HP 14/15s Anoka, MN

Nevertoomuchhockey · Post by **Nevertoomuchhockey** » Sat Sep 27, 2014 12:49 am

Good luck to everyone this weekend! Don't think about the beautiful fall weather you are missing out on at soccer. I'll tell you how nice it is outside when I get there this afternoon.

My last post (under girls challenge) speculated why so many girls who tried out and were selected actually gave up their spots. I forgot to mention the venue - beautiful Anoka Ice Arena in beautiful downtown... No. At the crossroads of County Road 7 and ?? Not that this is a terrible arena (this is a terrible arena) but it is small, poor parking, and not exactly close to commercial and retail (hotels and restaurants.) Wonder where Rosseau and Duluth are staying? Must be lots of booked ice this weekend for tryouts. Or this 2nd annual HP 14s $$$ jamboree is clearing even more bank this year!

This is mostly in jest. Can't wait to see the games tomorrow.[/img]

Nevertoomuchhockey · Post by **Nevertoomuchhockey** » Tue Sep 30, 2014 9:54 am

Saw a couple great games Sat. And a couple not so great games. Seems there was a pretty big difference in talent between the stronger and weaker district teams that we watched. And it was also curious to watch how some teams and coaches took advantage of the penalty-no power play format.

Hansonbrother · Post by **Hansonbrother** » Tue Sep 30, 2014 9:57 am

Nevertoomuchhockey wrote:Saw a couple great games Sat. And a couple not so great games. Seems there was a pretty big difference in talent between the stronger and weaker district teams that we watched. And it was also curious to watch how some teams and coaches took advantage of the penalty-no power play format.

Can you expand on all these? I wasn't able to get there and watch. Who was strong? Who was weak? What were the advantages of the penalty-no power play format?

nu2hockey · Post by **nu2hockey** » Tue Sep 30, 2014 12:03 pm

There were no pp/pk...
Offending player went to box, but teams played
5on5. Any potential breakaway got tackled.
Sorry, but, whoever made that decision should
be fired.

Nevertoomuchhockey · Post by **Nevertoomuchhockey** » Tue Sep 30, 2014 12:10 pm

Have you ever seen that before? No penalty for getting a penalty? Absolutely no deterrent. Some of those close second period games were crazy. But then I saw a penalty shot goal in a game on Sat? So confused.

Hanson I'll try to add more about the districts later. My opinion on Sat. anyway. I'm sure results are online somewhere.

InigoMontoya · Post by **InigoMontoya** » Tue Sep 30, 2014 12:32 pm

Perhaps that decision was made so coaches and players could spend more time focused on other aspects of hockey during the pre-festival phase at each district's practices. Maybe MNH communicated a de-emphasis on winning/losing games during the festival, but a couple coaches didn't get the email.

nu2hockey · Post by **nu2hockey** » Tue Sep 30, 2014 1:14 pm

That's crap....
Then why keep score...
Let's call it Reebok PlayDate instead.

InigoMontoya · Post by **InigoMontoya** » Tue Sep 30, 2014 1:18 pm

Isn't that what it is?

Nevertoomuchhockey · Post by **Nevertoomuchhockey** » Tue Sep 30, 2014 5:06 pm

Hanson - I think I saw every team play at least once. Overheard that maybe the best talent (but not necessarily best game due to huge penalty minutes on both sides) was D6 vs D10 #1 on Sunday. IMHO my favorite teams to watch on Saturday were D3, D6, and D11/12. Lots of girls I recognized from state tourney playoffs the last two years and top teams this past summer. Lots of girls whose sibling name recognition had us watching them more closely. Also at least a few girls on almost every team who we had no prior knowledge of but kicked a** enough to be on everyone's radar this season. Other surprises - D 4/8/9 (2 teams) struggled. Hard to watch at times. D10 was only other district with two teams and both seemed to fare better.

I know this is development hockey but the format of random match-ups meant the better teams didn't go head to head. And some teams clearly used the penalty is not really a penalty policy to go harder (and cheaper) than they would have played otherwise. My daughter will be eligible to tryout next fall and honestly we have to question both the expense and risk. I know there were top girls in every district who made (whose parents made) the decision to go through try-outs but not the "this is not a tournament" event. Really hope no one was hurt.

