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With very few games this week, rankings didn't change much. I cut it down to 20 teams, which descriptions much shorter. Some big games this week around the state.

1. [1] St Thomas Academy (17-5)
The Cadets will probably be on a 9 game winning streak when they host Hill Murray to conclude their season and play for their possibility at tying for the conference crown.
This week: Tues @ Simley, Thurs vs North St Paul, Sat vs Hill Murray

2. [2] Blake (19-2-2)
The Bears continue to beat their Tri-Conference opponents. Their last game of the season is at two-time defending section and state champs Breck.
This week: Tues vs St Paul Como Park, Sat @ Breck

3. [3] Totino-Grace (19-4)
The Eagles just played Chisago Lakes very closely recently. They have a tough game at one of the best teams in the state and conclude their season playing Lourdes at home, both of which should help prepare them for sections.
This week: Thurs @ Benilde-St Margaret’s, Sat vs Rochester Lourdes

4. [4] South St. Paul (15-8 )
The Packers are definitely a threat to compete for a section title, but are not a favorite.
This week: Tues @ Henry Sibley, Thurs @ Mahtomedi

5. [5] Hermantown (20-3-1)
The Hawks’ three losses are to AA teams, hopefully the end up playing both Breck/Blake and St Thomas at State.
This week: Fri @ Hibbing

6. [7] Thief River Falls (15-7-1)
The Prowlers will play all their sections games on their home ice, which will make for good hockey.
This week: Tues vs East Grand Forks, Thurs vs Bemidji

7. [8] Chisago Lakes Area (18-4)
The toughest part is the all the Wildcats’ quality games are losses, although two are 1 goal losses to Totino.
This week: Tues @ St Louis Park, Thurs @ Mora, Sat @ Irondale

8. [9] Warroad (16-8 )
A great history of hockey; the Warriors’ home game this Tuesday will help see a lot of how section teams will be seeded.
This week: Tues vs Lake of the Woods

9. [11] Rochester Lourdes (20-3)
After losing to St Thomas in overtime, I finally have to rank the Eagles higher, even above a team they’ve beaten.
This week: Tues @ Rogers, Sat @ Totino-Grace

10. [12] Breck (15-8 )
The Mustangs’ only Class A losses are to Lourdes and to my top 3. I wouldn’t be surprised to see them back at the X playing for a 3rd straight title.
This week: Tues @ St Paul Academy, Sat vs Blake

11. [10] Duluth Central (12-12)
A good team with an up and down season.
This week: Tues @ Grand Rapids

12. [6] Duluth Marshall (15-8-1)
Another team with an up and down season.
This week: Sat @ St Cloud Cathedral

13. [13] Mahtomedi (10-12-1)
The Zephyrs are definitely a quality team, playing one of the toughest schedules of anyone on my list, probably 2nd to St Thomas, but will most likely not have the opportunity to defend their section title.
This week: Tues @ Richfield, Thurs vs South St Paul

14. [16] Little Falls (18-3-2)
Good team this season who has gotten little “respect” because of their schedule.
This week: Tues vs River Lakes

15. [15] Lake of the Woods (15-5-3)
I hope the rest of the state gets to see Alex Lyon at the X in March.
This week: Tues @ Warroad

16. [14] Rogers (15-7-1)
The clear #2 in 5A, hopefully they can make a game of the final.
This week: Tues vs Rochester Lourdes, Thurs vs St Michael-Albertville

17. [17] St. Cloud Cathedral (13-8-1)
The section title will be an uphill battle, but a conference title is almost theirs.
This week: Tues vs Orono, Fri @ Litchfield, Sat vs Duluth Marshall

18. [18] Proctor (15-6-1)
It is disappointing that the Rails have to graduate so many seniors this year, in a year of two other strong section teams, great to see a small community compete.
This week: Thurs @ Eveleth-Gilbert

19. [19] Hibbing/Chisholm (14-8-1)
Two huge games this week that will help prepare the Bluejackets for section play.
This week: Tues @ Virginia, Fri vs Hermantown

20. [20] Virginia/MI-B (17-7)
The Bluedevils could theoretically clinch the top seed in section 7A with a win over Hibbing Tuesday.
This week: Tues vs Hibbing


Section Seedings

1A
Rochecter Lourdes (20-3)
Albert Lea (16-6)
Mankato West (15-6-2)
Red Wing (8-15)
Slight change from last week. Lourdes stays on top, others change a little bit.

2A
Blake (19-2-2)
Breck (15-8 )
Providence Academy (14-5-1)
Delano (15-7-1)
Orono (15-7-1)
I personally would be Providence at #2, although some may give the nod to Delano because of the 1 goal loss and PA’s SOS.

