Class A Rankings 12-15-13

[HShockeywatcher]

The top 3 are definite and likely will be all season, then there is a jumble below them that is really anyone’s guess. The first four teams below them have benefitted thus far from not playing that tough of schedules, while those 8 and below have simply beat up on each other. This early in the season, it is difficult to get a better picture of who’s who. After holiday tournaments, we will have a better idea about many teams. Overall, this year has been more difficult to sort out this early than any other year I have ranked this class.

Feedback and input are always appreciated. Enjoy!

1. Breck (6-0-1)
The Mustangs have gone to OT with both Holy Family and Holy Angels but they have been dominant in the rest of their games, including shutting out East Grand Forks. They will likely not be tested this week, but should make a good showing in the Schwan Cup.
This week: Sat vs Rochester Lourdes

2. East Grand Forks (6-1)
The Green Wave have only allowed more than one goal to one team and that was to Breck less than 24 hours after a very good win over Blaine on the road. They have two huge home section match ups this week.
This week: Tues vs Bemidji, Fri vs Warroad

3. Hermantown (4-1)
The Hawks could definitely be the top team in the state, but their loss to Wayzata isn’t looking good compared to EGF’s win over Blaine. It will be interesting to see how Hermantown does against Eagan and those the early part of January.
This week: Tues vs Denfeld, Sat @ Rogers

4. Cathedral (7-0)
The Crusaders benefit from teams around them losing. They beat Alexandria in OT and likely won’t be challenged for a while.
This week: Fri vs Prairie Center Area

5. Mankato West (6-0)
3 shut outs this season and the Scarlets should get another 3 wins this week. It’ll be nice to see how they handle to competition in the Hilltopper Classic as it will be the majority of their tough games for the season.
This week: Tues @ Albert Lea, Thurs @ Rochester John Marshall, Sat @ St Peter

6. Duluth Marshall (4-2)
The Hilltoppers proved the Apollo loss was likely just a slow start to the season with their win over Rapids. Two away games this week before their holiday tournament. Can they handle the Red Knights?
This week: Tues @ Proctor, Sat @ Benilde

7. Warroad (5-2)
The Warriors have lost to the two quality opponents they’ve played and dominated the rest. This week they have two section opponents on the docket so we’ll get a much better idea of where they should be in a week.
This week: Tues vs Thief River Falls, Fri @ East Grand Forks

8. Alexandria (5-1)
The Cardinals outshot Cathedral in their OT loss on Saturday. Their schedule doesn’t allow many mistakes for them to stay ranked; they have a good test this week traveling to Moorhead.
This week: Tues @ Moorhead, Thurs vs Sauk Rapids-Rice

9. St Louis Park (3-2)
After starting the season 0-2, the Orioles have recently shut out two top 10 teams. This week and their holiday tournament will tell us if those wins were flukes.
This week: Fri @ Chisago Lakes, Sat @ Chanhassen

10. Delano (3-2-1)
The shut out loss to St Louis park seems quite odd, but the Tigers rebounded win a home win over Totino. They play a couple games they should easily win this week but the real test will be next week when they could play any of DM, EGF, West or any of WI’s best teams.
This week: Tues @ St Louis Park, Thurs vs Totino-Grace

11. New Prague (3-1-1)
The Trojans dominated a good Chaska team this week. They control their destiny for section seeding and are likely a top 2 seed with their match up with Mankato West in January likely deciding the top seed. Two conference games this week for New Prague.
This week: Tues @ Chanhassen, Thurs vs Farmington

12. Orono (3-3)
The Spartans picked up another loss and win this week. They have 3 games they should win this week before the Bronze Cup next week.
This week: Tues vs Hutchinson, Thurs @ Providence Academy, Sat vs Waconia

13. Mahtomedi (2-4)
One of the Zephyrs two wins came this week against Totino Grace and they lost in OT to Hill Murray. Likely ending the week with another win, they have good holiday games on the road to come.
This week: Sat vs Henry Sibley

14. Totino-Grace (2-4-1)
3 losses this week by a total of 4 goals definitely hurts the Eagles’ record, but they can definitely play with most teams. The big game this week will be against St Paul Academy, where a loss would likely secure the 3 seed in sections.
This week: Tues @ Rogers, Sat vs St Paul Academy

15. St Cloud Apollo (5-3)
The Eagles pick up two more wins this week. The game we’re looking for is hopefully against Cathedral in the holiday tournament and redemption against Tech. Can they travel to Brainerd and be competitive?
This week: Tues @ Brainerd, Thurs vs Wilmar



Teams to watch:

Luverne (7-0)
With 3 shutouts, a 1.00 GAA and scoring at least 5 goals in every game, the Cardinals have the opportunity to make it to the Schwan Cup a perfect 10-0.
This week: Tues vs Windom, Thurs vs Worthington, Sat @ Achiever Academy

Blake (3-4)
The Bears are off this week after getting a quality conference win this week. With only 9 home games on their schedule all season, the Bears should be tested and ready for section play.
This week: Idle

St Paul Academy (5-1)
The Spartans are definitely moving in the right direction, but allowing multiple goals to the teams they have shows their vulnerability. They have the opportunity to all but secure the top seed in section 4A this week with a win over Totino this week.
This week: Sat @ Totino-Grace

Thief River Falls (3-4)
The Prowlers have only lost to ranked teams, and close losses to those who aren’t top 3 teams, and beaten the rest. This week will bring two tests on the road.
This week: Tues @ Warroad, Fri @ International Falls

Hibbing (3-3)
Having gotten crushed by the three AA teams they’ve played, the Bluejackets have also beaten the three A teams they’ve played. Need more time to see where they should be in Class A.
This week: Tues vs North Shore, Fri vs Greenway

[Hockey North]

Duluth Marshall isn't 3-3 (they are 4-2) after they beat Grand Rapids 6-4 and I Falls 5-1 this weekend. They were #12 in your poll last week and now they drop to 15??
WOW!

