HighSchoolHockeyForums.com

Official Section 8A Playoff Seeding (10 teams)
Team- (Overall Record)
1- Warroad- (21-3-1)
2- Thief River Falls- (14-11-0)
3- Detroit Lakes- (18-4-2)
4- East Grand Forks- (8-17-0)
5- Red Lake Falls- (17-7-1)
6- Kittson Central- (8-15-1)
7- Crookston- (6-17-1)
8- Park Rapids- (10-14-1)
9- Bagley/Fosston- (13-11-1)
10- Lake of the Woods (8-12-1)

Section 8A Playoff Bracket
Play-In Round (2/22/22) @ High Seed
#8 Park Rapids 6 #9 Bagley/Fosston 3
#10 Lake of the Woods 6 #7 Crookston 0

Quarterfinals (2/24/22) @ High Seed
#1 Warroad 10 #8 Park Rapids 0
#4 East Grand Forks 11 #5 Red Lake Falls 1
#3 Detroit Lakes 4 #6 Kittson Central 2
#2 Thief River Falls 4 #10 Lake of the Woods 0

Semifinals (2/26/22) @ EGF Civic Center
#1 Warroad 5 #4 East Grand Forks 1
#2 Thief River Falls 5 #3 Detroit Lakes 1

Section Final (3/3/2022) @ EGF Civic Center
#1 Warroad 4 #2 Thief River Falls 1

Section 8A Champions: Warroad (24-3-1)

2022 Section 8A Playoffs Preview

There’s flying under the radar, and then there’s the nether region located under the radar -- the airspace occupied by Detroit Lakes who is having a season to remember and has been hovering in the Top 10 yet many still question how strong this Lakers team really is. Such is life in Detroit Lakes, where the upstart hockey program has yet to gain the sort of statewide attention or high-level success enjoyed over the years by powerhouse northern programs such as Warroad, East Grand Forks and Thief River Falls. It just so happens that the Lakers reside in Section 8A with all three of those traditional powers. In a sign of changing times, however, Detroit Lakes received the section’s #3 seed after posting a 17-4-1 record. They will look to become the first program EVER to represent Section 8A at State other than the three powers mentioned above. Can they make history? The other three powerhouses will have a lot to say about that.

Number 1 seed Warroad (21-3-1) has had an outstanding campaign and outside of a rocky four game stretch where they went (1-3-0) in the middle of January they have looked unbeatable for most of the year. They have some serious star power up front as the return of Senior Daimon Gardner from the USHL to teamup with Junior phenom Jayson Shaugabay allows the Warriors to possess one of the most fearsome duo’s in the State. Add in blue chip blue liners Senior Carson Reed, Junior Eric Comstock and Sophomore Ryan Lund and Warroad looks well set up both on the front end and back end and as if they didn't need it they have a stud in the net as Hampton Slukynsky is having a magnificent Junior year in the net to make the Warriors a tough team to bet against in this section.

Although it isn’t as dominant as the Warriors, number 2 seed Thief River Falls (14-11-0) has been on a run of its own down the stretch. After starting the season slow this group of Prowlers is one of Coach Tim Bergland’s best coaching jobs as they have played extremely well of late going (11-4-0) in their last 15 games including taking the above mentioned Warriors to OT. TRF relies on a scoring duo of its own as Senior Brendan Bottem and Junior Tysen Loeffler have both put up double digit goals which is more than enough for a group that plays great team defense and on any night Senior Brett Homler can steal a game to make the Prowlers a very serious threat in Section 8A.

Then there is the upstart number 3 seed Detroit Lakes (18-4-2) who handed the above Prowlers one of their losses in their recent stretch of good play. The Lakers didn’t get much love from the 8A Coaches on that result because many still question the true strength of this team due to a weaker majority of teams they play compared to their traditional northern foes. The Lakers have done all they can and that’s win the majority of games on their schedule behind the scoring efforts of Seniors Spencer Bergman & Jordan Fields both who have double digit goals on the year. They are led by athletic Junior defenseman Jacob Thomas who quarterbacks a very dangerous powerplay unit. The goalie tandem of Senior Ethan Blow and Junior Josh Mack has been good enough to keep the Lakers in every game as they look to upset the traditional order of Section 8A.

