2024-25 Section 4A

[ClassAGuy]

Section 4A Ranking (2/2/25)
1- Chisago Lakes Wildcats (12-6-2)
2- Mahtomedi Zephyrs (6-13-2)
3- Southwest Christian/Richfield Stars (7-10-2)
4- St Paul Academy Spartans (7-13-0)
5- Simley Spartans (9-12-0)
6- St. Paul Highland Park Scots (6-13-2)
7- South St Paul Packers (6-13-1)
8- Bloomington Kennedy Eagles (1-19-0)

4A Summary- Chisago Lakes got 4A wins over Mahtomedi & Simley. St Paul Academy got 4A wins over Bloomington Kennedy and the Spartans. St Paul Highland Park got a 4A win over the Eagles. South St Paul went .500 outside the section.

[stateofhawkey]

No they would not. Luverne has played ONE team in the top 25 in class A, no AA teams at all, with their opponents having a combined 15-32-1 record. The one team (Waseca) Luverne played, they tied. Mahtomedi has played 5 AA teams, two being in the top 25, and 5 A teams, all of them in the top 10, who have a combined 44-29-5 record. They lost by 1 to the #3 class A team, beat the #25 AA team, and beat the #5 class A team 4-0.

I believe I'm owed an apology or two for my Mahtomedi takes

Care to rescind?

Luverne vs top 15 class A teams: 0-4, outscored 17-3 (4.25 GA/G, .76 GF/G)
Mahtomedi vs top 15 class A teams: 2-6, outscored 25-16 (3.25 GA/G, 2 GF/G)

Nope! I saw Mahtomedi in person last Friday, for the second time this season. Still looks like a team that would struggle to score against anyone.

[BlueLineSpecial]

Mahtomedi has scored 1 or zero goals in 8 of their 21 games this year - good for a whopping 38%

They've scored 2 or less goals in 14 of their 21 games - or 67%

Regardless of how good your D is, you can't win with these numbers.

[hockeyfan74]

Mahtomedi has scored 1 or zero goals in 8 of their 21 games this year - good for a whopping 38%

They've scored 2 or less goals in 14 of their 21 games - or 67%

Regardless of how good your D is, you can't win with these numbers.

No doubt but maybe those numbers are better if you do a better job of breaking out of your zone, possessing the puck up the ice and not just throwing pucks to the opposing team. Todays game when played properly the D can and should have a large impact on the offense.

[BlueLineSpecial]

Mahtomedi has scored 1 or zero goals in 8 of their 21 games this year - good for a whopping 38%

They've scored 2 or less goals in 14 of their 21 games - or 67%

Regardless of how good your D is, you can't win with these numbers.

No doubt but maybe those numbers are better if you do a better job of breaking out of your zone, possessing the puck up the ice and not just throwing pucks to the opposing team. Todays game when played properly the D can and should have a large impact on the offense.

I agree, absolutely.

If you exclude Mahtomedi's 3 games so far against Hill & STA (two power AA teams that blew the Zephyrs out), they are giving up an average of 2.72 goals per game (49 GA in 18 G). Thats not terrible, given that even with Hill and STA excluded they still played a generally touch schedule with a number of AA teams included. But if you are scoring 2 goals or less 2/3 of the time, most of those games are probably losses.

[hockeyfan74]

Mahtomedi has scored 1 or zero goals in 8 of their 21 games this year - good for a whopping 38%

They've scored 2 or less goals in 14 of their 21 games - or 67%

Regardless of how good your D is, you can't win with these numbers.

No doubt but maybe those numbers are better if you do a better job of breaking out of your zone, possessing the puck up the ice and not just throwing pucks to the opposing team. Todays game when played properly the D can and should have a large impact on the offense.

I agree, absolutely.

If you exclude Mahtomedi's 3 games so far against Hill & STA (two power AA teams that blew the Zephyrs out), they are giving up an average of 2.72 goals per game (49 GA in 18 G). Thats not terrible, given that even with Hill and STA excluded they still played a generally touch schedule with a number of AA teams included. But if you are scoring 2 goals or less 2/3 of the time, most of those games are probably losses.

Spot on but another factor is Maht has had very solid goaltending overall. Goalies have made some huge saves on bad defensive plays. They have saved them quite often. No matter how we break down the team one thing is for sure - they need to score more goals. Not a fan of chip and chase or panic hockey if you want to score more. As I have stated this is a team that typically finds a way but this years version has the most question marks in a long time.

[elliott70]

If I added it up right, it looks like Maht is 3 wins 6 losses against single A teams. 8 of the 9 games have been against top teams.
In those games I think they scored 24 and gave up 28.

Not a bad record but scoring at 2.6 goals per game is not very good.
Giving up 3.1 is decent.

Still a team to reckon with come playoffs.

[BlueLineSpecial]

No doubt but maybe those numbers are better if you do a better job of breaking out of your zone, possessing the puck up the ice and not just throwing pucks to the opposing team. Todays game when played properly the D can and should have a large impact on the offense.

