By Daniel Huss

When the high school hockey season opened three months ago, the defending state champion Eden Prairie High School boys hockey team was ranked No. 1.

And then Minnetonka started its season 4-0 and snatched away the top ranking; they’ve been ranked No. 1 ever since.

Fast forward to today and Minnetonka is ranked No 1, Eden Prairie No. 2.

So?

Wednesday, the two teams were scheduled to face each other in the Section 6AA championship game.

What happens is anyone’s guess.

“In a normal year,” said Eden Prairie Head Coach Lee Smith, “beating a team like Wayzata is usually what it takes to get to state, now we’ve got to crank it up another notch.”

Saturday, Eden Prairie, the No. 3 seed in Section 6AA, ended the No. 2 seeded Wayzata Trojans’ season with a hard-fought 4-1 victory.
Kyle Rau scored twice. Mark Rath scored the game winner; Mike Erickson scored an empty-net goal.

Andrew Ford stopped 36 of the 37 shots he faced.

Two days prior, Eden Prairie won the right to face Wayzata by beating Robbinsdale Armstrong 5-1.

All you need know about that game was that Eden Prairie attempted 110 shots.

Part II

Two months ago, Minnetonka defeated Eden Prairie 1-0 in a non-conference clash.

Of note was the fact that Eden Prairie hadn’t played in the 14 days leading up to that game. On the other side of the equation, the Skippers were without Max Gardiner.

“It’s kind of a push,” admits Smith.

Might Wednesday’s game be the same?