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The last week has had many surprises and upsets. I have ranked all of the teams remaining in the search for a state berth. Good luck to all teams this week.


1. St Thomas Academy (21-5)
Those on the board don’t agree with dropping St Thomas for a head to head loss to another top 5 team at home…so I put them right back where I like them. They play South St Paul in what will probably not be a close game Tuesday and will probably end up playing Mahtomedi again on Friday on neutral ice. It should be a great section 4A final.

2. Mahtomedi (21-5)
I won’t make them the #1 team as close to no one thinks they are, but they do get rewarded for beating St Thomas, and losing to Breck by only 2 goals 2 months ago on Monday, after losing by 6 goals 3 months ago. Since they have played much more competition and beaten the Cadets.

3. Breck (24-2)
Refer to above reasons, as well as not really beating anyone outside of Mahtomedi this season that proves much, despite having two end of season close wins, while not having lost any games they should’ve won. They will probably get to state and, being defending champs, get a top 2 seed.

4. Hermantown (24-3)
All of their losses this season have been one goal games to AA teams, although their one remaining guaranteed opponent did take them to OT. The allowed one goal to North Branch and shut out Rogers, let’s see how they do with a Hunters team who almost beat them.

5. Warroad (23-4)
Giving up 2 goals to Kittson Central is kind of odd, but the Warriors are doing well as of late, including a win against Moorhead. They will likely be on my list again next week.

6. Alexandria (20-6-1)
The Cardinals are 14-3 in their last 17 games and the losses are all by 1 goal, the latest being an away one goal loss to Moorhead. Getting to the section final is the first step, the next is beating Sartell on Friday on neutral ice like they did away 4-1 in their last meeting.

7. Hibbing (11-9-2)
Hibbing avenges their recent loss to International Falls and makes it to the 7A section final. They recently beat Virginia, so if they can do it again and someone 1-5 doesn’t make it, they are probably next in line to be ranked.

8. Sartell-St Stephen (18-7-2)
Beating Fergus Falls in OT is not a great move, but beating Virginia recently keeps them above them.

9. Virginia (15-6-3)
The rematch with the Hilltoppers didn’t go as well for them as the first meeting, but they did sneak away with a win. It should be a good game with Hibbing this week.

10. Thief River Falls (16-7)
Last time the Prowlers played the Green Wave, they tied and the time before it was a two goal win. The meeting on Monday should be a good game technically on neutral ice, but in EGF.

11. Red Wing (15-13)
The Wingers beat Lourdes this season, giving them this ranking. Lourdes helped them avoid New Prague, but they did beat the top seed to get to the section final, which should be a good game on Thursday.

12. Rochester Lourdes (15-7-3)
I am assuming a win against Totino with this rank. The Eagles have proven they can play to the level of anyone…good teams and bad, which is why we don’t know what to expect from them. They are not a team anyone should overlook, but not a team guaranteed everything.

13. Delano (17-7-2)
The Tigers have been playing very well as of late. They are the favorite to win their match up with Blake on Tuesday and would be the best team in the section to beat Breck, although it’s unlikely. Would beating Breck be enough to get them ranked at state?

14. South St Paul (14-12)
Despite their record, the Packers have played well this season. The first two meetings with the Cadets were 4 and 6 goal losses; Wilcox will have to play like Ryan Miller did against the Canucks to upset the Cadets. Assuming that happens, beating Mahtomedi for the first time this season will be tough as well. Anyone know if there are few seniors graduating so their team will be much better next year or if Wilcox will be in the USHL next year?

15. Duluth Denfeld (14-11-2)
There are many losses coming to the Hunter’s record recently, but most have been close games to good teams and last night beat Cathedral who they lost earlier this season by 4 goals. They played Hermantown three weeks ago and lost in OT; the section final on Friday will be a really good game.

16. Totino-Grace (15-10-1)
The Eagles lost to Mahtomedi 1-5 earlier this season, beating them on Tuesday will be tough, but they will do their best to make it a good game.

