Time for Hermantown to put on their Big Boy Pants?

[greenway1969]

Hermantown certainly has the right to stay in "A" and I don't think any less of them. But the thrill of being in the AA tournament is something you don't really understand unless you've been a participant. Hermantown would definetly make it to state as a AA team at some point. The excitement this would bring for the fans, the town, the hockey program, and the players is hard to explain. I would encourage Hermantown to reach beyond what is comfortable and predictable. The reward is even that much sweeter.

[rockcrusher]

Rangehockeyfan1817-

You obviously know the range kid that transferred to the hawks. And one of his parents still works in the mines up there and commutes from h-town. I will agree MOST kids on the HS team grew up there and came through the ranks. There are lots of people moving to h-town from duluth for the school. Google 'Duluth red plan' and you'll know why, brand new schools there with 50 kids in a class, with some sitting on the floors. And for those of you who think public schools don't recruit, your kid already plays on a good team, or he's not good enough to be wanted by the big boys. I bet you could look at just about any roster and find kids that have transferred from somewhere else. Think about it, East, Denfeld, h-town, Virginia, those are just a few that I know of for a fact up north.

[MrBoDangles]

You know something is wrong when six of the top ten ranked A teams are private schools. Breck is next on the hit list.

[MHGr8ness]

Really? Hermantown has produced at at least seven D-1 players in the last 5-6 years. Hermantown is second to Warroad with nine state tournament A appearances since the two class system started. in those 9 appearances they have finished 1,2, or 3rd SEVEN times and hold the state record for most runner-up finishes!1 They also have the only growing school system in NE minnesota, their youth programs are consistently beating DE and their kids deserve chance to play against the best...this is not about recruiting. Does this sound like New Ulm? I agree with Puck..

Class is determined by enrollment, not skill or performance.

Wrong. Class is determined by choice. Ask Roseau or Holy Family.

Actually I'm right. It is by enrollment, but there is an option to move up.

Also, if every team that does well in A moves up, then eventually there won't be anyone in class A. Someone will always fill the void.

[The Exiled One]

My personal feeling is that Class A hockey should be "small town" hockey, giving the smaller communities (though not necessarily smaller schools) a shot at playing for the State Championship. Hermantown is a suburb of a moderately sized city, but I personally still consider them a small town. Same goes for Warroad, New Ulm, Little Falls, Thief River Falls, East Grand Forks, and Roseau (though I commend them for their choice to play up). These are the types of schools I personally like to see in the Class A State Tournament.

St. Thomas does NOT represent a small town. Most private schools, in my mind, do NOT represent small towns. There might be one or two exceptions, but not amongst contenders. I would actually prefer seeing Cathedral, Marshall, Lourdes, and all the metro privates playing up.

[HShockeywatcher]

Clearly no one here has seen Hermantown play St. Thomas the last couple of years.

And you seem to be one of them...St Thomas is 3-0 against Hermantown, but last year was the only one the Hawks weren't in it. The 2006 semifinal was a 2-OT game and the 2011 final game was an OT game, where the Hawks were up 3-1 after the 1st. They have had very good games.

Hermantown (like Warroad and others) are the perfect example of small town hockey and what the Class A tournament was built for...but so are half the teams that have had consistent success at the AA level.

My opinion has always been that teams shouldn't opt up and the A tournament would be better than the AA one.

I personal opinion is that Hermantown should want to opt up for many of the same reasons almost any program would, plus many of the things that have been pointed out. No one can (or will) fault them for staying where they're at, but no one would for making the move either.

Any Hermantonians want to comment on the validity of this clown's claims? I was under the impression that Hermantown did not allow transfers; is this the case?

It's not that they don't allow transfers, it's that their school is toward capacity and they don't allow students to open enroll. If someone moves into the city, they are allowed to go to the school.