A Rankings for 12/25/21

[ClassAGuy]

This is a little late but from last Saturday prior to the holiday tournaments...

Class A Ranking Week #5 (12/25/2021)

1-Hermantown (7A) (6-1-0)
Past Week Results: L 2-4 Cretin Durham Hall
Upcoming Schedule: 12/28 vs. EGF, 12/29 vs. Orono, 12/30 vs. Delano
The Hawks suffered their first loss of the year at the hands of AA CDH. In a very entertaining game that went back and forth the Hawks were able to tie the game up 2-2 with about 10 minutes to go however, the Raiders were able to get the key go ahead goal and add an empty net to seal Hermantown’s first loss of the year. The Holidays bring some Class A flavor to the Hawks schedule as they host three Top 20 teams in EGF, Orono and Delano all will give the State Top Class A team their best shot.

2-Warroad (8A) (8-0-0)
Past Week Results: W 3-0 Thief River Falls
Upcoming Schedule: 12/29 vs. Grafton, 12/30 vs Osseo, 12/31 vs International Falls
The Warriors took care of business in their only game of the week as they dominated the Prowlers at the Gardens from start to finish. In a game where they outshot TRF 44-11 they used a goal in each period to win a big Section 8A game convincingly. Warroad will next host their annual holiday tournament where they should cruise to three more wins and enter the new year undefeated.

3-Mahtomedi (4A) (4-4-0)
Past Week Results: L 1-2 OT Stillwater
Upcoming Schedule: 12/28 Minot, 12/29 Roseau, 12/30 St Louis Park
The Zephyrs dropped a tough one to their AA rival Stillwater in a rare game where they actually outshot their opponent 38-34 the offensive woes of late continued as they were only able to convert on one of their 30 plus shots Dardis was good as always but again only scoring one goal was not enough. Mahtomedi heads to the far north this Christmas break with a fun matchup with AA offensively gifted Rams as the highlight of their 3 game slate in Roseau.

4-Little Falls (5A) (9-0-0)
Past Week Results: W 5-4 Brainerd
Upcoming Schedule: 12/28 vs Northern Lakes, 12/29 vs Wadena Deer Creek, 12/30 vs Windom
The Flyers jumped out to a 5-2 lead in the third period over AA Brainerd behind Hayden Johnson’s 3 point night. After that they had to hang on for a tight 5-4 win to improve to an impressive (9-0-0) so far on the season. This week they stay home and host their own holiday classic with an intriguing matchup vs Northern Lakes to lead things off. The Lightning upset the Flyers last year at Exchange Arena. I am assuming they have not forgotten.

5-Delano (2A) (6-2-0)
Past Week Results: L 2-3 Orono
Upcoming Schedule: 12/28 @ Hibbing 12/30 @ Hermantown
Tough week for the Tigers are their path to the top seed in 2A which will be important and took a major hit as they dropped their only meeting of the season with rival Orono on their home ice. In a game that looked similar to their other lose calls with section teams of late the Tigers could not capitalize on their chances and eventually ran out of time to come back in the game. This week they will need to regroup fast as a trip north over the holidays includes a big showdown with the top ranked Hawks.

6-Minneapolis (2A) (6-2-0)
Past Week Results: W 4-1 Totino Grace, L 2-5 St Louis Park
Upcoming Schedule: 12/27 Southwest Christian, 12/28 TBD, 12/29 TBD
Minneapolis was able to get back on the ice on Monday night and they showed little signs of rust. On the road against a decent Totino Grace team they were able to overcome an early one goal deficit and score four unanswered behind Jack Hanson’s three point night. The good feelings though did not last long as Minneapolis dropped a rare Wednesday afternoon matinee to St Louis Park. They fell behind 3-0 and never could get it tied up before a few empty net goals near the end sealed their fate of their 2nd loss on the season. The Holidays present a good tournament for them in the Herb Brooks Classic Gold Division where they open up with a big game vs. Section 2A Southwest Christian.

7-Duluth Denfeld (7A) (6-2-0)
Past Week Results: Idle
Upcoming Schedule: 12/28 Spring Lake Park, 12/29 TBD, 12/30 TBD
The Hunters big week of two tough tests was quickly washed out as both games were postponed due to some COVID Protocol issue within the Denfeld team. This week they stay home for the holidays and host a very winnable tournament. They open up with Spring Lake Park and will look to keep up their recent hot streak going of late.

