Top AAA teams 98 / 99's

[DuckDuckQuackQuack]

There is no 99 Grinder team this year. The 99 Snipers have three 2000's and one 2001 on their team. I believe all four have made the Machine team for next year. It sounds like some of them also made the Blades. How would you like to make that decision?

Some one should create a tourney for all the 99 teams to play in. At this age level its fun to watch the kids develop. It will be interesting to see who plays where next year. Its good to see some new programs succeed in their first year. There are also some programs that haven't even started offering 99 teams yet.

Next year if the kids don't make the Machine or Blades no worries there will be plenty of options. Tons of good development programs to choose from.

[My_Kid_Loves_Hockey]

Just an FYI on the Lake Superior Stars '98 division:

These are the teams entered:

Icemen
Mn Deuce
Mn Machine
Lake Superior Stars
MN Edge
Northern Wings

They told me they would like 2 more teams!

[DuckDuckQuackQuack]

Just an FYI on the Lake Superior Stars '98 division:

These are the teams entered:

Icemen
Mn Deuce
Mn Machine
Lake Superior Stars
MN Edge
Northern Wings

They told me they would like 2 more teams!

No Blades?

[WildFan]

My bad, that's right no '99 Grinder team.

I agree, I enjoy watching the young kids develop and it's nice to see opportunities for kids. There are some nice '00 kids playing at the '99 level. I just hope they don't all end up on the Machine or Blades. Some of these teams that are popping up are giving kids opportunities that are close to home. It's nice to have some balance so hopefully some of these '99 and '00 kids stick together and build their current teams. The Sniper's have a '00 that's a very good forward. The Miracle also has some top end kids for the '00 level a nicely skilled forward. The Monopoly has a couple '00 kids worth watching as well, two are big kids for that age and one that's very fast...I think he played defense.

[99GoalieDad]

99 Deuce tied the Machine 4-4 in the Stars and Stripes Pool Play round and then played them again and lost to the Machine in the finals 3-0. Deuce also beat the Snipers at that tournament 6-5. Good weekend of games.

[DuckDuckQuackQuack]

99 Deuce had a good weekend. As many teams they're only as good as their goalie. 99 Deuce have a great goalie.

99 Manitoba Lighting- Are a decent team. They had some Steeler and Colts players playing with them.

99 CanAm- Young and terrible. To be fair I think they had a lot of 2000 players.

99 Snipers- Some one said the Snipers only had two days rest before the Stars and Stripes. They were in Brandon, Manitoba. After the Stars and Stripes tourney they had 10 games in 11 days. Ouch!

Next year the 99 Deuce and 99 Sniper teams will be completely overhauled.

[Doglover]

We ARE talking about 8 and 9 year olds, right?

[DuckDuckQuackQuack]

We ARE talking about 8 and 9 year olds, right?

Yes.

[tomASS]

enough said

[pokerplaya]

The top two teams at the 99 level I have seen so far are the Machine and Blades. I give the edge to the Machine because I saw the game against the Blades and the Machine have gotten a lot better since then. I have not seen the Edge play but I have heard they are very good. The Snipers and Duece have played twice and split. I give the edge to the Snipers because they only played well for one period in the loss to the Duece.

My top five for 99's are:
1. Machine
2. Blades
3. Edge
4. Snipers
5. Duece

[pokerplaya]

someone had mentioned that the Duece and Snipers will look completly different. The three 2000's and one 2001 on the Snipers have commited to the 2000 Machine. The top 99 kids on the Snipers will likely move up to the Duece, Blades, or Machine. I believe the Duece will be much stronger next year and the Snipers will be a much weaker squad than this year.

[100percenteffort]

don't bother watching any of the other AAA teams - only the best one with the best kids - especially the 9 and 10 year olds. They are the only ones that will ever make it to D1 or the NHL. By 9 or 10 - everyone knows who will be a stud when they are 18.

You have to be joking. These are 9 and 10 year olds, until they hit puberty you don't know what you are going to get. To even say that is ignorant!

[DuckDuckQuackQuack]

someone had mentioned that the Duece and Snipers will look completly different. The three 2000's and one 2001 on the Snipers have commited to the 2000 Machine. The top 99 kids on the Snipers will likely move up to the Duece, Blades, or Machine. I believe the Duece will be much stronger next year and the Snipers will be a much weaker squad than this year.

Agreed! The 99' Snipers and Deuce will completely overhauled next season. The Snipers will lose 4 kids to the Machine. Some kids may choose to play on other teams. There is no doubt the Snipers have 5-6 kids that should be on the Deuce next season. We'll see what happens at AAA tryouts? Should be interesting.

[cold-fun]

Interestring.... no doubt!

[hwhockey]

Interesting? It will be interesting to see how long the Gophers can hold onto Ness and Schroeder, I don't see how it is interesting to see which Sniper (I am guessing one of them is yours) makes the jump to the Duece. Seriously, they are 8-9 year old boys. More than 1/2 of these kids won't be playing in 4-5 years, more than that won't even make their high school team. Time to step back and take a deep breath people.

