FollowThePuck.com Class AA Rankings | Week 12 - February 7th, 2011

1.	Hill-Murray 16-3-1 2/8 at North St. Paul 2/10 at South St. Paul 2/12 at Moorhead At the start of the season, on paper, Hill-Murray was the best, deepest returning team in the state plus they added Jake Guentzel. The Pioneers worst game of the season so far was the opener against Burnsville. They gave up six goals. Since then, in 19 games, they have given up no more than three goals in a game and they have allowed that just three times. No other team in the state has allowed three or less goals in a game for that many games in a row.
2.	Benilde-St. Margaret's 18-2-0 2/8 at Spring Lake Park 2/10 Shattuck-St. Mary's 2/12 Irondale The Red Knights have eight wins in a row. In those eight wins, they have scored no less than six goals in a game. The six-goal game was against the best Class AA goaltender in the state, Michael Bitzer of Moorhead. The six goals was tied for the most given up by Moorhead this season.
3.	Eden Prairie 15-5-1 2/10 Wayzata 2/12 at Minnetonka Eden Prairie cannot be slowed down by a defense but they can be shutout by a goaltender on its game. See example: Edina's Connor Girard. Eden Prairie has one of, if not the most difficult schedules in the state. Eden Prairie's losses/ties, shots in the losses: Edina 33, EP 32 (Edina won 3-2 OT) EP 36, Eagan 18 (Eagan won 4-2) EP 32, Duluth East 14 (Duluth East won 4-3 OT) EP 57, Holy Angels 21 (Holy Angels won 5-3) EP 36, Edina 20 (Edina won 3-0) EP 30, Wayzata 25 (They tied 3-3) Ironically, the one team that did slow them under 30 shots was #2AA Benilde-St. Margaret's but the Eagles were able to score eight goals.
4.	Minnetonka 15-4-1 2/8 at Bloomington Jefferson 2/10 Edina 2/12 Eden Prairie The Skippers are the biggest surprise of the 2010-2011 season so far. Nobody, NOBODY expected this team to be as good as they are after losing so much talent to graduation last season.
5.	Maple Grove 16-3-2 2/10 Elk River/Zimmerman Maple Grove has the most consistent combined defense/goaltending in the state.
6.	Wayzata 15-4-2 2/10 at Eden Prairie 2/12 Roseau Wayzata has good offense, great defense, but the goaltending has been an issue at times.
7.	Edina 12-6-2 2/10 at Minnetonka 2/12 at Hopkins Edina and Connor Girard took down Eden Prairie last week for the second time this season. But, they turn around two days later and lose to Wayzata for the third time this season. Will the real Edina please step up?
8.	Burnsville 15-3-3 2/10 at Lakeville North 2/12 Apple Valley I think the Blaze are the third most potent offensive team in the state behind Benilde-St. Margaret's and Eden Prairie. Burnsville has scored at least one goal in the first period in all but three games this season. The negative rap on this team is that they do not close-out games well against good teams. They have been known for fast starts and losing leads. Bodhi Engum is the best goaltender in Section 2AA. So, if the Blaze offense is good, their goaltender is solid, the biggest issue for this team seems to be their defense, a defense that allows 25.6 shots per game, a 2.57 GAA.
9.	Eagan 14-5-2 2/10 at Eastview 2/12 at Bloomington Kennedy Eagan's best win of the year was their 4-2 win over Eden Prairie, a game that they were outshot 36-18. Their worst loss was against Lakeville North, 2-1 in overtime. They outshot the Panthers 55-25. Wash out both of those games and Eagan's best win was against Apple Valley, 4-2, and their worst, 2-3 to Bloomington Jefferson.
10.	Apple Valley 14-6-1 2/10 at Bloomington Kennedy 2/12 at Burnsville With the fact that Apple Valley defeated Duluth East 6-3 a couple of weeks ago, they play a more difficult schedule, and they have AJ Michaelson, Hudson Fasching, Vince Pedrie, and Aaron Gretz, the Eagles are not a great top 10 team but they fit in.
