2008 MN Selects Tournament

hockeymomof3 · Post by **hockeymomof3** » Sat Feb 02, 2008 10:57 am

Anyone have information and/or opinions about this tournament? Thanks!

MoreCowBell · Post by **MoreCowBell** » Sat Feb 02, 2008 2:26 pm

Selects is a all star tournament in St. Cloud boys and girls the whole state eligible with a North, West, East and south. Some of the best players in the state won't be there because they play for the Fire. So the event is meaningless.

54fighting · Post by **54fighting** » Sat Feb 02, 2008 2:42 pm

It is probably the best of the so called "All Star" spring tourneys but it is still nothing more han a money maker. But cowbell is right, by not allowing kids that play for the Fire in they are missing some of the better players. Still plenty of good players to fill rosters.
If your son/daughter is invited and you don't mind paying $200 for 3 practices and 4 games I would say go and have fun!

cutanddrive · Post by **cutanddrive** » Sat Feb 02, 2008 5:30 pm

54fighting wrote:It is probably the best of the so called "All Star" spring tourneys but it is still nothing more han a money maker. But cowbell is right, by not allowing kids that play for the Fire in they are missing some of the better players. Still plenty of good players to fill rosters.
If your son/daughter is invited and you don't mind paying $200 for 3 practices and 4 games I would say go and have fun!

Maybe that is why it is called MN Selects vs. MN/WI Selects

Snappedshot · Post by **Snappedshot** » Sat Feb 02, 2008 5:52 pm

[quote="MoreCowBell"]Selects is a all star tournament in St. Cloud boys and girls the whole state eligible with a North, West, East and south. Some of the best players in the state won't be there because they play for the Fire. So the event is meaningless.[/quote]

So by your logic any game without the Fire playing is meaningless? I didn't realize Minnesota was so void of talent. Thanks for enlightening me.

54fighting · Post by **54fighting** » Sat Feb 02, 2008 6:38 pm

Maybe that is why it is called MN Selects vs. MN/WI Selects

MY understanding is that MN Selects mission was to get the best players from MN together to play for thier region.
I was simply stating that they are missing a few of those because they will not allow anyone who plays for the Fire to play, even if they live in Mn.
Like I said, if you don't mind paying $200 for 7 hrs of ice, go for it.

MoreCowBell · Post by **MoreCowBell** » Sat Feb 02, 2008 8:13 pm

Snappedshot wrote:
MoreCowBell wrote:Selects is a all star tournament in St. Cloud boys and girls the whole state eligible with a North, West, East and south. Some of the best players in the state won't be there because they play for the Fire. So the event is meaningless.
So by your logic any game without the Fire playing is meaningless? I didn't realize Minnesota was so void of talent. Thanks for enlightening me.

No Dimwit any all star tournament without the best players is meaningless.

boardmember · Post by **boardmember** » Sat Feb 02, 2008 8:35 pm

54fighting wrote:It is probably the best of the so called "All Star" spring tourneys but it is still nothing more than a money maker. But cowbell is right, by not allowing kids that play for the Fire in they are missing some of the better players. Still plenty of good players to fill rosters.
If your son/daughter is invited and you don't mind paying $200 for 3 practices and 4 games I would say go and have fun!

The talent in this "money" maker event has been going down hill over the last couple of years. One reason is the Super Series ( Mn Blades tourney) is the same weekend and the Super Series has 2 levels at each age group so double the players. The Super Series is attracting the better players.

Last year the brains behind this money maker would not allow Machine or Duece players to play. Again, missing out some of the better players. This year its the Fire kids...Maybe next year it will be Edina or Wayzata kids...Whatever!

In the end it does not matter, each team will have 17 paid players, the kids will have fun, the parents will be strutting their feathers because their boy is playing in the "MN Selects" and the organizers will be counting their dough! This will happen again another 4-5 times before next Fall on other so-called "All-Star" tourney's.

