| 1 | Minnetonka | 18-0-0 | Large Wins: Blaine Duluth East Eden Prairie Edina twice Holy Angels Hopkins Moorhead Woodbury St. Thomas Academy twice |
Without Max Gardiner, the Skippers are difficult to hang with. With Max Gardiner, the Skippers are unstoppable. Max Gardiner was back in the line up against Edina on Saturday. It was 7-1 after the 2nd period and, with running time, ended up 7-1.
The Skippers face Section 6AA and Classic Lake rival Wayzata on Saturday this week. The game SHOULD BE close. The Skippers have had only three one-goal games. They were against Blaine, 4-3, Edina 3-2, and Eden Prairie 1-0.
Wayzata's two losses were only by one goal each. This game against #1 and #2 will be on Wayzata's home ice. Wayzata has an excellent defense, just ask Edina. The Trojans have only given up more than three goals in a game once in their first 16 games. I expect another low scoring game for Wayzata and I foresee a 3-2 or 2-1 outcome. The winner.... ???
This week: 1/28: Robbinsdale Armstrong | 1/30: at #2 Wayzata
| 2 | Wayzata | 13-2-1 | Large Wins: Apple Valley Burnsville Centennial Duluth East Edina twice Moorhead twice Woodbury |
The Trojans exterminated the Hornets offense last Thursday with a 1-0 victory. Alex Clayton face just 16 shots.
This week: 1/26: Champlin Park | 1/30: Minnetonka
| 3 | Eden Prairie | 13-2-0 | Large Wins: Apple Valley Bloomington Jefferson Burnsville Eagan Elk River/Zim Hermantown Lakeville South |
The defending Class AA champs have won seven in a row. They proved that they were much better than then #10 Bloomington Jefferson (5-3) last Tuesday, had no problem with Bloomington Kennedy on Thursday (11-0), and then finished the week off with a nice win outside up in Hermantown against Hermantown (4-3) during Hockey Day Minnesota.
This week: 1/26: at Eagan | 1/28: Chaska/Chan. | 1/30: Lakeville North
| 4 | Edina | 12-4-1 | Large Wins: Benilde-SM Blaine twice Burnsville Duluth East Eden Prairie Elk River/Zim Maple Grove Woodbury |
I think the disappointing shutout loss, 1-0, to Wayzata on Thursday lingered into Saturday's thumping at the hands of #1 Minnetonka. They will need to quickly get over it as they will face Cretin-Derham Hall and Hopkins this week, two teams they cannot take for granted.
This week: 1/26: Cretin-Derham Hall | 1/28: Hopkins
| 5 | Hill-Murray | 15-1-1 | Large Wins: Academy of Holy Angels Burnsville Duluth East Mahtomedi St. Thomas Academy Tartan White Bear Lake twice |
I thought Hill-Murray would have had an easier time with the Academy of Holy Angels as the Stars have proven that defense is not the strongest part of their team. The Pioneers got by the Stars with a 3-2 overtime thriller. Tommy Burke was able to stop 28 Pioneer shots.
I think the tribute that FSN did on Duke Pieper during Hockey Day Minnesota was terrific. Here's to wishing the very best for Duke and the Pieper family!
This week: 1/28: South St. Paul | 1/3o: Simley
| 6 | Blaine | 11-3-3 | Large Wins: Andover Champlin Park Elk River/Zim Hill-Murray Osseo Roseau St. Thomas Academy |
Blaine had a nice 4-2 win over then #18 Andover last Thursday and then junior Nick Bjugstad popped in five Bengal goals against Coon Rapids in their 7-2 win on Saturday.
Blaine will face Osseo at Fogerty on Thursday. Blaine defeated the Orioles 3-2 early in the season. Osseo outshot the Bengals 32-25, 14-5 in a scoreless third period.
This week: 1/28: Osseo | 1/30: at Anoka
| 7 | Roseau | 13-2-1 | Large Wins: Moorhead Thief River Falls |
Roseau's only scheduled game last week against Bemidji was postponed due to bad weather.
Roseau has a rematch with Moorhead this week on Tuesday in Roseau. Roseau won round one in Moorhead, 4-1, on December 15th.
