Hearts in Hawai'i
Biggest Section Tournament Upsets in Minn. Boys' High School Hockey (1998-2024)
3/4/2024
This question came up on the High School Hockey Message Board and it got me thinking--can this be measured?
Of course! All the data is right there on my website. But how to measure it? The only objective method I can think of is to use teams' PageStat ratings prior to the Section Tournaments, starting with 1998 (the first season PageStat was used to measure Boys' high school hockey teams) and progressing through the 2024 Sections, just completed last Friday.
Here are some results: Note that "Diff." will show the difference in PageStat rating between the loser and winner. The higher the number, the bigger the upset is considered to be.
20 biggest upsets:
| # |
Year |
Section |
Round |
Winner |
Loser |
Diff. |
| 1
| 2004
| 5A
| Quarters
| Spring Lake Park
| St. Louis Park
| 6.92
|
| 2
| 2004
| 6AA
| Quarters
| Minnetonka
| Eden Prairie
| 4.60
|
| 3
| 2007
| 5A
| Quarters
| Spring Lake Park
| Breck
| 4.55
|
| 4
| 2002
| 4A
| Quarters
| Crosby-Ironton
| Sauk Centre
| 4.45
|
| 5
| 2013
| 5AA
| Semis
| Champlin Park
| Blaine
| 4.44
|
| 6
| 1999
| 7A
| Quarters
| Duluth Central
| Eveleth
| 4.36
|
| 7
| 2012
| 4AA
| Quarters
| St. Paul Johnson
| White Bear Lake
| 4.34
|
| 8
| 2012
| 6AA
| Quarters
| Robb. Armstrong
| Eden Prairie
| 4.28
|
| 9
| 2002
| 8AA
| Quarters
| St. Cloud Tech
| St. Cloud Apollo
| 4.27
|
| 10
| 2003
| 5A
| Quarters
| Richfield
| Breck
| 4.10
|
| 11
| 2024
| 3A
| Semis
| Marshall
| Luverne
| 4.09
|
| 12
| 2011
| 6A
| Quarters
| St. Cloud Apollo
| Little Falls
| 4.07
|
| 13
| 2016
| 6AA
| Semis
| Cretin-Derham Hall
| Benilde-St. Margaret's
| 4.06
|
| 14
| 2009
| 4AA
| Quarters
| St. Paul Johnson
| Tartan
| 4.02
|
| 15
| 2007
| 5AA
| Finals
| Burnsville
| Holy Angels
| 3.94
|
| 16
| 2017
| 3A
| Quarters
| Redwood Valley
| Litchfield
| 3.89
|
| 17
| 2024
| 8AA
| Quarters
| St. Cloud
| Roseau
| 3.88
|
| 18
| 2005
| 8A
| Quarters
| Crookston
| East Grand Forks
| 3.84
|
| 19
| 2013
| 3AA
| Quarters
| Apple Valley
| Cretin-Derham Hall
| 3.80
|
| 20
| 1998
| 8AA
| Quarters
| Willmar
| Bemidji
| 3.60
|
Let's break this down by Class and round:
Class AA Quarterfinals:
| # |
Year |
Section |
Winner |
Loser |
Diff. |
| 1
|
2004
| 6AA
| Minnetonka
| Eden Prairie
| 4.60
|
| 2
| 2012
| 4AA
| St. Paul Johnson
| White Bear Lake
| 4.34
|
| 3
| 2012
| 6AA
| Robb. Armstrong
| Eden Prairie
| 4.28
|
| 4
| 2000
| 8AA
| St. Cloud Tech
| St. Cloud Apollo
| 4.27
|
| 5
| 2009
| 4AA
| St. Paul Johnson
| Tartan
| 4.02
|
| 6
| 2024
| 8AA
| St.Cloud
| Roseau
| 3.88
|
| 7
| 2013
| 3AA
| Apple Valley
| Cretin-Derham Hall
| 3.80
|
| 8
| 1998
| 8AA
| Willmar
| Bemidji
| 3.60
|
| 9
| 1999
| 4AA
| Stillwater
| White Bear Lake
| 3.00
|
| 10
| 2003
| 6AA
| Minnetonka
| Bloom. Jefferson
| 2.85
|
Class AA Semifinals:
| # |
Year |
Section |
Winner |
Loser |
Diff. |
| 1
| 2013
| 5AA
| Champlin Park
| Blaine
| 4.44
|
| 2
| 2016
| 6AA
| Cretin-Derham Hall
| Benilde-St. Margaret's
| 4.06
|
| 3
| 2006
| 5AA
| Apple Valley
| Holy Angels