17. East Grand Forks (12-13-1)
The Green Wave don’t have a great record, but they have played some good teams to give them losses this season. They have tied the team they play on Monday and beaten the team they would play in the section final if they win tomorrow. Seeing a new face come out of 8A would be nice.

18. Orono (16-9-1)
Nothing too great about Orono this year, but they beat Litchfield head to head this year. The Spartans lost to Breck 1-13 earlier this season, it doesn’t look too good for Tuesday.

19. Hutchinson (11-13-1)
Very up and down season this season, but a 4-1 win over Litchfield gives them the upper hand for their head to head semifinal game on Tuesday.

20. Blake (17-8-1)
It’s odd to put the Bears this low, but tying losing to St Paul Johnson doesn’t help them too much. They avenged their tie to Providence Academy by winning 7-1. They are probably going into their Tuesday matchup with Delano thinking about their getting another shot at Breck. While it’s possible, I don’t expect them to be in my rankings next week.

21. New Ulm (14-9-1)
A head to head win with Litchfield this season puts the Eagles ahead of them. They have yet to play Luverne this season, but I don’t know the last time a #7 seed has made the section finals.

22. Litchfield (15-9-1)
The Dragons will be trying to make it to state again, but will likely be playing a team on Tuesday who’s beat them already. If they are able to upset on Tuesday, they’d have to do it again on Friday.

23. Luverne (11-12-1)
The Cardinals started the season with no wins in their first ten games. It is a great to see a 7 seed make it this far and it would be great to see them make it farther. Good luck Cardinals.

1-20 seems about right

As of 2/28:

1. St. Thomas Academy
2. Breck
3. Mahtomedi
4. Hermantown
5. Warroad
6. Alexandria
7. Sartell
8. Virginia
9. Thief River Falls
10. Hibbing
11. Rochester Lourdes
12. Duluth Denfeld
13. Delano
14. Orono
15. Totino-Grace
16. Red Wing
17. Blake
18. South St. Paul
19. East Grand Forks
20. New Ulm
21. Litchfield
22. Hutchinson
23. Luverne

*Bold teams are my picks

fivehole628 wrote:1-20 seems about right

What's wrong with 21-23?

21 beat 22 and 23 started the year 0-9-1.

HShockeywatcher wrote:

fivehole628 wrote:1-20 seems about right

What's wrong with 21-23?

21 beat 22 and 23 started the year 0-9-1.

Yeah, and your #29 team is 6-0 combined against your #8, #12, #18 and #22 teams and 1-1 vs. your #15 team. Just sayin'.

1 Breck still the best fastest team in class a 1 loss on the year shattuck doesn't count they will whip any high school team.

2 WARROAD whipped moorhead at the end of the season and hill murrey had to come from behind to beat moorhead and hill stomped mahtomedi twice and split with sta.

3 STA just because didn't impress me in that game with mahtomedi so slip to third from second.

4 Hermantown feel sorry who meets up with this crew at state.

5 Mahtomedi alright team just not enough dept on the team to take it all

6 Hibbing they have alittle more than virgina including class.

7 Thief River Falls a good defensive team not very much offense.

8 Alexandria these guys are a dark horse gliding under the lime light

9 Rochester playing good hockey will likely make it to state

10 virgina because there is no one else.

and just a note some one made a comment about kittson getting 2 goals on Warroad, it called CLASS to call the dogs off when you have them whipped 9 0 Warroad was running there defense on forward and vice versa and when KCC scored I saw that even some warroad players were laughing, unlike some teams they didn't run up the score, they played the third period to have fun

spectator wrote:1 Breck still the best fastest team in class a 1 loss on the year shattuck doesn't count they will whip any high school team.

2 WARROAD whipped moorhead at the end of the season and hill murrey had to come from behind to beat moorhead and hill stomped mahtomedi twice and split with sta.

