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With most teams playing zero or one game this last week, not much has changed in the rankings this week. With some teams having 40% of their schedule done after the next week is over and most teams playing at least 2 teams, things will be much more sorted out next week with fewer bubble teams.

Both of St Thomas and Breck play in the Gold Division of Schwan’s Cup this week. With SOS, Blake is probably the only team with the opportunity to jump either of these two this week. Breck has shutout 4 of their 5 opponents thus far; they will hope they can continue this trend. St Thomas lost to Minnetonka in OT at home a couple games ago; they will need to play much better this time around to get a better result.

T1. St Thomas Academy (3-1)
This week: Wed vs Minnetonka, Thurs vs Blaine or WBL, Fri/Sat vs TBD

T1. Breck (5-0)
This week: Wed vs Hill Murray, Thurs vs Duluth East or Edina, Fri/Sat vs TBD

3. Blake (5-0-1)
Blake has a great opportunity to showcase their talent this week in the Silver Division of Schwan’s Cup. With a good showing against probably all AA competition (and poor showings by Breck/STA) this week, the Bears could move up in section, Class and state standings this week.
This week: Wed vs Roseville, Thurs vs Holy Angels or Burnsville, Fri vs TBD

4. Hermantown (7-0)
The Hawks continue to dominate their very competitive Class A schedule and will play 3 quality 8A opponents this week. It will be interesting to see how the rest of the state ranks the Hawks if they make it to state; they could easily make it with less than 3 losses with St Thomas and Breck making it with probably very good records. Would coaches possibly seed an undefeated team below #1?
This week: Tues vs Crookston, Wed @ Thief River Falls, Thurs vs East Grand Forks

5. Rochester Lourdes (9-0)
The Eagles have four 1 goal wins this season, including 2 overtime games. They have not played many quality opponents yet this season. After this week, Lourdes will have played almost half of their games.
This week: Tues vs Dodge County, Wed vs TBD, Thurs vs TBD

6. Hibbing/Chisholm (7-2-1)
While they do not play each other, Hibbing and Virginia play the same opponents this week which will help in ranking next week. The Blue Jackets haven’t lost in their last 6 games.
This week: Tues vs Mahtomedi, Wed vs Spring Lake Park, Thurs vs Lakeville North

7. Duluth Marshall (5-3-1)
The Hilltoppers have some great competition this week and next and will have an opportunity to move up with wins this week and next.
This week: Mon vs Irondale, Tues vs TBD, Wed vs TBD

8. Virginia/MI-B (6-3)
The Blue Devils only losses this season are to Hermantown and AA teams. Doing well this week will give them the opportunity to move up with losses above them and the opportunity for better comparison with Hibbing.
This week: Tues vs Lakeville North, Wed vs Mahtomedi, Thurs vs Spring Lake Park

9. Delano (6-1)
The Delano Tigers play an untested Proctor team this week and have the opportunity to play some good competition.
This week: Mon vs Proctor, Tues vs TBD, Wed vs TBD

10. Providence Academy (5-2)
While it doesn’t seem that the Lions’ level of competition will be that great, they will probably get the opportunity to play at the X Saturday and show the state what they can do.
This week: Wed vs Monticello, Thurs vs St Paul Academy or Coon Rapids, Fri/Sat vs TBD

11. Totino-Grace (7-0)
The Eagles' SOS is what is hurting them right now. They do not have a holiday tournament, which won't benefit them much even if they win this week. With not playing many top notch teams thus far, their second half schedule has got to be one of the harder second half Class A schedules in the state.
This week: Sat @ East Grand Forks

12. Little Falls (6-1-2)
The Flyers are atop a list of teams that are difficult to rank because of their bad losses, ties and close wins. They play two Class A teams this week and a good AA team.
This week: Tues vs Prairie Center, Wed vs St Cloud Tech, Thurs vs Sauk Rapids-Rice

13. Warroad (4-4)
This season has started out unusually for the Warriors, but they seem to have found their balance. Losing to EGF hurts them in their section seeding for now, so we’ll see how they rebound.
This week: Tues vs Grafton, Wed vs Osseo, Thurs vs Fairbault

