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Good evening all... I am coming across a bit of an issue year after year and I am not quite sure if there is a "Right" or "Wrong" answer. So I wanted to bring it to the people.

This year there is a very good tournament the weekend of Deer Opener that our team is scheduled to attend.

I grew up in a family of hunters but did not have much interest myself, in the the activity. I remember players missing for hunting growing up and it being irritating. However, I also remember how much my brothers enjoyed hunting.

What are the thoughts on the topic? The level I am referring to is AA Bantams.

by the time the kids reach bantams I would think the assc. should know if you have a team full of hunters and maybe they should not schedule a tourny that weekend.

Opener is an important weelend in a 8th or 9 th graders development. It is a weekend that his dad teaches him how to drink !!

We need to remember - In life you make decissions everyday that reflect who you are, what your values are, i.e. Set you family belief's, values and stick to them. if hunting is big family event, missing 3 - 4 days of hockey will not impact the player at all. this same value system goes with Education, Church, etc . we are all given a choice to raise our family the way we choose.

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I see both sides of this. Some hunting families treat opening day as a family holiday not to be missed. Deer Opener, Walleye Opener, Pheasant Opener if you live in the Dakotas, all of them are seen as holidays akin to Christmas, Thanksgiving, or the 4th of July in some families.

On the other hand, because a couple families believe this the whole team has to suffer? Ok, I can kind of get it when it comes to Squirts or PeeWees, but Bantams. These boys are getting older now, commitment should begin to enter the vocabulary.

I would try to avoid scheduling anything on opening weekend if a large number on the team felt this way. If it's just one or two, well, then you see where their priorities are at. They can miss the game, unless it's the goalie.

People who do not hunt will usually side on the idea that the kid should honor his committment to the team. Those who hunt feel that it's an important family time and bonding time, especially between father and son. Also hunting is something the kid is likely to do the rest of their life while hockey may only be something they do extracirricularly as a child..... My take is to find out how many hunters are on your team, if it is a large number than you should not schedule anything on that weekend. If it is a small number where you can still attend the ttourney without those players then go ahead and schedule it but do not hold it againt the players who will be missing. I would also make a point of discussing this out loud at your parent meeting and let the other parents know it's not their job to judge what is important to other families.... My family hunts, my boy loves to hunt and he hates to miss opening weekend of deer season. He also loves hockey and hates missing hockey, we've always been appreciative of the coaches who recognize how important that weekend is to some families and they've chosen not to schedule anything on that weekend over the years. This year my son plays out of state so the state he plays in doesn' care about "our" opening weekend so he is scheduled to play that weekend, he has made his choice and will play hockey that weekend but he does have second weekend off so we will go up hunting together on the second weekend this year... but we understood this before committing to this out of state team, had it been an in state team I woul dhave felt differently

Hunting can be viewed as a family commitment. One that trumps some kind of Bantam hockey commitment. What if Grampa still goes, but may only have a year or so left hunting. If my kids picked hockey over hunting w/ grampa I would think we have a problem.

Hunting is wrong and immoral ... I mean taking another living creature's life for what?!?! UNACCEPTABLE.

People should just buy their meat at the butcher shop like I do.

The deer will still be there the second, third, fourth, etc weekend of hunting season. The tournament is set on a certain date and can't be moved. You can hunt the rest of your life, you only get a small window of opportunity to play competitive hockey. Family reunions can be scheduled any weekend out of the year, there are only so many weekends throughout the winter for hockey.

The more I think about this and read the pro-hunting side of the debate the more I am thinking hockey should be the priority. I can turn the reasons you give for hunting into reasons you should play hockey instead.

Just food for thought of what is going through the minds of non-hunting families.

I find it interesting that deer hunting opener is always the weekend that seems to get the pass... In past years, our assocation has "optional rink rat sessions" on opening weekend with no scheduled practices for Bantams.