3 STA just because didn't impress me in that game with mahtomedi so slip to third from second.

4 Hermantown feel sorry who meets up with this crew at state.

5 Mahtomedi alright team just not enough dept on the team to take it all

6 Hibbing they have alittle more than virgina including class.

7 Thief River Falls a good defensive team not very much offense.

8 Alexandria these guys are a dark horse gliding under the lime light

9 Rochester playing good hockey will likely make it to state

10 virgina because there is no one else.

and just a note some one made a comment about kittson getting 2 goals on Warroad, it called CLASS to call the dogs off when you have them whipped 9 0 Warroad was running there defense on forward and vice versa and when KCC scored I saw that even some warroad players were laughing, unlike some teams they didn't run up the score, they played the third period to have fun

seems about rite, if hermantown wins 5a, it will be interesting to see what they do at state. i hope they add a few more top teams to there schedule next year having not played any ahead of them. not ripping on them just think there record might be different

Sounds pretty good. Hibbing vs Virginia should be an interesting game to watch.

dirtracing17 wrote:

spectator wrote:1 Breck still the best fastest team in class a 1 loss on the year shattuck doesn't count they will whip any high school team.

2 WARROAD whipped moorhead at the end of the season and hill murrey had to come from behind to beat moorhead and hill stomped mahtomedi twice and split with sta.

3 STA just because didn't impress me in that game with mahtomedi so slip to third from second.

4 Hermantown feel sorry who meets up with this crew at state.

5 Mahtomedi alright team just not enough dept on the team to take it all

6 Hibbing they have alittle more than virgina including class.

7 Thief River Falls a good defensive team not very much offense.

8 Alexandria these guys are a dark horse gliding under the lime light

9 Rochester playing good hockey will likely make it to state

10 virgina because there is no one else.

and just a note some one made a comment about kittson getting 2 goals on Warroad, it called CLASS to call the dogs off when you have them whipped 9 0 Warroad was running there defense on forward and vice versa and when KCC scored I saw that even some warroad players were laughing, unlike some teams they didn't run up the score, they played the third period to have fun

seems about rite, if hermantown wins 5a, it will be interesting to see what they do at state. i hope they add a few more top teams to there schedule next year having not played any ahead of them. not ripping on them just think there record might be different

What are you talking about? Add a few more teams above them? There has only been 3 teams above them almost all year. Who all they going to add? And FYI they beat all the teams in Sec 7 including your's and haven't lost to a single A team all year. What the heck you want?

spectator wrote:1 Breck still the best fastest team in class a 1 loss on the year shattuck doesn't count they will whip any high school team.

I love how it is ignored that Breck lost a game head to head with another top team; in that game spectators said they were lucky for it to be as class as it was.
If you ignore that game we also have beating Mahtomedi by only two in their last meeting, beating Lourdes by only 1 at home, Totino by only 3 and really having proven very little this season. Throw out the Shattuck game? Ha. They played well, but BSM and AHA played them better and are thought of as not even close to the top team they are.
They're good, but haven't proven to be great. As we only have relative games to go by and their progression as their schedule isn't good, they really don't look that good anymore, imo.

spectator wrote:and just a note some one made a comment about kittson getting 2 goals on Warroad, it called CLASS to call the dogs off when you have them whipped 9 0 Warroad was running there defense on forward and vice versa and when KCC scored I saw that even some warroad players were laughing, unlike some teams they didn't run up the score, they played the third period to have fun

Class is not scoring 22 goals on a team way worse than them. Class has nothing to do with allowing goals.

Shouldn't players always be playing to have fun?

thats exactly what im talking about. hermantown normally always has top teams, and thats what surprises that sta and other top school dont want to play them during the season. they did beat my team and i dont remember the last time we beat them.

HShockeywatcher wrote:

spectator wrote:1 Breck still the best fastest team in class a 1 loss on the year shattuck doesn't count they will whip any high school team.