3A
New Ulm (16-4-2)
Hutchinson (8-13-1)
Litchfield (14-8-1)
Marshall (15-5-3)
The weakest section in Class A, but New Ulm has shown they can play up to their opponents.

4A
St Thomas (17-5)
South St Paul (15-8 )
Mahtomedi (10-12-1)
Totino-Grace (19-4)
Chisago Lakes Area (18-4)
4 of these teams are in my top 7 and Mahtomedi is my #13.

5A
Hermantown (20-3-1)
Rogers (15-7-1)
St Cloud Cathedral (13-8-1)
Proctor (13-7-2)
Hermantown should have the easiest path to state in my opinion; I wouldn’t be surprised if they allowed less than 3 goals in 5A.

6A
Sartell-St Stephen (15-7-1)
Wilmar (13-7-3)
Little Falls (19-3-2)
Detroit Lakes (13-9-1)
I still don’t believe the Fliers should be the top seed, but they are definitely the team to beat with their only two losses in their last 18 games being to Wilmar and Sartell.

7A
Duluth Central (12-12)
Hibbing (14-8-1)
Virginia (17-7)
Duluth Marshall (15-8-1)
Marshall dropped from the top to the bottom in the matter of two weeks. Sections will be exciting.

8A
Lake of the Woods (15-5-3)
Thief River Falls (15-7-1)
Warroad (16-8 )
Crookston (10-11-3)
East Grand Forks (9-12-1)
This section is so close that the team I have at #5 has beaten the team I have at #1. Could the winner get the 4th seed at state?

State Seeding if Section Top Seeds Won Their Section Today
#1 St Thomas
#2 Blake
#3 Hermantown
#4 Lake of the Woods
[5] Rochester Lourdes
[6] Duluth Central
[7] Sartell-St Stephen
[8] New Ulm

Can you explain the poll question, Watcher?

Please?

Interesting how Little Falls is the only team out of 6a ranked in this system, yet by this same system they are chosen as the 3rd seed in their section.....

defense wrote:Interesting how Little Falls is the only team out of 6a ranked in this system, yet by this same system they are chosen as the 3rd seed in their section.....

I was thinking the same thing, though not sure if LF should be ranked 1st. It will be interesting how this will all play out. Should be some interesting games heading into section play.

PuckU126 wrote:Can you explain the poll question, Watcher?

Please?

On Saturday, February 19th, the top two teams in my poll are playing games; St Thomas vs Hill-Murray and Blake vs Breck. I'm polling to see who you think will win each of the games.

defense wrote:Interesting how Little Falls is the only team out of 6a ranked in this system, yet by this same system they are chosen as the 3rd seed in their section.....

Just like how I have LOW ahead of 8A and SSP 2nd in 4A...when you compare a team's body of work to the whole state, you can get a different result than if you simply compare them to a smaller group.

Still having a hard time seeing the Chisago Lakes Area as a top ten team and a middle third team in your rankings. I'm trying to see your view point, but I think I need to go back to Walgreens and step up to the next power on my readers...

For what it is worth, after watching games vs. each of these teams I would say Rochester is better than SSP, SSP is better than Totino and I think that may be your middle third

DM has also played a pretty tough schedule

HShockeywatcher wrote:

PuckU126 wrote:Can you explain the poll question, Watcher?

Please?

On Saturday, March 19th, the top two teams in my poll are playing games; St Thomas vs Hill-Murray and Blake vs Breck. I'm polling to see who you think will win each of the games.

He means February 19th

Lourdes is the second best class a team I have seen this year, to be fair I have yet to see Blake

Once Lourdes beats Totino Grace this week people will see how over-rated totino is and maybe start to give Lourdes the credit they deserve.

HSHW:

New Prague is a top 4 team in 1A, Red Wing is not.

blueblood wrote:HSHW:

New Prague is a top 4 team in 1A, Red Wing is not.

Agreed...

north*hockey wrote:Once Lourdes beats Totino Grace this week people will see how over-rated totino is and maybe start to give Lourdes the credit they deserve.

Agreed

duluth marshall is a 4 seed in 7a yet ranked higher than 2 of the teams ahead of them

chubbs wrote:duluth marshall is a 4 seed in 7a yet ranked higher than all 3 teams ahead of them

yeah seems pretty weird huh

RangeHockeyFan1817 wrote:

chubbs wrote:duluth marshall is a 4 seed in 7a yet ranked higher than all 3 teams ahead of them

yeah seems pretty weird huh

I agree. Their OT losses to Virginia and Central make it hard to give them more than a 4th seed in sections, but those two games aside, they are a top 10 team. Very similar to other teams in other sections around the state.

