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How common is it for a program to field a B1 and B2 but no A team?

Doesn't happen in D16, but we only have 2 bantam teams from each assn and some have but 1 team.

How common is it for a program to field a B1 and B2 but no A team?

Extremely rare to none. The decision is likely up to the association which should know where each year's class of kids fit in their District competition but also state wide. B1 and C maybe.

Interesting..... I was made aware of a peewee B team that was pretty dominate and later found out that they didnt have an A team but rather fielded a B1 and B2. I assumed it was rare because i have never heard of it.

It may be more common at squirts, I know a couple of years ago both St. Francis and Coon Rapids had a B1, B2, and C, and St. Francis has the same this year, too. Won't happen in District 5, though, because they have a rule that if you have more than one team at a level that you have to have an A team.

jpiehl wrote:It may be more common at squirts, I know a couple of years ago both St. Francis and Coon Rapids had a B1, B2, and C, and St. Francis has the same this year, too. Won't happen in District 5, though, because they have a rule that if you have more than one team at a level that you have to have an A team.

No Bantam A...North St. Paul. My guess a few more out there.

That D-5 rule should be state wide. Why would you have a B/B2/and a C team? Makes no sense.

In D6 it's very rare but not unheard of. It might happen a little more in girls hockey than boys.

I know in the North St. Paul case they only had about 34 Bantams total this year, and lost a few sophmores to JV. They were about 5 - 40 - 5 last year at Bantam A, and didn't really know what to expect this year. They only one A team which is thier A peewee team. They aren't having any more sucess than last years A bantam team. Their numbers are low with a total of 36 peewees, all taking it on the chin.

How would you feel if you were to go to a peewee B tournament and play a team that was A calliber but opted down to play B1?

dangle_snipe wrote:How would you feel if you were to go to a peewee B tournament and play a team that was A calliber but opted down to play B1?

I would feel very sad, would need a kleenex box by me for every game. Because the game of hockey is all about feelings now isn`t it.

I would guess that it has happened quite a few times over the years in D10. The reason is the wide range of program sizes. There are several associations that may have 20-30 kids at a level and if they go 'A' they will end up losing most of their games by 10 or more goals. Even going 'B1' they will struggle to make the D10 playoffs. But if they go to some smaller tournaments the 'B1' team may be out of place.

The new 'A' and 'AA' experiment this year in D10 at the bantam level appears to have worked out well so it may no longer be an issue if the rule is adopted statewide.

Cowboy wrote:I would guess that it has happened quite a few times over the years in D10. The reason is the wide range of program sizes. There are several associations that may have 20-30 kids at a level and if they go 'A' they will end up losing most of their games by 10 or more goals. Even going 'B1' they will struggle to make the D10 playoffs. But if they go to some smaller tournaments the 'B1' team may be out of place.

The new 'A' and 'AA' experiment this year in D10 at the bantam level appears to have worked out well so it may no longer be an issue if the rule is adopted statewide.

That may be the case sometimes, but two years ago when Coon Rapids and St. Francis both decided to not have a Squirt A, and instead ran B1, B2, and C, it ended up with Coon Rapids vs. St. Francis for the District 10 title, so they were both clearly not doing it because they felt they couldn't compete, they just wanted to have hardware teams. And St. Francis is doing it again this year, so it isn't like they had to do it to compete in D10 and ended up winning out of district games, both rolled over their D10 schedules, too.

jpiehl wrote:

Cowboy wrote:I would guess that it has happened quite a few times over the years in D10. The reason is the wide range of program sizes. There are several associations that may have 20-30 kids at a level and if they go 'A' they will end up losing most of their games by 10 or more goals. Even going 'B1' they will struggle to make the D10 playoffs. But if they go to some smaller tournaments the 'B1' team may be out of place.

The new 'A' and 'AA' experiment this year in D10 at the bantam level appears to have worked out well so it may no longer be an issue if the rule is adopted statewide.

That may be the case sometimes, but two years ago when Coon Rapids and St. Francis both decided to not have a Squirt A, and instead ran B1, B2, and C, it ended up with Coon Rapids vs. St. Francis for the District 10 title, so they were both clearly not doing it because they felt they couldn't compete, they just wanted to have hardware teams. And St. Francis is doing it again this year, so it isn't like they had to do it to compete in D10 and ended up winning out of district games, both rolled over their D10 schedules, too.

Hardware teams at B1 SQ? really!? How is CR doing this year in PWA? they have 3 wins. It's pretty much the same team, minus 1 player, as it was 2 years ago at B1 SQ. They were hardly "hardware" chasing. They are trying to put the kids in the best possible position to compete, have fun and develope.

If you ever get out to a St. Cloud vs Wilmar or a St. Micheal vs LDC game you may change your mind. 12-0 / 17-0 etc.. type games are not much fun for anyone involved.

Pretty common as you go North. North Shore (Silver Bay/Two Harbors), Denfeld, and Moose Lake did not field A teams at the Bantam or PW (NS & ML) levels this year. Not sure about Pine City, Mora, Cambridge-Isanti. Depends on each years situation, numbers and depth-wise.

IMO, it depends on how deep the talent is. If the bottom half of the team is B2-calibre, while the top half has maybe 2-3 "A" calibre and the rest B1....then, they should be playing B1.

The problem is that team declarations are usually held before tryouts take place, so it's hard to determine.

If that B1 team dominates over the others, then they probably should've played A. But if they play "A" and only go winless in District, they should've played B1.

Very tough call.