2020 Minnesota High School Hockey Tournament

2020 Minnesota High School Hockey Tournament

Here we are again. Its tournament week. This will be my fourteenth year of covering the Minnesota Boys High School Hockey Tournament.

HOW DID WE GET HERE?
1A Mankato East beat Mankato West 3-1 to win their section. Matthew Salzle scored twice in the win. Salzle is second on the team in goals, assists and points. Layten Liffrig leads the team with 29 goals, 34 assists and 63 points on the season.

2A Delano defeated Robbinsdale Armstrong/Cooper 3-2 in their section final. Jesse Peterson scored the game winning goal in the second overtime. Peterson is tied with Will Brown for second with most goals (11) on the season. Adam Brown leads the team with 20 goals on the season.

3A Hutchinson blew out Litchfield/Dassel-Cokato 8-1 to win their section. Hayden Jensen had two goals and two assists in the win. Riley Anderson had a Play-Maker with three assists. Jensen second on the team in scoring (16). Austin Jozwick heads the team in scoring with 25 goals.

4A Mahtomedi downed South St Paul 5-1 to win their section. Ethan Petersen scored two goals on the night. Nikalai leads the team with 23 goals while Adam Johnson has a team leading 29 assists.

5A Monticello beat Pine City Area 6-4 to win their section. Huntley Hinz recorded the game winning goal. Jacob Sorensen had the Hat Trick. Jeffrey Henrickson added two goals in the night. He leads the team with 17 goals and 22 assists.

6A St. Cloud Cathedral blew out Alexandria 8-1 to win section 6A. Jack Smith had four goals. Mack Motzko netted two goals. Nate Warner had a goal and two assists. Blake Perbix had a Play Maker in the win. Perbix leads the team in goals (27) and assists (47) followed by Warner nad Motzko.

7A Hermantown shut out Duluth Denfield 6-0 to win their section. Blake Biondi had two goals and two assists in the route. Ethan Lund also had two goals and two assists. Ethan Lund recorded a Play Maker. Biondi leads the team in goals (37) and assists (39). Kilen is second in those categories and Lund is third in goals scored.

8A Warroad held East Grand Forks scoreless in a 4-0 win. Jayson Shaugabay scored two goals and one assist. Grant Slukynsky tallied one goal and two assists in the win. Slukynsky leads the team in goals (30) and assists (45). Shaugabay is 3rd in goals and 2nd assists.

1AA Lakeville South defeated Hastings 3-2 in overtime to advance to St. Paul. Cade Ahrenholz scored the game winning power play goal with assists by Jack Novak and Jack Malinski. The powerplay came about when Hastings John Chorlton was charged for hooking at the 2:01 mark. Ahrenholz leads Lakeville South in goals with 16 on the season. Zack Oelrich leads the team in assists with 24.

2AA John Mittelstadt scored the game winning goal in the second period to put Eden Prairie up 3-0. Chaska fought back in the third period but fell short losing 3-2 as the Eagles advanced. Goalie Axel Rosenlund had 28 saves as the Eagles were outshot 24-30. His save percentage is now .911. Ben Steeves leads the Eagles in goals with 30. He also had 20 assists to his credit including the game winning assist. John Mittelstadt is second in goals with 17 and leads the team in assists with 32. His brother Luke is second in assists with 24.

3AA Will Soderling scored in the second period to break the tie. Connor O’Brien would add an empty net goal in the third period as St. Thomas beat Burnsville 2-0. Tommy Aitken stopped 29 shots enroot to the shutout. Aitken has 2.07 goals against average and a .929 save percentage. Jackson Hallum leads the team in goals with 18 and has 17 assists on the season. Jarod Wright leads the team in assists with 18.

4AA Nick Pierre scored a shorthanded goal in the 3rd and Charlie Strobel had the assist as Hill Murray defeated White Bear Lake 3-2. Charlie Strobel leads the team in goals with 19 on the season. Joe Palodichuk leads the team in assists with 31. Remmington Keopple has 1.66 goals against average and has a .934 save percentage.

5AA Henry Nelson, Joshua Giuliani, and Chris Kernan scored goals as Maple Grove defeated Blaine 3-0. The Bengals outshot Maple Grove 45-28 as Jack Wieneke stood on his head to record the shutout. Sam Jacobs leads Maple Grove with 13 goals on the season. Henry Nelson has a team leading 20 assists.

6AA Blake defeated perennial power Edina to punch their ticket to the Section 6AA final against Benilde-St. Margret’s. In the 6AA championship game, both teams traded goals leading to a tie at the end of regulation. In overtime Benilde-St. Margret’s James Callahan was call for holding. Benilde-St. Margret’s goalie Carson Limesand had stopped over twice the amount of shots that his counterpart for Blake had. However, the ensuing penalty shot resulted in a goal Blake’s Gavin Best and the Section 6AA championship. Joe Miller leads Blake in goals (25) and assists (34). Jack Sabre is second in both categories. Best is third in both categories.