Number 4 seed East Grand Forks (8-17-0) came into the season with high hopes as they looked to defend their Section 8A Crown. However, what looked like a promising team has come unglued over the year due to a very challenging schedule and a spotty team defense that is giving up an eye popping 4.5 goals against a game. Jaksen Panzer is still a serious threat and no one should overlook the Greenwave but this appears to be a season to forget for a very proud Class A program.

Number 5 seed Red Lake Falls (17-7-1) is having a really nice year and has shown with a tie of Detroit Lakes and tight loss to TRF they should not be overlooked by the Greenwave. They have high scoring Senior forward Ty Kennett who loves to light the lamp and his sidekick Junior Evan Girdler is very dangerous as well as both have well over 70 points each on the year. Depth is the big issue here for this very small town hockey program but they could pose a challenge to EGF.

Number 6 seed Kittson Central (8-15-1) came on strong late in the season as they won 4 of their last 5 games to move up the 8A seeding ladder. Junior Tyler Hennen leads the team in scoring with over 30 goals on the year and he has gotten help from Senior Landon Sugden who has over 20 goals of his own add in Junior defender Hayder Olsonawki who has over 20 points from the blueline and the Bearcats have a nice trio and they will give Detroit Lakes all they want like they did in the regular season matchup when game was tied 3-3 late into the third period.

Number 7 seed Crookston (6-17-1) has had a really rough year but Junior Jack Doda is having a very nice year and has over 20 goals to try and make the Pirates a threat in 8A.

Number 8 Seed Park Rapids (10-14-1) was able to put together a 10 win season after only having 5 last year. They are led by their trio of forwards Seniors Jaxson Lund & Nash Mitchell along with Junior Joey Hillukka all who have double digit goals on the year.

Number 9 Seed Bagley/Fosston (13-11-1) has had a very nice year and got huge seasons out of Juniors Markus Olson & Senior Logan Merschman both having over 25 goals on the year.

Number 10 seed Lake of the Woods (8-12-1) has struggled finding consistency but have gotten nice years from Junior Forward Charlie Eck and Senior Kajun Krause both have had double digit goals on the season.

Section 8A Playoffs Play-In Games (2/22/2022)

#9 seed Bagley/Fosston (13-11-1) vs #8 seed Park Rapids (10-14-1) @ Ted O Johnson Arena, Park Rapids, MN
These two teams met twice during the regular season with the home team winning each game. Bagley/Fosston won the first game 3-2 and Park Rapids took the rematch 6-4. Two players to watch doing the rubber match will be Bagley/Fosston’s Senior Logan Merschman who had 4 points in the two games while Park Rapids Senior Jaxson Lund 5 points for the Panthers. Look for this one to be tightly contested with winner head to #1 seed Warroad for the Section 8A Quarterfinals

#10 seed Lake of the Woods (8-12-1) vs #7 seed Crookston (6-17-1) @ Crookston Sports Center, Crookston, MN
This one looks like a good one as these teams just met for the first time on Feb 14th with Crookston using a big second period to squeak out a 4-3 win over Lake of the Woods. Players to watch are for Lake of Woods Senior Kajun Krause who had 3 points for the Bears in that game and Crookston’s Junior Jack Doda had a natural hat trick while scoring an even strength, power play & shorthanded goal to help get the Pirates a win. The winner head to #2 seed Thief River Falls for the Section 8A Quarterfinals.

Section 8A Playoffs Play-In Games (2/22/2022) Recaps

Park Rapids 6 Bagley/Fosston 3
Things looked really good for Bagley/Fosston early on as the Flyers jumped out to a 3-1 lead with around eleven minutes to go in the 2nd period. However, it was all Park Rapids after that as they scored five unanswered goals behind the three point nights of Seniors Liam Torola & Jaxson Lund as they chipped away at the Flyer lead and eventually ended the 2nd period with a one goal lead. The game did feature an ugly fight near the end of the game but it was the Panthers who were victorious and will head to Warroad tomorrow night for the Section 8A Quarterfinals.

Lake of the Woods 6 Crookston 0
Lake of the Woods pulled off the first mini upset of the section playoffs as the #10 seed Bears routed the #7 seed Crooston on the road. The Bears jumped out to 2-0 in the first period and never looked back as they were able to control the game vs the Pirates. Jack and Randy Wood scored 5 of the 6 goals for Lake of the Woods in the winning effort. The Bears will now head to #2 seed Thief River Falls for the Section 8A Quarterfinals tomorrow night.