14. Thief River Falls (4-4)
Losing to Warroad has hurt the Prowlers. They will have a chance to show what they can do hosting Hermantown this week.
This week: Tues vs Marcus, Wed vs Hermantown, Thurs vs Hutchinson

15. South St. Paul (5-1)
The Packers host a holiday tournament that should allow them to rise in the rankings next week if they do well. Their loss to North St Paul is keeping them down right now.
This week: Mon vs Anoka, Tues vs TBD, Wed vs TBD

16. Chisago Lake (5-1)
The Tigers make the Top 20 this week, but with their only loss to #6 Hibbing their overall ability is hardly known yet. With two of their games this week against teams from out of MN, this week won’t help much in assessing this team.
This week: Tues vs Black River Falls, Wed vs TBD, Thurs vs Eau Claire North

17. Mahtomedi (2-5-1)
All of the Zephyrs’ losses have come at the hands of teams either higher on this ranking or in Class AA. Depending on what others do, they could theoretically lose all their games this week and not drop much.
This week: Tues vs Hibbing, Wed vs Virginia, Thurs vs Grand Rapids

18. Rogers (3-2-1)
The Royals have only lost to Hermantown and Mahtomedi. They will definitely be tested this week in the Silver Division of Schwan’s Cup.
This week: Wed vs Stillwater, Thurs vs Cretin or Lakeville South, Fri/Sat vs TBD

19. East Grand Forks (4-3)
Losing to Crookston has dropped the Green Wave this far. They play 4 games this week so we should see a lot about them and how they rebound after a bad loss.
This week: Tues vs St Louis Park, Wed vs Raleigh, Thurs vs Hermantown, Sat vs Totino-Grace

20. Holy Family Catholic (3-3)
Losing to Providence Academy and Lourdes by 1 goal apiece, PA in OT, has earned the Fire the final spot on my Top 20 list. Good luck in the Bronze Division of Schwan’s Cup this week.
This week: Wed vs Champlin Park, Thurs vs Owatonna or Northfield, Fri/Sat vs TBD

Bubble Teams

Duluth Central (4-5)
This week: Tues vs New Prague, Wed vs TBD, Thurs vs TBD

Sartell-St. Stephen (4-3)
This week: Wed vs Orono, Thurs vs Mounds View or Hudson, Fri/Sat vs TBD

Lake of the Woods (3-2-1)
This week: Tues vs Alexandria, Wed vs Roseau, Thurs vs Mandan

St. Cloud Cathedral (2-3)
This week: Tues vs Mound-Westonka, Wed vs St Cloud Apollo, Thurs vs Prairie Center

Orono (4-3)
This week: Wed vs Sartell-St Stephen, Thurs vs Mounds View or Hudson, Fri/Sat vs TBD

Litchfield (5-0-1)
This week: Tues @ St Peter

Detroit Lakes (6-1)
This week: Tues vs St Cloud Apollo, Wed vs Sauk Rapids-Rice, Thurs vs Mound-Westonka

Fergus Falls (3-2-2)
This week: Tues vs Mankato West, Wed vs St Francis, Thurs vs West Fargo

New Ulm (5-1-1)
This week: Tues vs Souix Falls, Wed vs TD, Thurs vs TBD, Sat vs Austin

Proctor (6-1)
This week: Mon vs Delano, Tues vs TBD, Wed vs TBD

Albert Lea (6-1)
This week: Tues vs Richfield, Wed vs TBD, Thurs vs TBD

Eveleth-Gilbert (5-2)
This week: Tues vs Kittson Central, Wed vs TBD, Thurs vs TBD


Sectional Standings

This week I will be ranking sections differently. In the past I have simply taken teams from the ranking and put them in that order. I am putting them how I think they should be ranked in their sections were section seeding to be today, with a bigger emphasis on head to head and common opponents.

1A
#5 Rochester Lourdes (9-0)
Albert Lea (6-1)

Section 1A seems to be a one horse race. Albert Lea is only being mentioned here as they have only lost to a AA opponent thus far. If they continue to win their next two games, they will likely play Lourdes toward the end of this week. Their first game of the new year is also against Lourdes.