54fighting · Post by **54fighting** » Sat Feb 02, 2008 8:46 pm

Accually, both tournaments have the same number of teams. The difference is the Selects use players birthyear (94, 95, 96 ) while the Superseries and Elite Classic use MN hockey cutoff dates ( minor squirt, major squirt, minor peewee ).
I would agree though that the Select tourney in not as strong as it was a few years ago.

boardmember · Post by **boardmember** » Sat Feb 02, 2008 9:00 pm

54fighting wrote:Accually, both tournaments have the same number of teams. The difference is the Selects use players birthyear (94, 95, 96 ) while the Superseries and Elite Classic use MN hockey cutoff dates ( minor squirt, major squirt, minor peewee ).
I would agree though that the Select tourney in not as strong as it was a few years ago.

54,

You are correct on the levels....Bad math on my part.. In the end it looks like both tourneys have the about the same number of players playing.

GR3343 · Post by **GR3343** » Sat Feb 02, 2008 11:17 pm

Sounds like a couple of dads are upset that their boys haven't been contacted yet. It never ceases to amaze me that the people that start these threads to complain about things like this are usually people who aren't invited or involved. Just let the kids play. If they're asked, and their folks want to pay the fee, who cares? It still is a very well run tourney and many of the top players in the state attend. Quit complaining about it.

Marty McSorely · Post by **Marty McSorely** » Sun Feb 03, 2008 9:41 am

I actually think they may be a couple of dad's who were sold a bill of goods that was complete crap. At $180 plus travel, hotel and food, you get there and find out the 50% of your team is made up of B players, not really the Best Players in the state!

waylon · Post by **waylon** » Sun Feb 03, 2008 12:14 pm

it will change when there 16-17,when the cream of the crop rises to the top,select 15's are even too political,I've been through it.
there are just to many of these tourney's so they get watered down
________
BMW 303

watchdog · Post by **watchdog** » Sun Feb 03, 2008 4:04 pm

ok all the best players are on the fire.. so were having a tournament with all the runner ups to be the best is that better?

watchdog · Post by **watchdog** » Sun Feb 03, 2008 4:08 pm

the b players play in the elite classic not superseries or selects..

hockeychick · Post by **hockeychick** » Mon Feb 04, 2008 11:17 am

Actually usually the north sends their b players for the elite classic, the west east and south are mostly loaded with the best players. Super series north sends a good squad where the S, E, W may be a tad watered down due to the selects being the same weekend. But for peewee age and few previous years for elite classic north has always been weak. Maybe they need a different coach from up there to get different kids.

watchdog · Post by **watchdog** » Mon Feb 04, 2008 2:01 pm

no the problem up north atleast is the top players go down for selects and superseries and nobodey will pay to go the very next weekend to elite classics. now if they held the tourney up here where we could just pay the 175 and not the gas and hotel you would get a much stronger field just like you do in the south.

gilmour · Post by **gilmour** » Mon Feb 04, 2008 2:38 pm

Watchdog - what is the perception up North as to which one is better - Super Series or MN Selects?

54fighting · Post by **54fighting** » Mon Feb 04, 2008 2:56 pm

I don't beleive that the two tournaments are really comparable. They attract 2 different sets of kids because of the different age cutoff.
MN Selects will attract more of the kids that are born in the first half of the calender year. Those kids are usually 1 year ahead of the kids born in the latter half of the year because of MN hockeys age cutoff. Right now the kids born from Jan 94 to June 94 are playing Bantam while the kids born July 94 to Dec 94 are playing Peewee.
SuperSeries is just the opposite. Because they use MN hockey cutoffs they will attract the kids born latter in the year. 1st year Bantams this year are July 93's to June 94's. So some of the better/older 1st year Bantams will be born in late 93.
So to say one is better than the other is not really true because they draw from a different talent pool. While you will have some kids that are good enough to play in both, this gives more kids who want to play a chance to do so.