Section 8A Playoffs Quarterfinal Games (2/24/2022)

#8 seed Park Rapids (11-14-1) vs #1 seed Warroad (21-3-1) @ The Gardens Arena, Warroad, MN
This one looks like a mismatch on paper as these two teams did not play in the regular season but Warroad will have the obvious decided advantage. Park Rapids does come in with a playoff win under their belt but they have not seen a team even close to the high end skill that the Warriors have this year. Warroad will be looking to take care of business early and they have not been kind to the lower seeds in recent years with many double digits wins. The winner will head to EGF for the Section 8A Semifinals on Saturday.

#5 seed Red Lake Falls (17-7-1) vs #4 seed East Grand Forks (8-17-0) @ EGF Civic Center, East Grand Forks, MN
These two teams didn’t meet during the regular season but this matchup does pose some intrigue. East Grand Forks and Red Lake Falls both have two on the top Forwards in the State as a fun individual match up to watch will be EGF’s Jaksen Panzer matchup with RLF’s Ty Kennett. The other intrigue will be to watch and see if RLF’s team offense with averages nearly 6 goals a game can keep it interesting with EGF’s shaky defense and goaltending which is giving up 5.5 goals a game. EGF has a big advantage in depth and experience here but this one could be interesting if RLF can pop a few in. This could possibly turn into a very entertaining 8A Quarterfinal.

#6 seed Kittson Central (8-15-1) vs #3 seed Detroit Lakes (18-4-2) @ Kent Freeman Arena, Detroit Lakes, MN
Detroit Lakes swept the regular season series when these two met twice during the year. The Lakers did dominate the first meeting but if you are Kittson Central you have to feel good about how the second game went. When these two teams met in Fergus Falls at the Holiday tournament a second time it was tied 3-3 in the third period with about 7 minutes to go before the Lakers were able to pull away. The Bobcats will have to hope they can build off of that as Detroit Lakes has been very tough all year and wants to make a statement that they are for real and were deserving of the Top 10 ranking all year.

#10 seed Lake of the Woods (9-12-1) vs #2 seed Thief River Falls (14-11-0) @ Ralph Engelstad Arena, Thief River Falls, MN
When these teams met back on January 11th Lake of the Woods did a nice job of holding its own as early on in the 2nd period they only trailed 2-1. However, the floodgates opened after that and the Prowlers scored 5 unanswered goals on their way to a runtime win. For the Bears to avoid a similar fate this time around they will need to stay focused on containing TRF’s Brendan Bottem who had a big 4 point night in the first meeting. The Prowlers will be looking to wear down the Bears and continue their late season stretch of really good hockey to move forward to the Section 8A Semi-final on Saturday.

ClassAGuy wrote: ↑Wed Feb 23, 2022 1:31 pm Section 8A Playoffs Quarterfinal Games (2/24/2022)

#8 seed Park Rapids (11-14-1) vs #1 seed Warroad (21-3-1) @ The Gardens Arena, Warroad, MN
This one looks like a mismatch on paper as these two teams did not play in the regular season but Warroad will have the obvious decided advantage. Park Rapids does come in with a playoff win under their belt but they have not seen a team even close to the high end skill that the Warriors have this year. Warroad will be looking to take care of business early and they have not been kind to the lower seeds in recent years with many double digits wins. The winner will head to EGF for the Section 8A Semifinals on Saturday.

What Park Rapids needs to do to win this game:
Pray.

Warroad
Play the game.

ClassAGuy wrote: ↑Wed Feb 23, 2022 1:31 pm Section 8A Playoffs Quarterfinal Games (2/24/2022)

[
#5 seed Red Lake Falls (17-7-1) vs #4 seed East Grand Forks (8-17-0) @ EGF Civic Center, East Grand Forks, MN
These two teams didn’t meet during the regular season but this matchup does pose some intrigue. East Grand Forks and Red Lake Falls both have two on the top Forwards in the State as a fun individual match up to watch will be EGF’s Jaksen Panzer matchup with RLF’s Ty Kennett. The other intrigue will be to watch and see if RLF’s team offense with averages nearly 6 goals a game can keep it interesting with EGF’s shaky defense and goaltending which is giving up 5.5 goals a game. EGF has a big advantage in depth and experience here but this one could be interesting if RLF can pop a few in. This could possibly turn into a very entertaining 8A Quarterfinal.