This week: 1/26: Moorhead
| 8 | Eagan | 13-2-1 | Large Wins: Apple Valley Bloomington Jefferson Lakeville South twice |
Eagan rebounded nicely with two victories last week after losing just their 2nd game of the year to Eden Prairie, 7-1, the week before. The Wildcats defeated Lakeville South (3-0) and Chaska/Chanhassen (6-4).
Eagan has a shot to revenge their loss to Eden Prairie on Tuesday as the face the Eagles on Eagan's home ice. They will also see Lakeville North on Thursday and Burnsville on Saturday. Against Lakeville North in early December, Eagan survived a 1-0 overtime victory. Right after that, Burnsville and Eagan tied 0-0. There have only been two 0-0 ties this year in the state.
This week: 1/26: Eden Prairie | 1/28: at Lakeville North | 1/30: at Burnsville
| 9 | Bloomington Jefferson | 12-3-2 | Large Wins: Apple Valley Centennial Lakeville South Maple Grove Moorhead Wayzata |
Bloomington Jefferson started out last week with a loss to then #4 Eden Prairie (3-5) but then recovered with two big wins over Chaska/Chanhassen (7-1) and crosstown rival Bloomington Kennedy (14-1).
I still believe that the Jaguars have a solid team and have a state tournament caliber team. While they slaughter the less impressive teams, they need to start proving that they can beat the elite. They have just eight games left on their schedule and just one against a Section 2AA team, Burnsville.
This week: 1/28: Lakeville South | 1/30: at Apple Valley
| 10 | Centennial | 9-5-2 | Large Wins: Andover Benilde-St. Margaret's Champlin Park Osseo Woodbury |
In their only game of the week, Centennial had an excellent victory over Osseo last week, 6-4. The Cougars peppered Osseo goaltender Jared Mol with 41 shots, the most shots given up by Osseo this year by far.
This week: 1/28: Coon Rapids | 1/30: Moorhead
| 11 | Osseo | 10-4-3 | Large Wins: Andover Champlin Park Maple Grove |
Osseo had a bad week last week. They took losses to Centennial (4-6) and Andover (1-2) and then tied Benilde-St. Margaret's (3-3).
Tim and Patrick Bonner have been shutout from scoring a goal in only three games this season, twice against Andover and once against Wayzata.
The Orioles have another heavy week coming up with three away games on the schedule. They will face #6 Blaine on Thursday.
This week: 1/26: at North Metro | 1/28: at #6 Blaine | 1/30: at Champlin Park
| 12 | Duluth East | 10-5-2 | Large Wins: Academy of Holy Angels Centennial Duluth Denfeld Maple Grove |
Duluth East traveled to Elk River/Zimmerman last Tuesday to face the Elks in a rematch of the Section 7AA championship game last year. Duluth East won that meeting last March 5th at the DECC, 4-1. Last Tuesday, Elk River/Zimmerman was able to revenge the loss with a 3-2 victory on home ice. However, Duluth East outshot the Elks 33-15.
The Greyhounds also defeated Grand Rapids (5-4) in a tough battle in Grand Rapids and then defeated their crosstown rivals, Class A Duluth Denfeld, 3-1.
This week should give everyone a better glimpse into the Section 7AA playoff future. The Greyhounds will face Forest Lake (10-3-2) on Tuesday and then Andover (12-4-1) on Friday. At this point, Forest Lake looks like the 4th seed in Section 7AA and Andover is the 3rd seed.
This week: 1/26: at Forest Lake | 1/29: Andover
| 13 | Benilde-St. Margaret's | 11-3-2 | Large Wins: Maple Grove Rochester Century Stillwater Area Wayzata |
Last week, Benilde-St. Margaret's tied (#8 at the time) Osseo (3-3) and then defeated two Class A, North Surburban foes Totino-Grace (8-3) and St. Francis (6-2).
As was stated before, Benilde-St. Margaret's is a very nice, young, and dangerous team but they struggle on defense at times and struggle to score against good defensive teams. They will face another good defensive team in Moorhead on Friday at the St. Louis Park Rec Center.
