Minnesota Hockey consists of 12 districts that participate in traveling hockey.  This year there were two paths to the peewee AA (and bantam AA) state tourneys for the 12 districts.  At the start of the year, Districts 11, 12, 15, and 16 separated from the other 8 districts and were seeded into the North Regional by each district.  The remaining 7 districts (none of District 4’s associations fielded a AA peewee team) were given one seed to a to be determined regional.  It was left to the districts to determine how they would select their #1 seed.

District 9 had one AA team, Rochester Red; District 6 declared their peewee AA regular season champion Edina AA would get their #1 seed; Wayzata AA won D3’s playoff, Sibley won D8’s playoff, White Bear Lake won D2’s playoff, Buffalo AA won D5’s playoff, and Elk River won D10’s playoff.  These seven seeds ended up being automatically included in the 24 seeded teams to the East, South, and West Regionals.

The seven District Champions were seeded as follows: #1 (of 24 seeded teams) D6 Edina, #2 D9 Rochester Red, #4 D8 Sibley, #7 D10 Elk River, #10 D3 Wayzata, #21 D5 Buffalo, and #22 D2 White Bear Lake.

District 9 had one AA team, Rochester Red; District 6 declared their peewee AA regular season champion Edina AA would get their #1 seed; Wayzata AA won D3’s playoff, Sibley won D8’s playoff, White Bear Lake won D2’s playoff, Buffalo AA won D5’s playoff, and Elk River won D10’s playoff.  These seven seeds ended up being automatically included in the 24 seeded teams to the East, South, and West Regionals.

The seven District Champions were seeded as follows: #1 (of 24 seeded teams) D6 Edina, #2 D9 Rochester Red, #4 D8 Sibley, #7 D10 Elk River, #10 D3 Wayzata, #21 D5 Buffalo, and #22 D2 White Bear Lake.

South Regional

The South Regional has two D6 teams, two D3 teams, two D10 teams, and two D8 teams.  That is balanced representation, but on the ice, there is one dominant team, Edina AA, and seven teams that are in the Hornets’ shadow.

Edina vs Eastview

These two teams have solid coaching and it shows, but Edina has the depth this year and can claim a national title as well a Minnesota title if they win state and go on to win a regional title at the end of March.  Everybody will be looking for a Hornet slip, but not in this game.  The Hornets offense overwhelms the Lightning defense to win the game and advance.

Wayzata vs Champlin Park

Wayzata has been an up and down team, but swept the D3 playoff beating the Minneapolis Storm once and OMG twice.  The Trojans draw a team, Champlin Park, that is also struggling.  The Rebels won six of their last seven regular season games, then lost twice in the D10 playoffs (Rogers 2-0 and Andover 7-2).  Wayzata wins.

South Tourney Winners

After beating Eastview, Edina beats Andover to move to the championship game.  Prior Lake beats Wayzata to set up a D6 South final.  Prior Lake edges Edina to take the #1 seed; Andover comes back to play Edina in the final elimination game.  Edina wins.

East Regional

There are four D8 teams, two D6 teams, one D3 team, and one D9 team in the East Peewee AA regional opening play Friday at Hasse Arena in Lakeville.  Hasse is the home ice for Lakeville South.  Two of the D8 teams play each other in the opening game and the two D6 teams meet in their opening game.  The other two pit D9 vs D8 and D3 vs D8. 

Rochester Red (D9) vs Lakeville North (D8)

These two teams have not played each other this season.  The NOW ranked #2 Red has lived in the shadow of Edina AA consistently ranked second behind the Hornets all season.  They have a solid defense and have depth at forward.  At the Cloquet Barn Burner a month ago, they ran a gauntlet of top ranked northern teams.  To win the title, the Red beat Denfeld 8-1, Hermantown 7-5, Moorhead 5-2 and Cloquet 5-2, all teams playing in North Regionals this weekend.

Lakeville North had a good D8 playoff.  They were in every game and played solid hockey in beating Apple Valley 3-2 and Eagan 4-1.  The Panthers were eliminated for the playoff title when they lost a 4-3 game to Rosemount.  They are capable of beating the Red, but the Red should win.

Rosemount (D8) vs Eagan (D8)

These two teams match-up very well.  They played to a 3-3 tie late in the season, but did not play each other in the D8 playoffs.  Eagan ran into a tough Sibley team in the D8 playoffs and ended up being eliminated by North.  Rosemount lost to an improved Lakeville South team in the semifinals 4-1 then beat Lakeville South 5-0 the next day to get to the championship game only to lose to Sibley 4-1.  The nod here goes to Eagan.  If the Wildcats are up, they should win.

