job Karl agree that 3-7 is a mess.

Only team I do not agree with is HF. For a AA team, they have only 1 quality win against another AA team, and that was Maple Grove in their second game of the season.

I do not expect them to get a home game come section playoff time. With 4 of the 5 Lake schools and BSM in this section and the fact that they play in the Wright County Conference as the only AA school, i predict they will not get the coaches to side with them come seeding time.

Same issue affected Chan last year. They were 20-4-1, won the Missota, but were seeded 5th in 2AA, behind Jefferson at #4 who plays in the tough SSC.

Eastview, Mounds View and Cloquet are above HF IMO.

As always this is a great read each week, and as an ardent fan of high school hockey I appreciate the work that goes into this.

Also as a big EP fan I am as surprised as any with the season we have had. But if last night's game with Wayzata is an indication of what is to come this team could still be a factor. I thought the team had their best energy all year, and with the exception of a 5 minute lapse in the second period and a couple of fortunate Wayzata bounces, EP was the better team and could have skated away with a win. They were physical and for a change got scoring from other than the top line. The rest of the season is incredibly tough, but if they play with the same effort as last night and get a few bounces, they could surprise some late in the year.

If you look at the top 15 EP has beaten ER and PL, plus had the game in the bag against GR until a couple of late penalties that allowed them to score 2 late goals to tie. Plus they had some tough close losses to Wayzata, Edina, East and Jefferson. Only bad loss to a top 10 was the early game with Burnsville.

I guess time will tell but I'm not giving up on this team yet.

Go eagles!

Karl, awesome job again, but I miss seeing the section rankings here as well.

Eastview, Mounds View and Cloquet are above HF IMO.[/quote]

I do think its tough to rank a team like HF since they are in an A conference and play both AA and A schedule.

Looking at the same teams HF and Eastview and MV have played, it looks to me that HF would trump those 2 . Cloquet over HF in rankings is still debatable - neither has played the same team. So it is hard to compare.

HF vs Eastridge: HF wins 7-2
HF vs Wayzata: Zata wins 3-1
Eastview vs Wayzata: Zata wins 3-1
Eastview vs Eastridge: Eastridge wins 2-1
Moundsview vs Eastridge: Tie 4-4

I have to add that the 4 losses from HF have come against top competition as well:
#1 AA Wayzata - Very tight game,
#2 AA Edina (when they were #2).
#1 STA - tight game till the 3rd- Best team in the state IMO
#9 AA Elk River (when they were 9) - Very tight game

TheHockeyDJ wrote:Karl, awesome job again, but I miss seeing the section rankings here as well.

Ever notice that people complain about the section rankings missing every other week?

The outdoor games should be classified as exhibition games. That's true for any poll as well as by the MSHSL.


At this point in the season, section ranking need on;y come every other week. And I'm not just saying that in an effort to ingratiate myself to Karl in an effort to have him exert his considerable influence to have the Hounds get HM back on the schedule.

I've said this before and I'll say it again, just because you played strong teams doesn't mean you should be ranked.

Eastview has beat both Eagan and Prior Lake, who were ranked in Karl's top 10, but he has them behind HF. That doesn't pass my litmus test for ranking.

blueblood wrote:I've said this before and I'll say it again, just because you played strong teams doesn't mean you should be ranked.

Eastview has beat both Eagan and Prior Lake, who were ranked in Karl's top 10, but he has them behind HF. That doesn't pass my litmus test for ranking.

Right--but Eastview has also lost to Apple Valley(!), Rosemount, and East Ridge. Holy Family has no margin for error with their conference schedule, but they haven't really made any errors in it (yet). Everyone other than Elk River in that part of the rankings has a head-scratching loss or two, but not the Fire. They also have some Class A wins of note (Totino, St. Cloud Cathedral), and deserve some credit for that.

Unlike last year's Chanhassen team, which you mentioned in a previous post, they have some name recognition (ie. Gersich, Peterson). While they obviously don't get the attention of their 6AA rivals, they have been getting some attention all year long. Even if the schedule makes them difficult to judge, I suspect the other coaches in this section are taking them seriously.

Re: Eden Prairie

I also like their chances of getting a big win or two down the stretch. Seven of their last eight games are against higher-ranked teams, which is just brutal, but I would not be at all surprised to see them win 2-3 of those. I don't know if that would be enough to get them more than a 4-seed or spur them along a great run through sections, but they've been close enough in all of these losses that the potential is there.

Re: Section Rankings

As HShockeywatcher notes, they appear every other week, though if someone has questions about an individual section I'd be happy to address them, and I'll go post something about 7AA over on that thread, too.