11.	Duluth East 15-5-0 2/8 Cloquet/Esko/Carlton 2/12 Elk River/Zimmerman Duluth East has defeated just ONE top 10 team this season. They defeated Eden Prairie 4-3 in overtime at home. They were outshot 32-14. The losses to Maple Grove and Blaine in the last two weeks have not helped their cause. I think the Hounds are very vulnerable to be upset in the Section 7AA playoffs by Grand Rapids or Cloquet/Esko/Carlton. They have beaten both teams this season but the shots were basically even. JoJo Jeanetta was the difference.
12.	Grand Rapids 18-3-1 2/8 at Hibbing/Chisholm 2/11 International Falls The Thunderhawks are riding a seven-game winning streak. Big wins during that streak were against Cloquet/E/C, Bemidji, and Moorhead. Grand Rapids, like Duluth East, has only one win against a top 10 team, 2-1 over Edina, shots 33-27 Edina. The 2-1 loss to Duluth East and 5-1 loss to Hermantown keeps Grand Rapids out of the top 10.
13.	Academy of Holy Angels 14-6-0 2/8 Northfield 2/9 Shattuck-St. Mary's 2/10 at Chaska The Stars can score but there is not enough defense on this team to slow down better teams.
14.	Bemidji 19-2-1 2/8 Moorhead 2/11 Warroad Bemidji is 18-0-1 against every team outside of Section 7AA. They are 1-2-0 against Section 7AA teams, losses to Cloquet/Esko/Carlton and Grand Rapids. No wins against ANY top twenty team in Class AA. Still, the only factor that would stop the Lumberjacks from a trip to play at the X in March would be Moorhead's Michael Bitzer.
15.	Moorhead 14-6-1 2/8 at Bemidji 2/12 Hill-Murray Moorhead does not have the defense to slow down a good offensive team and they cannot rely on Michael Bitzer to shutout every team. The Spuds gave up 18 goals in their last four games. Prior to that, it took 13 games for opponents to score that many goals. Bitzer burnout? The schedule will not get easier as their next two games are at Bemidji and then at home, outdoors against #1AA Hill-Murray.
16.	Centennial 9-9-2 2/10 Andover 2/12 at Osseo The Cougars have been hard to figure out but they are one of the three best teams in Section 5AA and they are getting better as the season rolls on. Since the new year began, 2011, Centennial is 7-2-1. That includes a 5-0 complete domination of Blaine and a GOOD 1-1 tie against #5AA Maple Grove last Saturday. Centennial and Maple Grove played earlier in the season and Maple Grove pulled out a 4-3 overtime win in that one in spite of being outshot 29-21 by the Cougars.
17.	Blaine 14-4-3 2/8 at Andover 2/10 Anoka Blaine is another team that is hard to figure out. They have defeated Duluth East, tied Maple Grove and Minnetonka, but have lost to Champlin Park, Maple Grove, Minnetonka, and Centennial. They have a great shot at winning Section 5AA but they are not one of the top 15 teams in the state.
18.	Stillwater Area 13-4-2 2/8 East Ridge 2/10 at Mounds View 2/12 at Cloquet/Esko/Carlton The good news is that the Ponies are 8-0-1 in their last nine games. The bad news is that all nine opponents were from the Suburban East Conference. Stillwater has only defeated one top 15 team all season, Minnetonka 2-1. They were outshot 40-22 in that game. They do have good goaltending coming from Blake Cates and Gordy Defiel and this team does not allow a lot of goals as a whole. Still, the Ponies are not an intimidating team.
19.	White Bear Lake 14-5-1 2/10 at Cretin-Derham Hall 2/12 at Forest Lake The Bears are 8-1-1 since the beginning of the new year. Like Stillwater, White Bear Lake has only played teams from the Suburban East Conference in their last 10 games. They are 2-4-0 against non-conference teams.
20.	Cretin-Derham Hall 11-8-3 2/10 White Bear Lake 2/12 Roseville Area The Raiders have defeated teams like Edina, Stillwater Area twice, and Lakeville South but they have lost to non-top 20 teams Woodbury twice, Roseville, and East Ridge. They are 6-4-2 since January 1st. With Bob Kinne, Tony Barbato, and Colin O'Brien, I like the Raiders a little bit better than the others trying to tap into the top 20.
Not far behind	Bloomington Jefferson, Cloquet/Esko/Carlton, Lakeville South, Osseo, Roseville Area