5A Contenders

[rbksniper11]

who has the best chance to upset Hermantown?

[mnhockeynemn]

who has the best chance to upset Hermantown?

probably none of these teams.

[HShockeywatcher]

who has the best chance to upset Hermantown?

None of these teams will. No one will touch them. I think Sauk Rapids could keep it close, but I believe they will beat a Breck team they are better than in the semi's and lose to St Thomas in the final.

[royals03]

Who can beat the Hawks anyone can if they play the right game to beat them. Now the question is does any team in that section have that game hidden in their arsenal? I would like to say Rogers could, but they are young and such an up and down team this year due to youth. I think all the kids from the A bantam team from last year are finding out HS hockey is very different.
Now with that being said Rogers has played some great games this year beating Cathedral 4-1, tying Sartell and even leading a very strong Osseo team into the third period where thet completely fell apart. The other night they beat Orono 1-0, now I know that isn't a great win, but Rogers was missing 5 players in that game 4 forwards off their 1st and 2nd lines and a defenseman off their first pairing. That could be a sign of the younger kids growing up just before playoffs, but we will see as they still have two important games left in conference to capture the title.
Now I would not wager my house on them beating the Hawks, but if they get to play them I hope I am kicking myself after the game for not making the bet.
Question does Hermantown have anything to look forward to next year or is this their year and then a down year?

[mnhockeynemn]

With the game they played against denfeld recently, I think denfeld has a good chance at the upset.

[Northhcky]

With the game they played against denfeld recently, I think denfeld has a good chance at the upset.

Game wasnt even close except the score. Hawks outshot them 53-27. Doubt denfeld has a prayer.

[mnhockeynemn]

With the game they played against denfeld recently, I think denfeld has a good chance at the upset.

Game wasnt even close except the score. Hawks outshot them 53-27. Doubt denfeld has a prayer.

Shots don't matter if you have a hot goaltender, only scores count.

[barnorthhockeyguy]

Thompson is a real good goalie. Hot goaltending can take a team far. Hunters took the hawks to overtime. I would say they have a good chance of a upset come playoffs. With that being said hawks are the favorite. Senior lead team. Best part of the year coming up cant wait for sections to start.

[mnhockeynemn]

Thompson is a real good goalie. Hot goaltending can take a team far. Hunters took the hawks to overtime. I would say they have a good chance of a upset come playoffs. With that being said hawks are the favorite. Senior lead team. Best part of the year coming up cant wait for sections to start.

I agree Hermantown is by far the favorite, i'm just saying if anyone has a chance is any I think it would be Denfeld. But for the most part, I think Hermantown can start packing their bags.

On another note, I think it will still be interesting when they play Hibbing, I think that should be a good regular season ender for both teams, before sections start.

[curtiscurve]

Any one of these teams is capable of pulling a upset. If I were forced to pick one, I would have to go with Cathedral. Being the champ the past 2 years is an advantage. They are well coached and a very disciplined hockey team.

[rbksniper11]

Seedings for the section tourney...

1) Hermantown
2) Duluth Denfeld
3) St. Cloud Cathedral
4) Rogers
5) Sauk Rapids
6) Proctor
7) STMA
North Branch
9) Moose Lake
10) Mora
11) Pine City
12) Meadow Creek Christian Academy

[Northhcky]

Any one of these teams is capable of pulling a upset. If I were forced to pick one, I would have to go with Cathedral. Being the champ the past 2 years is an advantage. They are well coached and a very disciplined hockey team.

Hermantown shut out Cathedral a month ago 8-0 and held them to just 14 shots. Game was a total domination by the Hawks.

[Northlandhockey77]

No Proctor in this conversation???

They lost only 2-0 and 7-3 which was tied going into the third... Always play good against Hermantown.

Do they have a chance to get by Cathedral and maybe Denfeld though?

[HShockeywatcher]

No Proctor in this conversation???

They lost only 2-0 and 7-3 which was tied going into the third... Always play good against Hermantown.

Do they have a chance to get by Cathedral and maybe Denfeld though?

Proctor is a very inconsistent team. They'll play a good team tough and win or lose close then you look and they beat a bad team really close. So, they would definitely be a dark horse, but losing 0-8 to Denfeld doesn't give me much hope they'll beat Cathedral, although it's always nice to see bottom dwellers make moves.

[rbksniper11]

Sauk absolutely dominated Proctor. They have been playing well as of late, only losing to Brainerd 2-1 last week. Why not them?

[TuckerMax93]

Sauk absolutely dominated Proctor. They have been playing well as of late, only losing to Brainerd 2-1 last week. Why not them?

Because you just cited a moral victory as a reason they could win. I'd love to see it, but doubt it would ever happen. I wish you and the rest of the Storm the best of luck.

[fkahckyprofessor20]

It's pretty clear that anyone beating Hermantown in this section would be a fairly significant upset. With this section I think you can look all the way to the six seed as a very slight but possible chance for upset.

2) Denfeld - They have the best goaltender in the section and he's very consistent. He literally hasn't had a bad game all year. He is a Freshman though, so he's going to need to be mentally tough come playoff time. Due to a scare they gave Hermantown in the regular season I like to think Denfeld has the best chance for upset here.

3) SCC - Cathedral has great coaching and they play a very disciplined game. They don't get frantic and they don't take dumb penalties - this can take you a long way come playoff time. If they can get a stellar game from their goaltender, watch out.

4) Rogers - Definitely a somewhat inconcsistent team this year. They have beat some good teams and lost to some questionable ones. I like them as a darkhorse, if anyone looks past these guys they might be in for a rude awakening.

5) Sauk Rapids - Every year they are so tough in the section tournament. It doesn't really matter what they do during the regular season. They always get to the semi's and play a team really tough before losing a close one. One of these years, they're going to break through.

6) Proctor - The only reason I want to include Proctor here is because if they get to a matchup with Hermantown there's a an extra motivation factor here for the Rails. Hermantown is a huge rivalry and has been for a very long time. Hermantown has consistently had their way with Proctor recently, but the Rails have the goaltender to pull off the upset if they can put together a strong performance.

All that being said, it should be a fun sectional tournament come semi-final time.