Private Schools in A????

[warriors41]

The solution is for A teams that can consistently compete with the top 10 AA teams to just opt up. If your team has a great chance of doing very well in AA, why the heck wouldn't you go for it? If Hibbing had an upcoming stretch of classes that was going to make them a top 10 AA caliber team, I would be screaming for them to opt up. They did exactly this from about 96-01, when they had some fantastic teams (PageStat rankings: 5, 22, 13, 11, 12). They got edged out by East and Elk River in 7AA, but I was much more satisfied watching them go for the big prize than I would have been watching them crush A opponents.

The solution to this is right in the hands of the schools that have developed programs that can successfully compete at the highest levels of AA consistently, yet refuse to do so. Do these schools have trophy cases? Or do they just let their "hollow" trophies float around in the hallways?

This comes down to ethics and dignity, qualities these schools should be teaching their students by doing the right thing.

If all the A schools that can compete with top end AA schools just stayed in class A to begin with, then the present top A teams wouldn't steam roll their current competition. The problem arises because people inherently think AA hockey and their tournament is for some reason better than A. In all reality, they are pretty even, or at least would be if everyone stayed put. Hermantown, Warroad, Thief River, heck even Roseau are A schools. That is where they should play. Same with STA and Breck. Public or private doesn't matter. It's nice to see small schools opt up beat big schools for championship, don't get me wrong. But if it comes at the price of every small school that stays where it is rightfully assigned losing credibility, than I would rather have schools like Grand Rapids stay in class A.

[flatontheice]

The solution is for A teams that can consistently compete with the top 10 AA teams to just opt up. If your team has a great chance of doing very well in AA, why the heck wouldn't you go for it? If Hibbing had an upcoming stretch of classes that was going to make them a top 10 AA caliber team, I would be screaming for them to opt up. They did exactly this from about 96-01, when they had some fantastic teams (PageStat rankings: 5, 22, 13, 11, 12). They got edged out by East and Elk River in 7AA, but I was much more satisfied watching them go for the big prize than I would have been watching them crush A opponents.

The solution to this is right in the hands of the schools that have developed programs that can successfully compete at the highest levels of AA consistently, yet refuse to do so. Do these schools have trophy cases? Or do they just let their "hollow" trophies float around in the hallways?

This comes down to ethics and dignity, qualities these schools should be teaching their students by doing the right thing.

Again, if every private school went to AA it would spell disaster for many of the fringe AA programs.

[rainier]

The solution is for A teams that can consistently compete with the top 10 AA teams to just opt up. If your team has a great chance of doing very well in AA, why the heck wouldn't you go for it? If Hibbing had an upcoming stretch of classes that was going to make them a top 10 AA caliber team, I would be screaming for them to opt up. They did exactly this from about 96-01, when they had some fantastic teams (PageStat rankings: 5, 22, 13, 11, 12). They got edged out by East and Elk River in 7AA, but I was much more satisfied watching them go for the big prize than I would have been watching them crush A opponents.

The solution to this is right in the hands of the schools that have developed programs that can successfully compete at the highest levels of AA consistently, yet refuse to do so. Do these schools have trophy cases? Or do they just let their "hollow" trophies float around in the hallways?

This comes down to ethics and dignity, qualities these schools should be teaching their students by doing the right thing.

Again, if every private school went to AA it would spell disaster for many of the fringe AA programs.

Flat, you should actually read my post before commenting on it. Where in it do I say every private school should go to AA? In fact, the word "private" does not appear anywhere in the entire post. I agree with you, not all private schools should opt up, just the ones that should, and they know who they are.

Teams like Hermantown I have much less of a problem with. They are doing what they do with the vast majority of their players being from the community. If I was a Hermantown fan, I would be calling for them to opt up, but you certainly can't say they have a significant population advantage over other A schools and are taking advantage of the system. (Like the top A privates are)

[blacklung]

It's tough to watch the private schools dominate real community schools just because they have access to orders of magnitude more kids.

It isn't really that. It's different for each situation, but each has done whatever they can to attract what they need to be successful. Imo, the idea that this isn't done in public schools is ludicrous.

