5AA champion Rogers moves into Section 6AA,
7AA champ Andover moves to 5AA

The Minnesota State High School league released their new section alignments for the two-year cycle for the 2025-26 and 2026-27 seasons today. The moves don’t come without some concern from hockey pundits. While there were hopes Section 1AA would get more competitive, the only change was the addition of Austin, a program that moved up from Class A where they went 17-9-1 last season before losing to Waseca in the section playoffs. Section 2AA stays relatively the same with the exception of Waconia dropping to Class A.

Section 3AA and 4AA also don’t add any new teams, but dropped a few and are now 8-team sections. In 3AA, Hastings moves to Class A and in 4AA Tartan and St. Paul Johnson both drop down a class as well. St. Paul Johnson is now combined and known as St. Paul Highland Park and will compete at the Class A level.

Section 5AA had a bit of a shake up with the departure of section champion Rogers and the addition of Section 7AA Champion Andover. Anoka, another Section 7AA team last season, will join Section 5AA. Meanwhile Osseo and Irondale/St. Anthony will compete in Class A.

If there was any possibility Section 6AA could become stronger, it did with the addition of Rogers, who will now have to compete against perennial powers Edina, Benilde-St. Margaret’s and Wayzata, and likewise those teams will have to compete with Rogers. Former 6AA squads St, Louis Park and Blake dropped down to Class A where they should be contenders right away.

Speaking of perennial powers, Andover’s had somewhat of a hold on Section 7AA in recent years, but that is no more, leaving the door ajar for the likes of Grand Rapids and Rock Ridge, which bodes well for having more northern squads represented at the state tournament. Section 8AA belonged to Moorhead this past season as they marched all the way to their first state title, and it looks like it might belong to Moorhead for the foreseeable future. The section added Alexandria from Class A, and Sartell-St. Stephen moved down to Class A while Buffalo moved to Section 6AA.

Here is a look at the new section alignments for the 2025-26 and 2026-27 seasons.

Section 1AA

Austin* (moved up from Class A)

Farmington

Lakeville North

Lakeville South**

New Prague

Owatonna

Rochester Century/John Marshall

Rochester Mayo

*New Team

**2024-25 Section Champion

Section 2AA

Bloomington Jefferson

Chanhassen

Chaska

Eden Prairie

Holy Family

Minnetonka

Shakopee**

Prior Lake

Team Removed: Waconia (Moved to Class A)

**2024-25 Section Champion

Section 3AA

Apple Valley/Burnsville

Cretin-Derham Hall

Eagan

Eastview

Park Cottage Grove

St. Thomas Academy**

Two Rivers

Rosemount

Team Removed: Hastings (Moved to Class A)

**2024-25 Section Champion

Section 4AA

East Ridge

Gentry Academy

Hill-Murray

Mounds View

Roseville

Stillwater**

White Bear Lake

Woodbury

Teams Removed: Tartan (Moved to Class A), St. Paul Johnson (combined with Highland Park and moved to Class A)

**2024-25 Section Champion

Section 5AA

Andover* (Moved from Section 7AA)

Anoka* (Moved from Section 7AA)

Blaine

Centennial

Champlin Park

Maple Grove

Spring Lake Park/Coon Rapids

Totino Grace

Teams Removed: Rogers (Moved to 6AA), Osseo (Moved to Class A), Irondale/St. Anthony (Moved to Class A)

*New Team

**2024-25 Section Champion (Rogers)

Section 6AA

Armstrong/Cooper

Benilde-St. Margaret’s

Buffalo* (Moved from Section 8AA)

Edina**

Hopkins

Holy Angels

Rogers* (Moved from Section 5AA)

Wayzata

Teams Removed: St. Louis Park (Move to Class A), Blake (Moved to Class A)

*New Team

**2024-25 Section Champion

Section 7AA

Cambridge-Isanti

Duluth Denfeld

Duluth East

Duluth Marshall

Forest Lake

Grand Rapids

Rock Ridge

Northern Edge

Teams Removed: Anoka (Moved to Section 5AA), Andover (Moved to Section 5AA)

