| 2/15/2005 CLASS AA SECTION OUTLOOK Section 1AA Rochester Century (20-2-3, #1 seed) has been the Section 1AA runner-up for the past four seasons. The Panthers have lost to Lakeville the past three seasons. Will this year be the year Rochester Century wins it? The Panthers probably has their best team ever. This is the first time Rochester Century has received the #1 seed. The Panthers won the Big Nine Conference, the Kiwanis/Wells Fargo Festival, and played well against some of the state's top teams, defeating Hastings, tying Tartan, and losing overtime decisions to Roseville and Duluth East. The Panthers are led on offense by a trio of senior forwards, Darin Holland, Travis Peterson, and Andy Wilcox. The Panthers also have a couple of good looking sophomores, Garrett Grimstad and Joe Knoepke. The defense revolves around senior goalie Alex Kangas. Kangas has been the starting netminder for the past three seasons. Rochester John Marshall (13-9-2) finished third in the Big Nine Conference. The Rockets lost to Rochester Century twice during the regular season, most recently by a 5-0 shutout about a week ago. On offense, junior forward Nate Dunfee is the leading scorer followed by sophomore Eric Amundson and senior Rick McCoy. Lakeville (11-11-2, #3 seed) can never be counted out. The Panthers are the three-time defending Section 1AA champions. Lakeville finished eighth in the Lake Conference and, in their only meeting with a southern Minnesota team, defeated Rochester Mayo 5-1 which would put them in the same range as Rochester Century and Rochester John Marshall. Senior forward David Olson is the main offensive star. Section 2AA Hastings (18-6-1, #1 seed) won their first ten games and then finished second to Rochester Century in the Kiwanis/Wells Fargo Festival in Rochester. The Raiders were third in the Suburban East Conference and had a 5-0 record against Section 2AA team although they only played three of the other eight teams. Hastings is led by junior forward Jerad Stewart, with 32 goals in the regular season, and senior forward Joe Welch. The defense has been solid and both senior goalies, Evan Berger and Jordy Horsch, have played well. Tartan (20-3-2, #2 seed) is the defending Section 2AA champ and has a decent shot at making it two in a row. The Titans won the Classic Suburban Conference but lost the #1 seed when they lost a non-conference game to Woodbury. Senior forward Mike Wallgren was the top scorer for the Tartan, but the Titans had eight skaters that scored more than 20 points. Senior forwards Eric Schulz and Tyler Tolzman were major contributors and senior defenseman Jake Schmidt was the third leading scorer on the team. Freshman forward Ryan Furne tallied 18 goals. Last year's freshman sensation, now a sophomore, goalie Cary Wood started all but two games and has improved throughout the year. Woodbury (12-13-0, #3 seed) finished a distant sixth in the Suburban East Conference but did defeat Tartan during the regular season and lost two close games to Hastings. Junior forward Brady Mensing leads the offernse and the Royals will need good defensive play and goaltending to advance. Cretin-Derham Hall (12-11-2, #4 seed) are probably better than their .500 record indicates. The Raiders played a tough independent schedule and had many close game despite losing 11. Senior defenseman Matt Hickey, a converted forward, is the Raiders top scorer followed by sophomore forward Chris Hickey. St. Paul Como Park (16-9-1, #5 seed) get most of their scoring from juniors Nick and Kyle Follmer and sophomore forward Dane Walters. Henry Sibley (3-21-2, #9 seed) were trying to turn things around this year. They had a new coach and won two games with two ties during the regular season before winning a first round Section 2AA game over the St. Paul Hawks. Junior forward John Affolter was the leading scorer during the season while senior Rollie Casillas led the defense. Senior goalie Mark Lopez was in net for all three Warrior victories. Section 3AA White Bear Lake (20-2-3, #1 seed) showed during the regular season that they are pretty much even with the rest of the top teams. The Bears split with Moorhead, losing 3-2 and winning 2-0, and tied Academy Of Holy Angels twice and Centennial once. The defense looks good again for White Bear Lake with junior Zach Faust in net. Centennial (20-3-2, #2 seed) really had a stellar season. After losing many seniors from last year's State Class AA championship team, the Cougars came back this year, switched to a tougher confernce (from the North Suburban Conference to the Northwest Suburban Conference) and went 17-1-0 in conference play to win the title. Senior defenseman RJ Anderson has had another great season on defense while senior Travis Vermuelen was the leading scorer. Section 4AA Section 4AA is probably the most even Section of all the Class AA Sections. Any