Last Summer, Minnesota agreed to change their AA Region Selection process to performance process versus by District process, as it has been done for years.  The process still selects 32 teams to Regionals, but this year, the Northern districts will receive two slots for their eight seeds. North is defined by Districts 11, 12, 15, and 15.  The Metro is defined by the six Metro districts and District 9 (SE Minnesota).  District 4, SW Minnesota, does not have a AA team in it's District this year. 

Minnesota Hockey chose to give automatic bids to Regions to one team from each of these Districts (seven total).  The remaining 17 slots will be determined by a committee composed of seven coaches and a members of the MNH Tournament Committee. As of Christmas, here is how we think 24 bids will look. 

Automatic Bids

District 2 = Stillwater
District 3 = Wayzata
District 5 = STMA
District 6 = Eden Prairie
District 8 = Lakeville South
District 9 = Rochester
District 10 = Elk River

17 At Large Bids

District 2

WBL and Forest Lake

District 3

OMG

District 5

MAML, St. Cloud and Buffalo

District 6

Prior Lake, Tonka, Edina, Jefferson and Burnsville

District 8

Lakeville North, Woodbury and Eastview

District 10

Centennial, Blaine and Anoka

Last 4 In: Eastview, Forest Lake, Buffalo, and Burnsville

Last 4 Out: Chaska/Chan, Rogers, Eagan, and Sibley

No matter what the experts at Minnesota Hockey say, we think there will be some district balance amongst teams.  Meaning some teams may get in that may not be as deserving as others.  There will certainly be some controversy when the teams come out on February 24, like any selection process. Chaska/Chan is currently the lowest ranked D6 team. We think no matter how strong District 6 is this year, the Committee won't take all seven teams from D6. The StormHawks can earn their way in with a two wins over Jefferson (or any other D6 opponent) in D6 play (note: they have split with Burnsville already...Burnsville currently has more quality wins than CC). Eastview is the stronger of the remaining D8 teams, but a lot will be determined in the D8 regular season and playoffs to shake things out south of the river. Buffalo sneaks in based on geography and a high winning percentage. Forest Lake is in today, but needs to have a good second half in order to lock themselves in with the Committee.