By next Monday at Noon, most of the Boys high school Sections will be narrowed down to two teams, all of the youth Regional seeds will be announced and the excitement for the game will be at an all time high. The formula for all levels is pretty much the same...have a good league record, play hard in the playoffs and make it to state. This year is no different, teams finishing in the top 2-3 in their league all are doing well in district play and will likely be a factor in Section/Region play of the next 10 or so days.

Over those days, there will so much action! We can't wait to cover it.

Last week the outstate teams crowned their District champions at all levels. The metro teams began their playoffs last weekend and because of shorter travel distances, they will play games all week and into the weekend to crown their winners. At the A and B levels, a team needs to play their way into the equation in District play. Last Sunday, Orono needed three overtimes to beat #4 Armstrong and gain a spot in Regions. There will be several more of these "games that matter". Our favorite games this year are in District 6 and 3. Arguably two of the toughest districts in the state, D6 gets only two seeds to Regions this year, making every game so important. In Bantam B, D6 has three top 10 teams, one and maybe two may not make it out of District play. In District 3, the story is the same. The District three playoffs have seen some of the most exciting games of the year...several overtime games already and it is only Tuesday.

And the upsets, just seem to roll in by the minute. Centennial beat both Elk River and North Branch in Bantam B. We expect a lot more of the same in the enigmatic PeeWee level as the week drags on.

So many great sectional games on tap this week and this weekend. How about the first round game between Holy Family and Benilde St. Margarets on Thursday...two teams with State Tourney talent playing for their lives in the first round.

Or, this Saturday at Amsoil in Duluth, the two semifinal games with likely matchups between rivals STMA and Elk River in one game and Duluth East and Grand Rapids in the other!!!

Section 3A is turning into one of the more talked about sections of the 16 to watch this year. Luverne is the number one seed, but having lost to number 3 New Ulm recently suggest that it could be some wide open hockey at Gustavus in the next week.

Hermantown and East Grand Forks seem to be on a crash course for this year's final in A, as do Lakeville South and Edina in AA. That said, teams that should not be over looked are Mahtomedi in class A and whoever comes out of Section 6 in AA. Mahtomedi is as good as any team in the state and they have a massive student section that can be a game changer (think, St. Thomas Academy but add girls).

Next Monday, the MN Hockey Coaches Committee will select 24 teams to the Metro Regionals. Stay tune to YHH on Thursday, we will hand out our final Bracketology to Premium subscribers for who we think will get in and who will not. The fun part of the equation is the teams who are OUT and still have hopes of winning their League Playoff and gaining an automatic bid (see Forest Lake Bantams in District 2)...or teams that were on the bubble and play their way in with a good showing playoffs (see Lakeville South in Bantams).

The committee will have their hands full. Several teams who rank high in our NOW Rankings may be surprised at their seed and vice versa on teams that rank low. Last year, the committee ran by Tim Timm got rave reviews on their process and where the seeds shook out.