High school boys ice hockey in Minnesota

Minnesota boys high school ice hockey is made up of multiple leagues and programs representing different associations. The two organizations associated with high school are the Minnesota State High School League and Minnesota Hockey. The Minnesota State High School League is a voluntary, nonprofit association of public and private schools with a history of service to Minnesota's high school youth since 1916. Minnesota Hockey, an affiliate of USA Hockey, is the governing body of youth and amateur hockey in Minnesota. Minnesota Hockey is governed by a board of directors and consists of approximately 140 community based associations who are formed into 12 districts.

Minnesota Class AA and A High School Hockey
Minnesota Class AA and A High School Hockey programs are members of the Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL). The league is made up of Varsity programs that are divided into two classes; AA and A. The classification is determined by enrollment, but schools have the option to both opt up or appeal, if they qualify, down in team sports every two years. Each class is further divided into eight sections. There are currently 144 varsity teams (72 AA and 72 A) competing for the state AA and A championships.

Minnesota State High School League History
High school hockey players throughout Minnesota participate in a maximum of 25 contests, excluding the section tournaments and the Minnesota State Boys' High School Hockey Tournament. Teams currently play three 17-minute periods to comprise a game. The lengthened periods were adopted by the Minnesota State High School League in 2003.

Boys hockey concludes their season with a four-day tournament in March that features sixteen teams competing for championships in both classes. From 1945 through 1991 the tournament consisted of a single class, eight-team tournament instead of the present-day two-class (AA and A) tournament. Private schools were not allowed to play in the Tournament until the 1974–75 season. In 1992–93, the tournament was composed of Tier I and II teams. This two-year experiment sent the top teams from each of the eight sections to the Tier I portion of the tournament and the remaining teams conducted a playoff to determine who would be included in the Tier II tournament. In 1994, the dual-class system was adopted and teams were placed into a class structure based on school enrollments.

Since 1994, the MSHSL's process to determine section assignments for boys' hockey is based on school enrollments and activity classifications. The basic premise is to place the largest 64 schools into Class AA and the remaining high schools in Class A. Both Classes are then divided into 8 sections each. Teams are placed into their section assignments with geographic location as a primary consideration. High schools initially placed in Class A have the option to play at the Class AA level.

Beginning with the 2007 state tournament, the top four teams in each class are seeded. Coaches of the participating schools vote to determine the seeded teams the Saturday before the state tournament. The four teams are then bracketed so that if the seeded teams advance, the top seed plays the fourth seed while the second and third seeds play each other. The quarterfinal opponents of the seeded teams are determined by a blind draw.

Differences Between Minnesota High School Hockey and USA Hockey-Affiliated High School Hockey
Unlike most US high school hockey programs, Minnesota high school hockey is not affiliated with USA Hockey. Minnesota offers various development programs and camps that further refine players' skills and expose them to a high level of coaching expertise.

Minnesota State High School Hockey Tournament
Based on tournament attendance, hockey is the most popular high school sport in the state. Attendance has been strong throughout the years, with 38 tournaments eclipsing the 100,000+ barrier. In 2017 Prep45.com partnered with GrandStadium.TV to stream the state tournament to viewers in 37 countries and all 50 states. The Minnesota State High School Hockey Tournament is currently the largest state sports tournament in terms of viewing and attendance, beating Florida's State High School Football Tournament and Indiana's State High School Basketball Tournament.

Minnesota Junior Gold High School League
Several Minnesota high schools field Junior Gold teams in addition to or as an alternative to high school Junior Varsity. There are currently 61 Junior Gold A and B teams throughout Minnesota. The league is governed by Minnesota Hockey and is affiliated with USA Hockey. Minnesota Junior Gold teams are eligible for the Chipotle-USA Hockey National Championships.

Many Junior Gold players have made their high school team after playing a season or two of Junior Gold, and some Junior Gold players have gone onto play after high school in junior leagues such as the NAHL.

Independent Prep, USA 18U Tier 1 & USA 18U AAA
Minnesota's independent high school ice hockey teams include Shattuck-St. Mary's (MN) Prep and NorthStar Christian Academy Knights Prep (MN) and the state's AAA teams include Shattuck-St. Mary's (MN) 18U AAA team.

Development Programs
Minnesota has development programs available for high school players looking for an elevated level of competition against top talent from across the state.

Upper Midwest High School Elite League Hockey
The Upper Midwest High School Elite League Hockey provides players with development and high-level exposure in the months leading up to the high school season. The league consists of seven Minnesota elite teams, including Minnesota Elite (TDS) 18U AAA, Minnesota Elite (Sanford) 18U AAA, Minnesota Elite (MapSouth) 18U AAA, Minnesota Elite (TCOrtho) 18U AAA, Minnesota Elite (SIT) 18U AAA, Minnesota Elite (Kowalskis) 18U AAA, Minnesota Elite (Magazine) 18U AAA, Shattuck-St. Mary's (MN) Prep, Team Wisconsin 18U AAA, and Team North Dakota 18U AAA. These teams participate in a highly competitive schedule, facing off against each other in showcase tournaments and regular-season games. The league provides an excellent platform for players to sharpen their skills, compete against top talent, and gain exposure to college and professional scouts.

