1AA

Lakeville South and Lakeville North earn the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds, respectively, although none of the top four seeds are safe in this section. 

Preseason section favorite Northfield slips to No. 4 seed after falling to No. 3 seed Owatonna for the second time this season. A win for the Raiders would have earned a season-split with the Huskies, and could have pushed last season's Section 1AA champ into the No. 3 slot. 

2AA 

It's a two-horse race in Section 2AA between top-seeded Minnetonka and No. 2 seed Holy Family. 

The teams met earlier this year in the finals of the Walser Holiday Invitational, which turned into a penalty fest that featured a combined 49 penalty minutes and 15 infractions between the two teams. 

Outside of the penalty box parade, the previous contest featured fast-paced action and 77 total shots on goal, and ended 3-1 in favor of the Skippers. 

Hopefully, fans will see more of the offense and less of the penalty kill should the teams meet in the section final. 

3AA 

This section is Apple Valley's to lose, but anything can happen in a section whose No. 2 seed (Rosemount) was thumped by Section 1AA's No. 5 seed (Farmington) 5-1 on Feb. 4. 

With the goaltender who undid Apple Valley's state tournament hopes (former Burnsville netminder Addison Oettinger) safely out of the section after transferring to Lakeville North prior to the 2022-2023 campaign, the Eagles have St. Paul in their sights. 

4AA 

Underappreciated Aldrich Arena (described as a "dump" by some uncultured folks) will get to host the best section in the state if you use YHH's Staff Rankings as the best metric. 

Three of the state's top-10 teams highlight Section 4AA, with top-ranked Hill-Murray drawing the top spot. No. 5-2A Gentry Academy is the second seed, and No. 9-2A Stillwater comes in as the No. 3 seed. 

Overtime decided last year's section champion, and 2023's Section 4AA finale could certainly come down to the same fate. 

Side note: Roseville/Mahtomedi is a quality No. 4 seed. Four of the Marauders' seven losses have come against teams that have spent time in the top 10 of Class AA and Class A. 

5AA 

To be determined as of date/time of publishing.  

6AA 

LOL. 

Blake (14-11) earns the No. 1 seed after pulling off one-goal wins over section foes Edina (No. 2 seed) and Benilde-St. Margaret's (No. 3 seed) during the regular season. 

The top two scorers for the Bears, senior forwards Suzy Higuchi and Sam Broz, have accounted for 62 of the team's 89 goals this season. Higuchi has 32 tallies, and Broz has 30. The next-highest goal-scorer on the team has FOUR. 

Freshman goalie Janie McGawn is a stud, and her numbers (.937 save percentage, three shutouts) bear that out. The Bears are also playing without Dartmouth commit Ellie Morrison, who has been sidelined for all but three games this season due to injury. 

If the Bears scrap their way through the Hornets and Red Knights, Channel 45's cameras will be all over the little school with big dreams on the edge of downtown Minneapolis. 

7AA 

Andover. 

8AA 

Battle-tested Moorhead takes the top seed, with Roseau coming in as a more-than-suitable No. 2. 

Of the Spuds' eight losses on the season, all have come against teams that have been ranked in Class AA or Class A at some point this season. More impressively, seven of those eight losses have come against teams that were ranked No. 1 in either class at one time or another. 

Roseau took Moorhead to overtime in the teams' latest meeting, and the young Rams have nothing to lose as we enter the single-elimination portion of the 2022-2023 season.