What does Red Lake Falls need to do to win:

Do not get caught up thinking about playing big, bad EGF.
Do not try and play physical or take penalties.
Get an early lead.

East Grand Forks
Be disciplined.

ClassAGuy wrote: ↑Wed Feb 23, 2022 1:31 pm Section 8A Playoffs Quarterfinal Games (2/24/2022)


#6 seed Kittson Central (8-15-1) vs #3 seed Detroit Lakes (18-4-2) @ Kent Freeman Arena, Detroit Lakes, MN
Detroit Lakes swept the regular season series when these two met twice during the year. The Lakers did dominate the first meeting but if you are Kittson Central you have to feel good about how the second game went. When these two teams met in Fergus Falls at the Holiday tournament a second time it was tied 3-3 in the third period with about 7 minutes to go before the Lakers were able to pull away. The Bobcats will have to hope they can build off of that as Detroit Lakes has been very tough all year and wants to make a statement that they are for real and were deserving of the Top 10 ranking all year.

Kittson needs to shoot the puck and then shoot the puck and then shoot the puck.

Detroit Lakes - don't take penalties.

ClassAGuy wrote: ↑Wed Feb 23, 2022 1:31 pm Section 8A Playoffs Quarterfinal Games (2/24/2022)



#10 seed Lake of the Woods (9-12-1) vs #2 seed Thief River Falls (14-11-0) @ Ralph Engelstad Arena, Thief River Falls, MN
When these teams met back on January 11th Lake of the Woods did a nice job of holding its own as early on in the 2nd period they only trailed 2-1. However, the floodgates opened after that and the Prowlers scored 5 unanswered goals on their way to a runtime win. For the Bears to avoid a similar fate this time around they will need to stay focused on containing TRF’s Brendan Bottem who had a big 4 point night in the first meeting. The Prowlers will be looking to wear down the Bears and continue their late season stretch of really good hockey to move forward to the Section 8A Semi-final on Saturday.

LOTW - to win, well that can't.

TRF - do not get anyone hurt, do not take a game misconduct penalty - they need to be at full strength the rest of the way.

Section 8A Playoffs Quarterfinal Games (2/24/2022) Recaps

Warroad 10 Park Rapids 0
The Warriors blew out Park Rapids as expected and they outshot the Panthers 73-8. Warroad used a diverse offensive attack to overwhelm Park Rapids. Daimon Gardner and Murray Marvin-Cordes each had 2 goal nights to lead the charge and now they turn their attention to a 3rd match up with EGF. In a radar occasion the #1 seed will have to play the #4 seed on their home ice for the Section 8A Semifinals on Saturday Night.

East Grand Forks 11 Red Lake Falls 1
The Greenwave blew out Red Lake Falls on their home to start their second season with a bang. EGF jumped out to a 7-0 first period lead and never looked back from there. Jaksen Panzer, Jace Fore & Brock Schultz each had two goals during their big offensive night. Now the Green Wave will get their shot at the Warriors on Saturday on their home ice in the Section 8A Semi-finals.

Detroit Lakes 4 Kittson Central 2
Detroit Lakes survived a serious playoff scare from the lower seeded Bobcats of Kittson Central. Kittson Central jumped out to a 2-0 lead and led 2-1 after 2 periods of play. The Lakers battled back though in the third as they scored 3 unanswered goals behind Senior Jordan Fields big 3 point night to lead the comeback effort. Now Detroit Lakes will head to the Section 8A Semifinals looking continue their magical year.

Thief River Falls 4 Lake of the Woods 0
Lake of the Woods kept things interesting all night and actually had the better position of play in the 1st period. However the Prowlers were lock down defensively and did not allow the Prowlers to score. TRF’s Tysen Loeffler hattrick was the difference as they rode his hot stick to a Section 8A Quarterfinal win. Now Thief River Falls will head to the semifinals for a rematch with the Lakers who beat them earlier this winter.

