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Received a list published by MNH to their District Presidents. The list was a straw poll of where each Association thinks they will end up opting for next season.

A few surprises, but mostly par for the course.

Enjoy,

TS

http://youthhockeyhub.com/projected-aa-and-projected-a/

letting Associations "opt" down will cause more problems

part of a Association that Opt's down will be pissed (some will want to play the higher level), and part of another Association will be pissed that the other's "got" to opt down so they will be moaning as well, it's a no win situation and will cause a bunch of BS within an Association

Pick a plan and stick with it...

Opt up should be the only option avail.

I like the idea of AA/A and hope it all works well, but this opt down has to be the biggest joke I have heard so far

Tony Says: Prior Lake….not a chance. Their PWA team won the single class state tournament last year, their Bantam A team was a top 10 team. Their high school plays AA. [b]MNH cannot possibly allow this to happen[/b]. Minneapolis…not a chance. This is the fastest growing association in the state. They had huge numbers at Squirts and PeeWees last year. [b]This is not consistent with the purpose of AA/A.[/b]

I agree with you on this part Tony, Please tell me Prior Lake and Mpls are NOT fighting to play down and this is just a "we think" deal

A good start. Now of these AA associations, which will also field 1 or more A teams?

Any idea which assocations that do not play at the A level previously are planning to move to the A level?

HT18: The list is merely a straw poll from Association Presidents. Those two have to be wrong (MPLS and PL)

BB: Shoot I predicted both MPLS and PL would do both AA and A based on their numbers - so what do I know? The other logicals are: Edina, Wayzata, OMG, Woodbury, Stillwater, Moorhead, Rochester, Minnetonka and possibly EP. Note: EP has low PW #s, but good Bantam #s. I'd bet they go AA/B. If they go AA/A/B, their PW teams will get massacred at the A and B1 level.

These are opinions only...I'm not sure even these 10 associations know.

I know what a ton of associations are thinking that's for sure - my phone has rang off the hook this week trying to find out what everyone is doing.

BadgerBob82 wrote:A good start. Now of these AA associations, which will also field 1 or more A teams?

Any idea which assocations that do not play at the A level previously are planning to move to the A level?

Now you agree and say the mega associations need more than one A team. Thank you!

Now you should see the light if you're saying mega associations need more than one A(new b-1) team. Things will SIMPLY mold back into the same system we currently have...... besides adding the extra A.

isn't North Branch a mega association? Maybe you could merge with Pine City, than you will be unstoppable.

skipperj wrote:isn't North Branch a mega association? Maybe you could merge with Pine City, than you will be unstoppable.

ooooooooo ... the mascot could be a viking riding a dragon!!

That borders on mythical!!!

Kind of like a liger, bred for it's magical powers.

I figured you two as the Dungeon and Dragon types...

ah, gross, get your own tots.

Here are the classifications from Minnesota Hockey:


2013 Minnesota Hockey Peewee & Bantam A/AA State Tournament Pilot Program
Association Classification
July 13, 2012
Below is the classification of Minnesota Hockey associations as of July 13th, 2012. To change classification, associations must complete the Change of Classification Form and return it to their District Director.
District 2
AA Associations
Forest Lake
Moundsview
North. St. Paul
Roseville
Stillwater
Tartan
White Bear Lake
A Associations
Highland Central
Mahtomedi
District 3
AA Associations
Osseo/Maple Grove
Wayzata
Armstrong/Cooper
Hopkins
Minneapolis Hockey
North Metro
A Associations
Mound/West Tonka
Crow River
Orono
St. Louis Park
District 4
A Associations
Fairmont
Luverne
Marshall
Redwood Falls
New Ulm/Sleepy Eye
Windom
Worthington
District 5
AA Associations
Buffalo
MAML
St. Cloud
St. Michael/Albertville
Becker/Big Lake
River Lakes
A Associations
Hutchinson
LDC
Sartell
Sauk Rapids
Willmar
District 6
AA Associations
Bloomington Jefferson
Burnsville
Eden Prairie
Edina
Minnetonka
Bloomington Kennedy
Prior Lake/Savage
Shakopee
Chaska Chanhassen
A Associations
New Prague
Richfield
Waconia
New Prague
District 8
AA Associations
Apple Valley
Eagan
Eastview
Farmington
Hastings
Lakeville North Lakeville South
Rosemount
Woodbury
Como/Johnson
Cottage Grove
A Associations
Inver Grove Heights
Sibley/West St. Paul
South St. Paul
District 9
AA Associations
Owatonna
Rochester
Dodge County
A Associations
Albert Lea
Austin
Faribault
La Crescent
Le Seuer
Mankato
Montgomery
Northfield
Red Wing
St. Peter
Waseca
Winona
District 10
AA Associations
Andover
Anoka
Blaine
Centennial
Champlin Park
Elk River
Cambridge/Isanti
Irondale
St. Francis
Coon Rapids
A Associations
Hinckley
Mora
North Branch
Pine City
Princeton
Rogers
Spring Lake Park
Rogers
District 11
AA Associations
Cloquet
Duluth East
A Associations
Carlton
Cook County
Esko
Hermantown
Moose Lake
Proctor
Silver Bay
Twig
Two Harbors
District 12
AA Association
Grand Rapids
A Associations
Ely
Eveleth/Gilbert
Greenway
Hibbing
International Falls
Mesabi East
Virginia
District 15
AA Associations
Brainerd
Moorhead
Aiken/Crosby/Ironton
A Associations
Alexandria
Benson
Detriot Lakes
Fergus Falls
Long Prairie
Morris
Park Rapids
Pequot Lakes
Perham
Sauk Center
Wadena
Walker
District 16
AA Associations
Bemidji
Roseau
A Associations
Bagley
Blackduck
Crookston
East Grand Forks
Hallock
Lake of the Woods
Red Lake Falls
Warroad

Based on ALCoach's data, I broke the list sown to show potential regional alignments for the coming season for Bantam AA and Bantam A tourneys. I put a table together to summarize the data. It can be read at

http://youthhockeyhub.com/

Fred: This looks excellent! 59 AA teams and 104 A level teams!

