Who are the top 10 PeeWee teams going into 2011-2012 season?

old goalie85 · Post by **old goalie85** » Thu Aug 11, 2011 1:16 pm

Hello- what were they talking about then??? One team from the whole city called" Duluth Pee-Wee A" ?????

observer · Post by **observer** » Thu Aug 11, 2011 1:28 pm

Oops, sorry.

old goalie85 · Post by **old goalie85** » Thu Aug 11, 2011 1:42 pm

No problem. You would think that Duluth Denfeld area could put together some top teams. I understand demographics has something to do w/ it.

observer · Post by **observer** » Thu Aug 11, 2011 2:43 pm

To me, from what I've read here and on the girls forum, Duluth has totally botched their recruiting over the last 3-4-5 years. Maybe longer. Their Duluth Lakers vs. Duluth East was always confusing to me. Their only chance to right the ship is get going on recruiting 5 and 6 year olds, boys and girls, now. Associations can't have peaks and valleys in their recruting efforts as it damages their finances, volunteer base and strength of teams. Amazing they screwed it up so bad after such a solid run of good teams.

old goalie85 · Post by **old goalie85** » Thu Aug 11, 2011 4:58 pm

Yes- almost sad. I thought they had the perfect squirt [playgroud] model!!!

Snoopdog007 · Post by **Snoopdog007** » Fri Aug 12, 2011 9:26 am

Moundsview and WBL also had strong Squirt A teams two years ago. They should probably be considered on the edge of the top ten. I'm sorry OG85 - Forest Lake is just on the outside looking in for now.

old goalie85 · Post by **old goalie85** » Fri Aug 12, 2011 9:41 am

I'm cool w/ that. Keep in mind as squirts, FL split/still,wbl, tied mv once and lost to them once. Could be a good year in D2.

Deep Breath · Post by **Deep Breath** » Fri Aug 12, 2011 10:00 am

Not sure how many PWA kids maple grove has coming back, but there were 2 kids on the '99 Fire from Maple Grove that will be playing association this year and there were a couple on the 00 Fire team as well. Could make that team fairly strong.

silentbutdeadly3139 · Fri Aug 12, 2011 11:42 am

Deep Breath wrote:Not sure how many PWA kids maple grove has coming back, but there were 2 kids on the '99 Fire from Maple Grove that will be playing association this year and there were a couple on the 00 Fire team as well. Could make that team fairly strong.

Several returning ... and good ones. They could be very tough if they mesh.

@hockeytweet · Post by **@hockeytweet** » Fri Aug 12, 2011 10:55 pm

When speaking so highly of the former Fire players, one must remember that the majority of PWA teams in larger associations will have several 98 birth years leading them. A 00 player, or two, will hardly tilt the balance of the power.
Can a 99 or a 00 help? Of course they can. They can make a difference. But to read the postings on this board, you would think the players from the Fire program were little supermen.
The associations fortunate enough to be home to one of those players will add a skilled, disciplined skater.
"But one strawberry does not make a pie" - wise man.

Deep Breath · Post by **Deep Breath** » Fri Aug 12, 2011 11:14 pm

[quote="@hockeytweet"]When speaking so highly of the former Fire players, one must remember that the majority of PWA teams in larger associations will have several 98 birth years leading them. A 00 player, or two, will hardly tilt the balance of the power.
Can a 99 or a 00 help? Of course they can. They can make a difference. But to read the postings on this board, you would think the players from the Fire program were little supermen.
The associations fortunate enough to be home to one of those players will add a skilled, disciplined skater.
"But one strawberry does not make a pie" - wise man.[/quote]

Correct you are. But if an assocaition can add a handfull of kids, I think that makes the team stronger, even if the Fire kids are 2nd and 3rd liners on the PWA team. Someone mentioned Lakeville will have some kids coming back to the association and OMG looks like they have a couple from both the '99 and '00 level returning. Not sure anybody else on the board mentioned "supermen", but if a team can add 3 or 4 Fire kids, I don't see how that doesn't help the association team. Remember, peewee hockey has been reduced back to squirt hockey; size, or age for that matter, isn't going to be nearly as important as it would have been had checking not been taken away.

