CLASS AA | CLASS A
| 1. | St. Thomas Academy 8-3-0 1/18 at Shattuck-St. Mary's 1/20 at North St. Paul 1/22 Breck School FTP Logic: I think the Cadets best games are still ahead. They have won four in a row against South St. Paul, Mahtomedi, Tartan, and Delbarton School (NJ). The Cadets are 3-0-0 against Class A teams (Duluth Marshall 5-1, South St. Paul 4-2, and Mahtomedi 6-1). Big games coming up against Shattuck-St. Mary's, the two-time defending Class A champions, Breck School, and Hill-Murray next week. |
| 2. | Hermantown 13-0-1 1/18 Superior (WI) 1/20 Ashland (WI) 1/22 at Bemidji FTP Logic: The Hawks had a huge win against highly-ranked in Class AA Grand Rapids but I don't think they are ready to take the number one spot away from St. Thomas Academy yet. Neither team has lost to a Class A school yet this season but Hermantown does have a tie against Thief River Falls. The Hawks are 10-0-1 overall against Class A teams. |
| 3. | Breck School 8-4-0 1/17 Delbarton School (NJ) 1/18 St. Paul Como Park 1/22 at St. Thomas Academy FTP Logic: The Mustangs started out dominate this season winning there first five games by a combined score of 33-3. Since then, they have went 3-4-0 (including the loss today to Delbarton) but all against AA schools and a prep school from New Jersey. The Mustangs are also undefeated against Class A schools, 7-0-0, and have outscored their A opponents 58-7. Both Breck School and Hermantown defeated St. Cloud Cathedral by the same score, 6-4. Hermantown had 46 shots against Cathedral, Breck School 36. Cathedral had 26 shots on Hermantown, 23 shots on Breck. The Mustangs will face #1A St. Thomas Academy on Saturday at 5:00 PM at St. Thomas Ice Arena. |
| 4. | Blake School 11-2-2 1/18 at Providence Academy 1/22 at St. Paul Como Park FTP Logic: The Bears have been overshadowed by Breck School the last three years. I think Blake School has the team, at least the defense, to give the Mustangs a real challenge for the 2A title. The Bears has shutout three of their last four opponents. They lost to #6AA Minnetonka last week, 5-3, but outshot the Skippers 30-27 in that game. They are 8-0-0 against Class A opponents including wins over Delano/Rockford (3-2), Thief River Falls (5-1), Mahtomedi (4-3), and Totino-Grace (5-3). #2A Hermantown tied Thief River Falls 2-2 in comparison. Blake School will face a formidable Providence Academy team on Tuesday night. The Lions are 11-3-0 this season, winners of their last four games. |
| 5. | Totino-Grace 11-1-0 1/19 Chisago Lake Area 1/22 Benilde-St. Margaret's FTP Logic: The Eagles had a nice 4-1 win over Duluth Marshall on Saturday. Their only loss this season has been to #4A Blake School, 5-3. They have give up more than three goals only once this season and that was against Blake School. Totino-Grace has not faced many teams with winning records so far this season, three out of their 12 opponents. However, their next five of six opponents have very good records including Chisago Lakes (11-2-0), #4AA Benilde-St. Margaret's (11-2-0), #3A Breck School (8-4-0), #1AA Edina (9-2-2), and #1A St. Thomas Academy (8-3-0). |
| 6. | Little Falls 12-1-2 1/18 Willmar FTP Logic: The Flyers had a great win against Brainerd/Pillager/Pierz, 3-2, but a not-so-great win, but a win, against River Lakes, 3-2 in overtime. I'm throwing Little Falls up to the sixth spot because they did defeat the Hibbing/Chisholm at the start of the season. Hibbing/Chisholm defeated Virginia/MIB 4-3 last week. Virginia/MIB is the only team that has defeated Little Falls so far this season. They also have a tie with Fergus Falls. The Flyers have won nine in a row. They have not allowed more than two goals in a game in those nine wins. They only allowed one goal against St. Cloud Tech and two against Brainerd/P/P. This team is still young, still improving. Their best goaltender, Michael Stumpf, is a sophomore. Their top five scorers has just one senior, Adam Daugherty. Three are sophomores and one, named Hanowski, is a junior. |
| 7. | Hibbing/Chisholm 12-4-1 1/18 at Duluth Central 1/21 at Grand Rapids FTP Logic: The Bluejackets are 10-1-1 against Class A opponents. Their only loss was to Little Falls at the beginning of the season, 6-1. Their tie was against Duluth Marshall, 3-3, on December 16th. Hibbing/Chisholm lost to Cloquet/Esko/Carlton, 4-3, last week but was able to bounce back and defeat 7A, Iron Range rival Virginia/MIB, 4-3. The leaders: Adam Johnson, Nick DeCenzo, Joe Anderson, and Nathan Tromp |
| 8. | South St. Paul 9-4-0 1/18 at Prior Lake 1/20 Mahtomedi 1/22 at Simley FTP Logic: The Packers bounced back nicely last week by winning both games after having lost three in a row prior. Still, the Packers have only played three games against Class A teams. They are 2-1-0 against those teams with the only loss against #1A St. Thomas Academy. Look for South St. Paul to go on a winning streak now until they face St. Thomas Academy again on February 5th. |
| 9. | Warroad 11-4-0 1/20 Thief River Falls 1/22 at Moorhead FTP Logic: After starting the season at 3-4-0, the Warriors have won eight straight games including wins over Thief River Falls, St. Cloud Tech, Osseo, St. Cloud Cathedral, and Roseau. Warroad is definitely back and, now, may be underrated. Goaltender Andy Foster and the Warriors defense has been a big reason for Warroad's surge back to their winning tradition. The Warriors goals against average was 1.38 during their eight game winning streak. The Warriors do struggle to score at times. They have scored three or less goals in eight of their 15 games played. |
| 10. | Virginia/MIB 12-5-0 1/18 Two Harbors 1/20 International Falls FTP Logic: I think I've lost faith in my vision of where I believe these Blue Devils should be at. At the start of the season, I really thought Virginia/MIB would be where Hermantown is now. After their loss to Hibbing/Chisholm last Saturday, the Blue Devils have now lost three games against Class A teams this season (Hermantown, Mahtomedi, and Hibbing/Chisholm). Still, this team has talent led by Garrett Hendrickson, a Class A top 10 scorer. They SHOULD still be the team to beat in the end in Section 7A. |
| Honorable mention: Duluth Marshall, Rochester Lourdes, Delano/Rockford, Providence Academy, Thief River Falls, Proctor, Chisago Lakes Area, St. Cloud Cathedral, New Ulm, Mankato West, Rogers |