I think it's likley there will be even more than 23 "new" A level teams. So you could be looking at 55-60 AA teams and 120+/- A teams!

BadgerBob82 wrote:Fred: This looks excellent! 59 AA teams and 104 A level teams!

I think it's likley there will be even more than 23 "new" A level teams. So you could be looking at 55-60 AA teams and 120+/- A teams!

Do you need some lotion and tissues?

HockeyTalk18 wrote:letting Associations "opt" down will cause more problems

part of a Association that Opt's down will be pissed (some will want to play the higher level), and part of another Association will be pissed that the other's "got" to opt down so they will be moaning as well, it's a no win situation and will cause a bunch of BS within an Association

Pick a plan and stick with it...

Opt up should be the only option avail.

I like the idea of AA/A and hope it all works well, but this opt down has to be the biggest joke I have heard so far

Tony Says: Prior Lake….not a chance. Their PWA team won the single class state tournament last year, their Bantam A team was a top 10 team. Their high school plays AA. MNH cannot possibly allow this to happen. Minneapolis…not a chance. This is the fastest growing association in the state. They had huge numbers at Squirts and PeeWees last year. This is not consistent with the purpose of AA/A.

I agree with you on this part Tony, Please tell me Prior Lake and Mpls are NOT fighting to play down and this is just a "we think" deal

So your saying an association that has 33 Bantam players with 16 of them returning from the previous season and only 4 players returning from their top bantam team which was B1 should have to play AA because that is what their high school designation is. That is a joke that association with those numbers will then choose not to have an A team period. They will continue to play B1 and not be able to develop all of their kids.


Your comments are a JOKE!!!

Bleed-Thanks

my point was pick a plan and stick with it, if the plan that is picked has to many grey areas in it, it will cause problems

how many A/AA high schools opt down? can they? do they? or is the rule the rule?

I would have thought that numbers for youth would have been a better gage as to A/AA for youth associations, but I'm sure that would have been a time issue for MN hockey? don't know until reg. is done to figure out whether A/AA

If the reports on this site are true on how many teams will be playing A/AA this year, I really think that will open a lot of doors for many kids/associations

last year around 71 Associations out of the 99 that offered an A team had 3 teams or less, 44 had 2 teams or less, if you are only playing A/AA for the post season and not for the opportunity to offer kids in your program a chance to play around 99 teams last years A kids and this years 120+? then think about what your goals are as an association and stick with it

Does Hinckley really have a team in district 10? They never have before. What do they call their team...The Hinckley Gamblers? The Hinckley Fire would be a great name actually!!!

Mr Hockey wrote:Does Hinckley really have a team in district 10? They never have before. What do they call their team...The Hinckley Gamblers? The Hinckley Fire would be a great name actually!!!

I think they only have Mites

Rumor has it that no Dist. 10 teams will be fielding both "AA" & "A" teams at bantams this year. Also, "AA" will not play "A" during the season. Anyone else hear about this?

that is ridiculious. what program wouldn't have an AA and A team.... Never mind.

Earlier a person going by erpresident stated that Elk River would field both. Since both A and AA are designations for post season play and last year the A Bantams played a split schedule where both A and AA played each other once and then each other twice a home and home. I would believe that this would be the same format this year for both the A Peewee and A Bantam leagues with and A division and an AA Division.

the_juiceman wrote:Rumor has it that no Dist. 10 teams will be fielding both "AA" & "A" teams at bantams this year. Also, "AA" will not play "A" during the season. Anyone else hear about this?

Well your rumors aren't very accurate according to Tim Timm of D10 there will be associations fielding both A levels and they will not be having a split schedule like they did last year as of this week. They may go back to doing the split schedule like they did last year.

That is tough. If you want to develop your kids you play them against higher competition levels to make them better. If you want to win you keep them in the lower bracket. The biggest head ache here comes from teams like Rogers, Hermantown, etc who have very competitive high school programs and yet who are going to be playing in that A level. You have to wonder if removing the top teams from their schedule will result in their programs getting weaker which will feed weaker players into their high school systems. A nasty catch 22 from what I can see. Sure the associations will win more but the high schools are going to get weaker, less seasoned players.

people will say winning breeds winning, look at what Cretin use to do in football, they would beat up the little sisters of the poor all season in the St. Paul city conference and go on and win state, they got to develop more kids and build a culture of winning. The same thing may be happening with Hermantown especially, you keep winning at every level and more and more kids (parents) will want to be part of that.

I think Rogers is a different animal, you just look at their numbers at the lower levels, if they can keep it up, its just a matter of time before they are one of the bigger associations.

The Enlightened One wrote:The biggest head ache here comes from teams like Rogers, Hermantown, etc who have very competitive high school programs and yet who are going to be playing in that A level. You have to wonder if removing the top teams from their schedule will result in their programs getting weaker which will feed weaker players into their high school systems.

Can't speak for Rogers, but Hermantown is doing the right thing for their program and are petitioning up to play at the AA level.