They have been playing with out their top D Man and Forward the whole season, but both will be back this weekend against Benilde. I wouldn't be surprised to see them take out one of your top 3 this year.

[blueblood]

Looking good HSHW. Solid analysis this week on the top 5.

The only outlier may be SLP. Jumping into top 10 may be a bit of a reach. After this weeks games, I will have seen your 8-11 plus Blake and will have a good idea of 6 thru 10.

[rbmuskiefishin]

I think currently Luverne belongs on the watch list until they play a higher level team. Unfortunately the only way to gage them is the stats they produce which are put up against inferior teams.

[bardown27]

EGF only has one section game this week, Bemidji is in 8AA

[HShockeywatcher]

Duluth Marshall isn't 3-3 (they are 4-2) after they beat Grand Rapids 6-4 and I Falls 5-1 this weekend. They were #12 in your poll last week and now they drop to 15??
WOW!

They have been playing with out their top D Man and Forward the whole season, but both will be back this weekend against Benilde. I wouldn't be surprised to see them take out one of your top 3 this year.

That's Minnesota-scores for ya. Happens to me every year; thanks for pointing it out. That definitely does change things. Little busy today, but I will update things later.

[NLHockey]

Duluth Marshall isn't 3-3 (they are 4-2) after they beat Grand Rapids 6-4 and I Falls 5-1 this weekend. They were #12 in your poll last week and now they drop to 15??
WOW!

They have been playing with out their top D Man and Forward the whole season, but both will be back this weekend against Benilde. I wouldn't be surprised to see them take out one of your top 3 this year.

Agreed. HSHW you are way off on Marshall. I would say the top 5 go: 1a Breck, 1b EGF, 3. Duluth Marshall 4. Hermantown 5. Warroad. I predict Duluth Marshall will be 7A rep for state this year.

[HShockeywatcher]

Duluth Marshall isn't 3-3 (they are 4-2) after they beat Grand Rapids 6-4 and I Falls 5-1 this weekend. They were #12 in your poll last week and now they drop to 15??
WOW!

They have been playing with out their top D Man and Forward the whole season, but both will be back this weekend against Benilde. I wouldn't be surprised to see them take out one of your top 3 this year.

Agreed. HSHW you are way off on Marshall. I would say the top 5 go: 1a Breck, 1b EGF, 3. Duluth Marshall 4. Hermantown 5. Warroad. I predict Duluth Marshall will be 7A rep for state this year.

As I said BEFORE you wrote this message, I had bad info on their record. Check minnesota-scores, it has Rapids winning the match up. They get 5-10 games wrong a year and it always ends up having a profound effect on the rankings. I have changed it up.

That being said, what have they done on paper that you think shows they should be not only number 3 but ahead of Hermantown? The Hawk's loss is to karl's #10 team, Hilltopper's to karl's #6 and Apollo. They lost to Apollo and haven't beaten anyone with any impressive wins. The Rapids win is much different than a loss, but to leap frog the previous #1 team? I love the school and their program so I'd love to have them higher, but I need better evidence, especially considering where Hermantown started.

Looking good HSHW. Solid analysis this week on the top 5.

The only outlier may be SLP. Jumping into top 10 may be a bit of a reach. After this weeks games, I will have seen your 8-11 plus Blake and will have a good idea of 6 thru 10.

Yeah, they really had me sratching my head this week too. As I stated, they started 0-2, having lost since and their most recent wins were shut outs of my last week #4 and #10 teams.

Ultimately, there's a handful of "this isn't where I expect this team to end the season" with this week's rankings. Pull up the schedules of the teams in the 9-Blake range and help me draw a better conclusion. Your guess is as good as mine. When teams beat up on each other, it's tough to say what's up. I'm honestly surprised none of the comments have been negative about moving Hermantown from the top spot.

Like I say, feedback is always great. There is a lot of parity in Class A and constructive feedback always helps sort out the numbers on the paper.

Thanks!

[Section 3A HockeyScout]

Two Teams to look at

Chisago Lakes- Looks to be the heavy favorite in Section 5A. They have beaten the other top 5A Contenders Spring Lake Park & Princeton easily. Also have a nice win over AA Rosemount. The Wildcats will most likely be coming out of Section 5A this year.

Willmar- Is the early favorite in Section 3A they played your 8th ranked Alexandria team right down to the wire. Actually out played them for long stretches in that game. They will get a shot at Apollo this week. I see them beating them or at least giving them a great game.

Two teams to think about before ranking next week!

[HShockeywatcher]

I see the poll is getting more even to the point of ranking Luverne; while I don't see it happening this coming week, if they were to win the Open Division of the Schwan Cup and get to 13-0, would they deserve it, or is there competition just that bad?

While the schedules are a little different, I see them like I saw Mankato West last year. West was 20-5 at the end of last season with all their losses 1 goal games, but having not played anyone and no one talking about them.

Two Teams to look at

Chisago Lakes- Looks to be the heavy favorite in Section 5A. They have beaten the other top 5A Contenders Spring Lake Park & Princeton easily. Also have a nice win over AA Rosemount. The Wildcats will most likely be coming out of Section 5A this year.

Willmar- Is the early favorite in Section 3A they played your 8th ranked Alexandria team right down to the wire. Actually out played them for long stretches in that game. They will get a shot at Apollo this week. I see them beating them or at least giving them a great game.

Two teams to think about before ranking next week!

While I would like to see more out of both, your comment about Wilmar is a tough one. Alex seems to be more a team who hasn't lost much than a team who has proven a lot and Wilmar is similar. If they keep it up, they will all get mention.

Thanks