Minnesota High School Hockey: Finals Week

We're a week and a half away from the Minnesota State High School Tournament, and most sections have been pared down to the final two teams, save a few sections that still have semifinals to play. FollowThePuck has all the results so far. Here's a few notes on what has happened so far, and what might happen in the week ahead.

-Two #1 seeds have gone down so far in the tournament, and both happened in Class AA. In Section 3AA, Eagan knocked off Cretin-Derham Hall 2-1 in overtime, and in 6AA, Benilde-St. Margaret's upset Wayzata 2-1.

Eagan beating Cretin wasn't much of a surprise. I had actually picked that upset(and just missed the second half of my 3AA pick when Eastview lost in OT to St. Thomas Academy). Cretin had a great year, but they were really closely matched with Eagan and this game could have gone either way. I actually made it to the Coliseum for the OT of this game prior to the second semifinal, and CDH had a couple nice chances in OT to win it before Jack Jenson snuck a backhander through to give Eagan the win.

Wayzata losing was the real shocker. Lots of credit goes to Benilde, who has struggled in goal all season long, but found a way to win a tight 2-1 hockey game against a very good team. They'll face off against Eden Prairie on Wednesday for a shot at the state tournament. Upsets like those are fun, but not being able to see Wayzata play in the state tournament will be a disappointment.

-The biggest upset of the weekend though goes to Bloomington Jefferson, who knocked off Section 2AA #2 seed Burnsville on Saturday. 2AA seemed destined to come down to Edina and Burnsville for the title, with this being one of Burnsville's better chances to pull off the upset. Playing on the big ice at Mariucci seems like a bad match-up for Jefferson, and that final score could get out of hand, but stranger things have happened in high school hockey.

-Elsewhere, things have pretty much gone according to seeding, despite some game times being shifted around due to last week's terrible weather. That should make this upcoming week all the more exciting with some good games between good teams.

Here's your schedule for the upcoming week, with which section finals will be played on each day:

Wednesday: 1A(New Prague v. Mankato West, at Rochester Rec Center), 3A(Luverne v. New Ulm, at Gustavus Adolphus College), 7A(Hermantown vs. Duluth Marshall at AmSoil Arena), 2AA(Edina vs. Bloomington Jefferson at Mariucci Arena), 6AA(Eden Prairie vs. Benilde-St. Margaret's at Mariucci Arena), 8AA(Roseau vs. Moorhead at Thief River Falls)

Thursday: 2A(at Parade Ice Garden), 5A(at Isanti Arena), 6A(St. Cloud Cathedral vs. Alexandria at St. Cloud MAC), 8A(East Grand Forks vs. Warroad at Thief River Falls), 1AA(at Rochester Rec Center), 3AA(Eagan vs. St. Thomas Academy at State Fair Coliseum), 7AA(Duluth East vs. Elk River, at AmSoil Arena)

Friday: 4A(at Aldrich Arena), 4AA(at State Fair Coliseum), 5AA(at State Fair Coliseum)