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1. Hermantown (21-2-1) [11-0]
The Hawks won all of their games against Class A teams this season; their only losses to Minnetonka and Bemidji and their tie early to Hopkins. Can anyone challenge them this postseason?

2. Breck (21-3-1) [14-0-1]
The Mustangs couldn't beat Mahtomedi or Apollo in regulation, but seem to be able to play with anyone. Can they beat Delano the second time around?

3. Mahtomedi (15-6-3) [7-1-1]
The Zephyrs managed to score 4 goals on Breck, but also allowed 4 goals in the same game. They've lost to 5 AA teams, tied both Hill-Murray and St Thomas and now Breck and their one Class A loss was to Hermantown. The SPA win was only by 1 goal and they have always played teams tough; can Mahtomedi get back to state and what seed will they get?

4. St Cloud Apollo (23-2) [22-1]
The Eagles have lost 2 games this season, both by 1 goal, went to OT with Breck and beat Hibbing. Their goalie is one of the top in GGA and save % in the state and they will play anyone tough.

5. Hibbing (22-3) [17-2]
The Bluejackets have only lost to Hermantown, Apollo and Grand Rapids. They'll be favored against Denfeld, then play either a Hermantown team who crushed they or a Greenway team they have beaten twice.

6. Thief River Falls (19-6) [14-3]
The Prowlers lost to Hermantown and Breck by 3 and Hibbing by 1. They are the clear favorite in their section; can they stop the defending state champs from making it back to state?

7. Delano (18-7) [15-3]
The Tigers had a great season up until this point, but had a one goal road loss to Orono this week. They can play with the best of AA but also play down to unranked Class A teams. Can they play better and upset Breck?

8. St Cloud Cathedral (17-7-1) [16-6]
The Crusaders lost to Holy Family by 1, which is a fine way to end the season. Can they make it past the finals?

9. St Paul Academy (20-5) [15-5]
The Spartans are 1 game worse than their record last year, which two of their losses being to Breck. Can they upset Mahtomedi to make it to state?

10. Blake (13-12) [9-8]
The Bears ended the season with two losses to good Class A teams. They likely won't be going to state and being the 4 seed probably has them losing in the semifinals.

11. Greenway (21-4) [20-4]
The Raiders are the team to beat Hermantown if anyone's going to, based on regular season results.

12. East Grand Forks (13-10-2) [12-5]
The Green Wave were only losing for 5 minutes in their season finale to Thief River Falls. The odds are they won't be making it to state, but it would be silly for anyone to look past the two time defending state champs.

13. Warroad (10-15) [7-9]
The Warriors started the season 1-8 and have been 9-7 since. Having been shut out by both EGF and TRF this season, odds are we won't be seeing them in a section final.

14. Duluth Denfeld (11-13-1) [8-6]
The Hunters' early season win over Greenway got them a higher seed and likely a second crack at Hibbing; can they make it to the section final?

15. Orono (15-9-1) [11-5-1]
The Spartans have had an up and down season, but finishing with a winning record and a win over Delano in the last week earned them the 3 seed in the section. They shouldn't look past a 6 seed Waconia team who recently beat them either.

Hibbing did not play Bemidji.
I believe you meant Grand Rapids.

St Paul Ac has 20 wins in the regular season.

Hibbing and Greenway cannot meet in the semis. If they both win their QF games, Hibbing plays winner of Virginia/Denfeld and Greenway will play Hermantown.

If the top seeds advance, I think the only real question here is whether Mahtomedi's tie with Breck is enough to give them the nudge over Apollo, who lost to Breck in OT. If you're the Zephyrs, you're obviously going to make that the focus of the seeding meeting. But Apollo has a better record, and while the schedule is a bit weaker, Mahtomedi does have a few losses (Cretin, Rosemount, Tartan) that, while to AA teams, are probably teams that a top 3 Class A team should beat.

It'll be big, as playing a random draw from 1A, 3A, or 5A sounds a lot more fun than dealing with whoever comes out of 8A in the nightcap. And Cathedral and SPA (and others, possibly) will have something to say about all this, too.

karl(east) wrote:If the top seeds advance, I think the only real question here is whether Mahtomedi's tie with Breck is enough to give them the nudge over Apollo, who lost to Breck in OT. If you're the Zephyrs, you're obviously going to make that the focus of the seeding meeting. But Apollo has a better record, and while the schedule is a bit weaker, Mahtomedi does have a few losses (Cretin, Rosemount, Tartan) that, while to AA teams, are probably teams that a top 3 Class A team should beat.

It'll be big, as playing a random draw from 1A, 3A, or 5A sounds a lot more fun than dealing with whoever comes out of 8A in the nightcap. And Cathedral and SPA (and others, possibly) will have something to say about all this, too.

Let's not kid ourselves there is no such thing as a random draw. No matter what is said about 6-8. People aren't that gullible!

Whiner33 wrote:Let's not kid ourselves there is no such thing as a random draw. No matter what is said about 6-8. People aren't that gullible!

Actually it's people who are gullible that believe in all kinds of conspiracies that don't exist.

karl(east) wrote:If the top seeds advance, I think the only real question here is whether Mahtomedi's tie with Breck is enough to give them the nudge over Apollo, who lost to Breck in OT. If you're the Zephyrs, you're obviously going to make that the focus of the seeding meeting. But Apollo has a better record, and while the schedule is a bit weaker, Mahtomedi does have a few losses (Cretin, Rosemount, Tartan) that, while to AA teams, are probably teams that a top 3 Class A team should beat.

It'll be big, as playing a random draw from 1A, 3A, or 5A sounds a lot more fun than dealing with whoever comes out of 8A in the nightcap. And Cathedral and SPA (and others, possibly) will have something to say about all this, too.

PageState has Mahtomedi at 27, Apollo at 31, Rosemount at 34, Cretin at 37 and Tartan at 45. They may be lower AA teams, but I don't think any of those are push over games.

In addition to having an easier quarterfinal, the winner of the 4/5 game has to play Hermantown, while the 3 seed plays Breck. I wouldn't want to play either, but Mahtomedi and Apollo have already gone to OT with Breck.