2024-25 Section Champion (Andover)

Section 8AA

Alexandria* (Moved up from Class A)

Bemidji

Brainerd

Elk River/Zimmerman

Moorhead**

Roseau

St. Cloud

St. Michael-Albertville

Teams Removed: Sartell (Moved to Class A), Buffalo (Moved to Section 6AA)

*New Team

**2024-25 Section Champion

Class A Section Alignments

The biggest changes in Class A is in Sections 2A where they added four new teams, including three who moved down from Class AA, and Section 4A where they also added four teams, all from AA. Section 2A added Blake, St. Louis Park and Waconia from AA. Blake was 19-7-0 and could become a section favorite in 2025-26. St. Louis Park and Waconia both finished 16-10-0 and will also make for a more competitive section. Southwest Christian/Richfield also moves into Section 2A from 4A.

In 4A, Osseo, Tartan, Irondale/St. Anthony, and Hastings all moved down from Class AA. Tartan finished 11-15-0 last season while Irondale/St. Anthony was 10-15-1. Osseo finished 7-19-1 and Hastings was 11-14-1.

In Section 5A, Litchfield/Dassel-Cokato moved into the section from 2A. Little Falls moved from 5A to 6A, taking the place of Alexandria who moved up to Class AA. Sartell-St. Stephen also moves back to Section 6A after playing AA for the past several seasons. Sections 7A and 8A remained intact.

Here is a breakdown of the Class A Section realignments:

Section 1A

Albert Lea

Dodge County

Faribault

La Crescent-Hokah

Northfield**

Red Wing

Rochester Lourdes

Waseca

Winona

Teams Removed: Austin (Moved to Class AA)

**2024-25 Section Champion

Section 2A

Blake* (Moved down form Class AA)

Breck

Delano

Hutcinson

Minneapolis

Mound Westonka

Orono**

Providence Academy

Southwest Christian/Richfield* (Moved form Section 4A)

St. Louis Park* (Moved down from Class AA)

Waconia* (Moved down form Class AA)

Teams Removed: Austin (Moved to Class AA)

*New Team

**2024-25 Section Champion

Section 3A

Fairmont

Luverne**

Mankato East

Mankato West

Marshall

Minnesota River

New Ulm

Redwood Valley

Windom

Worthington

**2024-25 Section Champion

Section 4A

Chisago Lakes

Hastings* (Moved down form Class AA)

Irondale/St. Anthony* (Moved down from Class AA)

Mahtomedi**

Osseo* (Moved down form Class AA)

Simley

South St. Paul

St. Paul Academy

St. Paul Highland Park

Tartan* (Moved down form Class AA)

Teams Removed: Bloomington Kennedy (Combined with Bloomington Jefferson)

*New Team

**2024-25 Section Champion

Section 5A

Becker/Big Lake

Litchfield/Dasssel-Cokato* (Moved form Section 2A)

Monticello

Mora/Milaca

Princeton

Pine City Area

River Lakes

Sauk Rapids-Rice

St. Cloud Cathedral**

Teams Removed: Little Falls (Moved to Section 6A)

*New Team

**2024-25 Section Champion

Section 6A

Breckenridge/Whapeton

Fergus Falls

Little Falls* (Moved from Section 5A)

Morris-Benson Area

Northern Lakes**

Prairie Centre

Sartell-St. Stephen* (Moved down from Class AA)

Wadena-Deer Creek

Willmar

Teams Removed: Alexandria (Moved up to Class AA)

*New Team

**2024-25 Section Champion

Section 7A

Cloquet/Esko/Carlton

Ely/Northeast Range

Greenway

Hermantown

Hibbing/Chisholm**

International Falls

North Shore

Moose Lake Area

Proctor

**2024-25 Section Champion

Section 8A

Bagley/Fosston

Crookston

Detroit Lakes

East Grand Forks**

Kittson County Central

Lake of the Woods

Park Rapids Area

Red Lake Falls

Thief River Falls

Warroad

**2024-25 Section Champion