Section 8A Playoffs Semifinal Games (2/26/2022)

#4 seed East Grand Forks (9-17-0) vs #1 seed Warroad (22-3-1) @ EGF Civic Center, East Grand Forks, MN
These two longtime rivals are more accustomed to meeting in 8A Section Finals but the Greenwave desatoruis regular season has this primetime matchup happening in the semi final. Warrod took both regular season meetings scoring 6 goals in each game and that is really the story in this one can the EGF shaky defense hold up against the potent Warriors attack led Senior Daimon Gardner and Junior Jayson Shaugabay. In the first two matchups the answer was no we know EGF’s Jaksen Panzer will be fabulous as he always is but will he get any help? The Greenwave have shown in their Quarterfinal they are still a high quality club but it seems against the better teams their defense has crumbled but they will be playing on their home ice with a chance to pull a huge upset over their long time rival. Anything can happen in their intriguing Section 8A Semifinal

#3 seed Detroit Lakes (19-4-2) vs #2 seed Thief River Falls (15-11-0) @ EGF Civic Center, East Grand Forks, MN
This match up could go multiple overtimes as these teams play an almost identical style. Both are well structured and well coached. Both have top end heavy hitters as the Prowlers have Senior Brendan Bottem and Junior Tysen Loeffler & the Lakers have Seniors Spencer Bergman & Jordan Fields. Goaltending appears to be an edge to TRF but Detroit Lakes Senior Elijah Blow more than held his own when he only allowed one goal in their 2-1 victory over the Prowlers in early January. However, in that game the shots were 16-10 which shows again how defensive minded both these teams really are. Detroit Lakes is looking to make some history and try to break through in 8A past the Big 3 while Thief River Falls is trying to take advantage of a down year from EGF to get back into the 8A title game and return to state for the first time since 2018.

Section 8A Playoffs Semifinal Games (2/26/2022) Recaps

Warroad 5 East Grand Forks 1
East Grand Forks came to play in their Section Semifinal match up with the Warrior and they jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead but the Warriors would tie at 1-1and that's where it would stay until Warroad was game to get a Power play goal from Daimon Gardner in the last minute of the second period and big stretching out the lead goal in the first minute of the third from Jayson Shaugabay. Committing the two golden sins in hockey of giving up a goal in the last minute and first minute of a period was way too much to overcome from EGF who eventually gave up their customary 5 goals in a loss this year. Warroad moves on to the 8A final after a tough hard nosed win over their rivals.

Thief River Falls 5 Detroit Lakes 1
The Lakers jumped out the 1-0 lead early in the 2nd period but after that they were dismantled by the physical and well structured and coached Prowlers. After the Detroit Lakes goal Thief River Falls completely shut them down as they outshot them 18-4 the rest of the way. The Prowlers Jaxon Brouse picked up a rare hat trick for him and that was more than enough as they cruised to the 8A semifinal win to get a third chance at Warroad in the Section 8A final.

Section 8A Playoffs Championship Games (3/3/2022)

#2 seed Thief River Falls (16-11-0) vs #1 seed Warroad (23-3-1) @ EGF Civic Center, East Grand Forks, MN
Thief River Falls enters the Section final playing their best hockey of last and they hope to contain a very good Warroad team. TRF is needing the exact formula they got the last time they met when they jumped out an early lead and never trailed in the game by more then 1 and got a 50 plus save effort from goalie Brett Holmer. It was the perfect game for them and yet they still lost when the Warriors scored with 5 second left in OT. However, it showed the Prowlers they can play with the highly potent Warriors. Warroad is hoping they can stretch the lead to two at some point because that would be game over most likely. TRF will let them get shots but they will keep things to the outside and the Warriors have to be smart as TRF has a very good powerplay that has been clicking of late. Yet all that being said a lot would need to go right as Warrod is clearly the class of 8A this year and looking to get back to the Xcel after losing a heartbreaker in double OT last year. The state would love to see the Daimon Gardner and Jayson Shaugabay duo under big lights in St. Paul next week and they will be very tough to beat.

I don't see the Prowlers sticking with the Warriors in this one. With that said, props to the TRF coaching staff and their players. If there was a most improved trophy for the section, they would win it hands down! Boy, I would love to have the Rams in Class A this year. A Roseau/Warroad final would have been fantastic!

Section 8A Playoffs Championship Games (3/3/2022) Recap

Warroad 4 Thief River Falls 1
Warroad raced out to a 2-0 lead behind two goals from star Senior Damion Gardner by the midway point of the 2nd period. Thief River would respond though as Senior Brendan Bottem would score just 25 seconds after Warriors to the two goal lead and they had made it a one goal game heading into the third period. In the third period through Warroad’s Jayson Shaugabay put a cap on his big 3 point night by scoring the third goal that seemed to put a nail in the coffin for the Prowlers and the Warroad would add one more for insurance and win the Section 8A title 4-1.