I love how it is ignored that Breck lost a game head to head with another top team; in that game spectators said they were lucky for it to be as class as it was.
If you ignore that game we also have beating Mahtomedi by only two in their last meeting, beating Lourdes by only 1 at home, Totino by only 3 and really having proven very little this season. Throw out the Shattuck game? Ha. They played well, but BSM and AHA played them better and are thought of as not even close to the top team they are.
They're good, but haven't proven to be great. As we only have relative games to go by and their progression as their schedule isn't good, they really don't look that good anymore, imo.

spectator wrote:and just a note some one made a comment about kittson getting 2 goals on Warroad, it called CLASS to call the dogs off when you have them whipped 9 0 Warroad was running there defense on forward and vice versa and when KCC scored I saw that even some warroad players were laughing, unlike some teams they didn't run up the score, they played the third period to have fun

Class is not scoring 22 goals on a team way worse than them. Class has nothing to do with allowing goals.

Shouldn't players always be playing to have fun?

You gotta be kidding me... you talk about others not reading your posts? Warroad allowed 2 goals to KCC while playing forwards on defense and 4th,5th lines and defensemen up front. Go ahead, be concerned that Warroad allowed two to KCC. I'll even throw this out there for you to try get your head around, they gave up 3 to RLF!

Breck beats a team twice in a year and you rank that team higher!! Only two goals!?!

The refs gave Breck a weak [b]checking from behind in overtime [/b]to give STA the game!!!!!

TheDon,

You are right; they also lost to EGF. Which is why I have them at #5. I wouldn't be surprised to see them get knocked out.

saucepass wrote:Breck beats a team twice in a year and you rank that team higher!! Only two goals!?!

The refs gave Breck a weak checking from behind in overtime to give STA the game!!!!!

I was unaware that when you get called for checking from behind the other team is given a goal

Wow. Well, I wasn't at that game. But EVERY poster talking about it said Breck was lucky to have kept it as close as they did. That's what I'm going by.

HShockeywatcher wrote:TheDon,

You are right; they also lost to EGF. Which is why I have them at #5. I wouldn't be surprised to see them get knocked out.

Did they play twice this year? I don't have either teams schedule in front of me, but usually those two teams play each other twice during the regular season.

TheDon wrote:

HShockeywatcher wrote:TheDon,

You are right; they also lost to EGF. Which is why I have them at #5. I wouldn't be surprised to see them get knocked out.

Did they play twice this year? I don't have either teams schedule in front of me, but usually those two teams play each other twice during the regular season.

They did. Won the other. Which is why they are ranked high, but not higher. Undefeated I'd have them at #1

[quote="HShockeywatcher"]
I love how it is ignored that Breck lost a game head to head with another top team; in that game spectators said they were lucky for it to be as class as it was.[/quote]

I love how it is ignored that Mahtomedi lost a game head to head with another top team (Breck); in that game spectators said they lost by 6 goals.

You will now argue that the game took place way long ago in December, but wait that was the same month (within 7 days) that the STA beat Breck.

STA number one? yes. Mahtomedi 2? no.

I almost forgot to mention that those same spectators saw Mahtomedi lose again at the X to Breck.

Diggers66 wrote:I almost forgot to mention that those same spectators saw Mahtomedi lose again at the X to Breck.

Wow, this has been asked and answered. Yes, Breck beat them twice. First time by 6, a month later by 2. And now a month later Mahtomedi has done really well and even beaten St Thomas among other good teams, while Breck, to no fault of their own, has done very little to prove they are they team they were in the beginning of the year, and has even done poorly against the one valid opponent they had.

So, if St Thomas is still number 1, yet Mahtomedi beat them, why shouldn't Mahtomedi be above them or at least right below them?

HShockeywatcher wrote:

TheDon wrote:

HShockeywatcher wrote:TheDon,

You are right; they also lost to EGF. Which is why I have them at #5. I wouldn't be surprised to see them get knocked out.

Did they play twice this year? I don't have either teams schedule in front of me, but usually those two teams play each other twice during the regular season.

