MBSLA Pre-season Top 10

This evaluation is our best attempt at an MBSLA pre-season Top 10 ranking. We looked at last years performance, the number of seniors lost, top scorers returning from last year and returning all-state performers to come up with our rankings. This is a "best effort" and certainly not definitive. I would encourage comments and discussion on this blog regarding these rankings. Please feel free to comment!

MBSLA Pre-season Top 10:

1.  St. Louis Park - Defending MBSLA State Champion St. Louis Park clearly deserves to be the pre-season #1.  The Orioles return their top four scorers from last year including all-state performers senior Max Bergeron and senior Art Elmer, plus junior all-state D/LSM Sean Berens.  They also return sophomore goalie Will Harkema.  St. Louis Park is clearly loaded for another run at the MBSLA state title.

2.  St. Paul - Despite losing leading scorer and All-State performer Kieren Gallagher, the Celts return their #2 and #3 scorers in senior Jimmy Paenkhay and senior Jimmy Francomb.  They also return the 5,6, and 7 scorers on the team Tony Alexander, Alex Bernish and Alexander Berger.  Losing 3 all-state selections including goalie Keenan Lilyquist will hurt the Celts.  If they can't find replacements for these high level performers, we could see the Celts falling down the standings in a big way.

3.  Delano - We have a feeling Delano will make a big jump up the standings in 2011.  Looking at their young roster, they'll be returning their top 4 scorers in junior Drake Hunter, junior Chase Willette, senior Colton Homberger, and junior Jack Prinsen as well as junior goalie James Tilbury.  After a solid 2010 season, we're expecting big things from this young Rage team.

4.  Orono -  Losing all-state performer and leading scorer Bo Maki will hurt Orono in 2011.  They'll also be losing #2 scorer David Stephenson and #4 scorer Alex Schroeder.  Returning will be #3 scorer senior Derek Alford and sophomore Alex Cross who scored 10 goals in 2010.  They'll have some big shoes to fill and will need others to step up if they want another shot at the MBSLA title.  On the plus side, Orono returns all-state honorable mention goalie, senior Wesley Kavanagh.  If St. Paul falters and Orono finds some capable replacements, they could easily find themselves jumping up to the #2 slot in 2011.

5.  MontiQuois - MontiQuois returns all-state performer senior Evan Hesse to a squad that finished last season 8-4.  They also return junior goalie Aaron Job.  Losing leading scorer Ben Brion and #3 scorer Cameron Christiansen will hurt.  Will they have enough players like senior Tom Bales to move up and replace that scoring, or will they drop in the top 10 once the games start?

6.  Shattuck-St. Mary's - Not much is known about this team, but they had solid wins last season including a 10-7 win over eventual state champion St. Louis Park and finished the season 6-0.  It remains to be seen who is returning and what to expect from them in 2011.  An April 25 game against St. Louis Park should tell us something about this team.  This team could make some real noise in the playoffs if their season didn't end so early along with the end of their school year.  Regardless of their participation in the playoffs, this team deserves to be ranked.

7.  Duluth - Duluth makes a jump into the top 10 for 2011.  With a very solid core of seniors returning in 2011, the Chargers hope to make a big splash in the MBSLA and a push into the playoffs.  Seniors Matt Jeanetta, Jack Maddy, Dan Padden, Zach Thompson and Ian Wieczorek will provide the offensive firepower while all-conference defenseman senior Nate Pratt will anchor a strong line of d-poles.  Throw in strong goalie play from senior Tyler Olson and you have the recipe for a strong MBSLA contender in 2011. 

8.  Hastings - Hastings loses quite a bit of scoring from their 2010 squad that won 7 games with the departure of #1, 3, 4 and 6 scorers through graduation.  Their hopes rest with the return of #2 scorer senior Andy Riveness and #5 scorer senior Corey Latuff along with junior goalie Leo Martineau.

9.  St. Cloud North -  St. Cloud North gamely battled undefeated St. Paul last year in the first round of the MBSLA playoffs, losing by a 1-0 score.  This is a young team that should be returning many of their top performers from last season.  If they can show the improvement in 2011 that they showed at the end of last season, this team will compete for a playoff spot out of the North division.

10.  White Bear Lake -  White Bear Lake had a very young and talented team last season.  Being a club team at a school with an MSHSL team, it's hard to gauge how many of those young, talented club players will be moving up to the varsity squad.  Because of this, ranking this team is difficult.  However, if top scorers like sophomore Seth King, senior Alexander Bocchi and sophomore Ryan Geary return along with senior goalie Matt Kinne, White Bear Lake will be a tough team to beat in 2011.

Honorable Mention (any of these teams can make a good argument for a spot among the top 10):

• Tartan - Tartan is a team that could improve over last season depending on the number of top scorers returning for 2011.
• Henry-Sibley - Henry-Sibley won 6 games last season and is looking to improve on that in 2011 and move into a spot in the top 10.
• Brainerd - Brainerd posted a solid 4 win season in 2010 which is very good for a first year team in the MBSLA.  They return top scorer and all-conference performer senior Zach Brown along with a host of strong seniors in 2011.  Look for Brainerd, with the toughest opening schedule in the MBSLA with back-to-back games against state champion St. Louis Park and state runner-up Orono to tell us a lot about themselves based on their performance in these two games.  Brainerd is hoping to make a playoff push in 2011.

*note - Buffalo was removed from the rankings because they have moved to the MSHSL for 2011 along with St. Cloud South.