It wasn’t a week with a ton of movement, but it was clarifying at times, as some season themes reemerged for teams in Class A and a 612 crew finally broke into the Top 10. Week #9 Rankings Below:
1. Hermantown (11-4-3)
Past Week Results: W 6-3 #5 Hibbing/Chisholm, W 3-2 OT Shakopee
Upcoming Schedule: 1/21 @ Superior (Wis.), 1/24 @ St Thomas Academy, 1/25 vs #11 Mahtomedi
The Hawks were impressive this week as they looked every bit the part of Class A’s top team at the moment. They started by going into Hibbing on “YHH Friday Night Ice” and showed the big game experience as they took advantage of every Bluejacket miscue and steadily pulled away for a big 7A road win to stay unbeaten in Class A. Then they woke up the next day and dug out of a two goal hole to come away with an impressive comeback win over Shakopee. Hermantown’s veterans are leading the way and their youngsters are growing into depth roles and they have a busy week coming up with hames vs Superior, STA and a rematch with Mahtomedi to end the week.
This week: Tues at Chaska, Thurs vs. #5 Edina, Sat at Eden Prairie
2. Cloquet/Esko/Carlton (14-3-0)
Past Week Results: L 3-4 OT Grand Rapids, W 3-1 #12 Orono
Upcoming Schedule: 1/21 @ Rock Ridge, 1/24 vs Bemidji
The Lumberjacks just continued their theme of stacking solid weeks together as they went on the road this week and nearly upset Grand Rapids before falling in overtime. They were able to rebound nicely as they stayed unbeaten in Class A when they went down to Orono and beat a tough Spartan group to further solidify their spot here in the rankings. Now this week they will venture outside of Class A and take on two good Top 20 Class AA teams in Rock Ridge and Bemidji which will help CEC ramp up for the big looming showdown game with the Hawks in a few weeks.
3. Warroad (12-4-1)
Past Week Results: W 3-1 #9 East Grand Forks, W 6-0 West Fargo Sheyenne (ND)
Upcoming Schedule: 1/23 @ Roseau, 1/25 vs #7 Northfield
The Warriors just keep piling up victories as they are now (8-2-0) in their last 10 games with the only losses to #1 AA Moorhead and #1 A Hermantown. This week they went on the road to pick up a hard fought Section 8A win over East Grand Forks and then came home and took care of West Fargo Sheyenne with ease. Now they enter into an interesting week on paper as they have to go on the road for a rematch with their rivals the Rams which is never an easy game. After that they will welcome in the top team from Section 1A as the red hot Raiders team will be coming to The Gardens looking to make a statement.
4. Monticello (15-1-1)
Past Week Results: W 2-0 Pine City, W 3-2 OT #21 Chisago Lakes
Upcoming Schedule: 1/21 vs #18 Providence Academy, 1/23 vs #10 Little Falls
The Moose are an interesting team to rank and a week later I can admit when I overreact and slot them back up as even though they continue to win ugly others around them keep losing. Looking at this team the pros: they have won all but one game on their schedule, and with many other bluebloods in Class A this year being inconsistent, the overall resume looks good on paper. The cons: they have suddenly stopped scoring and they eked out two wins this week over inferior teams Pine City and Chisago Lakes which doesn’t scream Top 5 team in Class A. This week will be more telling as they have a game vs Providence being one they can’t overlook and then the rematch vs Little Falls in a game they really must win if they still want to hope for the #1 seed in 5A.
5. Hibbing/Chisholm (10-7-0)
Past Week Results: L 3-6 #1 Hermantown
Upcoming Schedule: 1/20 @ Duluth Marshall, 1/21 @ International Falls, 1/25 vs Eden Prairie (HDMN)
Hibbing dropped their only game of the week vs the Hawks at home in the “YHH Friday Night Ice” showcase. The game itself showed two things, one that the Bluejackets can definitely play with Hermantown but if they want to beat them down the road they will need to get more structured in their own end as things just got too loose and sloppy at times which has been a season theme. Suddenly, Hibbing is on a three game losing skid now and they will want to get on track this week with back to back road games vs Duluth Marshall and International Falls before the big spotlight of Hockey Day Minnesota.
6. St Cloud Cathedral (9-7-2)
Past Week Results: W 6-1 #14 Northern Lakes, L 3-5 Holy Family
Upcoming Schedule: 1/20 vs Princeton
The Crusaders had a decent week overall as they were able to go on the road and pick up a good win over Northern Lakes in convincing fashion. However, as has been SCC’s issue, they were unable to carry the momentum any further, as they have yet to win more than 2 games in a row this season and that trend continued as they fell at Holy Family to end the week. The loss is not a bad one and it doesn’t hurt them much in these rankings as they have really settled into the middle of the rankings and they should be fine this week as they only have one game when they host a struggling Section 5A Princeton team in a game that they should win.
