The 2016-2017 Minnesota boys’ high school hockey season was responsible for some of the greatest storylines in recent years. 

Casey Mittelstadt returned to guide his Eden Prairie Eagles to a third-place finish, capping a remarkable prep career that culminated with being the eighth overall NHL draft pick in June.

There was the kissed-by-fate run by the Grand Rapids Thunderhawks, where Micah Miller teamed with Gavin Hain and Blake McLaughlin to form one of the most dynamic lines the state has ever seen. 

Class 1A juggernaut Hermantown, paced by Division I commits Dylan Samberg and Ryan Sandelin, was taken to double-overtime by a co-op team making its first trip to the main stage. No one in attendance on March 11, 2017, will soon forget the performance turned in by the Monticello-Annandale-Maple Lake Moose or the gutsy showing by Ben Ward and Nick Zwak in a fantastic defeat. 

But that’s the thing about high school hockey. It recycles. It regenerates. It moves on. 

The conversations that will carry Christmas parties and be had at the local Wal-Mart will feature different names, but will still revolve around a centric question; who’s number one?

Click the tabs for a preview of Youth Hockey Hub’s Class 2A Preseason Rankings.