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With Elite 1 and Elite 2 starting up did anybody get out to see any games? If so, how was the pace for first weekend of games?

Its just an opinion Guys... Relax..

northwoods oldtimer wrote:With Elite 1 and Elite 2 starting up did anybody get out to see any games? If so, how was the pace for first weekend of games?

I saw Elite II Metro Northeast play Metro Southeast with Southeast winning the game 3-1. Good game with pretty good pace considering it was the first one of the year. Referees seemed to be making an early season statement with lots of penalties called which disrupted the flow some but that's pretty typical early on. Both goalies looked good and kept the game lower scoring than it should have been.

Sounds more like you have a problem noticing talent and just have an axe to grind. Similar post just a year ago.

Educator29



Joined: 16 Jun 2008
Posts: 43

Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2008 9:22 am Post subject:

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I agree - I have been involved the past couple years with the Elite II teams and this year is by far the poorest of all talent. the Elite I is also down as well. Not to many HS Coaches promote there players and even mention the programs to their players, so its becoming all the over zealious parents still pushing their kids. The leagues origanally started as a Elite league which coaches had to highly recommend the players. Now anyone can show up and I know some players who went through tryouts and then said talent is to weak for the Money and time involved, so they decided not to do it. Hope it gets back to tighting up the talent - have fewer teams etc to make it stronger... JMO.

youngblood08 wrote:Sounds more like you have a problem noticing talent and just have an axe to grind. Similar post just a year ago.

Educator29



Joined: 16 Jun 2008
Posts: 43

Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2008 9:22 am Post subject:

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I agree - I have been involved the past couple years with the Elite II teams and this year is by far the poorest of all talent. the Elite I is also down as well. Not to many HS Coaches promote there players and even mention the programs to their players, so its becoming all the over zealious parents still pushing their kids. The leagues origanally started as a Elite league which coaches had to highly recommend the players. Now anyone can show up and I know some players who went through tryouts and then said talent is to weak for the Money and time involved, so they decided not to do it. Hope it gets back to tighting up the talent - have fewer teams etc to make it stronger... JMO.

Please learn to spell: too, no to. Their, not there. Zealous, not zealious, Originally, not origanally. What is tighting?

Your content of your comments are judged by if you are smart enough to spell!

Educator29 wrote:talent level is way down this year. I was very dissapointed in what I saw. Heard similar comments form the games at Wakota as well.

That is too bad to hear. Is it the economy taking a toll on the kids signing up for the fall leagues? Does anybody else know if the league games will be worth taking in this fall?

northwoods oldtimer wrote:

Educator29 wrote:talent level is way down this year. I was very dissapointed in what I saw. Heard similar comments form the games at Wakota as well.

That is too bad to hear. Is it the economy taking a toll on the kids signing up for the fall leagues? Does anybody else know if the league games will be worth taking in this fall?

Interesting how you ignor several posts and pick the one that was negative. Anyway, the games are free and the hockey is equal to many very good high school games so it should be "worth"your time. As far as the economy being a factor I'm sure that it would cause some kids to second guess whether they can afford the off season hockey. There are also more options then ever before with several 3 on 3 and 4 on 4 leagues, fhit hockey, showcase hockey, some U16 and U18 teams and of course the regular captains practices. All of that is competing for a piece of the hockey pie and takes a toll.

I also totally agree with you that the costs have gone too high. Elite II is now $575 per player and they roster 20-22 skaters and a couple of goalies. That means per team they make at least $4000 after paying for ice, coaches, jerseys, socks etc.. With the number of teams that they have it is a pretty hefty profit. The Elite league is even more profitable. It would be nice if both leagues went back to the original idea of fewer teams, fewer players but I'm afraid that greed and profit have taken over and once it starts it's tough to go back the other direction.

Elite II is the same price that it has been for the last 3 years, doing anything at the same price with ice, referees, equipment, etc going up each year is far from presenting the "greed for profit" that you speak of. Yes, the economy has had an effect on some players deciding not to participate but I doubt that hockey will be the only sport facing that problem. Several excellent games were played over the weekend, Duluth, Moorhead, Metro Southeast played games that had a good pace and were fun to watch. Southwest team played in 4 games over the weekend and came out 2-2 so the new team in the league is not only competitive but giving a good development opportunity to the players in the southwestern part of the state.