| 3.42
|
| 4
| 2004
| 6AA
| Minnetonka
| Bloom. Jefferson
| 3.20
|
| 5
| 2019
| 2AA
| Holy Family
| Minnetonka
| 2.77
|
| 6
| 2014
| 2AA
| Bloom. Jefferson
| Burnsville
| 2.39
|
| 7
| 2020
| 7AA
| Elk River
| Grand Rapids
| 2.39
|
| 8
| 2008
| 7AA
| Cloquet
| Duluth East
| 2.27
|
| 9
| 2014
| 6AA
| Benilde-St. Margaret's
| Wayzata
| 2.22
|
| 10
| 2015
| 4AA
| Stillwater
| White Bear Lake
| 2.20
|
Class AA Finals:
| # |
Year |
Section |
Winner |
Loser |
Diff. |
| 1
| 2007
| 5AA
| Burnsville
| Holy Angels
| 3.94
|
| 2
| 2014
| 4AA
| Stillwater
| Hill-Murray
| 3.33
|
| 3
| 2013
| 3AA
| Eastview
| Eagan
| 3.02
|
| 4
| 2000
| 6AA
| Edina
| Eden Prairie
| 3.00
|
| 5
| 2024
| 1AA
| Rochester Century/JM
| Lakeville South
| 2.80
|
| 6
| 2017
| 6AA
| Wayzata
| Edina
| 2.73
|
| 7
| 2014
| 5AA
| Centennial
| Blaine
| 2.63
|
| 8
| 2012
| 6AA
| Benilde-St. Margaret's
| Minnetonka
| 2.32
|
| 9
| 2011
| 4AA
| White Bear Lake
| Hill-Murray
| 2.19
|
| 10
| 2015
| 7AA
| Duluth East
| Elk River
| 2.16
|
Class A Quarterfinals:
| # |
Year |
Section |
Winner |
Loser |
Diff. |
| 1
| 2004
| 5A
| Spring Lake Park
| St. Louis Park
| 6.92
|
| 2
| 2007
| 5A
| Spring Lake Park
| Breck
| 4.55
|
| 3
| 2002
| 4A
| Crosby-Ironton
| Sauk Centre
| 4.45
|
| 4
| 1999
| 7A
| Duluth Central
| Eveleth-Gilbert
| 4.36
|
| 5
| 2003
| 5A
| Richfield
| Breck
| 4.10
|
| 6
| 2011
| 6A
| St. Cloud Apollo
| Little Falls
| 4.07
|
| 7
| 2017
| 3A
| Redwood Valley
| Litchfield
| 3.89
|
| 8
| 2005
| 8A
| Crookston
| East Grand Forks
| 3.84
|
| 9
| 2012
| 1A
| Albert Lea
| New Prague
| 3.43
|
| 10
| 2010
| 3A
| Luverne
| Redwood Valley
| 3.07
|
Class A Semifinals:
| # |
Year |
Section |
Winner |
Loser |
Diff. |
| 1
| 2024
| 3A
| Marshall
| Luverne
| 4.09
|
| 2
| 2016
| 4A
| Totino Grace
| Mahtomedi
| 3.43
|
| 3
| 2013
| 3A
| Marshall
| Luverne
| 3.34
|
| 4
| 2005
| 6A
| Shakopee
| Orono
| 3.13
|
| 5
| 2000
| 8A
| Crookston
| East Grand Forks
| 2.79
|
| 6
| 2022
| 1A
| New Prague
| Northfield
| 2.71
|
| 7
| 2016
| 6A
| Little Falls
| St. Cloud Apollo
| 2.55
|
| 8
| 2017
| 1A
| Red Wing
| Rochester Lourdes
| 2.24
|
| 9
| 2007
| 1A
| New Ulm
| Mankato West
| 2.24
|
| 10
| 2000
| 6A
| Hutchinson
| Shakopee
| 2.18
|
Class A Finals:
| # |
Year |
Section |
Winner |
Loser |
Diff. |
| 1
| 2019
| 7A
| Greenway
| Hermantown
| 3.45
|
| 2
| 2014
| 2A
| Orono
| Breck
| 2.98
|
| 3
| 2018
| 6A
| Alexandria
| St. Cloud Cathedral
| 2.19
|
| 4
| 2004
| 7A
| Hibbing
| Hermantown
| 1.99
|
| 5
| 2009
| 4A
| Mahtomedi
| St. Thomas Academy
| 1.97
|
| 6
| 2015
| 3A
| New Ulm
| Luverne
| 1.97
|
| 7
| 2003
| 5A
| St. Louis Park
| Blake
| 1.82
|
| 8
| 2007
| 5A
| Blake
| Totino Grace
| 1.77
|
| 9
| 2005
| 5A
| Totino Grace
| Breck
| 1.76
|
| 10
| 1998
| 8A
| East Grand Forks
| Warroad
| 1.73
|
Which years had the most upsets making these Top 10 lists?
2009 had 7
2012 had 6
2016 had 5
2006, 2011, 2014 had 4
I'll probably be adding more analysis later!
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last updated september 25, 2023
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