Well, I personally enjoy duck hunting much more and can say the same things about the duck camp as you can the deer camp. While there may be more deer hunters then duck hunters, why does the one get a pass and the other does not? Typically duck opener is around tryout time, shouldn't the tryouts be pushed back to allow those duck hunters to participate in that weekend? What about the Pheasant opener? Ninth grader in last year of bantam's will not have to worry about the conflict following last year of bantam's as they move to HS which starts much later....

What about those that do not hunt but may like some other activity? Is it ok for them to miss the activity they enjoy? Is it fair to not schedule events that weekend to those that do not hunt?

It is all about commitment, by the time you are a bantam, especially playing for a AA team, you should know what type of comitment it takes.

Bummer if you have to miss one opener, but many, many more to come....

that phrase "you have the rest of your life to ....." can be used for anything. church! christmas, etc. I do know some families have an annual tradition 3 and 4 generation families all going hunting togather. That may not fit into "you have the rest of your life to do that".

parents - set a families values and do not let "in reality" a meaningless youth game affect family values. The team and those who do not hunt can go to hockey. I do not hunt, my family does not hunt, but hard to fault the family that has tradition. does little johnny remember the first tournament they were in last year, probably already a distant memory.

No brainer..... were talking about missing 8 hours of ice time at the very most during a special weekend where player gets to bond with family. Over the duration of an association season most players will have committed close to 200 hours for games, scrimmages, practices and dryland. Let's not forget about all the sleep overs, swimming sessions and other fun things that Mom puts the kibosh on.....all in the name of hockey.
I am all about giving 100% to the coach, teammates and yourself. Were talking about maybe missing 8 hours of ice. IMHO if you stop a player from everything non hockey related - they may start to question if they are missing out on something more. You need to be a well rounded person to be a good hockey player.

helightsthelamp wrote:I find it interesting that deer hunting opener is always the weekend that seems to get the pass... In past years, our assocation has "optional rink rat sessions" on opening weekend with no scheduled practices for Bantams.

Well, I personally enjoy duck hunting much more and can say the same things about the duck camp as you can the deer camp. While there may be more deer hunters then duck hunters, why does the one get a pass and the other does not? Typically duck opener is around tryout time, shouldn't the tryouts be pushed back to allow those duck hunters to participate in that weekend? What about the Pheasant opener? Ninth grader in last year of bantam's will not have to worry about the conflict following last year of bantam's as they move to HS which starts much later....

What about those that do not hunt but may like some other activity? Is it ok for them to miss the activity they enjoy? Is it fair to not schedule events that weekend to those that do not hunt?

It is all about commitment, by the time you are a bantam, especially playing for a AA team, you should know what type of comitment it takes.

Bummer if you have to miss one opener, but many, many more to come....

I think the reason deer hunting gets the "pass" is because it effects such a large number of people.... You know, the way Christmas Eve and Chirstmas Day get a "pass" and you don't schedule any games or practices on those days but I am guessing you don;t think twice about scheduling stuff on Kwanzaa or whatever... To me your argument doesn;t hold water, the reality is everyone is entitled to individuaslly miss any game or practice they want based on what their family values are and they should be respected, however when something effects an inordinant amount of kids you have to adjust your team schedule for that, it is just practical.... For instance I coach a competitive soccer team, we practice on Mondays and Wednesdays, 6 of my players have hockey tryouts next week on Monday and Tuesday.... I have rescheduled Monday's practice to Thursday, if only 1 player had tryouts I would not have rescheduled, I would have repsected that the individual player would miss my practice for tryouts but I wouldn't work around just him, however since 6 were effected I rescheduled, it's just practical....

I think first you need to remember that there is 3 weekends of deer hunting. Now if the coach scheduled something for all 3 than maybe I would say take the weekend off. If not then the player should fullfil their commitment to their team.

This is just another example of coddled Minnesotans. It is the AA team for crying out loud. How many kids that are getting cut would be more then willing to miss deer hunting for an opportunity to play on that team. In my opinion, you owe to everyone of those kids to play with your team. I'm a little old school though.

