The Minnesota girls hockey postseason begins on Thursday, February 5th, with teams across the region set to compete in the 2026 Section tournaments.
In Section 8A, fifth-seeded Detroit Lakes, which also co-ops with Perham, New York Mills, Park Rapids and Wadena-Deer Creek, will travel to #4 Crookston for a 6:00 p.m. matchup. The winner will advance to face top-seeded Warroad in the semifinals on Saturday, Feb. 7 at 1:00 p.m. at the East Grand Forks Civic Center.
Detroit Lakes enters the postseason with momentum after ending the regular season on a high note. The Lakers snapped a five-game losing streak with a 4-0 win over Prairie Centre in the regular season finale on Saturday, Jan. 31, finishing the season 8-16 overall, which gives the Lakers one more win than a year ago.
Standout Aurora Jabas of New York Mills capped off an outstanding regular season with a dominant performance, recording a hat trick and four total points in the win over Prairie Center Jabas finished the regular season with a team-high 35 goals, ranking eighth in the state, and totaled 52 points, good for 14th statewide.
Another quarterfinal matchup in Section 8A features third-seeded Thief River Falls against sixth-seeded International Falls, with the winner advancing to face #2 East Grand Forks.
In Section 6A, fourth-seeded Northern Lakes Lightning will take on fifth-seeded Prairie Centre Blue Devils in a quarterfinal matchup at 6:00 p.m on Thursday. The winner will advance to face top-seeded St. Cloud Crush in the semifinals on Tuesday, Feb. 10 at 7:00 p.m. #2 Fergus Falls will face #3 Storm’n Sabres (a Sartell/Sauk Rapids-Rice coop) in the semifinals on February 10th.
In Section 8AA action, fourth-seeded Roseau will host fifth-seeded Brainerd High School at 6:00 p.m on Thursday. The winner will move on to face top-seeded Bemidji in the semifinals on Feb. 7.
The other quarterfinal matchup features third-seeded Alexandria Area against sixth-seeded Buffalo.
The 2026 Girls State Hockey Tournament will be February 18th thru 21st at Grand Casino Arena, and TRIA Rink at Treasure Island Center.