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Lots of good holiday tournaments coming up with week as most teams get through just under half of their schedules. We will learn a lot about many of the teams in Class A this week.

Feedback and input are always appreciated. Enjoy!

1. Breck (7-0-1)
After a good showing in the Edina Classic, if anyone can beat Edina it would be Breck. Few would be surprised to see them playing for the title on Saturday. Can they end the week undefeated?
This week: Thurs vs Edina, Fri vs St Thomas/Burnsville, Sat vs TBD

2. East Grand Forks (6-1)
The Green Wave tied their section foe Warroad and have a big tournament this week. Past games would suggest they should win Thursday; there are many good teams they could play Friday and Saturday.
This week: Thurs vs Superior, Fri vs TBD, Sat vs TDB

3. Warroad (5-2)
The Warriors have two close losses to AA teams and tied a very good East Grand Forks team this past week. They have three home games this week and will likely add 3 more wins to their record.
This week: Thurs vs Grafton, Fri vs Osseo, Sat vs International Falls

4. Duluth Marshall (5-3)
It took OT for Benilde to come from behind to beat the Hilltoppers; how will they do against the best of WI and Class A this week?
This week: Thurs vs Appleton United, Fri vs TBD, Sat vs TBD

5. Hermantown (6-1)
The Hawks have been winning, but many have been close games. There are a couple good teams in their holiday tournament; can they make it to 9-1?
This week: Thurs vs Red Wing, Fri vs TBD, Sat vs TBD

6. Cathedral (7-0)
The Crusaders keep winning, but they haven’t played much of a schedule. As predicted, they will likely make it to 11-0 without proving much. Their first 4 games of 2014 are against 4 of the top 5 teams and we’ll get a chance to see how get they really are then.
This week: Thurs vs Sauk Rapids-Rice, Fri vs Sartell-St Stephen, Sat vs River Lakes

7. Mankato West (9-0)
With 5 shut outs this season, the Scarlets enter the Hilltopper Classic this week. Depending on how things turn out, they could jump as high as #2 or drop a few spots depending on how the tournament goes.
This week: Thurs vs Madison Edgewood, Fri vs TBD, Sat vs TBD

8. New Prague (4-1-2)
The Trojans have three players with 15 points on their roster, can they carry the team past a good Eagan team this week?
This week: Thurs vs Eagan, Fri vs TBD, Sat vs TBD

9. Mahtomedi (3-4)
The Zephyrs have played a pretty good schedule this season, with some close losses and a quality win over Totino. They have 3 games on the road this week which all seem winnable. Can they end the week without a losing record?
This week: Thurs @ Grand Rapids, Fri @ Hibbing, Sat @ Virginia

10. Totino-Grace (4-4-1)
The Eagles rebounded this week with two wins. They are idle this week, so where they end up will depend on how others around them do.
This week: Idle

11. Orono (6-3)
With three 1-goal losses this season, the Spartans have shown they can play with anyone. They should play 3 good opponents this week with a chance to play at Ridder on Saturday.
This week: Thurs vs Rogers, Fri vs TBD, Sat vs TBD

12. Alexandria (6-2)
With one of their loses by 1 goal to Cathedral, the Cardinals also have a quality win over Brainerd. How many wins can they pick up this week?
This week: Thurs vs Coon Rapids, Fri vs TBD, Sat vs TBD

13. Delano (4-3-1)
The Tigers are one of the toughest teams in Class A to rank as they have beaten Totino and shut out Blake, but they have also lost to Kennedy. Hopefully they get a chance to play another MN team in the Hilltopper Classic this week.
This week: Thurs vs Notre Dame, Fri vs TBD, Sat vs TBD

14. Blake (3-4)
With a first round game against Austin the Bears should win, if they can win the second they’ll likely play either Holy Angels or Orono for the title at Ridder Arena. This week should be a start to playing 9 of their next 10 on the road.
This week: Thurs vs Austin, Fri vs TBD, Sat vs TBD

15. St Cloud Apollo (6-4)
The early win over Marshall is what keeps the Eagles ranked for now. Undefeated in section 6A, they control their own destiny as they play Alexandria [twice] and Cathedral after the New Year. The Thursday game against Tech should be a good one as they lost the first match up in OT.
This week: Thurs vs St Cloud Tech, Fri vs Providence Academy, Sat vs Sauk Rapids-Rice


