Class AA Rankings
FollowThePuck.com
2008-2009 Rankings
02/09/09
2. Eden Prairie (6AA) 18-3-0
3. Edina (2AA) 17-4-0
4. Blaine (5AA) 18-2-1
5. Duluth East (7AA) 17-3-1
6. Maple Grove (5AA) 16-2-3
7. Centennial (5AA) 15-2-3
8. Benilde-St. Margaret's (6AA) 17-4-0
9. Minnetonka (6AA) 15-6-0
10. Academy of Holy Angels (2AA) 16-4-1
11. Hill-Murray (4AA) 14-6-1
12. Wayzata (6AA) 13-7-1
13. Hopkins (6AA) 13-7-1
14. Woodbury (3AA) 18-2-2
15. Moorhead (8AA) 9-9-2
16. Elk River/Zimmerman (7AA) 12-7-1
17. Burnsville (2AA) 10-10-1
18. White Bear Lake (4AA) 12-8-2
19. Eagan (3AA) 12-7-1
20. Roseau (8AA) 10-8-2
On watch: Cretin-Derham Hall (3AA) 14-6-1, Roseville Area (4AA) 12-7-1, Tartan (4AA) 13-6-1
Notes: Yes, Edina has beaten Eden Prairie twice by one goal this year but they haven't lost to anyone else. Edina has. For now, I'm throwing the Eagles into second.
The Hornets may have solved their goal-scoring issues with a 7-0 win over Wayzata. Still, something is wrong when Edina loses three out of four games even though the Hornets out shot, by a wide margin, each team that beat them.
Eden Prairie will find out if they deserve to be in second or even first when they play Bloomington Jefferson on Tuesday.
Maple Grove proved to me what I thought for awhile but could not say anything until they played Centennial a 2nd time. Maple Grove is a lot better than people think they are and Centennial is not as good as everyone wants them to be. Right now, Centennial is the third best team in Section 5AA. Blaine is home at Fogerty against Centennial this next Saturday. If Centennial wins, I will need to eat a little crow. Both teams have something to prove now after they both lost. Centennial travels to Elk River/Zimmerman on Saturday. The Elks beat Blaine this past Saturday. Maple Grove will host Blaine on Thursday, February 19th. Maple Grove may steal all of the 5AA thunder before it is all said and done. Exciting stuff.
Hopkins, Hopkins, Hopkins. What will you do next? Up next, Edina at Braemar on Tuesday. Can the Fons and the Royals do it again?
I am guilty of giving no love to Woodbury. I would like to but I look at their schedule and they have played no one ahead of them in the rankings. They lost to Forest Lake and tied Forest Lake. One one team ahead of the Woodbury has lost to a team with a losing record. That would be the other Royals, Hopkins, that lost to St. Louis Park in overtime. Moorhead and Elk River have not lost to a sub-.500 team. However, an 18-2-2 in any Twin Cities area conference is pretty impressive.
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Class A Rankings
FollowThePuck.com
2008-2009 Rankings
02/09/09
1. Little Falls (6A) 20-0-0
2. St. Thomas Academy (4A) 16-4-1
3. Breck School (2A) 17-3-1
4. St. Cloud Cathedral (5A) 18-2-1
5. Warroad (8A) 20-2-0
6. Hermantown (5A) 19-2-0
7. South St. Paul (4A) 14-4-3
8. Alexandria (6A) 17-3-1
9. Thief River Falls (8A) 15-4-2
10. Mahtomedi (4A) 14-5-1
11. Virginia/MI-Buhl (7A) 18-5-0
12. Duluth Marshall (7A) 12-7-1
13. International Falls (7A) 14-6-1
14. Hibbing/Chisholm (7A) 13-6-1
15. Red Wing (1A) 13-7-0
16. New Prague (1A) 13-7-0
17. Albert Lea (1A) 15-7-0
18. Rochester Lourdes (1A) 13-7-0
19. New Ulm (3A) 15-4-1
20. Totino-Grace (4A) 14-6-2
On watch: Sartell-St. Stephen (6A) 13-7-1, Mound-Westonka (2A) 13-8-0, Rogers 12-9-0, St. Michael-Albertville (2A) 17-5-0
Notes: I thought about moving Breck up to second. I've probably said it too many times for some people but I really like Breck. Four straight shutouts! Defenses, balanced scoring, and timely goaltending win championships. Breck has gotten stronger as the season has gone on. Breck is a YOUNG team and they are maturing fast.
St. Thomas Academy's loss to Hill-Murray, 3-0, is a curious one. When St. Thomas Academy won the first meeting between the two teams back on January 8th, that was about the time when Hill-Murray was going through their team turmoil. I believe that game on the 8th was the last time the Pioneers had the suspended players still on the team. Now, a month later, some players short, the Pioneers shutout the Cadets. The three scorers for Hill-Murray were players who had only scored 12 goals the entire season up to that point. Granted, Tim Shaughnessy was solid in goal and had 26 saves in the shutout. It's curious to me because does this mean that Hill-Murray is still a pretty good darn team or is St. Thomas Academy not as good as everyone thinks they are. I think the Pioneers are still as strong as ever. They have had a month to get used to the new lines and the new chemistry could be starting to gel for Hill-Murray.
Top 10 in Class A are still solid. Alexandria moved down one due to their tie with Sartell while South St. Paul moved up one with their win over Tartan.
The second 10 are not-so-solid. Hibbing/Chisholm lost to International Falls. International Falls lost to Greenway. Virginia/MIB lost to Hibbing. Duluth Marshall lost to Hibbing, do not play International Falls, and they will play Virginia/MIB on Tuesday. Section 1A is about hard to figure out as Section 7A. See their schedules and go through the same scenarios as Section 7A. You could stack four 1A teams on top of four 7A teams or vice versa.
Impressive win by New Ulm over Sartell-St. Stephen. I did not think that game would be that close and I thought Sartell would win to be honest. But, that only comes from the fact that New Ulm has not played anybody with a winning record since Superior (WI) and the first game of the year when they lost to Hutchinson 4-1. Let's see if the Eagles can close out their last five regular season games with wins.
Nice bounce back by Albert Lea. Three straight good wins this past week after three horrible losses the week before.
