Class A Rankings

[urban iceman]

Anyone???

[mgrockswayzata]

From Lets Play Hockey

High School Boys A - PRESEASON
1 ST. THOMAS ACADEMY
2 Breck
3 Hermantown
4 Duluth Marshall
5 Totino-Grace
6 St. Cloud Cathedral
7 Thief River Falls
8 Rochester Lourdes
9 East Grand Forks
10 Little Falls
11 Hibbing/Chisholm
12 Warroad
13 Rogers
14 Delano/Rockford
15 Mahtomedi
16 Orono
17 International Falls
18 Mound-Westonka
19 Duluth Denfeld
20 New Prague

At the end of the day, Class A hockey isn't very good except for the
top 8 teams on the list above. They all could and should be playing
Class AA. They would all be very competitive.

[mnmouth]

Hibbing, with arguably the toughest schedule in Class A and barring injury, will be a state tourney semifinalist.

[rainier]

1. STA
2. Totino-Grace
3. Hermantown
4. Duluth Marshall
5. Breck
6. Hibbing
7. St. Cloud Cathedral
8. East Grand Forks
9. Rochester Lourdes
10. Thief River Falls

Hibbing does play an impressive schedule for an A team. 15 of their games are against ranked A and AA teams, including Benilde, Tonka, Eagan, Rapids (twice), Cloquet, Hermantown, Roseau, and Marshall.

I also think they could very well end up a state semifinalist, but first they have to get past Marshall, who will be damn good again this season.

I'm picking Cathedral to finally knock off Hermantown this season and get to state. Hermantown lost a ton to graduation, and the new talent will be inexperienced.

Once again the A title is STA's to lose.

[mnmouth]

1. STA
2. Totino-Grace
3. Hermantown
4. Duluth Marshall
5. Breck
6. Hibbing
7. St. Cloud Cathedral
8. East Grand Forks
9. Rochester Lourdes
10. Thief River Falls

Hibbing does play an impressive schedule for an A team. 15 of their games are against ranked A and AA teams, including Benilde, Tonka, Eagan, Rapids (twice), Cloquet, Hermantown, Roseau, and Marshall.

I also think they could very well end up a state semifinalist, but first they have to get past Marshall, who will be damn good again this season.

I'm picking Cathedral to finally knock off Hermantown this season and get to state. Hermantown lost a ton to graduation, and the new talent will be inexperienced.

Once again the A title is STA's to lose.

DeCenzo vs. Flaherty is a mismatch in favor of Hibbing. One key is for the Jackets to stay healthy. Teams are going to pound the crap out of Adam Johnson and Josh Bestul all season, especially the far deeper AA schools they will play. Johnson can beat most Class A schools by himself, including Marshall, as he almost did in the 7A final last season. The other key: Hibbing must develop its D corps. They will.

[rainier]

1. STA
2. Totino-Grace
3. Hermantown
4. Duluth Marshall
5. Breck
6. Hibbing
7. St. Cloud Cathedral
8. East Grand Forks
9. Rochester Lourdes
10. Thief River Falls

Hibbing does play an impressive schedule for an A team. 15 of their games are against ranked A and AA teams, including Benilde, Tonka, Eagan, Rapids (twice), Cloquet, Hermantown, Roseau, and Marshall.

I also think they could very well end up a state semifinalist, but first they have to get past Marshall, who will be damn good again this season.

I'm picking Cathedral to finally knock off Hermantown this season and get to state. Hermantown lost a ton to graduation, and the new talent will be inexperienced.

Once again the A title is STA's to lose.

DeCenzo vs. Flaherty is a mismatch in favor of Hibbing. One key is for the Jackets to stay healthy. Teams are going to pound the crap out of Adam Johnson and Josh Bestul all season, especially the far deeper AA schools they will play. Johnson can beat most Class A schools by himself, including Marshall, as he almost did in the 7A final last season. The other key: Hibbing must develop its D corps. They will.

Agreed. DeCenzo vs. Flaherty is like Lombardi vs. Childress, but Marshall has a lot of talent on their roster.

That said, Hibbing is loaded with experience and will have their deepest team in years. If the sophomore and junior (don't want to name names) who were both MN Selects as bantams overcome their eligibility issues and play like they can, Hibbing will be a top 5 Class A team for sure.

Should be a great season!

[thestickler07]

Just cross your fingers that the Academy gets one for the thumb. Maybe cZahr will decide that he's had enough of the JV tournament and will shoot for the big boys next year.

[Shinbone_News]

Love the Hibbing reports... Would be great to see them in St. Paul again, and I'm definitely bookmarking the STA and BSM games on the old calendar.

Was a little disappointed in Johnson's elite league performance -- but hey it's just summer hockey after all.

[rainier]

Love the Hibbing reports... Would be great to see them in St. Paul again, and I'm definitely bookmarking the STA and BSM games on the old calendar.

Was a little disappointed in Johnson's elite league performance -- but hey it's just summer hockey after all.

