Benilde-St. Margaret's Boys' Hockey

Benilde-St. Margaret’s has released its boys hockey schedule for the 2012-13 season. A season in which the defending state Class AA champions will play an independent schedule for the first time, having left the North Suburban Conference after winning or sharing seven consecutive NSC titles.

The highlight of the schedule comes Jan. 19, when the Red Knights will face Grand Rapids in a game slated to be played on Lake Pokegema and broadcast as part of Fox Sports North’s Hockey Day in Minnesota.

In all, the 22 scheduled opponents on this season’s slate combined for .686 winning percentage. Fifteen of the 22 teams ranked in the top 20 of Let’s Play Hockey’s year-end poll. The only non-Minnesota State High School League team on the docket, Shattuck-St. Mary’s, won the USA Hockey Tier I U18 national championship after posting a 50-5-2 record.

"Given this year’s schedule, it’s safe to say that there are very few teams that can match our schedule in terms of difficulty," Red Knight head coach Ken Pauly said. "It features most of the best teams in every geographical area of the state. It’s an exciting and a challenging schedule for our players and coaches."

The 2012-13 schedule gets underway with a trip to Moorhead, Saturday, Dec. 1, when the Red Knights will face the Spuds, who were 22-8-0 last season and finished ranked sixth after losing the in state semifinals to Hill-Murray. beginning at 7:30 p.m.

Ten of BSM’s first 11 scheduled opponents were ranked at the end of last season and, following the trip to Moorhead, the Red Knights return home for a pair of 7 p.m. games with Burnsville and Hill-Murray, Dec. 6 and 8. The Blaze handed BSM its first defeat of the season last year while Hill-Murray was the Red Knights’ opponent on two occassions, including the state championship game.

The only unranked team from a year ago on the schedule before mid-January will be Holy Angels, which BSM faces on the road, Dec. 11, before returning home for a Saturday-night meeting with Blaine.

The final week of the Red Knights’ pre-Christmas schedule begins with a Dec. 17 game at Maple Grove, which handed BSM a pair of losses during the 2011-12 campaign, both of which came at the St. Louis Park Recreation Center. The Monday-night meeting this season will take place at the Maple Grove Community Center at 7 p.m.

For the first time in six years, BSM will have a true weekend road trip as the Red Knights head north for a pair of games, Dec. 21-22. The Friday-night game will see BSM at the Marshall School for a 6 p.m. game at MARS Lakeview Arena. Saturday, the Red Knights head to Hibbing for a 3 p.m. matinee with the Bluejackets.

The Red Knights return from Christmas break for the third annual Holiday Hockey Classic, hosted at the SLP Rec Center. BSM will play three games, Dec. 27-29, in the tournament which features the Red Knights along with Bloomington Jefferson, Elk River, Maple Grove, Moorhead, Eden Prairie, Wayzata and Lakeville North. Three of the teams — BSM, Maple Grove and Moorhead — were state tournament qualifiers last season and only Jefferson and Lakeville North finished the season unranked.

Things don’t get any easier for the Red Knights as they begin 2013 with a Jan. 3 home game versus Wayzata followed by a meeting with defending Class A champion St. Thomas, Jan. 10, at the St. Thomas Ice Arena with a home game versus Minnetonka just two days later.

"No question, the schedule is a step up from previous seasons," Pauly said. "But it should be noted that our schedule has always been front loaded with our toughest games as we always started conference play after that – so I really don’t see our preparation being that much different than in past seasons.

"The more difficult challenge will be sustaining our effort and energy level as there are very few soft spots in the schedule. Developing our depth in a meaningful way will be critical."

Just one of two times during the season in which BSM faces unranked team’s from a year ago follows that trio of games as the Red Knights are at Mounds View, Jan. 15, before hosting Rochester Century, Jan. 17.

Those games lead up to the seventh annual Hockey Day in Minnesota as BSM will take on Grand Rapids in a game featured on Fox Sports North. Game time for the event has not been set.

"It’s really quite an honor to take part in Hockey Day in Minnesota," Pauly said. "Everyone is very excited for a million different reasons. I’ve talked to a number of coaches who have taken part in it and all have told me that it was just an awesome experience for the players and community. We are very grateful for the opportunity.

"It will also be the first time that BSM has ever played Grand Rapids so that’s pretty special as well."

The Red Knights are home again, Jan. 22, for a Tuesday night game with Elk River before a second consecutive weekend trip, which will see them in Rochester to take on Lourdes in a 2 p.m. game.

After that, the load lightens up on the Red Knights as they will play just one game in 10 days, closing out the month of January with a Jan. 30 home game versus Holy Family, BSM’s Section 6AA quarterfinal opponent last season.

One week later, Feb. 6, the Red Knights face national powerhouse Shattuck-St. Mary’s with a road game at St. Francis following the next night. The fourth scheduled meeting with a Section 6AA opponent ends the week with Eden Prairie on tap, Feb. 9.

"Section match ups are crucial," Pauly stated. "They determine your seeding for the sectional playoffs in February and they set a tone for everything that you do. Those games have also taken on special meaning as they come against some of the state’s very best programs and they are some of our best rivalry games."

The final week of the regular season sees BSM taking on a familiar foe in former North Suburban Conference opponent Totino-Grace. The Feb. 12 will be Senior Night for the Red Knights in the team’s final home game of the 2012-13 campaign.

The season then concludes when BSM heads to the East Metro for a meeting with Stillwater, Feb. 16, to conclude the regular-season schedule.

"We have some of the top names in high school hockey returning this season," Pauly added. "I can’t think of a better way to challenge this group of players than to play against all of these great programs. I know that that our entire program is looking forward to this season in a big way."

 A PDF version of this release, along with the complete schedule, are available here.