Teams to watch:

Luverne (10-0)
The 2-1 win over Achiever Academy shows they will likely continue to not be ranked all season regardless of their record, but the winning keeps coming. Playing in Ridder this week would be a great reward to their season thus far.
This week: Thurs vs St Michael-Albertville, Fri vs TBD, Sat vs TBD

St Paul Academy (5-2)
The Spartans left their section wide open after their loss to Totino. Now they need to finish the season strong and earn a good seed; playing well in Roseau this week would go a long way.
This week: Thurs @ Roseau, Fri vs TBD, Sat vs TBD

Hibbing (5-3)
The Bluejackets didn’t do much this week, but they play good opponents this week. How will they do against Brainerd and Mahtomedi?
This week: Thurs vs Brainerd, Fri vs Mahtomedi, Sat vs St Francis

Chisago Lakes Area (8-2)
With an 8-2 victory over the likely next best team in the section, the Wildcats seem like the frontrunner for section 5A at this point and that doesn’t look to change anytime soon.
This week: Thurs @ Grand Forks Central, Fri vs Fargo Davies, Sat vs Bismark Century

Virginia (5-2-1)
Shutting out both Denfeld and International and the Blue Devils have no section losses yet. After a win over Cloquet, they have at least two good opponents this week.
This week: Thurs vs St Francis, Fri vs Brainerd, Sat vs Mahtomedi

Duluth Denfeld (4-5)
Don’t let the record foul you, the Hunters have 1 goal losses to both Hermantown and Cathedral as well as scoring 3 on Benilde. A good seed in sections is still possible; can they end the week without a losing record?
This week: Thurs vs Owatonna, Fri vs TBD, Sat vs TBD

Eveleth (6-1-1)
The Golden Bears likely won’t be ranked this season, but with only a 1 in the L column, not mentioning them would be silly. Can they make it to 9 wins this week?
This week: Thurs vs Mankato East, Fri vs Kittson Central, Sat vs Detroit Lakes

Park Rapids (6-1-1)
The Panthers probably won’t get to the semifinals in section play, but for the moment, they only have one loss. With their schedule this week, they have the opportunity to maintain a good record.
This week: Thurs vs West Fargo, Fri vs Fergus Falls, Sat vs New Ulm

Kittson Central (5-1-1)
The Bearcats are another team with a good records and some lopsided wins, but not much to show for it. They start their road trip with a game against host Eveleth on Thursday; how many wins can they pick up?
This week: Thurs vs Detroit Lakes, Fri @ Eveleth, Sat vs Mankato East

Only one note on your number one pick. It took Breck overtime to beat AHA.
Edina will smoke Breck if Edina plays like they did the last three days.

Zamman wrote:Only one note on your number one pick. It took Breck overtime to beat AHA.
Edina will smoke Breck if Edina plays like they did the last three days.

Holy Angels has been great in many games this year and Zach Mains is amazing. The game's he's played in, they have done well.
That being said, many of the top teams have been up and down as well. Breck also tied a very good Holy Family team and scored 6 goals on the best defense I've seen all year. Edina also lost a close one to a down Eagan team.

It will definitely be a good game, maybe the best quarterfinal of the day.

Good analysis HSHW. I've seen many 2A teams including Blake, Breck, Orono, SLP, Delano, Kennedy, Mound and Chaska, along with New Prague in 1A.

Delano is probably over ranked at 13 due to their inconsistency. Lost to Kennedy and SLP which will hurt them for 2A seeding.

Don't discount Kennedy. They have a good goalie in David Johnson and a decent senior class. They have a good shot of winning Schwan open division. HappyHockeyFan may have more to say....

New Prague is legit and my pick to win section 1A. They play a good schedule which will benefit them in sections over Mankato West.

Luverne, the fact that they are in Section 3A and their weak schedule makes it difficult to assess this team. Their path to a Ridder appearance in Schwan Cup is going to be difficult and I predict them playing irondale for consolation title.

My teams to make state by section

1A - New Prague over West
2A - Breck over Orono
3A - Luverne over New Ulm
4A - Totino over Mahtomedi
5A - Chisago Lakes over Spring Lake Park
6A - Apollo over Alex
7A - Hermantown over Marshall
8A - EGF over Warroad

blueblood wrote:Good analysis HSHW.

