This is truly an AA Tourney, something Minnesota Hockey said should not happen. All 16 peewee teams entered are from associations classified as AA. Funny thing is that for the last three years, this tourney field has not changed much; 13 of the 16 teams (Eden Prairie, Chaska, Eagan, Edina, Elk River, Lakeville North, Minnetonka, OMG, Rochester, STMA, Stillwater, Wayzata, and White Bear Lake) are repeat entries. So what does AA mean again?
In the past, this tourney has been as advertised, the “First Test of the Best”. The splitting of the peewees into AA/A has cast this tourney differently. To understand that, look at the potential 32 regional AA teams. More than half of the potential regional entries were determined once Minnesota Hockey finalized its approach to the split.
The West Regional in February will consists of two D15 AA teams (Moorhead and Brainerd are the only two D15 AA teams), three D3 (OMG, Wayzata, and an open slot), and three D10 teams (out of eight D10 AA teams). Most likely, D3 #3 seed would be filled by D10’s fourth place team. Based on that, the West Regional will consist of Moorhead, Brainerd, OMG, Wayzata, Elk River, Centennial, and two D10 teams. Three fourths of the West Regional has been determined by the second week in November. Only the D10 playoffs will matter. For this region, the district playoffs will eliminate 4 teams.
For D6 fans, the East Regional will consist of three teams from D6 and D8 and two teams from D2. Twenty one of the 46 associations classified AA by Minnesota Hockey are in D6, D8, and D2. Only eight will advance to the AA East Regional. This “uneven balance” was predicted by YHH in August. The district playoff for this regional will be competitive and will eliminate 13 teams.
For the fans in Northern Minnesota, three teams from D16, three teams from D11 and two teams from D12 will make the regionals. That means the North Regional AA tourney is set. The field will consist of Bemidji, Roseau, and East Grand Forks from D16; Cloquet, Duluth East, and Hermantown from D11, and Grand Rapids and Hibbing from D12. The district playoffs accomplish nothing. This was also predicted by YHH in August.
Finally, the South AA regional will consist of three teams from D9, three teams from D5, and two teams from D4. D9 has only one AA peewee team, Rochester. The second and third seeds are open. D5 has 5 associations classified AA by Minnesota hockey and D4 has no association classified AA. That means the South AA field is set; Rochester, MAML, St. Cloud, River Lakes, STMA, Buffalo, and two openings. Those two openings will likely be filled by teams from East Regional districts. This was also predicted by YHH.
This year, the “First Test of the Best” tourney is really the start of a long tune-up for regional play for AA teams from STMA, Rochester, OMG, Grand Rapids, and Wayzata. They are in the regionals; the other 11 teams have to fight district playoffs to get there.
By the way, the same situation exists at the Bantam AA level.
As with the Eden Prairie Bantam AA tourney, the 16 peewee AA teams entered are divided into 4 pools; North, South, East, and West. Each pool winner advances to the Championship round on Sunday. Each second place pool finisher advances to the Consolation round on Sunday.