Have fun while it lasts! Your kid will be done playing before you know it, but remember one thing.....this is for the kids, not you dad.

[DuckDuckQuackQuack]

Interesting? It will be interesting to see how long the Gophers can hold onto Ness and Schroeder, I don't see how it is interesting to see which Sniper (I am guessing one of them is yours) makes the jump to the Duece. Seriously, they are 8-9 year old boys. More than 1/2 of these kids won't be playing in 4-5 years, more than that won't even make their high school team. Time to step back and take a deep breath people.

Have fun while it lasts! Your kid will be done playing before you know it, but remember one thing.....this is for the kids, not you dad.

Wow! People talking about 8-9 year old AAA hockey on a youth hockey website. What has this world come to? Oh my gosh.............

[hwhockey]

Got me there.

If you don't see what is sad about a grown man or woman talking about tryouts for next year's 99 team, I guess we really don't have much to discuss. It just sets off alarms for me when I see a parent this "concerned" about what is going on, but to each their own.

Enjoy the Choice league, they have a great program at MM.

[puckfan]

If you don't see what is sad about a grown man or woman talking about tryouts for next year's 99 team, I guess we really don't have much to discuss. It just sets off alarms for me when I see a parent this "concerned" about what is going on, but to each their own.

What age is it appropriate to start talking about this stuff then? 12, 14,16, or should the "youth hockey forum" be just shut down and we wait till the kids are in "high School Hockey forum"?

When the people who are on here are discussing whatever age group their children happen to fall in, why is that so wrong? Should they go and discuss an age group that they have no knowlege about, lord knows people get run over by that bus constantly on here already.

I don't agree with everything people have to say but I just stay out of the forums that either don't interest me or I think are a waste of time discussing.

[DuckDuckQuackQuack]

Got me there.

If you don't see what is sad about a grown man or woman talking about tryouts for next year's 99 team, I guess we really don't have much to discuss. It just sets off alarms for me when I see a parent this "concerned" about what is going on, but to each their own.

Enjoy the Choice league, they have a great program at MM.

Let's see! I'm a grown man talking about youth hockey on a youth hockey website. Not to mention my son is a 99' birth year playing hockey at Minnesota made. I'm sorry I still don't see your point.
I could talk about the 94's, 95's, 96's or 97's but I have no idea about the players or teams.
I agree Minnesota made is a great program.

[99GoalieDad]

Awesome battle at the Easton Cup in the 99 invite division. 99 Machine played the 99 Blades in pool play on Saturday. 99 Machine won 2-1. The place was buzzing with excitement for a game between 8 and 9 year olds!!

Sunday - championship 99 Machine 4 Blades 2. Again a nice crowd to watch two of the strongest 99 teams in MN.

Congratulations to both teams for a super tournament.

Both teams were good competitors and the fans refrained from getting out of hand.

[nhl'er]

As pointed out on another thread from the Easton Cup, it's unfortunate for the Machine kids/parents that they decided they needed to short their bench for these games just too say they beat the Blades. To be shorting a bench with 8-9 year olds just to win is crazy at this age . I'm all for putting a kid on the bench as disciplinary for a shift or two as warranted for lack of effort, but to bench kids just to go for the win Great thing to teach our young kids. The Machine should be proud of these wins! Win games even up and let the best team win on any given night and let all of the kids that have earned a spot on their respective team be part of the win or loss, win as a team, lose as a team!

[WildFan]

I heard from a couple people that the Machine shortened their bench while the Blades played their normal roation in both games? I'm actually glad the Blades finally lose a game. They are clearly the top two '99 teams in the state but than again you should be if you have a select team with 75 kids to choose from. I don't know how much the kids develop beating teams by 10+ goals and out shooting them 35-5.

[Bench Major]

I heard from a couple people that the Machine shortened their bench while the Blades played their normal roation in both games?

The Blades may not have shortened their bench, they just had skaters go 3 minute shifts and play 4+ of the last 5 minutes.

it's unfortunate for the Machine kids/parents that they decided they needed to short their bench for these games just too say they beat the Blades

Now the Machine can say they beat the Blades twice.

Both clubs did what it takes to win at any level from mite to pro, play your best players with the game on the line. It's already started and will happen through every level of hockey from here on out.

Congratulations to both teams on a very well played couple of games.

[99GoalieDad]

I think we would all be surprised at how these kids handle this type of adversity. Even though these guys battled each other all weekend, many are friends in other sports and outside the rink. Many of these kids are playing together in the Summit Series next weekend and will be practicing to beat their buddies from other programs. As a parent of one of these players I am impressed by the respect they show for each other.

We could all take a lesson in this area as parents.

RE: Bench shorting - It's competitve hockey not T-Ball. These kids know where they stand in most situations already. They also know what they need to do to see more action.

[muckandgrind]

I also think it's ridiculous to shorten the bench at such a young age. I think if a kid is good enough to make that roster, he should play. All kids are still developing, but at this young age even more so.

These families are shelling out lots of $$ so their kids can develop into good hockey players, not so they can watch the game from the bench. I hope the coaches made the parents aware of that before they cashed the checks.