Ranking the best Class AA teams of the "modern era"
November 24, 2016
11:23 AM CST
As you saw on the cover of this week’s issue, we released our preseason top 20 Class AA teams for the 2016-17 season. Not surprisingly, the rankings are led by perennial contender Eden Prairie.
But what Minnesota Class AA boys’ hockey program is truly the best, according to each season’s final rankings? To determine the top teams, we looked at the final top 20, beginning with the 1993-94 season – the year the Minnesota State High School League established Class A and AA – and awarded 20 points for a team finishing No. 1, 19 points for No. 2, and so on. Those points for all seasons were then added together.
The result? Northern Minnesota power Duluth East takes the top spot over top Twin Cities programs Hill-Murray and Edina for first place in our “modern era” rankings.
NOTES: 64 teams have been included in the final rankings since 1994 • 10 teams in the Class AA rankings below are currently in Class A • the top 10 includes eight public schools and two private schools • Duluth East and Moorhead are the only Northern Minnesota teams in the top 10 • Duluth East and Hill-Murray are the only schools to appear in all 23 final rankings • four schools have appeared in the final rankings 20 or more times since 1994 – Duluth East, Hill-Murray, Eden Prairie, Elk River • based on the rankings, Cretin-Derham Hall’s 2006 state title was the largest outlier as the Raiders have appeared in the final rankings only seven times since 1994, with an average ranking of 13 • Edina ranks first in Class AA state titles (4) and average final ranking (5.74)
Top Minnesota Class AA boys’ hockey programs (1994-2016)
RankTeam final top 20State titlesAvg. final rankingPoints
1 Duluth East2326.09343
2 Hill-Murray2318.3290
3 Edina 191945.74290
4 Eden Prairie2128.43223
5 Elk River2019.85223
6 Moorhead1808.72221
7 Bloomington Jefferson1919.42220
8 Blaine1719.06203
9 Holy Angels1227.17166
10 White Bear Lake17011.4163
11 Minnetonka1309.08155
12 Wayzata14110.7144
13 Roseau1028.2128
14 Apple Valley12110.4127
15 Grand Rapids15010.7124
16 Centennial12111.3117
17 Benilde-St. Margaret’s1019.4116
Burnsville15013.3116
19 Hastings708.4388
20 Cloquet1201484
21 Roseville8010.981
22 Anoka8111.378
23 Maple Grove8011.576
24 Osseo9014.360
25 Rochester Mayo7012.460
26 Greenway7012.659
27 Cretin-Derham Hall711356
Lakeville North519.856
29 Eastview6012.352
30 Lakeville5012.642
31 South St. Paul30839
32 St. Thomas Academy4012.335
33 Bemidji4012.833
34 Woodbury4013.829
35 Holy Family Catholic4014.825
Rochester Century208.525
St. Paul Johnson2085.25
38 Alexandria3013.722
Robbinsdale Armstrong201022
40 Tartan2010.521
41 St. Cloud Apollo5017.219
Rosemount2011.519
Stillwater2011.519
43 Lakeville South201218
44 Andover3016.314
Prior Lake3016.314
46 Brainerd4017.813
47 Hopkins3017.311
Park Center2015.511
49 Farmington201610
Rochester John Marshall201610
St. Cloud Tech101110
52 Coon Rapids10129
Duluth Denfeld10129
54 Albert Lea10138
Champlin Park 110138
Hibbing20268
57 North St. Paul10147
58 Buffalo10156
Henry Sibley10156
60 Forest Lake2018.55
61 Austin10174
Bloomington Kennedy101717.4
63 Owatonna10183
64 Park Cottage Grove10192