Section 7A 2022-23

[ClassAGuy]

2022-23 Section 7A Preseason Preview

Hermantown has been the unquestioned king of Section 7A since moving back up North in 2014. The Hawks have won eight of the past nine section titles and last winter they made a mockery of the Section 7A Playoffs when they rolled through the sectional outscoring their 7A foes 30-0 in the process. The Hawks did get hard by early departures but they still are the unquestioned favorite in this section. There are a few 7A teams that believe they are catching up to the pace that Hermantown has set and are confident they could be the ones to finally knock the Hawks off their 7A high horse. However, if previous seasons are any indication it would take a true “Miracle on Ice” moment for that to occur.

Section 7A Preseason Poll (10 teams)
1- Hermantown
2- Hibbing
3- Rock Ridge
4- Duluth Denfeld
5- Proctor
6- Greenway
7- International Falls
8- North Shore
9- Ely
10- Moose Lake

#1 Hermantown- The Hawks were hit hard by graduation and an unusually high early departure list (Zam & Max Plante and Ty Hanson) this year's group will still be very strong as they look to defend their 7A title. Their strength starts in the net as returning Junior goaltender Dane Callaway will provide an area of strength in the net that has been the Achilles heel of past Hermantown teams. Seniors George Peterson & Nolan Baker and Junior Will Esterbrooks return on the blueline to lead a very solid defensive attack. Up front they will have firepower as they are led by a nice trio in Seniors Kade Kohanski, Wyatt Carlson & Matthew Kauppinen along with emerging superstar Junior Dallas Vieau. Also, don't forget the batch of AA Bantams ready to step in led by Super Sophomore River Freeman ready to contribute immediately. Hermantown will be a mighty mountain to conquer for the rest of 7A this winter as they look primed to defend their title.

#2 Hibbing- Keep an eye on Hibbing this winter and for the next few years in 7A as they appear to be a program regaining some momentum and restoring some tradition from its historic past. This year’s Bluejackets return a large Senior core led by Senior Goaltender Brayden Boyer who returns for what will be his third year in net. Up front Seniors Beau Frider, Peyton Taylor, Christian Dickson, Keeghan Fink, A.J. Lehman returns to lead a veteran group. Defensively, Senior Tristan Babich & Junior Christian Emonds return to create a veteran team that will have a ton of varsity experience under their belts. Add in that their A Bantams went to State last winter and this Hibbing program will be one to keep an eye on over the next few years as they will be on the rise in Section 7A.

#3 Rock Ridge- The Wolverines will be in the 2nd year of their co-opt and look to get off to a better start this season then last. I had high hopes for this team last season but they really never got it put together as a late season push ended in an early round upset. They do return leading scorers Seniors Dylan Hedley, Isaac Flatley & Ryan Mannien along with Juniors Kasey Lamppa & Brant Tiedeman all of whom will bring productivity and experience to the lineup. They will need to find some depth on the Blueline behind Junior Sam Troutwine and they will have some goaltenders to choose from with experience in the net. They also will draw from big numbers and should be a key contender in Section 7A.

#4 Duluth Denfeld- The Hunters were hit hard by graduation and lost many familiar faces that helped elevate the program to being a top 10 team and the main contender to the Hawks in 7A. All is not lost this year though as they do return a trio of Seniors Andy Larson, Kaden Postal & Whittaker Heart all who had double digit goals and over 20 points last winter. They will need to find depth and a new goalie but the Hunters have enough left to still be considered a contender in 7A.

#5 Proctor- The Rails had a really nice year last year winning 16 games last year and they do return 11 letter winners from that team. They will be led by Junior Carson Palowich who has double digit goals and over 20 points as a youngster from the point last winter and they could be dangerous as they return top 7A goaltender Junior AJ Reyelts who is coming off an elite league season this fall. The Rails will be pushing to be top 4 seed this winter in 7A.

