4A Final - #1 Mahtomedi vs. #2 Chisago Lakes

[ClassAGuy]

#1 seed Mahtomedi Zephyrs (16-9-2) vs #2 seed Chisago Lakes Wildcats (16-8-3)
February 26th, 2026 | 7:00 PM CT | @ Aldrich Arena, Maplewood

Mahtomedi enters the 4A Section Final for the 10th straight year. The Zephyrs have become the program within this metro east Class A section and they will look to head back to State for the 5th consecutive year. Mahtomedi, as they normally do, has cruised through the first two rounds and outscored the first two 4A opponents 16-1 and they will not look to continue their success in this game and return to state for the 9th time in the last 10 years out of Section 4A.

Zephyrs Leaders- Jrs. #8 Devin O'Donnell (14-16-30 pts) & #17 Will Seevers (11-9-20 pts) and Sophs. #10 Vinny Redpath (16-12-28 pts) & #22 Brock Gutterman (8-13-21 pts) lead the forward group for Mahtomedi. On the blueline Srs #4 Henry Sampair (7-9-16 pts) & #23 Cody Loida (3-19-22 pts) and Soph. Ryker Dunbar (6-10-16 pts) lead a deep group of defenders that have been very good this year.

Zephyrs Goalies- Sr. #30 Jackson Chesak (15-9-2) 2.76 GAA .910 SV% has been the main guy in net all year after splitting the last year. He has been very steady especially during their first two Section 4A playoff wins so far this year.

Zephyrs Section 4A Supremacy- Mahtomedi lost in the 2021 Section 4A Final to Gentry Academy, who went on to win Class A and move to 4AA, and since that loss the Zephyrs have been dominant in Section 4A. Over the last 5 years they are 34-1 vs 4A opponents and have outscored section teams 229-32 in those 35 games which shows why they are still the favorite to win their 9th section title in the last 10 years in this section.

Zephyrs Special Teams- The Power Play is at 22.4% and Penalty Kill is at 72.1%

Chisago Lakes enters the 4A Section Final for the 4th time in the last 5 years. They have been able to take care of business on their side of the bracket so far and head into this game with good momentum as they head into the 4A Final. Now they take on Mahtomedi, a team that has had their number in the playoffs recently as they have lost to the Zephyrs in the 4A Final 4 out of the last 5 years but they hope to change their fortune and get back to State for the 1st time since 2014.

Wildcats Leaders- Srs. #21 Jacob Kletti (28-34-62 pts), #27 Colton Horak (20-33-53 pts) & #18 Austin Slettom (14-30-34 pts) lead the offense that has multiple players with double digit points and add to them the pair of Srs. #5 Max Koch (9-37-46 pts) & #3 Colton Whiterabbit (8-32-40 pts) who have been the top defensemen for the Chisago Lakes blueline for a few years now and they are full of skill and experience. .

Wildcats Goalie- Soph. #1 Jacob Schaeppi (14-7-3) 2.35 GAA .916 SV% emerged as the starter when their main guy transferred to Lakeville South before the year. He has done well all year and has been good in his first playoff run so far.

Wildcats Runner Up Misery- Chisago Lakes has been a strong Class A program for many years as since 2015 they have played in the Section Final Game 6 times in the last 11 seasons. The bad part of that stat is that they finished runner up in all 6 of those seasons with the last three coming at the hands of the Zephyrs. They will look to avoid their 7th Runner Up finish in the last 12 years now as they try to finally break back through.

Wildcats Special Teams- The Power Play is at 18.8% and Penalty Kill is at 83.7 %

[stateofhawkey]

If I might chime in a little more in the way of Mahtomedi:

Over the last 5 years (since losing to Gentry 7-3 in the 2021 Section Final), Mahtomedi is 33-1 against Section 4A Opponents. They have outscored section teams 226-31 in those 34 games. The one loss was to Chisago Lakes last season. (I actually pieced that together using numbers that you came up with last year when these teams played in the Section Final, so thank you @ClassAGuy.)

But, if you're making state for the 9th time in the last 10 years, for the 5th year in a row, and you're outscoring teams by a WIDE margin the entire time....... TIME TO MOVE UP TO AA

[ClassAGuy]

4-0 Mahtomedi after 1 ...

[ClassAGuy]

Mahtomedi wins 7-1

[stateofhawkey]

You win your Section Final against a very good Chisago team 7-1... Wasn't even close from the jump. You've made state for the 9th time in the last 10 years. You're mowing through your Section. Yup, time to move on up to AA!