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The 96 Machine are 3 wins and 2 losses; will play Chicago Mission for third overall.

dawgweed wrote:The 96 Machine are 3 wins and 2 losses; will play Chicago Mission for third overall.

Machine lose 5-2 and finish 4th.

What you have described cannot possibly be true. From the Minnesota Made website:

AAA TEAMS
Our first AAA team was the called The Minnesota 88s, the team was made up of players born in 1988. Over the seven years that the team was together the focus was on high repetition skill training, very little systems and we only competed in tournaments. By the time the 88s reached draft age, 8 of them were drafted by NHL teams. After the 88s had run their course we started a '96 team called the Minnesota Machine. With the same development strategy and focus as with 88s,“The Machine” quickly became one of the top '96 teams in North America. They have made it to the championship game of every '96 tournament they have ever played in both in the US and Canada. They have won every tournament but one. It wasn’t long and we were approached by many families about getting that same kind of training for their players. Since then, we have added Machine teams at most all levels and in 2006 started a second AAA club called the Deuce using this same training model. Now in 2008 we have added two more AAA clubs; The Grinders and The Snipers.

The 96 Machine are very, very good - nobody can deny that. But, the whole '88 thing and the draft picks can get a little old. Let's see how the 96 kids do when it comes to "draft age" and see if the secret sauce is really something special. If the 96's, 97's and 98's don't live up to the Minnesota Made NHL hype than what is there to market other than we can provide a lot of ice time for you kid if you pay the doe-ray-me.

imaloserbaby wrote:The 96 Machine are very, very good - nobody can deny that. But, the whole '88 thing and the draft picks can get a little old. Let's see how the 96 kids do when it comes to "draft age" and see if the secret sauce is really something special. If the 96's, 97's and 98's don't live up to the Minnesota Made NHL hype than what is there to market other than we can provide a lot of ice time for you kid if you pay the doe-ray-me.

The 96 Machine was the most talented team in St. Louis, but they were not the best TEAM. A coach from one of the teams was heard saying that the 96 Machine was the most individulist teams he had ever seen. These other teams there were very good and have been playing together for years, playing disciplined system hockey, while Minnesota was running around helter skelter.

This does call into question the Team vs. Individual aspect of AAA hockey programs - meaning, do I want to send my kid to a program that is going to make him a great individual player or a player that understands how to play the game.

A program that offers individual skill development along with instruction on how to play the game in the offensive, neutral and defensive zones is ideal. Coaches and recruiters will be watching for kids that know what to do without the puck as much as what they do with it - that much I do know for certain.

Show me a kid that has great individual talent but uses his talent to make others better is the kid I would want. The kid with all of the individual talent that thinks they can skate through 3 guys every time they get the puck will not make it - best to learn the game when they are younger so they don't get frustrated and feel restrained by the structure of the game at the Bantam and PeeWee levels.

Is MM creating a lot of great Pond Hockey players and talented 3 v 3 players but not "smart" hockey players? Maybe...maybe not.

imaloserbaby wrote:This does call into question the Team vs. Individual aspect of AAA hockey programs - meaning, do I want to send my kid to a program that is going to make him a great individual player or a player that understands how to play the game.

A program that offers individual skill development along with instruction on how to play the game in the offensive, neutral and defensive zones is ideal. Coaches and recruiters will be watching for kids that know what to do without the puck as much as what they do with it - that much I do know for certain.

Show me a kid that has great individual talent but uses his talent to make others better is the kid I would want. The kid with all of the individual talent that thinks they can skate through 3 guys every time they get the puck will not make it - best to learn the game when they are younger so they don't get frustrated and feel restrained by the structure of the game at the Bantam and PeeWee levels.

Is MM creating a lot of great Pond Hockey players and talented 3 v 3 players but not "smart" hockey players? Maybe...maybe not.

The answer to that question is simple: Do some research of the AAA club in advance...ESPECIALLY the coaches. All the talent in the world can fail you unless you have a coach to make the players mesh.

