MINNESOTA HIGH SCHOOL CLASS ‘AA’ STATE TOURNEY PREVIEW AND MATCHUPS
For the second consecutive season there will be a new State Champion crowned at the Excel Energy Center as the Edina Hornets were knocked out of their section in the semi-finals. The tourney this year has a lot of anticipation as the parity is uncanny! Every team in the tournament outside of St. Thomas Academy comes in with 20 or more wins and as a #1 or #2 seed. By the way, St. Thomas has won 13 of their last 14 games and has 18 wins. We look forward to seeing some nail bitters in St. Paul this week as the 2020 State Tournament should delivery some drama.
The Andover Huskies come in as the favorites to take home their 1st ever State Title, but there are plenty of teams that are loaded up with firepower ready to knock off the Huskies. Eden Prairie and Blake are great teams and are more than capable of putting together 3 consecutive wins. The dark horses of Moorhead and Hill-Murray are stingy defensively and boast the best goaltenders in the tournament and should be very difficult outs for anyone they face. Maple Grove, Lakeville South and St. Thomas Academy make up the rest of the field and are all younger groups that have shown they know how to win consistently.
NZ PREDICTION (ANDOVER)
This is an extremely difficult winner to pick due to the depth of the field and the single elimination format. We like the Huskies in dramatic fashion. They have won 15 games in a row and their only 3 loses this season were by 1 goal. They are a tight group that has stuck together and plays a strong team game. Eden Prairie, Blake and Hill-Murray may have enough depth and talent to knock them off but we will stick with the favorites on this one.
Here is the tale of the tape for all the teams and their players to watch:
ANDOVER #1 SEED (SECTION 7AA/24-3-1) – The Huskies are motivated and primed to win their first ever State Title with a tight nit group. They have depth and most off all have dominated special teams this season with a 41.6% on the power play. To go along with that, they have an 87.9% on the penalty kill which makes them very hard to score on. Wins against Maple Grove, Blake and Moorhead have them battle tested to try and complete their mission.
PLAYER WATCH: (F) Hunter Jones (11-38-49), (F) Luke Kron (15-26-41), (F) Gunnar Thoreson (16-28-42), (F) Harrison VanderMey (16G), (F) Garrett Schifsky (22G), (D) Wyatt Kaiser (39pts), (D) Mitchell Wolfe (38pts).
BLAKE #2 SEED (SECTION 6AA/22-6-0) – The Bears have been piling up the goals as of late and averaged 6 GAA in the toughest section in the state. Their power play is clicking at 38.9%, which makes them very dangerous for undisciplined opponents. They have played a tough schedule and have a 1-1 record against Andover this year.
PLAYER WATCH: (F) Joe Miller (28-43-71), (F) Jack Sabre (19-31-50), (F) Gavin Best (19-31-50), (F) William Matzke (26pts), (F) Brett Witzke (23pts), (D) Ben Dexheimer (29pts).
EDEN PRAIRIE #3 SEED (SECTION 2AA/22-5-1) – The Eagles are very dangerous with their high end skill and can raddle off 3 wins in the blink of an eye. If they get confident and play with a lead they will be so difficult to eliminate. They have gotten great production out of special teams while killing 88% of all penalties taken. They have an older group that is tested and should be a factor if they get hot at the right time. However, they are 0-2-1 against all opponents played in the tourney during the regular season. Don’t sleep on their high end talent though!
PLAYER WATCH: (F) Ben Steeves (33-24-57), (F) John Mittelstadt (19-38-57), (F) Jackson Blake (10GP/6-10-16), (F) Drew Holt (31pts), (F) Carter Batchelder (27pts), (D) Luke Mittelstadt (29pts), (D) Mason Langenbrunner (20pts).
MOORHEAD #4 SEED (SECTION 8AA/21-5-1) – The northern squad plays very hard and doesn’t give anything up for free. They bolster great goaltending and play together as a unit extremely well. The Spuds have only given up 1.96 GPG this year with a tough schedule, which gives them a fighting chance against anyone.
PLAYER WATCH: (F) Cullen Gess (16-39-55), (F) Caden Triggs (34-21-55), (F) Carter Johnson (14-34-48), (D) Luke Gramer (7-25-32), (G) Hudson Hodges (92.7 SV%/1.88 GAA).
HILL-MURRAY #5 SEED (SECTION 4AA/19-6-3) – The Pioneers ironically are very similar to their quarterfinals opponent Moorhead. They have great goaltending and have only given up 1.64 GPG this season. Their resume shows great wins against Blake (7-1), Maple Grove (4-1) and Moorhead (4-3). They beat Moorhead on the road in the last game of the regular season and find themselves with a huge rematch.
PLAYER WATCH: (F) Nick Pierre (23-29-52), (F) Charlie Strobel (23-25-48), (D) Joe Palodichuk (37pts), (G) Remington Keopple (93.4 SV%/1.62 GAA).
LAKEVILLE SOUTH (SECTION 1AA/21-7-0) – The young Cougars come in with confidence as they have won 11 of their last 12 games and are looking to make some noise. This is a team that will return almost all of their talent next season, but they are currently looking to make a name for themselves in the 2020 State Tourney. Strong depth and timely scoring has them primed to knock off Eden Prairie.
PLAYER WATCH: (F) Zack Oelrich (17-26-43), (F) Cam Boche (12-25-37), (F) Cade Ahrenholz (18-15-33), (D) Griffin Ludtke (25pts), (D) Jack Malinski (24pts), (G) Cody Ticen (92.7 SV%/1.74 GAA).
MAPLE GROVE (SECTION 5AA/20-8-0) – The Crimson team is without their best player in (JR./F) Kyle Kukkonen due to injury along with losing (D) Brock Faber, (D) Connor Kelley and (F) Justin Janicke all to the USNTDP in the last two seasons. Don’t take this group for granted as they have numerous players who have won State Titles at the Bantam AA level and know how to win. It has given other players opportunity and they have seized it. This is a team that was 3-3 this year against Moorhead, Andover (two games), Lakeville South, Hill-Murray and Blake.
PLAYER WATCH: (F) Sam Jacobs (31pts), (F) Chris Kernan (26pts), (F) Tyler Oakland (25pts), (F) Cal Thomas (24pts), (F) Landen Gunderson (21pts), (D) Henry Nelson (31pts).
ST. THOMAS ACADEMY (SECTION 3AA/18-8-2) – The lowest seed to make the tournament this year just happens to be one of the hottest squads. The Cadets come in with nothing to lose, which makes for a team that nobody wants to play. They skated to ties with Eden Prairie and Hill-Murray during the regular season which shows their worth. This is a team that has clamped down defensively as of late and only average 1 GA in section play.
PLAYER WATCH: (F) Jackson Hallum (18-19-52), (F) Jared Wright (7-19-26), (D) Andrew Boemer (21pts), (G) Tommy Aitken (93.6 SV%/1.84 GAA).
Photo Credit: Dan Hickling/Hickling Images