2A
#1 Breck (5-0)
#3 Blake (5-0-1)
#10 Delano (6-1)
#11 Providence Academy (6-2)
Holy Family Catholic (3-3)
Mound-Westonka (3-2-2)
Orono (4-3)

While the top 4 are probably the only teams that have realistic shot of making it to the X, all 7 are worth noting. Providence Academy and Delano do not play each other this season and Delano lost to Blake by 1 goal in their only game against the other top 4 this season, both of which will possibly be an issue for seeding for Delano.

3A
New Ulm (5-1)
Litchfield (5-0-1)
Marshall (5-2-1)

New Ulm beat Marshall, who tied Litchfield. By the end of the season, it seems as though New Ulm will be the clear #1.

4A
#1 St Thomas (3-1)
#15 South St Paul (5-1)
# 12 Totino-Grace (6-1)
# 15 Chisago Lake Area (5-1)
#17 Mahtomedi (2-5-1)

With little head to head competition to back this up, it appears St Thomas will be the #1 seed in the section and the race is for the #2 seed.

5A

#4 Hermantown (7-0)
Rogers (3-2-1)
Cathedral (2-3)
Proctor (6-1)

It seems Hermantown will probably lead the way in this section, the next 3 probably have a similar shot at the #2 seed; Rogers in the lead with a win over Cathedral. Proctor does not play Cathedral this season.

6A
#11 Little Falls (5-2-2)
Fergus Falls (3-2-2)
Sartell-St Stephen (4-3)
Detroit Lakes (6-1)

Little Falls seems to be in the lead, with the next three teams very close behind. By the time the season closes there will be more head to head match ups to help get things in order.

7A
#6 Hibbing (7-2-1)
#7 Duluth Marshall (5-3-1)
#8 Virginia (6-3)
Eveleth-Gilbert (5-2)
Duluth Central (4-5)

Hibbing, Marshall and Virginia seem to have a lead here with not many head to head section games played yet. This should be a very close section tournament with any of 6 teams capable of winning the section tournament for making many good games.

8A

#19 East Grand Forks (4-3)
#13 Warroad (4-4)
#14 Thief River Falls (4-4)
Lake of the Woods (3-2-1)
Crookston (4-4-1)

This section is very undecided with Crookston having beat all 3 sectional opponents they’ve played, including EGF, but have not played Warroad, TRF or LOW yet. Warroad recently beat TRF so we will see how the rest of the season pans out with this one.

The loss to the Red Wing this week is quite suspect and with their SOS it hurts them this week.

The Hub shows Totino 7-0, beating Red Wing 4-1.

Section 6a.

Little Falls- Came into the season unknown, pre-christmas they have proven to be a contender, and thus far are doing better than the rest.
Sartell- Yes they lost badly to St. Cloud Tech, they still beat Fergus Falls.
Fergus Falls- No they don't have a true rout against them like Sartell, but they truley avoided disaster this week when they beat Apollo High. Apollo was coming off a nice win over Alexandria, and Fergus Falls was coming off a tie against River Lakes.
Detroit Lakes-I will put them here now for the fact that they haven't done anything to prove they shouldn't be here, both higher and lower. Detroit Lakes doesn't really play any type of decent schedule anymore which is sad, Any of the teams above DL, or Alexandria would likely only have one loss or none at all with DL's schedule.
St. Cloud Apollo-true dark horse, but one win, have played some tough teams, have beaten Alex, played Fergus tough.
Alexandria-Struggling right now, will bounce back..

The only certain thing in section 6 is that it will get even more confusing.

observer wrote:

The loss to the Red Wing this week is quite suspect and with their SOS it hurts them this week.

The Hub shows Totino 7-0, beating Red Wing 4-1.

Ugh, you are correct.

I wish their game schedule page was info friendly, there are a couple sites that make getting the info and getting to other teams' pages so much easier.

They will go up once I get some time to change it, but the SOS comment still holds.

Little Falls is 6-1-2 not 5-2-2.

