The regular season is over and the Section 5A Hockey playoffs start this weekend! Here are your 2021-2022 Section 5A Hockey Seedings
Section 5A Boys Hockey Seedings
1. Little Falls 20-4-1 (9-1)
In their first year in Section 5A the Little Falls Flyers finished with an impressive 9-1 record in Section play. Their lone loss came to the #2 seed Cambridge-Isanti Bluejackets. The Flyers posted 5.68 goals per game while giving up just 2.72 goals per game. They will be the favorite to win Section 5A in their first year and make it back to the state tournament in back to back seasons. They await the winner of Pine City and Sauk Rapids-Rice
2. Cambridge-Isanti 17-7-1 (9-2)
If Little Falls is the favorite in this section, the Bluejackets aren't very far behind. Suffering just two losses in the section (Monticello and St. Cloud Cathedral) Cambridge-Isanti will feel like they have just as good of a shot as Little Falls to make it to the Xcel Energy Center. The Bluejackets beat Little Falls on January 27th, but suffered losses in four of their last five games. If not for that they may have been able to grab the #1 seed. Cambridge-Isanti was the #3 seed last year and felt like they had a good shot to win the whole thing before they were upset by Pine City in the quarterfinals. The Bluejackets will be working hard this week to make sure that does not happen again. They will most likely face the Princeton Tigers in the first round.
3. St. Cloud Cathedral 12-12 (6-3)
Another newcomer to Section 5A the Crusaders are no stranger to postseason success. St. Cloud Cathedral's overall record isn't as impressive as some of the other teams but they played through a very tough schedule that includes Hermantown, Dodge County, Alexandria, Orono, and Delano. The Crusaders picked up six section wins and suffered losses to Little Falls twice and Mora/Milaca. St. Cloud Cathedral could play spoiler for the top two teams and get back to the State Tournament after missing it last season. The Crusaders have a first round matchup against Mora/Milaca who defeated them 1-0 earlier in the year.
4. Monticello 10-14-1 (7-4)
It's strange seeing the Moose this low in the section seedings after they have been almost a lock for the #1 seed for the last five years. But they dropped games to each of the top 3 seeds this year so it is hard to make an argument that the Moose should be higher. They also had a tough loss to Sauk-Rapids Rice in the middle of the season. Monticello's losses were all close ones and they are always a tough out. Don't count them out of the tournament right away. Monticello will host #5 River Lakes. They defeated the Stars 3-2 in the Granite City Classic.
5. River Lakes 11-14 (3-4)
Another newcomer to Section 5A this year, River Lakes is another tough team to judge. They suffered one goal losses to Monticello, St. Cloud Cathedral, and Little Falls and picked up comfortable wins over Mora/Milaca and Becker/Big Lake. They defeated Sauk Rapids-Rice earlier in the season before losing to them in the last game of the year. The Stars are another team in the bottom half of this section that could play spoiler for any of the top seeds. Their opening round matchup against Monticello will be one of the better games in this tournament.
6. Mora/Milaca 18-5-2 (5-2)
We don't really know what to expect out of the Mustangs in this tournament. They don't play in the Mississippi 8 with most of the rest of the section so they only played 7 section games this year. They beat Pine City twice but lost to Princeton and River Lakes. It also took overtime for them to beat Becker/Big Lake, but they grabbed a huge 1-0 win over St. Cloud Cathedral late in the season. When the Mustangs take the ice against St. Cloud Cathedral, we aren't sure who will end up on top but we know it will be a battle.
7. Princeton 10-15 (5-7)
The Princeton Tigers have been a little bit more predictable this season with all of their losses coming against teams above them in the standings (Monticello, Cathedral, Little Falls, Cambridge-Isanti) and wins over Pine City twice and Becker/Big Lake twice. The only surprise win they had was a close win over Mora/Milaca early in the season. They should be able to advance past Becker/Big Lake in the play-in round but will have a tough time against #2 Cambridge-Isanti.
8. Sauk Rapids/Rice 6-19 (3-5)
The Storm end up with the #8 seed after a tough 6-19 season. But they did pick up two big wins this year over Monticello and River Lakes that will give them hope for early Section 5A success. If you go back about 5 years the Storm have had success in their play-in games but have been bounced in the quarterfinals each season. They will look to try to knock off Pine City who they haven't played yet this season to grant them a rematch against Little Falls who defeated them 8-1 earlier this year.
9. Pine City Area 8-17 (2-10)
The Dragons have a long way to go if they want to get back to the Section 5A semifinals for the third straight season. They played a lot of close games this season taking Cambridge-Isanti to the wire and losing a one goal game against Mora/Milaca, but their only two wins in section play both came against Becker/Big Lake so its tough for them to make an argument they should be a higher seed. The Dragons will look to do what they did last year after winning a play-in game over Becker/Big Lake they upset Cambridge-Isanti before falling to Northern Lakes. They will try to use the fact that they played close with the likes of the Bluejackets and Little Falls this season to motivate them towards a section playoff run. But they will open the playoffs with a tough task right away. They have to travel to take on Sauk Rapids-Rice.
10. Becker/Big Lake 4-20 (0-11)
Another tough season for the Eagles who gave up 7.4 goals per game this season. They weren't able to manage a section win and landed the #10 seed. They will travel to #7 Princeton in the play-in game and try to play spoiler to grab their first section win of the season.
Play-In Games February 19th
Quarterfinal February 22nd
#1 Little Falls vs Pine City or Sauk Rapids-Rice
#2 Cambridge-Isanti vs Princeton or Becker/Big Lake
Photo Credit: Four Seasons Photography