Snoopdog007 · Post by **Snoopdog007** » Sat Aug 13, 2011 1:57 am

These are all very good points. But I believe that adding a few good skilled players to a good team could possibly add annomosisity to a team at this point. I personally played in a simplistic generation with players having the ultimate goal of making the State High School Hockey Tournament as a unit and accomplishing it as a unified team not as highly skilled parts. I concede that the game has changed a great deal since the mid 80's. I still to hold onto a past that team of skilled players of familiarity beats highly skilled individual parts any day. Fire players are no doubt skilled players but can they mesh with teams that have dealt with their abandonment from the past(aka traders)? It will be a fun year to say the least! Who knows, maybe a team like Moorhead or St. Cloud wins it all???

InigoMontoya · Post by **InigoMontoya** » Sat Aug 13, 2011 8:11 am

Snoopdog007 wrote:These are all very good points. But I believe that adding a few good skilled players to a good team could possibly add annomosisity to a team at this point. I personally played in a simplistic generation with players having the ultimate goal of making the State High School Hockey Tournament as a unit and accomplishing it as a unified team not as highly skilled parts. I concede that the game has changed a great deal since the mid 80's. I still to hold onto a past that team of skilled players of familiarity beats highly skilled individual parts any day. Fire players are no doubt skilled players but can they mesh with teams that have dealt with their abandonment from the past(aka traders)? It will be a fun year to say the least! Who knows, maybe a team like Moorhead or St. Cloud wins it all???

Association hockey is not built around the premise that these teams will stick together for 4 years of mites and 2 years of squirts, before playing their 2 years of peewees together. Each age group is made up of two years of players, and after two years some players will evolve at different rates. Some kids are 2-year A's, some are B then A, most don't make the A team. I would be astonished if this years Maple Grove team is made up of 13-15 boys that have never skated without each other. In addition, on this forum we act like these fire kids have moved to some island where they have been removed from their classmates - the kids that have played fire hockey still attend school in the district and are buddies with classmates; they may be baseball, soccer, lacrosse teammates. These kids will have no problem being able to "mesh", if the parents leave them alone. p.s. St Cloud plays a D-5 schedule, they will NEVER get out of regionals, much less win state.

Snoopdog007 · Post by **Snoopdog007** » Sat Aug 13, 2011 11:53 am

InigoMontoya wrote:
Snoopdog007 wrote:These are all very good points. But I believe that adding a few good skilled players to a good team could possibly add annomosisity to a team at this point. I personally played in a simplistic generation with players having the ultimate goal of making the State High School Hockey Tournament as a unit and accomplishing it as a unified team not as highly skilled parts. I concede that the game has changed a great deal since the mid 80's. I still to hold onto a past that team of skilled players of familiarity beats highly skilled individual parts any day. Fire players are no doubt skilled players but can they mesh with teams that have dealt with their abandonment from the past(aka traders)? It will be a fun year to say the least! Who knows, maybe a team like Moorhead or St. Cloud wins it all???
Association hockey is not built around the premise that these teams will stick together for 4 years of mites and 2 years of squirts, before playing their 2 years of peewees together. Each age group is made up of two years of players, and after two years some players will evolve at different rates. Some kids are 2-year A's, some are B then A, most don't make the A team. I would be astonished if this years Maple Grove team is made up of 13-15 boys that have never skated without each other. In addition, on this forum we act like these fire kids have moved to some island where they have been removed from their classmates - the kids that have played fire hockey still attend school in the district and are buddies with classmates; they may be baseball, soccer, lacrosse teammates. These kids will have no problem being able to "mesh", if the parents leave them alone. p.s. St Cloud plays a D-5 schedule, they will NEVER get out of regionals, much less win state.

These are also good points Inigo. I guess the real question is what motivated the players to join the FIRE in the 1st place? Was it driven by the player or driven by the parent(s)? Was it to face stronger competition? Was it to get better coaching? I personally can't imagine driving from one end of the metro to the other to go to practice. This is serious dedication. For anyone who has proper insight on this - please share. I may be missing the point because I simply can't relate. p.s. Ok if you didn't like the St. Cloud pick how about those boys from Bemidji??? I was just trying to pick a more obscure team.

Trout · Post by **Trout** » Sat Aug 13, 2011 2:36 pm

I think I would have to put stillwater in my top 5. They may not have as many returning A Pee Wees but have a group of kids who have played together for years and have never lost more than a few games (in the State Tournament as B1's with an entire team of 1st year pee wees).

They are as deep as anyone at this level and will be formidable and are surely the cream of the crop on the East Side. WBL and MV are probably close behind with Hastings potentially in the mix. As A squirts I think they outshot everyone they played all year long. They have many good goalies to chose from in their association at that level which will help (at least 4 with a shot at making the team).

