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With no one in the top 3 losing and a Breck/EGF game on the docket this week, I see no need to change the order of the 3, although I welcome conversation about it. There were many teams with some really good weeks and there are 3 additions to the top 15 this week and more teams being watched. Most of the teams below #5 could be argued to be almost anywhere from 6-20, so a lot of this list looks like it'll be very fluid for a couple weeks before some teams solidify themselves.

Enjoy!

1. Hermantown (3-1)
It appears the Hawks will likely be 8-1 when they play Eagan in the SSP tournament final and won’t be challenged until then. The Hawks will be interesting to rank this season as they only play a couple teams in the top of Class A all season.
This week: Fri vs Thief River Falls

2. Breck (4-0-1)
The Mustangs first home game this season was a shutout conference win. Two big games this week for Breck. First they travel to Richfield to play a team who has tied both St Thomas and Totino. Then on Saturday they host the Green Wave; by the end of the week there will be no more than one undefeated in the top 3.
This week: Tues @ Holy Angels, Sat vs East Grand Forks

3. East Grand Forks (4-0)
3 shutouts and a 17:1 goals ratio in their first 3 games, not much has gone wrong for the Green Wave thus far. If they can make it to 7-0, they will be the top team in Class A, possibly in the state. Possibly their toughest two days of the whole year they play a top 3 AA team followed by a top 3 A team the next day.
This week: Tues vs Crookston, Fri @ Blaine, Sat @ Breck

4. Delano (2-1-1)
A tie with Chanhassen isn’t great, but it doesn’t hurt as bad as a loss. Hosting Totino this week should be a good game, potentially one used for seeding at State if Delano can win the second matchup with Breck.
This week: Tues @ St Louis Park, Thurs vs Totino-Grace

5. Totino-Grace (2-1-1)
Totino proves they should be high with a win over Blake with week. A huge week for the Eagles as they play a conference contender Tuesday, a top Class A team Thursday and a good private school opponent Saturday. Any of these games could go either way.
This week: Tues vs Mahtomedi, Thurs @ Delano, Sat vs Holy Family

6. Cathedral (4-0)
Two more good wins this week and the Crusaders stay undefeated. They should get to the weekend undefeated, but play a competitive Cardinal team on Saturday.
This week: Tues @ Little Falls, Thurs @ Sartell, Sat @ Alexandria

7. Mankato West (3-0)
After three wins to start the season scoring at least seven in all their games and allowing no more than one in each game, the Scarlets play three more games they should win this week. They should enter the Hilltopper Classic 9-0.
This week: Tues vs Faribault, Thurs @ Owatonna, Sat @ Winona

8. Warroad (4-1)
The Warriors lose a close one to the Thunderhawks but pick up two Class A wins this week. They play Bemidji this week before the other two of the top three in their section next week.
This week: Tues vs Bemidji

9. New Prague (2-1-1)
Losing to Cathedral by 1 and beating Lourdes by 1 is a great week for almost any team, especially a team in section 1A. With only one game this season against West, they control their own destiny for section seeding.
This week: Thurs vs Chaska

10. Orono (2-2)
The Spartans shut out Apollo and lost to Hermantown by a goal. With two section games this week, they have a good shot to rise quite a bit. They don’t play Breck this season, but they have the games on their schedule to earn the second seed in the section.
This week:Tues @ St Louis Park, Sat @ Blake

11. St Cloud Apollo (3-3)
The Eagles have played a higher percentage of their games than any other team in the class thus far and have been very up and down. Two over time games while staying 3-1 in Class A, they have shown the will likely be able to skate with most teams, but not be consistently better than all.
This week: Tues @ Sartell, Thurs vs River Lakes

12. Duluth Marshall (2-2)
The Hilltoppers followed a loss to Apollo up with a win over Blake. Two home games this week, but staying .500 after this week wouldn’t be a surprise.
This week: Fri vs Grand Rapids, Sat vs International Falls

13. Blake (2-3)
The Bears lost a couple this week against good private schools with a couple more good opponents this week. Probably the 3 seed in their section, this week will tell whether they should be in the top 10 or not.
This week: Thurs @ St Paul Academy, Sat vs Orono

14. St Paul Academy (4-0)
The Spartans picked up two more wins this week, both against section opponents, and likely secured a top 2 spot in section 4A. They have a huge test this week hosting Blake. SPA is a well-coached and young team that has the potential to do very well this season.
This week: Thurs vs Blake, Sat @ North St Paul

15. Thief River Falls (2-3)
Losing to Breck and beating a solid Tartan team doesn’t say much about the Prowlers. Doesn’t look like the team of recent years, but their losses are all to top teams and playing another this week so we won’t know much until next week.
This week: Thurs vs Bemidji, Fri @ Hermantown


Teams to watch:

Rochester Lourdes (1-4)
The Eagles aren’t the top team in their section and possibly not even top two. Their next five games are all losable games and this looks to be a rough season for Lourdes.
This week: Thurs @ Chanhassen, Sat vs Holy Angels

Mahtomedi (1-3)
The Zephyrs won’t be the top seed in section 4A this season and after this week may not be top 2. They will likely have at least four losses after this week; can they beat Totino on the road?
This week: Tues @ Totino-Grace, Sat vs Hill-Murray

Chisago Lakes (5-1)
This week will tell us if the Wildcats are worth keeping an eye on. They have one loss to a big AA opponent and five wins. With a good season they could be a top 4 seed in the section.