This week: 1/26: at Robbinsdale Cooper | 1/29: Moorhead | 1/30: at Chisago Lakes
| 14 | Maple Grove | 9-5-3 | Large Wins: Centennial Elk River/Zimmerman |
Maple Grove shutout two teams last week, Coon Rapids (5-0) and Anoka (2-0).
The lack of goal production is of concern if they are looking to compete with Blaine, Osseo, Centennial in Section 5AA.
The Crimson have two good Northwest Suburban games this week against Champlin Park and at Elk River/Zimmerman.
This week: 1/28: Champlin Park | 1/30: at Elk River/Zimmerman
| 15 | Elk River/Zimmerman | 10-5-2 | Large Wins: Andover Centennial Champlin Park Duluth East Woodbury |
Revenge was sweet for Elk River/Zimmerman as the Elks defeated Duluth East 3-2 in a rematch of last year's Section 7AA championship game. They also had wins against Champlin Park (3-2) and then North Metro (6-1).
This week: 1/28: Anoka | 1/30: Maple Grove
| 16 | Burnsville | 8-6-3 | Large Wins: Apple Valley Cretin-Derham Hall Lakeville South |
I do not know what I was thinking last week leaving Burnsville completely out, not even an honorable mention!
Burnsville has six losses but they are not that far removed from the top teams. Since losing 5-2 to Hill-Murray and 4-0 to Edina at the beginning of the season, the Blaze have gone 8-4-3 and their four losses were only by a total of five goals to Lakeville South, Eden Prairie, Mahtomedi, and Wayzata. They also tied three games to 8th-ranked Eagan, 9th-ranked Bloomington Jefferson, and Chaska/Chanhassen.
This week, they can prove that they belong even higher in the rankings when they face Apple Valley and Eagan, each for the second time this season.
This week: 1/28: at Apple Valley | 1/30: Eagan
| 17 | Academy of Holy Angels | 9-6-1 | Large Wins: Elk River/Zimmerman Mount St. Charles (RI) |
Academy of Holy Angels could have used a boost with a win over Hill-Murray but unfortunately the Stars lost a nail-biter to the Pioneers, 3-2 in overtime. They did pick up two victories though last week over two Class A Missota Conference teams, Northfield (12-1) and Hutchinson (9-0).
This week, they face two more Missota teams.
This week: 1/26: at Red Wing | 1/28: Farmington
| 18 | Andover | 12-4-1 | Large Wins: Champlin Park Duluth Denfeld Forest Lake Hermantown Osseo |
Andover has four losses and one tie and they are all at the hands to Northwest Suburban opponents. Andover is 5-0-0 against non-Northwest Suburban opponents.
This week, Andover will face two Section 7AA, non-Northwest Suburban opponents. They will travel to the north this next weekend to face Section 7AA favorite Duluth East (10-5-2) at Heritage Arena on Friday night and then to Cloquet/Esko/Carlton (6-10-2) on Saturday afternoon. After that, it will be back to a tough Northwest Suburban schedule to finish out the regular season.
This week: 1/29: at Duluth East | 1/30: at Cloquet/Esko/Carlton
| 19 | Apple Valley | 12-5-0 | Large Wins: Grand Forks Red River Grand Forks Central Lakeville South |
Apple Valley swept all three games last week with wins over Park (Cottage Grove) (6-1), Rosemount (7-1), and Lakeville North (5-3).
The Eagles next three games will be against opponents higher in the rankings than them. This week, they'll seek to avenge early season losses to Burnsville (1-3) and Bloomington Jefferson (3-10).
This week: 1/28: Burnsville | 1/30: Bloomington Jefferson
| 20 | Brainerd/P/P | 13-2-0 | Large Wins: Alexandria Bemidji Fargo South (ND) Rochester Century Sartell-St. Stephen St. Cloud Tech |
Brainerd/Pillager/Pierz continues to win games. The Warriors won their eighth and ninth games of the season with wins over Class A Central Lakes opponents, Sartell-St. Stephen (3-0) and St. Cloud Apollo (7-1).
The Warriors have only played five games against Class AA opponents and they are 4-1-0 against those teams. They will face five more Class AA opponents in their last nine regular season games.
This week: 1/26: St. Cloud Tech | 1/28: Willmar