#6 Greenway- The Raiders will return two of their top scorers and will rely on leadership from Seniors Aden Springer & Carter Cline who both had good junior seasons. They did lose some valuable pieces to graduation and they lost their goaltender but there are some youngsters coming in and Greenway should be very competitive with the middle of the pack in 7A again this winter.

#7 International Falls- The Broncos bring back a ton of experience as they return 14 letter winners including leading scorer Senior Colin Kostiuk who had over 30 points last year along with Seniors Braden Skifstad & Max Dremmel who each had 20 point seasons of their own. They also return a goaltender who shared time last season. There is enough talent and experience returning that this should be a solid Broncos team and will contend for top five seed as well in Section 7A.

#8 North Shore- The Storm will rely on a pair of Juniors to hopefully improve and be competitive this winter. Junior Jake Stadler had double digit goals and Junior goaltender Zach Bentler was the main starter in net they will need both to have big years for the storm to keep up with the rest in 7A.

#9 Ely- The Timberwolves return nearly everyone on the roster including double digit scorers Senior Kole Macho and Junior Drew Marolt which should help them improve on their win total and be more competitive this winter. They do have a question mark in the net which will need to be answered from them to move any higher in 7A.

#10 Moose Lake- The Rebels do return 14 letter winners and should be better than last season's 2 win team. They will rely on Senior Everett Gamst to play mega minutes again on the blue line and hope that a more experienced team will allow them to stay in more games this winter.

[rainier2]

Hibbing only lost two impact players, so they're bringing back a ton of experience. I think the team will be similar to last year: strong defense and goaltending, but offensively limited. If they can get the power play going and just get a little more production overall, they certainly could get the #2 seed. Too many times last year they reminded me of Parise-Suter Wild teams, where they'd have tons of zone time and outshoot an opponent 2:1, yet lose 2-1 or 3-2 because they just couldn't finish.

The bantams went to state last year, but they did it with only two 2nd year skaters, only one of which has a chance to play varsity this season. Next year is when a strong group of sophomores will arrive.

Herm is obviously the favorite, but with losing three A+ level players, perhaps a hot goalie could pull off a playoff miracle.

Should be Hibbing-RR-Denfeld battling for the #2 seed.

[Upfan111]

Agreed! Herm obviously the favorite.

I'm lean Denfeld for 2nd place

[ClassAGuy]

Section 7A Rankings (11/27/22)
1- Hermantown (0-0-0)
2- Rock Ridge (0-0-0)
3- Hibbing (0-2-0)
4- Duluth Denfeld (1-0-0)
5- Proctor (1-0-0)
6- Greenway (0-2-0)
7- International Falls (0-1-0)
8- North Shore (0-1-1)
9- Ely (0-2-0)
10- Moose Lake (0-2-0)

Section 7A Outlook- Hibbing dropped their first two games of the year to good AA opponents. Duluth Denfeld picked up a nice section win over International Falls. Proctor picked up a nice win over the veteran WDC squad. Greenway had a rough opening week going 0-2 against mid tier Class A teams. North Shore tied South St Paul who beat the Raiders which is promising for them. Ely got torched by Tyler Hennen in two games to go (0-2). Moose Lake dropped both its games at Charity Shield Classic. All other 7A teams were idle in week #1.

[ClassAGuy]

Section 7A Scores Tuesday (11/29/22)
Hibbing 2 Cloquet 1 OT
Rock Ridge 4 Greenway 2

[ClassAGuy]

Section 7A Scores Thursday (12/1)
Mora 10 Moose Lake 3
Greenway 4 Proctor 3

[ClassAGuy]

Section 7A Scores Friday (12/2)
Hermantown 6 Cretin Derham Hall 3
Lake of the Woods 5 International Falls 3
Breck 3 Proctor 1
Hibbing 5 Albert Lea 1
Duluth Denfeld 7 Minneapolis 4

Section 7A Scores Saturday (12/3)
Hermantown 3 Hill Murray 1
Hibbing 4 Minneapolis 2
Albert Lea 6 Rock Ridge
Ely 6 Ashland 3

