The Hub's annual state tournament preview, the most comprehensive guide to all 16 teams in this year's field, was released Monday morning.

The free guide comes in a printable PDF format, making it easy for fans to download and print copies before heading to the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, home of the state tournament.

Click here for your free copy.
 

State Class 2A Tournament

Hill-Murray (25-2-1) received the No. 1 seed in the state Class 2A tournament and will open play against Eastview (18-9-1) at 6 p.m. on Thursday, March 7 at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.

The No. 2 seed went to Duluth East (24-4-0), and the Greyhounds open the tournament with an 11 a.m. game against Moorhead (14-11-2). No. 3 seed Edina (22-6-0) plays Lakeville North (11-16-1) at 1 p.m. in the second early session game on Thursday.

No. 4 Wayzata (21-7-0) plays No. 5 Centennial (22-4-2) at 6 p.m. to open Thursday’s evening session.

The top five teams were determined by a vote of the tournament coaches and revealed by the MSHSL on Saturday morning. The positioning of the final three teams came from a random draw.

The complete state Class 2A bracket can be seen here.

State Class 1A Tournament

Two-time Defending champion St. Thomas Academy (24-2-2) received the No. 1 seed in the state Class 1A tournament and opens play at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, March 6 against St. Cloud Apollo (18-10-0) at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul. 

Breck, the 2010 and 2011 state champion, is the No. 2 seed and plays Marshall (14-10-1) at 11 a.m. on Thursday. No. 3 Hermantown (23-4-1) plays Duluth Marshall (16-12-0) at 1 p.m. in Wednesday's second morning session matchup.

No. 4 East Grand Forks (22-3-3) plays No. 5 Rochester Lourdes (20-8-0) at 8 p.m. to close out quarterfinal play on Wednesday.

The top five teams were determined by a vote of the tournament coaches and revealed by the MSHSL on Saturday morning. The positioning of the final three teams came from a random draw.

The complete state Class 1A bracket can be seen here.

 

Friday's Section Championship Results

Centennial and Hill-Murray in Class 2A and Hermantown and St. Thomas Academy in Class 1A all won section championships on Friday, March 1 to complete the eight-team fields for next week's state tournaments.

Hill-Murray, the No. 1-ranked team in Class 2A outlasted longtime rival White Bear Lake 1-0 and St. Thomas Academy, ranked No. 1 in Class 1A, eased past Totino-Grace 3-0.

Hermantown avenged a regular season loss to St. Cloud Cathedral by beating  the Crusaders 3-0 and Centennial topped Champlin Park for the school's second tournament berth.

The pairings for the state Class 1A and 2A tournaments were scheduled to be determined on Saturday, March 2.

 

Thursday's Section Championship Results

Duluth East, Eastview and Lakeville North earned state Class 2A tournament berths, and Breck, East Grand Forks and St. Cloud Apollo earned berths in the state Class 1A tournament on Thursday, Feb. 28, as six more qualifiers were determined.

Duluth East and Breck are the only repeat qualifiers. St. Cloud Apollo and Eastview have made just one previous trip to the state tournament. Apollo’s came in 1984, when it was still in the one-class format. Eastview’s came in 2001.

The most recent of East Grand Forks’ previous seven state appearances was in 2002. Lakeville North made consecutive appearances in 2010 and '11.

Duluth East and Breck are each making their fifth straight trip to the state tournament. Breck won titles in 2009 and 2010. Duluth East was runner-up in 2011.

 

Wednesday's Section Championship Results

On Wednesday, Edina, Moorhead and Wayzata earned state Class 2A tournament berths, and Duluth Marshall, Marshall and Rochester Lourdes punched their ticket for the state Class 1A tournament.

Edina, Moorhead, Duluth Marshall and Rochester Lourdes all played in the state tournament last season. Marshall is making its first state tournament appearance.

Wayzata, which knocked off defending champion Benilde-St. Margaret's, is making its first state tournament appearance since 2004. 

The final brackets in all the state's sections were released Sunday, Feb. 17. Several sections released their brackets beginning Wednesday, Feb. 13, with two more determined Thursday, Feb. 14. The majority of section play got underway Tuesday, Feb. 19 around the state.

 

Sunday's Seeding Results

Section 1AA: The championship game in Section 1AA has boiled down to the battle of Lakeville -- played in Rochester -- the past several years. That could change this year as Rochester Mayo received the No. 2 seed behind No. 1 Lakeville North. Of course, Lakeville South isn't far behind with the No. 3 seed. 

The complete Section 1AA bracket can be seen here.

Section 1A: Rochester Lourdes earned the top seed and Mankato West was seeded second in Section 1A, where No. 3 seed New Prague and No. 4 Northfield also loom. Lourdes is the four-time defending section champion, Mankato West features one of the state's most explosive offenses and New Prague is coming off the high of winning the first Missota Conference championship in program history.

The complete Section 1A bracket can be seen here.

Section 4A: St. Thomas Academy, the prohibitive favorite to win the state Class 1A title (it would be the Cadets' third straight), have been locked into the No. 1 seed for weeks. The drama comes after that, where Mahtomedi got the No. 2 seed and Totino-Grace the No. 3. Mahtomedi beat Totino-Grace in a thrilling overtime game late in the season. Watch out for No. 4 St. Paul Academy, which has bracket busting capabilities.

The complete Section 4A bracket can be seen here.