8-Northfield (1A) (5-1-0)
Past Week Results: W 10-2 St Paul Academy
Upcoming Schedule: 12/27 Holy Angels, 12/28 TBD, 12/29 TBD
Northfield moves up based on their recent dominant performance as they have outscored their opponents 29-4 during this five game win streak. In their only game this past week they traveled up to St Paul to take on SPA and behind Spencer Klotz’s 7 point night the Raiders blew out the Spartans 10-2. The Holidays present a good tournament for Northfeild as they are in the Herb Brooks Classic Gold Division where they open up with a nice match up against a good AA Holy Angels.

9-Fergus Falls (6A) (7-2-0)
Past Week Results: L 1-2 River Lakes
Upcoming Schedule: 12/27 New Ulm, 12/28 Kittson Central, 12/29 Detroit Lakes
Fergus Falls dropped a shocking game at River Lakes to continue their recent struggles of late. In the game they fell behind 2-0 after one period and were unable to mount much offense after that. This game is very concerning as the Otters should not be dropped games to mid to lower tier Class A teams. They will need to get things figured out quickly because their holiday tournament is highlighted with a key rematch vs. ranked Detroit Lakes. The Otters are in need of a big win to get their status as an elite Class A team back on track as it was near the start of the year.

10-Alexandria (6A) (3-3-1)
Past Week Results: T 2-2 St Cloud
Upcoming Schedule: 12/29 @ Gentry Academy
The Cards only had one game on the week and it was a good one. The game was a back and forth affair between them and AA St Cloud. The Cards were outshot but Josiah Gronholz’s 2 points and the good goaltending from Teagan Pfeffer who had 36 stops helped Alexandria hang on for the tie. Aecandria is getting better goaltending of late and appears to be rounding into form as we enter the new year. Just one game over the Holiday Break but its an intriguing one as they take on Gentry Academy on the road.

11-Providence Academy (2A) (6-2-0)
Past Week Results: W 3-2 Holy Family
Upcoming Schedule: 12/28 Sauk Rapids, 12/29 St Cloud, 12/30 Sartell
The Lions won a big road game over Holy Family behind Louie Wehmann’s 2 goal night and the emergence of sophomore goalie Evan Villagomez who has 35 saves and improved his record to (5-0-0) on the year. The Lions stock continues to rise and now with the emergence of young goalie Evan Villagomez appears to have cured one of the defensive issues that was hurting in the start of the year. This week they head to the Granite City area to take on 3 teams from that area of the state. The 2nd two games should provide good AA tests for this rising squad.

12-East Grand Forks (8A) (4-5-0)
Past Week Results: L 2-5 Bemidji
Upcoming Schedule: 12/28 @ Hermantown
The Greenwave’s free fall through the rankings continued this week as they dropped another game where they controlled and out shot their opponent; they stay above Detroit Lakes due to their to head win for now. The defensive and goaltending woes are looking to be very difficult to overcome not to mention beyond Panzer the offense doesn't have the depth we are accustomed to either. Only one game over the holidays and it's a big one as they travel to Hermantown for a big time Class A Match up.

13-Detroit Lakes (8A) (6-3-0)
Past Week Results: W 7-3 Morris Benson
Upcoming Schedule: 12/27 Kittson Central, 12/28 New Ulm, 12/29 Fergus Falls
The Lakers found themselves in a surprising battle with Morris Benson as it was a one goal game late in the second. Behind Beau Boehne’s big 5 point night the Lakers were able to pull away and win their third straight game. Over the Holidays they head to Fergus Falls with the big rematch vs the Otters the highlight of the holiday three game slate.

14-Northern Lakes (6A) (4-2-0)
Past Week Results: W 15-0 Breckenridge-Wahpeton
Upcoming Schedule: 12/28 vs Little Falls , 12/29 vs Windom, 12/30 vs Wadena Deer Creek
The Lightning blew out the 6A Blades in an ugly game for the Blades. Northern Lakes now sets its sights on the Holidays where they travel down to Little Falls. The opening round matchup vs the Flyers will be a good one to watch to see where the Lightning is at as far as competing with the upper tier teams in Class A. The last game vs Wadena Deer Creek is also starting to appear to be a big game for 6A Seeding.

