The Minnesota girls hockey season is officially upon us. Games officially start Thursday, Nov. 10, and there are plenty of top-tier matchups for opening weekend. Find out our top-three games to watch for each day of the first weekend of the season. The game in bold is The Rink Live's featured game of the day.
Thursday, Nov. 10:
- Orono (A) at Chaska/Chanhassen (AA), 7 p.m.
- Blaine at Champlin Park/Coon Rapids, 7 p.m.
- New Prague (AA) at Delano/Rockford (A), 7 p.m.
Blaine (7AA) takes on Champlin Park/Coon Rapids (5AA) at the Coon Rapids Ice Center at 7 p.m. and although these two teams weren't at the top of their sections last year, it should be a telling matchup to provide clues about how Section 7AA and Section 5AA might play out.
CP/CR posted a 14-12 record last season, but the squad lost its two leading scorers along with a goaltender this offseason. Blaine went 11-12-3 last season, so the Bengals didn't have as many wins but they retain their leading scorer and starting netminder.
Last year the two squads split their regular season matchups. Blaine won the first game against CP/CR, 5-3, but lost the second game later in the season, 2-1.
Friday, Nov. 11:
- *Stillwater at Hill-Murray, 7 p.m.
- Simley (A) at Rosemount (AA), 7 p.m.
- Bloomington Jefferson at Park of Cottage Grove, 7:30 p.m.
Stillwater plays Hill-Murray at Aldrich Arena at 7 p.m. Friday. This game should be an absolute battle.
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The two teams played twice last year — Stillwater won the first clash, 2-1, then lost in the Section 4AA semifinal, 4-3, in overtime.
Hill-Murray went 18-9-1 last season and will be lead by goaltender Grace Zhan along with leading scorer Chloe Boreen and top defender Ellah Hause. Stillwater posted a 13-11-1 record in 2021-22. The Ponies will have a new head coach this season and will be lead on offense by Josie St. Martin .
*The Rink Live will be covering this game as the official game of the week and will have player interviews, photos, and live-scoring updates on their social media pages.
Saturday, Nov. 12:
- Lakeville North at Moorhead, 1 p.m.
- Edina at Andover, 2 p.m.
- Warroad at Proctor/Hermantown, 2 p.m.
There are some big matchups on Saturday, but none bigger than a rematch of the 2022 Class A state title game.
Warroad will head to Proctor/Hermantown for a huge Saturday afternoon tilt.
Warroad won both of its games against the Mirage last season, 1-0 early on in 2021-22 and then 6-1 in the state championship match.
Both the Warriors and the Mirage retain a large part of their roster, so this is sure to be a great gauge of which team might have the edge early on in the 2022-23 season. Warroad was 26-3-1 last season while Proctor/Hermantown was 21-8-1.
