1. Centennial/Spring Lake Park (16-2-1) 

Without leading scorer Laini Gentz, the Cougars cruised to wins over Blaine 6-0 and (just outside the top-10) Farmington 4-1 last week. The trio of Jozie Kelzenberg, Mia Sutch, and Avery Wagner has so far collectively stepped up in Gnetz’s absence. Kelzenberg totaled five goals and six points last week, Sutch recorded five assists, and the freshman Wagner scored two goals and added three assists. In her previous three games, Wagner has nine points. 

2. Holy Family (16-1) 

The Fire had 10 days to digest suffering its first loss of the season against Centennial/Spring Lake Park in the Walser Invitational final, and rebounded nicely with a 14-0 win over Delano/Rockford last Friday. Ella Nonweiler, Taryn Richter, Audrey Nichols, and Allie DeFauw each totaled four points in the win. 

Like a few other teams in this week’s ranking, Holy Family is playing without its full lineup, as defender Katya Sander and forward Maddy Kimbrel lace their skates for Team USA in the IIHF U18 Women’s World Championships in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. 

The Fire will take on Class A power Dodge County, top-10 Class A program Westonka/Southwest Christian, and No. 1-2A Centennial/Spring Lake Park - and possibly Orono - before the duo returns. 

3. Hill-Murray (17-2) 

No Emily Pohl and no Addy McLay? No problem for the Pioneers, who beat Hastings and Dodge County last week by a combined score of 17-1. Consistently lethal on the power play, the Pioneers went 5-for-9 last week and are currently converting at 54.8 percent with the player advantage. 

Bemidji and Warroad are up next this weekend for Hill-Murray. 

4. Minnetonka (13-1-4) 

Since the last batch of rankings, the Skippers earned shutouts over Maple Grove (5-0) and Hopkins/Park (11-0). Routine. By the end of next week, the Skippers could have a ridiculous 13 players with 10 or more points on the season. 

The performance of Ty Jabs should not be lost among the scoring. The junior goaltender has a 1.16 goals-against-average and a .928 save percentage to go along with five shutouts after riding the bench for two seasons behind a pair of players who are playing Division I hockey now in Ashlyn Hazlett and Layla Hemp. 

5. Edina (12-4-2) 

The Hornets gutted out a 4-2 win over Lake Conference and Section 6AA rival Wayzata and a 2-1 victory over another conference rival, North Wright County, on Saturday. The Hornets will face the RiverHawks again on Tuesday. 

Numbers don’t tell the whole story, and I’m not about to pay for a LiveBarn subscription, but two stats jump out at me. One, the Hornets outshot the Trojans 42-14 and the River Hawks 31-11, yet only outscored the opposition by three. Two, the Hornets took 12 penalties, six in each contest. They weren’t alone in the parade to the box, but handing your opponent six chances to score on a power play could come back to bite them against teams with more firepower. 

6. Wayzata (14-3-1) 

The Trojans have bumped up after two Bemidji losses to previously unranked teams, Woodbury and River Cities. In addition to the Edina loss, the Trojans beat Hopkins/Park and Eden Prairie, giving them eight wins in their last nine games. 

Buffalo and North Wright County are on deck for this week. 

7. River Cities (11-7) 

No. 7 is by far the toughest place to put anyone this week, but River Cities gets the nod after being previously No. 6-2A Bemidji and No. 10-2A Andover in the same week. 

River Cities is an interesting squad. Talented, gritty, aggressive. Seven losses are the most of any team in the top-10 this week, but they’ve come against Maple Grove, Hill-Murray, Minnetonka, and Woodbury. Twice, River Cities took Centennial/Spring Lake Park to the edge, coming up short by a single goal in two meetings. 

The only glaring defeat came against Roseville/Mahtomedi, a game that included six penalties against River Cities in the third period alone, according to the MN Girls’ Hockey Hub. 

8. Woodbury (18-0-1) 

The Royals are in. Welcome aboard. 

A Jan. 8 win over Benilde-St. Margaret’s gives the Royals their first win over a ranked Class AA team, and they now have a very real chance at finishing the regular season undefeated…which could, in turn, set the stage for a second consecutive No. 1 seed in Section 4AA. 

