Girls hockey state tournament action kicks off Wednesday with the Class A state quarterfinals at Xcel Energy Center.

Quarterfinal contests can be streamed at https://prepspotlight.tv/MSHSL.

Here are a few storylines to watch:

Favorites no more: Warroad will enter the state tournament in a couple different roles that are rarely conjoined. No. 1, the Warriors are the defending state champions after downing Orono in the title game a year ago.

No. 2, Warroad is not the favorite, or even one of them. The Warriors are the No. 4 seed, who needed three third-period goals in a section final win over Crookston just to get to this point.

Warroad and Proctor/Hermantown is a matchup people have grown accustomed to seeing on championship Saturday. This year, it’s the Wednesday quarterfinal nightcap.

Metro Showdown?: So, who is No. 1 this season? That’d be Holy Angels, who is far from a perennial power. This is the Stars’ first trip to state since 2006.

The Stars feature balance across the board, with a bevy of capable of goal scorers and two talented goalies. Their emergence has led to a potential metro showdown in the Class A final with second-seeded Orono. The two teams split their two regular season matchups.

First timer: This week marks the first state tournament trip for third-seeded Dodge County — a co-op made up of Kasson-Mantorville, Hayfield and Byron.

Dodge County is led by junior forward Nora Carstensen, who has tallied 31 goals and 22 assists this season to pace an offense averaging a whopping 5.6 goals per game.

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