Delano is probably over ranked at 13 due to their inconsistency. Lost to Kennedy and SLP which will hurt them for 2A seeding.

Don't discount Kennedy. They have a good goalie in David Johnson and a decent senior class. They have a good shot of winning Schwan open division. HappyHockeyFan may have more to say....

New Prague is legit and my pick to win section 1A. They play a good schedule which will benefit them in sections over Mankato West.

Luverne, the fact that they are in Section 3A and their weak schedule makes it difficult to assess this team. Their path to a Ridder appearance in Schwan Cup is going to be difficult and I predict them playing irondale for consolation title.

Delano is tough considering their shut out over Blake, scoring 3 against Breck (HF only scored 2 and EGF none) and beating Totino. I haven't seen them play so it's hard to tell what it is. If they don't play an MN teams this week, it won't make next week any easier.

Thanks for pointing out Kennedy. They play a very tough schedule and have had some very close games this season. I don't see them beating Breck, but they will probably be the most prepared for section play in 2A.

It'll be interesting to see if Mankato West lives up to their preseason ranking. People who know more than me about hockey and teams ranked them high to start the season, so seeing how they do in the Hilltopper Classic and against New Prague in the first game of 2014 will be good to see who's the front runner (and help rank both teams!).
Do you think New Prague has a shot with Eagan?

I hope for the benefit of the program Luverne can get by St Michael-Albertville. A Luverne/Kennedy final at Ridder would be really cool I think.

Anyone with any thoughts on Cathedral? They have 1 goal wins over Denfeld, New Prague and Alexandria, which could show they're not a top 5 team. Or maybe it helps show those other teams should be higher. This week likely won't help us find out much more.
If anyone has seen them and other quality Class A team play, that feedback would be great.

Thanks!

I'm glad you do the A rankings, it has to be the hardest ranking to put together.
Using Lee's rankings......The Class A conundrum as I call it makes it near impossible......

#57 Holy Angels lost 7-6 to #5 Breck tied #7 St Thomas but lost to #127 Red Wing 3-2 a team ranked considerably lower than say Luverne. So at least in a small sample size the difference between #5 and # 127 is what? Cripes, Mayo beat Red Wing 11-0. That, in a nut shell, is A hockey.

Thanks HSHW !

My teams to make state by section

1A - West over New Prague
2A - Breck over Orono
3A - Luverne over New Ulm
4A - Mahtomedi over Totino
5A - Chisago Lakes over Spring Lake Park
6A - Alex over Apollo
7A - Marshall over Hermantown
8A - EGF over Warroad

goldy313 wrote:I'm glad you do the A rankings, it has to be the hardest ranking to put together.
Using Lee's rankings......The Class A conundrum as I call it makes it near impossible......

#57 Holy Angels lost 7-6 to #5 Breck tied #7 St Thomas but lost to #127 Red Wing 3-2 a team ranked considerably lower than say Luverne. So at least in a small sample size the difference between #5 and # 127 is what? Cripes, Mayo beat Red Wing 11-0. That, in a nut shell, is A hockey.

Great analogy how wide open A can be and is, a number of sections can be upsets in playoffs this season.

There is one less undefeated team:
2 Sauk Rapids-Rice
1 St Cloud Cathedral


Mankato West represents MN well as they beat WI's #8 team Madison Edgewood today.
They play an Appleton United team tomorrow that beat Duluth Marshall 3-2 today.

My vote of 2 is still possible, but at this point it looks like it'll end up being 0; we'll see.

What are people's thoughts of Cathedral now that they've dropped back to back games to Sauk Rapids and Sartell? They do have 1 goal wins over New Prague, Alex, Denfeld and even Sartell earlier, but all that isn't looking so impressive today.

HShockeywatcher wrote:My vote of 2 is still possible, but at this point it looks like it'll end up being 0; we'll see.

What are people's thoughts of Cathedral now that they've dropped back to back games to Sauk Rapids and Sartell? They do have 1 goal wins over New Prague, Alex, Denfeld and even Sartell earlier, but all that isn't looking so impressive today.

I'll bite.

Cathedral is not a very deep team and with two of their top four D out with injuries they're really struggling now.