Edina will not be the same team they were when they were squirts due to the fire situation so you cannot compare this group to that of the A squirts 2 years ago. They will be better for sure.

The other teams I like to be the top would be Lakeville South, STMA, EP, Prior Lake and OMG. Wayzata would be there for sure if they were not splitting the team.

Not sure Jefferson had the depth at squirts but if they get a few additions that will help them.

@hockeytweet · Post by **@hockeytweet** » Sat Aug 13, 2011 9:08 pm

Trout-I agree with most of those teams you list. Edina has some nice B1 players moving up, some good first years from the SQA, and the addition of a Fire player or two. They are the biggest wildcard in my mind. How can they overlooked? They can't

But if I had to put $ on a PWA final, it would be Lakeville S and Eden Prairie. I think Eden Prairie has the best goalie tandem. But Lakeville has speed. That class lost to E.P. in an epic semi-final in Fargo 2 years ago (multiple OT's). Eden Prairie went on to beat St Michael.

OMGHA will be good, as will Prior Lake. But it seems like they always choke in the "BIG" game. Just can't knock down the door.

I'm not as sold on Stillwater. I think Elk River and Centennial will be better. With Blaine showing well last year, the North Metro is up for grabs. IMHO

Trout · Post by **Trout** » Sun Aug 14, 2011 5:02 pm

@hockeytweet...

I believe stillwater beat Centennial twice that year as well as at the B1 level. They also won tournaments that included Prior Lake, Rochester and Bloomington Jefferson.

I did see Stillwater play Elk River in Edina last year and they outshot ER pretty well but gave up a few weak goals. It will be interesting to see how it plays out. They may not be the top but should be the class of the east side.

I like the rest of your list.

crw · Post by **crw** » Tue Aug 16, 2011 12:55 pm

STMA has 3 ro 4 returning skaters, a B1 team that went to the state Tourney and a Squirt A team that lost in the semi's to Edina at the Fargo Tourney.. and they are returning their goal-tender... And before you say anything - I do NOT have a kid on the team...

The Other Bash Brother · Tue Aug 16, 2011 6:14 pm

crw wrote:STMA has 3 ro 4 returning skaters, a B1 team that went to the state Tourney and a Squirt A team that lost in the semi's to Edina at the Fargo Tourney.. and they are returning their goal-tender... And before you say anything - I do NOT have a kid on the team...

What number is your kid?

crw · Post by **crw** » Fri Aug 19, 2011 2:58 pm

My kid will be a Bantam and his # is 8...

The Other Bash Brother wrote:
crw wrote:STMA has 3 ro 4 returning skaters, a B1 team that went to the state Tourney and a Squirt A team that lost in the semi's to Edina at the Fargo Tourney.. and they are returning their goal-tender... And before you say anything - I do NOT have a kid on the team...
What number is your kid?

BlackTape · Post by **BlackTape** » Fri Sep 09, 2011 10:07 pm

2/3 of Elk Rivers team is back from last season's team, and both goalies are returning.

Edgeless · Post by **Edgeless** » Fri Sep 09, 2011 10:28 pm

What about the kids returning to assoc. From Wolfpack?

Snoopdog007 · Post by **Snoopdog007** » Sun Sep 11, 2011 11:55 pm

BlackTape wrote:2/3 of Elk Rivers team is back from last season's team, and both goalies are returning.

Snoopdog007 · Post by **Snoopdog007** » Mon Sep 12, 2011 12:06 am

Snoopdog007 wrote:
BlackTape wrote:2/3 of Elk Rivers team is back from last season's team, and both goalies are returning.

Sorry - Wern't the Elks in the State A-Peewee tourney last season? Are you saying 2/3 of the team played A-Peewee? If so, they may be the team to beat. Place a target on ER. I assume most will be at Velocity 3 on 3 tourney next weekend? Should be fun to get an early look at all of the top teams.

old goalie85 · Post by **old goalie85** » Mon Sep 12, 2011 8:25 am

Heard Mounds View has two kids back from the Fire, plus had a nice squirt a A two years ago. D 2 could be better than years past.

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Who are the top 10 PeeWee teams going into 2011-2012 season?

Wern't the Elks in the state tourney as A-peewee's?

Re: Wern't the Elks in the state tourney as A-peewee's?