JSR wrote:

helightsthelamp wrote:I find it interesting that deer hunting opener is always the weekend that seems to get the pass... In past years, our assocation has "optional rink rat sessions" on opening weekend with no scheduled practices for Bantams.

Well, I personally enjoy duck hunting much more and can say the same things about the duck camp as you can the deer camp. While there may be more deer hunters then duck hunters, why does the one get a pass and the other does not? Typically duck opener is around tryout time, shouldn't the tryouts be pushed back to allow those duck hunters to participate in that weekend? What about the Pheasant opener? Ninth grader in last year of bantam's will not have to worry about the conflict following last year of bantam's as they move to HS which starts much later....

What about those that do not hunt but may like some other activity? Is it ok for them to miss the activity they enjoy? Is it fair to not schedule events that weekend to those that do not hunt?

It is all about commitment, by the time you are a bantam, especially playing for a AA team, you should know what type of comitment it takes.

Bummer if you have to miss one opener, but many, many more to come....

I think the reason deer hunting gets the "pass" is because it effects such a large number of people.... You know, the way Christmas Eve and Chirstmas Day get a "pass" and you don't schedule any games or practices on those days but I am guessing you don;t think twice about scheduling stuff on Kwanzaa or whatever... To me your argument doesn;t hold water, the reality is everyone is entitled to individuaslly miss any game or practice they want based on what their family values are and they should be respected, however when something effects an inordinant amount of kids you have to adjust your team schedule for that, it is just practical.... For instance I coach a competitive soccer team, we practice on Mondays and Wednesdays, 6 of my players have hockey tryouts next week on Monday and Tuesday.... I have rescheduled Monday's practice to Thursday, if only 1 player had tryouts I would not have rescheduled, I would have repsected that the individual player would miss my practice for tryouts but I wouldn't work around just him, however since 6 were effected I rescheduled, it's just practical....

I think you are missing my point.... I get the whole deer hunting thing and that more do it. I said that more deer hunt. A lot of people also duck hunt also. Your analogy is tilted... So 6 deer hunt and 3 duck hunt... the 6 are ok and everyone skips, but the 3 miss and..... Keep in mind the question was related to a tournament, not just missing a practice. In addition, I will tell you I know out of 14, I know of at least 6 that didn't go deer hunting last fall as they were at the rink rat... Not 100% sure of the others, but likely a couple more and you are at over half that didn't go. We are not talking about 1 as your example gives

Personally, I think it's a family choice but I also think a coach and the association has a right to set the schedule how they see fit. Last time I looked, Deer Opener did not appear on the list of Federal Holidays....

It's a recreational activity, just like fishing, biking, golfing and knitting. I'm sure there's some uber-important event for each of those every year. You have to draw the line somewhere.

I don't think kids should be penalized for going though. Committments are tough and hopefully most kids will suck it up and learn that when the boss says "you have to work", you go to work.... even on a Saturday deer opener.

Deer vs Knitting ????

JSR wrote:

helightsthelamp wrote:I find it interesting that deer hunting opener is always the weekend that seems to get the pass... In past years, our assocation has "optional rink rat sessions" on opening weekend with no scheduled practices for Bantams.

Well, I personally enjoy duck hunting much more and can say the same things about the duck camp as you can the deer camp. While there may be more deer hunters then duck hunters, why does the one get a pass and the other does not? Typically duck opener is around tryout time, shouldn't the tryouts be pushed back to allow those duck hunters to participate in that weekend? What about the Pheasant opener? Ninth grader in last year of bantam's will not have to worry about the conflict following last year of bantam's as they move to HS which starts much later....

What about those that do not hunt but may like some other activity? Is it ok for them to miss the activity they enjoy? Is it fair to not schedule events that weekend to those that do not hunt?

It is all about commitment, by the time you are a bantam, especially playing for a AA team, you should know what type of comitment it takes.

Bummer if you have to miss one opener, but many, many more to come....

