Moving advice

[Puckstopper81]

First, my company is not moving. My company may be moving me to the Minneapolis/St. Paul area. I do work from home. Why is that so hard to understand and why is anybody concerned with that? I figured their would be some people who would read my thread until they find something wrong with it, and then start questioning everything. Also, I did not say that I expected my kid to play college hockey, especially Div. I. I said it was an achievable goal to play college hockey. What is wrong with saying it is "achievable"? I didn't say he had an offer already or scouts were already looking at him. I am sorry I IMPLIED that he may come in as a first year Bantam and take over the Number 1 spot from one of your kids. Sorry you are so insecure and have no faith in your child.

[Air Force 1]

Come up to East Grand Forks! We are within 1/2 hour of the airport and have ZERO 1998 born goaltenders. If you came this year your player would probably be the Pee Wee A tender as the only Pee Wee age goalie we will have is a '99 moving up from the Squirt A team this year. Next year as a first year Bantam, there would be 3 other goalies, a young '96 and two '97s.

We would love to have ya and promise that we don't care what your work/home situation is.

[Puckstopper81]

Air Force 1 - Thank you!

In my original post I asked anybody for some input on where would be a great place to relocate that is not too expensive and has a good hockey program. I didn't say anthing about my son's or my college expectations of him. He is a '98 and college is really not even a thought in anybody's mind right now. Let's just get through Middle School!

Do you really need more information to determine whether you will offer some constructive input? Really? Ok, here it is. We are from Michigan and my son is 5'5", 125 pounds, and is 12 years old. He has a wicked glove hand and can shoot the puck better than most kids on his team. What else would you like to discuss? His GPA - 3.5. Favorite food - Hamburgers, Favorite color - blue. I mean really!!!!!!

[royals dad]

PS81 I wouldn't get to defensive, there are sometimes fake posts where people are just trying to get the board riled up because they think its fun (wolfpack).

If your really moving here understand that there is a highway loop around the cities (494/694) inside the loop your pretty much within a half hour of THE airport (MSP). Otherwise look South and East. I believe in picking more by school district more than hockey association. When we moved the schools were more than happy to give us tours, your school district will also dictate your hockey association, the websites for each association will also list the president and they will almost all love to talk to you. We also have some really great goalie coaches and schools that are in different parts of the city.

We have a very suburban city and there is a suburb for almost every taste and price range. If your at all worried about the hockey season your kid would want to be here for clinics in August or AAA tryouts in March/April. There are also some very good camps that may get him a taste of Minnesota hockey over the summer.

If your looking for some good advice on what suburbs might fit give some more information. If for instance your looking for a 4 bedroom house in an older suburb for 200k someone might suggest Como (St Paul), Richfiled, or Brooklyn Park. If its 450K maybe Tonka, Woodbury, Eden Prairie...

Good luck either way, a lot of us love living here.

[Puckstopper81]

So let me get this straight, you have to be a hockey genius in order to post on this board? That is what you are saying, right? To be taken seriously, you have to possess a certain hockey IQ? Are these your rules or are they the rules of the board? I didn't see a hockey knowledge test before I signed up. I would be more than happy to take such a test.

[observer]

Are you 5' 5" too?

[Puckstopper81]

6'5"

Thank you to the people who gave me some great information. I appreciate it and maybe one day we'll see you at the rink. For the others - thank you for reminding me that even Minnesota is not without Idiot hockey people.

[JSR]

First, my company is not moving. My company may be moving me to the Minneapolis/St. Paul area. I do work from home. Why is that so hard to understand and why is anybody concerned with that? I figured their would be some people who would read my thread until they find something wrong with it, and then start questioning everything. Also, I did not say that I expected my kid to play college hockey, especially Div. I. I said it was an achievable goal to play college hockey. What is wrong with saying it is "achievable"? I didn't say he had an offer already or scouts were already looking at him. I am sorry I IMPLIED that he may come in as a first year Bantam and take over the Number 1 spot from one of your kids. Sorry you are so insecure and have no faith in your child.

The problem is that is that is not "achievable" for the average kid so when you say that people wonder about how much you really know or if you are just here to stir up stuff. I am pretty sure that nobody on this list who has a goalie is so insecure and has such little faith in their kid that your topic or potential arrival is gonna bother them. Those of us with goalies are constantly telling our goalies that your goalie might be moving to town this summer. Some of our goalies do the work to be able to beat your goalie out of the spot, some rely on politics to help them hang onto their #1 spots and some rely on luck hoping to have your kid move into a different association. All of us smart goalie parents however keep on putting money away for college for the kid so that when your kid does move in from who knows where and takes "their" D1 spot they can go to college and turn pro in something like medicine, business, engineering or etc.