HSHW, how can you say this with a straight face? Do you really believe the dominance of private schools in A has nothing to do with having access to WAY more kids? I know you aren't that stupid, come on now. And how can the public A schools "attract what they need to be successful"? Teams like TRF, I-Falls, Little Falls, etc., the kids they have are all they have, they can't attract players from all over because it's physically impossible.

In places like Hibbing and Virginia, sure, all the kids could choose to play at one of the schools, but 1) their parents would have to move, per MSHSL rules, and 2) people in these communities just wouldn't do this, they have something called "community pride" that is backed by years of tradition, something these private schools know nothing about.

If you took last year's Rapids team that was a clear top 10 AA team and added the 5 all-state players from Hibbing and Virginia, they would have very likely won state. But these kids want to represent their communities and value playing with their friends more than they value winning at all costs.


This thread (and all the similar ones) is full of lots of finger pointing and very few real solutions. The issue isn't that the private schools are doing well, the issue is that the public schools are not. I highly doubt it would be good overall for MN hockey if all private schools were put in AA nor would it help. Why are all the solutions to knock those doing well instead of ideas to help those who are?

The public A schools are doing just fine. For their enrollment sizes, TRF, EGF, Little Falls, Hibbing, Virginia, etc. are putting good teams on the ice. And if you re-read my earlier post, I offered a solution, and yes I am pointing fingers, squarely at the officials at the dominant private schools that refuse to opt up. BSM, AHA, and other privates realize that beating up on community schools makes them look bad, so they opt up and they are willing to sacrifice being in the title game every season so that they can keep their pride. Teams like Breck and STA should follow their lead; it would be a great lesson in ethics for their students.

http://www.minnesotablades.com/page/sho ... ockey-club

Most of you are probably familiar with the MN Blades AAA hockey organization?
If you are not, it is one of the best, if not the best AAA hockey organization in MN.
The best kids in the state tryout and play for the Blades.
Below is a list of kids that were former Blades players that played in the state tourney last year.
The team with the most blades players???
Class A powerhouse Saint Thomas Academy with 12.
The next closest is AA Edina with 8.
Public schools are doing badly??
What can a small or even a large public school do to consistently draw talent like this every year?

St. Thomas Academy
Andrew Commers
Michael Ferreira
Taylor Fleming
AJ Johnson
Matt Kroska
Pat McFadden
Adam Peterson
Matt Raiola
AJ Reid
Zach Schroeder
Eric Schurhamer
David Zevnik

Edina
Bo Brauer
Max Everson
Steven Fogarty
Connor Girard
Andy Jordahl
Lou Nanne
Jake Sampson
Michael Sit

Eden Prairie
Jack McCartan
Dan Molenaar
David Rath
Mark Rath
Nick Seeler

Eagan
Derick Kuchera
Nick Kuchera
Brady Loew
Will Merchant
Michael Zajac

Blaine
Jonny Brodzinski
Michael Brodzinski
Tyler Cline
Ian Scheid

Rochester Lourdes
Justin Dewitz
Landon Farrell
Alex Funk

Duluth East
Steven Holappa
Meirs Moore
Dom Toninato

Lakeville North
Evan Peterson
AJ Wood

Breck
Keegan Iverson
Derek Wiitala

White Bear Lake
Max Birkinbine
Brandon Wahlin

Moorhead
Eric Brenk

Thier River Falls
Ryan Crosson

[greenway1969]

I just watched STA play North. The amount of talent and depth on that squad is amazing. What is really scary is that a vast majority of players are underclassmen. I haven't seen many top-level AA schools play, I have only seen Eagan, Hill-Murray and Wayzata. None comes close to the depth and talent that STA has. Talent does not always equate with wins, but I'd rather be in STA's position than any team I've seen play.

[bubblehockey27]

There are plenty of public schools with open enrollment...Most private school's don't have to recruit because they attract high end talent by being successful. STA was terrible in the early 2000's...it's not like they've been dominating class A for decades...

[rainier]

There are plenty of public schools with open enrollment...Most private school's don't have to recruit because they attract high end talent by being successful. STA was terrible in the early 2000's...it's not like they've been dominating class A for decades...

They are clearly at a AA level now and it appears that will continue. They should opt up. Open enrollment outstate, where the VAST majority of A schools are located, is rarely a viable option. In the TC area, it is MUCH easier for kids to move schools, because their family (or one parent) can move residences (if even necessary) yet still keep the same job. Outstate parents don't have that luxury. The school near where they work is their only option.

