AA Rankings for 12/12/10

[karl(east)]

Weather has wreaked havoc on the state hockey scene this week, ruining many of the important matchups in what was already a rather thin week. But the rankings must go on, and some important things did happen.

We have an excellent week ahead of us as well--the Edina Holiday Classic and the renewal of such great rivalries as Moorhead-Roseau and Duluth East-Cloquet headline a full slate of games. Hopefully the weather will cooperate.

Also, a note on the schedules--I haven’t gone digging for makeup dates for Saturday’s games, so if you know of any that are taking place this week, let me know so I can add them.

Now, the rankings.

1. Eden Prairie (3-0)
-Faced a stiffer-than expected challenge against Lakeville North, but got the job done in the end when they needed to. Their hold on the #1 spot over Wayzata is tenuous; the Edina game this week will give us a good measuring tool between the top two teams. They spend this week at the Edina tournament, and the games get steadily tougher as the week goes on.
This week: Edina Holiday Classic--Thurs vs. Elk River, Fri vs. #13 Grand Rapids, Sat vs. #4 Edina

2. Wayzata (6-0)
-Took care of business as they efficiently demolished two of the weaker teams on their schedule. Face one other top-10 team this week, plus another team that appears not to be a threat, but at least gives them another common opponent with EP.
This week: Tues at #10 Apple Valley, Thurs vs. Bloomington Jefferson

3. Benilde-St. Margaret’s (3-0)
-It’s hard to get a good feel for a team that’s only played two games against competition that’s in their league, but that win over Hill has quite a bit of value in the early going. A very interesting test coming up this Saturday in their only game of the week, and a crucial game for 6AA seeding purposes.
This week: Tues at Duluth Marshall, Sat vs. #9 Minnetonka

4. Edina (3-1)
-Only game of the week got washed out, so they’ll head into their own holiday tourney not having played in twelve days to take on a battle-tested Grand Rapids team on the rise. It has the potential to be a huge matchup, as does the tournament finale on Saturday, which will be the first of three meetings between the new Lake rivals.
This week: Edina Holiday Classic--Thurs vs. #13 Grand Rapids, Fri vs. Elk River, Sat vs. #1 Eden Prairie

5. Duluth East (4-1)
-The Hounds had a flashy week, putting up gaudy point totals against weaker opponents and taking care of White Bear. If I have a critique of them, it’s that they appear to getting a ton of scoring from only the top line, but there’s time and the talent to balance things out. On paper the week ahead doesn’t look that bad, but they’ve always struggled on the road against Centennial, and East-Cloquet games rarely follow the given script. I’ll head out to that one to see for myself.
This week: Tues at Centennial, Thurs at Cloquet

6. Burnsville (1-1-1)
-Skated to a tie with Eagan, which was a minor letdown after their impressive first two games. Still, they’ve proven themselves to be amongst the elite, and their schedule becomes a bit easier now, so they should be able to wrack up some wins and beef up that record.
This week: Thurs vs. Rosemount, Sat vs. Eastview

7. Eagan (1-1-1)
-Practically the same as Burnsville, except their season-opening win came against a weaker team, so they stay a spot behind for now. They too have a week in which they should win both of their games, though they face more significant upset threats from the Lakevilles than Burnsville does with its looming SSC opponents.
This week: Thurs vs. #14 Lakeville South, Sat at Lakeville North

8. Hill-Murray (2-2)
-Snow wiped out their competitive game of the week, which ruined any chance of them proving that this is too low (as I believe it is). Should win both their games this week; they may have to wait until the Schwan Cup to prove they really do belong amongst the elite.
This week: Thurs at Mahtomedi, Sat vs. #14 Lakeville South

9. Minnetonka (4-0)
-Slowly but steadily off to a very strong start, and got an important win over St. Thomas despite the Frawley drama. They may not be as flashy as their 6AA competition, but they are proving their mettle so far, and their experience could be key down the stretch. Huge section game ahead of them this Saturday.
This week: Sat at #3 Benilde-St. Margaret’s