2023 - 24 National High School Hockey Rankings
According to MYHockey Rankings, Minnetonka High School is the number one ranked high school hockey team in the United States. The site ranked 2,125 high school teams for the 2023-24 season and 17 of the top 20 high school hockey teams are from Minnesota. Nine of the top 10 high school hockey teams are located in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area

MyHockey Rankings also ranked Shattuck-St. Mary's (MN) Prep team as the top Prep / Independent team in the United States. Northstar Christian Academy (MN) was ranked #4.

MaxPreps also releases high school ice hockey rankings. However, MaxPreps rankings are very inaccurate and unreliable. This has led to many within the sports community to question the company's algorithm and overall legitimacy. Information for several hundred ice hockey teams is either incomplete, inaccurate, or missing. A number of teams have had incorrect game results and schedules listed, which has led to the algorithm not being able to properly track a team's strength of schedule and quality wins against highly ranked opponents. The fact that the site relies on coaches' participation has only compounded the issue. If coaches from the country's top programs are not correcting or reporting these errors, it leads to further inaccuracies in the rankings. The lack of transparency from MaxPreps regarding their ranking formula has only confirmed the concerns about there being many flaws in their system.

Historical timeline

 * 1905 – Saint Paul Academy fields what is believed to be the oldest varsity team in the state
 * 1930s – High school hockey played at approximately 25 schools in Minnesota
 * 1945 – First MSHSL Boys State High School Hockey Tournament held at St. Paul Auditorium
 * 1949–1964 – Prep. School Hockey Tournament (for Private Schools)
 * 1965–1970 – Catholic School Hockey Tournament
 * 1969 – The tournament moves to Met Center in Bloomington, home of the Minnesota North Stars NHL team
 * 1970–1974 – Independent School Hockey Tournament
 * 1974–Present public schools and private schools can play in the same tournament
 * 1976 – The tournament moves to the St. Paul Civic Center.
 * 1992 – Tier I and Tier II structure adopted; the Target Center in Minneapolis hosted the Tier II tournament
 * 1994 – Class AA and A structure adopted.
 * 1999 – The tournament moved to the Target Center in Minneapolis
 * 2001 – The tournament moved to the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, home of the new Minnesota Wild NHL team
 * 2003 – Period length changed from 15 to 17 minutes
 * 2007 – Coaches seed top four teams in each class
 * 2008 – 19,559 fans attended the 2008 State Boys' Hockey Tournament Class AA semifinals at Xcel Energy Center, March 7, setting a new record for the largest crowd to ever attend a hockey game in the state of Minnesota
 * 2015 – 21,609 fans attended the 2015 State Boys' Hockey Tournament Class AA semifinals at Xcel Energy Center, March 6, setting a new record for the largest crowd to ever attend a hockey game in the state of Minnesota
 * 2016 – 22,244 fans attended the 2016 State Boys' Hockey Tournament Class AA semifinals at Xcel Energy Center, March 4, setting a new record for the largest crowd to ever attend a hockey game in the state of Minnesota

Notable alumni
List of notable alumni:


 * Wendell Anderson (Saint Paul Johnson) former Governor of Minnesota (1971-6) and United States Senator (1976-8); Olympic silver medalist in 1956
 * Mike Antonovich (Greenway of Coleraine), former NHL player for the Minnesota North Stars, Hartford Whalers, and New Jersey Devils; Mayor of Coleraine, Minnesota
 * David Backes (Spring Lake Park), NHL player for the Saint Louis Blues and Boston Bruins; two-time Olympian and silver medalist in 2010
 * Bill Baker (Grand Rapids), former professional NHL player for the Montreal Canadiens, Colorado Rockies, Saint Louis Blues, and New York Rangers; Olympic gold medalist in 1980
 * Nick Bjugstad (Blaine), NHL player for the MInnesota Wild; nephew of Scott Bjugstad
 * Scott Bjugstad (Irondale), former NHL player for the Minnesota North Stars, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Los Angeles Kings; one time Olympian in 1984; uncle of Nick Bjugstad
 * Brandon Bochenski (Blaine), NHL and KHL player for the Ottawa Senators, Chicago Blackhawks, Boston Bruins, Anaheim Ducks, Nashville Predators, Tampa Bay Lightning, and Barys Astana; plays internationally for Kazakhstan.
 * Brian Bonin (White Bear Lake Area), former NHL player for the Pittsburgh Penguins and Minnesota Wild
 * Henry Boucha (Warroad), former NHL player for the Detroit Red Wings, Minnesota North Stars, Kansas City Scouts, and Colorado Rockies; Olympian and silver medalist in 1972, second cousin of Gary Sargent and T. J. Oshie
 * Justin Braun (White Bear Lake Area), NHL player for the San Jose Sharks
 * Herb Brooks (Saint Paul Johnson), former Olympic, NHL, and NCAA coach; Olympic Gold (1980) and Silver (2002) medalist; three-time NCAA National Champion (1974, 1976, 1979)
 * Aaron Broten (Roseau), former NHL player for the Colorado Rockies/New Jersey Devils, Minnesota North Stars, Quebec Nordiques, Toronto Maple Leafs, and Winnipeg Jets; brother of Neal Broten and Paul Broten
 * Neal Broten (Roseau), former NHL player for the Minnesota North Stars/Dallas Stars, New Jersey Devils, and Los Angeles Kings; NCAA champion in 1979. Olympic gold medalist in 1980; brother of Aaron Broten and Paul Broten
 * Paul Broten (Roseau), former NHL player for the New York Rangers, Dallas Stars, and St. Louis Blues; brother of Aaron Broten and Neal Broten
 * Warren Burger (Saint Paul Johnson), Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, 1969-1986
 * Dave Christian (Warroad), former NHL player for the Winnipeg Jets, Washington Capitals, Boston Bruins, Saint Louis Blues, and Chicago Blackhawks; Olympic gold medalist in 1980, co-founder of Christian Brothers Hockey Co., uncle of Brock Nelson
 * Steve Christoff (Richfield), former NHL player for the Minnesota North Stars, Calgary Flames, and Los Angeles Kings; Olympic gold medalist in 1980.
 * Mike Crowley (Bloomington Jefferson), former NHL player for the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim
 * Matt Cullen (Moorhead) NHL player for the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, Florida Panthers, Carolina Hurricanes, New York Rangers, Ottawa Senators, Nashville Predators, and Pittsburgh Penguins; three-time Stanley Cup champion (2006, 2016, 2017)
 * Mark Dayton (The Blake School), United States Senator (2001-2007) and Governor of Minnesota (2011–2019)
 * François-Henri Désérable (Wayzata), French author
 * Jake Gardiner (Minnetonka), NHL player for the Toronto Maple Leafs
 * Phil Housley (South Saint Paul), former NHL player for the Buffalo Sabres, Winnipeg Jets, St. Louis Blues, Calgary Flames, New Jersey Devils, Washington Capitals, Chicago Blackhawks, and Toronto Maple Leafs; current coach of the Buffalo Sabres
 * Matt Hendricks (Blaine), NHL player for the Winnipeg Jets, Colorado Avalanche, Washington Capitals, Nashville Predators and the Edmonton Oilers
 * Steve Janaszak (Hill-Murray), former NHL player for the Minnesota North Stars and Colorado Rockies; Olympic gold medalist in 1980.
 * Jim Johannson (Mayo High School), American ice hockey player, coach and USA Hockey executive
 * Jamie Langenbrunner (Cloquet), former NHL player for the Dallas Stars, New Jersey Devils, and St. Louis Blues; two-time Stanley Cup champion in 1999 and 2003
 * Reed Larson (Minneapolis Roosevelt)
 * Nick Leddy (Eden Prairie)
 * Anders Lee (Saint Thomas, Edina)
 * Brian Lee (Moorhead)
 * Paul Martin (Elk River Area)
 * John Mayasich (Eveleth)
 * Rob McClanahan (Mounds View)
 * Ryan McDonagh (Cretin-Derham)
 * Brock Nelson (Warroad)
 * Craig Norwich (Edina)
 * T. J. Oshie (Warroad)
 * Mark Parrish (Bloomington Jefferson)
 * George Pelawa (Bemidji)
 * Matt Peterson (Maple Grove)
 * Mike Ramsey (Minneapolis Roosevelt)
 * Tim Pawlenty (South Saint Paul), Governor of Minnesota (2003-2011) and 2012 candidate for President
 * Dean Phillips (The Blake School), U.S. Representative (2019-)
 * John Pohl (Red Wing)
 * Tom Preissing (Rosemount)
 * Gary Sargent (Bemidji), former NHL player for the Los Angeles Kings and Minnesota North Stars; second cousin of Henry Boucha and first cousin of T. J. Oshie
 * Pete Stauber (Duluth Denfeld), U.S. Representative (2019-)
 * Alex Stalock (South Saint Paul)
 * Terry Steinbach (New Ulm), former MLB player, three-time MLB All-Star and World Series champion in 1989
 * David Tomassoni (Chisholm), former professional hockey player for Italian Men's National Team,Minnesota Senator and President of the Minnesota Senate (2020-1)
 * Chris Weinke (Cretin-Derham Hall), former professional football and baseball player; Heisman Trophy winner in 2000
 * Blake Wheeler (Breck)
 * Doug Woog (South Saint Paul)
 * Doug Zmolek (Rochester Marshall)
 * Russ Anderson (Minneapolis Washburn), (University of Minnesota - NCAA Champion 1976), NHL Pittsburgh Penguins, Hartford Whalers, LA Kings