7AA The Andover goalie tandem of Will Larson and Wes Swenson had not allowed a goal in the last four games coming into the section 7AA final. In the championship game it was the Huskie offense that would do the damage putting up eight goals before Elk River/Zimmerman got on the board eliminating the shutout streak. Wyatt Kaiser earned a Play Maker on the night. Gunnar Thoreson had two goals and one assist. Luke Kron had two goals and one assist. Garrett Schifsky had one goal and two assists. Schifsky leads the team with 19 goals on the season. Hunter Jones had two assists on the evening. Jones leads the team in assists with 34.

8AA Caden Triggs had two goals including the game winner to lead Moorhead over Roseau to win Section 8AA. Cullen Gess lead the team in the assist department with two. Triggs leads the team in goals on the season with 30. Gess is second in goals with 14 and first in assists with 34.

SEEDINGS
Class A
1. Warroad
2. St Cloud Cathedral
3. Hermantown
4. Mahtomedi
5. Delano
6. Monticello
7. Mankato East/Loyola
8. Hutchinson

Class AA
1. Andover
2. Blake
3. Eden Prairie
4. Moorhead
5. Hill-Murray
6. Lakeville South
7. Maple Grove
8. St Thomas

PREDICTIONS: WHO’S GONNA WIN IT?
CLASS A:
The first game of opening day features St. Cloud Cathedral and Mankato East. St. Cloud Cathedral has lost only three times this season. Mankato East lost six times in their final nine games of the regular season. I am picking St. Cloud Cathedral to advance to Friday.

The second game of the day features Hermantown and Monticello. The Moose have seven losses on the season. Hermantown has only three. Hermantown for the win and to advance.

The first game of the second session on opening features Warroad and Hutchinson. Warroad has had a stellar season so for only losing to Roseau. They will continue their winning ways and advance to Friday.

The final game of the day is Mahtomedi and Delano. Mahtomedi has eight losses on the season. Delano has six losses. They are riding a twelve-game winning streak dating back January 14. Delano advances to take on Warroad.

On the first game of the day Friday I believe we will see Hermantown and St. Cloud Cathedral. Earlier this season on January 3rd, the teams tied in Hermantown. Looking at the numbers, both teams are close. St. Cloud Cathedral puts up just a few more goals but Hermantown is a little stronger in the goal. I am picking Hermantown to advance.

The second game of the day Friday features Delano and Warroad. I have a difficult time picking against Warroad after seeing them in person. I believe the Warriors with advance and take on the Hawks on Championship Saturday.

I believe this is Warroad’s year. Their first seed is well deserved, and they will prove the committee right by winning it all.

CLASS AA:
The first game of the day Thursday will feature a rematch of Blake’s and Maple Grove’s final game of the regular season. The game went to overtime where Maple Grove’s Sawyer Skanson scored with an assist from Spencer Dahlquist. Maple Grove outshot Blake 36-32 that night at home. In their section final, Maple Grove’s Jack Wieneke stood on his head to record the shutout. I was there and it was impressive. Maple Grove for the upset over Blake to advance to Friday.

The second game of the day features Eden Prairie and Lakeville South. I believe that Eden Prairie is just the better team. The Eagles advance to Friday.

The second to last game on Thursday features three loss Andover against eight loss St. Thomas Academy. The Huskies have not lost since January 7th. They win this one and advance.

The final game of the day features Moorhead against Hill-Murray. While I was setting up for the 5AA final I took in the final moments of Hill-Murray’s practice. This team strikes me as a very sharp well-organized team on a mission. Hill-Murray won their only meeting of the season with Moorhead on a goal by Matthew Fleischhacker. Moorehead outshot Hill-Murray 30-24 but Remmington Keopple made 27 saves on the night. He has a 1.66 goals against average and has a .934 save percentage this season. Hill-Murray will win and advance to the semifinals.

Friday’s first AA semi final will most likely feature Eden Prairie and Maple Grove. While Maple Grove may have the hot goalie. I believe Eden Prairie will get the win with proven goal scorers and strong goaltending in Axel Rosenlund. The Eagles will advance to Saturday.

In the final game of the evening, Andover will take on Hill-Murray. The Huskies continue their winning streak and advance to Play Eden Prairie on Saturday.

On Championship Saturday Eden Prairie will take on Andover. It should be a good game. Andover’s girl’s hockey team won the school’s first state championship in any sport two weeks ago when they beat Edina. This Saturday the school will win their second state championship by beating another team from the Southwest Metro in Eden Prairie.

Below is a copy of my brackets:

CREDITS
There are several websites that I used for this article and you can use to follow the action at the X this week.
The official league website: mshsl.org
The site to view live streaming of the games: prep45.com
Great articles, stats and coverage on Minnesota High School Hockey: mnhockeyhub.com
Wiki history of the state tournament:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_school_boys_ice_hockey_in_Minnesota