Luverne (4-0)
The Cardinals are a young team that will enter the section playoffs with less than a handful of losses and be a top 2 team in their section. They have beat their first 3 opponents 27-3 so far and will likely continue to dominate but stay on the outside looking in.
This week: Tues vs Fairmont, Fri vs Minnehaha Acadmey, Sat vs Morris

Achiever Academy (3-1-2)
The Aces are a new team worth mentioning and discussing who have won their last three games. Four games ago they lost by 1 in St Cloud to Tech and Tuesday they play at Tech again.
This week: Tues @ Tech, Sat vs Shakopee

Alexandria (3-0)
The Cardinals have won the last two games very closely. They host the Crusaders next weekend in a rivalry game that will likely either keep them undefeated or give them their first loss.
This week: Tues vs Fergus Falls, Thurs @ Wilmar, Sat vs Cathedral

I would take Lourdes, mahtomedia, Lucerne , Achiver off the top list.


EGF is still the best in A.

I would put Warroad ahead of M West, and maybe a couple of other teams.

I'm no fan of either, but I believe both Breck and Warroad are better teams than people are giving them credit for.

nice job. thanx for keeping this up

I would remove Luverne from you list also. Their record at the end of the year will look impressive until you look at the teams that are on there schedule.

Iranger33 wrote:I would remove Luverne from you list also. Their record at the end of the year will look impressive until you look at the teams that are on there schedule.

Have to Agree with Mr. Allen.

My "teams to watch" is just that. It is not #16-21, nor are the teams in any specific order. It is for teams that are close to being ranked and others to watch for various reasons. I think outstate teams doing well is worthy of being mentioned. It is also nice to be mentioning at least one team from every section.

elliott70 wrote:EGF is still the best in A.

I hope more than anything they stay undefeated after this week.

Iranger33 wrote:I would remove Luverne from you list also. Their record at the end of the year will look impressive until you look at the teams that are on there schedule.

Won't disagree that their schedule isn't strong; they could have zero losses and make it to state and they wouldn't be ranked. That being said, they're still suiting up, stepping onto the ice and winning. With any schedule, not losing is tough.
I would add that for much of the season you will be able to say the same about Mankato West, but they're ranked because of what people think of them. This gets brought up almost every year with teams; how good are they? It's really hard to tell from a schedule alone.

HShockeywatcher wrote:My "teams to watch" is just that. It is not #16-21, nor are the teams in any specific order. It is for teams that are close to being ranked and others to watch for various reasons. I think outstate teams doing well is worthy of being mentioned. It is also nice to be mentioning at least one team from every section.

elliott70 wrote:EGF is still the best in A.

I hope more than anything they stay undefeated after this week.

Iranger33 wrote:I would remove Luverne from you list also. Their record at the end of the year will look impressive until you look at the teams that are on there schedule.

Won't disagree that their schedule isn't strong; they could have zero losses and make it to state and they wouldn't be ranked. That being said, they're still suiting up, stepping onto the ice and winning. With any schedule, not losing is tough.
I would add that for much of the season you will be able to say the same about Mankato West, but they're ranked because of what people think of them. This gets brought up almost every year with teams; how good are they? It's really hard to tell from a schedule alone.

Iranger, 3A hockey Scout (trout) and this elliot guy are noted Luverne bashers in the old 3A thread of thieves and murderers. Take what they say with a grain of salt. But you can count on it being Anti Luverne.

It is interesting to me that more people have voted for EGF to be #1 and yet none of them have voiced an opinion of the team yet (okay, maybe elliot). Please give me your input if you have it.

notTONIGHT wrote:Iranger, 3A hockey Scout (trout) and this elliot guy are noted Luverne bashers in the old 3A thread of thieves and murderers. Take what they say with a grain of salt. But you can count on it being Anti Luverne.

Quoting me and putting them down does nothing. I would like nothing more than to see a team like Luverne ranked during this season. Until they lose they will at least be someone I rank, but give me something more substantial.

HShockeywatcher wrote:It is interesting to me that more people have voted for EGF to be #1 and yet none of them have voiced an opinion of the team yet (okay, maybe elliot). Please give me your input if you have it.

notTONIGHT wrote:Iranger, 3A hockey Scout (trout) and this elliot guy are noted Luverne bashers in the old 3A thread of thieves and murderers. Take what they say with a grain of salt. But you can count on it being Anti Luverne.

