Festler Officially Declares for USHL

YZ · Post by YZ » Sat Jul 28, 2007 2:25 pm

I agree with the Exiled One's post. Contrary to what most of you want to believe, the local rec and high school program did not develop these players that are leaving. All of these players have worked extremely hard in the off season to get where they are today. If it were the local programs that developed these kids, you'd have a whole team of superstars. I have seen first hand these kids shooting pucks; stick handling; working out; going to hockey schools throughout the off season and participating in "pick-up games" at the local outdoor rinks.

puckstopshere1 · Post by **puckstopshere1** » Sat Jul 28, 2007 5:01 pm

Some of you so called hockey experts need to know that it take a whole lot of people to build a program, coaches, parents, players. the program does make the player or has a part in the players development. just because a player is stickhanding and shoots in the off season does not make him a superstar, everybody in the assoc. has a part - along with god given talent. the program has not part of the kids development that is one the great dumb quotes coming from people that do not know what going on. or spend a lot time filling water bottles. if anything small town like little falls have more to do with development than players that are jumping are from school to school,look at all the priv. schools nice bantam hockey team!!!! I need to stop!

Puckhead00 · Post by **Puckhead00** » Sat Jul 28, 2007 8:31 pm

I have always believed in the "it takes a village" philosophy....until it comes to entering the next level of hockey. This sport is a village all its own in a multitude of ways.

I can think of athletes who would have had real chances at moving forward in their careers because they had what it takes: dedication, special off season position specific work, students of the game, focused and then one big problem.....the program they were in just didn't have what it takes to get the player there, and if that exists for even one year of a high school career, it can quickly quash dreams of truly excellent athletes. Programs can assist a great deal with the success of an athlete and they can cause harm as well.

Festler is ready for the next level. Staying in LF would not assist him in reaching that goal this year. And in this sport, even one single year is a HUGE factor. I am not a fan of what this sport requires and forces its athletes to do at such a young age...leaving their familes, friends and hometown school...but it is what we (yes...even the fans) have all made it....a highly competitive and cut throat business.

puckstopshere1 · Post by **puckstopshere1** » Sat Jul 28, 2007 10:57 pm

Puckhead00 wrote:I have always believed in the "it takes a village" philosophy....until it comes to entering the next level of hockey. This sport is a village all its own in a multitude of ways.

I can think of athletes who would have had real chances at moving forward in their careers because they had what it takes: dedication, special off season position specific work, students of the game, focused and then one big problem.....the program they were in just didn't have what it takes to get the player there, and if that exists for even one year of a high school career, it can quickly quash dreams of truly excellent athletes. Programs can assist a great deal with the success of an athlete and they can cause harm as well.

Festler is ready for the next level. Staying in LF would not assist him in reaching that goal this year. And in this sport, even one single year is a HUGE factor. I am not a fan of what this sport requires and forces its athletes to do at such a young age...leaving their familes, friends and hometown school...but it is what we (yes...even the fans) have all made it....a highly competitive and cut throat business.

I agree about a lot of what you said but when you stated the program didn't have what it takes. i would say that is how the player got in the position to goto the next level, with how the program is run to coaches to who the youth team plays, I'm old school stay in school live and then go play jrs. what is the hurry! down the road 20 yrs I believe that player that go early will wish they would have stayed in school. I also believe that festler is ready but what is the hurry he has a ride at scsu, it will be interesting to see what happens to him with the grind and the physical play, this is what he needs to find out, but there is no coming back to little falls, i wish him the best, but not a big fan of leaving early no matter how good you are. life after hockey is not the same as life before.

Puckhead00 · Post by **Puckhead00** » Sun Jul 29, 2007 9:44 am

puckshtopshere1,

I agree with you for the most part also. I don't like the kids leaving early either...but hockey is what it is and no one can figure out how to keep the standout players in high school.

With that said, my point to you was I agree that the 'program' several kids are in assist in making the kids able to move to the next level. Some programs are more responsible in helping in this feat than others. I am not meaning to criticize the LF program at all. But one has to wonder...what would Festler be like today had he been with Holy Angels traning/experience/competition/contacts a couple of years ago? I think LF has helped Jared, but not like a Warward or Holy Angels, etc. Harsh, but true. At any rate, it is time for this young buck to move on in order to be able to move up in his hockey career and Lincoln is where he needs to be at this point in his career. IMO.

