Twin Ports Power 5: It's getting cold out there, folks!

DULUTH — As many of you know, I didn’t grow up in Minnesota or anywhere that snow and extreme cold weather are part of life.

I often joked that one thing I don’t understand about the “State of Hockey” is why everyone wants to go inside — in the wintertime — and be cold. That was before I spent so much time in hockey rinks for my current job.

Now, as a seasoned northern Minnesota sports reporter, I joke with my friends from North Carolina that I spend so much time at the rink that my new cologne is a mix of vulcanized rubber, stale sweat and chemical coolant.

Monday, when it was somewhere south of minus-10 and I was getting ready to go to the Hibbing/Chisholm game at Duluth Marshall, my buddy Tony from high school texted me.

“Looks a bit nippy up there today,” he asked.

After a little back and forth about how cold it really was, he asked me for a little demonstration.

“Can you send me a video of you tossing a bucket of water in the air,” Tony said.

My wife was home from work, so I hollered down for her to put a pot of water on to boil and she filmed a mostly successful experiment.

“That’s awesome,” Tony said after I sent the video.

Yes, folks, there are some perks to living here on the shores of Lake Superior. You can impress your friends from home with physics and go catch some fantastic hockey almost any night of the week.

We’ve got Rock Ridge ranked at the top this week and I’d ask anyone from Let’s Play Hockey why the Wolverines are ranked just 16th . They’ve won 10 straight over some quality opponents.

— Jamey Malcomb

• This list and its comments are based on games prep sports reporters Jamey Malcomb and Jake Pryztarski have watched and/or stats that have been submitted to the Duluth News Tribune.
• This is a ranking of the top five boys hockey teams in the Northland, regardless of class.
• We are allowed to be prisoners of the moment. If a struggling team gets a fun win, they might pop up on the Five and disappear the next week.

With each passing week, No. 16 Rock Ridge continues to assert itself as a team few hope to face come postseason time.

The Wolverines have been on a heater in the month of January with 10 straight victories to their credit. Most recently, Rock Ridge notched lopsided wins over Proctor, Duluth East, and Cloquet-Esko-Carlton to improve to 16-3-1 for the season, already approaching last year's program-high 20-win total.

A dangerous trend for opponents to monitor has been Rock Ridge's scorching-hot streak of power play success, with the unit converting on seven of its last 10 attempts over the past three games. For the season, the PP is clicking at a highly respectable 32.2% and 83% on the penalty kill.

— Jake Przytarski

Until Tuesday, the Hawks had looked like the Terminator coming after Class A following a tie with Proctor Jan. 7 (and my assertion — in this space — that they may not make the Section 7A final ). They’ve beaten three teams in the top 10 and seemed to be back on track.

Then they came out flat against Superior in the first period and faced a goalie in Hunter Sidorowicz that was playing absolutely out of his mind. Hermantown gathered themselves, found some of that “purpose” coach Pat Andrews has been harping on all season and rallied for three third- period goals and the win in a type of game the Hawks have struggled with this season.

— JDM

Playing one of the toughest schedules among area teams can be viewed as both a blessing and a curse.

One week you’re riding high in the midst of a seven-game winning streak, and the next, you’re left reeling from back-to-back decisive road losses to No. 7 White Bear Lake and No. 3 Hill-Murray.

Such is life for the battle-hardened Grand Rapids club.

While the multi-goal defeats undoubtedly stung at the time, the Thunderhawks will be as ready as any area team to take on all challengers when the Section 7AA tournament rolls around, as per program tradition.

— JP

The Bluejackets had lost three straight games heading into Tuesday against a very good Duluth Marshall. The Hilltoppers pushed coach Aaron Jamnick’s team hard, but they rallied for an overtime win at Mars Lakeview Arena. If the streak had extended to four, this really could have snowballed on Hibbing/Chisholm. Instead, they went up to International Falls and took care of business Tuesday and now they can look forward to a Hockey Day matchup against Eden Prairie in Shakopee.

I hope they have fun at Hockey Day. ValleyFair seems like a super-cool venue and the weather looks pretty stellar. I went to Hockey Day in White Bear Lake a couple years ago and it would have been great if it had been like 10 or 15 degrees warmer — by which I mean 10 or 15 degrees.

— JDM

Cloquet-Esko-Carlton encountered a 5-1 road setback on Tuesday against Power 5 leader Rock Ridge but still remains in the thick of the Section 7A race with Hermantown for the top seed.

The Lumberjacks, at multiple points this season, have shown an impressive ability to bounce back, including this past week when the team dusted itself off from consecutive losses against Sartell and Grand Rapids to take down a tough Orono squad 3-1 on the road.

Scoring has slowed down a tad recently for the ‘Jacks after netting only seven goals in their last three games, but the offensive challenges appear like more of an anomaly than a trend.

— JP