section2007previewAA

2/20/2007

CLASS AA SECTION PREVIEW

Section 1AA
Rochester Century (20-5-0, #1 seed), finished first in the Big Nine Conference, finished first in the Kiwanis/Wells Fargo Hockey Festival (Class AA), defeated Rochester John Marshall and Rochester Mayo each twice in conference play, defeated Lakeville North 4-3 at home on Feb. 6, lost five non-conference games to Tartan, Roseville, Duluth East, Edina, and Duluth Marshall. Top players � senior forwards Garrett Grimstad and Joe Knoepke, senior defenseman Bryce Wilcox.
Rochester John Marshall (12-13-0, #2 seed), finished tied for second in the Big Nine Conference, lost to Rochester Century twice and defeated Rochester Mayo twice in conference play, did not play Lakeville North. Top player � senior forward Adam Wiesner.
Lakeville North (7-16-2, #3 seed), defending Section 1AA champion, finished tied for ninth in the Lake Conference, lost to Rochester Century, defeated Rochester Mayo, did not play Rochester John Marshall. Top players � senior forwards Mike Kvasnicka and Reed Zweber.
Rochester Mayo (12-13-0, #4 seed), finished fourth in the Big Nine Conference, lost to Rochester Century and Rochester John Marshall each twice in conference play, lost to Lakeville North. Top players � senior forward Tony Sackett, sophomore forward Charlie Thauwald.

Section 2AA
Cretin-Derham Hall (18-5-2, #1 seed), defending Section 2AA and State Class AA champion, finished third in the Suburban East Conference, defeated Woodbury twice during conference play, did not play Tartan or St. Paul Johnson during the regular season. Top players � senior forward Chris Hickey, senior defensemen Ryan McDonagh and Drew Darwitz.
Woodbury (18-6-1, #2 seed), finished fourth in the Suburban East Conference, lost to Cretin-Derham Hall twice during conference play, defeated Tartan 3-2 in the first game of the season, did not play St. Paul Johnson. Top players � senior goalie Sam Foley, junior forward David Eddy.
Tartan (14-11-0, #3 seed), finished tied for fifth in the Classic Suburban Conference, did not play Cretin-Derham Hall, lost to Woodbury 3-2, defeated St. Paul Johnson 3-2 in overtime. Top player � senior goalie Cary Wood.
St. Paul Johnson (13-11-2, #4 seed), did not play Cretin-Derham Hall or Woodbury, lost to Tartan 3-2 in overtime. Top player � senior forward Sam Soika.

Section 3AA
Roseville (21-3-1, #1 seed), finished first in the Suburban East Conference, defeated Centennial in the second game of the season, did not play Hill-Murray, defeated White Bear Lake twice in conference play, losses were to Academy Of Holy Angels, Moorhead, and Cretin-Derham Hall, also tied Cretin-Derham Hall. Top players � senior forwards Mike Dorr and Brad Wieck, junior forward Adam Mueller, senior defenseman Matt Schugel.
Hill-Murray (20-4-1, #2 seed), defending Section 3AA champion, finished tied for first in the Classic Suburban Conference, defeated White Bear Lake twice in close games, 2-1 overtime and 3-2, did not play Centennial or Roseville, lost twice to Academy Of Holy Angels and once to Moorhead and St Thomas Academy. Top players � senior forward Nick Larson, sophomore forward Tyler Zepeda, junior goalie Joe Phillippi.
Centennial (19-6-0, #3 seed), finished tied for first in the Northwest Suburban Conference, lost to Roseville, split with White Bear Lake, did not play Hill-Murray, split with Moorhead during the season, lost to Academy Of Holy Angels, won 13 of their last 15 games. Top players � senior forward Jordan Singer, sophomore forward Tyler Pitlick.
White Bear Lake (15-10-0, #4 seed), finished second in the Suburban East Conference, lost to Roseville twice in conference play, lost two close games to Hill-Murray, split with Roseville, after a 5-8 start, won 10 of their last 12 games losing only to Roseville twice. Top players � junior forward Jake Hansen, junior defenseman Taylor Johnson.

Section 4AA
Blaine (19-6-0, #1 seed), defending Section 4AA champion, finished first in the Northwest Suburban Conference, defeated Maple Grove and Anoka each twice in conference play, also defeated Robbinsdale Armstrong during the regular season, won 13 of last 15 games losing twice to Centennial. Top players � senior forward Joe Beaudette and Ben Lynch, junior defenseman Nick Carson.
Maple Grove (15-10-0, #2 seed), finished fourth in the Northwest Suburban Conference, lost twice to Blaine, split with Anoka, lost to Robbinsdale Armstrong, biggest wins of the year were over Elk River and Centennial. Top player � senior forward Andrew Benson.
Anoka (15-9-1, #3 seed), finished fifth in the Northwest Suburban Conference, lost to Blaine twice, split with Maple Grove, lost to Robbinsdale Armstrong in early December, top win was 3-2 victory at Duluth East. Top player � junior forward John O�Neill.
Robbinsdale Armstrong (11-12-2, #4 seed), finished fourth in the Classic Lake Conference, lost at Blaine, defeated Maple Grove and Anoka. Top player � junior forward Cory Thorson.