I agree, absolutely.

If you exclude Mahtomedi's 3 games so far against Hill & STA (two power AA teams that blew the Zephyrs out), they are giving up an average of 2.72 goals per game (49 GA in 18 G). Thats not terrible, given that even with Hill and STA excluded they still played a generally touch schedule with a number of AA teams included. But if you are scoring 2 goals or less 2/3 of the time, most of those games are probably losses.

Spot on but another factor is Maht has had very solid goaltending overall. Goalies have made some huge saves on bad defensive plays. They have saved them quite often. No matter how we break down the team one thing is for sure - they need to score more goals. Not a fan of chip and chase or panic hockey if you want to score more. As I have stated this is a team that typically finds a way but this years version has the most question marks in a long time.

Agreed. And it sounds like you've had a chance to watch them play this year more than I have, so I'd trust your judgement of what you're seeing.

I'll say this - and it's been brought up by others - while this season may be painful for the Zephyrs, in the long run this year will make them stronger. This is a young team, with some young guys getting valuable minutes.

[BlueLineSpecial]

I just realized there is a defenseman on the Zephrys named Joey Pipes. All time fumble that no one got him into playing goalie as a kid

[Smooth]

I just realized there is a defenseman on the Zephrys named Joey Pipes. All time fumble that no one got him into playing goalie as a kid

Didn't Joey head to hill with the Sampairs

[ClassAGuy]

Section 4A Scores Week #12
Monday (2/3/25)
#15 Chisago Lakes 6 South St Paul 0

Tuesday (2/4/25)
#15 Chisago Lakes 3 Two Rivers 4
#16 Mahtomedi 10 Simley 0
Southwest Christian/Richfield 7 Litchfield/Dassel-Cokato 4
St Paul Academy 4 St Paul Highland Park 3

Wednesday (2/5/25)
Bloomington Kennedy 1 Holy Angels 10

Thursday (2/6/25)
#15 Chisago Lakes 2 #8 Minneapolis 5
#16 Mahtomedi 0 Hill Murray 7
Southwest Christian/Richfield 5 St Paul Academy 2
South St Paul 1 Tartan 3
St Paul Highland Park 0 Two Rivers 8

Saturday (2/8/25)
Bloomington Kennedy 2 #8 Minneapolis 10
Southwest Christian/Richfield 1 Dodge County 4
Simley 3 South St. Paul 1

[ClassAGuy]

Section 4A Ranking (2/9/25)
1- Chisago Lakes Wildcats (13-8-2)
2- Mahtomedi Zephyrs (7-14-2)
3- Southwest Christian/Richfield Stars (9-11-2)
4- St Paul Academy Spartans (8-14-0)
5- Simley Spartans (10-13-0)
6- St. Paul Highland Park Scots (6-15-2)
7- South St Paul Packers (6-16-1)
8- Bloomington Kennedy Eagles (1-20-0)

4A Seeding Outlook
Chisago Lakes #1 Seed no Section 4A losses
Mahtomedi #2 seed only 4A loss head to head to CL no other 4A losses
Southwest Christian/Richfield #3 seed lost head to head to CL no other 4A losses
St Paul Academy #4 lost to SWC but swept Simley, Highland Park and beat SSP & Kennedy
Simley #5 seed lost to the top 4 teams in 4A but swept Highland Park, Kennedy and SSP
St Paul Highland Park #6 lost to SWC, SPA & Simley but beat Kennedy Tied CL & won the 2nd game of split with SSP
South St Paul #7 lost to CL, Maht, SPA, Simley and 2nd game of split with Highland Park
Bloomington Kennedy #8 no Section 4A wins

[ClassAGuy]

Section 4A Week #13 Scores
Tuesday (2/11/25)
#14 Chisago Lakes 5 Princeton 4 OT
#15 Mahtomedi 4 Hastings 1
South St Paul 1 Rochester Lourdes 2
Southwest Christian/Richfield 2 Holy Family 6
Simley 9 St Paul Johnson 1
St Paul Academy 2 Tartan 5

Thursday (2/13/25)
St Paul Academy 0 Providence Academy 5
Simley 1 Two Rivers 11
St. Paul Highland Park 2 Mound Westonka 7
Southwest Christian/Richfield 1 Breck 4
Bloomington Kennedy 3 Irondale 11

Friday (2/14/25)
#14 Chisago Lakes 2 #5 Hibbing/Chisholm 6

Saturday (2/15/25)
#15 Mahtomedi 3 #7 St Cloud Cathedral 4 OT
South St Paul 2 Hastings 4
St Paul Highland Park 14 Bloomington Kennedy 0
St. Paul Academy 4 St. Paul Johnson 5 OT
Southwest Christian/Richfield 1 New Ulm 3

[ClassAGuy]

Section 4A Playoff Schedule
QF 2/19 & 2/20 Aldrich
SF 2/25 Aldrich
F 2/27 Aldrich