[ClassAGuy]

Section 7A Rankings (12/4/22)
1- Hermantown (3-0-0)
2- Hibbing (3-2-0)
3- Duluth Denfeld (2-0-0)
4- Rock Ridge (1-1-0)
5- Greenway (1-3-0)
6- Proctor (1-2-0)
7- International Falls (0-2-0)
8- North Shore (0-1-1)
9- Ely (1-2-0)
10- Moose Lake (0-3-0)

Section 7A Outlook- Hermantown showed their strength as they won the Champions Cup again this winter to show they are still scary good. Hibbing went (3-0) this week and showed they are a good team this winter. Duluth Denfeld picked up a nice win again. Rock Ridge went.500 but beat Greenway who then upset Proctor. North Shore was idle this week while International Falls dropped a tough one to Lake of the Woods. Ely won over Ashland and . Moose Lake got hammered by Mora.

[ClassAGuy]

Section 7A Week #3 Schedule

Tuesday, December 6
North Shore at Ely
Hibbing at Duluth Denfeld
Grand Rapids at Proctor
Rock Ridge at International Falls

Thursday, December 8
Hayward at North Shore
Duluth Denfeld at Cloquet
Moose Lake at WSFLG

Friday, December 9
Rochester Mayo at Hibbing
Warroad at Rock Ridge
Red Wing at Proctor

Saturday, December 10
Ely at Moose Lake
Red Wing at Hibbing
Rochester Mayo at Proctor
Hermantown at Centennial
Superior at Duluth Denfeld

[ClassAGuy]

Section 7A Week #3 Scores

Tuesday, December 6
North Shore 3 Ely 2
Hibbing 3 Duluth Denfeld 3
Grand Rapids 3 Proctor 1
Rock Ridge 5 International Falls 1

[ClassAGuy]

Section 7A Week #3 Scores

Thursday, December 8
Hayward 5 North Shore 1
Cloquet 6 Duluth Denfeld 1
Moose Lake 6 WSFLG 4

[ClassAGuy]

Section 7A Week #3 Scores

Friday, December 9
Rochester Mayo 2 Hibbing 1 OT
Warroad 7 Rock Ridge 0
Proctor 10 Red Wing 0

Saturday, December 10
Moose Lake 7 Ely 6
Hibbing 12 Red Wing 1
Rochester Mayo 5 Proctor 2
Hermantown 3 Centennial 3
Superior 5 Duluth Denfeld 4

[raidergrad72]

Section 7A Week #3 Scores

Friday, December 9
Rochester Mayo 2 Hibbing 1 OT
Warroad 7 Rock Ridge 0
Proctor 10 Red Wing 0

With Red Wing losing to Hibbing 12-1 that's 22 goals against in 2 nights. Ouch!

[ClassAGuy]

Section 7A Week #3 Scores

Friday, December 9
Rochester Mayo 2 Hibbing 1 OT
Warroad 7 Rock Ridge 0
Proctor 10 Red Wing 0

With Red Wing losing to Hibbing 12-1 that's 22 goals against in 2 nights. Ouch!

Red Wing is suffering through tough times.... The Pohl Brothers era seems like ages ago now

[ClassAGuy]

Section 7A Rankings (12/11/22)
1- Hermantown (3-0-1)
2- Hibbing (4-3-1)
3- Duluth Denfeld (2-2-1)
4- Rock Ridge (2-2-0)
5- Greenway (1-3-0)
6- Proctor (2-4-0)
7- International Falls (0-3-0)
8- North Shore (1-2-1)
9- Moose Lake (2-3-0)
10- Ely (1-4-0)

Section 7A Outlook- Hermantown showed their slight vulnerability with a tie to Centennial . Hibbing and Duluth Denfeld tied which means the second meeting will be key. Rock Ridge picked up a 7A win over International Falls. Greenway decided to take the week totally off. Proctor went .500 in their battle with Southern Minnesota teams. North Shore and Moose Lake both picked up a 7A win over Ely.