Puckhead00 · Post by **Puckhead00** » Sun Jul 29, 2007 9:47 am

Excuse me....I meant "Warroad" obviously. Hitting the wrong keystrokes again.

Stealth · Post by **Stealth** » Mon Jul 30, 2007 11:33 am

My guess would be to add some weight, what is he 150 Lb’s? He is blessed with his hands, quickness and vision to avoid contact.

RLStars · Post by **RLStars** » Mon Jul 30, 2007 12:05 pm

Stealth wrote:My guess would be to add some weight, what is he 150 Lb’s? He is blessed with his hands, quickness and vision to avoid contact.

Model camp had him at 5'8" 161

warrior4 · Post by **warrior4** » Mon Jul 30, 2007 12:36 pm

Congratulations and good luck!!! - Just interested in knowing what WFO means thieves?

greenwave9 · Post by **greenwave9** » Mon Jul 30, 2007 6:32 pm

Warrior - I believe it is a saying that they use to have when they played summer hockey. This is what a couple of guys from Roseau told me as they were laughing about how stupid their summer coach was.

warrior4 · Post by **warrior4** » Tue Jul 31, 2007 6:58 am

Thanks Greenwave - If it is the guy I am thinking about you are right he is a real idiot.

stitches · Post by **stitches** » Tue Jul 31, 2007 12:25 pm

I asked this one other time, but you were all too busy explaining the good points of moving up. What else does Little Falls have except Ben Hanowski? Will this be a one man show now?

warrior4 · Post by **warrior4** » Tue Jul 31, 2007 12:31 pm

Did they not have a defenseman by the name of berglund that was a good player or did he graduate?

RLStars · Post by **RLStars** » Tue Jul 31, 2007 12:38 pm

stitches wrote:I asked this one other time, but you were all too busy explaining the good points of moving up. What else does Little Falls have except Ben Hanowski? Will this be a one man show now?

It was a one line show. One third of that line is gone now. The team will still be pretty good. We'll get to see how good Ben is without Jared playing with him and getting most of the attention from the opposition.

dherman8 · Post by **dherman8** » Tue Jul 31, 2007 3:18 pm

AngusYoung wrote:Not a big fan of this decision by Fes, nor any other HS player. Will miss out on quite a bit of his Senior year - events that are once in a lifetime. Most likely will have to play two years of Juniors anyway, so not sure that this move expedites anything for him. I'm sure the Stars coach dangled some things to entice him and I'm sure Motzko wanted to see him go this direction also so it isn't that big of a surprise. Still some decent talent on this close-knit bunch of players that will contend for the title. I guess no one ever knows if these decisions are good or bad for the kid involved as we never know what would have happened on "the road not taken." Good luck to him at any rate.

AY

I totally agree with Angus. Judging by the way Festler has played he definately just gave up a shot at returning to state and possibly winning a championship along with the Mr. Hockey award. By the way, does anyone know what the career record for points is by a Minnesota hockey player? Did he have a shot at that too? I am so ticked off about this decision. Being such a big Flyer fan I have been wondering how good they would be this year if all the key pieces from last year would return. I am going to be even more mad if Sperl is improved in the net this year. This was the best shot for any Flyer team to win a state title in a long time. Its going to take me a while to get over this. I don't want anyone to take this the wrong way but I kind of wish Festler wouldn't have made the last few years so exciting and got my hopes up. I realized now that Minnesota teams and teams I cheer for have the tendency to do that. Isn't it just like Minnesota sports teams to go 15-1 in a season and be a favorite to win a Super Bowl or get a number one seed and home court advantage in the Western Conference Finals (and be a favorite again. I would also like to take this time to thank Garnett for being so loyal over the years and I want to request that he punches Mchale in the face on his way out.)or have a ridiculous run like the Wild did when they beat Colorado and Vancouver in a couple ridiculous playoff series' and manage to get home ice advantage in the Western conference finals or pull off a magical run like the Twins last year only to basically roll over and die quietly? Thats what this feels like for me. Minnesota High School Hockey lost a lot of great players to juniors this year. What a shame.

