Another great year of high school hockey in this great state of Minnesota. Edina crowned the Class AA champs a year after all their D-1 studs leave. And Breck is the Class A champions going back to back and the first team to do so in Class A. It was a greatt state tournament with 4OT's and buzzer beater goals, well almost The sectionals were all great with that Bemidji St. Cloud Tech overtime game. And all the regular season games. Many seniors this year are moving on to begin their college careers and let's all wish the best of luck to them. And sadly a lot of seniors careers ended this year, thank you to all of you for putting in all the years of hard work. And good luck with the rest of your lives.
Anyone drop comments on the season of your teams or whatever. Or you're favorite moments this year
Top games of the year
etc etc..
I would have to say that Bemidji St. Cloud Tech game had to be the most epic as well as the Minnetonka Hill-Murray game and the Hermantown Mahtomedi game
but what were some great games not in the state tournament or we all know aboutt??
Lets be careful now I am from Mn and like nothing better than for this to be true. But we must be proactive and not reactive to what is happening with hockey in the USA vs Mn.
The talk on the street with NHL scouts is that the Mn kids are not as battle tested as some of the top Tier 1 USA kids who are playing 70 games a season at the same age level. The High School hockey overall has become watered down.
5thgraders wrote:The talk on the street with NHL scouts is that the Mn kids are not as battle tested as some of the top Tier 1 USA kids who are playing 70 games a season at the same age level. The High School hockey overall has become watered down.
Haven't the powers that be been emphasizing less games in recent years?
That way the USNDTP can play 70 to 80 games and then all of the top developed kids will be with them. The rest will be left to rot and then you will realize when it's to late that you have been duped by some guy with a double chin who has never played hockey. But his grandson is in the USNTDP program.
5thgraders wrote:The talk on the street with NHL scouts is that the Mn kids are not as battle tested as some of the top Tier 1 USA kids who are playing 70 games a season at the same age level. The High School hockey overall has become watered down.
Let's keep in mind that the list linked to was not the entire list of players invited to try-out. I'd like to see that list.
As far as the number of games argument...I agree that USA Hockey appears to be talking out of both sides of their mouths, but with the Elite Leagues in the fall, the top HS players are getting an opportunity to close the gap a bit between the numbers of games they play versus the number of games the kids who play for Tier 1 programs do.
MoreCowBell wrote:How much practice are they getting in the elite league between games?
Not a ton...the Elite Leagues are more game-driven and the unstated purpose is to keep the best players in High School rather than seeing them leave to play Junior hockey in order to get more game experience.
The problem with MN HS hockey is not the game to practice ratio, it's the length of the games and the season. I know they have this elite league, but they practice little and probably get very little coaching, coming from different programs with different systems. Compare this with most of the rest of the country and you can see why MN kids are falling behind in player development.
Also keep in mind that USA Hockey sees some of the top players at the national tournaments starting at squirts. If a Minnesota kid has a bad day or weekend at a tryout that is the only time they have seen them play. If a nationals kid has a bad weekend they might remember how he had a hat trick to win a title game when he was 13.
USA hockey wants Minnesota money but not our players. Maybe if they based more of the national teams, tourneys, and tryouts in Minnesota it would increase the exposure a bit.
royals dad wrote:Also keep in mind that USA Hockey sees some of the top players at the national tournaments starting at squirts. If a Minnesota kid has a bad day or weekend at a tryout that is the only time they have seen them play. If a nationals kid has a bad weekend they might remember how he had a hat trick to win a title game when he was 13.
USA hockey wants Minnesota money but not our players. Maybe if they based more of the national teams, tourneys, and tryouts in Minnesota it would increase the exposure a bit.
With the addition of the NAHL Future Prospects tournament that runs with the NAHL Showcase in early Sept, the top Minnesota bantam-age players are getting a chance to be out in front of these USA Hockey scouts. I'm sure there also plenty of scouting going on in the youth ranks as well. My bet is that there is a file on most of the top bantams in the state.
5thgraders wrote:That way the USNDTP can play 70 to 80 games and then all of the top developed kids will be with them. The rest will be left to rot and then you will realize when it's to late that you have been duped by some guy with a double chin who has never played hockey. But his grandson is in the USNTDP program.
Since when does a 33-17 record add up to 70-80 games?
Must be that public school math catching up with me.
5thgraders wrote:It's all in good humor I am your biggest fan but what have you been doing to Don before the game. He is starting to lose a bit more than they should.
I'll take a page out of the St. Cloud State Hockey Fan Handbook...
5thgraders wrote:Lets be careful now I am from Mn and like nothing better than for this to be true. But we must be proactive and not reactive to what is happening with hockey in the USA vs Mn.
5thgraders wrote:Lets be careful now I am from Mn and like nothing better than for this to be true. But we must be proactive and not reactive to what is happening with hockey in the USA vs Mn.
The sectionals were all great with that Bemidji St. Cloud Tech overtime game. And all the regular season games. Many seniors this year are moving on to begin their college careers and let's all wish the best of luck to them. And sadly a lot of seniors careers ended this year, thank you to all of you for putting in all the years of hard work. And good luck with the rest of your lives.