PuckTime · Post by **PuckTime** » Mon Feb 04, 2008 3:37 pm

My son has played in both - First year he was in the Super Series. The next year he played MN Selects.
Bottom line - He had an absolute blast in both. Met and played with and against a lot of different kids and had fun in the process.
Does there really need to be more to it than that?

Tenoverpar · Post by **Tenoverpar** » Mon Feb 04, 2008 3:38 pm

ok all the best players are on the fire.. so were having a tournament with all the runner ups to be the best is that better?

I think all he was eluding to is the fact that a small group of players are prejudiced against not because of where they live, but because of where they play.

If a kid lives in the state boundary of Minnesota, he should be afforded the same option of trying out for a select/super/15's/16's/whatever irregardless of where they play. How do players from Shattuck get judged? Minnesota or home?

There are kids that play in Detroit in the winter but will find there way to national 16 camp through the southwest/southeast/wherever because mom and dad live in Arizona or California or wherever (example).

Why the prejudice here?

watchdog · Post by **watchdog** » Mon Feb 04, 2008 5:31 pm

54- you summed it up perfectly.

5thgraders · Post by **5thgraders** » Mon Feb 04, 2008 6:49 pm

[quote="watchdog"]54- you summed it up perfectly.[/quote] Watchdog
why the attitude towards the Fire kids do you not like them for some
reason or another. Do you prefer to play some patsies so you can try
and call yourself something you are not and that isn't really fair to do
to the kids. Oh well have fun at the selects we will be at the Chi Town
Shuffle in Chicago playing against some of the best summer AAA teams.
Why doesn't somebody in the North put together a team ? I have never
heard of a team that anybody is talking about like Honeybaked by the way
that is from Northern Minnesota. I also have heard allot about a couple
of teams in the cities that if you are not ready to play will blow your doors
OFF.. sounds like the Northern Wannabees better step it's game up.. Play
the big Dogs and prove you are as good as you think you are... Do not
use the baseball excuse this is a hockey forum... Keep at it you may catch
up to the other 49 states that are developing the kids by playing the best
and toughest competiton they can find and winning at it. It's called earning
the right to know if you are good or is it the Northern think you are good ?

jackstraw · Post by **jackstraw** » Mon Feb 04, 2008 10:55 pm

If you are calling out the Northern tier of the state you are being foolish. There are plenty of kids up North that play with different teams in the off season, but I would have to guess that travel keeps many from being too organized, although I know there are some. Your last post was absolutely ridiculous.

uglystick007 · Post by **uglystick007** » Mon Feb 04, 2008 11:40 pm

Tenoverpar wrote:ok all the best players are on the fire.. so were having a tournament with all the runner ups to be the best is that better?

I think all he was eluding to is the fact that a small group of players are prejudiced against not because of where they live, but because of where they play.

If a kid lives in the state boundary of Minnesota, he should be afforded the same option of trying out for a select/super/15's/16's/whatever irregardless of where they play. How do players from Shattuck get judged? Minnesota or home?

There are kids that play in Detroit in the winter but will find there way to national 16 camp through the southwest/southeast/wherever because mom and dad live in Arizona or California or wherever (example).

Why the prejudice here?

The Tourneys being talked about are run to make money.
They do showcase some good hockey players but the $Dollar$ is driving the bus.

USA hockey has a program that is called "Selects". Except in Minnesota it is now known as Advanced National 15, Advanced National 16, Advanced National 17 (Because someone was cagey enough to get "MN Selects" registered for their usage) all leading to a chance to play for USA NDTP in Ann Arbor. The Shattuck players are invited to participate in Minnesota Hockey District 8. I would think Fire players could still participate in this program based on where they pay their USA hockey dues.

HighSchoolHockeyForums.com

2008 MN Selects Tournament

2008 MN Selects Tournament

GR

selects

MN selects Tournament

Super Series vs MN Selects

hmmm

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Re: hmmm