Class AA Rankings
FollowThePuck.com
2008-2009 Rankings
02/02/09
2. Edina (2AA) 16-3-0
3. Eden Prairie (6AA) 15-3-0
4. Blaine (5AA) 17-1-1
5. Centennial (5AA) 14-1-3
6. Duluth East (7AA) 15-3-1
7. Benilde-St. M's (6AA) 14-4-0
8. Minnetonka (6AA) 14-5-0
9. Acad of Holy Angels (2AA) 13-4-1
10. Wayzata (6AA) 12-6-1
11. Maple Grove (5AA) 14-2-3
12. Hill-Murray (4AA) 13-5-1
13. Woodbury (3AA) 16-2-2
14. Eagan (3AA) 12-5-1
15. Moorhead (8AA) 8-8-1
16. Hopkins (6AA) 12-6-1
17. Burnsville (2AA) 9-9-1
18. White Bear Lake (4AA) 11-8-1
19. Roseau (8AA) 9-7-2
20. Elk River/Zimmerman (7AA) 10-7-1
On watch: Cretin-Derham Hall (3AA) 12-6-1, Roseville Area (4AA) 10-7-1, Tartan (4AA) 11-5-1, Apple Valley (3AA) 11-6-1
Notes: I cannot, with a good conscience, lower Edina from the 2nd spot. Yes, they lost back-to-back games to Hopkins and Centennial. Edina outshot Hopkins 59-27 and Centennial 42-21. Ask yourself, if those teams met again, do you think we would see the same outcome? The only way I could say 'yes' is if Alex Fons and Brett Larsen had another out-of-their-mind performance in goal. Both Fons of Hopkins and Larsen of Centennial showed that they are human since their triumph against Edina. Fons gave up three goals in a 3-1 loss to Wayzata on Saturday. Larsen gave up four goals to a Moorhead team who had trouble getting the puck in the net a short while ago. Let's see how Edina does against Minnetonka this week. Rankings are supposed to be about who you think the better teams are. Edina's achilles heal is a good opposing defense and goaltender. Edina can be scored on.
Oh yeah, as for that #1 team, Bloomington Jefferson has a stifling defense, a very good goaltender, and they have been scoring more goals than Edina. Jefferson has been held to under 3 or less goals only TWICE this season so far. Edina? Seven times.
After Centennial's win against Edina, I gave the Cougars a slight nod over Blaine in the 5AA rankings. After the Cougars 4-4 tie with Moorhead where they were outshot 39-33, I'm putting Blaine back where they should be ahead of Centennial. Unless Blaine completely falls apart or they lose to Centennial in their rematch on Valentine's Day (February 14th), Blaine will stay ahead of the Cougars in the rankings.
Blaine would be even higher in the rankings if that 8-4 loss to Edina wasn't so glaring. In that game, Blaine was outshot 39-24. In comparison to the Edina/Centennial game, where again Edina outshot the Cougars 42-21, Larsen was better goaltender than Danny Harper was for Blaine against the Hornets.
The Shattuck-St. Mary's test: Benilde-St. Margaret's lost to Shattuck 7-3 and were outshot 35-15. Academy of Holy Angels lost to Shattuck 7-0 and were outshot 47-15.
Benilde-St. Margaret's beat Minnetonka on January 10th while Minnetonka defeated Holy Angels 3-2 on January 15th.
If Maple Grove would have beaten Elk River/Zimmerman, I would have given them the 10th spot but they tied instead. Maple Grove and Wayzata are virtually tied at 10th. It only makes sense since they tied each other in their game way back on November 28th. Wayzata had a slight edge in shots.
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Class A Rankings
FollowThePuck.com
2008-2009 Rankings
02/02/09
1. Little Falls (6A) 17-0-0
2. St. Thomas Academy (4A) 15-3-1
3. Breck School (2A) 15-3-1
4. St. Cloud Cathedral (5A) 17-2-1
5. Warroad (8A) 18-2-0
6. Hermantown (5A) 17-2-0
7. Alexandria (6A) 15-3-0
8. South St. Paul (4A) 12-4-3
9. Thief River Falls (8A) 12-4-2
10. Mahtomedi (4A) 13-5-1
11. Hibbing/Chisholm (7A) 12-5-1
12. Virginia/MI-Buhl (7A) 16-5-0
13. Duluth Marshall (7A) 10-7-1
14. Totino-Grace (4A) 12-5-2
15. Red Wing (1A) 12-6-0
16. International Falls (7A) 11-6-1
17. Rochester Lourdes (1A) 12-6-0
18. New Prague (1A) 12-6-0
19. Sartell-St. Stephen (6A) 12-6-0
20. St. Michael-Albertville (2A) 15-4-0
On watch: Bemidji (8A) 10-8-1, Mankato West (1A) 11-5-2, Mound-Westonka (2A) 11-8-0, New Ulm 13-4-1, Duluth Denfeld (5A) 11-9-0, 19. Albert Lea (1A) 12-7-0
Notes: The top 10 teams are solid. After that, it is a free-for-all.
Little Falls continues to roll. There are naysayers out there that believe that Little Falls has not played a schedule as tough as St. Thomas Academy, Breck, or even Warroad. That could be debated. But here is a quick overview:
Winning percentages of the Class A opponents that the top five teams have played AND defeated (it does not included the record of the teams they LOST TO or TIED):
1. Little Falls .552 (123-100-3)
2. St. Cloud Cathedral .543 (139-117-5)
3. Breck School .529 (83-74-1)
4. Warroad .521 (100-92-5)
5. St. Thomas Academy .472 (50-56-3)
Okay, yes, St. Thomas Academy has only played eight Class A teams, losing one, tying one, as of Friday of last week. They had played 10 Class AA teams, losing twice, and the percentage of those Class AA that they defeated was .578 (78-57-6). Only one of those teams, Minnetonka, that they beat were in the Class AA Top 10 this week, four total in the Top 20. The two teams they lost to in Class AA were Top 10 but they lost 5-2 to Holy Angels and 6-3 to Centennial. They lost to Class A team Duluth Marshall and tied South St. Paul. The Cadets are a great team but I don't think they should be granted the #1 spot just simply because their schedule includes more Class AA teams.
Believe it or not, in St. Thomas Academy's game with Breck earlier in the season where the Cadets won by a wide margin of 7-2, Breck outshot St. Thomas Academy 35-21. If a goalie can be the difference by having a good game, they can also be the difference when they have a bad game. STA lost to Duluth Marshall. Breck defeated them 5-1.
Plain and simple. It's only data and information from games gone by. Take it or leave it for what it is worth. Nobody truly knows who is better than the other until they face each other on the ice. Everything else is simply something to talk about or banter about in a forum somewhere.
Does anyone remember my pick to win Class A at the beginning of the season? It was Breck. They are a team that is really coming on right now. The Mustangs are 11-0-1 since their overtime loss to Wayzata in the Schwan Cup Silver Division Semifinal game. They have allowed only 10 goals in those 12 games while they scored 80 goals.
There are a few reasons why Warroad is not higher. They lost to Cathedral 4-2. Little Falls beat Cathedral 5-4 in overtime. They struggled with Class AA Osseo and lost to Moorhead, both barely .500 teams.
I was high on the Section 7A teams for awhile but I look at their schedules and it is difficult to find quality wins for them beyond their 7A rivals. I thought I might have them ranked too high but I looked who was after them and there are not a lot of teams that could trump them for a higher spot.
St. Michael-Albertville enters the Top 20 this after winning nine straight games.
