After a weeks' hiatus, here are the latest 7A rankings.
Overall record and 7A record are given for each team.
1. Hermantown- 12-1-1 (2-0) The Hawks continue to win. They play two more AA teams this coming week.
2. Greenway- 10-3-1 (5-2) The Raiders got buried by Hermantown, beat a respectable Minneapolis squad 6-2, and had games vs I-Falls and North Shore postponed due to weather. The good news is that they are rescheduling these games, along with the previously postponed games against Breck and Lourdes.
It is also good news that top forward Troumbly avoided surgery on his injured foot, leaving the door open for a possible return for section playoffs, which would be a huge boost to the Raiders. This week their only game is vs Lourdes, but next week they will play Virginia, GR, and I-Falls.
The Raiders’ prospects of getting the #2 seed are looking strong. They have a difficult schedule remaining which includes GR, Breck, Duluth Marshall, and SPA. They could go 0-4 in those games but as long as they are at least competitive, I don’t think it would hurt their seeding. If they win just one of those games, then I feel they are a lock for #2, provided they beat all the lesser opponents they have remaining.
Side Note: At this point, I’m considering the 7A semifinal on the #2 and #3 side of the bracket to be the real 7A title game. Plante was fond of saying his teams were “The Public School Champs” when he would lose to big city teams at state, so I figured it’s fine if I do the same. I just need to come up with a proper title for a 7A context. Here are the ones I have so far:
• “The Play Single A at Both Youth and High School Champs”
• “The Not a Suburb of a 250,000 Person Metro Area Champs”
• “The Non Open Enrollment Champs”
Perhaps I’ll post a poll and let the masses decide on the winner.
3. Hibbing- 10-4 (4-1) The Bluejackets steamrolled Mayo and Albert Lea, 5-1 and 4-1, respectively, while outshooting them 102-19 combined. They then followed this southern road trip up with a convincing 7-3 win at Virginia. Beating up on mediocre competition isn’t impressive, but at least they continue to beat the teams they should beat.
Hibbing stays at #3 because they still lack that signature win. This week they play Superior, GR, and EGF. While beating Superior wouldn’t be a big win, and beating GR is highly unlikely, a win over EGF might be enough to get the Bluejackets up to #2. Of Hibbing’s 11 remaining games, two of them are almost sure losses (GR and Herm), eight are games they should absolutely win (Superior, Denfeld, Warroad, TRF, Proctor, I-Falls, Eveleth, Virginia), and the other game is vs EGF. Therefore, EGF is Hibbing’s last realistic chance at a signature win, and even then Greenway already beat EGF, so Hibbing may need a Greenway bad/unexpected loss to pass them.
4. Eveleth- 9-7 (4-3) The Golden Bears ran off three wins over Albert Lea 7-3, Mayo 4-3, and Becker 6-3 before falling to Princeton 2-1. Not a real impressive list of foes, but it is enough to move them up to #4.
Eveleth only plays one game this week, but it could be a doozy. The red hot I-Falls Broncos come to town in the 7A Game of the Week.
5. North Shore- 8-4-1 (2-0) The Storm lost big to Superior 7-0, beat Pine City 2-0, then took a solid St. Louis Park team to OT before losing 4-3.
Their chance to make a 7A statement vs Greenway was frozen out this week, but they play Virginia and I-Falls this week, so two wins could get them all the way up to #4, which would be the highest they’ve ever been ranked in 7A, as far as I know.
6. I-Falls- 6-8 (2-4) The Broncos beat Ely 6-3 and Virginia 5-0 to run their winning streak to five games. Sadly their game against Greenway was postponed, as that would have been a great test to see just how hot these border-dwelling pucksters could get.
Fortunately, they have a
massive 7A opportunity this week, as they have games vs Eveleth, North Shore, and Denfeld. A sweep this week would propel them into the top five and be a great story for a team that started the year 0-7. I’m pulling for them.
7. Virginia- 5-10 (3-4) The Blue Devils’ rough patch continued, as they lost to Eagan 3-0, I-Falls 5-0, and Hibbing 7-3. Their season is descending into the abyss, as they have now lost 7 straight, by a combined score of 35-7!
It is true this team has been decimated by injuries, as Seitz has missed almost the entire season, Lamppa hasn’t played much, and now their 2nd best player Murray is out. Any team would be hurting without 3 of their 4 best offensive options, but Virginia has looked particularly anemic, especially on the power play. I still maintain that at full strength the Devils are the 4th best team in 7A with a realistic shot at beating Hibbing or Greenway, but until they get healthy this is just an opinion from a moron, nothing more.
What concerns me about the Blue Devils is that their vaunted sophomore class isn’t showing many signs of having next-level talent. Whether it was against a stronger team in Hibbing or a weaker team in I-Falls I didn’t see any flashes that made me think “Man this team will be good next year.” What I see is a deep collection of quality B to B+ players, but no A level budding stars like they have in Seitz. These kids will come back bigger, stronger, and more confident next season and the overall depth should make them at least top 3 in 7A, but my previous feeling they were runaway favorites in 7A is eroding rapidly. Perhaps seeing Seitz play again will restore my faith.
They play North Shore, Cathedral, and Sauk Rapids this week.
8. Denfeld- 2-14 (1-3) The Hunters picked up their first 7A win over Proctor 5-4, and had respectable losses vs East 4-1 and Hermantown 5-1.
Wins have been hard to come by for this rebuilding squad, and their brutal schedule doesn’t get any easier this week as they play Duluth Marshall, Cloquet, and surging I-Falls.
9. Proctor-8-8 (1-3) The Rails beat Moose Lake 8-2, Hayward 3-1, and lost in OT to Denfeld 5-4.
This week they take on Mora and Providence Academy.
10. Ely- 6-6 (0-3) The Wolves are winning some games and having a solid season, but no wins vs 7A teams yet.
The 7A Game of the Week: I-Falls at Eveleth. The Broncos are on a roll and the Golden Bears have been solid, but not great, as of late. When these teams met earlier in the season, Eveleth won the game 5-4, but I-Falls outshot them 50-27! (If the Hub can be believed.) Given this result and the Broncos’ momentum, I’ll take the purple jerseys to win 5-3.