Spuds knock off top-ranked Cadets, also defeat Edina

Maybe 2025 is the year of the Spud.

Moorhead took over the top spot in the boys’ AA rankings in the final week of 2024 and heads into 2025 at the top of the heap.

The Spuds showed their might with three wins over top 10 teams at the Tradition Holiday Tournament in Edina. They defeated host Edina 6-3 on Dec. 26 and followed up with wins over Eden Prairie (5-1) and top-ranked St. Thomas Academy (4-1), handing the Cadets their first loss of the season. Senior Minnesota State recruit Mason Kraft had a hat trick in the win and has 36 points in the team’s first 12 games (15-21-36). Sophomore Zac Zimmerman is also posting big numbers with 34 points. The Spuds have now won 11 straight with their lone loss coming to Wayzata in the season opener. They host Buffalo Thursday before hosting St. Thomas Academy in a rematch on Saturday.

The Cadets fell to No. 3 in the rankings behind Hill-Murray who remained undefeated, although suffered their first non-win in a 3-3 tie against Eden Prairie. The Eagles are winless in their last five games and fell to No. 13 in this week’s rankings.

The Pioneers and St. Thomas Academy will play next Tuesday at Aldrich Arena, which will be a marquee feature. Hill-Murray has a solid core of players and may be one of the most balanced teams in the state along with No. 5 Rogers. Graham Greeder and Landon Cottingham are a strong 1-2 punch on the blue line and Boden Sampair who has 15 goals and 16 assists in the first 10 games and will likely be a Mr. Hockey finalist leads a strong core of forwards that includes Riley Zupfer (5-14-19) and Chaz Lentz (10-15-25).

Edina comes in at No. 4 and will likely be a top 5 team all season. Rogers jumps two spots to No. 5 and are now 11-1-1. They were at No. 1 earlier in the season and might have one of the deeper rosters in the state. They dominated a very good Wayzata team 8-3 and outshot them 45-21 on Dec. 28 after beating Minnetonka 3-2 the night before. Mason Jenson is putting together a phenomenal season. The Ohio State recruit has 22 goals and 21 assists in 13 games. The Royals are looking to get through Section 5AA for the first time in program history. This might be the team that can not only get through sections, but end up playing on Saturday night at the Xcel Energy Center.

Sections 3AA and 4AA are both strong this year with Cretin-Derham Hall and Rosemount coming in at No. 7 and No.  8, respectively. They join St. Thomas Academy in the top 10. In Section 4AA Hill-Murray is joined by No. 6 Stillwater and No. 9 White Bear Lake, who play today.

Wayzata, in a wide open Section 6AA, rounds out the top 10.

A lot will happen in the next six weeks before section playoffs. Will 2025 be the Year of the Spud?

Right now they are No. 1.

Who ends up No. 1 remains to be seen.

LPH Rankings Presented by Tradition Companies