Minnesota State Hockey News: Pairings released for girls state tourney, Red Wing takes on Hutch.

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(St. Paul, MN) -- Here is this week's schedule of first round games in the 2012 Girls' State Minnesota High School hockey tournament at the Xcel Energy Center:

Class 1A: Wednesday - Warroad vs. Detroit Lakes, 11am

Class 1A: Wednesday - New Ulm vs. South St. Paul, 1pm

Class 1A: Wednesday - Breck School vs. Chisago Lakes, 6pm

Class 1A: Wednesday - Hutchinson vs. Red Wing, 8pm

Class 2A: Thursday - Roseville Area vs. Grand Rapids/Greenway, 11am

Class 2A: Thursday - Edina vs. Mounds View, 1pm

Class 2A: Thursday - Eagan vs. Minnetonka, 6pm

Class 2A: Thursday - Roseau vs. Lakeville North, 8pm

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The University of Minnesota moved up one spot in this week's national men's college hockey poll. Minnesota swept Bemidji State and jumped to No. 6 in this week's USCHO.com national survey. Minnesota-Duluth stayed steady at fourth in the poll. Ferris State is ranked No. 1. The Golden Gopher women remained No. 2 in their national poll, trailing top-ranked Wisconsin. Minnesota-Duluth is among those teams still receiving votes in the women's rankings.

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Four Golden Gopher women's hockey players are among the 30 names on the list of finalists or the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award, which is given annually to women's college hockey's top player. Minnesota junior goaltender Noora Raty, senior forward Jen Schoullis, sophomore forward Amanda Kessel, and junior defenseman Megan Bozek are on the finalists list. Bemidji State senior goaltender Zuzana Tomcikova and Minnesota-Duluth senior forward Haley Irwin are also on the list. The award will be given out on March 17th in Duluth.

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Former Golden Gopher men's hockey player Blake Wheeler of Plymouth was honored this week by the NHL. He won the "second-star" in the league's Player of the Week awards. The Winnipeg Jets forward scored a league-high eight points last week as his team won three of four games. The 25-year-old is in his fourth NHL season and has already surpassed his career high in goals and assists this year. Anaheim goalie Jonas Hiller was the "first-star" of the week.

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The Minnesota Wild made a roster move yesterday, sending former Gopher forward Jeff Taffe of Hastings back to AHL Houston. The 31-year-old has notched two assists in five games with the Wild this year. He is third in scoring on the Houston Aeros roster with 32 points in 47 games.

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Minnesota Wild center Kyle Brodziak signed a three-year contract extension over the weekend Brodziak says he is happy with the deal and sees a bright future for the Wild, which is why he agreed to the pact. He is on pace to set career highs in goals and assists this season. The Wild had yesterday off and will practice later today at the Xcel Energy Center. The team next plays at Florida on Thursday night.

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