7. Northfield (12-2-1)
Past Week Results: W 9-1 Rochester Mayo, W 9-0 Red Wing
Upcoming Schedule: 1/21 vs Mankato East, 1/24 @ #19 Detroit Lakes, 1/25 vs #3 Warroad
Northfield continues to make steady progress down south, methodically beating weaker teams on their Big Nine Conference schedule. Mayo and Red Wing are both struggling this year, so those wins really tell us nothing about where this team belongs in the top ten of Class A which has been a theme of late but they are taking care of their business convincingly nonetheless. This week will be a big one as after the match up with Mankato East they venture out of the south and head north to take on Detroit Lakes and then they have a big test at Warroad to end the week which will give us a much better feel on the surging Raiders.
8. Minneapolis (9-4-3)
Past Week Results: L 1-8 Holy Angels, W 4-2 #13 Delano
Upcoming Schedule: 1/23 @ Eagan, 1/25 vs Mankato East
The 612 crew were the big movers of the week as despite it starting by getting thumped by Holy Angels the big win over Delano to end the week validates their placement up into the top ten for the first time this year. Up until this point the theme had been that they lacked a high quality Class A win that everyone else in the Top 10 had but the road win over the Tigers gives them what their resume had been lacking and now they sit in good position looking at the rest of their year and could potentially be the #1 seed in 2A come section playoff time. They are now playing two sub .500 teams this week and should pile up some more wins.
9. East Grand Forks (8-8-1)
Past Week Results: W 4-3 OT Roseau, L 1-3 #3 Warroad, L 0-4 Wayzata
Upcoming Schedule: 1/24 vs Grand Forks Red River (ND), 1/25 vs Grand Forks Central (ND)
The Greenwave were able to start the week by beating Roseau in overtime, but fell to Warroad in their big Section 8A game and then dropped the final game of the week to Wayzata the next night, neither of those are bad losses and with no one else around them making too big of a push at the moment, they ultimately do not move much in the rankings and still sit inside the Top 10 back at .500 on the year. Now they will go and try to win the The Gambucci Cup this coming week with back to back games vs the border rivals from Grand Forks.
10. Little Falls (9-4-2)
Past Week Results: W 5-2 #22 Alexandria, T 1-1 OT #20 Thief River Falls, W 4-1 Crookston
Upcoming Schedule: 1/21 vs #14 Northern Lakes, 1/23 @ #4 Monticello, 1/25 vs Dodge County
The Flyers went unbeaten this week as they beat Alexandria, and tied Thief River Falls and beat Crookston as well, so they hold steady here for now. Their Goaltender is red hot right now in the net and if they can find some depth scoring, as the top line is starting to produce, this is a very scary Little Falls team come playoffs. This week they have some excellent tests as they get a visit from a good Northern Lakes squad before the big rematch with Monticello as win on the road over the Moose could give them the inside track to the #1 seed in 5A.
11. Mahtomedi (5-10-2)
Past Week Results: W 6-0 South St Paul, L 1-5 St Thomas Academy, T 3-3 OT Two Rivers
Upcoming Schedule: 1/22 @ Chaska, 1/25 @ #1 Hermantown
The Zephyrs as always are one of the toughest Class A teams in the state to know what to rank. This week they did take their first dip into Section 4A play as they shutout South St Paul with ease. After that they played two AA games staying somewhat close with STA and then having to dig deep to tie Two Rivers on the road. Again they have wins over Orono & Warroad and they have stayed tight with almost everyone in Class A’s Top 10. This week they play a struggling AA Chaska, why I don’t know, and then have a rematch with Hermantown which should be a good Class A game.
12. Orono (9-7-2)
Past Week Results: W 6-0 Chaska, L 1-3 #2 Cloquet/Esko/Carlton
Upcoming Schedule: 1/24 vs #13 Delano, 1/25 @Waconia
The Spartans basically played on par with what has been their season theme so far this year as they took care of business in a win over a struggling Chaska team and then had yet another tough competitive loss to a Top 10 Class A team in CEC to end the week. It’s now rivalry week for the Orono, as they face Delano in a game that they are surprisingly choosing to play outside, which seems odd as both teams have so much at stake in this one when it comes to Section 2A seeding, but regardless it will happen on Friday Night at Valleyfair before they wrap up the week at Waconia.