I also thought Johnson would have more points in Elite league play. But during the two games I saw, Team North rotated 4 lines evenly, so I'm guessing they did that the entire Elite season. Team North's scoring was very evenly distributed; no real dominant scorers at all.

[trev2k1]

1. STA
2. Totino-Grace
3. Hermantown
4. Duluth Marshall
5. Breck
6. Hibbing
7. St. Cloud Cathedral
8. East Grand Forks
9. Rochester Lourdes
10. Thief River Falls

I'm picking Cathedral to finally knock off Hermantown this season and get to state. Hermantown lost a ton to graduation, and the new talent will be inexperienced.

Once again the A title is STA's to lose.

I'm gonna pencil in Cathedral in the championship game right now, unless they play STA in the semis, which would be a great game.

[hockeypucku]

Look for DM to back at the exel this March. They will be very talented, balanced, and should have excellent goaltending this year.

Rainier/Mnmouth - I agree with you guys that Hibbing should have a great team as well. Johnson is a heck of a hockey player, and should be a tough match-up for any teams he plays. What I don't understand is why the 2 of you would jump on here take unnecessary shots at DM's coaches. Why would you want to add fuel to the fire of a rivalry that you have been thoroughly dominated in over the course of the last 10 years (say recent memory)? Best my research can tell DM is 5-1-1 vs Hibbing going back to '08 (don't really feel like looking further back then that, but considering Marshall hasn't even been a dominant team from 08-12, I would assume that margin would only grow in Marshalls favor if we took a sample of the last 10 years including the years when Marshall was dominant). I can recall Marshall beating Hibbing 2 times (last year, 2008) in the section finals. Both times with evenly matched teams. Marshalls coach has more state tournament appearances then Hibbings. Marshalls coach has sent significantly more players on to Junior and College hockey programs (Tier I-III, Div 1,3), including their recent Hobey Baker winner. So, if you go by head to head matchup, program success, or player advancement the Marshall coach has the clear advantage.

No doubt this should be a great matchup this season. Hopefully the kids will leave it all on the ice. But please, Hibbing Dads, keep your opinions about individuals in other programs to yourself. And if you are going to state them, make a case (assuming you have one). Comments like Lombardi vs Childress are unnecessary and take away from your credibility.

[rainier]

Look for DM to back at the exel this March. They will be very talented, balanced, and should have excellent goaltending this year.

Rainier/Mnmouth - I agree with you guys that Hibbing should have a great team as well. Johnson is a heck of a hockey player, and should be a tough match-up for any teams he plays. What I don't understand is why the 2 of you would jump on here take unnecessary shots at DM's coaches. Why would you want to add fuel to the fire of a rivalry that you have been thoroughly dominated in over the course of the last 10 years (say recent memory)? Best my research can tell DM is 5-1-1 vs Hibbing going back to '08 (don't really feel like looking further back then that, but considering Marshall hasn't even been a dominant team from 08-12, I would assume that margin would only grow in Marshalls favor if we took a sample of the last 10 years including the years when Marshall was dominant). I can recall Marshall beating Hibbing 2 times (last year, 2008) in the section finals. Both times with evenly matched teams. Marshalls coach has more state tournament appearances then Hibbings. Marshalls coach has sent significantly more players on to Junior and College hockey programs (Tier I-III, Div 1,3), including their recent Hobey Baker winner. So, if you go by head to head matchup, program success, or player advancement the Marshall coach has the clear advantage.

No doubt this should be a great matchup this season. Hopefully the kids will leave it all on the ice. But please, Hibbing Dads, keep your opinions about individuals in other programs to yourself. And if you are going to state them, make a case (assuming you have one). Comments like Lombardi vs Childress are unnecessary and take away from your credibility.

We gave our opinion of the coaches, and you just gave yours. Jack Connolly didn't have any D1 offers coming out of high school, and as soon as he got away from Flaherty he led the USHL in scoring, was the best player on the Bulldogs national title team, and then won the Hobey Baker.

I did post that Marshall will be very good this year. Given that they draw from all of Duluth, Proctor, and Silver Bay, they have and will always have more talent than Hibbing. I just think the coaching matchup evens that up a bit.

I hope the two teams meet in the 7A final, it should be another excellent game.

A far as the Childress comment, it was just for laughs, and I have no credibility to lose anyway.

[mnmouth]

Look for DM to back at the exel this March. They will be very talented, balanced, and should have excellent goaltending this year.

Rainier/Mnmouth - I agree with you guys that Hibbing should have a great team as well. Johnson is a heck of a hockey player, and should be a tough match-up for any teams he plays. What I don't understand is why the 2 of you would jump on here take unnecessary shots at DM's coaches. Why would you want to add fuel to the fire of a rivalry that you have been thoroughly dominated in over the course of the last 10 years (say recent memory)? Best my research can tell DM is 5-1-1 vs Hibbing going back to '08 (don't really feel like looking further back then that, but considering Marshall hasn't even been a dominant team from 08-12, I would assume that margin would only grow in Marshalls favor if we took a sample of the last 10 years including the years when Marshall was dominant). I can recall Marshall beating Hibbing 2 times (last year, 2008) in the section finals. Both times with evenly matched teams. Marshalls coach has more state tournament appearances then Hibbings. Marshalls coach has sent significantly more players on to Junior and College hockey programs (Tier I-III, Div 1,3), including their recent Hobey Baker winner. So, if you go by head to head matchup, program success, or player advancement the Marshall coach has the clear advantage.