1A
#5 Rochester Lourdes (9-0)
Albert Lea (6-1)

Section 1A seems to be a one horse race. Albert Lea is only being mentioned here as they have only lost to a AA opponent thus far. If they continue to win their next two games, they will likely play Lourdes toward the end of this week. Their first game of the new year is also against Lourdes.

only counting albert lea and lourdes for 1a is far too narrow, shouldnt count out Mankato West or even a rising New Prague team, New Prague is actually good if they don't get themselves into penalty troubles (most penalized team in 1A). I'll call it now, Mankato West will beat Albert Lea at home, but lose to them at Albert Lea.

HShockeywatcher wrote:2A
#1 Breck (5-0)
#3 Blake (5-0-1)
#10 Delano (6-1)
#11 Providence Academy (6-2)
Holy Family Catholic (3-3)
Mound-Westonka (3-2-2)
Orono (4-3)

While the top 4 are probably the only teams that have realistic shot of making it to the X, all 7 are worth noting. Providence Academy and Delano do not play each other this season and Delano lost to Blake by 1 goal in their only game against the other top 4 this season, both of which will possibly be an issue for seeding for Delano.

You must remember that Delano lost to Blake with 15 seconds remaining in the 3rd period on a "questionable" kick in goal. In my opinion, the loss won't hurt their chances at a high seed too much because of how close the game was.

defense wrote:Section 6a.

Little Falls- Came into the season unknown, pre-christmas they have proven to be a contender, and thus far are doing better than the rest.
Sartell- Yes they lost badly to St. Cloud Tech, they still beat Fergus Falls.
Fergus Falls- No they don't have a true rout against them like Sartell, but they truley avoided disaster this week when they beat Apollo High. Apollo was coming off a nice win over Alexandria, and Fergus Falls was coming off a tie against River Lakes.
Detroit Lakes-I will put them here now for the fact that they haven't done anything to prove they shouldn't be here, both higher and lower. Detroit Lakes doesn't really play any type of decent schedule anymore which is sad, Any of the teams above DL, or Alexandria would likely only have one loss or none at all with DL's schedule.
St. Cloud Apollo-true dark horse, but one win, have played some tough teams, have beaten Alex, played Fergus tough.
Alexandria-Struggling right now, will bounce back..

The only certain thing in section 6 is that it will get even more confusing.

Hahahaha...you got that one right! With such great competition in Section 6A, it is probably from that section that we will get one of the top three teams at the A tourney in March. Breck, STA, and the survivor from the Section 6A wars.

New Rank/Last Week
1/2. Breck (5-0) -- They're officially staying put until a loss/tie.
2/3. Hermantown (7-0) -- The only reason they aren't #1 is because the defending champ is undefeated.
3/1. St. Thomas Academy (3-1) -- Tonka's loss to Stillwater hurts STA.
4/4. Rochester Lourdes (9-0) -- They keep rollin'
5/5. Blake (5-0-1) -- Have a lot to prove this week.
6/10. Hibbing (7-2-1) -- They have proven they're a different team then the one that lost 6-1 to LF at home.
7/7. Duluth Marshall (5-3-1) -- Are better than their record.
8/8. Totino-Grace (7-0) -- We still have to see more if they wish to move up any higher.
9/11. Delano (6-1) -- I was sold a while ago on Delano.
10/6. Virginia (6-3) -- I thought they were the front-runners in 7A. Not anymore.
11/9. Little Falls (6-1-2) -- I hope you still don't think the Flyers lost to Northern Lakes.
12/15. South St. Paul (5-1) -- I still don't know if SSP is any good or not.
13/18. Duluth Central (4-5) -- Are playing much better as of late.
14/12. East Grand Forks (4-3) -- The Crookston loss hurts, but nobody is there to leapfrog them.
15/17. Warroad (4-4) -- Not a lot to be said. They will prove their worth.
16/13. Thief River Falls (4-4) -- It's gut check time. A bad outing at the Ralph classic will drop them out of the top 20.
17/UR. Mahtomedi (2-5-1) -- They're slowly becoming a factor.
18/14. Sartell (4-3) -- Good, but not great single A team.
19/19. Rogers (3-2-1) -- Another loss and they'll lose me.
20/20. St. Cloud Cathedral (2-3) -- I still think they're the 2nd best team in 5A.