East Side Pioneer Guy wrote:And I'm not just saying that in an effort to ingratiate myself to Karl in an effort to have him exert his considerable influence to have the Hounds get HM back on the schedule.

If only I could. Though I'm not sure an East-Hill game would be very much fun next year, at least for those of us up north.

blueblood wrote:I've said this before and I'll say it again, just because you played strong teams doesn't mean you should be ranked.

Eastview has beat both Eagan and Prior Lake, who were ranked in Karl's top 10, but he has them behind HF. That doesn't pass my litmus test for ranking.

Fair enough. If it doesn't matter if you have played,beaten or lost to strong or ranked teams.

Then the only 'litmus test' we just have to go with is the common opponent that both teams have played so far and that would only be Eastridge.

HF smoked Eastridge. Eastridge beat Eastview. Would that be good enough to have HF ranked ahead of Eastview?

I struggle to see HF getting a top 4 seed. The way I see it right now, BSM and Wayzata are battling for #1, well EP and Tonka are battling for #3. However, still plenty of section games to change that.

Metrohockeyfan wrote:I struggle to see HF getting a top 4 seed. The way I see it right now, BSM and Wayzata are battling for #1, well EP and Tonka are battling for #3. However, still plenty of section games to change that.

So do I. But the question Blueblood was asking about was having HF ranked ahead Eastview.

blueblood wrote:I've said this before and I'll say it again, just because you played strong teams doesn't mean you should be ranked.

Eastview has beat both Eagan and Prior Lake, who were ranked in Karl's top 10, but he has them behind HF. That doesn't pass my litmus test for ranking.

It's not simply about who you lost to, but how you lost to them.

Sure, they got rolled by St Thomas and Edina by a combined margin of 10 goals, back when the two of them were each #1 in their respective classes. Then this past week they lost in Wayzata by the same score Hill lost by in Wayzata. As karl pointed out, they also have no bad losses on their schedule. With their 1 goal away loss to #14 Elk River coming 9 games ago, someone could easily argue they aren't high enough with the Wayzata result this week.

Having them higher than Eastview should be a no brainer, although where to rank them is tough. It'd be interesting to see what happens if they were able to pull an upset at Benilde...

I'm curious to see how their schedule will change next year. 12 games on their schedule currently come against [Class A] conference opponents, another 5 against quality private Class A competition and 2 against AA teams I could easily see them dropping for next year.
Getting Minnetonka and Eden Prairie on their schedule should be a priority. It'd be interesting to see if any of the bottom 3 Wright County teams would be interested in only having one game.

With their leading scorers being sophomores, only 2 seniors in their top 8 scorers and neither goalie being a senior, next year looks to be bright, as well as the following year. With an 8th grader getting varsity time in net and a freshman 8th on the team in scoring, they have a bright future for a while.

Don't expect the 2 Sophs to be sticking around till their Sr year. Very doubtful 1 of them will even be there next season IMO.

Vapor wrote:Don't expect the 2 Sophs to be sticking around till their Sr year. Very doubtful 1 of them will even be there next season IMO.

Any insight on something happening with Gersich?

If he does stay, they are a very up and coming team and I wouldn't be surprised to see them at the X one of the next two years, if not both.
Even if they lose him, they should still be pretty good going forward.

i have multiple things i want to cover in this post.

first, i think BSM is to inconsistent and i would prefer to see East or Eagan at 3 and 4 and then BSM at 5 just my thoughts about that.

Next, Edina's struggles seemed to have changed in the sense from offense to defense. When everyone was hurt they were struggling scoring but back-up goalie Rohkohl was playing well only giving up 2 goals to each Hill and Burnsville but now it appears edina is really missing Benjamin with Rohkohl giving up 4 goals on 16 shots against tonka and then 6 goals on 24 shots to AHA.

Though Eden prairie has not played great this year, they have a very talented team and in 6AA they might e one of the last teams i would want to play as they have the ability to play with anyone especially if they start figuring it out, i think EP could be a dangerous team.

And last for this Holy Family discussion, even if Gersich stays and though there future looks bright, they are in 6AA and someone said they would not be surprised to see them in 1 or 2 years at the X if not both years, i would actually be very surprised to see them next year for sure and a little surprised to see them in 2 years since they still have BSM, Tonka, EP and Wayzata who is ranked #1 with only 5 seniors on there team and 9 sophomores along with the #1 ranked bantam team coming in next year there future also looks very bright.
Of course this matters a lot on the realignment of the sections which i don't remember if its after this year or next year but either way he will most likely face some of those teams or perhaps a mix of teams from 2AA like Edina Burnsville and Prior lake whose youth program has been great and looks like a team on the rise also.
so what im saying is its gonna be hard to tell when we see them at the X when they could be playing in such hard sections no matter how good there team is.