I think the reason deer hunting gets the "pass" is because it effects such a large number of people.... You know, the way Christmas Eve and Chirstmas Day get a "pass" and you don't schedule any games or practices on those days but I am guessing you don;t think twice about scheduling stuff on Kwanzaa or whatever... To me your argument doesn;t hold water, the reality is everyone is entitled to individuaslly miss any game or practice they want based on what their family values are and they should be respected, however when something effects an inordinant amount of kids you have to adjust your team schedule for that, it is just practical.... For instance I coach a competitive soccer team, we practice on Mondays and Wednesdays, 6 of my players have hockey tryouts next week on Monday and Tuesday.... I have rescheduled Monday's practice to Thursday, if only 1 player had tryouts I would not have rescheduled, I would have repsected that the individual player would miss my practice for tryouts but I wouldn't work around just him, however since 6 were effected I rescheduled, it's just practical....

So focusing on the number of players you mention. Let's also move away from deer hunting and go to hockey specific. If 6 players were invited to participate in a Minnesota Hockey event (as an example HP14's), the assocation should not schedule events that same weekend, right? Assocation does schedule events on same weekend, but then should be ok to give 6 kids a pass for deer hunting and not participate in a tournament in let's say Chicago because it is deer hunting opener? Completly hypothetical scenario of course!

nobody wrote:In many circles it is very rude to schedule anything on a hunting or fishing opener. To some it is the most important day of the year for traditional purposes. Find a tournament on Christmas day, the superbowl or whatever, but leave the openers alone expecially deer, and I don't deer hunt.....

Yeah, like mother's day on the fishing opening weekend!

helightsthelamp wrote:

JSR wrote:

helightsthelamp wrote:I find it interesting that deer hunting opener is always the weekend that seems to get the pass... In past years, our assocation has "optional rink rat sessions" on opening weekend with no scheduled practices for Bantams.

Well, I personally enjoy duck hunting much more and can say the same things about the duck camp as you can the deer camp. While there may be more deer hunters then duck hunters, why does the one get a pass and the other does not? Typically duck opener is around tryout time, shouldn't the tryouts be pushed back to allow those duck hunters to participate in that weekend? What about the Pheasant opener? Ninth grader in last year of bantam's will not have to worry about the conflict following last year of bantam's as they move to HS which starts much later....

What about those that do not hunt but may like some other activity? Is it ok for them to miss the activity they enjoy? Is it fair to not schedule events that weekend to those that do not hunt?

It is all about commitment, by the time you are a bantam, especially playing for a AA team, you should know what type of comitment it takes.

Bummer if you have to miss one opener, but many, many more to come....

I think the reason deer hunting gets the "pass" is because it effects such a large number of people.... You know, the way Christmas Eve and Chirstmas Day get a "pass" and you don't schedule any games or practices on those days but I am guessing you don;t think twice about scheduling stuff on Kwanzaa or whatever... To me your argument doesn;t hold water, the reality is everyone is entitled to individuaslly miss any game or practice they want based on what their family values are and they should be respected, however when something effects an inordinant amount of kids you have to adjust your team schedule for that, it is just practical.... For instance I coach a competitive soccer team, we practice on Mondays and Wednesdays, 6 of my players have hockey tryouts next week on Monday and Tuesday.... I have rescheduled Monday's practice to Thursday, if only 1 player had tryouts I would not have rescheduled, I would have repsected that the individual player would miss my practice for tryouts but I wouldn't work around just him, however since 6 were effected I rescheduled, it's just practical....

So focusing on the number of players you mention. Let's also move away from deer hunting and go to hockey specific. If 6 players were invited to participate in a Minnesota Hockey event (as an example HP14's), the assocation should not schedule events that same weekend, right? Assocation does schedule events on same weekend, but then should be ok to give 6 kids a pass for deer hunting and not participate in a tournament in let's say Chicago because it is deer hunting opener? Completly hypothetical scenario of course!

