In the 5A division, I have the following teams (in no particular order):
Culver has solid wins over St. Joe, Penn, HSE-A, and Bloomington and are undefeated in state crossover games. They still have two more games against St. Joe and Penn (both games at Compton Family Ice Arena) as well as the Central Indiana Knights a week before the opening weekend of the state tourney.
LSJ has split games with Penn, has beaten HSE-A, Zionsville, Bishop Dwenger and Leo, has quality losses to Carmel Gold and St. Joseph, and ended up with a tie against the Central Indiana Knights.
The team that probably has the most difficult schedule in the state is Carmel Gold. Not only do they play in the Hoosier Championship Division, Carmel Gold plays in the Illinois Scholastic Hockey League playing a number of Chicago powerhouse high school teams like York, Loyola, and New Trier. At the time of writing this article, they have already played 38 games this season and we're only ten days into 2018! However, in Indiana, they have the 2nd best resume. Carmel Gold has beaten HSE-A, Lake Central Blue, SB St Joseph, Zionsville, and LSJ.
Lake Central Blue is the best team in Illiana. St. Joseph, LSJ, and Penn all have showed they are the top teams in a tough Michiana league. But I believe the team with the toughest resume in 5A is the Penn Kingsmen. They have had some tough losses in the division, but what separates them is the victories vs other teams in the state. They have grabbed wins over Crown Point, Munster, Leo, Adams, and SB St Joseph with losses to Valpo, Zionsville, and split games with LSJ. A big game coming up to watch is Penn @ Lake Central Blue. Not to mention, it will be interesting to see what teams Penn will play at the Indy Crossover Showcase in late January.
When looking at this division as I have it laid out, every game among these teams would be extremely competitive. The big difference will come down to goaltending. Just like any other tourney, give me the best goalie and I will take my chances.