2017 Schwan Cup High School Hockey Tournament Preview Part II

While the four boys divisions battle for championship hardware at Ridder Arena and consolation round games are played at the Schwan's Super Rink in Blaine on December 28,  the girls portion of the 2017 Schwan Cup High School Hockey Tournament opens in Blaine.  Here's a preview of the five girls divisions.

The Gold Division quarterfinals open up with the Rogers Royals facing one of the top Class AA teams in the third ranked Centennial Cougars.  The Cougars picked up a key win on December 22 when they beat the top ranked Edina Hornets.  The Royals are on a roll, going 4-0-2 in their last six games.  It could be one of their toughest tests so far this season.

A couple of top Class A teams battle in the second quarterfinal game as St. Paul United, ranked eighth and 11th ranked Delano/Rockford.  SPU, who lost to Blake in the 2017 state Class A final, looks to end a two game losing streak.  Delano/Rockford is on a five game winning streak after losing three consecutive games by identical 2-1 margins. With Blake out of Section 5A and into 6AA, Delano/Rockford could be in contention for a trip to St. Paul in February.

Speaking of Blake, the Bears will play in the third quarterfinal game against the hot Andover Huskies.  The Bears haven't missed a beat since the became a Class AA school, going unbeaten in 12 games.  They could be the new number one team in Class AA following Edina's defeat by Centennial.  The Huskies are on a five game winning streak that includes a victory over the Blaine Bengals, a team they lost to November 28 3-2.  Can Blake remain unbeaten or will Andover stay hot.

Concluding the quarterfinal session is the tenth ranked team in Class A, the Proctor/Hermantown Mirage and a red hot Holy Family Catholic/Waconia Wildfire team that's won six straight games.  Their last two wins have come in overtime, including a 1-0 win against the Benilde-St. Margaret's Red Knights. The Mirage has played a tough schedule that includes losses to Blake, Edina and Breck.  It could be an interesting finish to the day's Gold Division quarterfinal play,

In the Silver Division, the only ranked team is the Class A second ranked Thief River Falls Prowlers.  Their quarterfinal opponent is Moose Lake/Willow River.  They will play either Bloomington Jefferson or Duluth in the semifinals.  In the upper bracket, the Mahtomedi Zephyrs battle the Buffalo/Maple Lake Bison and the International Falls Broncos face the Spring Lake Park Panthers who have gone 6-3 since starting the season 0-4.

The lone ranked team in the Bronze Division is the 16th ranked team in Class A, the Totino-Grace Eagles.  They will face the Irondale Knights in the quarterfinals who are looking for their first win against a team other than Armstrong/Cooper, who they have defeated twice this season.  Here's a team to keep an eye on, the Duluih Marshall Hilltoppers.  Last season, they won only seven games with a young team.  This season, they are 6-5 after a big 1-0 win over the Proctor/Hermantown Mirage.  Rounding out the Bronze Division field are the Minneapolis Novas and Green Bay Area.

There are two girls Open Divisions in this year's tournament.  The first is the American Division games will be played on back rinks 6, 7 and 8.  The North Metro Stars open quarterfinal play against the Chisago Lakes Wildcats.  The second team from the capitol city, the St. Paul Blades will battle the Northern Lakes Lightning.  It will be a rematch of the December 9 game that was played in Pequot Lakes where the Lightning beat the Blades 6-3.  The Owatonna Huskies face the Marshall Tigers in the third quarterfinal game as the Huskies are on a three game winning streak.  Another Big Nine Conference team, the Rochester Mayo Spartans takes on a team from Madison, WI, the Cap City Cougars.

The final division is the Open National, with only four outstate teams and first day action to be played at the Centennial Sports Arena in Circle Pines.  The four participants in round robin play will be Arrowhead from Wisconsin, the Luverne Cardinals, the Eveleth-Gilbert Golden Bears and the Fairmont Cardinals.

So there you have it.  The fields for both the girls and the boys Schwan Cup High School Hockey Tournaments.  The girls finals will be at Ridder Arena on December 30.  Plenty of high school hockey over a five day period.