15-St. Cloud Cathedral (5A) (5-3-0)
Past week: Idle
Upcoming Schedule: 12/28 vs. River Lakes, 12/29 vs Sauk Rapids, 12/30 vs St. Cloud
The Crusaders decided to take the week off leading up their Granite City Classic Clash over the holiday break. They open with two crucial Section 5A games vs River Lakes and Sauk Rapids before they wrap up with a big cross town rivalry game with St. Cloud with the emotional tie in of playing the game in honor of former teammate Mack Motzko.

16-Mankato East (3A) (7-3-0)
Past Week: W 3-0 Minnesota River
Upcoming Schedule: 12/27 Roseville, 12/28 TBD, 12/29 TBD
The Cougars won a crucial Section 3A game against Minnesota River, which plays in the Big South against the majority of 3A teams, and Mankato East only plays West and Bulldogs this season from 3A. They dominated this one and were led to the 3-0 win by Caelin Brueske’s shut out. Next they head to the Herb Brooks Classic Gold Division where they open up with a good test vs surprisingly stout AA Roseville.

17-Chisago Lakes (4A) (7-1-1)
Past Week Results: W 6-3 Duluth Marshall
Upcoming Schedule: 12/28 @ Forest Lake
The Wildcats were in a battle with struggling Duluth Marshall until they blew open a tied game in with a big 3rd period as Nicholas Helland and Cameron Stangl each had 4 point nights to help the Wildcats win their 7th game on the young year. The Wildcats just have one game on their schedule over the holidays, a trip over to AA Forest Lake.

18-Rochester Lourdes (1A) (6-1-0)
Past Week Results: W 5-0 Red Wing
Upcoming Schedule: 12/28 Luverne, 12/29 Bloomington Kennedy, 12/30 Albert Leas
Lourdes won a critical Section 1A game on the road in Red Wing for their 6th straight win. Adian Ritter and Matt Mahoney each had 2 goals and Xander Carter-Kleven had his 2nd consecutive shutout to get the Eagles a nice section road win. This week they host their annual Kiwanis Tournament with a rematch with Luverne and another big Section 1A game vs. Albert Lea to bookend the event.

19-Simley (4A) (7-2-0)
Past Week Results: W 3-1 South St Paul, W 6-2 St Paul Johnson
Upcoming Schedule: 12/27 Northern Edge, 12/28 TBD, 12/29 TBD
Simley has rattled off 5 straight wins and is undefeated against Section 4A opponents. They will be battling Chisago Lakes for the 2 seed all winter. Their heavy Section 4A schedule may help them get the nod in the coaches vote. This is a senior heavy team who has been playing good hockey of late. They play in the Herb Brooks Silver Division for the Holidays, a good chance to build up three more wins.

20- Orono (2A) (4-5-1)
Past Week Results: W 3-2 Delano
Upcoming Schedule: 2/29 @ Hermantown
Welcome back Spartans I just think even though they are below .500 like EGF of their five losses (LF, Mahtomedi, Monticello, TG and St Louis Park) only the loss to the Moose is a bad one. I know Mound beat the Moose but Orono’s win over Delano and I just think they showed against LF they are capable of beating Top 10 teams. Bradley Walker is their engine; he and goaltender Brock Peyton will need to be at their best as they just have a trip to the Hawk Nest over the Holiday Break.

The Next Five Notable Class A Teams-
Southwest Christian (2A) (4-2-1)- The Stars just don’t own any big wins. Their tie vs likely 2A 10 seed Kennedy on home ice this week was just too ugly to keep ranking them for now. The Herb Brooks Gold Classic will give them a chance to rebound.

Cambridge (5A) (5-2-0)- The Blue Jackets have now won 5 in a row and the infusion of freshman goaltender Sibell has made this a different team. They have a good match up with Greenway over the holidays also on this next 5 list.

New Ulm (3A) (6-1-0)- They had a nice OT win over previously ranked Mound Westonka to show they can play in the middle tier of Class A. They have a good holiday test vs. top tier Fergus Falls and Detroit Lakes to see where they stand with the rest of the state.

Greenway (7A) (3-1-0)- Limited sample size of games but they did take Gentry Academy to the wire. A game vs Cambridge over the holidays will be telling on the Raiders.

Mound Westonka (2A) (4-5-0)- The White Hawks do own a win over Providence Academy but their recent losses to Chisago Lakes, Mankato East, and New Ulm drop them out of the Top 20 for now.