[shins]

The whole point of going to a two class system in hockey was to allow for smaller schools to have an opportunity to compete at the state level, just like every other sport in the MSHSL.

To say that schools like STA and Breck are small schools is wrong... it is totally comparing apples and oranges. The enrollment numbers at these schools places them in class A, but the students that they are dealing with are totally different than most class A schools. It is typical for a lot of these schools to have 30-40% of their students involved in some form of extracurriculars. I would guess that in these private schools the numbers are in the 80-90% range. Although they have similar numbers, their pool of athletes is not even close (and I am not even talking about the talent pool to draw from, just flat out numbers).

I would guess people calling to go back to one class are not from a smaller class A community..... if you want to consider AA to be the true champion, that is fine, but the reason for two classes was to give the smaller communities a chance to participate (or at least have a shot at) a state tournament, JUST LIKE EVERY OTHER SPORT.

[KICKED-IN-THE-PRIVATES]

This thread is a joke. If you really think private schools "recruit" you are extremely uneducated. Both my two sons attend Totino-Grace and 99.9 % of the students who are there chose that school for academic/religious reasons. I am sure it is the same as STA, Breck, Blake, Marshall, and Cathedral. I think these schools have built a good name for themselves, and their hockey programs. If you want the same advantage as a public school begin open enrollment and post billboard ads stating how good your program could be if everyone good collectively comes here. Yes, I think that if a family was deciding where their son should attend HS and it was between Providence Academy and Totino-Grace, and the son "happened" to be good at hockey, of course he would attend Totino because they have a much more solid program. This doesn't mean they are "recruiting" at all. I think these schools are great for class A. If you look at the state tournament only about 3 or 4 of the schools are private schools. Yes, there are many more public schools than private, but still, can you even include schools like Luverne or whoever in the "public school" category? Being from Totino, seeing both TG play STA and Hermantown, I certainly think Hermantown is better than STA. Not by much, but they are better. So don't complain about the private schools that knock your "hometown boys" out every year, if so, build your program better like Hermantown, Mahtomedi, TRF, and EGF have done.

Hockey is just a part of a whole package deal that includes a better education, and in most in most cases, better sports....

[Shinbone_News]

Egad, here we go again.

Every February this argument gets instigated by people who apparently watch NO high school hockey except the state tourney. There are plenty of regular season games between A and AA schools, some of them actually in the same conference, and they make for great hockey at a considerably cheaper price.

You purists who hate the privates are always whining about these "all star" metro teams with no "community pride" or traditions. But the fact is hockey in MN has become very mercenary -- there are plenty of move-ins at Edina, Wayzata, Minnetonka, Duluth East. And for some really quality players in weaker community associations, they CHOOSE to look at good private programs in order to get the visibility and credit they deserve. (You don't have to look very hard to prove my point. Consider how little respect the Cisar brothers get playing for Moose Lake. If they played for Marshall, everyone would be talking about which college might scoop them up.)


The privates also allow more quality metro players to play varsity because they open up spots on their home school's teams, and they allow good players to escape tough politics in places like Edina or seriously off-the-radar programs like Hopkins.

[BodyShots]

What can a small or even a large public school do to consistently draw talent like this every year?

Be located near affluent neighborhoods?

[mackjogger]

It's tough to watch the private schools dominate real community schools just because they have access to orders of magnitude more kids.

It isn't really that. It's different for each situation, but each has done whatever they can to attract what they need to be successful. Imo, the idea that this isn't done in public schools is ludicrous.

HSHW, how can you say this with a straight face? Do you really believe the dominance of private schools in A has nothing to do with having access to WAY more kids? I know you aren't that stupid, come on now. And how can the public A schools "attract what they need to be successful"? Teams like TRF, I-Falls, Little Falls, etc., the kids they have are all they have, they can't attract players from all over because it's physically impossible.

In places like Hibbing and Virginia, sure, all the kids could choose to play at one of the schools, but 1) their parents would have to move, per MSHSL rules, and 2) people in these communities just wouldn't do this, they have something called "community pride" that is backed by years of tradition, something these private schools know nothing about.

If you took last year's Rapids team that was a clear top 10 AA team and added the 5 all-state players from Hibbing and Virginia, they would have very likely won state. But these kids want to represent their communities and value playing with their friends more than they value winning at all costs.


