Quote Me, Howie

by Howie Hanson

Andover and Hermantown maintained their No. 1 rankings in Class 2A and 1A, respectively, in the latest MNHockey.TV Boys Power Rankings for Jan. 24-30.

The Huskies (15-2-1), winners of six straight and 10 of their last 11, defeated Spring Lake Park 5-0 and Centennial 7-4 last week. 

Andover will host Elk River/Zimmerman (11-6-1) on Thursday and Rogers (12-6-1) Saturday.

“Andover is the real deal,” said Minnesota high school boys hockey expert Jerry Borough. “They’re deeper than most teams and feature a good, consistent goaltender and a nice group of juniors. They head to Grand Rapids here in the next week, which might be a preview of the Section 7AA championship game.”

Cretin-Derham Hall (15-3-0) remained at No. 2 in 2A, followed by Benilde-St. Margaret’s (11-4-0), Roseau (13-3-0), Hill-Murray (12-3-1), Moorhead (15-5-0), Lakeville South (12-3-0), Edina (12-5-0), Grand Rapids (13-4-1) and Wayzata (11-5-1).

In 1A, Hermantown (15-1-0) stayed ahead of No. 2 Warroad (16-2-0) following running-time shutout wins over Greenway, Hibbing/Chisholm and Superior last week. 

“Hermantown, which plays a great schedule against a lot of 2A teams, can compete with any team in the state,” said Borough. “The Hawks’ sophomore goaltender (Dane) Callaway is the real deal and they roll two solid lines to compliment a good defensive corp.”

The Warriors, who lost 3-0 at home to Wayzata last Saturday, will host Roseau on Tuesday and Moorhead Saturday.

Little Falls (16-1-0) has moved up to No. 3, followed by Mahtomedia (8-7-1), Minneapolis (12-3-1), Delano (11-5-0), Duluth Denfeld (12-5-0), Detroit Lakes (11-4-0), Fergus Falls (11-5-0) and Albert Lea (12-3-0).