That being said, I think people are quick to judge the 96 Machine team as "individuals". I've seen them play, and while they certainly do have a lot of individual talent they can also play as a team. One hiccup in a tournament doesn't change that. Heck ANY team can, and will, look bad occasionally. I've also heard that they lost one of their better players to the 96 St Louis Jr Blues this year...that may have played a part in this as well.

[Post Deleted]

That player was playing for the machine this weekend though.

The reality is that the Machine are a great Minnesota AAA team, but when you leave the borders and call yourself AAA, you better come with a team in the summertime which they have. All they did was run into teams that can skate with them, play with them and are similar in skill. Nothing unusual or to not be expected. The Machine losing a few games is not a bad thing and doesn't change the fact that right now they have a large group of the top 96 birth year players developed. The first indication will be a few springs from now when they hit the u15 camp together, will they dominate the camp or not?

Tenoverpar wrote:The reality is that the Machine are a great Minnesota AAA team, but when you leave the borders and call yourself AAA, you better come with a team in the summertime which they have. All they did was run into teams that can skate with them, play with them and are similar in skill. Nothing unusual or to not be expected. The Machine losing a few games is not a bad thing and doesn't change the fact that right now they have a large group of the top 96 birth year players developed. The first indication will be a few springs from now when they hit the u15 camp together, will they dominate the camp or not?

Good post.

The Machine was most likely the only team at the tournament that only plays together in the off-season. Most, if not all, of the other teams are year-round AAA teams.

The fact that they have gone out of State and won a number of tournaments against other top notch AAA clubs shows how good of a team that they really are.

Good post.

The Machine was most likely the only team at the tournament that only plays together in the off-season. Most, if not all, of the other teams are year-round AAA teams.

The fact that they have gone out of State and won a number of tournaments against other top notch AAA clubs shows how good of a team that they really are.

Calgary is only a spring team. Lemieux's team is a tournament team whose roster seems to vary quite a bit from tournament to tournament. I believe the others are winter teams that have just recently gotten back together. St. Louis may be an exception as most of the players do play spring together under the Midwest Wild name.

Is it accurate that a number of 96 Machine players quit after sitting
on the pine for a good portion of the weekend?

[quote="thinkb4engaging"]Is it accurate that a number of 96 Machine players quit after sitting
on the pine for a good portion of the weekend?[/quote I scouted this team in the Easton Cup when they beat the metro grizzles 20-0 and it was apparent that some of the players were only concerned about themselves and even then could not play the team game, now mix in some good team play against them and the individual stuff wont fly against your better teams as it is easier to stop individual play rather than team play, when your goal stats are more important than team play you always end up on the bottom.

I would think it maybe difficult to scout a such lopsided game...Unless you were looking for the player that matched up well on the losing team.

muckandgrind wrote:

Tenoverpar wrote:The reality is that the Machine are a great Minnesota AAA team, but when you leave the borders and call yourself AAA, you better come with a team in the summertime which they have. All they did was run into teams that can skate with them, play with them and are similar in skill. Nothing unusual or to not be expected. The Machine losing a few games is not a bad thing and doesn't change the fact that right now they have a large group of the top 96 birth year players developed. The first indication will be a few springs from now when they hit the u15 camp together, will they dominate the camp or not?

Good post.

The Machine was most likely the only team at the tournament that only plays together in the off-season. Most, if not all, of the other teams are year-round AAA teams.

The fact that they have gone out of State and won a number of tournaments against other top notch AAA clubs shows how good of a team that they really are.

Keep in mind that the Machine practice all year long. I'm not buying lack of team ice time or playing together. No Way! This team is together all year long.

[quote="hockeychick"]That player was playing for the machine this weekend though.[/quote]

What is the name of the kid playing for the Jr.blues on the machine

What is the name of the kid

hockey kid wrote:What is the name of the kid

RN, #7 on the Machine also #11 on the Fire

o he is a good player

[quote="thinkb4engaging"]Is it accurate that a number of 96 Machine players quit after sitting
on the pine for a good portion of the weekend?[/quote]

Hey anyone know who quit or went their own way for the 96 Machine?