Boys Hockey Playoffs Set To Begin This Week

The Road to the X opens up this week for area boys hockey players beginning the section playoffs. All games will start at 7 p.m. unless noted.

SECTION 5A 

Becker/Big Lake picked up a 6-4 win over Mora/Milaca on Saturday night to set the stage for Tuesday's matchup with top seed Cathedral at the MAC (20-4-1).

The other half of the bracket features #4 seed River Lakes (14-9-2) hosting Pine City in Paynesville.

On the other side of the 5A bracket,  Sauk Rapids-Rice (9-13-3) will play at #2 seed Monticello (19-5-1).

The 5A semifinals are scheduled to be played on Saturday, February 24th at the highest seed's arena. The section championship game will be played in Elk River on February 28th.

SECTION 8AA 

#7 seed St. Cloud (10-14-1) will travel to #2 Roseau (18-6-1) for a 6 p.m. puck drop on Tuesday night, while #3 seed Sartell-St. Stephen (18-6-1) plays host to #6 Buffalo-Annandale (8-16-1) at Bernick's Arena.

On the other half of the bracket #5 Bemidji will play at #4 Elk River/Zimmerman and #8 Brainerd will visit top seed Moorhead.

The Section 8AA semifinals are set for February 24th and the section championship game will be played on February 28th at a neutral site location to be determined.

The 2024 Minnesota State High School League boys hockey state tournament is set to get underway on Thursday, March 7th at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.