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Thinking about moving to MN

Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2006 5:52 pm
by denverhockey
Denver only has limited hockey opportunities for my son. We are considering moving and would like any suggestions for which high school. Academics are equally important.<br><br>Any advice would be appreciated.<br>Thanks <p></p><i></i>

Re: Thinking about moving to MN

Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2006 5:58 pm
by Eaglehockey65
minnesota has so many hockey schools it matters where you want to play (iron range, citys,ect)you will have to research and find out witch one is the best for you and your kid. (GOOD LUCK) <p></p><i></i>

mn schools

Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2006 7:02 pm
by hillhockey
overall, minnesota schools are top notch. <br>I live in white bear lake. its a really nice city, and the schools are good. the only problem is that its split so freshman and sophomores are on one campus and juniors and seniors at another. but students still get into excellent colleges and the hockey program is in the top 10 every year.<br><br>bloomington has jefferson high school, which is public and rated as a college-prep school, like the private schools.<br><br>If you want to look at private schools, i'd choose between Hill-Murray in Maplewood, Cretin-Derham Hall in St. Paul, or Academy of Holy Angels in Richfield. All excellent schools with good hockey teams. Benilde-St. Margarets isn't too bad either. In class A, there is Totino-Grace, Breck, Blake, St. Thomas Academy, and those are all good.<br><br>If you want to live in the Twin Cities consider:<br>Holy Angels<br>Hill-Murray<br>White Bear Lake<br>Centennial<br>Bloomington-Jefferson<br>Cretin-Derham Hall<br>Roseville<br><br>If you want to live in Duluth:<br>Duluth East is very good (public)<br>Duluth Marshall is also very good (private)<br>Duluth Denfield has been doing well lately too.<br><br>Moorhead has a consistently good program...Very competitive.<br><br>Northern cities other than Moorhead like Roseau, Grand Rapids, Mt. Iron-Buhl, Brainerd, Hibbing, Hermantown have good programs, but probably dont get as much attention as City teams, and there's less work up there.<br><br> <p></p><i></i>

Re: mn schools

Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2006 7:21 pm
by joshdog
Don't forget some smaller program's. Some of the middle of the road MN HS team's would offer much better hockey than people out of state are used to. Albert Lea is a great place to live and year in and year out put out good, fun HS hockey. 5 kid's that graduated last year are playing post-HS hockey, 4 in the NAHL and 1 playing D-III. There are numerous communities like that in the state. Another thing to remember is that the program's that Hillhockey mentioned are perennially top's in the state. They cut kid's that would play on many varsity team's and the better private school's ?attract? the best youth player's or transfer's from other program's. My point is that you have to be very good to play for those team's. If hockey is up on your priority list, MN is no doubt the place to be. <p></p><i></i>

Re: mn schools

Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2006 8:31 pm
by Grovetown Scotty
A lot is going to depend on the age and skill level of your son. I would suggest Hastings a river town with a small town feel. Good hockey, football and baseball programs and 20 minutes from St. Paul and 35 from Minneapolis. The Suburban East conference is one of the most competitive in the state.<br><br>Strictly from a hockey point of view, White Bear Lake and Bloomington Jefferson have great hockey programs. I live near Hastings and if I were going to sell my house and move thats where I would go. Traffic anywhere in the West metro area is bad. East metro has a much better commute.<br><br>Woodbury and Stillwater are other suggestions. <p></p><i>Edited by: <A HREF=http://p100.ezboard.com/bmnhs.showUserP ... >Grovetown Scotty</A> at: 1/1/06 8:33 pm<br></i>

moving to mn

Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2006 10:27 pm
by riverman
i'm not sure where hillfan has ever looked for a job but towns like warroad roseau, thief river falls, crookston and east grand forks boast the lowest unemployment rates in the state! and all have good hockey programs and wonderfull schools! Along with affordable housing and great rinks! If you want to build a home most lots are $20,000 or below with incentives in some towns! Number of homeless people is really low! They tend to freeze out. It really depends on what you are going to do for a living! To top it off if your kid is any good he'll probably be starting! <p></p><i></i>

moving to mn

Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2006 10:28 pm
by riverman
sorry i meant hill hockey not hillfan <p></p><i></i>

Re: moving to mn

Posted: Mon Jan 02, 2006 12:10 am
by Spudmania
Moorhead Has a Great Coaching Staff and they are in the top five every year, although they have never won the big dance.<br>Other Schools that are year in and year out dominate are:<br><br>Duluth East<br>Holy Angles<br>Jefferson<br>White Bear Lake<br>Centennial <p></p><i></i>