Chaska Chanhassen (D6) vs Jefferson (D6)

Chaska, Minnetonka, and Prior Lake all lived in the Edina’s D6 shadow and all three teams battled for #2 during regular season play.  Minnetonka edged Chaska out, the Hawks finished second.  Chaska is the only team to beat Edina AA this season.  Jefferson played .500 hockey this season, but lost their last three D6 games.  Chaska beat the Jags twice in regular season play, 5-2 and 4-0 (10 days ago).  The Hawks win.

Osseo/Maple Grove (D3) vs Lakeville South (D8)

OMG is like a bundle of dynamite.  Sometimes the fuse is lit and they go boom, become world beaters.  Sometimes the fuse is lit and all that happens is a slow “fizzzzz”.  A talented team that lost the D3 playoff to Wayzata, the Crimson have played tough games all season.  They lost to Prior Lake AA 5-3 this week in a tune-up game for the East Regional.

Lakeville South had a great D8 playoff.  Their offense and defense has improved dramatically since the start of the year, but they need more depth.  At Apple Valley in the D8 playoffs, the Cougars beat Lakeville North 4-2 and Rosemount 4-1 before losing to Sibley 3-0 in the first championship game.  Lakeville South wins this game.

East Tourney Winners

Rochester Red should beat Eagan and then go on to beat Lakeville South in the East Championship game.  Rosemount comes back to make the final elimination game but gets upended by South in the final game.  The East Regional Tourney is balanced this year.  Lakeville North could emerge to play Lakeville South instead of Rosemount.

West Regional

The West Regional has two D6 teams, two D2 teams, two D10 teams, one D8 team, and one D5 team.  The top seeded team in the West is Minnetonka.  The Skippers had a late season run with wins over Blaine, White Bear Lake, Rosemount, Prior Lake, OMG, Eden Prairie, and a 4-4 tie with Edina AA to get the Skippers the #1 seed to the West.  The only February flaw for the Skippers was a 9-2 loss to Rochester Red.

Minnetonka vs White Bear Lake

These two teams seemed to be making a late season run.  White Bear Lake made a run in the district playoffs to take the #1 seed away from regular season champion, Roseville.  The Skippers beat the Bears 7-4 in early February and should beat the Bears in the West opener at Anoka Friday.

Elk River vs Blaine

These two teams just played in the D10 playoff championship game.  Elk River won 5-2 to get D10’s regional seed.  The Elks also won the D10 regular season title.  Both teams are struggling this year and this game should be a close one.  The Elks edge the Bengals.

Sibley vs Buffalo

Sibley has a top line that opponents sometime assume is the key to the Warriors’ success.  That is a mistake.  The D8 playoff champs have depth at forward making them a tough team to beat when they are all there.  Sibley’s defense has improved over the season.  They will be playing a bunch of “cardiac kids” in Buffalo.  They have a strong defense and have a tendency to comeback in the final moments of a game to win.  Sibley should win; but if the Bison’s defense is “on”, it could become a nail biter.

Roseville vs Eden Prairie

Roseville stumbled in losing to Stillwater A 3-1 in a mid-January D2 game.  After that loss, the Raiders went on to put a 10-2-1 record together beating Wayzata 4-2, beating White Bear Lake twice (losing once), and tying Chaska AA 4-4.  They showed they could compete at the Big Pumpkin in October and again at Burnsville’s Thanksgiving Tourney.  Eden Prairie has been wildly up and down the past month.  It started with a big 10-2 loss to Edina AA, followed by a 4-1 win over Lakeville North, and followed by a 4-2 loss to OMG.  They went 4-5-3 in their last dozen games and ended the season scaring Edina AA before losing 4-2 in D6.  This game will likely be decided by the team that keeps its’ focus on hockey.  Both teams are capable of beating the other.  The nod here goes to Eden Prairie.

West Tourney Winners

Minnetonka should beat Elk River in the first semifinal played Saturday at Anoka.  In the second semifinal, Sibley edges Eden Prairie.  Sibley goes on to beat the Skippers and claim West’s #1 seed to the state tourney.  Roseville comes back to play Minnetonka in the final elimination game.  The Skippers win to claim the #2 seed.