P.S. I may be mad now Festler but I'll get over it. Good Luck!

BSM99 · Post by **BSM99** » Wed Aug 01, 2007 11:49 pm

No one would deny what a great league the USHL has become. But let's not shortchange the sucess of high school hockey and those kids who choose to stay with their community/high school teams.

Before some of these kids decide to forgo their final season of high school hockey they best understand that they have now entered into the "business" end of hockey. USHL coaches are paid to win. They are not about development - they are about winning. No sin in that. That's just the way it is. (No, they don't care how hard you dryland train!)

It would be interesting to see the list of those kids who have left high school early and somehow things didn't work out as they suspected that they would. Sitting in the stands half the time in a tie. Coach's turning them into 3rd line grinders.

Fact is that some of the very best players stay home and things work out just fine for them. TJ Oshie, Jay Barribal, Patrick White, Brandon Bochenski,Ryan McDonagh, etc. come immediately to mind. I know that there are more. Blake Wheeler is a helluva player but I really wonder if he is that much further along in his development because he chose to give up his final year at Breck?

I wish the Little Falls kid all of the best. But it's no sweat off the St. Cloud State coach's back nor the Lincoln coach's back if it turns out to be a mistake.

It's too bad that everyone is in such a hurry these days. (Doesn't Lucia cry about that all of the time?) What's wrong with playing a year in the USHL after you graduate? That would seem to put more power in the player's hands. Some argue that your draft number will be higher if you go to the USHL - but that number can go the other way as well!!

Old topic, I know. But I really would like to see someone put together the statistics on this someday.

hockeyfanatic99 · Post by **hockeyfanatic99** » Thu Aug 02, 2007 8:39 am

I guess we all have our opinions on this subject. However, on topic Jared Festler is a class act and also happens to be a very very good hockey player who like nearly all other young players appears to have a dream to take his game to the highest level. The responses on this thread should not be a surprise! If you believe the experts on this board players like Jared play for a team that is in the "weakest section" or in some folks eyes plays mere Class A hockey! You hear that enough someone might believe it. Add the notion that to truely develop your skills a year in the juniors would make you a better player. Unfortuntately, as others on this thread have noted - junior hockey is a business, its not about development. I am sure the coaches will say, "we said a year in the juniors, not necessarily a high school year." Unfortunately, thats like telling a kid that every day he spends in high school puts his dreams of D1 hockey that much farther into the future. Face it we have made this game what it is, unfortunately I sometimes wonder if we have failed to see the importance of how this sport can groom young men and women to be better citizens when hockey passes them by!

Blue&Gold · Post by **Blue&Gold** » Thu Aug 02, 2007 8:45 am

For every success of a kid going early, there is probably a "failure" listed. Back in the early 2000's three kids left Apollo (St. Cloud) early, two as seniors and one as a junior. The two seniors (Matt Hartman and Dave Howe) both were successes (Howe to the UofM and Hartman to SCSU) whereas the junior played in Sioux Falls and had a horrible year and ended up being released for his senior year. It happens.

Crandell left Cathedral (St. Cloud) last year and played his senior year in Sioux City, had a great year and made the right move. However, there were a couple of high school kids that had horrible experiences, didn't play much, and have been released for this coming season.

I will tell you this: If you're honest with yourself, and pay attention during tryouts, you should know if you're going to be playing a lot, or if you're a gamble for the coaches. The problem with some that have bad years is they think they'll do better than they show.

Jared will do well in the USHL, and he will get a chance to prove that he can score against top competition. Many people don't really give him credit for so many points as he doesn't meet that much top-level competition playing for Little Falls. Crandell had the same issue, and got the chance to prove that he can play against the best.

Festler will look back on this move in three years, and be glad he did it. That's my prediction.

BlueGoose5 · Post by **BlueGoose5** » Thu Aug 02, 2007 10:47 am

This is posed only as an interesting question. No doubt, Crandell had a terrific year in the USHL, but as of yet no D1 scholarship. Festler, through his high school and Elite League success, has garnered a full ride to SCSU. The question is, had Crandell stayed at Cathedral through his senior year, could he, too, have gotten a scholarship to a WCHA school? Think about it--undoubtedly, he would have had a stand-out senior season for CHS and would have gathered tons of attention from the scouts, and likely he would have propelled Cathedral into the state tournament which importantly would have provided him with significantly more exposure against top notch competition. Again, the question is would this have been enough for him to land with a D1 program? If so, he then could have spent a year in the USHL to further beef up his talents. In looking at this question, consider the fate of a guy like Connelly from DM who played through his HS senior year and ended up signing with UMD.