If someone can get me into that meeting, or accidentally add me to the group text or email when the Section 4AA coaches decide on seeding, I’d be eternally grateful. 

For now, Woodbury is riding high. 

I expect my key to the city within the week. 

9. Bemidji (14-3) 

Like a couple of the teams listed above, Bemidji is learning to play without its catalyst. Bailey Rupp is with Team USA, and the Lumberjacks clearly miss their leading scorer. Who wouldn’t? 

The win over Warroad is nice, and helps soften the blow of losing to unranked Grand Rapids/Greenway and (previously) unranked River Cities, but Bemidji will be without Rupp against Hill-Murray and Orono. 

If Rupp is back for the Jan. 20 date with Section 8AA rival Moorhead, the Lumberjacks should be favored. If she’s still on a plane with a medal around her neck, the top seed in the section is up for grabs. 

10. Maple Grove (12-6) 

Winners of four of its last five, Maple Grove still drops a spot based on the exploits of River Cities and Woodbury. 

There’s nothing new to report about the Crimson. They still have quality defense and goaltending, and they still struggle to score goals. At the moment, Maple Grove is second-to-last in the Lake Conference in goals scored, tied with Buffalo and behind Hopkins Park and North Wright County. The combined record of those three teams is 18-25- 2. 

1. Breck (14-1-1) 

Not only did Breck pick up two wins last week, but the victories also came against quality opponents, with a 5-2 win over Orono and a 2-0 win over Blake. The win over the Bears is the second time in less than two weeks that the Mustangs have beaten arguably their chief rivals. 

Despite the team’s leading scorer registering 26 points, nine players have totaled 10 or more points this season, indicating outstanding depth for the Mustangs. Coupled with goaltender Clara Milinkovich, that combination could carry the Mustangs to a Class A State Tournament semifinal appearance. 

2. Warroad (15-3) 

The Warriors had their 12-game winning streak halted in a 2-0 loss to Bemidji. The loss in itself isn’t particularly alarming, but being shutout by a team missing its best player and going 0-4 on the power play isn’t…great. 

Thief River Falls, Orono, and Hill-Murray are up next as the Warriors prepare for another (likely) top-seeded run in the Section 8A playoffs. 

3. Blake (14-4) 

A win over Northfield was followed by a (second) loss to Breck last week, but the Bears are still in the driver’s seat for the No. 1 seed in Section 4A. The Bears are on the road for four of their last seven games of the season, with a home game against South St. Paul followed by a trip to Gentry Academy this week. 

4. Dodge County (13-4-1) 

Dodge County’s loss to Hill-Murray is better than Proctor/Hermantown’s loss to Duluth. That’s as simple as I can make the explanation for the teams swapping spots this week. 

20 wins is still a possibility for the Wildcats, but not likely, considering No. 2-2A Holy Family is on tap for Jan. 13. Should the Wildcats pull off that win and then take care of business the rest of the way, they could be in the running for the No. 1 seed in the Class A State Tournament if they make it through section play. 

5. Proctor/Hermantown (11-4-2) 

The Mirage were surprised by Duluth last week in a 3-2 overtime loss, which could (hopefully) be the impetus for a girls’ hockey rivalry in the Twin Ports area. The Mirage rebounded with an 11-0 win over Pine City, led by Mya Gunderson’s four goals and Grace Nichols’ five assists and six points. 

6. Mankato East (16-1-1) 

With wins over Owatonna and Lakeville North last week, the Cougars are on track for one of their best seasons in program history. On paper, the Cougars should be favored in six of their last seven contests, with a second date against Northfield the only game where they may be the underdog. 

A road tilt with Albert Lea is no picnic, but the Cougars handed the Tigers a 5-1 loss earlier in the season, making a final regular season mark of 23-1-1 a real possibility. 

7. Marshall (17-4) 

Shutouts over Fairmont and Willmar push the Tigers ahead of Westonka/Southwest Christian this week, with the White Hawks’ loss to unranked Gentry Academy outweighing their overtime win over Marshall in mid-December. 

