Forget Punxsutawney Phil, the start of girls' hockey section playoffs this week means winter is losing its grip.
North metro teams rank among the favorites to emerge and qualify for the state tournament taking place Feb. 18-21 at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.
In Class 2A, Elk River/Zimmerman earned the No. 1 seed in Section 7. The Elks, under first-year coach Dale Sager, play host to Cambridge-Isanti/Mora/Pine City at 7 p.m. on Thursday.
The Elks (18-6-1) ended the regular season with one-goal losses to Centennial and Duluth. Abbie Canton leads the team with 17 goals, followed by Madison Bizal and Breanna Simon, each with 12, Raelyn Korinek with 11 and Shae McLean with 10.
No. 2 seed Andover (11-12-2), the defending section champion that lost goaltender Maddie Rooney to the Huskies' boys' program, plays host to Cloquet-Esko-Carlton at 7 p.m. on Thursday.
Andover's leading scorers are Morgan Czech and Michelle Holmes (15 goals each), Sidney Portner (14) and McKenzie Sederberg (10). Goaltender Cassidy Stumo won 10 of her team's 11 games, posting a 2.76 goals-against average and an .885 saves percentage.
In Section 6, with one of the state's most challenging collection of teams, Maple Grove earned the No. 2 seed. The Crimson plays host to North Metro at 6:45 p.m. Saturday. Maple Grove entered this week ranked No. 3 in the Let's Play Hockey coaches' poll and garnered one first-place vote.
The road to a section championship likely goes through top-ranked and No. 1 seed Minnetonka.