13. Delano (8-9-0)
Past Week Results: W 6-0 Southwest Christian/Richfield, L 2-4 #8 Minneapolis, W 11-2 Hutchinson
Upcoming Schedule: 1/21 @ Litchfield/Dassel-Cokato, 1/24 vs #12 Orono
Delano did win two games this past week taking down Southwest Christian/Richfield and Hutchinson this past week but they fell to Minneapolis in the middle of the week, leaving them in the 3-seed position in 2A for the time being. Still, they are a very dangerous and competitive Class A top 15 team, and the chances to prove something keep coming this week against their rivals Orono as they will take the game outside, an odd choice for how important this game is to both teams, and they will try to settle the seeding order in 2A at Valleyfair on Friday Night.
14. Northern Lakes (10-5-0)
Past Week Results: L 1-6 #6 St Cloud Cathedral, W 2-1 #23 River Lakes, W 5-2 #22 Alexandria
Upcoming Schedule: 1/21 @ #10 Little Falls, 1/23 vs #17 Proctor, 1/24 vs Dodge County
The Lightning started the week getting beat up by Cathedral, however after that they got back to the established 2-3 Mike Randolph forecheck and pulled out two quality wins on the road beating River Lakes and the season sweep of Alexandria helped them take a big step forward and sewing up the top 6A seed. Now this week more good tests await as they have a tough road game at Little Falls followed by visits from Proctor and Dodge County as they look to build on this recent momentum.
15. Luverne (14-2-1)
Past Week Results: W 8-1 Redwood Valley, W 5-2 #16 Waseca
Upcoming Schedule: 1/24 @ New Ulm
Roll Cards Roll had a great week both on and off the ice. The good news off the ice was that their leading scorer was not seriously injured and they were able to get him back in the lineup immediately. On the ice they just kept on rolling along as they took out Redwood Valley for section win before avenging their early season tie with Waseca by downing the Bluejays in round number two. Now they have just one game on the docket and it’s a huge one as they take on their Section archrivals New Ulm on the road in what should be a great test for the current 3A top team.
16. Waseca (13-2-2)
Past Week Results: T 1-1 New Prague, L 2-3 Rochester Lourdes, L 2-5 #15 Luverne
Upcoming Schedule: 1/21 @ Dodge County, 1/24 vs Windom
The Bluejays had a rough week as I may have jinxed them finally putting them into the Top 10 as they took a big fall this week. They were able to pick up a tie to start the week vs New Prgaue but things went south fast after that as they were upset by a good Lourdes team, which is very costly for seeding purposes, and they were then just beaten soundly by Luverne at home. Now they will have to regroup fast as the Dodge County game is extremely important as Waseca doesn’t play Albert Lea or Northfield and a loss to the Wildcats could lock them into the 5 seed which would be a huge blow to this young team.
17. Proctor (8-8-1)
Past Week Results: L 2-9 Rock Ridge
Upcoming Schedule: 1/21 @ Ely, 1/23 @ #14 Northern Lakes, 1/25 vs Tartan
The Rails got rocked by Rock Ridge this week as were no match for the Wolverines attack, the result itself really doesn’t give us much for this ranking other than it sets them back to .500. Outside the tie with powerhouse Hermantown, Proctor’s resume really doesn’t offer much, but I will leave them here for now due to other teams around them are all free falling of late. They have a good game matchup with Northern Lakes this week and two other games they should win.
18. Providence Academy (10-6-2)
Past Week Results: W 13-4 St Paul Academy, T 6-6 Breck
Upcoming Schedule: 1/21 @ #4 Monticello , 1/25 @ Albert Lea
The Lions are finally able to move into the Top 20 on the year as they are doing something that no one else in this area of the rankings is doing and that’s win. This past week they got a win over SPA and tied Breck to set up a chance at the IMAC Championship when they face Blake later this year. Overall, this is a young surprising team that PageStat has had in this range from the beginning and with all the noted struggles of others around here the time is now to move them here. Big test right away as they head on the road to take on a one loss Moose team and then go on the down to take on a hot Albert Lea group.
19. Detroit Lakes (7-7-2)
Past Week Results: L 2-3 #25 Red Lake Falls, T 0-0 OT Brainerd
Upcoming Schedule: 1/21 @ West Fargo Sheyenne (N.D.), 1/24 vs #7 Northfield
The Lakers went skidding off a cliff this past week with the loss to Red Lakes Falls being devastating to their Section 8A seeding hopes and the scoreless tie with Brainerd only highlighting their serious lack of goal scoring issues They have enough quality results on overall year to keep from getting pitched out of the Top 20 all together, but there’s definitely some work to do here. The game vs Northfield this week will be telling as they lost a heartbreaker to them in overtime a few weeks earlier.