Watch list: Crookston, (16)Fergus Falls, Providence Academy, Holy Family Catholic, Proctor.

DanglinDMan27 wrote:Little Falls is 6-1-2 not 5-2-2.

Fixed. As I continue to use the website that is much easier for ranking and seeing schedules/results, I need to continue to remember who they've screwed up with results for (Mahtomedi, Little Falls, Totino, UGH)

The Alex loss is hard for me to digest and put them that much higher. They make a significant jump if they continue to do well and there are hiccups above them. Teams like Delano and PA make this difficult for me.

scarlethockey33 wrote:

1A
#5 Rochester Lourdes (9-0)
Albert Lea (6-1)

Section 1A seems to be a one horse race. Albert Lea is only being mentioned here as they have only lost to a AA opponent thus far. If they continue to win their next two games, they will likely play Lourdes toward the end of this week. Their first game of the new year is also against Lourdes.

only counting albert lea and lourdes for 1a is far too narrow, shouldnt count out Mankato West or even a rising New Prague team, New Prague is actually good if they don't get themselves into penalty troubles (most penalized team in 1A). I'll call it now, Mankato West will beat Albert Lea at home, but lose to them at Albert Lea.

After looking at New Prague's schedule, I will take another look after this weekend. I highly doubt that any team in this section will do well in stopping Lourdes come section time, and with the results of games teams are having, it makes mentioning anyone else very difficult.

fivehole628 wrote:

HShockeywatcher wrote:2A
#1 Breck (5-0)
#3 Blake (5-0-1)
#10 Delano (6-1)
#11 Providence Academy (6-2)
Holy Family Catholic (3-3)
Mound-Westonka (3-2-2)
Orono (4-3)

While the top 4 are probably the only teams that have realistic shot of making it to the X, all 7 are worth noting. Providence Academy and Delano do not play each other this season and Delano lost to Blake by 1 goal in their only game against the other top 4 this season, both of which will possibly be an issue for seeding for Delano.

You must remember that Delano lost to Blake with 15 seconds remaining in the 3rd period on a "questionable" kick in goal. In my opinion, the loss won't hurt their chances at a high seed too much because of how close the game was.

You are correct that a 1 goal loss is simply that, and I agree with you completely. The "issue" I see for Delano, though, is that the only section opponents that remain on their schedule are Orono, Mound-Westonka and Holy Family Catholic. Breck, Blake and Providence Academy will play each other twice. If Blake wins all the match ups and Delano goes 6-0 against the 3 teams they play, they'll have a shot at #2, but if PA/Breck win any and any of the 3 they play upset them, they could be in for an away game in the quarters (even if they don't "deserve" it). This is where my thoughts put in the section/conference games thread stem from. In a section this loaded, your seed is a huge factor in how well you do. Without playing Breck or PA, it would be very difficult for me to rank Delano ahead of them. Say Breck and PA both go 2-0 against Blake and Delano goes 4-2 against the 2A teams they play, they could end up with a 5 or 6 seed. Many things could happen here.

Teak wrote:

defense wrote:Section 6a.

Little Falls- Came into the season unknown, pre-christmas they have proven to be a contender, and thus far are doing better than the rest.
Sartell- Yes they lost badly to St. Cloud Tech, they still beat Fergus Falls.
Fergus Falls- No they don't have a true rout against them like Sartell, but they truley avoided disaster this week when they beat Apollo High. Apollo was coming off a nice win over Alexandria, and Fergus Falls was coming off a tie against River Lakes.
Detroit Lakes-I will put them here now for the fact that they haven't done anything to prove they shouldn't be here, both higher and lower. Detroit Lakes doesn't really play any type of decent schedule anymore which is sad, Any of the teams above DL, or Alexandria would likely only have one loss or none at all with DL's schedule.
St. Cloud Apollo-true dark horse, but one win, have played some tough teams, have beaten Alex, played Fergus tough.
Alexandria-Struggling right now, will bounce back..