The “Other Five” Class A Teams beyond the above-
Hutchinson (2A) (6-3-0), New Prague (1A) (3-3-0), Hibbing (7A) (3-3-0), Thief River Falls (8A) (2-5-0), Monticello (5A) (3-6-0)

[ClassAGuy]

Holidays Class A Stock

Stock Rising
Providence Academy goes 3-0 in the Granite City Classic with a nice OT win over Satell to cap it off they are top 10 team.

Minneapolis with wins over SWC and Mankato East took a good Holy Angels club to OT

Duluth Denfeld Dominating their home tournament.

Little Falls pounded Northern Lakes 12-2

Cambridge nice road win over Greenway see how they fair vs. Hibbing today

Mankato East Beat Breck to show they are for sure a top 20 team.

Stock Down
Northern Lakes Got hammered by LF and barely beat Windom

Northfield Rough time in the Herb Brooks Gold Division ...

Rochester Lourdes got destroyed by winless Kennedy

SWC Still have zero quality wins...

[elliott70]

I have a little problem with Northfield.
They are now 5 and 3.
Two of their wins are against Fairbault.
Their one quality win was a few weeks back agsinst a sick TRF team.

[ClassAGuy]

I have a little problem with Northfield.
They are now 5 and 3.
Two of their wins are against Fairbault.
Their one quality win was a few weeks back agsinst a sick TRF team.

Please note Rankings were done before holiday break.

Northfeild will be dropped at the time of Chirstmas they were red hot now not sold at all.

Major movement

Again the rankings were as of Christmas prior to holidays

Northern Lakes will also be gone from the 20 as will Lourdes this was prior to this week

[ClassAGuy]

Watched Cambridge play Hibbing was a 2-2 game late. Both teams took careless penalties in bad spots.

Cambridge killed theirs off and scored right after to go up 3-2. Hibbing took their bad penalty and then Cambridge scored on the PP to make it 4-2. Then Cambridge made 5-2 on the empty net.

Cambridge is a fun Class A team came out of no where this winter. They are in a very winnable Section 5A.

They have won 7 in row and Freshman Sensation Sibell is 6-0 in that stretch!

Rainer did you attend? Good game to watch.

[ClassAGuy]

Northern Lakes free fall continues...

Wadena upsets Northern Lakes to take over control of the 3 seed in Section 6A

[Corn Cobb]

My take for the week (these were compiled on 12/26)....

1- Hermantown
2- Warroad
3- Mahtomedi
4- Little Falls
5- Duluth Denfeld
6- Minneapolis
7- Delano
8- Northfield
9- Alexandria
10- Fergus Falls
11- St. Cloud Cathedral
12- East Grand Forks
13- Mankato East
14- Providence Academy
15- Detroit Lakes
16- Northern Lakes
17- Chisago Lakes
18- New Prague
19- Rochester Lourdes
20- Cambridge-Isanti

[rainier2]

Watched Cambridge play Hibbing was a 2-2 game late. Both teams took careless penalties in bad spots.

Cambridge killed theirs off and scored right after to go up 3-2. Hibbing took their bad penalty and then Cambridge scored on the PP to make it 4-2. Then Cambridge made 5-2 on the empty net.

Cambridge is a fun Class A team came out of no where this winter. They are in a very winnable Section 5A.

They have won 7 in row and Freshman Sensation Sibell is 6-0 in that stretch!

Rainer did you attend? Good game to watch.

Watched a lot of Hibbing's games vs Delano, Mound, and C-I the last three days. Bluejackets were short 3 top players vs Delano, got one back for Mound, then another for the C-I game. Same frustrating result each time: a winnable game slips through their fingers, mostly because of an anemic pp. Hibbing's defense and goaltending are strong and keep them in games, but if the pp isn't fixed, it's gonna be a long season.

Also, after seeing Denfeld and Delano, Denfeld is better, IMO.

[ClassAGuy]

Holidays Class A Stock

Stock Rising
Providence Academy goes 3-0 in the Granite City Classic with a nice OT win over Satell to cap it off they are top 10 team.

Minneapolis with wins over SWC and Mankato East took a good Holy Angels club to OT

Duluth Denfeld Dominating their home tournament.

Little Falls pounded Northern Lakes 12-2

Cambridge nice road win over Greenway see how they fair vs. Hibbing today

Mankato East Beat Breck to show they are for sure a top 20 team.

Stock Down
Northern Lakes Got hammered by LF and barely beat Windom

Northfield Rough time in the Herb Brooks Gold Division ...

Rochester Lourdes got destroyed by winless Kennedy

SWC Still have zero quality wins...