This thread (and all the similar ones) is full of lots of finger pointing and very few real solutions. The issue isn't that the private schools are doing well, the issue is that the public schools are not. I highly doubt it would be good overall for MN hockey if all private schools were put in AA nor would it help. Why are all the solutions to knock those doing well instead of ideas to help those who are?

The public A schools are doing just fine. For their enrollment sizes, TRF, EGF, Little Falls, Hibbing, Virginia, etc. are putting good teams on the ice. And if you re-read my earlier post, I offered a solution, and yes I am pointing fingers, squarely at the officials at the dominant private schools that refuse to opt up. BSM, AHA, and other privates realize that beating up on community schools makes them look bad, so they opt up and they are willing to sacrifice being in the title game every season so that they can keep their pride. Teams like Breck and STA should follow their lead; it would be a great lesson in ethics for their students.

http://www.minnesotablades.com/page/sho ... ockey-club

Most of you are probably familiar with the MN Blades AAA hockey organization?
If you are not, it is one of the best, if not the best AAA hockey organization in MN.
The best kids in the state tryout and play for the Blades.
Below is a list of kids that were former Blades players that played in the state tourney last year.
The team with the most blades players???
Class A powerhouse Saint Thomas Academy with 12.
The next closest is AA Edina with 8.
Public schools are doing badly??
What can a small or even a large public school do to consistently draw talent like this every year?

St. Thomas Academy
Andrew Commers
Michael Ferreira
Taylor Fleming
AJ Johnson
Matt Kroska
Pat McFadden
Adam Peterson
Matt Raiola
AJ Reid
Zach Schroeder
Eric Schurhamer
David Zevnik

Edina
Bo Brauer
Max Everson
Steven Fogarty
Connor Girard
Andy Jordahl
Lou Nanne
Jake Sampson
Michael Sit

Eden Prairie
Jack McCartan
Dan Molenaar
David Rath
Mark Rath
Nick Seeler

Eagan
Derick Kuchera
Nick Kuchera
Brady Loew
Will Merchant
Michael Zajac

Blaine
Jonny Brodzinski
Michael Brodzinski
Tyler Cline
Ian Scheid

Rochester Lourdes
Justin Dewitz
Landon Farrell
Alex Funk

Duluth East
Steven Holappa
Meirs Moore
Dom Toninato

Lakeville North
Evan Peterson
AJ Wood

Breck
Keegan Iverson
Derek Wiitala

White Bear Lake
Max Birkinbine
Brandon Wahlin

Moorhead
Eric Brenk

Thier River Falls
Ryan Crosson

Have you ever considered the demographics. It costs a substantial amount of money to play for the blades. The same familys that pay private school tuition or live in affluent neighborhoods are the same folks able to pay blades tuition.....I think it has very little to do with the school..... Is about the almighty $

[MHGr8ness]

Egad, here we go again.

Every February this argument gets instigated by people who apparently watch NO high school hockey except the state tourney. There are plenty of regular season games between A and AA schools, some of them actually in the same conference, and they make for great hockey at a considerably cheaper price.

You purists who hate the privates are always whining about these "all star" metro teams with no "community pride" or traditions. But the fact is hockey in MN has become very mercenary -- there are plenty of move-ins at Edina, Wayzata, Minnetonka, Duluth East. And for some really quality players in weaker community associations, they CHOOSE to look at good private programs in order to get the visibility and credit they deserve. (You don't have to look very hard to prove my point. Consider how little respect the Cisar brothers get playing for Moose Lake. If they played for Marshall, everyone would be talking about which college might scoop them up.)


The privates also allow more quality metro players to play varsity because they open up spots on their home school's teams, and they allow good players to escape tough politics in places like Edina or seriously off-the-radar programs like Hopkins.

With the Cisars I think it's more who they're playing against than who for.

[gitter]

Egad, here we go again.

Every February this argument gets instigated by people who apparently watch NO high school hockey except the state tourney. There are plenty of regular season games between A and AA schools, some of them actually in the same conference, and they make for great hockey at a considerably cheaper price.