I think you read way too much into his comments. I personally didn't take it that way at all. First of all he said college hockey, not D1. But for the record. The odds of an American born hockey player playing D1 college hockey for each birth year is actually roughly 1 in 450. The odds of being struck by lightning is 1 in 280,000 so actually your odds of playing colelge hockey is by far greater than being struck by lightning. Now playing pro hockey that is a different story (that is more like the odds of being struck by lightning). Now throw in DIII hockey and your odds increase to roughly 1 in 225 (rounded off). Now considering that realistically half of the hockey playing kids do not have the goal of playing in college or beyond it's actually almost reasonable to think that the good players that really do have that dream really have odds that are more like 1 in 225 for D1 and 1 in 113 if you include DIII. So while that is still very stiff competition it's not as unrealistic as you would like to paint the picture of. In fact, playing men's college hockey is actually far more realistic than playing men's football or basketball or soccer at a collegiate level. Now I am sure the statistics for goalies are different but technically his statement was not goalie specific. I am not planning on my kid playing beyond high school personally, and I do save money for all my kids for college, but that said I actually don't think you realize how realistic a goal playing college hockey (if you include DIII) really is for these kids as long as their head is on straight about how the goal needs to be achieved and that they need to keep sudying and keep their options open.

[stopthepuck]

6'5"

Thank you to the people who gave me some great information. I appreciate it and maybe one day we'll see you at the rink. For the others - thank you for reminding me that even Minnesota is not without Idiot hockey people.

If you got your feelings hurt by the cynics here, you better grow some thick skin by the time you get here.

[HockeyDad41]

6'5"

Thank you to the people who gave me some great information. I appreciate it and maybe one day we'll see you at the rink. For the others - thank you for reminding me that even Minnesota is not without Idiot hockey people.

We have some of the finest hockey idiots in the country here. Several are frequent contributors to this forum.

[keepmeoutofit]

Puckstopper81

"Minnesota Nice" is a phrase people use to describe Minnesotans style. It doesn't really mean that Minnesotans are nicer than anyone else. I've been rude and insensitive since birth and have fit right in.
We have had trouble adjusting to the politics. Its quiet and often behind closed doors.

[Night Train]

South Minneapolis. Drive around the lakes and think about it. Suburban living sucks. Certainly the nicest place to live and the hockey is very strong.

http://minneapolispark.pucksystems2.com

[Mite-dad]

Little Falls. 1 1/2 hours drive from the cities. We are in need of goalies too. Great smallmouth bass fishing too!

[JSR]

Puckstopper81, no matter where you move or play regularly if you have a goalie who you think is pretty good and want him to receive great goalie education might i suggest you find time in the summer to visit central Wisconsin where you can work with Mike Valley and Larry Clemments, two of the very best goalie coaches you will find in the entire nation. These guys work with goalies of all ages and caliber. I mean that legitimately. Guys like Brian Elliott and Niklas Bakstrom can be found in central Wisconsin ice rinks regularly in the summer time working with these two guys as well as countless other Canadian Junior A goalies, USHL goalies, AAA Midget Major goalies, collegiate goalies and others of all ages. They literally work with kids that are squirt age all the way up, they'll work with all skill levels and they are good guys too. Valley is also the goalie consultant (aka goalie coach) for the Dallas Stars during the NHL season. I don't have a goalie myself, and this is nto meant to be a commercial for these guys, but from what I am told and have seen first hand (they train in our local rink sometimes) these guys are great with goalies but uniquely they really relate to the younger kids while also helping out pros, that is really pretty rare in my opinion. Kids from Minnesota and Illinois and all ove Wisconsin come for their camps. They had one of them at our local rink last summer for "all ages" and Brian Elliott and Shane Connelly (former Badger goalie) were there training and helping with the camp with the young kids the whole week, Very cool stuff for goalies.

[CB00]

A list of the best programs in the Metro area:

Edina
Eden Prairie
Minnetonka
Apple Valley
Bloomington Jefferson
Wayzata
Maple Grove
Elk River
Blaine
Centennial
Woodbury
White Bear Lake
Burnsville
Lakeville
Stillwater
Eagan

You can't lose with any of the towns, schools or hockey associations.

You're right, just like anywhere, there are always idiots. Welcome to MN.