With at least five games guaranteed, Brooklyn Mauch has already surpassed last season’s scoring total with 52 goals in 21 games, and Peyton DeMuth has surpassed the 20-goal mark after last week’s victories. 

If there’s one bone to pick here, it’s that the Tigers could use one more potent scoring threat outside of Mauch and DeMuth. Elsie Deutz (11 goals) could be the answer with the postseason on the horizon. 

8. Westonka/Southwest Christian (9-6-3) 

The White Hawks are who Denny Green thought they were: a team with a pedestrian record, who nobody in their right mind wants to face in a loser-goes-home game. 

Four of the White Hawks’ six losses have been by two goals or fewer, and four have come against ranked opponents in Class A or Class AA. 

Hutchinson and No. 2-2A Holy Family are on the schedule this week. 

9. North Shore (12-6) 

North Shore played one game last week, holding on for a 1-0 win over Hayward (WI). The Storm is now 9-2 in its previous 11 games, and could cause some problems in Section 7A despite an 8-2 loss to section favorite Proctor/Hermantown on its books. 

10. Orono (9-9-1) 

Minnesota River is hovering just outside the top-10, but after losing to Luverne, the Spartans get the nod at No. 10 in Class A. 

The Spartans bounced back after a 5-2 loss to Breck with a 6-1 win over New Prague, the fifth time they’ve scored five or more goals in a game this season. 

No team in the state may have a tougher three-game stretch ahead of them than Orono, which will go head-to-head with Warroad, Bemidji, and Holy Family in five days this week. 

Quite a swirl of teams this week and most of the wind came off of Lake Superior. Some teams jumped due to a strong showing in Duluth, some went down a rung or two (or four). 

Alex loses to Edina, but gets two good wins over OMG and Tonka. Duluth split with Alex the week prior, tied and beat OMG and lost to Edina in a shootout. Both these teams climbed the ladder for good reason.

Wayzata beats Edina White at the Super Rink for the second time for a tournament title in two weeks...de ja vu!

The new week brings a new #1 as we are moving Chaska/Chanhassen up after a solid four win week. #2 Rochester picks up the tourney win at the St Louis Park Winter Classic. Edina White is moving to #3 after a loss in the Mounds View/Irondale tournament. Alexandria moves up to #5 after winning the Duluth Icebreakers tournament this past weekend. We have a new member at #10 in Bloomington/Eden Prairie Red after a good week. A couple of teams were gunning for this spot in Hastings picking up some steam as well as Blaine/Rogers.

Two of the state's best won big tournaments this weekend. Edina wins the St. Luke's Icebreaker in Duluth knocking off OMG. Speaking of OMG, Chaska Chan won the OMG Cabin Fever tourney - without OMG participating - beating Stillwater in the finals. 

A few results of note over the past week. Blaine beats CENT/SLP but falls to a wily Elk River team. 

Our Top 4 remain the same this week with a shoutout to #1 Edina Gold for picking up a tournament win at the Icebreakers in Duluth. After some debate and looking at records we have some flipping going on towards the bottom half of the rankings. Wayzata Gold and Chaska/Chanhassen are sliding up to #5 and #6 respectively on the heels of now #7 Hutchinson losing to Wayzata Blue. With their head-to-head loss Orono/Westonka stay just behind Hutchinson. Farmington was idle this week but drops to number #10 for now as they inch closer to .500 but their Strength of Schedule is helping them hold onto the Top 10 for now.

Not a ton of movement this week at 10A, but there are some great wins at the top. Edina Green won four 1-goal games in Duluth to win the St. Luke's Icebreaker. They remain at # 3 behind Edina White and Orono Westonka.

This one is slowly getting a little easier to rank, Woodbury Gold was idle this week holding onto the #1 spot, as well as Osseo/Maple Grove Black at #2. We are moving Wayzata Gold up to #3 given they tied O/MG Black last week so should be right next to them in the rankings. Cannon River slides up one position to #7 this week after winning the Duluth Icebreakers Tournament. Chaska/Chanhassen joins the mix at #8 after defeating a previously Top Ten team Eden Prairie. They are getting the edge over Orono/Westonka via a head-to-head win and Strength of Schedule over Stillwater Red.