Actually I remember that thread and if you go visit it you will see I said it was ridiculous that the association scheduled something when it effected so many players. So I personally have been very consistant in my message.... Again I said you have to be practical with each team and look at how many kids on the team it effects and and if the number is an "inordinant" amount you should adjust your shcedule, I used that word because the actual number might be different for each team, some teams can function fine if they are missing say 3 or 4 players, some cannot, I find very few teams that can function properly with 6 missing players though..... So to your "hypothetical" scenario (LOL), if it effected six kids liek that, then the association should've adjusted their schedule OR worked with MN Hockey to accomodate those kids, so my messgee is consistant...

Also, to the person who said they were "old school", you know it's funny, I am as old school as it gets and I think the "old school" thing to do is to go hunting with your family if that is the "tradition" in your family, I think its a "new school" idea that a RECREATION should come before family, god, and school..... the person who compared the hockey to "work", hockey is not a job, hockey is not school, hockey is a extracirricular recreational activity no matter how "seriously' you try and make it, it's not school, it's not work, it's not comparable..... I understand hunting is also recreational but when it has a fundamental meaning and tradition within a given family it becomes the recreational activity that should take precedent for one weekend... just sayin....

helightsthelamp wrote:

JSR wrote:

helightsthelamp wrote:I find it interesting that deer hunting opener is always the weekend that seems to get the pass... In past years, our assocation has "optional rink rat sessions" on opening weekend with no scheduled practices for Bantams.

Well, I personally enjoy duck hunting much more and can say the same things about the duck camp as you can the deer camp. While there may be more deer hunters then duck hunters, why does the one get a pass and the other does not? Typically duck opener is around tryout time, shouldn't the tryouts be pushed back to allow those duck hunters to participate in that weekend? What about the Pheasant opener? Ninth grader in last year of bantam's will not have to worry about the conflict following last year of bantam's as they move to HS which starts much later....

What about those that do not hunt but may like some other activity? Is it ok for them to miss the activity they enjoy? Is it fair to not schedule events that weekend to those that do not hunt?

It is all about commitment, by the time you are a bantam, especially playing for a AA team, you should know what type of comitment it takes.

Bummer if you have to miss one opener, but many, many more to come....

I think the reason deer hunting gets the "pass" is because it effects such a large number of people.... You know, the way Christmas Eve and Chirstmas Day get a "pass" and you don't schedule any games or practices on those days but I am guessing you don;t think twice about scheduling stuff on Kwanzaa or whatever... To me your argument doesn;t hold water, the reality is everyone is entitled to individuaslly miss any game or practice they want based on what their family values are and they should be respected, however when something effects an inordinant amount of kids you have to adjust your team schedule for that, it is just practical.... For instance I coach a competitive soccer team, we practice on Mondays and Wednesdays, 6 of my players have hockey tryouts next week on Monday and Tuesday.... I have rescheduled Monday's practice to Thursday, if only 1 player had tryouts I would not have rescheduled, I would have repsected that the individual player would miss my practice for tryouts but I wouldn't work around just him, however since 6 were effected I rescheduled, it's just practical....

I think you are missing my point.... I get the whole deer hunting thing and that more do it. I said that more deer hunt. A lot of people also duck hunt also. Your analogy is tilted... So 6 deer hunt and 3 duck hunt... the 6 are ok and everyone skips, but the 3 miss and..... Keep in mind the question was related to a tournament, not just missing a practice. In addition, I will tell you I know out of 14, I know of at least 6 that didn't go deer hunting last fall as they were at the rink rat... Not 100% sure of the others, but likely a couple more and you are at over half that didn't go. We are not talking about 1 as your example gives

You missed my point, if you think "half" is the right number for not rescheduling something for ANY reason, don't care what it is, then you have things tilted... My soccer team has ten players, we field six, if even four players had a conflict and that conflict would cause them to miss a game I am rescheduling the game, yes even though 6 didn't have a conflict, because it is an inordinant number of players and it affects my teams ability to play and function. If it were two players missing, I don;t reschedule, but four I do on that team, sagain every team has to be weighed on it's own merit and numbers.... In your example if you have 15 skaters and 6 are missing at the Bantam age level you cannot play, IMHO, but if 3 are missing it is not ideal but you can still play.... see the difference