Section 4AA: Predictably, the state's No. 1 ranked Class 2A team, Hill-Murray, earned the top seed in the Section 4AA playoffs. And with White Bear Lake claiming the No. 2 seed, one of the great rivalries in high school hockey could come to fruition in the section championship game should seeding hold. But don't count out teams such as No. 3 Tartan, No. 4 Stillwater and No. 5 Mounds View.

The complete Section 4AA bracket can be seen here.

Section 5AA: Northwest Suburban Conference champion Blaine, fresh off Saturday's overtime win over Lake Conference champion Minnetonka, received the No. 1 seed as expected in Section 5AA. Centennial received the No. 2 seed, and watch out for No. 3 Maple Grove, the defending section champ that knocked off Blaine late in the regular season.

The complete Section 5AA bracket can be seen here.

Section 3AA: Two-time defending Section 3AA champion Eagan, the South Suburban Conference champion, received the No. 1 seed yet again, and Suburban East powerhouse Cretin-Derham Hall was seeded second. Eastview at No. 3 and East Ridge at No. 4 rounded out the top seeds.

The complete Section 3AA bracket can be seen here.

Section 2A: Breck, ranked No. 2 in Class 1A for much of the season, received the top seed as expected in Section 2A. The next three seeds represent a lineup of rugged Wright County Conference teams in No. 2 Mound-Westonka, No. 3 Delano and No. 4 Orono.

The complete Section 2A bracket can be seen here.

Section 6AA: Defending state Class 2A champion Benilde-St. Margaret's received the top seed and Minnetonka the No. 2. Wayzata at No. 3 and Eden Prairie at No. 4 rounded out the top four in what is widely considered the state's toughest section. The quarterfinal game to watch is No. 5 Holy Family Catholic at Eden Prairie at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 21.

The complete Section 6AA bracket can be seen here.

Section 2AA: No surprises here, at least not at the top where Edina was voted as the No. 1 seed by the section coaches. Prior Lake came in at No. 2, Burnsville No. 3 and Bloomington Jefferson No. 4. The most interesting quarterfinal matchup on Thursday features Jefferson hosting No. 5 Holy Angels. 

The complete Section 2AA bracket can be seen here.

 

Thursday's Seeding Results

Section 6A: LIttle Falls, which has reached the state tournament in six times in the last eight years, received the top seed as the Section 6A pairings were released early Thursday afternoon. Should the seeds play out and the Flyers reach the title game against St. Cloud Apollo, the game would be a rematch of one of the biggest upsets in state playoffs history, an early-round matchup a couple of seasons ago when the No. 9 Eagles stunned No. 1 Little Falls.

The complete Section 6A bracket can be seen here.

Section 5A: Section 5A released its seeding early Thursday morning and its expected the race will again go through three-time defending champion Hermantown, which earned the top seed. The Hawks have lost in the state championship game each of the last three seasons. St. Cloud Cathedral is the No. 2 seed, while surprising Princeton claimed the No. 3 seed, Rogers is No. 4 and Legacy Christian is No. 5.

The complete Section 5A bracket can be seen here.

 

Wednesday's Seeding Results

Section 7AA: Duluth East gained the top seed in Section 7AA again this winter as the seedings were released Wednesday night. The 'Hounds have won the past four section titles, but should be tested by a deep field of teams that includes No. 2 Grand Rapids, No. 3 Elk River, No. 4 Cloquet/Esko/Carlton, No. 5 Forest Lake, No. 6 Andover and more. The section has largely been a toss up most of the year, with upsets abounding, which should make for an interesting tournament.

The complete Section 7AA bracket can be seen here.

Section 8AA: For the past 16 years, either Moorhead or Roseau has represented Section 8AA at the state tournament. Both are strong contenders again based upon the seeding released Wednesday afternoon. The defending section champion Spuds gained the top seed by going 3-1-0 against second-seeded Brainerd and third-seeded Roseau, despite an overall record just above .500. Bemidji earned the No. 4 seed.

The complete Section 8AA bracket can be seen here.

Section 3A: In its bid to knock off three-time defending Section 3A champion New Ulm, Luverne earned the No. 1 seed in the bracket released this afternoon, while the Eagles are the No. 2 seed. The record-setting Cardinals are seeking their first-ever state tournament bid. Litchfield/Dassel-Cokato took the No. 3 seed and Marshall earned the No. 4 seed.

The complete Section 3A bracket can be seen here.

Section 7A: With a sweep of its local rivals, Duluth Denfeld earned the No. 1 seed in the just-released Section 7A seedings for the upcoming playoffs as the first wave of the state's 16 brackets were released on Wednesday. The Hunters are looking to get back to the state tournament for the first time since advancing three times in four years from 1986-89. But Denfeld will be challenged by defending section champion and No. 2 seed Duluth Marshall, 10-time consecutive section finalist and No. 3 seed Hibbing/Chisholm and others.

The complete Section 7A bracket can be seen here.

Section 8A: Fresh off a 2-1 victory over Thief River Falls at the "Little Ralph" last night, East Grand Forks earned the No. 1 seed in the Section 8A playoffs, just ahead of the second-seeded Prowlers, the two-time defending section champions. Both teams are very strong defensively and should the seedings hold, a rubber match may be down the road in the section final. Warroad was tabbed as the No. 3 seed and Crookston took the No. 4 seed.

The complete Section 8A bracket can be seen here.