The Exiled One · Post by **The Exiled One** » Thu Aug 02, 2007 11:11 am

BlueGoose5 wrote:This is posed only as an interesting question. No doubt, Crandell had a terrific year in the USHL, but as of yet no D1 scholarship. Festler, through his high school and Elite League success, has garnered a full ride to SCSU. The question is, had Crandell stayed at Cathedral through his senior year, could he, too, have gotten a scholarship to a WCHA school? Think about it--undoubtedly, he would have had a stand-out senior season for CHS and would have gathered tons of attention from the scouts, and likely he would have propelled Cathedral into the state tournament which importantly would have provided him with significantly more exposure against top notch competition. Again, the question is would this have been enough for him to land with a D1 program? If so, he then could have spent a year in the USHL to further beef up his talents. In looking at this question, consider the fate of a guy like Connelly from DM who played through his HS senior year and ended up signing with UMD.

Crandell has gotten a lot of attention for a long time. I'd wager he'll end up D1, likely in the WCHA too. Without any inside information, I get the feeling that the interested colleges might be playing a game of chicken. SCSU and UMN probably think they can get a solid (if not huge) defender for a partial, so they're waiting it out to see who will get him for the least. UMD, MSUM, and BSU may or may not have approched him with better offers, but I have a hunch he might not be as enamoured with those schools. UND and UW probably don't want to get into that game of chicken with UMN and SCSU. Again, this is all just a feeling I have. It might not be anywhere near the truth.

But to address your point specifically... going to the USHL without a scholarship offer in hand can be dangerous. Basically, it's gambling that you will be able to raise your own stock. Crandell neither hindered nor helped himself, which is a sure way to drag things on.

Gopher Blog · Post by **Gopher Blog** » Thu Aug 02, 2007 12:44 pm

The Exiled One wrote:It might not be anywhere near the truth

You are right about that.

The Exiled One · Post by **The Exiled One** » Thu Aug 02, 2007 1:29 pm

Gopher Blog wrote:
The Exiled One wrote:It might not be anywhere near the truth
You are right about that.

Ah ha, so you have some info! I know he was looked at by the Gophers at some point in time. Don't tell me they wouldn't take him as a very small partial or a walk on in 2008 or 2009! He's at least that good!

scottparker · Post by **scottparker** » Thu Aug 02, 2007 1:44 pm

I thought this was a Festler thread?

Gopher Blog · Post by **Gopher Blog** » Thu Aug 02, 2007 1:59 pm

The Exiled One wrote:Ah ha, so you have some info! I know he was looked at by the Gophers at some point in time. Don't tell me they wouldn't take him as a very small partial or a walk on in 2008 or 2009! He's at least that good!

I am trying to figure out how you even think they have the need given what they already have on the team and given what they have already recruited in the next two classes. Unless you are expecting them to carry a few more defensemen than the typical college team.

Blue&Gold · Post by **Blue&Gold** » Thu Aug 02, 2007 2:08 pm

Gopher Blog wrote:
The Exiled One wrote:Ah ha, so you have some info! I know he was looked at by the Gophers at some point in time. Don't tell me they wouldn't take him as a very small partial or a walk on in 2008 or 2009! He's at least that good!
I am trying to figure out how you even think they have the need given what they already have on the team and given what they have already recruited in the next two classes. Unless you are expecting them to carry a few more defensemen than the typical college team.

Mr. Blog... Most people don't check out the recruiting classes on a regular basis. It's obvious to me that UofM and SCSU have their D lineups well taken care of for a few years to come, but I check Heisenberg's (is that the correct spelling?) web sites a little more often. It's not the end of the world if someone doesn't know that, though.

As for the rest of it, people speculate or repeat what they hear on the streets without knowing facts. Back to Jared... Good luck to him, he'll do fine down there in Lincoln.

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Festler Officially Declares for USHL

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