JSR wrote:

helightsthelamp wrote:

JSR wrote: I think the reason deer hunting gets the "pass" is because it effects such a large number of people.... You know, the way Christmas Eve and Chirstmas Day get a "pass" and you don't schedule any games or practices on those days but I am guessing you don;t think twice about scheduling stuff on Kwanzaa or whatever... To me your argument doesn;t hold water, the reality is everyone is entitled to individuaslly miss any game or practice they want based on what their family values are and they should be respected, however when something effects an inordinant amount of kids you have to adjust your team schedule for that, it is just practical.... For instance I coach a competitive soccer team, we practice on Mondays and Wednesdays, 6 of my players have hockey tryouts next week on Monday and Tuesday.... I have rescheduled Monday's practice to Thursday, if only 1 player had tryouts I would not have rescheduled, I would have repsected that the individual player would miss my practice for tryouts but I wouldn't work around just him, however since 6 were effected I rescheduled, it's just practical....

So focusing on the number of players you mention. Let's also move away from deer hunting and go to hockey specific. If 6 players were invited to participate in a Minnesota Hockey event (as an example HP14's), the assocation should not schedule events that same weekend, right? Assocation does schedule events on same weekend, but then should be ok to give 6 kids a pass for deer hunting and not participate in a tournament in let's say Chicago because it is deer hunting opener? Completly hypothetical scenario of course!

Actually I remember that thread and if you go visit it you will see I said it was ridiculous that the association scheduled something when it effected so many players. So I personally have been very consistant in my message.... Again I said you have to be practical with each team and look at how many kids on the team it effects and and if the number is an "inordinant" amount you should adjust your shcedule, I used that word because the actual number might be different for each team, some teams can function fine if they are missing say 3 or 4 players, some cannot, I find very few teams that can function properly with 6 missing players though..... So to your "hypothetical" scenario (LOL), if it effected six kids liek that, then the association should've adjusted their schedule OR worked with MN Hockey to accomodate those kids, so my messgee is consistant...

Also, to the person who said they were "old school", you know it's funny, I am as old school as it gets and I think the "old school" thing to do is to go hunting with your family if that is the "tradition" in your family, I think its a "new school" idea that a RECREATION should come before family, god, and school..... the person who compared the hockey to "work", hockey is not a job, hockey is not school, hockey is a extracirricular recreational activity no matter how "seriously' you try and make it, it's not school, it's not work, it's not comparable..... I understand hunting is also recreational but when it has a fundamental meaning and tradition within a given family it becomes the recreational activity that should take precedent for one weekend... just sayin....

I think we are on the same page? So as bluntly as I can say it, if not ok to change/not hold for a MN Hockey event, then shouldn't be changed/not scheduled for deer hunting opener. I may have felt differently in years past, but this year given no consideration for hockey event, then no consideration should be given for other events such as deer hunting. Bitter? Yes! LOL My opinion is very much based upon the aforementioned "hypothetical" events that have seem come full circle.

helightsthelamp wrote:

JSR wrote:

helightsthelamp wrote: So focusing on the number of players you mention. Let's also move away from deer hunting and go to hockey specific. If 6 players were invited to participate in a Minnesota Hockey event (as an example HP14's), the assocation should not schedule events that same weekend, right? Assocation does schedule events on same weekend, but then should be ok to give 6 kids a pass for deer hunting and not participate in a tournament in let's say Chicago because it is deer hunting opener? Completly hypothetical scenario of course!

Actually I remember that thread and if you go visit it you will see I said it was ridiculous that the association scheduled something when it effected so many players. So I personally have been very consistant in my message.... Again I said you have to be practical with each team and look at how many kids on the team it effects and and if the number is an "inordinant" amount you should adjust your shcedule, I used that word because the actual number might be different for each team, some teams can function fine if they are missing say 3 or 4 players, some cannot, I find very few teams that can function properly with 6 missing players though..... So to your "hypothetical" scenario (LOL), if it effected six kids liek that, then the association should've adjusted their schedule OR worked with MN Hockey to accomodate those kids, so my messgee is consistant...

