Section 5A 2022-23
Posted: Fri Oct 28, 2022 10:36 am
2022-23 Section 5A Preseason Preview
Central Minnesota hockey has often not gotten the credit it deserves when it comes to Class A Hockey. The region has produced some quality programs over the years and three of those programs have become mainstays in the Class A Tourney recently (St. Cloud Cathedral, Little Falls and Monticello). This year's Central MN Hockey scene may provide the best Sectional in all of Class A. There could be legitimately 5 teams in the Top 20 at season's end and all 5 will have a very good chance at calling themselves Section 5A Champs. The Big Three as mentioned early we have become accustomed to relying on being in the thick of it, year in and year out in Class A, but the other two are looking to make a splash as both Cambridge ad River Lakes, while not well known, will bring teams to the playoff dance ready to battle and it should be one of the more entertaining sections to follow this winter.
Section 5A Preseason Poll (10 teams)
1- St Cloud Cathedral
2- Little Falls
3- Monticello
4- Cambridge/Isanti
5- River Lakes
6- Princeton
7- Sauk Rapids
8- Mora
9- Pine City
10- Becker/Big Lake
#1 St Cloud Cathedral- Things looked like they may be falling apart in the Crusaders program after their disastrous 2021 campaign but a new coach and young team were able to make the Crusaders relevant again last year and came painfully close to State. This year they return as the favorites in Section 5A and their strength is in net where they'll return Junior Nick Hansen who had played nearly every minute last winter. They will also return the majority of their D-core as Junior Vince Gebhardt and Seniors Brandon Hemmer & Tommy Gohman should provide stability on the blue line. Upfront they are led by Sophomores John Hirschfeld & Joey Gillespie who look to add on to what were impressive freshman campaigns. Add in a bunch of juniors who all played major minutes last winter and SCC looks primed for a big year and to return to the old days of the program's glory.
#2 Little Falls- The Flyers were hit hard by graduation but they do return high scoring forwards Senior Matt Filippi & Junior Carter Oothoudt up front along with Sophomore Joey Welinski who played big varsity minutes last winter as a freshman. They also bring back Senior defenders Coltin Johnson & Matthew Copper who each had great years and played mega minutes on the blue line and Sophomore Luke Avery will move back to defense this year after good 9th grade year at forward on the varsity to create nice core to build a solid Class A team around along with Senior Netminder Richie Varriano who has experience in the net. There is enough there to make another run if they have some other pieces, but they will need depth but again they do have star power up front to be in the mix this winter in 5A.
#3 Monticello- The Moose lost a ton to graduation but Coach Eric Nelson showed last year you should never count them out as this program has been to State 4 of the last 6 years. Down the stretch last year they did play 4 lines down so they have experience coming back and will be led by Seniors Tyler Miller, Tyler Bitz & Brayden Dunn along with Juniors Roman Thompson & Gunnar Simon should give them experience and balance up front. However, they will have a big void to fill on the blueline and will need Junior Owen Soderholm to be more steady in the net a year later in order for Monticello to return to State for the 5th time in 7 years and repeat in a very even Section 5A.
#4 Cambridge Isanti- The Bluejackets were one of the best Class A stories during the year but they faded down the stretch in Section 5A. They do return their 3 leading scorers in Juniors Finn Overby & Will O'Donovan along with Senior Seth Terhell. They also return all three Seniors Luke Pierson, Kaden Schibilla & Wyatt Nutt who made up their defensive minded shutdown 2nd line and they will return starting goaltender Sophomore Jaxon Sibell to make this a team to watch again next winter. However, they lost all of their defenseman to graduation and will need to address that question mark to be a threat again to win Section 5A.
#5 River Lakes- Looking for this year's surprise story program that has never had much success look no further than the Stars. This team returns four of their top six defensemen and seven of their top nine forwards including their entire potent first line in Seniors Jacob Philippi & Brady Blaschko and Sophomore Blake Schultz along with returning both of their starting goaltender tandem from last year. River Lakes lost nine 1 goal games as a young team last year and don't be surprised to see this program make some noise this winter and possibly reach the program's first ever Section Final.
#6 Princeton- The Tigers are another team to keep an eye on this winter as they return 12 letter winners including 5 of their top 6 in scoring from last year. Seniors Jake Patnode, Jake Baumann, Tim Donnay all had double digit goals and also keep an eye on Sophomore Jaeger Wood who had 20 points as 9th grader last winter. They return their main goaltender from last year as well in Junior James Koecher. The pieces are there for Princeton to have a very solid veteran team this winter and make 5A even deeper.
#7 Sauk Rapids- The Storm did lose 12 seniors to graduation which will make this team have a younger look to it. They do have a decent group of Sophomores coming in and they will look to Senior Luke Pakkala and Junior Teagan Dodge to replicate their offensive effort as they each had over 20 points a year ago. They do return 3 goalies who saw varsity action but one of them or a newcomer will need to step up and solidify the net.
#8 Mora- The Mustangs had one of the best seasons in a long time winning 18 games and nearly upsetting Cathedral in the playoffs. However, pretty much every piece of that team graduated, losing 10 seniors who made a big impact on the program. They do return Junior Trenton Fore who had over 40 points from the blueline last year but beyond that there will be a lot of growing pains and new faces in the lineup.
#9 Pine City- The Dragons had a tough season last year and lost 4 of their top 5 scorers to graduation. They do return Seniors McCoy Leger & Ryder Youngbauer who both had over points. They also have 11 letter winners returning that should help them improve on last season but finding a goalie will be a big question.
#10 Becker/Big Lake- The Eagles will look to improve on their 4 win season from a year ago and they should be improved as they return the majority of their scoring led by Senior Eli Scheideman & Junior Jase Tobako who each had over 20 points last year. They also return three goalies who all saw varsity action to hopefully allow them to be more competitive this winter.
