Section 4AA Preseason Prediction
| Team | Regular Season Wins in '10-'11 | More or Less Wins in '11-'12 | Section Rank |
| Hill-Murray | 21 | Less | 1st |
| Roseville Area | 12 | More | 2nd |
| North St. Paul | 15 | More | 3rd |
| White Bear Lake Area | 18 | Less | 4th |
| St. Paul Johnson | 11 | More | 5th |
| Mounds View | 8 | More | 6th |
| Stillwater Area | 16 | Less | 7th |
| Tartan | 12 | Less | 8th |
| St. Paul Como Park | 5 | More | 9th |
I will preface this Section review by saying that this was a very difficult Section to analyze. The perennial good teams have been devastated by graduation and early departure. This Section will most likely see a lot of parity and I do not see any one team separating themselves in dominance from #1 Hill-Murray to #8 Tartan. The door is open for any team to win the Section title. This is what I am going with to start the season.
1. Hill-Murray
F Jake Guentzel (11) - 43 pts (15g, 28a)
F Zach LaValle (11) - 38 pts (18g, 20a)
D Blake Heinrich (11) - 15 pts (2g, 13a)
- The Pioneers lost three players to the USNTDP (Luke Voltin) and OHL (Travis Wood), two to transfers (Andrew Herlofsky (Anoka) and Jonah Johnson (Benilde-SM), and the rest to graduation including their goaltender, Tim Shaughnessy.
- I just found that Andy Faust is returning to play for the Pioneers after having played for NAHL Austin the last two months. Faust and LaValle will be the captains on the team.
- Hill-Murray will return just six skaters, including the three above and two senior Sampairs, Charlie and Conrad. Senior John Dugas will most likely be the starter in goal.
- Hill-Murray started their hockey program in 1961. They have only had three losing seasons, 1961 (4-13-1) under Ward Schuster, 1966 (9-13-0) under John Boland, and 2001 (12-14-1) under Lechner. Lechner has been the Pioneers' Head Coach since 1997-1998. Out of 14 seasons, he has lost 10 or more games in a season only twice. As depleted as this team is coming out of last season, I do not see this team losing 10 or more this season.
- I just found that Andy Faust is returning to play for the Pioneers after having played for NAHL Austin the last two months. Faust and LaValle will be the captains on the team.
- Hill-Murray will return just six skaters, including the three above and two senior Sampairs, Charlie and Conrad. Senior John Dugas will most likely be the starter in goal.
- Hill-Murray started their hockey program in 1961. They have only had three losing seasons, 1961 (4-13-1) under Ward Schuster, 1966 (9-13-0) under John Boland, and 2001 (12-14-1) under Lechner. Lechner has been the Pioneers' Head Coach since 1997-1998. Out of 14 seasons, he has lost 10 or more games in a season only twice. As depleted as this team is coming out of last season, I do not see this team losing 10 or more this season.
2. Roseville Area
F Tom Bartel (12) - 19 pts (4g, 15a)
F Alex Hultman (12) - 17 pts (9g, 8a)
F Michael Hughes (12) - 12 pts (9g, 3a)
- In a season that should bring parity, a senior-led team (9) with a little more depth should give the Raiders an edge.
- Roseville Area won 12 regular season games last season and they should improve that total by two or three if they can find a comparable goaltender to Nick Lehr. Lehr, who has graduated, led the state in save percentage in Class AA last season.
- Roseville Area won 12 regular season games last season and they should improve that total by two or three if they can find a comparable goaltender to Nick Lehr. Lehr, who has graduated, led the state in save percentage in Class AA last season.
3. North St. Paul
F George Splichal (12) - 30 pts (12g, 18a)
F Justin Oliver (10) - 24 pts (12g, 12a)
F Tyler Oliver (10) - 20 pts (7g, 13a)
- If speedy d-man Zach McCarver would not have left early for the USHL, the Polars could have been a viable threat to win the Section. The Oliver tandem will be one to watch after their successful freshman season. Add forward Mark Meister (10g, 6a) to the scoring mix and the Polars will have decent scoring punch.