They did. Won the other. Which is why they are ranked high, but not higher. Undefeated I'd have them at #1

You don't happen to know the score of that other game do you, i can't seem to find it...thanks!

TheDon wrote:

HShockeywatcher wrote:

spectator wrote:1 Breck still the best fastest team in class a 1 loss on the year shattuck doesn't count they will whip any high school team.

I love how it is ignored that Breck lost a game head to head with another top team; in that game spectators said they were lucky for it to be as class as it was.
If you ignore that game we also have beating Mahtomedi by only two in their last meeting, beating Lourdes by only 1 at home, Totino by only 3 and really having proven very little this season. Throw out the Shattuck game? Ha. They played well, but BSM and AHA played them better and are thought of as not even close to the top team they are.
They're good, but haven't proven to be great. As we only have relative games to go by and their progression as their schedule isn't good, they really don't look that good anymore, imo.

spectator wrote:and just a note some one made a comment about kittson getting 2 goals on Warroad, it called CLASS to call the dogs off when you have them whipped 9 0 Warroad was running there defense on forward and vice versa and when KCC scored I saw that even some warroad players were laughing, unlike some teams they didn't run up the score, they played the third period to have fun

Class is not scoring 22 goals on a team way worse than them. Class has nothing to do with allowing goals.

Shouldn't players always be playing to have fun?

You gotta be kidding me... you talk about others not reading your posts? Warroad allowed 2 goals to KCC while playing forwards on defense and 4th,5th lines and defensemen up front. Go ahead, be concerned that Warroad allowed two to KCC. I'll even throw this out there for you to try get your head around, they gave up 3 to RLF!

You mean the game they let there senior goalie start to see where his rehab is at, get your facts right don juan everyone in section8 knew they were going to give him a try that night

spectator wrote: You mean the game they let there senior goalie start to see where his rehab is at, get your facts right don juan everyone in section8 knew they were going to give him a try that night

There is a lot more to scoring goals that who is in net; how good your defense men are at keeping the angles away, how much time the puck is in your zone, etc, etc. A team like Warroad shouldn't be putting themselves in a position to let in goals to Kittson Central, let alone two.

If Tonka put me in net, I'm sure they would still beat half the teams they beat and, for the most part, I would only see shots I could save. No one is saying they are a bad team, they are in a class above most others in the state. I am simply saying this happening this week drops them below Hermantown. That's all.

HShockeywatcher wrote:

spectator wrote: You mean the game they let there senior goalie start to see where his rehab is at, get your facts right don juan everyone in section8 knew they were going to give him a try that night

There is a lot more to scoring goals that who is in net; how good your defense men are at keeping the angles away, how much time the puck is in your zone, etc, etc. A team like Warroad shouldn't be putting themselves in a position to let in goals to Kittson Central, let alone two.

If Tonka put me in net, I'm sure they would still beat half the teams they beat and, for the most part, I would only see shots I could save. No one is saying they are a bad team, they are in a class above most others in the state. I am simply saying this happening this week drops them below Hermantown. That's all.

Tough week for you circle talker? Fall off the wagon did ya? Read your own thread will you? i'll say it again for you... The goals were scored when forwards were playing defense.

So i got this pm that told me that warroad beat egf 12-4 in their last meeting. So does that game get thrown out in your argument then since the game back in the beginning of the season means warroad will get knocked off in sections?

Seems like you're reaching a bit...

saucepass wrote:Breck beats a team twice in a year and you rank that team higher!! Only two goals!?!

The refs gave Breck a weak checking from behind in overtime to give STA the game!!!!!

Yeah. Circle Talker has a tough time figuring some stuff out. Like how the Wright County Conference champion is unranked behind 3 teams in that conference. Two of which they swept in the season series.

I think it's time to put to rest the validity of CircleTalkers rankings. I mean, do you expect anyone to buy that Luverne is better than Rogers, SCC, Faribault, East Grand Forks, and probably 20 more.