Also, to the person who said they were "old school", you know it's funny, I am as old school as it gets and I think the "old school" thing to do is to go hunting with your family if that is the "tradition" in your family, I think its a "new school" idea that a RECREATION should come before family, god, and school..... the person who compared the hockey to "work", hockey is not a job, hockey is not school, hockey is a extracirricular recreational activity no matter how "seriously' you try and make it, it's not school, it's not work, it's not comparable..... I understand hunting is also recreational but when it has a fundamental meaning and tradition within a given family it becomes the recreational activity that should take precedent for one weekend... just sayin....

I think we are on the same page? So as bluntly as I can say it, if not ok to change/not hold for a MN Hockey event, then shouldn't be changed/not scheduled for deer hunting opener. I may have felt differently in years past, but this year given no consideration for hockey event, then no consideration should be given for other events such as deer hunting. Bitter? Yes! LOL My opinion is very much based upon the aforementioned "hypothetical" events that have seem come full circle.

I see where you are coming from but I do still think it's different because I think when it comes to things like deer hunting etc... that is or atleast can and should be a "team" decision... where as the aforementioned "hypothetical" event was an association and MN Hockey deal where the coaches and team members really had no say, or atleast their say was ignored but higher authorities, for the scheduling of a tourney the coaches and parents really have most all of the say and the higher authorities tend to stay out of it.... I get where you are coming from but I do think they are different for that reason

JSR wrote:

helightsthelamp wrote:

JSR wrote: Actually I remember that thread and if you go visit it you will see I said it was ridiculous that the association scheduled something when it effected so many players. So I personally have been very consistant in my message.... Again I said you have to be practical with each team and look at how many kids on the team it effects and and if the number is an "inordinant" amount you should adjust your shcedule, I used that word because the actual number might be different for each team, some teams can function fine if they are missing say 3 or 4 players, some cannot, I find very few teams that can function properly with 6 missing players though..... So to your "hypothetical" scenario (LOL), if it effected six kids liek that, then the association should've adjusted their schedule OR worked with MN Hockey to accomodate those kids, so my messgee is consistant...

Also, to the person who said they were "old school", you know it's funny, I am as old school as it gets and I think the "old school" thing to do is to go hunting with your family if that is the "tradition" in your family, I think its a "new school" idea that a RECREATION should come before family, god, and school..... the person who compared the hockey to "work", hockey is not a job, hockey is not school, hockey is a extracirricular recreational activity no matter how "seriously' you try and make it, it's not school, it's not work, it's not comparable..... I understand hunting is also recreational but when it has a fundamental meaning and tradition within a given family it becomes the recreational activity that should take precedent for one weekend... just sayin....

I think we are on the same page? So as bluntly as I can say it, if not ok to change/not hold for a MN Hockey event, then shouldn't be changed/not scheduled for deer hunting opener. I may have felt differently in years past, but this year given no consideration for hockey event, then no consideration should be given for other events such as deer hunting. Bitter? Yes! LOL My opinion is very much based upon the aforementioned "hypothetical" events that have seem come full circle.

I see where you are coming from but I do still think it's different because I think when it comes to things like deer hunting etc... that is or atleast can and should be a "team" decision... where as the aforementioned "hypothetical" event was an association and MN Hockey deal where the coaches and team members really had no say, or atleast their say was ignored but higher authorities, for the scheduling of a tourney the coaches and parents really have most all of the say and the higher authorities tend to stay out of it.... I get where you are coming from but I do think they are different for that reason

Difference of opinion makes the world go around! I understand your point, but to a 14 year old, they don't break it down quite like that... In my hypothetical world, the 6 kids effected will all be on one team!

Since this is a public forum, my intent is not to bash the assocation. Way more hypothetical information not for distribution to the public that effects my opinion. I will just leave it at that!