I used three categories from the stats available via Point Streak and the Star Tribune to rank the best defenses in Class AA. I ranked the Top 20 teams only in the FollowThePuck.com Class AA rankings. If you'd like me to work on another team to see how they would compare to the Top 20, email me and I'll figure it out for you.
These results helped support my thoughts that I had about the overall strength of some teams. As a disclaimer, this is NOT an exact science, some Class AA teams play a weaker schedule, and it is VERY early in the season. I'll keep track of this throughout the season and give updates throughout to compare.
Remember, this is DEFENSE/GOALTENDERS COMBINED ONLY. I am going to work on a similar system with each offense and rank them as well. After that is done, I'll combine the two and see how the rankings would look simply from the stats so far this season.
Top Defenses/Goaltenders: Class AA
| 1 | Elk River/Zimmerman |
| 2 | Duluth East |
| 3 | Hill-Murray |
| 4 | Bloomington Jefferson |
| 5 | Maple Grove |
| 6 | Minnetonka |
| 7 | Apple Valley |
| 8 | Blaine |
| 9 | Eden Prairie |
| 10 | Moorhead |
| 11 | Woodbury |
| 12 | Benilde-St. Margaret's |
| 13 | Wayzata |
| 14 | Edina |
| 15 | Centennial |
| 16 | Academy of Holy Angels |
| 17 | White Bear Lake |
| 18 | Cretin-Derham Hall |
| 19 | Roseau |
| 20 | Hopkins |
Elk River/Zimmerman led one of the categories. Duluth East led two. Maple Grove finished second in two stat categories while finishing 13th in the third. Bloomington Jefferson was second in one category but sixth and seventh in the other two. Edina was 13th, 13th, and 14th in each category. Centennial was 9th, 14th, and 17th. Hill-Murray tied for a second in one category, sixth and seventh in the other two.