You purists who hate the privates are always whining about these "all star" metro teams with no "community pride" or traditions. But the fact is hockey in MN has become very mercenary -- there are plenty of move-ins at Edina, Wayzata, Minnetonka, Duluth East. And for some really quality players in weaker community associations, they CHOOSE to look at good private programs in order to get the visibility and credit they deserve. (You don't have to look very hard to prove my point. Consider how little respect the Cisar brothers get playing for Moose Lake. If they played for Marshall, everyone would be talking about which college might scoop them up.)


The privates also allow more quality metro players to play varsity because they open up spots on their home school's teams, and they allow good players to escape tough politics in places like Edina or seriously off-the-radar programs like Hopkins.

With the Cisars I think it's more who they're playing against than who for.

Who do you want Moose Lake to play? They are 11-14 this year. They schedule anyone tougher they won't win a game, and besides that does anyone honestly think Cloquet, East, Grand Rapids, Hermantown, Marshall (the list goes on and on) really want to waste a game by scheduling a team like Moose Lake?

The Cisars can't win. They stay and everyone accuses them of wanting to score 100 goals. If they transferred everyone would be all over them for "not sticking around with the kids they grew up with".

[announcerguy]

The reason I brought up this subject was to read the different sides of the arguement.

A couple of interesting points I noticed when doing a little research. In the class A championship game since 2000, 14 of the 24 teams have been private. 9 of the 12 champions have been private. Also looking at how some of the more well known private A teams have done against the better teams in AA during the regular season, and realizing they don't fare very well for the most part. So my point is that they are dominating the A state tournament. One guy said only 3-4 teams are private each year? Are you aware that only 8 teams get in.

Now I don't blame the kids in this situation. It's not their choice as to whether the schools play A or AA. But they do have a choice in the matter as to where they go to school. They might have played Mites, Squirts, and Pee Wees for Irondale for example, and get sick of getting their butts kicked, and decide to go to Totino. Nothing wrong with that in my opinion. And for a lot of players playing in College or Pros, that only happened because they chose to attend a A private school rather than a lousy AA team.

Now I suppose you can't move every private school up to AA, Legacy Academy for example would have to play a Bantam schedule to be competitive. So it's not fair to all, but it takes away from the original idea of the two classes. I'd love to see them go back to one class. But I'm sure we're closer to seeing three classes than we are one. I guess given the choice as a adminstrator or coach for some of these successful A private schools, like Breck, STA, Totino, etc. I'd WANT to move up to AA and compete against the best year in and year out. That's why I give a school like Benilde credit for CHOOSING that A wasn't enough for them, and they'd prefer to compete against the best.

And from a fans point of view, I'd love to see the best 8 teams in the State in the AA tournament each year. Obviously that won't happen due to upsets, and section 1AA getting a team in each year. I enjoy watching the A tournament each year, and will continue to do so. I just think the MNHSL is being hypocritical, sure they have more kids competing in the state tournament than before, and more teams have an oppurtunity to win a state championship. But I don't think this is what they intended, and I don't think it solved any problems.

[chief22]

I'd love to see the best 8 teams in the State in the AA tournament each year. Obviously that won't happen due to upsets, and section 1AA getting a team in each year

.

That's pretty funny...made me fall out of my chair.[/b]

[HShockeywatcher]

A couple of interesting points I noticed when doing a little research. In the class A championship game since 2000, 14 of the 24 teams have been private. 9 of the 12 champions have been private. Also looking at how some of the more well known private A teams have done against the better teams in AA during the regular season, and realizing they don't fare very well for the most part. So my point is that they are dominating the A state tournament. One guy said only 3-4 teams are private each year? Are you aware that only 8 teams get in.

I don't want to take anything away from anything you said here, but there have been 7 private schools make it (one is now AA) and 5 public. And there have been 4 private champs (one is now AA) and 2 public.

The "issue" (if you call it that) isn't a private one, it is specific private schools. Minnehaha and New Ulm Cathedral aren't "ruining" the tournament, a handful of specific schools are.

And if you add the semi's (or even quarters) to the list, it is less staggering. Similar to following 4A football the last ten years. It wasn't a private/public thing, it was a Totino-Grace/everyone else thing.

Additionally, it wasn't until the last few years where private schools were good in the numbers they are. Just some food for thought.

And from a fans point of view, I'd love to see the best 8 teams in the State in the AA tournament each year.