20. Thief River Falls (7-8-1)
Past Week Results: W 4-0 Kittson County Central, T 1-1 OT #10 Little Falls, W 4-1 Fergus Falls
Upcoming Schedule: 1/24 @ Greenway
The Prowlers are starting to come around and play their customary low scoring well structured style under their new Head Coach. This week was a good one for Thief River Falls as they were able to go unbeaten and pick up a Section 8A win over KCC and a tie vs Little Falls and win over Fergus where they gave up two goals total in a very strong weekend. This week they just have one game on the schedule vs Greenway, a game they should win and get back to .500 on the year.
Next Five Notable Teams
Chisago Lakes (8-6-2)- Tough to know what to make of the Wildcats after a loss to Cambridge and then blowing a two goal third period lead at Monticello. Chisago Lakes just can’t win that big game and now they find themselves having fallen out of the Top 20 for the first time this year. They have two games this week they should definitely win and if they can take care of business on the road it should help them stabilize things a bit and further help their #2 seed efforts in Section 4A.
Alexandria (6-9-0)- Alexandria took a step backwards this week as after all the positive vibes of their recent four game winning streak were laid to rest as they fell flat losing three straight games. None of the losses were bad ones as Little Falls, Sartell and Northern Lakes are all quality teams and they were in the game with the Flyers and Lightning but just unable to come through in the 3rd period of each one. Now they have a week of CLC action with games with River Lakes and Willmar on tap.
River Lakes (10-5-2)- The Stars are starting to really trend in the wrong direction as this past week they racked up more with losses to LDC and Northern Lakes; and they are now (1-3-0) in their last four games and they are not scoring much. They now have a very tough test going up to Alexandria before they have a must win game vs Becker/Big Lake for Section 5A purposes as they try to get their season back on track and heading in the right direction as we near playoffs.
Rochester Lourdes (9-5-1)- Lourdes is now (9-3-1) after their (0-2) start to the year. They have wins over Top 20 Providence Academy & now Waseca on the resume. They have an overtime loss to Top 20 Proctor and if you take out the head scratching loss to Tartan they have a very solid Class A resume to date They have a strong core of Sophomores and they have a schedule remaining that will allow them to earn a Section 1A Top 3 seed if they win their remaining section games. This is a team to keep an eye on down south.
Red Lake Falls (15-3-0)- The Eagles have amassed a very strong record, with the usual caveats about their less then strong schedule. However, time to give this school with a high school enrollment of only 89 kids some love. The upset win over Detroit Lakes gives them a rare chance here with their remaining schedule as if they can beat Thief River Falls and win the second game over Crookston, who beat them earlier in the year, the #3 seed in Section 8A is there for the taking.
Class A Section by Section Rankings Week #9
Section 1A Ranking (1/19/25)
1- Northfield Raiders (12-2-1)
2- Dodge County Wildcats (6-8-0)
3- Albert Lea Tigers (10-5-1)
4- Rochester Lourdes Eagles (9-5-1)
5- Waseca Bluejays (13-2-2)
6- Winona Winhawks (9-4-0)
7- Austin Packers (9-6-0)
8- La Crescent-Hokah Lancers (4-10-1)
9- Red Wing Wingers (1-15-2)
10- Faribault Falcons (3-10-1)
1A Summary- Northfield got Section 1A win over Red Wing. Rochester Lourdes pulled a big Section 1A upset over Waseca. Albert Lea got a Section 1A win over Austin but the Packers got a 1A win over La Crescent-Hokah earlier in the week.Winona got a Section 1A win over Faribault.
Section 2A Ranking (1/19/25)
1- Minneapolis (9-4-3)
2- Orono Spartans (9-7-2)
3- Delano Tigers (8-9-0)
4- Providence Academy Lions (10-6-2)
5- Breck Mustangs (5-9-1)
6- Litchfield Dassel Cokato Dragons (7-9-0)
7- Hutchinson Tigers (5-9-1)
8- Mound Westonka White Hawks (8-9-0)
2A Summary- Minneapolis got a Section 2A win over Delano but the Tigers rebounded to get a 2A win over Hutchinson who had gotten a 2A win of their own over Mound Westonka earlier in the week. Orono & Litchfield/Dassel Cokato went (.500) outside of the section. Providence Academy & Breck skated to a 2A tie in their 2nd meeting with the Lions winning the first time.
