Its always big news when the hockey season opens.  Months of waiting, off-season works, pre-season practice and scrimmages finally pay off and the boys and girls get back on the ice for their respective schools.

Rarely do we have a season-opening tournament like we had in the Red Flint River City Meltdown, which pitted four pre-season Top Ten teams, and returning sectional champions against each other.

Notre Dame Academy beat New Richmond and Wausau West on their way to the tournament championship.  New Richmond fell to Eau Claire Memorial in the consolation game.

The girls season opened with what has to be considered a major upset as the Eau Claire-Altoona Stars knocked of the pre-season No. 1 Central Wisconsin Storm 3-2.  Overall the whole girls side looks more competitive than it did last season when a few teams ran away with 18+ win seasons.

The Tritons are returning nearly their entire roster from last season's state tournament run.  Add in some new players and you've got one of the most potent teams we've seen in years.

Tenth ranked New Richmond had no answer for the Academy in their opening game of the season and the Tritons skated to a 6-2 victory.  The Tritons followed with a 5-1 win over the Wausau West Warriors. Last season the Warriors lost only three games, by a combined total of six goals on their road to a state title.

With all their returning players, and Chris Nell between the pipes, the Tritons are poised to make it a rough season on their opponents. Forwards Brett Gruber and Jason Reynolds are key players on the front line, while senior defenseman Tim Davison is as good as the state has been on the blueline.

Wausau West returned a lot of players from their state title team, but there are some big names missing this.  Garrett Clemment graduated and goalie Austin Priebe is forgoing his senior year of high school to play juniors.

 This is already affecting the team on the Power Play and Penalty Kill.  The Warriors opened the season in the Red Flint River City Meltdown by failing to convert on four power play chances, while giving up five power play goals in six chances. Three of those power play goals came on a single 5 minute power play.

The reason question this year for Wausau West is going to be goal tending.  Last season David Knetter and Priebe alternated games all season, and Priebe took over sole responsibility once the regular season ended.

Sophomore goaltender Sam Wiegert is going to be a focal point for the Warriors this season.

Much like Notre Dame Academy the Marquette Hilltoppers are returning the vast majority of their roster from last season, which was already a State Tournament team.

The Hilltoppers have only played one game so far this season so it is still tough to tell what their outlook will be, but with games coming up against state tournament qualifier Cedarburg and champion Wausau West, we'll know about the Hilltoppers soon enough.

The Old Abes offer an interesting conundrum to open the season.  Can they score enough goals to overcome their poor defense?  Memerial scored a staggering 11 goals in two games against Top Ten competition in the Red Flint River City Meltdown tournament, but only converted that into one win.

In both games the Old Abes held 2 goal leads late, and in neither game did the hold on to that lead.  They opened with a 5-4 loss to Wausau West and followed with a 7-6 win over New Richmond.

Last season it took 8 games before the Old Abes allowed 11 goals.  Their frantic and powerful offense could afford to play all-out with All State goaltender Saxton Soley in the net.  Now Soley is gone and the Abes are either going to have to tighten up on defense and reduce their mistakes, or they are going to have to score 7 goals to win all their games.

Verona spent most of last season vacillating between honorable mention and unranked. But clearly the voters see something in them this season as they've already jumped up to fifth.  They convincingly beat SPASH to open their season.

They don't play another ranked team until Middleton on Dec. 23.

Superior always cracks the Top Ten early in the season based purely on reputation.  Superior always has a state tournament calibre team.  Wisconsin voters don't hold those tough Minnesota losses against the Spartans, and we'll find out how they state up against the state's elite soon enough as they take on Eau Claire Memorial this weekend.

Already with four games under their belts the highlanders have had a busy start to the season.  Returning players Jake Roeper and Peter Schmitz will lead the Highlanders' high powered offense this season.

The team will be put to the test this weekend when they take on two ranked teams in Green Bay United and Notre Dame Academy.

Sophomore Killian Martin and Senior Cole Mitchell have been splitting time in net.  It'll be interesting to see who grabs the reins going forward.

Green Bay United stuck around in the Top Ten for most of last season, and judging by their roster they'll do it again this season.  The opened the season with a pair of statement wins over quality opponents Middleton and University School.

Unfortunately for the Gryphons they followed it up with a 6-5 loss to DC Everest that can only be described as surprising.

Middleton didn't get off to the start they wanted with a 1-0 loss to Green Bay United, but there is no shame in a one-goal loss to a Top Ten team.

They bounced back against Waunakee with a 6-4 victory.  They play in conference for a bit before they get back out on the road again, it should give them a chance to see what they've got.

You never know what you're going to get out of the southwestern part of the state, but you can usually be sure that Onalaska is going to put together a quality hockey team.  They showed that already this season with convincing wins over La Crescent and Baraboo/Portage.

The Eau Claire-Altoona Stars made a statement to open the season with 3 big wins.  They opened with an 8-0 win over Superior but what was really special were the back-to-back 3-2 wins over then No. 1 Central Wisconsin and Top Ten team University School of Milwaukee.

All those wins and scoring earned Emily Lester our first girls Player of the Week honor for the season.

The Storm look to be right back on track for another dominating season. With wins over USM, Bay Area and Point/Rapids already under their belts this season they are showing that they are not to be trifled with.

They did pick up a 3-2 loss to Eau Claire-Altoona, which has knocked them out of the top spot on this week's Top Ten.

The defending state champions are off to a good start and Hailey Rock has already picked up a Player of the Week nomination. 

They opened the season with wins over WSFLG and the Sun Prairie Co-op. Unfortunately they faltered in their third game and fell 4-2 to Hayward/Spooner.

The Warbirds opened the year with a tie to the Icebergs, a Top Ten team. But they quickly followed with wins over Northland Pines, the Badger Thunder and Fox Cities Stars.

Hayward/Spooner shouldn't be number five for long. With a win over WSFLG and tie to the Sun Prairie Co-op to start the season the Hurricanes announced their presence, but it was the 4-2 win over the defending state champion St. Croix Valley Fusion that will vault them up the rankings.

Much like their compatriots on the boys side, the Hilltopper girls haven't played any of the "big names" yet this season, but they opened with a convincing win over state tournament qualifier Appleton United.

Theresa Knutson is a player to watch this season and was nominated for Player of the Week for the first week of the season.

The voters saw something in the Bay Area Icebears that wasn't reflected in their numbers so far on the season. The squad opened with a 2-1 loss to Top Ten team USM, and followed with a 4-2 loss to then No. 1 Central Wisconsin.

The Icebears look to bounce back this week against Fondy-Waupun and Fox Cities.

The Sun Prairie Co-Op has faced some tough competetion already on this young season, earning a tie with No. 5 Hayward/Spooner and a 3-2 loss to the defending state champion St. Croix Valley Fusion.

Wins over Viroqua and WSFLG will keep them in the hunt going forward.

All of the University School's games this season have come against Top Ten opponents with losses to the Central Wisconsin Storm and Eau Claire-Altoona Stars the team could get discouraged, but a win over the Bay Area Icebears should keep their spirits up.

The Icebears opened their season with a tie to the fourth ranked Fondy-Waupun Warbirds and followed with a solid 3-2 win over the Badger Thunder.

They've also got a 4-1 win over the Badger Thunder and a 5-1 win over the Beaver Dam co-op.  Their ranking could be hire but a 7-1 loss to Northland Pines gave the voters something to think about.