Section 5AA Preseason Prediction
| Team | Regular Season Wins in '10-'11 | More or Less Wins in '11-'12 | Section Rank |
| Maple Grove | 20 | Less | 1st |
| Blaine | 17 | More | 2nd |
| Centennial | 12 | More | 3rd |
| Anoka | 10 | More | 4th |
| Osseo | 16 | Less | 5th |
| Champlin Park | 13 | Less | 6th |
| Coon Rapids | 7 | More | 7th |
| North Metro | 4 | More | 8th |
| Irondale | 3 | More | 9th |
1. Maple Grove
F Dylan Steman (12) - 44 pts (15g, 29a)F Tony Paulson (12) - 30 pts (11g, 19a)
F Shane Wolden (12) - 28 pts (11g, 17a)
- The Crimson had an excellent regular season in 2010-2011 but fell to the curse of the State Fair Coliseum and the Blaine Bengals in the Section 5AA title game losing 4-3 in overtime.
- Maple Grove will return four players that were in double-figures in scoring goals last season. Senior Spencer Bell (13g) is the fourth.
- The Crimson is filled with seniors and one talented junior defenseman, Jordan Gross.
- Senior Kyle Koop looks like he will replace last season's outstanding goaltender Ryan Coyne. I think Koop, who stood 6'2" last season, will follow Coyne well.
- The Crimson will be the team to beat in the Section again and will be a top five team in the state in Class AA to start the season.
2. Blaine
F Dylan Lambert (12) - 38 pts (11g, 27a)G Nick Malvin (12) - 14 wins, 1.86 GAA, .931 save percentage
F Jesse Norling (11) - 25 pts (11g, 14a)
- The Bengals will return a strong team that made it to the state tournament last season. They lost two close one-goal games at the state tourney and did not place.
- Blaine is not quite as deep as Maple Grove this year nor do they quite have the same goal production back for this year.
- The Bengals are returning about 50% of the goals they scored last season.
- Blaine is still a little young returning three starting sophomores and three starting freshmen.
- The Bengals do have an Upper Midwest High School Elite League goaltender in Nick Malvin, something Maple Grove does not. Malvin could be the difference if Blaine and Maple Grove meet up again in a Section 5AA championship rematch.
3. Centennial
F Nick Larsen (12) - 28 pts (11g, 17a)F Adam Lovick (12) - 26 pts (4g, 22a)
D Mitch Ledin (12) - 12 pts (2g, 10a)
- The Cougars have a lot of familiar last names on their team including Lovick, Hess, Gorowsky, Lovick, and Pitlick. That should be enough to scare any high school team in Minnesota.
- Centennial is just as deep as Maple Grove and Blaine this season and the defense should be solid with Ledin, Hess, Zebro, and Ostegren back.
- The Cougars will need to find more scoring. They return only 32 goals from last year's team.
- Senior forward Cal Miska has transferred over from North Branch and has brought over his 15 goals and 14 assists from last season.
- Senior goaltender Parker Olsen will most likely take over in goal but he lacks significant experience. He was able to pick up four wins last season with a 1.80 GAA, a .921 save percentage, and he claimed two shutouts.
- While Maple Grove and Blaine focus on each other, Centennial could jump up and surprise both.
4. Anoka
F Cale Grinde (12) - 24 pts (11g, 13a)F Kyle Thorpe (12) - 15 pts (7g, 8a)
F Anders Skaalerud (12) - 15 (6g, 9a)
- The Tornadoes may have something to say in Section 5AA.
- Anoka will have good scoring up front and they should fine more scoring depth this year.
- The Tornadoes will have a decent defense coming back. Rumor has it that senior defenseman Andrew Herlofsky has apparently transferred over from Hill-Murray to help out.
- Anoka will have a new goaltender this year.
- Keep an eye on the Tornadoes.
5. Osseo
F Tyler Dahlberg (12) - 28 pts (13g, 15a)
D Aaron Dolby (12) - 18 pts (4g, 14a)
D Corbin Cole (12) - 9 pts (4g, 5a)
- The Orioles lost 65% of their goal production due to graduation.
- A stellar goaltender Jared Mol graduated.
- Osseo should be pretty solid on defense with four d-men returning, Dolby, Cole, Sims, and Christofferson.
- The Orioles will need to replenish their scoring if they have any hope to be competitive within the Section.
6. Champlin Park
G Tyler Nelson (11) - 9 wins, 3.16 GAA, .902 save percentageF Zach Turgeon (12) - 16 pts (5g, 11a)
F Carl Ness (12) - 9 pts (5g, 4a) in 9 games
- The Rebels will have a strong goaltender in Tyler Nelson but they will need to fill holes in every other spot.
7. Coon Rapids
G Patrick Drazkowski (12) - 7 wins, 4.00 GAA, .866 save percentageD Alex Wojciechowski (12) - 12 pts (5g, 7a)
D Jake Bruner (11) - 12 pts (2g, 10a)
8. North Metro
F Jordan Stroh (12) - 21 pts (13g, 8a)F Travis Ricci (12) - 17 pts (8g, 9a)
F Bren Ricci (12) - 12 pts (3g, 9a)
9. Irondale
F Jake Folska (12) - 11 pts (4g, 7a)F Jack Tuomie (11) - 8 pts (6g, 2a)
D Kyle O'Connor (11) - 8 pts (3g, 5a)
