Off season Summer AAA hockey

gdahl · Post by **gdahl** » Sat May 09, 2009 9:21 pm

I do believe no matter what you do the more you practice, practice, practice the better you become. I also believe the more activities you participate in the more well rounded you will become in all those activities. I also believe if you want to excel in any one activity it needs to be practiced year round. The last time I checked my job and career are year round. With that being said I think we as parents have the responsibility to provide our children with these oppurtunities. I see alot of oppurtunities in the spring , summer, fall seasons for kids to play hockey other than the normal community based winter model that minnesota now uses. It seems the trend for these out of season teams are using is to pick up the best available players for one weekend no matter where they come from. I may be wrong....but alot of rosters for the same team change every weekend. I can understand this. It is the offseason, kids play other sports, there maybe a wedding or graduation to attend, and other possibilities. My point is I would like to see one roster for one team for one year whether it is in season or off season. If you do not do this...I have a proposal that may work better..... Rent a rink for a weekend and charge a certain amount of dollars per player to make a profit. Play games at each age level... but here is how the system would work for the teams that do not have a set roster for the whole season....after warm ups have all the kids place their sticks in the center of the ice...than have a blindfolded refeeree separate to each end and go play!! The last time I checked hockey was a team sport. When teams have a different roster every weekend it is no longer a team sport.

council member retired · Sat May 09, 2009 10:06 pm

don't let the door hit u on the way out!

noonespecial · Post by **noonespecial** » Sun May 10, 2009 5:45 am

if you can put 15 kids together and they are good, they will play as a team, it does not take very long for them to figure out

gdahl · Post by **gdahl** » Sun May 10, 2009 8:50 pm

I will try to state my point another way so that the door does not hit me. First off I will be the first to say I do not have all the answers. That is why I like to raise questions. It is my understanding that the majority like and approve of Minnesota's winter hockey season that is community based and that you play where you live. Please correct me if I am wrong on that one....because I am not sure if I agree with it. So If the assumption is correct that community based hockey is the way to go...why do we have all of these great summer hockey opportunities available? It seems pretty clear that the summer hockey is a higher caliber than winter? Could that be that off season hockey is better than inseason? And if summer hockey is better? should we try to look to improve winter hockey? I do not know. I am just looking for ideas and I am willing to throw out of the box ideas out there such as have thirty kids throw there sticks in the middle and have them divided randomly. I am an idiot and of course I know that is not feasible. So what ideas do you have that are better? Keeping in mind that the stick in the middle idea is really not that bad....I have played it many times with my kid and other association kids at all levels on a Friday night at the outdoor rink in the winter. There is not much more fun available than a pickup game of shinny. My kid is still talking about that sick move he pulled in a game of shinny....but I seldom hear about his real game memories.

yeahyeahyeah · Post by **yeahyeahyeah** » Sun May 10, 2009 10:06 pm

Ok I am sure I will get ripped for this but I am of the opinion that we (MN hockey) already have the best of both worlds. Think about it, we have various levels (AA-open and AAA invite) of birth year hockey in the off season, this gives kids the opportunity to hone their skills with kids their age....or do they?
Due to the age classifications of MN Hockey, the kids with birth dates in the first 6 months of the year currently have the upper hand in AAA hockey. They have had the opportunity to play up with older kids during the winter and they also have one more year of hockey under their belt. Eventually this will all balance out but during the sqt/1st year peewee ages it is a great benefit.

Consider the kids with second half b-dates. What could they possibly have going for them? Well they have a leg up to a certain degree in winter hockey. In Winter hockey they are the old guys and typically speaking are more successful. They get the opportunity to fill leadership roles etc...

The problem here is that we have a deadlock. 6 months worth of births versus 6 months worth of births. The argument will never be won by either side.

Now back to my original claim that we have the best of both worlds. At some point in time, whether a kids birth date is beginning of the year or end of the year they will be challenged to perform. First half kids need to step it up big time to make A teams for association and second half kids need to crank it up a notch during AAA.

Now beyond the traditional programs we have as many or more clinics, camps and programs that are taught by highly qualified coaches.

This is the perfect system and the proof is in the NHL and colleges across the US/Canada right now. More Minnesota boys are performing at high levels than ever before and there are no signs this is changing any time soon.

This is what makes Minnesota Hockey so great and why we are the envy of USA hockey. We have every opportunity afforded to us to develop High caliber players (no matter their age) yet the structure to involve more youth hockey players, no matter their ability.

From time to time I consider leaving this board and never returning. Some of the arguments/topics kind of turn my stomach. But then I start to think about why people are on this site and realize none of us are really any different, we all love this sport. More importantly, we must all care about the kids right?
I am sure there are no Barry McConnell's on this site........Now I gotta go back out to finish my LONG house.

jBlaze3000 · Post by **jBlaze3000** » Mon May 11, 2009 8:35 am

^ Well said!

Pens4 · Post by **Pens4** » Tue May 12, 2009 9:58 am

BARRY MCCONNELL !!!! I miss that show.....We can always hope for another lockout season so Versus can bring it back.

Educator29 · Post by **Educator29** » Tue May 12, 2009 10:11 am

The reason Summer AAA hockey is perceived as successful by most is it gives players / families a "Choice" One can select a Team / coach that fits there skill and philosophy. They can select how much they want to skate, how many games ect. Winter hockey does not give people that choice. You are Stuck with the Coach the hockey board selects, the tournaments that some "Mom" selected (Not ripping the "Mom" we love the Volunteer help) the limited practice Ice and hours provided.

Does it seem most of your AAA coaches are more structured / Planned out, and the coaches are more strict then winter hockey. its because "People have a choice" I have seen more AAA coaches plan out there whole summer, they work there tournaments strategically around their practices, plus they get in the tournaments based on ability etc. Winter hockey limits this top happen.

The program my kids grew up in, goes through a rigorous Coaching selection review. to interview the same coaches that they had beg to coach in previous years. Our program has lost a couple of its Long time excellent coaches due to not wanting to put up with the BS.

To improve winter hockey the board needs to be run like a Business. There are administrative people and there are hockey people. Use the volunteers correctly. use the skills they provide for the good of the Kids and the program. Not a popularity Voting contest where one side try's to get more votes then the other side. MY kids program was like the Hatfields and the McCoys when I was going through it.