10. Apple Valley (3-1)
-Notched a pair of shutouts against weaker SSC foes; it’s hard to read much into those results, but it’s probably a good sign for a team that needs to prove it can win in more ways than one. 4-game week ahead of them--first they take a second shot at an elite team, then they head up to Grand Forks for a tournament that they have no excuse not to win.
This week: Tues vs. #2 Wayzata, Thurs-Sat at Herald Jason Stadstad Classic; first-round opponent is Grafton (ND); other teams involved are Grand Forks Central, Bismarck Century, Princeton, Fargo Davies, Grand Forks Red River, and Bismarck.

11. Maple Grove (3-1-1)
-Time to kill some of the MG hype: though the shot totals suggest they clearly were the better team against Blaine, they are not going to win 5AA or the NWSC running away. They are a good team, and certainly could be a great team, but games like this leave a lot of lingering doubt about their ability to get over the hump. Two NWSC games this week; they should win both, though one may be a challenge.
This week: Thurs vs. Champlin Park, Sat vs. Centennial

12. Blaine (2-0-1)
-Inertia is a powerful force, and the Bengals, despite all their graduations, made it very clear they’re in the hunt for a sixth straight section title. Still hard to say how they stack up with the rest of the state, though, and they lost an interesting-looking game against Elk River to the snow. Two very winnable games ahead of them.
This week: Thurs at Osseo, Sat vs. North Metro

13. Grand Rapids (5-0)
-The Thunderhawks flashed some firepower this past week, averaging 7 goals in three wins against some of the better northern teams. Now it’s time to see just how much those wins are worth, as they head south to a tournament that has not treated them well in recent years. At the very least, they have cemented their status as a 7AA contender.
This week: Edina Holiday Classic--Thurs vs. #4 Edina, Fri vs. #1 Eden Prairie, Sat vs. Elk River

14. Lakeville South (1-0)
-The snow did in what was supposed to be their first big game, but the road ahead doesn’t get any easier as they look forward to a pair of top-10 teams with things to prove. Time to finally learn whether they really belong up here or not.
This week: Thurs at #7 Eagan, Sat at #8 Hill-Murray

15. White Bear Lake (3-1)
-The win over Woodbury showed us they’re a force to be reckoned with in the SEC, but the loss to East showed us they have a lot to prove beyond their conference, which lacks an elite team. They’ve got an interesting week ahead of them, taking on a conference team on the rise and the team that’s likely to be their principal challenger for the conference crown.
This week: Thurs vs. East Ridge, Sat vs. Cretin-Derham Hall

Outside Looking In
Holy Angels (0-0)
-The long wait finally ends, as the Stars open their season against Chanhassen, then take on the winless but potentially dangerous Roseau. Next week we’ll finally be able to give them a real, honest assessment.
Cretin-Derham Hall (3-0-1)
-Taking care of business so far, but the week ahead has big tests against St. Thomas and White Bear Lake, so we’ll be able to get a better read on them in the near future.
Stillwater (1-1)
-I figured I’d give them a plug for beating the Roseville team that some people got strangely excited about.

No one else has really distinguished themselves as a serious top-15 threat, so I’m not going to list any more teams. The 8AA contenders are all in the mix (see comment below), but beyond that no one is really stepping up; Centennial, Elk River, and Forest Lake have all suffered some sort of result they should not have, and Bloomington Jefferson and Osseo are probably in there but haven’t really defined themselves yet. We’ll see if a few teams can give us something a little more concrete by next week.

Now it’s time to visit all the sections for the first time this year.

1AA
14 Lakeville South
Lakeville North
-Not much to get excited about here yet. South has yet to be tested, and the Rochester schools do not appear competitive. North turned some heads by giving Eden Prairie a good run, but then went and lost to Eastview.