The only certain thing in section 6 is that it will get even more confusing.

Hahahaha...you got that one right! With such great competition in Section 6A, it is probably from that section that we will get one of the top three teams at the A tourney in March. Breck, STA, and the survivor from the Section 6A wars.

While I believe you are right on the talent level of the teams in this section, I believe (right or wrong) they will probably be on the unfortunate end of a first round match up with a seeded opponent. With STA, 2A, Hermantown and Lourdes probably getting the seeds at this point. Then you look at 7A and 8A.

Little Falls did beat Hibbing, which will help if Hibbing makes it, but lost to Virginia. Even if they were to win out and make it (again, right or wrong) I doubt they would get seeded as they don't play many teams from around the state, or the cities.

I bet being someone from the 6A area is great and very competitive, but the downside is that they, for the most part, just play games against each other.

That being said, I believe all 8 teams should be ranked, and if they were, the winner would have a good shot at the #5 spot.

MNHockey75 wrote: 1/2. Breck (5-0) -- They're officially staying put until a loss/tie.


Watch list: Providence Academy

I agree completely with your logic on Breck, which is why I've struggled to have STA ahead of them and now have them tied.
How can you put a team that controlled the whole game and lost in the last minute of their one (MN) loss to Breck this far down? I agree they are a difficult team to rank, as they could easily make it to sections 20-5 without proving much, but this is far in my opinion.

MNHockey75 wrote: 11/9. Little Falls (6-1-2) -- I hope you still don't think the Flyers lost to Northern Lakes.

I do not. When I put in the records of the 30+ teams I put in weekly, I simply look at the record the (most convenient site I know of for doing this) site has.

That being said, an OT win to Northern Lakes isn't much better.

MNHockey75 wrote: 12/15. South St. Paul (5-1) -- I still don't know if SSP is any good or not.

I agree. It is always interesting to see teams do well when their best player transfers or goes for another good opportunity and you wonder how good they would've been. It seemed everyone credited all of their success last year (what they had) to Wilcox and now that he's gone they're doing better than they did last year. Imagine the force they could be this year with him. They'd have a great shot and keeping St Thomas from state another year.

MNHockey75 wrote: 4/4. Rochester Lourdes (9-0) -- They keep rollin'

8/8. Totino-Grace (7-0) -- We still have to see more if they wish to move up any higher.

I have to laugh when I see this, and not at you, but both of us. Somehow two OT losses and playing decent, at best, competition gets you high in the rankings when you have 9 wins, but 7 doesn't?

it's the Chisago Lakes Wildcats, not Tigers

how could hermantown be ranked number 1 without playing or beating any of the top teams?

Thing is, Little Falls did not lose to Alexandria, they beat them in OT. I don't know if anyone is putting LF higher, they just want to make sure that you have it correct. I know, I know a lot of teams, games...they are just correcting the record, especially since the record and who they played is admittedly all that is generally used in this ranking.

LF blemishes are a loss to Virginia and ties to Fergus Falls and I Falls. I suppose an OT win against Northern Lakes could also be considered a blemish, especially at home.

And they actually beat Alex in Alex which is not an easy thing to do.

4 Proctor
3 Delano

dirtracing17 wrote:how could hermantown be ranked number 1 without playing or beating any of the top teams?

How could any of the top 5 be ranked that high then? You need to get down to 6/7 to find teams with head to head match ups.

defense wrote:Thing is, Little Falls did not lose to Alexandria, they beat them in OT. I don't know if anyone is putting LF higher, they just want to make sure that you have it correct. I know, I know a lot of teams, games...they are just correcting the record, especially since the record and who they played is admittedly all that is generally used in this ranking.

You are correct. Not sure what else a person could objectively use to rank teams outside of who they play and how they do against those teams.

It's not "a lot of teams, games, etc"; it's incorrect information on the most schedule/result friendly website I know. If anyone knows one better, let me know. There's a difference between observer's respectful correcting and the nitpicking going on.