Why is that? We went away from the tier system years ago and the fact that programs with small enrollments are good at hockey is well known. Why not have the best 14 at the X instead of the 7 of the top 10 and randomness beyond that now?

In 2006 the AA championship game featured two A sized schools. (I believe 2005 did too, but I'm not sure). Wouldn't it be awesome to have a tournament where many years the better team was in the smaller school tournament?

[2good4u]

the only real plus side to private schools and this is it, is that it keeps out winter triple AAA hockey that the rest of the nation experiences, which means less pay to play teams and if these AAA teams start popping up in the winter season then minnesota hockey will be totally ruined, personally i think minnesota hockey in general (youth) needs to cut ties with USA hockey, a lot of the funds that come from minnesota ends up out of state and the ultimate sad truth was that a lot of rules (such as no checking in peewees) came from outside of our state, the day that minnesota hockey as a whole gets away from usa hockey we will be free from a massive burden, so as of right now i honestly don't mind the private schools as long as they stay away from turning into AAA hockey schools

[announcerguy]

I don't want to take anything away from anything you said here, but there have been 7 private schools make it (one is now AA) and 5 public. And there have been 4 private champs (one is now AA) and 2 public.

Here are my results as far as private schools in the A championship?
2000 - Breck (Champions)
2001 - Benilde (Champions) Rochester Lourdes
2002 - Totino Grace (Champions)
2003 - none
2004 - Breck (Champions)
2005 - Totino Grace
2006 - St. Thomas Academy (Champions) Duluth Marhall
2007 - Duluth Marshall
2008 - St Thomas Academy (Champions) Duluth Marshall
2009 - Breck (Champions)
2010 - Breck (Champions)
2011 - St Thomas Academy (Champions)

[hockeydad]

Here is my thought on the subject: http://www.threadbombing.com/details.php?image_id=2307

[PuckU126]

Here is my thought on the subject: http://www.threadbombing.com/details.php?image_id=2307

[MHGr8ness]

Egad, here we go again.

Every February this argument gets instigated by people who apparently watch NO high school hockey except the state tourney. There are plenty of regular season games between A and AA schools, some of them actually in the same conference, and they make for great hockey at a considerably cheaper price.

You purists who hate the privates are always whining about these "all star" metro teams with no "community pride" or traditions. But the fact is hockey in MN has become very mercenary -- there are plenty of move-ins at Edina, Wayzata, Minnetonka, Duluth East. And for some really quality players in weaker community associations, they CHOOSE to look at good private programs in order to get the visibility and credit they deserve. (You don't have to look very hard to prove my point. Consider how little respect the Cisar brothers get playing for Moose Lake. If they played for Marshall, everyone would be talking about which college might scoop them up.)


The privates also allow more quality metro players to play varsity because they open up spots on their home school's teams, and they allow good players to escape tough politics in places like Edina or seriously off-the-radar programs like Hopkins.

With the Cisars I think it's more who they're playing against than who for.

Who do you want Moose Lake to play? They are 11-14 this year. They schedule anyone tougher they won't win a game, and besides that does anyone honestly think Cloquet, East, Grand Rapids, Hermantown, Marshall (the list goes on and on) really want to waste a game by scheduling a team like Moose Lake?

The Cisars can't win. They stay and everyone accuses them of wanting to score 100 goals. If they transferred everyone would be all over them for "not sticking around with the kids they grew up with".

I don't care who they play. I'm just saying that people aren't respecting what they're doing because of where they play. At least not near as much as people don't respect their points for who they're scoring them against.

[celly93]

The reason I brought up this subject was to read the different sides of the arguement.

A couple of interesting points I noticed when doing a little research. In the class A championship game since 2000, 14 of the 24 teams have been private. 9 of the 12 champions have been private. Also looking at how some of the more well known private A teams have done against the better teams in AA during the regular season, and realizing they don't fare very well for the most part. So my point is that they are dominating the A state tournament. One guy said only 3-4 teams are private each year? Are you aware that only 8 teams get in.

Now I don't blame the kids in this situation. It's not their choice as to whether the schools play A or AA. But they do have a choice in the matter as to where they go to school. They might have played Mites, Squirts, and Pee Wees for Irondale for example, and get sick of getting their butts kicked, and decide to go to Totino. Nothing wrong with that in my opinion. And for a lot of players playing in College or Pros, that only happened because they chose to attend a A private school rather than a lousy AA team.