Add three more to the good Holiday week

Detroit Lakes- Went 3-0 this week with a big 3 goal win over Fergus Falls who beat them earlier this year.

St Cloud Cathedral- Went 3-0 this week while not always pretty a dramatic late goal in the last minute to squeak by River Lakes they finished strong with solid 3-0 win over Cross Town Rival St Cloud in honor of fallen former teammate Mack Motzko.

Albert Lea went 3-0 in Rochester including a key win over Lourdes on track for top 2 seed in 1A now

Others
Delano Delano continues to move along but Denfeld appears to be better on comparison

Simley went 2-1 in the Silver of Herb Brooks won another 4A game in the the process sit at 9-3 now.

New Prague Beat hutch soundly to show they will be strong in Class A

Thief River Falls Nice win over Rock Ridge but then got beat soundly by North Fargo just dont see them as a top 20 team sorry Elliott

Mahtomedi- got smoked by the Rams and then had to score late to get a tie with St Louis Park today that lack of offense is becoming an issue.

Alexandria Tight lose to Gentry hard to know how to judge that

[elliott70]

Thief River Falls Nice win over Rock Ridge but then got beat soundly by North Fargo just dont see them as a top 20 team sorry Elliott

Fargo North is a good team.
A top ten MN class A team - perhaps top 7.

[ClassAGuy]

Thief River Falls Nice win over Rock Ridge but then got beat soundly by North Fargo just dont see them as a top 20 team sorry Elliott

Fargo North is a good team.
A top ten MN class A team - perhaps top 7.

I know you are right on TRF its just hard because they have not really beat anyone but they dont have any big losses either. Huge game on January 13th vs Detroit Lakes.

As I put my Mid-Season Class A Ranking together its interesting.

The Top 2 are clearly Hermantown & Warroad

Then its really more up in the air. Mahtomedi even after a big trip up north 1-1-1 is still gotta be 3 because Dardis can steal a game.

You have to give Little Falls 4 for now at (12-0-0) but are the Flyers really 4? they haven't really played anyone... I think Bemidji will be a very tough one for them.

Then.... Denfeld? they are hot... Delano has not been great for the last 3 weeks. I liek Minneapolis but again hard to judge buyt they do own a blow out win over Providence who is red hot... Alexandria has a terrible record but they are a good team and I still believe in EGF down the road.

Northfield showed they are good for the south but not at the same par as the rest of the state. New Prague just might win 1A with a .500 or below record by playing AA metro teams all year.

Lots of interesting thoughts...

Storylines of Cambridge are fun as is the pride of the City kids trying to take Minneapolis to state instead of flooding to privates.

As of mid season the line up for the A Tourney looks interesting-
1A- Northfield- (Give them 75% odds to make it they need more depth but only New Prague stands in their way)
2A- Delano- (Give them 50 % odds based on track record but man its going to be fun watch. Kennedy and LDC showed the depth of this section)
3A- Mankato East (Give them 80% odds but New Ulm could be frisky)
4A- Mahtomedi (Give them 99% odds Chisago Lakes and Simley are not gonna beat them)
5A- Little Falls (Give them 60 % odds Cathedral appears to be back and Cambridge will be tough and the Moose as a 5 seed could be a nightmare semi)
6A- Fergus Falls (Give them 50% its them or Alexandria and while I dont love the Otters like I once did I think they will beat Alex when is counts)
7A- Hermantown (Give them 99% odds I love Denfeld but the Hawks are step above everyone it appears)
8A- Warroad (Give them 70% odds EGF, DL and TRF make a nice top 4 in this section but Warroad has some elite scoring and the best goaltending)

[elliott70]

No argument here on who will be at state but there will be (always) an upset in sections.

[Stang5280]

Hey everyone! I am still alive and watching some hockey, but just late to the party in realizing the forum is back up and running. The holiday tournaments were surprisingly revealing regarding a number of teams. I didn’t expect much going in, but we definitely found out a few teams that were paper tigers (I’m looking at you, Northfield and Northern Lakes).

A few observations from games that I watched, that others may have mentioned above:
- Minneapolis was so much faster than Mankato East, and they were creating countless odd-man rushes into the zone
- Mahtomedi’s offensive struggles against decent teams are very concerning
- Delano played a good second period against Hermantown, but just didn’t have the horses to keep up
- While not at the elite level, Cambridg-Isanti is very young and exciting, and seeing some new and unexpected faces is good