Minnesota high school boys hockey playoffs 2026: Sectionals schedule, bracket and results for Class A and AA

Minnesota's MSHSL boys ice hockey section finals are scheduled to begin Tuesday, February 24, with 16 champions set to be crowned across the state's eight sections in both the Class AA and Class A ranks.

Most of the pairings for the championship games are set, but there are a handful of semifinals still to be played starting with the Section 2A and 4A semifinals on Tuesday night. That's followed by the Section 4AA semifinals on Wednesday night.

Those will take place simultaneously with the start of the championship finals Tuesday beginning with the Section 3AA title game that evening followed by a full slate of championship games on Wednesday.

Once the section tournaments conclude, the eight champions from both Class AA and Class A will advance to the state tournaments which are scheduled to run from March 4-7 at the Grand Casino Arena in Saint Paul and the 3M Arena at Mariucci in Minneapolis.

Minnesota's top teams headed into the MSHSL section championships

CLASS AA

Section 2AA favorite Minnetonka is the state's top-ranked team in MaxPreps headed into their championship finale on Thursday night at Ridder Arena in Minneapolis where the Skippers will face the Chanhassen Storm. The Skippers only have one loss on the season according to MaxPreps – a 5-4 overtime setback to the Edina Hornets who are set to take on the Wayzata [Plymouth] Trojans in Wednesday night's Section 6AA title game at Ridder.

Wayzata actually dominated Edina less than two weeks ago in a 4-1 rout on February 12, but the Hornets also beat the Trojans, 5-4, on January 22. Edina will enter the rubber match between the two squads ranked No. 6 while Wayzata is clinging to the No. 12 position in the state rankings.

Other Class AA frontrunners include the No. 2 Section 8AA front-running Moorhead Spuds who will skate against the Elk River Elks for the Section 8AA title on Wednesday night at the Runestone Community Center in Alexandria. The No. 6 St. Thomas Academy [Mendota Heights] Cadets and the No. 7 Rosemount Irish, meanwhile, will battle in the Section 3AA finals Tuesday night at Saint Paul's Lee & Penny Anderson Arena for the right to become the first team to clinch a spot in next week's state tournament.

CLASS A

The Warroad Warriors are the top-ranked Class A team, representing Section 8A as the state's No. 8 team. They'll face off against the Detroit Lakes Lakers Thursday night at Engelstad Arena in Thief River Falls.

Class A's second-highest ranked team is the No. 9 Hibbing Bluejackets who have a date Wednesday night against the Cloquet Lumberjacks in the Section 7A championship game at Amsoil Arena in Duluth.

How to watch Minnesota high school boys hockey playoff games

Some of the games featured this week in Minnesota's boys hockey sectionals will be available for live streaming online. That includes the Edina-Wayzata matchup above that will be available via a live stream on the Minnesota Star Tribune (StribVarsity):

WATCH Minnesota boys ice hockey section tournament action on StribVarsity

Some of the other section tournament games will be available via the live-streaming platform at MNHockey.tv. That includes Tuesday's Class 2A semifinals along with the Section 8AA, 2AA, 5A, and 3A championship games later this week:

WATCH Minnesota boys ice hockey section tournament action on MNHockey.tv

For local fans hoping to catch the action in person, there are many options available through secure online ticket-selling websites. That includes an inventory of tickets for many of the games at StubHub.com.

BUY TICKETS: Minnesota high school boys hockey championships

Minnesota high school boys hockey playoffs schedule

Below is a full schedule of the remaining games for each of the 16 sectional championships.

MSHSL semifinals

All times CST local

Tuesday, February 24

6 p.m. — Section 4A Semifinal: Mahtomedi vs. Hastings
6 p.m. — Section 2A Semifinal: Delano vs. Orono
8:30 p.m. — Section 4A Semifinal: Chisago Lakes vs. Tartan
8:30 p.m. — Section 2A Semifinal: Blake vs. Minneapolis

Wednesday, February 25

6 p.m. — Section 4AA Semifinal: Hill-Murray vs. Gentry Academy
9 p.m. — Section 4AA Semifinal: Stillwater vs. White Bear Lake

MSHSL section championship dates

For more information including full brackets and ticketing, you can visit MSHSL.com.

• MSHL boys ice hockey section tournaments including brackets
• MSHSL boys ice hockey state tournaments including brackets

Minnesota high school boys hockey championships dates

Once sectional champions are determined, the focus shifts to the state championships. The seeding for the MSHSL boys hockey Class AA and Class A state tournaments will be announced on Saturday, February 28.

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