AA teams can play A teams ! Can A teams play B1 teams ?

[old goalie85]

If not why ?

[the_juiceman]

If not why ?

no they can't. AA & A are considered A, according to Minn Hockey. B1 is considerd B. A can't play B

[elliott70]

If not why ?

The main reason given is INSURANCE.

However; with permission A can play B.
In D16 it happens and sometimes it happens across District lines with D12 or D15.

[JSR]

Of al the rules in MN this one confounds me the most. It seriously makes no sense what so ever on any level. As for the insurance reason, I do inurance and that doesn't seem remotely correct, I think that one is a made up reason..... Let coaches and teams decide what other teams are level appropriate to play sometimes a B1 and an A team are a realy good match so why not just let them play.....

[old goalie85]

I can see Pee-wee AA not being able to play BC [for a variety of reasons] .If they are the same age whats the big difference.

[elliott70]

Of al the rules in MN this one confounds me the most. It seriously makes no sense what so ever on any level. As for the insurance reason, I do inurance and that doesn't seem remotely correct, I think that one is a made up reason..... Let coaches and teams decide what other teams are level appropriate to play sometimes a B1 and an A team are a realy good match so why not just let them play.....

I think I agree with you....

[elliott70]

Of al the rules in MN this one confounds me the most. It seriously makes no sense what so ever on any level. As for the insurance reason, I do inurance and that doesn't seem remotely correct, I think that one is a made up reason..... Let coaches and teams decide what other teams are level appropriate to play sometimes a B1 and an A team are a realy good match so why not just let them play.....

I like the idea of oversight...
Sometimes coaches/parents cannot identify the appropriateness of playing someone because of their own ego/ (fill in the blank)....

[JSR]

Of al the rules in MN this one confounds me the most. It seriously makes no sense what so ever on any level. As for the insurance reason, I do inurance and that doesn't seem remotely correct, I think that one is a made up reason..... Let coaches and teams decide what other teams are level appropriate to play sometimes a B1 and an A team are a realy good match so why not just let them play.....

I like the idea of oversight...
Sometimes coaches/parents cannot identify the appropriateness of playing someone because of their own ego/ (fill in the blank)....

I agree to a certain degree, I mean there probably is not a scenario where a AA team should ever be playing a C team to use an extreme example and probably even some B1's that shouldn't play certain A's but in general good coaches making informed good decisions should be able to play teams appropriate to their ability without worrying about letter designation so to speak. I mean if we ruly are wanting to encourage development that seems like a common sense approach to things I would think.

[old goalie85]

I can see cases like North Branch or ChisagoB1s playing FL/ Pine CityA squirts. Who could that hurt ?? Maybe then some of these towns/assc's kids would say "hey we can hang w/them". These are just examples due to location. Not trying to get Bo going.

[O-townClown]

Of al the rules in MN this one confounds me the most. It seriously makes no sense what so ever on any level. As for the insurance reason, I do inurance and that doesn't seem remotely correct, I think that one is a made up reason..... Let coaches and teams decide what other teams are level appropriate to play sometimes a B1 and an A team are a realy good match so why not just let them play.....

Completely agree.

USA Hockey has no such policy, so the insurance part doesn't make sense to me.

[JSR]

Of al the rules in MN this one confounds me the most. It seriously makes no sense what so ever on any level. As for the insurance reason, I do inurance and that doesn't seem remotely correct, I think that one is a made up reason..... Let coaches and teams decide what other teams are level appropriate to play sometimes a B1 and an A team are a realy good match so why not just let them play.....

Completely agree.

USA Hockey has no such policy, so the insurance part doesn't make sense to me.

A teams play B teams and B teams play C teams all the time down here in WI so even more credence to that. Sounds more like a District or MN Hockey "rules" thing up there in MN that could easily be changed or tweeked you would think????

[observer]

I understand what ya'll are saying but in Minnesota it's just not that necessary, certainly in the metro. Coaches and managers that do a good job have no problem finding a sufficient number of teams they can play with similar ability. Certainly with the A teams sites like http://myhockeyrankings.com make it even easier as you just schedule 10 above and 10 below, plus district games, and you're set.

Elliott has also said in D16 you can connect with the DD and ask for permission if you really think it's necessary.

There are a few reasons to avoid these cross level games as we've known for a long time that the top metro B1 teams could certainly handle A teams outside of the top 10 and maybe even win a few games against top 10 teams.

I see no reason to play other age level teams. Can of worms. I know there are some cocky dads that would like to give it a shot but we're not in the business of developing cocky dads (although there are quite a few of them.)

[greybeard58]

This has been a rule/policy for over 25 years and there is the provision for District Director(s) to approve such games.
The AA/A does not separate until District tournaments and since all AA/A teams are either registered as "A" Bantams or "A" Peewees therefore they are playing within the same level and classification.