Sure, they didn't lose to Alex. Sure, they didn't lose to Northern Lakes. But they went to OT in both those games, with one team I'd probably put around the 30 range and another way lower. They beat Hibbing, but lost to Virginia. The only thing impressive on paper about their schedule after their first game is the stat sheet from the Wadena game.

They are a team they can probably play with just about any not top 5 Class A team in the state any night, but seem to be very inconsistent. When they shut out the teams outside the top 30 like top 5 teams do, they will be ranked like them.

HShockeywatcher wrote:
4 Proctor
3 Delano

dirtracing17 wrote:how could hermantown be ranked number 1 without playing or beating any of the top teams?

How could any of the top 5 be ranked that high then? You need to get down to 6/7 to find teams with head to head match ups.

defense wrote:Thing is, Little Falls did not lose to Alexandria, they beat them in OT. I don't know if anyone is putting LF higher, they just want to make sure that you have it correct. I know, I know a lot of teams, games...they are just correcting the record, especially since the record and who they played is admittedly all that is generally used in this ranking.

You are correct. Not sure what else a person could objectively use to rank teams outside of who they play and how they do against those teams.

It's not "a lot of teams, games, etc"; it's incorrect information on the most schedule/result friendly website I know. If anyone knows one better, let me know. There's a difference between observer's respectful correcting and the nitpicking going on.

Sure, they didn't lose to Alex. Sure, they didn't lose to Northern Lakes. But they went to OT in both those games, with one team I'd probably put around the 30 range and another way lower. They beat Hibbing, but lost to Virginia. The only thing impressive on paper about their schedule after their first game is the stat sheet from the Wadena game.

They are a team they can probably play with just about any not top 5 Class A team in the state any night, but seem to be very inconsistent. When they shut out the teams outside the top 30 like top 5 teams do, they will be ranked like them.

I'll give this one last shot: I am not trying to offend anyone or dispute Little Falls' position in this state ranking. Obviously, the outcome of games played is the main item used to rank teams. It was stated twice the loss to Alex didn't help. If that is a main issue to this ranking, it would seem that this ranking would like to know that Little Falls did not lose to Alex. Not nittpicking, simply an attempt to help.

defense,
your comments are appreciated in content and presentation. Others are not.
It is much easier to say "loss to team A" when team A isn't ranked than "OT game with team B, tie with team C, close game with team D, etc" It is just unfortunate when it happens that they didn't actually lose to team A, it was simply reported at one point during the season that they did lose to team A. I don't use one factor to rank teams, I use many, but one can sometimes sum up many, but it helps when the one you use is correct.

I apologize to all who were emotionally hurt by my mistake. I will continue to remember minnesota-scores' errors.

HShockeywatcher wrote:

MNHockey75 wrote: 4/4. Rochester Lourdes (9-0) -- They keep rollin'

8/8. Totino-Grace (7-0) -- We still have to see more if they wish to move up any higher.

I have to laugh when I see this, and not at you, but both of us. Somehow two OT losses and playing decent, at best, competition gets you high in the rankings when you have 9 wins, but 7 doesn't?

The difference being that Lourdes is back-to-back State Consolation Champs with pleanty of talent returning. They have two wins vs. good Wisconsin teams, a nice win at Tartan, have proven they can win tight games and have yet to play a cupcake. Whereas, Totino has only played three decent teams, the rest being complete garbage.

MNHockey75 wrote:Whereas, Totino has only played three decent teams, the rest being complete garbage.

A little harsh perhaps?

Realistically none of these rankings matter or who beats who. It all comes down to the end of the year. Once the state tournament is here we can debate about rankings and such but until then its pointless, just keep talking and posting opinions if you like to yak cause thats all they are anyways is opinions.
-What matters is what happens on the ice.

Northfan99 wrote:Realistically none of these rankings matter or who beats who. It all comes down to the end of the year. Once the state tournament is here we can debate about rankings and such but until then its pointless, just keep talking and posting opinions if you like to yak cause thats all they are anyways is opinions.
-What matters is what happens on the ice.

If you don't care for the rankings, don't read them. The rest of here enjoy reading it and are thankful someone does it to see where the opponent is ranked.