Overall it was fun to watch. Some pretty intense games, playing for nothing but pride.

Lace'emUp · Post by **Lace'emUp** » Tue Sep 30, 2014 8:21 pm

Nevertoomuchhockey wrote:Hanson - I think I saw every team play at least once. Overheard that maybe the best talent (but not necessarily best game due to huge penalty minutes on both sides) was D6 vs D10 #1 on Sunday. IMHO my favorite teams to watch on Saturday were D3, D6, and D11/12. Lots of girls I recognized from state tourney playoffs the last two years and top teams this past summer. Lots of girls whose sibling name recognition had us watching them more closely. Also at least a few girls on almost every team who we had no prior knowledge of but kicked a** enough to be on everyone's radar this season. Other surprises - D 4/8/9 (2 teams) struggled. Hard to watch at times. D10 was only other district with two teams and both seemed to fare better.

I know this is development hockey but the format of random match-ups meant the better teams didn't go head to head. And some teams clearly used the penalty is not really a penalty policy to go harder (and cheaper) than they would have played otherwise. My daughter will be eligible to tryout next fall and honestly we have to question both the expense and risk. I know there were top girls in every district who made (whose parents made) the decision to go through try-outs but not the "this is not a tournament" event. Really hope no one was hurt.

Overall it was fun to watch. Some pretty intense games, playing for nothing but pride.

I don't know much about this year's girls HP 14/15's (it should be called 13/14's), but D10 ran a good program last year. Rob Potter led both teams, and Jenny helped where she could between her commutes from here to the east coast. They trained a dozen times in September - 45 min of dryland; 1.5 hours of ice. I have no idea what other districts did for training (this year or last), but that's probably the most important factor. If districts just had a 2-day tryout, and a couple of fly-by practices, it would seem to be a waste (IMO). If that was the case, then people are truly spending their money for an expensive "play date" weekend.

nu2hockey · Post by **nu2hockey** » Tue Sep 30, 2014 8:58 pm

Don't know about practices for the HP14/15.
Looking at the teams, i am not sure how
Dist 4/8/9 had practices. Those districts
cover some territory. Plus, i wouldn't feel very
comfotable criticizing them. We don't know how the teams were formed. Also, i don't recall any
12U A teams in dist4 &9.

InigoMontoya · Post by **InigoMontoya** » Wed Oct 01, 2014 6:59 am

Is D10 the model the others should emulate? Have the 15's guy run the 14/15 program, so lots of your best kids show up, then give them a lot of quality developmental hours, and put a lot of talented kids on the ice for the play date. Maybe better than those districts that only get a handful of kids to show up, while coaches and parents all tell each other it's a waste of their time and money.

Hansonbrother · Post by **Hansonbrother** » Wed Oct 01, 2014 1:50 pm

Nevertoomuchhockey wrote:Hanson - I think I saw every team play at least once. Overheard that maybe the best talent (but not necessarily best game due to huge penalty minutes on both sides) was D6 vs D10 #1 on Sunday. IMHO my favorite teams to watch on Saturday were D3, D6, and D11/12. Lots of girls I recognized from state tourney playoffs the last two years and top teams this past summer. Lots of girls whose sibling name recognition had us watching them more closely. Also at least a few girls on almost every team who we had no prior knowledge of but kicked a** enough to be on everyone's radar this season. Other surprises - D 4/8/9 (2 teams) struggled. Hard to watch at times. D10 was only other district with two teams and both seemed to fare better.

I know this is development hockey but the format of random match-ups meant the better teams didn't go head to head. And some teams clearly used the penalty is not really a penalty policy to go harder (and cheaper) than they would have played otherwise. My daughter will be eligible to tryout next fall and honestly we have to question both the expense and risk. I know there were top girls in every district who made (whose parents made) the decision to go through try-outs but not the "this is not a tournament" event. Really hope no one was hurt.

Overall it was fun to watch. Some pretty intense games, playing for nothing but pride.

Thank you for the break down. Based on the rosters, I assumed a few of those teams you mentioned would be strong. I know a few quality kids that could have easily played in this, opted to not do it and wait until spring...and I can assure you, I will not miss that one!