No doubt this should be a great matchup this season. Hopefully the kids will leave it all on the ice. But please, Hibbing Dads, keep your opinions about individuals in other programs to yourself. And if you are going to state them, make a case (assuming you have one). Comments like Lombardi vs Childress are unnecessary and take away from your credibility.

We gave our opinion of the coaches, and you just gave yours. Jack Connolly didn't have any D1 offers coming out of high school, and as soon as he got away from Flaherty he led the USHL in scoring, was the best player on the Bulldogs national title team, and then won the Hobey Baker.

I did post that Marshall will be very good this year. Given that they draw from all of Duluth, Proctor, and Silver Bay, they have and will always have more talent than Hibbing. I just think the coaching matchup evens that up a bit.

I hope the two teams meet in the 7A final, it should be another excellent game.

A far as the Childress comment, it was just for laughs, and I have no credibility to lose anyway.

Can't add much more to your rebuttal, Rainier. Well-stated. Other than, I am not a Hibbing hockey dad. Far from it. And this: Get used to the s*** being flung back and forth on this forum, Hockeypucku. Facts - and opinions - are what fuel the fun and sometimes incendiary discourse here.

[northern_guy]

Cathedral out of section 5A...

[The Insider]

Cathedral vs Hermantown will be a battle. I think St Cloud Cath. will come out of 5A although. Hermantown has no goal tending.

[gac85]

I agree with Cathedral coming out of 5A, I also agree that it will be a dogfight between Cathedral and Hermantown. Hermantown lost a lot to graduation, but will be extremely strong defensively.

Cathedral has a tough stretch of games starting with East Grand Forks on Friday, Breck next Tuesday and Rochester Lourdes next Saturday.

[pekyman]

I like all the posts on here and the HUB picking Cathedral to come out of 5A. It will make it that much more exciting when it does not happen.

[KICKED-IN-THE-PRIVATES]

[quote="pekyman"]I like all the posts on here and the HUB picking Cathedral to come out of 5A. It will make it that much more exciting when it does not happen. [/quote

It's SCC's year in 5A, and they have a real shot at the title if they stay healthy...

[northern_guy]

After watching Cathedral last night, they should be ranked 9 or 10 and slide EGF up into their slot...SCC will have a tough time beating any top 10 ranked team all year with their severe lack of defensemen who can keep the puck in the offensive zone and break the puck out better of their defensive zone. Poganski looked great and their goalie wasnt bad but not much else to be excited about on this team. EGF looked balance top to bottom and deserves more respect in the rankings.

[gac85]

I was impressed by the balanced attack of EGF. I thought their D-zone coverage an PK were excellent, they did a good job of keeping the Cathedral attack to the outside. EGF does deserve more respect in the rankings.

In addition to Poganksi, Hammer also played a very good game for Cathedral. Cathedral was without one of it's top forwards due to a game misconduct against Sartell.

[Northern Defender]

1. STA
2. Totino-Grace
3. Hermantown
4. Duluth Marshall
5. Breck
6. Hibbing
7. St. Cloud Cathedral
8. East Grand Forks
9. Rochester Lourdes
10. Thief River Falls

I'm picking Cathedral to finally knock off Hermantown this season and get to state. Hermantown lost a ton to graduation, and the new talent will be inexperienced. Looks like you and the Hub might have gotten a little ahead of yourselves eh?

Once again the A title is STA's to lose.

I'm gonna pencil in Cathedral in the championship game right now, unless they play STA in the semis, which would be a great game.

[Northern Defender]

1. STA
2. Totino-Grace
3. Hermantown
4. Duluth Marshall
5. Breck
6. Hibbing
7. St. Cloud Cathedral
8. East Grand Forks
9. Rochester Lourdes
10. Thief River Falls

I'm picking Cathedral to finally knock off Hermantown this season and get to state. Hermantown lost a ton to graduation, and the new talent will be inexperienced. Looks like you and the Hub might have gotten a little ahead of yourselves eh?

Once again the A title is STA's to lose.

I'm gonna pencil in Cathedral in the championship game right now, unless they play STA in the semis, which would be a great game.

Looks like you and the hub might have gotten a little ahead of yourselves eh?

[CanucksScout]

I was able to catch the Warroad-Bemidji game yesterday. Warroad is very impressive this year. Solid goaltending and D corps along with a young group of studs in Sylvester, Roth, and Bethune. They could turn some heads this year.

[joris016]

@CanucksScout:

I saw Warroad up at Virginia last Friday and was also impressed by their squad. EGF will be tough to get by this year in section 8 though.

[CanucksScout]

That is a match up I can't wait to see. I don't think TRF is going to be very strong this year. But with a coach like Tim Berglund you never know.