Now I suppose you can't move every private school up to AA, Legacy Academy for example would have to play a Bantam schedule to be competitive. So it's not fair to all, but it takes away from the original idea of the two classes. I'd love to see them go back to one class. But I'm sure we're closer to seeing three classes than we are one. I guess given the choice as a adminstrator or coach for some of these successful A private schools, like Breck, STA, Totino, etc. I'd WANT to move up to AA and compete against the best year in and year out. That's why I give a school like Benilde credit for CHOOSING that A wasn't enough for them, and they'd prefer to compete against the best.

And from a fans point of view, I'd love to see the best 8 teams in the State in the AA tournament each year. Obviously that won't happen due to upsets, and section 1AA getting a team in each year. I enjoy watching the A tournament each year, and will continue to do so. I just think the MNHSL is being hypocritical, sure they have more kids competing in the state tournament than before, and more teams have an oppurtunity to win a state championship. But I don't think this is what they intended, and I don't think it solved any problems.

People always think that students at private high schools leave their public school program, when in reality, they may have never gone to a public school. For example, the Wayzata student section chanted "traitor" at BSM's Grant Besse. Besse went to private school in junior high (and maybe before that, I'm not sure) and also had a brother who graduated from BSM. Not every private school player is a scholarship seeking mercenary.

[MHGr8ness]

The reason I brought up this subject was to read the different sides of the arguement.

A couple of interesting points I noticed when doing a little research. In the class A championship game since 2000, 14 of the 24 teams have been private. 9 of the 12 champions have been private. Also looking at how some of the more well known private A teams have done against the better teams in AA during the regular season, and realizing they don't fare very well for the most part. So my point is that they are dominating the A state tournament. One guy said only 3-4 teams are private each year? Are you aware that only 8 teams get in.

Now I don't blame the kids in this situation. It's not their choice as to whether the schools play A or AA. But they do have a choice in the matter as to where they go to school. They might have played Mites, Squirts, and Pee Wees for Irondale for example, and get sick of getting their butts kicked, and decide to go to Totino. Nothing wrong with that in my opinion. And for a lot of players playing in College or Pros, that only happened because they chose to attend a A private school rather than a lousy AA team.

Now I suppose you can't move every private school up to AA, Legacy Academy for example would have to play a Bantam schedule to be competitive. So it's not fair to all, but it takes away from the original idea of the two classes. I'd love to see them go back to one class. But I'm sure we're closer to seeing three classes than we are one. I guess given the choice as a adminstrator or coach for some of these successful A private schools, like Breck, STA, Totino, etc. I'd WANT to move up to AA and compete against the best year in and year out. That's why I give a school like Benilde credit for CHOOSING that A wasn't enough for them, and they'd prefer to compete against the best.

And from a fans point of view, I'd love to see the best 8 teams in the State in the AA tournament each year. Obviously that won't happen due to upsets, and section 1AA getting a team in each year. I enjoy watching the A tournament each year, and will continue to do so. I just think the MNHSL is being hypocritical, sure they have more kids competing in the state tournament than before, and more teams have an oppurtunity to win a state championship. But I don't think this is what they intended, and I don't think it solved any problems.

People always think that students at private high schools leave their public school program, when in reality, they may have never gone to a public school. For example, the Wayzata student section chanted "traitor" at BSM's Grant Besse. Besse went to private school in junior high (and maybe before that, I'm not sure) and also had a brother who graduated from BSM. Not every private school player is a scholarship seeking mercenary.

He wore a Wayzata jersey. He skated on their ice. He played with those kids.

[HShockeywatcher]

People always think that students at private high schools leave their public school program, when in reality, they may have never gone to a public school. For example, the Wayzata student section chanted "traitor" at BSM's Grant Besse. Besse went to private school in junior high (and maybe before that, I'm not sure) and also had a brother who graduated from BSM. Not every private school player is a scholarship seeking mercenary.

This is the case for many who end up at private high schools. But since they are in the city's hockey program, people want to complain they are abandoning their friends by not attending the city's school and playing on that team. Or something to that affect.

And they ignore the idea that the program didn't do enough to keep them. I know, backwards thinking, but somehow logic often gets flipped around when talking about high school hockey