of the top four seeds could be going to the State Tournament. Elk River (15-10-0, #1 seed) finished second in the Northwest Suburban Conference, is the defending Section 4AA champs, and has won Section 4AA three of the past four seasons. The Elks looked like a below average team most of the season, but as soon as you counted them out, they would come up with a big win. Elk River has defeated Osseo and Maple Grove twice but lost to Blaine twice. The Elk dealt Centennial one of their few losses with a overtime victory in December; Elk River's biggest win of the year. Senior forward Collin Ostroot and junior forwards Andrew Malzahn and Brett Peterson have led the Elks on offense all season while senior Matt Godlewski is a defenseman with scoring capabilities. Senior goalie Sam Warhol, who played so well in last year's playoff, has seen a majority of the time in net. Osseo (17-6-2, #2 seed) had a large contigent of returning seniors from last season and were expect to challenge for the conference title; however, the Orioles finished third in the Northwest Suburban Conference after losing to Centennial and Elk River each twice. The only other losses on the season were to Warroad and Duluth East. Osseo defeated and tied Blaine and beat Maple Grove twice. The Orioles also picked up victories over Edina and Wayzata in December and tied Warroad, in one of their better games on the season. Junior forward Gerrit Hooker and senior forward Matt Morin were the leading scores for Osseo this year with senior forwards Jake Pernula and Jim Jensen close behind. The defense has been real solid most of the season with senior Matt Wanvig in goal. Blaine (17-7-1, #3 seed) has had their first good season since the Bengals won the State Class AA Tournament in 2000. Blaine finished fourth in the Northwest Suburban Conference with two wins over Elk River, a loss and a tie with Osseo, and a win and a loss with Maple Grove. Senior forward Joel Stacklie and junior forward Dan Sinn provide most of the offense. Senior Matt Markgraf has been a mainstay on defense for three seasons, and the Bengals rotated three goalies during the regular season but senior Lance Thompson has the best goals against average by far. Maple Grove (13-10-2, #4 seed) finished fifth in the Northwest Suburban Conference, but the Crimson lost a couple players to suspensions before the start of the season and could have been a better team. Maple Grove was the runner-up in last year's Section 4AA title game. This year the Crimson lost to Elk River twice, 2-0 and 1-0, Osseo twice, and split with Blaine. Maple Grove played some of their best hockey at the Schwan Cup Silver Division where the Crimson beat Benilde-St. Margaret's and Apple Valley before losing a close 3-2 decision to Breck in the championship game. Junior forward Kyle Mattson is the top offense player for the Crimson with help from junior Evan MacHacek. Junior defenseman Ben Youds is one of the top junior defensemen in the state. Returning goalie senior Tim Krystosek has had another fine season. Section 5AA Academy Of Holy Angels (20-2-2, #1 seed) has had another fine season. The Stars only losses were to Centennial, in the Schwan Cup, and to Faribault Shattuck-St. Mary's in overtime. Academy Of Holy Angels traveled to the east coast for two big wins over Boston Catholic Memorial MA and Woonsocket Mount St. Charles Academy RI. The Stars are a solid team with no weaknesses. Junior Jay Barriball is the leading scorer among several standout forwards. Senior Jared Hummel is a force on defense. Apple Valley (19-5-1, #2 seed) was the runner-up in the Lake Conference this year. The Eagles only lost to Bloomington Jefferson twice plus Eden Prairie, Duluth East, and Maple Grove. Apple Valley had some fine returning forwards in seniors Dan Sexton, Alex Coles, and Josh Swenson. Junior defenseman David Fischer is subperb and junior Kyle Medvec is another top-notch defenseman. Goaltending was the major concern at the start of the season but seniors AJ Tischleder and Casey Mithun have played well while splitting time in neet. Section 6AA Bloomington Jefferson (20-4-1, #1 seed) was looking like the best team in the state early in the season but then suffered three losses in four games in the last half of December. Late in the season, the Jaguars traveled to Moorhead but came up on the short end of a 3-1 score. Bloomington Jefferson won the Lake Conference while losing only one conference game, to Burnsville in late December, and tying Eden Prairie in the final regular season game. Senior defenseman Brian Connelly is the leading scorer with senior forwards Matt Overman and Jordan Wild close behind. The Jaguars have one of the top goalies in the state in junior Austin Lee Wayzata (19-6-0, #2 seed) has been a team of streaks this season. The Trojans won their first nine games, but then lost three of