Central Minnesota hockey has often not gotten the credit it deserves when it comes to Class A Hockey. The region has produced some quality programs over the years and three of those programs have become mainstays in the Class A Tourney recently (St. Cloud Cathedral, Little Falls and Monticello). This year's Central MN Hockey scene may provide the best Sectional in all of Class A. There could be legitimately 5 teams in the Top 20 at season's end and all 5 will have a very good chance at calling themselves Section 5A Champs. The Big Three as mentioned early we have become accustomed to relying on being in the thick of it, year in and year out in Class A, but the other two are looking to make a splash as both Cambridge ad River Lakes, while not well known, will bring teams to the playoff dance ready to battle and it should be one of the more entertaining sections to follow this winter.
Section 5A Preseason Poll (10 teams)
1- St Cloud Cathedral
2- Little Falls
3- Monticello
4- Cambridge/Isanti
5- River Lakes
6- Princeton
7- Sauk Rapids
8- Mora
9- Pine City
10- Becker/Big Lake
#1 St Cloud Cathedral- Things looked like they may be falling apart in the Crusaders program after their disastrous 2021 campaign but a new coach and young team were able to make the Crusaders relevant again last year and came painfully close to State. This year they return as the favorites in Section 5A and their strength is in net where they'll return Junior Nick Hansen who had played nearly every minute last winter. They will also return the majority of their D-core as Junior Vince Gebhardt and Seniors Brandon Hemmer & Tommy Gohman should provide stability on the blue line. Upfront they are led by Sophomores John Hirschfeld & Joey Gillespie who look to add on to what were impressive freshman campaigns. Add in a bunch of juniors who all played major minutes last winter and SCC looks primed for a big year and to return to the old days of the program's glory.
#2 Little Falls- The Flyers were hit hard by graduation but they do return high scoring forwards Senior Matt Filippi & Junior Carter Oothoudt up front along with Sophomore Joey Welinski who played big varsity minutes last winter as a freshman. They also bring back Senior defenders Coltin Johnson & Matthew Copper who each had great years and played mega minutes on the blue line and Sophomore Luke Avery will move back to defense this year after good 9th grade year at forward on the varsity to create nice core to build a solid Class A team around along with Senior Netminder Richie Varriano who has experience in the net. There is enough there to make another run if they have some other pieces, but they will need depth but again they do have star power up front to be in the mix this winter in 5A.
#3 Monticello- The Moose lost a ton to graduation but Coach Eric Nelson showed last year you should never count them out as this program has been to State 4 of the last 6 years. Down the stretch last year they did play 4 lines down so they have experience coming back and will be led by Seniors Tyler Miller, Tyler Bitz & Brayden Dunn along with Juniors Roman Thompson & Gunnar Simon should give them experience and balance up front. However, they will have a big void to fill on the blueline and will need Junior Owen Soderholm to be more steady in the net a year later in order for Monticello to return to State for the 5th time in 7 years and repeat in a very even Section 5A.
#4 Cambridge Isanti- The Bluejackets were one of the best Class A stories during the year but they faded down the stretch in Section 5A. They do return their 3 leading scorers in Juniors Finn Overby & Will O'Donovan along with Senior Seth Terhell. They also return all three Seniors Luke Pierson, Kaden Schibilla & Wyatt Nutt who made up their defensive minded shutdown 2nd line and they will return starting goaltender Sophomore Jaxon Sibell to make this a team to watch again next winter. However, they lost all of their defenseman to graduation and will need to address that question mark to be a threat again to win Section 5A.
#5 River Lakes- Looking for this year's surprise story program that has never had much success look no further than the Stars. This team returns four of their top six defensemen and seven of their top nine forwards including their entire potent first line in Seniors Jacob Philippi & Brady Blaschko and Sophomore Blake Schultz along with returning both of their starting goaltender tandem from last year. River Lakes lost nine 1 goal games as a young team last year and don't be surprised to see this program make some noise this winter and possibly reach the program's first ever Section Final.
#6 Princeton- The Tigers are another team to keep an eye on this winter as they return 12 letter winners including 5 of their top 6 in scoring from last year. Seniors Jake Patnode, Jake Baumann, Tim Donnay all had double digit goals and also keep an eye on Sophomore Jaeger Wood who had 20 points as 9th grader last winter. They return their main goaltender from last year as well in Junior James Koecher. The pieces are there for Princeton to have a very solid veteran team this winter and make 5A even deeper.
#7 Sauk Rapids- The Storm did lose 12 seniors to graduation which will make this team have a younger look to it. They do have a decent group of Sophomores coming in and they will look to Senior Luke Pakkala and Junior Teagan Dodge to replicate their offensive effort as they each had over 20 points a year ago. They do return 3 goalies who saw varsity action but one of them or a newcomer will need to step up and solidify the net.
#8 Mora- The Mustangs had one of the best seasons in a long time winning 18 games and nearly upsetting Cathedral in the playoffs. However, pretty much every piece of that team graduated, losing 10 seniors who made a big impact on the program. They do return Junior Trenton Fore who had over 40 points from the blueline last year but beyond that there will be a lot of growing pains and new faces in the lineup.
#9 Pine City- The Dragons had a tough season last year and lost 4 of their top 5 scorers to graduation. They do return Seniors McCoy Leger & Ryder Youngbauer who both had over points. They also have 11 letter winners returning that should help them improve on last season but finding a goalie will be a big question.
#10 Becker/Big Lake- The Eagles will look to improve on their 4 win season from a year ago and they should be improved as they return the majority of their scoring led by Senior Eli Scheideman & Junior Jase Tobako who each had over 20 points last year. They also return three goalies who all saw varsity action to hopefully allow them to be more competitive this winter.