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Moose Goheen Preview and Predictions

By Tony Scott, 01/29/15, 2:00PM CST

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Top PeeWee and Bantam Teams shoot for the little white bear

The final turn to home, starts in White Bear


Kiron Morioka is one reason picks the Storm to take the Bear on Sunday

The final 6 weeks of hockey represents the final turn toward the ultimate prize - the MN Hockey State Championship. This year, the PeeWee AA tourney will be held in Woodbury and the top metro kids in Bantams will head north to play in Duluth. The Moose Goheen is the last invitational tournament of the year before teams gear up for District Playoffs and ultimately Regionals. MN Hockey will announce their 24 seeds on Monday, February 23 to be played all over the state. The Moose Goheen is generally one of the last stops of the year to upgrade your seed. Last year, Minnetonka beat Prior Lake and elevated their status from a 6-7 seed to a 3-4 seed. Edina was below .500 in January of 2014. Their route to a third place finish in state started with a Moose Goheen win last year over rival Wayzata.

This year is no different...teams are starting to crest at the right times. Different from last year, none of the top seeds (1-3) seeds are secure. This weekend might do a nice job of clearing the picture.

PeeWee AA


If Edina wins the Moose Sunday, watch for Ben Dexheimer on the wrap around

The PeeWee AA field is a 12 team pool play to final four format. The field is loaded and pretty well balanced, with the B pool being the toughest pairing a very good Andover team with the state's #2 and #3 teams Edina and Rosemount. Pool Winners and one Wild card advance to the Final four on Sunday morning. 

Pool A: Blaine, Prior Lake, Minneapolis, and Woodbury...each pool in the tourney has a top team and then a few really tough teams with something to prove. Minneapolis is the current #1 team, they will face Blaine and Prior Lake, both teams that have shown a great deal of promise this year...especially the Bengals who come in 31-10-8 and ranked #7 in the NOW Rankings and #6 in the Staff Rankings. Don't teams shouldn't overlook the Lakers, they took second last year when some overlooked them.

The Call: Minneapolis

Pool B: Andover, Edina, Rosemount, and Centennial...the Edina vs. Rosemount game Friday night really tells the story of this pool, these two teams have a strong chance at the Wild Card if they can manage their goal differential in both the Friday game and their subsequent other games. Once you lose, you are always at the mercy of other teams.

The Call: Edina

Pool C: White Bear Lake, Osseo Maple Grove, Duluth East, and Eden Prairie...pretty balanced pool, with the very slight edge to OMG. They will be tested in all three games. EP has beaten the Crimson, Duluth East has made major strides since their last meeting at the BIG Pumpkin, and the WBL game should be a great matchup for the two top teams. Because balance, it is doubtful that the runner up in Pool B gets a Wild Card.

The Call: White Bear Lake

Wild Card: The WC will come down to Blaine and Rosemount. Flip a coin, the coin comes up Rosemount.

Final Four: Minneapolis > Rosemount, Edina > White Bear Lake
Champion: Minneapolis


Tommy Shandorf and Rosemount won't need the luck of the Irish to win the Moose.

Bantam AA


For Edina to repeat as Moose Champs, Lewis Crosby will have to be bigger than life.

The Bantam AA field is a 12 team pool play to final four format. The field is loaded and about as off balanced as a pool as you will find, with the A and B loaded with T10 teams. The A Pool has #2 Centennial and #6 Minnetonka and the B Pool has #1 Edina, #3 Elk River, and #7 Prior Lake, plus OMG who has spent several weeks in the T10. The C pool has host White Bear (#17 NOW Rankings), Jefferson (NOW Ranked #11), Hermantown (#31 NOW), and Woodbury (#34 NOW). Pool Winners and one Wild card advance to the Final four on Sunday morning. 

Pool A: Minnetonka, Duluth East, Centennial and Eden Prairie...The Tonka/Centennial game Saturday morning should be great. The Winner has an inside track to a #1 or #2 seed Sunday. Centennial might be the most talented team in Minnesota, they will win their pool and challenge late into the tourney Sunday.

The Call: Centennial

Pool B: Edina, Elk River, Osseo Maple Grove, Prior Lake...as mentioned earlier this is a great pool...any or all of these teams could be in Duluth come the state tourney and they are fighting it out in the same pool. This Edina team is playing really well right now, they will go 3-0 in the pool and advance.

The Call: Edina

Pool C: White Bear Lake, Bloomington Jefferson, Hermantown, and Woodbury...the Jags are the best team on paper, but they have been inconsistent (beat Edina in Edina Invite, but lost to Sibley 3X). Coming into the season White Bear looked to be one of the best teams in Minnesota but have not been able to get over the edge on any great teams...Tyler Watkins might be the best player in the state this year, if he can muster up 10+ points in Pool Play, the Hawks will have a chance.

The Call: Bloomington Jefferson

Wild Card: The WC will come down to Tonka and White Bear Lake..slight edge to the Skippers

Final Four: Edina > Tonka, Centennial > Jefferson
Champ: Edina > Centennial (re-match of Spirit of Duluth)


Jefferson, The Edina Invite Champs, might make some noise coming out of Pool C

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