Section 4A Projected Seeding
1- Chisago Lakes Wildcats (14-9-2)
2- Mahtomedi Zephyrs (8-15-2)
3- Southwest Christian/Richfield Stars (9-14-2)
4- St Paul Academy Spartans (8-17-0)
5- Simley Spartans (11-14-0)
6- St. Paul Highland Park Scots (7-16-2)
7- South St Paul Packers (6-18-1)
8- Bloomington Kennedy Eagles (1-22-0)

The Favorite- Mahtomedi again even with all their struggles this year would still be considered the favorite to win 4A for the 7th time in the last 8 years. The Zephyrs have been a source of debate all year as to just how good this team is due to their lousy record and the lack of offensive output. If they are going to return to state as normal they will need Seniors Laken Decker, Winston Wright & Mac Appert to lead the way. They also have some younger talent as Sophomore Devin O'Donnell & Will Seevers along with 9th grader Brock Gutterman have been tasked with providing the limited scoring. The Zephyrs defensive core has also struggled most of the year but the future is bright with Junior Cody Loida along Sophomores Zach Zins & Trevor Rogosheske and 9th grader Ryker Dunbar all all learning on the fly this season and should be better for it next year. In net Senior Wes Strub has split time with Junior Jackson Chesak and both have been pretty good for the limited offense they get as far as support. This team does appear to be as vulnerable as they have ever been and it will be interesting to see if 4A can keep them out of the X in a few weeks for the first time in years.

The Challenger- Chisago Lakes has been in the 4A final two of the last 4 years and they sent a statement to the State and all of Section 4A that they are for real contenders when they upset Mahtomedi on the road just a few weeks ago. The Wildcats appear on paper to have what it takes to make a run in Section 4A and return to the Tourney for the 1st time since 2014. Up front Seniors Max Bobrowski, Alex Bever & Ben Kerkow along with Juniors Jacob Kletti, Austin Slettom & Landon Kerkow have all had good offensive campaigns. On the blueline they are led by Junior Max Koch who is an elite defender and offensive threat. In net they have split time but it appears they are going with Junior Shandley Corbin who has started the majority of the big games down the stretch. All the pieces are place along with a #1 seed the question is can the Wildcats win when it matters most over the next few weeks.

The Dark Horse- Southwest Christian/Richfield would appear to be the Dark Horse this year as they have had an up and down season but have shown at times there are enough pieces to make a run. Up front they have gotten scoring from Senior Paul Hornor, Junior Christian Greer & Sophomore Bennett Breuer and add to them an elite defenseman in Junior Tate Hardacre who is as good as them come in Class A on the blueline and he actually leads the team in scoring from the backend. Their X factor though for them will be goaltending as they have struggled to find the guys in net and rotated most of the year but if they can get one of them to get hot they are a potential upset pick to make a run in Section 4A.

Section Scary- St Paul Highland Park has had a disappointing year overall for the Scots but this could be a low seed to keep an eye on as they have shown they can play with the top seeds in 4A which is evidenced by tie with Chisago Lakes and low scoring game with Southwest Christian/Richfield during the year. They are led by their trio of Seniors Isaac Johnson, Leo Kirsch & Tommy Rust as this is a team that if it is fully healthy, has loads of experience and will be looking to atone for previous seasons playoff shortfalls.

The Rest- St Paul Academy again this year finds itself in the #4 vs #5 game and while it's been a little bit of a disappointing year for the Spartans they have been tough vs 4A teams on the season. SPA just has not gotten much offense this year and if they want playoff success they will need that to change and they will look to Senior Ethan Peltier & Sophomore Brady Glenn who are the teams two leading scorers. Simley is another team that has been inconsistent throughout the year and faded a bit late due to injuries. They will need their duo of Seniors Tyler Letendre & Alex Miller healthy for the playoffs as they both have put up big numbers on offense. South St Paul will try to replicate last year's low seed section upset but it appears to be a much taller task this year. In order for that to happen they will need big games from Senior Roddick Simons and Sophomores Jaxson Horning & Roman Knight who have led the team in scoring this winter. Bloomington Kennedy has had a tough year in their final campaign but if they want to create a little postseason magic they will look to Senior Mason Biermaier who has had a stellar year as the Eagles will try to prolong their program's life for a few more weeks.

[ClassAGuy]

Section 4A Playoffs
Section 4A QF Games
#1 Chisago Lakes 13 #8 Bloomington Kennedy 1
#5 Simley 3 #4 St Paul Academy 1
#6 St Paul Highland Park 7 #3 Southwest Christian/Richfield 4
#2 Mahtomedi 5 #7 South St Paul 0

Section 4A Semifinals
#1 Chisago Lakes vs #5 Simley
#2 Mahtomedi 5 South St Paul 0

[stateofhawkey]

Hey, look at that. Mahtomedi and Luverne both lost in the Consolation round of state. If there was a 7th/8th place game, we would get the matchup we've been clamoring for