2017 State Class A Boys Hockey Tournament Preview

                                     2017 STATE CLASS A BOYS HOCKEY TOURNAMENT QUARTERFINAL SCHEDULE
                                           Games played Wednesday, March 8 at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul

11:00:  Monticello/Annandale/Maple Lake vs. Delano (Seed 2)
1:00:  Northfield vs. Mahtomedi (Seed 3)
6:00:  Luverne vs. Hermantown (Seed 1)
8:00:  St. Cloud Cathedral (Seed 5) vs. East Grand Forks (Seed 4)

Examining the field:  The 2017 edition of the Minnesota State High School Boys Hockey Tournament gets underway with the "Battle of Wright County" as the Monticello/Annandale/Maple Lake Moose and the Delano Tigers make their maiden voyages to the X.  The two teams didn't play each other during the regular season because they play in different conferences.  The Moose are in the Mississippi 8 and the Tigers are in the Wright County Conference.  M/A/ML has been on a 12-1-1 since a 4-3 overtime loss to Chisago Lakes January 12 and are led by Nick Zwack, who will be headed for the baseball diamond at Xavier in Cincinnati next season.  Delano has done what few teams have done in Section 2 tournament play and that is beat the Breck Mustangs.  Two of three Tiger defeats were to the Holy Family Catholic Fire and the other when they played in the Duluth Marshall tournament on December 28 and hell to the Hermantown Hawks 4-3.  If you haven't seen Delano's outstanding Mr. Hockey finalist Ben Meyers in action, it may be your only chance to do so because he will be headed for Maine next season to play for the Black Bears.  It should be an outstanding early quarterfinal match up and 45TV's rating will probably go through the roof in Wright County.

The afternoon session concludes with another first time entrant, the Northfield Raiders as maroon and gold clad fans once again head up Highway 3 two weeks after the girls lost to the Warroad Warriors in the Class A third place game.  They will go up against the third seeded Mahtomedi Zephyrs who pulled of the upset in the Section 4A final against the St. Paul Academy Spartans.  After losing to the St. Thomas Academy Cadets 7-0 on February 9, the Zephyrs have heated up at the right time, winning five straight games.  As for Northfield, they have won two straight overtime games in the Section 1 tournament by identical 3-2 scores.  The first was a single OT against Mankato East/Loyola and the second was a double overtime affair as they beat the Red Wing Wingers.  Can the Raiders accomplish what their female counterparts did in February or will the Zephyr's hot streak continue?

Opening up the evening session is a rising boys hockey power in southwestern Minnesota the Luverne Cardinals.  The good news is that the Cardinals have a high powered offense and a defense that has allowed only 32 goals this season.  Now the bad news.  They go up against the top seeded and defending state Class A champion Hermantown Hawks.  It's the 14th trip to St. Paul for veteran head coach Bruce Plante who finally took home the championship trophy last season after six consecutive second place finishes.  The Hawks have not lost a game since they opened their season with a 5-1 loss to Wayzata December 2.  Hermantown has a couple of Mr. Hockey finalists in Ryan Sandelin and Dyland Samberg and a Frank Brimsek Award finalist in goalie Cade McEwen.  Keep your eye on the Hawks.  They are the team to beat.

Concluding the Class A quarterfinals are the fifth seeded St. Cloud Cathedral Crusaders and the fourth seeded East Grand Forks Green Wave.  The Crusaders make their eighth trip down I-94 and won the consolation championship last year. They played East Grand Forks on December 3 and tied them at 4.  The Green Wave are back at the X after winning two straight Class A titles in 2014 and 2015.  It will also be the first under head coach Scott Koberinski, who replaced Tyler Palmiscino.  Will fans is the Red River Valley be celebrating again?

Next up:  The Class AA state preview.