Central has no chance at the #1 seed in 7A - they will be a 3 at best

HShockeywatcher wrote:

PuckU126 wrote:Can you explain the poll question, Watcher?

Please?

On Saturday, February 19th, the top two teams in my poll are playing games; St Thomas vs Hill-Murray and Blake vs Breck. I'm polling to see who you think will win each of the games.

defense wrote:Interesting how Little Falls is the only team out of 6a ranked in this system, yet by this same system they are chosen as the 3rd seed in their section.....

Just like how I have LOW ahead of 8A and SSP 2nd in 4A...when you compare a team's body of work to the whole state, you can get a different result than if you simply compare them to a smaller group.

What???

If the "smaller" level is part of the entire state......this makes little sense to me... please explaine more.

Central ranked #1 in 7A...? That's a joke right?

mitchrapp wrote:Central has no chance at the #1 seed in 7A - they will be a 3 at best

I'd say they have a pretty good chance at getting a 2 seed, should not be #1 seed but it could happen with 1 loss in the section.

As far as this weeks rankings, Virginia (20) beat Marshall (12) in Marshall and are still behind them. Makes me think HSHW only cares about the cities teams.

Not really sure how many different ways to say it. If a team went 8-17, with their 8 wins coming in 8 games against each of the other section teams in their section, I would personally give them a top seed in their section, while I doubt they'd be ranked all.

DEHS Dan Green wrote:Central ranked #1 in 7A...? That's a joke right?

Where would all of you put them? They recently beat Hibbing and Marshall, and have an early loss to Virginia, but with a recent loss to Hibbing, I wouldn't put Virginia at 1. This is just my opinion with more weight given to more recent games. I could see a case made for any order really.

HShockeywatcher wrote:Not really sure how many different ways to say it. If a team went 8-17, with their 8 wins coming in 8 games against each of the other section teams in their section, I would personally give them a top seed in their section, while I doubt they'd be ranked all.

DEHS Dan Green wrote:Central ranked #1 in 7A...? That's a joke right?

Where would all of you put them? They recently beat Hibbing and Marshall, and have an early loss to Virginia, but with a recent loss to Hibbing, I wouldn't put Virginia at 1. This is just my opinion with more weight given to more recent games. I could see a case made for any order really.

Sorry I freaked out a little bit. Central just isn't one of my favorite teams.......

defense wrote:

HShockeywatcher wrote:

PuckU126 wrote:Can you explain the poll question, Watcher?

Please?

On Saturday, February 19th, the top two teams in my poll are playing games; St Thomas vs Hill-Murray and Blake vs Breck. I'm polling to see who you think will win each of the games.

defense wrote:Interesting how Little Falls is the only team out of 6a ranked in this system, yet by this same system they are chosen as the 3rd seed in their section.....

Just like how I have LOW ahead of 8A and SSP 2nd in 4A...when you compare a team's body of work to the whole state, you can get a different result than if you simply compare them to a smaller group.

What???

If the "smaller" level is part of the entire state......this makes little sense to me... please explaine more.

Section seedings look at head to head games and not much else. State rankings can/should consider the full body of work, common opponents, as well as how teams are playing at that time. For example Eden Prairie's 5 losses (Edina x2, Eagan, AHA, East) mean nothing to their section seeding. They will be #1 in 6AA as they ran the table (with 1 tie vs. Wayzata). In theory they could have also lost to teams like Hermantown, Elk River, and lose their last 2 this week and would still likely be the #1 seed in 6AA, where as doing so would probably drop them below Wayzata and even BSM in the "state" rankings.

HSHW, nice job again on the rankings. I would argue that Totino will still be the #2 seed in 4A. Definitely no lower than #3 with their 6-2 win over Mahto and sweep of SLP and Chisago.

I would also disagree about Breck. I would be shocked if they were at the X playing for a 3rd straight title. Their best wins are Mahto in the first game of the year and probably Providence or SP Johnson after that. Plus I have seen them in person a few times and they looked really sloppy each time.

wow your standings are so far off that it is a freaking joke, there is no way and mean NO BLEEPING WAY that South St. Paul and Totino Grace should be ahead of Hermantown, a team with 8 loses does not belong in the top five, and as for Totino Grace they too don't belong ahead of Hermantown, it may be time for you to get out of the cities and come up north to watch some real hockey, but that's typical citidiots acting as if they are superior to everyone else in the state

Personally beleive Lourdes and South St. Paul should be switched. Other than that they look Ok. Hermantown may be having issues. Goalie may be out for the rest of the year with Mono. Waiting to her more...