[CB00]

My son is a goalie at the High School level and I would check into Pro Hybrid with Zach Sikich. Outstanding goalie coach. Works with many of the High Schools and Blades AAA, also the goalie coach for Sioux Falls USHL and has worked with Coach Valley in WI. Prohybrid.com

Let him know Big Tim sent you.

[goaliema]

Why the name calling? Taking a less idealistic view of the situation doesn't make one an "idiot". Didn't see that anyone questioned his IQ.....only a few questioning his reasoning about coming in and making a Bantam A team. And compared to many posts here, it was done in a fairly "gentle" way. Realistically, this is going to be a tough move, particularly if the organization does not have a need at that position, competing against tradition and politics. Coming from Michigan, this should be an advantage, since the hockey there is ALMOST as good as here (lol). There are many great goalie training opportunities here. I personally like Goalcrease and Prohybrid. GDI does good work as well. I'm sure you will find a good spot for your son. Education wise, it would be hard to go wrong in MN (with a few exceptions, I suppose).

[passthepuck99]

Zach is awesome! I have a Bantam goalie and he loves Zach. Money well spent.

[No Political Connections]

So let me get this straight, you have to be a hockey genius in order to post on this board? That is what you are saying, right? To be taken seriously, you have to possess a certain hockey IQ? Are these your rules or are they the rules of the board? I didn't see a hockey knowledge test before I signed up. I would be more than happy to take such a test.

You don't need to be a hockey genius or have a high IQ to post on these boards. If you did I would not even know the web address to them. The rules on the board are easy, no cussing, no threats, get some really really thick skin and when you come in and say something crazy look out. Most of the people on this board are not shy and will not hesitate to challenge something. The amount and quality of knowledge on this board is astounding. I am sure that if we all had to post with our real names and jobs that we would be shocked at who we are talking to and about sometimes. Lots of brilliant minds and lots of minds like mine...........

[O-townClown]

Hockey in Michigan is structured and operates much differently. Just be patient and you'll adjust. For the mega associations (White Bear, Wayzata, Eden Prairie, Edina, etc...) an A Bantam team is equivalent to strong "major" AAA teams anywhere. (Watch, someone will point out that a Minnesota team lost. Not the point.)

Their B1 teams are equivalent to "minor" AAA teams. (My Bantam B team had three kids selected in the NHL Draft.)

In other associations an A team could be equivalent to a solid AA team.

A lot will depend on the pipeline (logjam?) at the position. Edina's PW for that age had something like twenty-four goaltenders in the program two years ago as Squirts. It is hard to imagine anyone moving in and supplanting all the incumbents to make the Bantam A team as a first year.

Especially a relatively small one.

[InTheKnow]

Bottom line puckstopper81. If you can afford a house in Edina, that's the place to be. Best schools in the state, best hockey program in the state. One warning, be ready for the competition, as the clown points out there are a lot of kids who play the game there.

[DMom]

A list of the best programs in the Metro area:

Edina
Eden Prairie
Minnetonka
Apple Valley
Bloomington Jefferson
Wayzata
Maple Grove
Elk River
Blaine
Centennial
Woodbury
White Bear Lake
Burnsville
Lakeville
Stillwater
Eagan

You can't lose with any of the towns, schools or hockey associations.

You're right, just like anywhere, there are always idiots. Welcome to MN.

If you are a goalie parent, you have to look at Forest Lake.

Dustin Carlson, a Hobey Baker candidate, playing at Ohio State.
Paul Moberg, Mason City Outlaws last year
Christian Gaffy, Duluth Bulldogs (just announced)
Paige Skoog, alternate to national U15 team last year. Split time in nets this year as a sophomore.

Not sure what they are doing right with goalies but it seems to be working.

[InigoMontoya]

It may be the number of shots they get to see growing up in the FL system.

[Goalie Dude]

Best Advice - Get your kid in town for some summer camps or lessons with a goalie coach. I agree with the ealier post, Zach at PHT is great. Not only will he help your kid as a goaltender, but he'll talk to you about schools and where a good fit may be. Plus, he's just an all around great guy that inspires kids to be the best they can be.
MN has a lot of great goalie options, you really can't go wrong with many of them. PHT is the best in my opinion and works with many associations in town.
Again, best advice is to get your kid in town for some camps and start building a relationship with a goalie coach.

[royals dad]

Hopkins youth had a nice year at the HS level for goalies. With the boys starters at Hopkins and Minnetonka (state runner up) and girls starters at Hopkins (senior goalie of the year & state 3rd place), Minnetonka (#2 ranked for most of the season), and BSM (selects finalist). Maybe the getting a lot of shots theory has some merit. Good schools, houses in all price ranges, and always happy to get a move in