Section 8AA Preseason Prediction
| Team | Regular Season Wins in '10-'11 | More or Less Wins in '11-'12 | Section Rank |
| Moorhead | 15 | More | 1st |
| Brainerd/Pillager/Pierz | 18 | More | 2nd |
| Bemidji | 21 | Less | 3rd |
| Roseau | 12 | Less | 4th |
| Northern Lakes | 13 | More | 5th |
| Buffalo | 3 | More | 6th |
| St. Cloud Tech | 15 | Less | 7th |
| Monticello/Annandale/Maple Lake | 12 | Less | 8th |
| River Lakes | 3 | More | 9th |
| Becker/Big Lake | 3 | More | 10th |
1. Moorhead
G Michael Bitzer (12) - 15 wins, 2.06 GAA, .930 save percentage F Bryant Christian (12) - 31 pts (12g, 19a)
F Logan Ness (12) - 20 pts (12g, 8a)
- The Spuds will be led by 10+ returning seniors.
- Christian, Ness, and junior Tony Uglem should give this team some scoring punch.
- Senior forward Eric Brenk left early for the USHL and won't be back this season.
- Senior Michael Bitzer puts this team on top of Section 8AA.
2. Brainerd/Pillager/Pierz
F Mitch McLain (12) - 61 pts (33g, 28a)F Matthew Pohlkamp (12) - 58 pts (30g, 28a)
F Aaron Rich (12) - 40 pts (14g, 26a)
- The Warriors will bring back 36 more goals from last season than Moorhead.
- After McLain, Pohlkamp, and Rich, the scoring depth plummets. The top three scored 77 regular season goals in 2010-2011. The remaining players returning this season only scored 9 total last season.
- The defense has seniors Gaven Motschenbacher and Austen Anderson returning.
- Stearns was good last season with 15 wins, a 3.26 GAA, and a .876 save percentage.
- The Warriors scored 5.44 goals per game during the regular season, best by far in the Section. But, they gave up 3.25 goals per game, more than a goal more than Bemidji and Moorhead, the top teams in the Section. Brainerd/Pillager/Pierz will to better on defense and in goal.
3. Bemidji
F Matt Serratore (11) - 32 pts (15g, 17a)D Tyler Tatro (12) - 29 pts (5g, 24a)
F John Forseth (12) - 29 pts (10g, 19a)
- The Lumberjacks, who won 21 regular season games, scored 115 goals last season. The players that scored 60 of those goals have graduated. They return 48% of their goal production.
- The defense will be decent again with four defenders returning, senior Tyler Tatro, senior Brady Devescovi, Dillon Eichstadt, and Kole Spencer. Bemidji only gave up 1.68 goals on average in the regular season, best in the Section.
- Goaltender Miah Graves graduated. He was a big contributor to the Lumberjacks success last season. Senior Ben Schram is the likely successor. He won four games last season with 1.50 GAA and a .906 save percentage.
- Bemidji will still be a very good team. It will be interesting to see if they can match last year's numbers, success.
4. Roseau
D Justin Anderson (12) - 29 pts (5g, 24a)D Tanner Okeson (11) - 18 pts (4g, 14a)
G Jared Strand (12) - 11 wins, 2.27 GAA, .879 save percentage
- The Rams best returning goal scorer, junior Chase Broten, netted only seven goals last season.
- With Josh Erickson having left early for the USHL, Roseau returns just 31 of 91 goals from last season.
- Senior Jared Strand will be called upon to lead the goaltending efforts again. He had 11 wins, a 2.27 GAA, and a .879 save percentage.
- Defensively last season, the team gave up 3.20 goals per game, unusually high for Roseau. They return just two defenders that had full-season experience last year.
- The team is made up mostly of juniors. Two incoming sophomores, Alex Strand and Zach Yon, could have an impact on the team right away and could help guide the Rams back up to the top.
5. Northern Lakes
F Connor Chambers (11) - 47 pts (26g, 21a)G Joey Bergquist (12) - 11 wins, 2.83 GAA, .923 save percentage
D Gaven Bickford (11) - 15 pts (8g, 7a)
- After two years in Section 6A, the Lightning are back to the Class AA level.
- This team returns six juniors and two seniors.
- Junior Connor Chambers could see a 30-goal season.
- There is not a lot of depth to this team yet if Chambers and goaltender Joey Bergquist can find a little support, they will be good enough to sustain a fifth-place spot in the Section.
6. Buffalo
F Aaron Rouse (11) - 18 pts (8g, 8a)D Sam Klein (12) - 17 pts (4g, 13a)
D Jack Becker (12) - 12 pts (3g, 9a)
- Coach Mike MacMillan resigned and Jason Fairman takes over.
- The Bison will be better than last year's three-win season.
7. St. Cloud Tech
F David Kenney (12) - 17 pts (11g, 6a)D Jack Peterson (11) - 12 pts (5g, 7a)
F Tyler Gromberg (12) - 11 pts (6g, 5a)
- The Tigers lost a devastating 75% of their scoring production and goaltender Al Patten graduated. Seven total players return from last year's team.
8. Monticello/Annandale/Maple Lake
D Dylan Nelson (12) - 23 pts (9g, 14a)G Aaron Boros (12) - 8 wins, 2.73 GAA, .899 save percentage
F Andrej Stefancik (11) - 19 pts (8g, 11a)
- The Moose best player, Gage Torrel, left a year early to play for Alexandria of the NAHL. That means that the Moose will only return 37 goals, 45% of last year's goal production.
9. River Lakes
F Mitch Ejnik (12) - 25 pts (12g, 13a)F Tanner Anderson (12) - 18 pts (11g, 7a)
F Stefan Tomovic (11) - 14 pts (6g, 8a)
- The Stars need to improve at all levels after winning just three games last season.
10. Becker/Big Lake
F Adam Hayes (12) - 22 pts (14g, 8a)F Ben Cencer (11) - 18 pts (9g, 9a)
D Jason Tonneslan (10) - 14 pts (6g, 8a)
- The Eagles scored just 2.08 goals per game and gave up 6.08 goals per game last season. They have most of their players back and should be better this season.