Just to clarify - Elite II games may be free but there are gate fees for the Elite I games.

Interesting how you ignor several posts and pick the one that was negative.

Please understand I am not trying to rip on either of the leagues here. Just trying to figure out why the one guy mentioned that the league is down in talent. I see now after other have posted that this does not appear to be the case with both leagues.

I have seen both Elite I and II. Elite I teams have 4-5 outstanding players. Elite II teams have 1-2 outstanding players per team. Both leagues have "above average High School talent". The only negative I could see is the Elite II teams have 2-3 players (mostly sophmores) who are clearly over their head. Both are excellent programs for getting ready for your high school seasons. Didn't someone mention Nick Leddy played Elite II as a sophmore? Enough said.

Frozen Water - you are correct about Leddy. Also around that time Everson, Baker, Lapic, Adams, Kristo, Fons, to name a few also played in the Elite II league for a year. Obviously the talent changes from year to year, but the league is a very good place to play some competitive games to prepare for the upcoming season. Another nice feature has been that the cost has stayed pretty much the same for a few years now which is great for those that get involved.

Can anbody explain why players from these teams represent team north? Why have a team north if the kids are not all from northern schools? The elite 1 league does a good job but why not have teams reflect their respective regional location?
Holy Angels
Delano
Sauk Rapids
St. Cloud Cathedral
St. Cloud Cathedral
Sartell
Holy Angels
St. Cloud Cathedral

northwoods oldtimer wrote:Can anbody explain why players from these teams represent team north? Why have a team north if the kids are not all from northern schools? The elite 1 league does a good job but why not have teams reflect their respective regional location?
Holy Angels
Delano
Sauk Rapids
St. Cloud Cathedral
St. Cloud Cathedral
Sartell
Holy Angels
St. Cloud Cathedral

The goal of the league is to get the best Minnesota players; not the best players from each region. For convenience sake they try and group players from certain areas together but only if they are the most talented. They evidently feel that the players from the schools you mentioned are more talented then the ones from the North and needed to find spots for them. This isn't a N. E. S. W. league...it is supposed to be the best players from the state being placed on teams to showcase their talent.

You could make a case that what they should do is eliminate the team names of Team North or Team Southwest and just give them generic names like Team Dzeidzic or Team McAlpine. That way there wouldn't be confusion about why players play on certain teams. The jersey fronts all just say "Elite" on them and make no reference to the team name so you could call them whatever you want.

happymama, Thanks for getting me up to speed on the Elite 1 league. I recall back when the league first started up I was over in Grand Rapids watching the teams play and at this time the north team with Alex Goligoski on it had a lineup of kids from Roseau, Moorhead, Bemidji, Duluth, Silver Bay, Duluth, Greenway, etc. So when looking at this years roster I was kind of surprised to see Moorhead, Roseau kids split out to another team. If the league intent is best players that is understood but the regional naming confuses an old man like myself.

northwoods oldtimer wrote:happymama, Thanks for getting me up to speed on the Elite 1 league. I recall back when the league first started up I was over in Grand Rapids watching the teams play and at this time the north team with Alex Goligoski on it had a lineup of kids from Roseau, Moorhead, Bemidji, Duluth, Silver Bay, Duluth, Greenway, etc. So when looking at this years roster I was kind of surprised to see Moorhead, Roseau kids split out to another team. If the league intent is best players that is understood but the regional naming confuses an old man like myself.

Personally I like the idea of trying to get more players from outstate areas because those players need even more of a chance to be seen then the metro guys who are seen regularly all season.

However, I also think a lot of good players just didn't want the added expense and time that the Elite league requires; especially the players from the North area who are forced to travel and pay for hotels virtually every weekend. The end result is that you get a lot more metro kids who don't have to travel as far or as often.

