MINNESOTA HIGH SCHOOL CLASS ‘A’ STATE TOURNEY PREVIEW AND PREDICTION
There are a ton of familiar faces that we know very well in the tournament this season and a strong northern feel to it. St. Cloud Cathedral comes into the tournament looking to win back-to-back State Titles but will be highly tested by from the northern boys from Warroad and Hermantown. All three of these teams have played strong schedules during the season and have all proven worthy of being considered favorites.
Warroad has and early win this season over St. Cloud Cathedral downing the Crusaders 5-2 up in Warroad. They have also beaten a strong Moorhead team who is a #4 seed in the ‘AA’ Tournament. This is a well-coached team that plays hard for each other as well as their community.
St. Cloud Cathedral is respectively thought of as the most talent offensive team in this tournament. They proved their championship pedigree by beating Andover this year who is the #1 seed in the ‘AA’ tournament. Are the Crusaders fully healthy? This is a team that has had key injuries to their best players during the season. Their game changing forward Jack Smith has battled injury all season but is currently back and playing well.
Hermantown strolls into the tournament riding the shoulders of their big time Senior Blake Biondi. The Hawks play hard and most importantly are battle tested playing the toughest schedule during the regular season. They have gone up against ‘AA’ schools such as Eden Prairie, Hill-Murray, Lakeville South, Benilde-St. Margaret’s, Cretin-Durham Hall and Wayzata. They managed to go 2-2-2 against that gauntlet, which is very impressive.
NZ PREDICTION (WARROAD)
We are going to go with the Warriors due to their path to the Title game. Hermantown and St. Cloud Cathedral are great teams and face a possible showdown in the semi-finals that could wear each down. Winning 3 games in 3 days is a difficult feat for High School teams who never play 3 games in a row during their seasons. They lean heavily on their top line but they should be rested come Championship Saturday. If we knew St. Cloud Cathedral was 100% healthy we would go with them, but the unknown and path to the Title game has us taking Warroad to take down the crown.
Here is the tale of the tape for all the teams and their players to watch:
WARROAD #1 SEED (SECTION 8A/26-2-0) – The Warriors come into the tournament looking to bring another State Title back to the North. They come in playing great hockey and not giving up a single goal in section play while winning their 3 games 8-0/7-0/4-0. This is a team that plays with pride for their town and no doubt will play a physical brand of hockey.
They bolster a very interesting top line with (SR./F) Grant Slukynsky (34-55-89) and (FR./F) Jayson Shaugabay (27-37-64) who have led the way for them in scoring. It seems as if everyone is waiting for the young Shaugabay to slow down, but that just hasn’t happened. They have gotten strong contributions from (JR./F) Anthony Foster (26-28-54) as well as offense from the blue line in that of (JR./D) Blake Norris (3-31-34). Strong goaltending in (SR./G) Zach Foster (91.9 SV %) makes them the favorites going into this week of play.
ST. CLOUD CATHEDRAL #2 SEED (SECTION 6A/23-3-1) – The Crusaders are coming off of their first ever State Title in 2019 and have their eyes on repeating as champs! They come into the tourney having the best top six group of forwards in ‘A’ hockey. They can score in bunches and showed their explosiveness in section playoffs by winning 11-1/5-1/8-1 while rolling their opponents. When they are completely healthy, they are a nightmare to try and stop.
When it comes to scoring they have no shortage and have had huge seasons from (SR./F) Blake Perbix (27-47-74), (SR./F) Nate Warner (25-34-59) and (SR./F) Mack Motzko (25-30-55). They roll out a mobile defensive core that can defend in (SR./D) Reid Bogenholm and (JR./D) Jon Bell. The X-FACTOR is that of (SR./F) Jack Smith who is revered by some as one of the best overall forwards in the State. He has been hampered by injury but is back and contributing in a huge way. He has only played in 11 games this season but is a game breaker in scoring 16-14-30 in those contests. Hopefully he is fully healthy and ready to go for the Crusaders this weekend.
HERMANTOWN #3 SEED (SECTION 8A/21-3-4) – The Hawks are no stranger to making the trek down I-35 to St. Paul as they seem to be here nearly every year in March. They are coached well and have a ton of experience playing in these big games. They are a bit more top heavy and have less depth than other seasons, but don’t let that fool you as they have more than a punchers chance to win this year. They have clamped down defensively by winning their section games by scores of 12-1/8-0/6-0.