four, to Osseo, Centennial, and Bloomington Jefferson, in and around the Schwan Cup. Then Wayzata reeled off eight more wins before senior foward Tony Lucia was injured in the Edina game. The Trojans lost to Edina plus following defeats at the hands of Academy Of Holy Angels and Robbinsdale Armstrong. Wayzata has Lucia back for the playoffs with the hopes that their leading scorer will bolster their offense. Junior forward Joey Miller is also one of the top forwards in the state and junior forward Josh Hodges has had a good season. The defense has been strong with seniors Kurt Davis and James Laurinaitis and junior Kevin Wehrs. Junior goalie David Goullaud has palyed well most of the season but has been shaky at times. Eden Prairie (15-7-3, #3 seed) finished third in the Lake Conference during the regular season. The Eagles have played well against some of the top competition in the state but haven't come up with many big wins. This year, Eden Prairie lost to and tied Bloomington Jefferson, split with Apple Valley and Burnsville and suffered losses to Wayzata and Academy Of Holy Angels. Two victories over Edina in late December were a couple of the high points of the season. The Eagles would have been one of the top three teams in the state if senior Chad Rau would have decided to play high school hockey; however, Rau opted to play junior hockey this winter. Still, Eden Prairie boasts a formidable team with senior forwards Nate Hanson, Stu Bickel, Brett Howells, and Chris Meyers. The defense is led by senior DJ Dassenko and senior Max Dodds is one of the top goalies in the state. Section 7AA Cloquet/Esko/Carlton (19-5-1, #1 seed) defeated both Duluth East and Grand Rapids twice during the regular season but lost to Forest Lake. All those game were close, so the Lumberjacks don't have a sizeable advantage. Cloquet/Esko/Carlton was 14-2-0 in their first sixteen games but finished 5-3-1 in their final nine contests. The Lumberjacks have one of the top seniors in the state in forward Mitch Ryan who finished tied for fifth in the state in scoring during the regular season. Sophomore goalie Reid Ellingson has been steady in goal. Duluth East (14-11-0, #2 seed) had to forfeit four victories, so their record could be 18-7-0. The eligibility of transfer students sophomore forward Josh Turnbull and sophomore defenseman Colin Traschel was handled incorrectly and the two players had to sit out games 8-20 after the Greyhounds forfeited four wins in their first seven games. With all their players back late in the season, Duluth East should be hitting the playoffs on all cylinders. Senior forward Rob W. Johnson is the leader on offense with sophomore Cade Fairchild heads the defense. Forest Lake (14-10-1, #3 seed) finished fifth in the Suburban East Conference. The Rangers have played well and lost to most ranked teams but a capable of winning a big game. Their 4-3 win over Cloquet/Esko/Carlton was one of their biggest victories during the season. Juniors Blake Woodward and Tom Kubes and sophomore Christian Fogerty are the main cogs on offense. Grand Rapids (14-10-0, #4 seed) are alot like Forest Lake. The Thunderhawks have played the top teams tough but don't have alot of victories to show for it. Senior forwards Austun Tavis, Tom Stunyo, and Mark Columbus top the offense. Goaltending has been their biggest problem this year. Section 8AA Moorhead (20-2-2, #1 seed) is definitely looking for their first ever State Class AA championship. The Spuds were the pre-season #1 team, but, first, they have to win the Section 8AA title, something they've done for the past four seasons. Moorhead as beaten most of the top teams in the state, Centennial, White Bear Lake, Bloomington Jefferson, and Duluth East, but losses to White Bear Lake and Hill-Murray prove that the Spuds are beatable on a given night. Moorhead has had some great teams in the past, but this one is filled with great players. The Spuds have eight senior forward including top scoring Chris VandeVelde, Drew Fisher, Cory Loos, Cory Johnson, Matt Becker, and Ryan Clukey. Upcoming sophomore forward Jordy Christian is a player of the future. The defense has five seniors led by Brian Lee and Jon Ammerman. In goal, both Spencer Deutz and Derek Hittle have started since they were sophomores. It would be a major upset, along the proportions of Elk River in 2000, if the Spuds did not make it to the State Tournament. Roseau (13-11-1, #2 seed) lost to Moorhead twice during the regular season by big margins, 8-1 and 7-0, but the Rams took the second seed by virtue of a 2-1 at St. Cloud Tech. Roseau has some good players on offense, notably seniors Alex Lundbohm and Kevin Broten with juniors Brian McMillin and Corey Erickson. The defense is led by senior Jesse Johnston and junior Derek Diermaier. Goaltending has been the Rams weak link giving up 3.6 goals per game. |