2AA
4 Edina
6 Burnsville
(16) Holy Angels
Bloomington Jefferson
-Edina’s early win over Burnsville gives them the inside track for the top seed; beyond the top two, it’s hard to say much yet, since AHA has yet to play and Jefferson has a lot to prove.

3AA
7 Eagan
10 Apple Valley
(17) Cretin-Derham Hall
-Shaping up to be a great race between the top two, who meet for the first of two games in early January. Neither plays Cretin, so it may take some time to determine whether 3AA’s private is also in the mix. No clear 4th seed at this point, so the top seed may have considerable value.

4AA
8 Hill-Murray
15 White Bear Lake
(18) Stillwater
-Stillwater is quietly sneaking up on the top two, for what it’s worth. Since this is not the Hill we expected to see, it’s hard to issue any sweeping judgments at the moment. We should get a better idea after they play White Bear next week.

5AA
11 Maple Grove
12 Blaine
Osseo
Centennial
-Right now, it’s a two-team race between the defending champs and the program on the rise. Centennial may yet jump in the picture but has yet to prove they can do so, and it’s hard to get a read on Osseo, who won two NWSC games but also has been blown out of the water by Wayzata.

6AA
1 Eden Prairie
2 Wayzata
3 Benilde
9 Minnetonka
-Those four teams are a combined 16-0, which tells you about all you need to know. It will be a ridiculous race, and several very good teams will be deprived a state tourney berth. We finally start sorting them out this week, as Minnetonka takes on Benilde, and EP faces some tests that could solidify or knock them out of the top spot.

7AA
6 Duluth East
13 Grand Rapids
Forest Lake
Elk River
Cloquet
-GR’s rise means the Hounds will likely have some competition at the top, though we have yet to figure out how good that competition will be. Elk River is off to an inconsistent start, and Forest Lake’s tie with Mounds View was an unexpected bump in the road. We’ll have to see if either of them or Cloquet can add themselves to this race.

8AA
St. Cloud Tech
Bemidji
Moorhead
Brainerd
Roseau
-8AA is up for grabs: at this point, I don’t think anyone has any good idea what’s going on in the northwestern part of the state. Tech’s win over Brainerd should deflate some of the hype around the Warriors, and I’ve given Tech the top spot for now because of it, but they still have a lot to prove. Bemidji has jumped into the picture by virtue of its tie with Moorhead, and even though Roseau is a shocking 0-5, they’ve played reasonably well in all the losses, so if they ever do sort out their defense, they could easily end up winning the thing. This week should really help give the section some clarity, as Moorhead travels to Roseau and then hosts Brainerd. By the end of the week each team will have played at least one other section contender, which means we’ll be able to do this with a bit more accuracy.

It’s a great week for hockey--go out and enjoy some.

[HockeyMN1]

I don't know how long it's been since EP has won that Edina game at the Holiday Classic but it's been a very long time. If they can get over that hump I can really start to believe in this team.

[Zamman]

Very nice job as usual. I can finally see the team play this week and hope to join them in Roseau.

[puck81]

Benilde and Duluth Marshall are playing their make-up game on Tuesday night (12/14).

[HShockeywatcher]

No love for Roseville?

Mention Holy Angels who hasn't played a game and Stillwater, who beat Roseville, but Roseville isn't even mentioned in the section.

As always, great rankings. Last year, my team was Eagan, this year I've picked Roseville

[karl(east)]

No love for Roseville?

Mention Holy Angels who hasn't played a game and Stillwater, who beat Roseville, but Roseville isn't even mentioned in the section.

As always, great rankings. Last year, my team was Eagan, this year I've picked Roseville

Last year in earlyish December alone, Eagan beat Jefferson, beat the decent Lakeville teams, and tied Burnsville, while losing only to the Womens' Olympic Team. Roseville has no such accolades to its credit so far. Yes, they probably also belong in that cloud of 10-12 teams after #18, which I do not think is worth sorting through at the moment.

Thanks to puck81 for the Benilde/Marshall schedule note...any more?