This is the time of year when more teams are in the conference portion of their schedules and, as such, the results carry less weight in the rankings.
So, the Minnesota Top 25 will remain mostly unchanged.
Nobody is sure when it started, but somewhere along the way conferences started questioning the value of lopsided regular-season results in favor of more robust scheduling to better prepare the better teams for playoff success. Unless you were the Lake Conference, teams began jettisoning weaker conference opponents in favor of top competition.
Hockey Day Minnesota, which takes place Jan. 22–25 at Valleyfair, offers the best chance for a Top 25 shakeup in the upcoming week, with Shakopee facing Maple Grove on Jan. 25 at 2:30 p.m.
Statewide rankings by Let’s Play Hockey, conducted by polling Minnesota high school coaches, are considered for the Top 25.
Records are through Jan. 14. All schools are Class 2A unless noted.
1. Moorhead (16-1). Previous Ranking: 1
2. Hill-Murray (12-1-1). Previous Ranking. 2