East Side Pioneer Guy wrote:The outdoor games should be classified as exhibition games. That's true for any poll as well as by the MSHSL.

Why?

green4 wrote:And last for this Holy Family discussion, even if Gersich stays and though there future looks bright, they are in 6AA and someone said they would not be surprised to see them in 1 or 2 years at the X if not both years, i would actually be very surprised to see them next year for sure and a little surprised to see them in 2 years since they still have BSM, Tonka, EP and Wayzata who is ranked #1 with only 5 seniors on there team and 9 sophomores along with the #1 ranked bantam team coming in next year there future also looks very bright.

To be clear, I'm not making any predictions here. If last year showed us anything, nothing is guaranteed in section 6AA. Not only did the 7th seed upset the 2nd, but the 3rd seed won the section, and state.

That being said, of the 4 teams likely to be seeded above them this year:
-3 have senior starting goalies (EP's is a soph)
-3 of BSM's top 4 in scoring are seniors
-Tonka's 4 top scorers are seniors
-2 of EP's 5 skaters with more than 10 points are seniors
-Wayzata's top 5 in points are NOT seniors

It appears that in the near future, Wayzata is the team to beat in this section, although I wouldn't be surprised to see Holy Family with a seed 2 or 3 higher next year than they get this year.
Having one of the best forwards in the state can only be good for your team

Top 30 teams

1 Wayzata (15-2)
2 Edina (13-4)
3 Hill-Murray (14-2-1)
4 Duluth East (13-4)
5 Benilde-St. Margaret's (12-5)
6 Eagan (13-3-1)
7 Minnetonka (11-4-1)
8 Centennial (13-3-1)
9 Blaine (11-4-1)
10 Bloomington Jefferson (10-6)
11 Eastview (11-6)
12 Mounds View (11-4-2)
13 Burnsville (9-7-1)
14 Grand Rapids (11-4-3)
15 Brainerd/Pillager/Pierz (13-4)
16 Prior Lake (10-6)
17 Holy Family Catholic (10-4)
18 Moorhead (9-8-1)
T-19 C-E-C (11-4-2)
T-19 Elk River/Zimmerman (11-7)
21 Roseau (10-6-1)
22 White Bear Lake (7-7-1)
23 Lakeville South (8-8 )
24 Cretin-Derham Hall (10-6-1)
25 Hastings (9-6-1)
26 St. Francis (11-6)
27 Tartan (14-2)
T-28 Eden Prairie (7-8-1)
T-28 Forest Lake (10-8 )
30 Stillwater Area (7-7-1)

And if yo do not like the previous ones heres another Top 30.

1 HILL MURRAY
3 BENILDE ST MARGARETS
4 EDINA
5 WAYZATA
6 DULUTH EAST
7 MINNETONKA
8 EAGAN
9 BURNSVILLE
10 BLAINE
11 GRAND RAPIDS
12 CLOQUET
13 BLOOM JEFFERSON
14 CENTENNIAL
15 WHITE BEAR LAKE
16 HOLY FAMILY CATHOLIC
17 PRIOR LAKE
18 ELK RIVER
19 MOUNDS VIEW
20 STILLWATER
21 EDEN PRAIRIE
22 MOORHEAD
23 MAPLE GROVE
24 ROSEVILLE
25 EASTVIEW
26 ROSEAU
27 CRETIN DERHAM HALL
28 LAKEVILLE SOUTH
29 FOREST LAKE
30 TARTAN

But what do compuers' know...
I prefer Karl's.

elliott70 wrote:But what do compuers' know...
I prefer Karl's.

green4 wrote:first, i think BSM is to inconsistent and i would prefer to see East or Eagan at 3 and 4 and then BSM at 5 just my thoughts about that.

Next, Edina's struggles seemed to have changed in the sense from offense to defense. When everyone was hurt they were struggling scoring but back-up goalie Rohkohl was playing well only giving up 2 goals to each Hill and Burnsville but now it appears edina is really missing Benjamin with Rohkohl giving up 4 goals on 16 shots against tonka and then 6 goals on 24 shots to AHA.

Thanks for the post. In response to the BSM point--if BSM has been inconsistent, what does that make East (losing to Denfeld) or Eagan (losing to Eastview)? I agree that is a bit annoying to keep them there even after a loss to an unranked team, but three of their losses are to teams above them (I'm including STA in that, and they also beat one of those teams after initially losing to them), while the other two are pretty good teams. And although the number next to their name did not drop, their standing certainly did. Last week, I would've put them in a top tier with three other teams (Hill, Wayzata, Edina). This week, that top tier is down to two.

As for Edina, I'm curious to see what adjustments they might make for the Wayzata game, if any. Do we have any idea when Benjamin might be back?