Section 5AA
Academy Of Holy Angels (24-0-1, #1 seed), rated #1 in Class AA most of the season, finished first in the Missota Conference, finished first in the Schwan Cup (Gold Division), only tie was with Stillwater 1-1, defeated Faribault Shattuck-St. Mary's, also defeated Roseville, Hill-Murray (twice) and Centennial, did not play any team from Section 5AA during the regular season. Top players � senior forwards Taylor Matson and Chase Polacek, sophomore forward Danny Mattson, senior defenseman Bryan Brutlag.
Burnsville (14-10-0, #2 seed), finished second in the Lake Conference, won 9 of last 10 games, split with Eagan and Rosemount. Top player � junior forward Jake Hendrickson.
Eagan (16-6-3, #3 seed), defending Section 5AA champion, finished third in the Lake Conference, split with Burnsville and defeated Rosemount twice in conference play. Top players � senior forwards Tim Lipinski and Pat Dockendorf.
Rosemount (11-13-1, #4 seed), finished tied for fifth in the Lake Conference, split with Burnsville and lost twice to Eagan in conference play. Young team with only two seniors. Top player � junior forward JT Brown.

Section 6AA
Edina (22-2-1, #1 seed), finished first in the Classic Lake Conference, finished first in the Schwan Cup (Silver Division), defeated Eden Prairie and Benilde-St. Margaret�s during the regular season, had a win and tie against Minnetonka in conference play, lost only to Chaska and Wayzata, many talented underclassmen. Top player � senior forward Matt Reber.
Eden Prairie (16-7-2, #2 seed), finished first the Lake Conference, lost to Edina, tied Minnetonka, did not play Benilde-St. Margaret�s, unbeaten in last nine games (8-0-1). Top player � senior forward Dan Vranek.
Benilde-St. Margaret�s (18-6-1, #3 seed), finished tied for first in the North Suburban Conference, lost to Edina, defeated Minnetonka, did not play Eden Prairie. Top players � senior forwards Adam Estoclet and Stephen Carew.
Minnetonka (16-5-4, #4 seed), defending Section 6AA champion, finished second in the Classic Lake Conference, finished first in the Schwan Cup (Bronze Division), had a loss and a tie with Edina in conference play, tied Eden Prairie, lost to Benilde-St. Margaret�s. Top player � senior forward Jack Paul.

Section 7AA
Cloquet/Esko/Carlton (20-3-2, #1 seed), finished first in the Lake Superior Conference, senior forward Tyler Johnson suffered a broken collarbone in the Hermantown game, the Lumberjacks were 17-2-0 with Johnson and have been 3-1-2 since Johnson was injured, defeated and tied Duluth East tying 1-1 in overtime at the CARC on Feb. 6, split with Grand Rapids, Grand Rapids was the first team to defeat the Lumberjacks, 2-0 at Grand Rapids after Cloquet/Esko/Carlton won their first 13 games, did not play Elk River, defeated Brainerd. Top players - senior Reid Ellingson is the best goalie in the state, junior Justin Jokinen, senior Victor Karlsson.
Duluth East (17-6-2, #2 seed), where 5-5-1 after a loss to Roseville in the Schwan Cup (Gold Division), where unbeaten in their next 13 games before losing the regular season finale to Buffalo, lost to and tied Cloquet/Esko/Carlton, defeated Elk River, Grand Rapids, and Brainerd. Top players � junior forward Rob Johnson, senior goalie Ben Leis.
Elk River (16-8-1, #4 seed), finished third in the Northwest Suburban Conference, lost to Duluth East, Grand Rapids, and Brainerd, did not play Cloquet/Esko/Carlton. Top players � senior forward Brandon Brodhag, senior defensemen Brandon Martell and Chris Slavik.
Grand Rapids (14-7-4, #4 seed), defending Section 7AA champion, finished tied for first in the Iron Range Conference, split with Cloquet/Esko/Carlton, lost to Duluth East, defeatede Elk River. Top players � senior forward Patrick White, senior defenseman Joe Stejskal.

Section 8AA
Moorhead (22-1-1, #1 seed), finished first in the Mariucci Conference, finished fifth in the Schwan Cup (Gold Division), defeated Roseau twice, also defeated Bemidi twice and Buffalo once, only loss was to Centennial 4-3 in Schwan Cup but later defeated Centennial at Moorhead, tied by Thief River Falls, defeated White Bear Lake, Grand Rapids, Duluth East, Roseville, Eden Prairie, and Hill-Murray. 15 seniors on the team. Top players � senior forward Jordy Christian, junior forward Nick Thielen, senior defensemen Jeff Foss and John Lee.
Roseau (21-4-0, #2 seed), defending Section 8AA champion, finished second in the Mariucci Conference, lost to Moorhead twice - only losses on the season, defeated Bemidji twice, defeated Blaine and Grand Rapids. Good balance with eight players scoring 20 or more points. Top players � sophomore forward Tyler Landman, sophomore defenseman Aaron Ness, senior goalie Alex Bjerk.
Bemidji (11-13-1, #3 seed), finished fifth in the Mariucci Conference, best team since 2001, lost to Moorhead twice, lost to Roseau twice. Top player � senior forward Noah Nemgar.
Buffalo (12-9-4, #4 seed), finished second in the Mississippi 8 Conference, lost to Moorhead 8-1 on Nov. 30, did not play Roseau or Bemidji, biggest win was over Duluth East 3-1. Top player � senior forward Ross Trousdale.