- The Polars should be above average in goal with both junior Eric Manteuffel and Gabriel Splichal returning and sharing time like last season.
- The bad news is that the Polars will need to fill some gaping holes in defense with only one skater returning, senior Jake Larson.
- The Polars should be above average in goal with both junior Eric Manteuffel and Gabriel Splichal returning and sharing time like last season.
- The bad news is that the Polars will need to fill some gaping holes in defense with only one skater returning, senior Jake Larson.
4. White Bear Lake Area
G Jared Schletty (12) - 13 wins, 1.87 GAA, .910 save percentage
F Mitch Morrisette (12) - 16 pts (5g, 11a)
D RJ Majkozak (12) - 15 pts (0g, 15a)
- The Bears have eight skaters returning of which three are defensemen.
- Jared Schletty is back in goal.
- White Bear Lake's best returning goal scorer will be senior Mike Abrahamson at six.
- The Bears gave up a stingy two goals per game during the regular season and that helped guide them to an upset of Hill-Murray in the Section 4AA title game and sixth place finish in the Class AA state tournament.
- It was also helpful that the Bears offense averaged 4.20 goals per game during the regular season. That average will most likely be way down this season.
- I am putting White Bear Lake in the fourth spot because they will return strong goaltending/defense and they have the 2010-2011 Coach of the Year, Tim Sager.
- Jared Schletty is back in goal.
- White Bear Lake's best returning goal scorer will be senior Mike Abrahamson at six.
- The Bears gave up a stingy two goals per game during the regular season and that helped guide them to an upset of Hill-Murray in the Section 4AA title game and sixth place finish in the Class AA state tournament.
- It was also helpful that the Bears offense averaged 4.20 goals per game during the regular season. That average will most likely be way down this season.
- I am putting White Bear Lake in the fourth spot because they will return strong goaltending/defense and they have the 2010-2011 Coach of the Year, Tim Sager.
5. St. Paul Johnson
F Jay Dickman (12) - 43 pts (28g, 15a)
F Bryan Standly (12) - 30 pts (15g, 15a)
D Brandon Busse (12) - 23 pts (4g, 19a)
- The Governors are loaded with returning seniors (12) and have a top prospect in 6'6" Jay Dickman.
- The biggest concerns here are that St. Paul Johnson plays mostly a Class A schedule and they do not have a returning goaltender.
- They do have six games scheduled against AA opponents this season, one against Section foe North St. Paul. Keep an eye on that game on December 22nd and watch how the Governors do in the South St. Paul Premier Tournament over the holidays.
- The biggest concerns here are that St. Paul Johnson plays mostly a Class A schedule and they do not have a returning goaltender.
- They do have six games scheduled against AA opponents this season, one against Section foe North St. Paul. Keep an eye on that game on December 22nd and watch how the Governors do in the South St. Paul Premier Tournament over the holidays.
6. Mounds View
F Morgan Puncochar (12) - 21 pts (6g, 15a)
F Ryan Parise (12) - 17 pts (8g, 9a)
D Phil Boje (12) -15 pts (11g, 4a)
- The Mustangs will bring back some depth but no goaltender. They should see 10+ wins.
7. Stillwater Area
G Blake Cates (12) - 11 wins, 1.91 GAA, .932 save percentage
F Nick Anderson (11) - 8 pts (3g, 5a)
F Connor Danford (12) - 6 pts (2g, 4a)
- If Stillwater wins this Section, Phil Housley deserves Coach of the Year and Blake Cates will be the Goaltender of the Year. The Ponies are returning SEVEN goals from last season, four skaters, NO defensemen.
8. Tartan
F Jake Jackson (11) 25 pts (15g, 10a)
F Eric Olheiser (11) 17 pts (8g, 9a)
D Austin Espelien (12) 17 pts (2g, 15a)
- The Titans are returning four young, experienced defensemen and two senior goaltenders but each will need to improve on last year's numbers. Jake Jackson should see a 20+ goal season.
9. St. Paul Como Park
D Chris Erickson (12) 17 pts (8g, 9a)
F Sawyer Scanlan (11) 16 pts (12g, 4a)
F Cooper Hageman (12) 13 pts (5g, 8a)