You can’t talk about Hermantown without mention one of the Mr. Hockey favorites in (SR./F) Blake Biondi (43-45-88) who is shredding the competition this season. Many ‘AA’ teams have tried to shut him down but with no luck! He is complemented by (SR./F) Zach Kilen (24-42-66) and (JR./F) Ethan Lund respectfully. The emergence and stellar play of (JR./D) Joey Pierce (15-36-51) gives them a horse on the blue line who can play all night long. They have gotten strong goaltending from (SR./G) Jacob Backstrom (1.87 GAA) throughout the season.
MAHTOMEDI #4 SEED (SECTION 4A/20-8-0) – When talking about the Zephyrs it all starts with goaltending and the game stealing capabilities of (SO./G) Ben Dardis (2.07 GAA/93.2 SV%) who gives them a chance to win every game. This group checks very well and plays in all 3 zones. They come in only surrendering 2 goals in 3 games of section play. If they can get some timely scoring and strong special teams, they could upset one of the top teams in the tourney. They have wins this season over ‘AA’ teams competing in the State Tournament such as Hill-Murray and St. Thomas Academy.
To go along with goaltending, they are led by their crafty play of (SR./F) Nikolai Dulak (26-24-50) and play making of (JR./F) Adam Johnson (14-32-46). On the backend they have gotten a great year from (JR./D) JD Metz (7-23-30) This team has a lot of players who made a run last season in the tourney and should play with confidence.
DELANO #5 SEED (SECTION 2A/22-6-0) – The Tigers are an interesting team as they have gotten very hot as of late winning their last 12 games! They are a team that competes hard and will take care of their own end first. They have gotten great goaltending and have found different ways to win during their current streak.
They have scored mostly by committee up front and have spread the wealth between (JR./F) Adam Brown (40pts), (SO./F) Gunnar Paulson (33pts), (SO./F) Jesse Peterson (33pts) and (SR./F) Michael Weber (29pts). With timely scoring and excellent play from their big 6’3″ goalie (SR./G) Cade Lommel (2.09 GAA) they look to upset Mahtomedi in the quarterfinals.
MONTICELLO (SECTION 5A/20-7-1) – The Moose come into the tournament with an impressive 20 total wins and have gotten it done when needed this year. They have struggled against teams that are in the tournament with losses to St. Cloud Cathedral (8-1), Delano (7-3) and Mahtomedi (3-0). They hope to change their fortunes against a very powerful Hermantown team in the quarterfinals.
Strong season from (SR/F) Jeffrey Henrikson (46pts), (SR./F) Brian Cornelius (42pts) and (SO./F) Wilson Dahlheimer (38pts) have them feeling optimistic heading in the tournament. They hope to continue to get strong play from (JR./G) Nash Wilson (91.9 SV%) as they face the high scoring Hermantown Hawks right off the bat.
MANKATO EAST (SECTION 1A/14-13-1) – The Cougars were a big surprise coming out of Section 1A this year as they upset the top 2 seeds in back to back games to punch their ticket. They have a very top heavy team and will need to be strong on special teams if they hope to continue their role as Cinderella.
Their offense is driven by high flying (JR./F) Layten Liffrig (29-34-63) who is having an amazing season. He has shown he can take over a game and give his team a chance to win. He had 9pts in section play and is extremely confident right now. His sidekick is that of (SR./F) Matthew Salzle (26-26-52) who has also been hot as of late, equaling Liffrig’s 9pts in section play. The duo will need to score in bunches on Wednesday if they have a punchers chance in beating St. Cloud Cathedral.
HUTCHINSON (SECTION 3A/19-8-1) – The Tigers have not played the toughest of schedules this season but have played some good teams tight. They have two very close losses to Delano (2-1/3-1) and hope that experience helps them in the tournament.
They have leaned very heavily on (SR./F) Austin Jozwick (33-26-59) who has shown his goal scoring touch all season long. He has tallied up goals at a torrid pace throughout the season. They will need other contributions if they are going to advance this weekend. They look to get some secondary scoring from (JR./F) Hayden Jensen to go along with the production of Jozwick.
Photo Credit: Dan Hickling/Hickling Images
