The 2013-14 Benilde-St. Margaret's Red Knight schedule has been released and provides plenty of challenges.  Red Knight fans will have the luxury of viewing 15 of their 25 regular season games at the St. Louis Park rec Center.  

The St. Louis Park Holiday Classic will be played from Dec. 26-Dec 28th at the St. Louis Park Rec Center and the Red Knights will be front in center for that tournament once again.  

BSM will open the tournament against the Bloomington Jefferson Jaguars Thursday, December 26th, 2013 at 7:30pm.   Blaine, Eden Prairie, Maple Grove, Wayzata and Moorhead round out the tournament field that has five preseason top- ten teams.  

This season marks the second year that the Red Knights will participate in an Independent schedule in boys hockey.  "It was very difficult to generate rivalries within the North Suburban Conference and the Metro Alliance Conference prior to that because of the competitive imbalance," Red Knight head coach Ken Pauly said. 

This year, the Red Knights will travel to Faribault to continue their rivalry with Shattuck-St. Mary's.  It is important for teams to schedule as many sectional opponents as possible to aid in the seeding process.  For the past five seasons, Section 6AA which is home to the Red Knights has been the deepest and most competitive in the state.  

Former Class 1A power St. Thomas Academy is on the schedule this year and it will be played on January 7th, 2014 at 7pm.  This is the first season that the St. Thomas Academy Cadets will compete as a Class 2A team.  

It has been a long time since the Red Knights have played host to the Cadets.  "It as been over thirty years since we have played St. Thomas at home," Pauly said.  "With their move up to 2A I anticipate that becoming a great rival game."

With all the terrific competition this year, the Red Knights still focus on their section for key games.

"We look for the best competition first and foremost - but it's a priority to get opponents who are in Section 6AA for seeding purposes," Pauly said.  "But whenever we schedule a 6AA opponent we know that we are getting one of the top teams in the state as well."

There is the rarely seen non-conference home and home series that features state title contending Eden Prairie.  They boast a pair of Division I recruits in Steven Spinner and Luc Snuggerud both of whom will be attending the University of Nebraska, Omaha.  "That's the first time that we have had that type of non-conference arrangement with a top fight high school program," Pauly pointed out.  

The move to the independent schedule was a result of the lack of rivalries in the North Suburban Conference and prior to that the Metro Alliance Conference.  Pauly said that was due to the competitive imbalance.  

"Our independent schedule actually offers more of a chance for rivalries to develop with the presence of EP, Wayzata, and Minnetonka. I think we've developed a nice rivalry with Shattuck as well," Pauly said.  

As usual, the Red Knights will face a challenging schedule and Red Knight fans will have plenty of opportunities to see their team this year at the St. Louis Park Rec Center.