The hour after publishing a set of rankings is one of those times you question why you even bother ranking teams in the first place. 

People chew through your work, spitting back at you with each bite with their own opinion of how your rankings should look. This team should be lower. This team should be higher. I know you ranked ten teams, but you should rank ten more. The list of angry, archived responses stretches longer than a roll of Howie's Hockey Tape.

I'll level with you. There is no secret to rankings. 

Rankings without a scientific or mathematical formula, no matter what anyone tells you, are subjective decisions made by human beings. Rankings are simply the result of gathered information and interpretation through processes unique to each person who dares to stack teams in order. 

That said, Youth Hockey Hub will attempt to highlight five teams from the girls and boys high school levels that may not have made the Staff Rankings in that particular week. The level will alternate each week between girls and boys.

So fire up your burner accounts, because the rankings hounds are getting another bone in which to sink their teeth.  

Centennial (5-1, Section 5-2A)

A young team helmed by first-year (with the program) coach Sean Molin, the Cougars have embraced their youth and gotten massive returns from its underclassmen, starting in goal. 

Freshman netminder Kaitlin Groess has been spectacular through the team's first six games, playing every minute while going 5-1 with a goals-against-average of 1.50 and a .947 save percentage. Groess has also posted two shutouts on the season, and her numbers make her one of the standout goaltenders in a conference that features fellow brick walls Brooke Cassibo of Maple Grove and Hailey Hansen. 

Offensively, sophomore Lauren O'Hara paces the team with five goals and 10 points, followed by junior Megan Goodreau's six goals and nine points. With a talented collection of seven freshmen and two eighth-graders can be found both at forward and on defense, and with the Cougars off to a hot start in 2021, the sky is the limit for the 2021-2022 season and beyond.

Gentry Academy (5-1, Section 5-1A)

Gentry drew some bad luck in its first season competing in the Minnesota State High School League's Class 1A, falling into Section 5 along with established power Breck and rising programs Chisago Lakes and Orono.

Nevertheless, the Stars have made quite a splash in year one, winning five of their first six games and suffering their only loss against a quality South St. Paul squad. A 2-0 win over preseason top-10 team Holy Family Catholic established the Stars as players this season, and the team has shown excellent balance, with 14 of 15 players recording at least one point so far. 

Senior forward Audrey Jackson (8-3-11) is tied with sophomore Cara Sajevic (7-4-11) for the team lead in scoring, with sophomore forward Alexa Hanrahan (2-7-9) and sophomore defender JuliAnna Gazdik (1-7-8) offering supplemental scoring.  

Lakeville South (4-1-1, Section 1-2A)

Bolstered by the transferring in of former Farmington star Claire Enright, the Cougars have one of the most explosive offenses in the South Suburban Conference, featuring the conference's leading scorer in junior forward and Minnesota State verbal commit Taylor Otremba (10-6-16) and the Minnesota verbal commit Enright (6-4-10). Junior forward Ryann Wright is also off to a hot start this season with two goals and 11 points, following a 2019-2020 campaign in which she notched 15 goals and 45 points.

Senior goaltender Lauren Sorvari has been stellar in her first season as a starter, earning a GAA of 1.70 and a .939 save percentage to go along with two shutouts.

With Sorvari taking care of the crease and the aforementioned trio piling up the points, the Cougars are in an excellent spot to make their first Class 2A State Tournament trip since 2018.  

Northfield (5-0, Section 1-2A)

The Big Nine Conference and the South Suburban are slugfests even during a typical season, but with COVID-19 restrictions condensing schedules and forcing teams to play more an area-based schedule (if possible), those two leagues could turn into all-out wars after the teams face each other a couple of times.

The Raiders, currently tops in the Big Nine with a 5-0 record, made back-to-back Class 2A State Tournament appearances in 2016 and 2017, and seem to have the pieces to make a return trip to the state's biggest stage later this spring. 

Junior defender Cambria Monson (2-7-9) and freshman forward Ayla Puppe (7-1-8) are building off strong performances during the 2019-2020 season, in which Monson totaled 19 points as a sophomore and Puppe recorded 11 goals and 25 points as an eighth-grader. Once last year's leading scorers Ava Stanchina and Minnesota State commit Jessica Boland get rolling, the Northfield offense could take off. 

Junior goaltender Maggie Malecha has provided sparkling play between the pipes for the Raiders, turning in a 5-0 record so far, and is tied for the Big Nine Conference lead with two shutouts.   

River Lakes (5-1-1, Section 6-1A)

Despite having its six-game unbeaten streak snapped in a 4-1 loss to Section 6-1A rival Fergus Falls on Feb. 2, River Lakes is considered one of the hottest teams in the state at the Class 1A level. 

The Stars' season has been highlighted by wins over 2019 Class 2A State Tournament runner-up Brainerd/Little Falls and Section 8-2A contender Alexandria, a pair of victories that beef up the River Lakes resume. 

Junior defender and Minnesota State verbal commit Kianna Roeske leads the team in scoring with seven goals and 10 points, consistently showing the skills and vision that make her a Division I-caliber player. From the blue line, Kianna is protecting another Roeske, eighth-grader Kaydence, the Stars' starting goaltender. Kaydence has posted some of the best numbers for a goaltender in the Central Lakes Conference, recording a GAA of 1.69 and a save percentage of .940.