Quoting me and putting them down does nothing. I would like nothing more than to see a team like Luverne ranked during this season. Until they lose they will at least be someone I rank, but give me something more substantial.

The kids cant help who they are scheduled to play, they go out there and they play and they win the games, they do it quite well too. Teams that win deserve to be ranked and moved up in the rankings, regardless of section or location or schedule.

HShockeywatcher wrote:It is interesting to me that more people have voted for EGF to be #1 and yet none of them have voiced an opinion of the team yet (okay, maybe elliot). Please give me your input if you have it.

I think you gave as good a reason as any with your goals against stat at the start. Unless something else odd happens or it's a total blowout, I'd say the EGF-Breck winner should be #1, and the loser should be #2. I think Hermantown will be right up there with those two in the end, but they're still a pretty young team that's rebuilding somewhat, and they haven't been as dominant as the other two so far.

I won't pretend to know much about 3A beyond what I learn from reading the weekly shouting matches on the 3A thread, but I will say this about Luverne: in players like Sengvonxay and Smesrud, they have some legitimate front-end talent that would play just about anywhere. That alone isn't going to get them into the top 20, but it also isn't something we commonly see out of 3A teams. They are worth keeping on a watch list somewhere, though it'll probably take a lot of guesswork and fun with the transitive property to decide if they deserve anything more than that. I'll leave that part up to you.

notTONIGHT wrote:

HShockeywatcher wrote:My "teams to watch" is just that. It is not #16-21, nor are the teams in any specific order. It is for teams that are close to being ranked and others to watch for various reasons. I think outstate teams doing well is worthy of being mentioned. It is also nice to be mentioning at least one team from every section.

elliott70 wrote:EGF is still the best in A.

I hope more than anything they stay undefeated after this week.

Iranger33 wrote:I would remove Luverne from you list also. Their record at the end of the year will look impressive until you look at the teams that are on there schedule.

Won't disagree that their schedule isn't strong; they could have zero losses and make it to state and they wouldn't be ranked. That being said, they're still suiting up, stepping onto the ice and winning. With any schedule, not losing is tough.
I would add that for much of the season you will be able to say the same about Mankato West, but they're ranked because of what people think of them. This gets brought up almost every year with teams; how good are they? It's really hard to tell from a schedule alone.

Iranger, 3A hockey Scout (trout) and this elliot guy are noted Luverne bashers in the old 3A thread of thieves and murderers. Take what they say with a grain of salt. But you can count on it being Anti Luverne.

Mrs tonight I'm not a Luverne basher. I have given them credit in the past present and will in the future. It seems that you have an issue if anyone says something about your team.

I don't think that there is a team in section 3A that should be considered for the top teams in this thread and shouldn't be on any watch list.

Yes it is unfortunate that Luverne has a weak schedule and The Lord of New Ulm won't play them.

karl(east) wrote:

HShockeywatcher wrote:It is interesting to me that more people have voted for EGF to be #1 and yet none of them have voiced an opinion of the team yet (okay, maybe elliot). Please give me your input if you have it.

I think you gave as good a reason as any with your goals against stat at the start. Unless something else odd happens or it's a total blowout, I'd say the EGF-Breck winner should be #1, and the loser should be #2. I think Hermantown will be right up there with those two in the end, but they're still a pretty young team that's rebuilding somewhat, and they haven't been as dominant as the other two so far.

While this is likely the result of this week's games, it's also an interesting hypothetical that happens in sports all around; if we believe the team ranked #1 is the best team, why does #2 playing #3 sudden bring the previous #1 down to #3?

No hatred here, just an opinion.

elliott70 wrote:I would take Lourdes, mahtomedia, Lucerne , Achiver off the top list.


EGF is still the best in A.

I would put Warroad ahead of M West, and maybe a couple of other teams.

Elliot save me a seat at the X to watch Warroad or EGF put Luverne in running time in the A Quarterfinal.

northwoods oldtimer wrote:

elliott70 wrote:I would take Lourdes, mahtomedia, Lucerne , Achiver off the top list.


EGF is still the best in A.

I would put Warroad ahead of M West, and maybe a couple of other teams.

Elliot save me a seat at the X to watch Warroad or EGF put Luverne in running time in the A Quarterfinal.

I don't think Luverne will be there.
I am going with Wilmar.
As the current 3A structure has won one game (a cons semi) in that six ? year history, I think a first round loss is a good prediction.

I mean *REALLY*, let's just remove Section 3A altogether and go with only 7 sections for the state tournament. Does that please everyone? Maybe we can move that section into South Dakota.

