Class AA Rankings
FollowThePuck.com
2008-2009 Rankings
02/16/09
2. Eden Prairie (6AA) 20-3-0
3. Edina (2AA) 19-4-0
4. Duluth East (7AA) 19-3-1
5. Blaine (5AA) 19-3-1
6. Maple Grove (5AA) 18-2-3
7. Centennial (5AA) 17-3-3
8. Minnetonka (6AA) 17-6-0
9. Academy of Holy Angels (2AA) 18-4-1
10. Benilde-St. Margaret's (6AA) 18-6-0
11. Elk River/Zimmerman (7AA) 15-7-1
12. Hopkins (6AA) 14-8-1
13. Wayzata (6AA) 14-8-1
14. Woodbury (3AA) 19-3-2
15. Tartan (4AA) 15-7-1
16. Hill-Murray (4AA) 14-8-1
17. Moorhead (8AA) 10-9-3
18. Burnsville (2AA) 11-10-1
19. Roseau (8AA) 11-9-3
20. Cretin-Derham Hall (3AA) 15-7-1
On watch: Roseville Area (4AA) 13-8-1, White Bear Lake (4AA) 13-9-2, Eagan (3AA) 14-7-1, Rochester Mayo (1AA) 16-7-0
Note: Bloomington Jefferson has the right to lose one game and not be ousted from their justly earned top spot. The win for Eden Prairie over Jefferson was great and decisive. However, the Eagles still have three losses this season, including one to Jefferson at BIG. Eden Prairie won in their own building where they are now 9-1-0, tough. Jefferson is still undefeated in their own building. Jefferson outshot Eden Prairie a total of 75 to 44 in the two game series. Goaltenders Andrew Ford & Matt Halloran have outperformed Casey O'Connor in both. I'm still giving the edge to Bloomington Jefferson as the better team who, I think, would win on a neutral site, hopefully the Xcel Energy Center.
After having an unusual two weeks, the Hornets look like they are back on track again and scoring goals. They are the most dangerous team in Class AA.
Duluth East is quietly and methodically winning games. They are 8-0-0 in their last eight games. They should win their last two games of the regular season. The Greyhounds should cruise through the Section 7AA playoffs unless the Elk River/Zimmerman Elks are stronger than they were when these two teams met back on January 10th. Elk River is 9-1-1 since their lost to Duluth East at the DECC.
Like I said in the Section Rankings page, I am going to wait until Blaine played Maple Grove this week before I bump the Bengals below Centennial. A 3-2 victory for the Cougars wasn't decisive. Those two teams are as even as they can get. Because Maple Grove dominated Centennial the week before, I cannot throw the Crimson under the bus and put them behind Blaine AND Centennial. Blaine dominated Maple Grove in their first game this year, 6-1. Let's see if it is a repeat performance by Blaine or if its Maple Grove that is the team in Section 5AA that got better as the season wore on. I think, right now, Centennial has the edge going into the seedings meeting with the win over Blaine but I think if Maple Grove beats the Bengals like they beat the Cougars, the Crimson will get the #1 seed in Section 5AA.
Minnetonka is very good but when you start thinking that they are exceptionally good, they stumble, i.e. the loss to Hopkins. If the Skippers stay at the top of their game, they should be in that Section 6AA championship game with Eden Prairie. They finish out the regular season with Buffalo and at Edina this week.
Nice win for Holy Angels against Benilde-St. Margaret's this past week. I probably haven't given the Stars' defense and goaltending the praise that it deserves this season. The first line on the offense gets most of the limelight. Even though the Stars have only shutout two teams this season, they have had eight games where they have only given up one goal. Actually, they are 18-1-0 when they give up three goals or less. However, the Stars are 0-3-1 when they give up four or more goals.
Benilde-St. Margaret's slipped a bit this past week with losses to Holy Angels and Totino-Grace, who also was going through some tough times of late. The Red Knights will be fine come playoff time.
Elk River/Zimmerman is back up in the rankings with wins over Centennial and Blaine in the past two weeks. I think many people started to write them off, including myself, when the Elks went 1-5-0 from December 18th to January 10th. As stated above in the comments about Duluth East, The Elks are 9-1-1 since that time. The Greyhounds cannot take the Elks as lightly as they did Cloquet/E/C last year in the Section 7AA playoffs.
Hopkins and Wayzata have identical records at 14-8-1 and one of them may play the role of 'Super Section 6AA Spoiler' in the Section 6AA playoffs. I like Hopkins' O and Wayzata's D and the goaltenders are pretty even. Wayzata won the first meeting between these two team, 3-1, on Wayzata's home ice. On Thursday, they play at the Hopkins Pavilion. I'll be surprised if Hopkins doesn't win that one. With Hopkins' recent upsets of Edina and Minnetonka and the belief that they will win on Thursday, I'm giving them the edge over the Trojans this week in the rankings.
Woodbury beat Cretin-Derham Hall by one goal and lost to Roseville in overtime this past week. They play White Bear Lake in their final game of the regular season at Bielenberg Ice Arena on Fox Sports North on Thursday. Woodbury is 17-1-0 against teams from Section 3AA and 4AA. They are 1-2-1 against the other Sections and 1-0-1 against Class A teams.
Tartan moves up because they are 1-0-1 against Hill-Murray. That is probably the best reasoning I have. It bothers me though that I look up at the top of their schedule and see an 8-2 loss Woodbury at the beginning of the year. They've lost to St. Thomas Academy twice. Hill-Murray has beaten STA 3-0. Section 4AA is really hard to figure out but, right now, Tartan is the only undefeated team against other teams in that Section.
There truly is no real rhyme or reason for position 15 through the 'On watch' group. All have the potential to do damage in their Section playoffs, that's it. Rochester Mayo should come out of Section 1AA and make it to state unless one of the Lakeville teams pulls it out again. I see Moorhead and Roseau playing four overtimes to decide who will come out of Section 8AA when its all said and done.
____________________________________________________________________
Class A Rankings
FollowThePuck.com
2008-2009 Rankings
02/16/09
1. Little Falls (6A) 23-0-0
2. St. Thomas Academy (4A) 18-4-1
3. Breck School (2A) 19-3-1
4. St. Cloud Cathedral (5A) 19-2-1
5. Warroad (8A) 22-2-0
6. South St. Paul (4A) 16-4-3
7. Alexandria (6A) 19-3-1
8. Hermantown (5A) 20-3-0
9. Thief River Falls (8A) 18-4-2
10. Mahtomedi (4A) 15-6-1
11. Red Wing (1A) 16-7-0
12. Virginia/MI-Buhl (7A) 19-5-0
13. International Falls (7A) 16-6-2
14. Hibbing/Chisholm (7A) 14-7-1
15. Duluth Marshall (7A) 13-8-1
16. New Prague (1A) 16-7-0
17. Totino-Grace (4A) 16-6-2
18. Albert Lea (1A) 16-8-0
19. Rochester Lourdes (1A) 15-7-0
20. New Ulm (3A) 18-4-1
On watch: Sartell-St. Stephen (6A) 16-7-1, Mound-Westonka (2A) 13-8-0, Orono (2A) 13-10-0
Note: The big news for this past week in regards to the Top 20 in Class A was only Red Wing defeating Hermantown in Red Wing. I also moved Totino-Grace back up because they beat Benilde-St. Margaret's and have won four in a row. The Eagles will play Rochester Lourdes on Saturday at Parade Ice Garden for each team's last game of the regular season. Otherwise, not much to talk about in Class A this past week.
_______________________________________________________________________________