[raidergrad72]

Section 7A Week #3 Scores

Friday, December 9
Rochester Mayo 2 Hibbing 1 OT
Warroad 7 Rock Ridge 0
Proctor 10 Red Wing 0

With Red Wing losing to Hibbing 12-1 that's 22 goals against in 2 nights. Ouch!

Red Wing is suffering through tough times.... The Pohl Brothers era seems like ages ago now

Yup, I was thinking the same thing when I posted. Hard to believe the Pohl- Red Wing domination is already 25 years ago.

[ClassAGuy]

Section 7A Week #4 Scores

Tuesday, December 13
Hibbing 7 Greenway 0
Duluth Denfeld 5 Rocke Ridge 2
Hermantown 8 Duluth Marshall 1
Cloquet 2 Proctor 0
International Falls 12 Ely 3

Friday, December 16
Rock Ridge 2 Little Falls 2
Fort Francis 5 International Falls 1
Ely 4 St Paul Johnson 2

Saturday, December 17
Rock Ridge 6 St Cloud Cathedral 3
International Falls 8 Kittson County Central 5
Duluth Denfeld 3 Superior 1
Greenway 7 Mound Westonka 3
Ely 9 WSFLG 0
Moose Lake 4 North Shore 3 OT

[ClassAGuy]

Section 7A Rankings (12/18/22)
1- Hermantown (3-0-1)
2- Hibbing (5-3-1)
3- Duluth Denfeld (4-2-1)
4- Rock Ridge (3-3-1)
5- Greenway (2-4-0)
6- Proctor (2-5-0)
7- International Falls (2-4-0)
8- Moose Lake (3-3-0)
9- North Shore (1-3-1)
10- Ely (3-5-0)

Section 7A Outlook- Hermantown dominated AA Duluth Marshall in their only game. Hibbing picked up a big win head to head over Greenway. Duluth Denfeld picked up a big head to head win over Rock Ridge. International Falls picked up a head to head win over Ely. Proctor lost a tight game to AA Cloquet. Moose Lake moved up the 8 seed now with a head to head OT win over North Shore.

[ClassAGuy]

Section 7A Week #5 Scores

Tuesday, December 20
International Falls 7 Ely 4
Rock Ridge 3 Superior 1
Hermantown 8 Duluth Denfeld 1

Thursday, December 22
Hibbing 5 Proctor 2
Grand Rapids 6 Duluth Denfeld 0

[ClassAGuy]

Section 7A Rankings (12/25/22)
1- Hermantown (4-0-1)
2- Hibbing (6-3-1)
3- Duluth Denfeld (4-4-1)
4- Rock Ridge (4-3-1)
5- Greenway (2-4-0)
6- Proctor (2-6-0)
7- International Falls (3-4-0)
8- Moose Lake (3-3-0)
9- North Shore (1-3-1)
10- Ely (3-6-0)

Section 7A Outlook- Hermantown picked up a dominant 7A win over Duluth Denfeld. Hibbing picked up an important 7A head to head win over Proctor. Rock Ridge picked up a non 7A over Superior. International Falls picked up the 7A sweep over Ely. Moose Lake, North Shore, & Greenway were all out of action this week.

[ClassAGuy]

Section 7A Week #6 Scores

Tuesday December 27
Ely 4 Moose Lake 1
Brookfield 6 North Shore 1
Irondale 3 Duluth Denfeld 2
New Prague 6 Proctor 2

Wednesday December 28
Bagley/Fosston 5 Moose Lake 1
Red Lake Falls 3 Ely 1
Duluth Denfeld 7 Owatonna 1
Hermantown 8 Delano 0
Superior 8 North Shore 1
Hibbing 1 Rock Ridge 0
Proctor 5 Somerset 0
Orono 7 International Falls 0
Cambridge Isanti 8 Greenway 1