Teak wrote:I mean *REALLY*, let's just remove Section 3A altogether and go with only 7 sections for the state tournament. Does that please everyone? Maybe we can move that section into South Dakota.

I am sure you can find people that would be fine with removing 3A.
That will not happen so *REALLY*, let's be real. The record is what it is and is a measuring tool. 3A is behind the rest of A. Some day that might change, but for now it is what it is. Be optimisitic but be realistic. You are the one that brought up 'getting rid' of 3A. I have not seen that for a while on this 'bored'.

Cheer for your team(s), but do not get upset when someone offers an opinion.

elliott70 wrote:

Teak wrote:I mean *REALLY*, let's just remove Section 3A altogether and go with only 7 sections for the state tournament. Does that please everyone? Maybe we can move that section into South Dakota.

I am sure you can find people that would be fine with removing 3A.
That will not happen so *REALLY*, let's be real. The record is what it is and is a measuring tool. 3A is behind the rest of A. Some day that might change, but for now it is what it is. Be optimisitic but be realistic. You are the one that brought up 'getting rid' of 3A. I have not seen that for a while on this 'bored'.

Cheer for your team(s), but do not get upset when someone offers an opinion.

Luverne has no chance of being a top team in the state until March. If the make state and go 0-2 they may get a top 10 ranking. MAYBE!! Luverne would be at best a 4 seed in Section 8a and probably a handful of others also..

elliott70 wrote:

Teak wrote:I mean *REALLY*, let's just remove Section 3A altogether and go with only 7 sections for the state tournament. Does that please everyone? Maybe we can move that section into South Dakota.

I am sure you can find people that would be fine with removing 3A.
That will not happen so *REALLY*, let's be real. The record is what it is and is a measuring tool. 3A is behind the rest of A. Some day that might change, but for now it is what it is. Be optimisitic but be realistic. You are the one that brought up 'getting rid' of 3A. I have not seen that for a while on this 'bored'.

And you don't understand sarcasm?

They have 6 returning D, and most of their scoring returning were underclassmen all who have extensive experience. They play a Defensive brand of Hockey and if they opened up their game they could score much more. They don't need to, because they are dominant on D.

They have a question mark in the net. They may be talented but when you give up less than 10 shots a game, who knows?

They play a killer schedule this season and Breck and Blaine in back to back nights will tell everyone what they are about.

This is a better team than came to state last year and short of one disastrous game against St. Thomas Academy they had a wonderful team.

This is a team nobody is going to want to play either A or AA.

ted2you wrote:They have 6 returning D, and most of their scoring returning were underclassmen all who have extensive experience. They play a Defensive brand of Hockey and if they opened up their game they could score much more. They don't need to, because they are dominant on D.

They have a question mark in the net. They may be talented but when you give up less than 10 shots a game, who knows?

They play a killer schedule this season and Breck and Blaine in back to back nights will tell everyone what they are about.

This is a better team than came to state last year and short of one disastrous game against St. Thomas Academy they had a wonderful team.

This is a team nobody is going to want to play either A or AA.

Hmm.......first post..............where in egf do you live ?

Teak wrote:

elliott70 wrote:

Teak wrote:I mean *REALLY*, let's just remove Section 3A altogether and go with only 7 sections for the state tournament. Does that please everyone? Maybe we can move that section into South Dakota.

I am sure you can find people that would be fine with removing 3A.
That will not happen so *REALLY*, let's be real. The record is what it is and is a measuring tool. 3A is behind the rest of A. Some day that might change, but for now it is what it is. Be optimisitic but be realistic. You are the one that brought up 'getting rid' of 3A. I have not seen that for a while on this 'bored'.

And you don't understand sarcasm?

Okay, I'll give that to you.

Teak wrote:

elliott70 wrote:

Teak wrote:I mean *REALLY*, let's just remove Section 3A altogether and go with only 7 sections for the state tournament. Does that please everyone? Maybe we can move that section into South Dakota.

I am sure you can find people that would be fine with removing 3A.
That will not happen so *REALLY*, let's be real. The record is what it is and is a measuring tool. 3A is behind the rest of A. Some day that might change, but for now it is what it is. Be optimisitic but be realistic. You are the one that brought up 'getting rid' of 3A. I have not seen that for a while on this 'bored'.

And you don't understand sarcasm?

Okay, I'll give that to you.

I live 300 miles South of there, but I do know section 7 and 8 hockey It is Friday Night Lights of Minnesota. Communities live and die in their high school team. Roseau-Warroad Hockey week is Vikings-Packers week on steroids. Even hockey rich teams up north play number games and they are not St. Thomas Academy or Breck where you have numbers or recruit to fill your roster. It may be once in 40 years when they can truly compete with the big boys.

BTW: I do canvas photography and I get to see lots of hockey. You watch them and you see a complete team without homer glasses. And no I don't know what a Green Wave is.