I'd say that they've been overrated but probably should be in the Top 10-12 range. They've beaten a few decent teams and have a couple tough section losses this week. They'll have a hard time keeping games close with their upcoming schedule if they continue to play as soft as they have. Although a fast team, they are undersized and teams are exploiting their inability to play physical hockey. They seem surprised that teams are taking them off their game with physical play...but small teams have been neutralized by physical play since the beginning of time...so that's something they'll have to get used to.

The good thing for them is not all is lost. Losses in December don't matter if they win their games in February/March. They are definitely capable of winning 6A (along with 5 other teams), but they've got to play with a lot more intensity (save their captains and a couple others) and get a lot more secondary scoring.

BobSaget wrote:

HShockeywatcher wrote:My vote of 2 is still possible, but at this point it looks like it'll end up being 0; we'll see.

What are people's thoughts of Cathedral now that they've dropped back to back games to Sauk Rapids and Sartell? They do have 1 goal wins over New Prague, Alex, Denfeld and even Sartell earlier, but all that isn't looking so impressive today.

I'll bite.

Cathedral is not a very deep team and with two of their top four D out with injuries they're really struggling now.

I'd say that they've been overrated but probably should be in the Top 10-12 range. They've beaten a few decent teams and have a couple tough section losses this week. They'll have a hard time keeping games close with their upcoming schedule if they continue to play as soft as they have. Although a fast team, they are undersized and teams are exploiting their inability to play physical hockey. They seem surprised that teams are taking them off their game with physical play...but small teams have been neutralized by physical play since the beginning of time...so that's something they'll have to get used to.

The good thing for them is not all is lost. Losses in December don't matter if they win their games in February/March. They are definitely capable of winning 6A (along with 5 other teams), but they've got to play with a lot more intensity (save their captains and a couple others) and get a lot more secondary scoring.

Well said I don't see them winning any games in their upcoming schedule (EGF, Warroad, hermantown, breck ) if they continue to play as soft on the puck as they have been lately

Luverne is still undefeated at the end of the week. Got to move them up in your rankings.

Teak wrote:Luverne is still undefeated at the end of the week. Got to move them up in your rankings.

Why?

I watched some of the live feed of the Schwan Cup Open Division championship. I don't watch a whole lot of Class A hockey, so I don't have good grounds for a comparison, but they are easily the best 3A team in my memory. They have decent depth, a couple of legitimate goal-scorers, and the goalie played well.

I don't think putting them in the top 20 would be unreasonable. If they can handle Willmar in a few weeks and stay undefeated, I might seriously consider them for the top 15.

They have a pretty decent shot at running the table in the regular season.

elliott70 wrote:

Teak wrote:Luverne is still undefeated at the end of the week. Got to move them up in your rankings.

Why?

Because they are still undefeated.
Because they just beat an AA school.
Because I said so.

Teak wrote:

elliott70 wrote:

Teak wrote:Luverne is still undefeated at the end of the week. Got to move them up in your rankings.

Why?

Because they are still undefeated.

Undefeated depends a lot on your schedule.

Because they just beat an AA school.

They are an A team.

Because I said so.

Good enough for me.

elliott70 wrote:

Teak wrote:

elliott70 wrote: Why?

Teak: Because they are still undefeated.

elliott70: Undefeated depends a lot on your schedule.

Teak: Because they just beat an AA school.

elliott70: What Aa school?

Teak: Because I said so.

elliott70: Good enough for me.

Teak: I fixed it.
elliott70: Thanks, Teak; you're the greatest!

STMA is AA
Beat them Thursday.

notTONIGHT wrote:STMA is AA
Beat them Thursday.

They beat them as far as the tournament goes...tied them as far as those of us living in reality are concerned.

Mankato West makes a nice argument for a top 3 team after finishing 2nd in Duluth and losing 3-2 in OT to the #1 team in Wisconsin, Notre Dame beat Delano 5-1 and East Grand Forks 2-0.

Still a lo tof strange results to sort through to rank teams, maybe even more confusion than prior to the tournaments.

goldy313 wrote:Mankato West makes a nice argument for a top 3 team after finishing 2nd in Duluth and losing 3-2 in OT to the #1 team in Wisconsin, Notre Dame beat Delano 5-1 and East Grand Forks 2-0.

Still a lo tof strange results to sort through to rank teams, maybe even more confusion than prior to the tournaments.

Every MN team in the Hilltopper Classic played all 3 of their games against WI teams. Not the greatest for ranking, but definitely good to see how some of them did.