Section 3A Ranking (1/19/25)
1- Luverne Cardinals (14-2-1)
2- Mankato West Scarlets (5-9-1)
3- Mankato East Cougars (7-10-0)
4- Minnesota River Bulldogs (8-8-0)
5- New Ulm Eagles (9-7-1)
6- Marshall Tigers (7-11-0)
7- Windom Eagles (4-11-1)
8- Worthington Trojans (4-12-0)
9- Redwood Valley Cardinals (2-13-0)
10- Fairmont Cardinals (0-12-0)
3A Summary- Luverne got Section 3A win over Redwood Valley. Mankato East got a 3A win over Minnesota River but the Bulldogs did get 3A wins over the Eagles & Trojans this week. Marshall got 3A wins over both Windom & Fairmont. New Ulm got a 3A win over Worthington. Mankato West went (.500) outside of the section.
Section 4A Ranking (1/19/25)
1- Mahtomedi Zephyrs (5-10-2)
2- Chisago Lakes Wildcats (8-6-2)
3- Southwest Christian/Richfield Stars (5-8-1)
4- St Paul Academy Spartans (4-9-0)
5- Simley Spartans (9-8-0)
6- South St Paul Packer (5-10-1)
7- St. Paul Highland Park Scots (4-11-1)
8- Bloomington Kennedy Eagles (1-14-0)
4A Summary- Mahtomedi got a Section 4A win over South St Paul. Chisago Lakes went winless outside the section and Southwest Christian/Richfield went (1-2-0) outside the section. Simley got a 4A sweep of Bloomington Kennedy. St Paul Academy got a Section 4A win over St Paul Highland Park.
Section 5A Ranking (1/19/25)
1- St Cloud Cathedral Crusaders (9-7-2)
2- Monticello Moose (15-1-1)
3- Little Falls Flyers (9-4-2)
4- Pine City Dragons (9-6-1)
5- Sauk Rapids Storm (9-7-1)
6- River Lakes Stars (10-5-2)
7- Princeton Tigers (5-11-0)
8- Becker/Big Lake Eagles (3-10-2)
9- Mora/Milaca Mustangs (6-11-0)
5A Summary- St Cloud Cathedral went (1-1-0) and Little Falls went (2-0-1) outside of the section. Monticello got Section 5A win over Pine City but the Dragons got a 5A win over Becker/Big Lake. Sauk Rapids got a 5A win over Mora/Milaca. Princeton went (.500) outside of the section and River Lakes went winless outside of the section.
Section 6A Ranking (1/19/25)
1- Northern Lakes Lightning (10-5-0)
2- Alexandria Cardinals (6-9-0)
3- Fergus Falls Otters (10-7-0)
4- Breckenridge/Wahpeton Blades (6-11-1)
5- Prairie Centre North Stars (10-6-0)
6- Morris/Benson Storm (5-12-0)
7- Willmar Cardinals (6-11-0)
8- Wadena Deer Creek Wolverines (3-11-0)
6A Summary- Northern Lakes got a 6A sweep over Alexandria. Fergus Falls got 6A wins over Breckenridge/Wahpeton & Willmar. Prairie Centre & Morris/Benson both got 6A wins over Wadena Deer Creek. The Storm also got a 6A win over the Cardinals this week.
Section 7A Ranking (1/19/25)
1- Cloquet/Esko/Carlton Lumberjacks (14-3-0)
2- Hermantown Hawks (11-4-3)
3- Hibbing/Chisholm Bluejackets (10-7-0)
4- Proctor Rails (8-8-1)
5- International Falls Broncos (12-4-0)
6- Moose Lake Rebels (8-7-0)
7- Greenway Raiders (5-8-1)
8- North Shore Storm (6-12-0)
9- Ely Timberwolves (4-13-0)
7A Summary- Hermantown got a Section 7A win over Hibbing/Chisholm. Cloquet/Esko/Carlton went .500 outside of the section. Proctor lost their only game outside of the section. International Falls got 7A wins over Greenway & Ely. Moose Lake got a 7A win over North Shore.
Section 8A Ranking (1/19/25)
1- Warroad Warriors (12-4-1)
2- East Grand Forks Greenwave (8-8-1)
3- Red Lake Falls Eagles (15-3-0)
4- Detroit Lakes Lakers (7-7-2)
5- Thief River Falls Prowlers (7-8-1)
6- Crookston Pirates (9-7-1)
7- Bagley/Fosston Eagles (9-7-0)
8- Kittson County Central Bearcats (5-9-1)
9- Park Rapids Panthers (5-11-0)
10- Lake of the Woods Bears (2-13-0)
8A Summary-Warroad got a Section 8A win over East Grand Forks. Red Lakes Falls got an 8A win over Detroit Lakes. Thief River Falls got an 8A win over Kittson County Central. Crookston got an 8A win over Bagley/Fosston but the Eagles did get an 8A win over Lake of the Woods. Park Rapids picked up a win outside the section.
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