In other words, I'm not trying to imply that the talent level isn't as good up North. I'm just saying that they try to get the best kids from the state that choose to play in their league.

happymama wrote:However, I also think a lot of good players just didn't want the added expense and time that the Elite league requires; especially the players from the North area who are forced to travel and pay for hotels virtually every weekend. The end result is that you get a lot more metro kids who don't have to travel as far or as often.

For what it's worth I can tell you that this is a big issue on the girls side, as a number of very talented players from up North decided to not participate, likely for the same reasons. Also for any player (boy or girl) who chooses to play a fall sport the extra time spent traveling to and from and staying overnight in hotels makes it that much more difficult to do both.

My son played in Fargo this weekend, what's with the Waterloo Hawks? Are they a metro team?

The Waterloo Blackhawks is a 16 U AAA before and after team comprised of 93 and 94 birthyears. They are from Minnesota, Iowa and Wisconsin.

CB00 wrote:The Waterloo Blackhawks is a 16 U AAA before and after team comprised of 93 and 94 birthyears. They are from Minnesota, Iowa and Wisconsin.

did the minnesota kids play high school hockey last year

dakotakid wrote:

CB00 wrote:The Waterloo Blackhawks is a 16 U AAA before and after team comprised of 93 and 94 birthyears. They are from Minnesota, Iowa and Wisconsin.

did the minnesota kids play high school hockey last year

Does anyone have a roster for the Waterloo u16??

Elite II I presume? What were their scores and against who?

observer wrote:Elite II I presume? What were their scores and against who?

my son playes for the RRV Rebels{grand Forks} we beat the dakota stars 16u 5-4.RRV Phantoms{fargo} 4-3. south dakota 4-2 lost to iron Range2-1 and waterloo4-1 The only metro team I saw was metro West VS south dakota. south dakota stinks and metro west did'nt look that great eather. It was the last game of the weekend and every team played down to the south dakota teams level.

Here's a roster for the Waterloo team that I found ....

Jersey Pos Grade Name School
4 D Soph Jacob Bushey Duluth East
5 D Jr Mitch Hall St. Cloud Tech
6 D Soph Tyler Richison Amery, WI
7 F Soph Colton Kramer Sioux City, IA
11 F Jr Matt Eilertson Elk River
13 F Soph Garrett Aldrich Elk River
15 F Soph Tanner Holmquist Hopkins
16 F Fr CJ Smith Bloomington Jefferson
17 F Jr Brandon Reinholz St. Cloud Tech
19 F Fr Jacob Horton Tartan
24 F Jr Alex Ach Totino Grace
27 D Jr Nick Hinz North High
34 G Soph Anders Franke Elk River, MN
40 G Fr Cal Peterson Waterloo, IA
46 F Fr Andrew Bertrand Centennial
87 F Soph Lucas Dickison Benilde St. Margret
94 F Soph George Splichal Hill Murray
97 D Soph Jordan Freeberg Maple Grove

Husky88 wrote:Here's a roster for the Waterloo team that I found ....

Jersey Pos Grade Name School
4 D Soph Jacob Bushey Duluth East
5 D Jr Mitch Hall St. Cloud Tech
6 D Soph Tyler Richison Amery, WI
7 F Soph Colton Kramer Sioux City, IA
11 F Jr Matt Eilertson Elk River
13 F Soph Garrett Aldrich Elk River
15 F Soph Tanner Holmquist Hopkins
16 F Fr CJ Smith Bloomington Jefferson
17 F Jr Brandon Reinholz St. Cloud Tech
19 F Fr Jacob Horton Tartan
24 F Jr Alex Ach Totino Grace
27 D Jr Nick Hinz North High
34 G Soph Anders Franke Elk River, MN
40 G Fr Cal Peterson Waterloo, IA
46 F Fr Andrew Bertrand Centennial
87 F Soph Lucas Dickison Benilde St. Margret
94 F Soph George Splichal Hill Murray
97 D Soph Jordan Freeberg Maple Grove

are any of these kids good varsity players on there high school teams? Why don't they play on a minn. 16u team?