Thursday December 29
Brookfield 8 Moose Lake 1
Bagley/Fosston 9 Ely 3
Duluth Denfeld 3 Apple Valley/Burnsville 2
Hermantown 3 East Grand Forks 0
Red Lake Falls 8 North Shore 2
Hibbing 6 Cambridge Isanti 3
Proctor 4 Osseo 1
Providence Academy 10 International Falls 0
Delano 3 Greenway 1

Friday December 30
Delano 6 Hibbing 3
Rock Ridge 5 Cambridge Isanti 2
Warroad 6 International Falls 0

Saturday December 31
Hermantown 4 Shakopee 3

[ClassAGuy]

Section 7A Rankings (1/1/23)
1- Hermantown (7-0-1)
2- Hibbing (8-4-1)
3- Duluth Denfeld (6-5-1)
4- Rock Ridge (5-4-1)
5- Greenway (2-6-0)
6- Proctor (4-7-0)
7- International Falls (3-7-0)
8- Ely (4-8-0)
9- Moose Lake (3-6-0)
10- North Shore (1-6-1)

Section 7A Outlook- Hermantown picked up two wins against Top 10 Class A teams. Hibbing picked up an important 7A head to head win over Rock Ridge. Duluth Denfeld was shocked in their home tournament 1st round game but recovered to take 5th place. Greenway took losses in both their games vs non Section 7A teams but own the head to head win over the Rails. Proctor had a decent showing in their Holiday Tournament winning 2 of 3 games. International Falls got beat up in the Warroad Holiday Classic. Ely picked up a big head to head win in the 2nd meeting with Moose Lake. North Shore got beat up over Holidays taking three lopsided losses.

[ClassAGuy]

Section 7A Week #7 Scores

Tuesday January 3
Hermantown 4 Rosemount 3
Greenway 4 North Shore 1

Thursday January 5
Ashland 5 Ely 4
Hibbing 5 Greenway 1
Duluth Denfeld 2 Proctor 0

Friday January 6
Duluth Denfeld 4 North Shore 0
Bagley/Fosston 5 Ely 2
International Falls 7 Red Lake Falls 4
Rock Ridge 5 Minneapolis 3
Mora/Milaca 6 Moose Lake 0

Saturday January 7
Proctor 5 International Falls 1
Hermantown 6 Eden Praire 2
Minneapolis 3 North Shore 0

[ClassAGuy]

Section 7A Rankings (1/8/23)
1- Hermantown (9-0-1)
2- Hibbing (9-4-1)
3- Duluth Denfeld (8-5-1)
4- Rock Ridge (6-4-1)
5- Greenway (3-7-0)
6- Proctor (5-8-0)
7- International Falls (4-8-0)
8- Ely (4-10-0)
9- Moose Lake (3-7-0)
10- North Shore (1-9-1)

Section 7A Outlook- Hermantown picked up two wins against Class AA teams. Hibbing picked up an important 7A sweep over Greenway. Duluth Denfeld picked up two 7A road wins over North Shore & Proctor. The Rails did pick up a needed head to head win over 7A International Falls. Ely & Moose Lake both had tough weeks as they went winless.

[ClassAGuy]

Section 7A Week #8 Scores

Tuesday January 10
Proctor 10 Ely 0
Greenway 1 North Shore 0 OT
Hibbing 15 Moose Lake 2
Rock Ridge 6 International Falls 1

Thursday January 12
Hermantown 4 St Cloud Cathedral 1
Greenway 5 Northern Lakes 3

Friday January 13
Lake of the Woods 6 Ely 4
Rock RIdge 8 Providence Academy 2
Duluth Denfeld 7 Little Falls 5
International Falls 12 St Paul Johnson 1

Saturday January 14
Duluth Denfeld 3 Nothern Lakes 1
Ely 8 WSFLG 2
Rock Ridge 4 Mound Westonka 1
Pine City 3 Moose Lake 0
Warroad 3 Hermantown 1