Section 6AA Preseason Prediction
| Team | Regular Season Wins in '10-'11 | More or Less Wins in '11-'12 | Section Rank |
| Benilde-St. Margaret's | 21 | More | 1st |
| Minnetonka | 16 | More | 2nd |
| Wayzata | 18 | Less | 3rd |
| Hopkins | 11 | More | 4th |
| Eden Prairie | 18 | Less | 5th |
| Robbinsdale Armstrong | 12 | More | 6th |
| Minneapolis | 19 | More | 7th |
| Holy Family Catholic | 13 | More | 8th |
| Robbinsdale Cooper | 14 | Less | 9th |
1. Benilde-St. Margaret's
F Grant Besse (11) 48 pts (29g, 19a)D Jake Horton (12) 44 pts (20g, 24a)
F Christian Horn (12) 43 pts (12g, 31a)
- The Red Knights are FINALLY getting older and will FINALLY be a senior-dominated team. It feels like Besse, Horton, Horn, Labosky, and Moore have been on this team five years plus even though it has been two or three.
- All of the pieces of the puzzle are in place for state championship run. High scoring offense: CHECK (see above and add junior TJ Moore and senior Jake O'Borsky); Dominant defense: CHECK (senior Jake Horton, junior Pat Graham, Hill-Murray senior transfer Jonah Johnson, and senior Alec Anderson); Solid goaltender: CHECK (junior Justin Quale & senior Anders Jecha); Outstanding Coaching Staff: ABSOLUTELY (Head Coach Ken Pauly).
- Section 6AA has been the toughest Section to get out of in recent years. The Red Knights biggest obstacle to the Xcel Energy Center may only be one team this year instead of three and that team will be Minnetonka. The Skippers will be able to match the Red Knights with its scoring capabilities but the Red Knights should have the edge in defense and goaltending.
- These two teams met once last season. The Red Knights won 3-2 in St. Louis Park. These two meet again one time this season on Minnetonka's home ice on January 12th, 7:00PM.
2. Minnetonka
F Vinni Lettieri (11) - 37 pts (15g, 22a)F Max Coatta (11) - 34 pts (14g, 20a)
F Erik Baskin (12) - 32 pts (20g, 12a)
- The Skippers will be led by seniors Baskin, forward Sam Rothstein, and defenseman Michael Prochno but it will be juniors Lettieri, Coatta, Hopkins-transfer forward Connor Thie, and the Schuldt brothers, Jimmy and Joe, that will be the difference in the Skippers being a great team rather than just a good one.
- Starting goaltender Alex Glockner graduated. Senior Matt Behounek will most likely be called upon to be dominant in goal. Behounek had six wins, two losses, a 1.78 GAA, a .926 save percentage, and three shutouts in eight games last season. His biggest win last season came against Eagan where he saved 46 of 48 shots in the Skippers 4-2 win.
- It helps that the Skippers Head Coach, Brian Urick, is pretty darn good too.
3. Wayzata
F Sam Majka (12) - 17 pts (8g, 9a)D Matt Halverson (12) - 10 pts (3g, 7a)
F Kage Tiller (12) - 9 pts (4g, 5a)
- The Trojans lost many to graduation and their best player Mario Lucia left early to play for Penticton in the British Columbia Hockey League.
- Wayzata lost almost 80% of their goal production from last season.
- The Trojans will be made up mostly of senior leadership. Majka, Halverson, Tiller, and defenseman Miles Death will be the captains.
- Senior goaltender Aaron Dingmann was in goal for less than a third of the games for the Trojans last season but he did gain some valuable experience this past Fall when he faced much of the state's best in the Upper Midwest High School Elite League.
- I fully expect Wayzata to reload and be back playing competitive hockey.
4. Hopkins
F Tanner Holmquist (12) - 43 pts (14g, 29a)F Jalen Wahl (11) - 22 pts (10g, 12a)
F Jimmy Kortum (12) - 16 pts (5g, 11a)
- Even though senior forward Connor Thie decided to transfer to Minnetonka, Hopkins will still be a decent team.
- The Royals have some depth returning on defense and they have a very good scoring forward in Holmquist.
- Hopkins will have to figure out their goaltender situation. Three shared time in goal last season.
- First-year Head Coach Rolf Ulvin will take over the reigns for the Royals this season.
5. Eden Prairie
F Andrew Knudsen (11) - 11 pts (2g, 9a)D Luke Sudman (12) - 9 pts (0g, 9a)
F Brad Boldenow (12) - 5 pts (2g, 3a)
- The defending Class AA State Champion Eagles cupboard looks awfully bare for returning players. Eden Prairie returns just NINE out of the 132 regular season goals they scored last season. In addition, Head Coach Lee Smith will have to find a new starting goaltender. Still, at this point, I will not doubt Coach Smith's ability to adequately reload the Eagles with a new flock of quality players. After all, Eden Prairie not only took home the Class AA state title but they also claimed the 2010-2011 Bantam A State Championship.
- Look for incoming sophomore defenseman Luc Snuggerud, son of former Wisconsin Badger and St. Thomas Tommie, Bo Snuggerud, to be a particularly bright spot for the Eagles.
- I would not be that surprised if Eden Prairie surpassed Hopkins at number four but, for now, fifth looks right.
6. Robbinsdale Armstrong
G Michael Greenberg (12) - 12 wins, 2.74 GAA, .905 save percentage 6. Robbinsdale Armstrong
D Matt Ripka (12) - 23 pts (8g, 15a)
F Luke Seaburg (12) - 21 pts (11g, 10a)
- The Falcons were a decent team last season. A couple of seniors from the team ran into a little trouble in October and their status for the upcoming season has yet to be determined.
- I like Greenberg in goal and, if all eligible players are back, Armstrong will be pretty good again and should hover around or over the .500 mark.
7. Minneapolis
F Newton Fulton (12) - 43 pts (16g, 27a) in 19 gamesG TJ Mosley (11) - 14 wins, 2.15 GAA, .912 save percentage
G Patrick Kelliher (12) - 13 wins, 2.31 GAA, .873 save percentage
F Joe Guimont (11) - 27 pts (13g, 14a)
- The Novas return depth and talent at all positions.
- Minneapolis' schedule is lack luster and, because of that, 20 regular season wins are quite possible.
- The Novas may give Robbinsdale Armstrong a challenge for the sixth spot but a weaker schedule does not help them when its time to face one of the top three teams in the Section.
8. Holy Family Catholic
F Shane Gersich (9) - 39 pts (16g, 23a)F Garrett Riebling (11) - 36 pts (20g, 16a)
F Tim Fellner (12) - 27 pts (14g, 13a)
- The Fire are in their first year of Class AA hockey.
- Holy Family Catholic has a lot of players back from last season, a lot of young, talented players.
- It is a new game now. Even though the Fire will play a competitive Class A and AA schedule to start the season, they only have five games scheduled against Class AA teams. They will not play any Class AA teams at all in the second half of the regular season before heading into the buzz saw that is the Section 6AA playoffs.
9. Robbinsdale Cooper
D Sam Morgen (12) - 19 pts (6g, 13a)F Tom Monteiro (12) - 17 pts (13g, 4a)
F Joseph Cavalier (12) - 15 pts (5g, 10a)