Re: moving to mn

Posted: Mon Jan 02, 2006 12:34 am
by hockey1512
If you want to stay in the city and you want competitive hockey, my vote would be for white bear lake. If you want private schools i geuss u cant go wrong witht the holy angels. If u want something a little smalled but still competitive, move to the northern poweres with moorhead and duluth. <p></p><i></i>

Other sports

Posted: Mon Jan 02, 2006 10:41 am
by Kodiak
If your kid plays multiple sports, you may want to consider the smaller private schools around where kids are encouraged to play 2 or 3 sports. Blake, Breck, Totino Grace, Minnehaha, St. Paul Academy, St. Thomas Academy, Benilde St. Margarets, Providence, Holy Family Catholic, (St. Agnes, St. Bernards, St. Croix Lutheran, Concordia Academy... all one hockey team, but good individual schools)... these are all private schools in the cities. Down south there's Rochester Lourdes, and up north is Duluth Marshall. <br><br>Academics are good at all of these institutions, but nation wide there are not many schools that are more highly regarded academically as St. Paul Academy, Breck, and Blake. Breck and Blake have had much better hockey over the last 15 years or so, and SPA is starting to rebuild with a great new coach. Hope this helps a little. As you well know, picking new schools is like picking out a new shirt... some fit but are not comfortable, some are comfortable, but don't fit, and when you find one that's comfortable and fits, you gotta get it. <p></p><i></i>

Re: moving to mn

Posted: Mon Jan 02, 2006 10:59 am
by MNPuckster27
My opinion, based on what you are looking for.<br><br>If you are looking for primarily academics there are several private schools in the Twin Cities area ranging from around $4,000 a year to around $17,000 a year. (AHA, Hill-Murray, Cretin, Breck, Blake, St. Thomas, Benilde, Totino) Also, if you arent thrilled about that idea, the East Metro schools (Hastings, Tartan, Mahtomedi) have slightly smaller enrollments than the growing west metro schools (if smaller class size matters to you)<br><br>If you are looking for a hockey program with great tradition there are a lot of good schools/teams in the northern part of the state (Moohread, Duluth East, Duluth Marshall, Grand Rapids, Warroad, Roseau) Most of these towns have populations of under 15,000 except Moorhead and Duluth. Great hockey though.<br><br>If you are looking for skill development and would like your son to play for a great coach there is Greg Trebil at AHA who is probably the best (even though there will be posts following this disagreeing with that)Also, former NHL star Phil Housley is the coach at Stillwater, Larry Hendrickson (father of NHLer Darby), Russ Welch at Hastings, and Erik Aus at Centennial are some of the best in the metro in my opinion.<br><br>Hope that helps... <p></p><i></i>

Re: moving to mn

Posted: Mon Jan 02, 2006 11:04 am
by wbmd
Darby doesn't play in the NHL anymore. <p></p><i></i>

Re: moving to mn

Posted: Mon Jan 02, 2006 11:14 am
by MoorheadDomination
If you like more of a smaller town sort of atmosphere you should consider Moorhead, even though the city is right next to Fargo. Plus, you wouldn't be the first transfer student, Moorhead has had about 5 in the last couple years. Moorhead is looking to have a great team this year, and next year we well dominate the whole state, and SHOULD win state, finally, if we don't this year.<br><br>P.S.~~ If you move here, you have to be a Wild fan; no more Avalanche garbage,<!--EZCODE EMOTICON START :lol --><img src=http://www.ezboard.com/images/emoticons/laugh.gif ALT=":lol"><!--EZCODE EMOTICON END--> <!--EZCODE EMOTICON START :rollin --><img src=http://www.ezboard.com/images/emoticons/roll.gif ALT=":rollin"><!--EZCODE EMOTICON END--> <!--EZCODE EMOTICON START :lol --><img src=http://www.ezboard.com/images/emoticons/laugh.gif ALT=":lol"><!--EZCODE EMOTICON END--> <p></p><i></i>

Their looking for window makers

Posted: Mon Jan 02, 2006 11:37 am
by Renegade Ram
If your folks are looking for steady factory work...Warroad's the place.<!--EZCODE EMOTICON START ;) --><img src=http://www.ezboard.com/images/emoticons/wink.gif ALT=";)"><!--EZCODE EMOTICON END--> <p></p><i>Edited by: <A HREF=http://p100.ezboard.com/bmnhs.showUserP ... m>Renegade Ram</A> at: 1/2/06 11:37 am<br></i>

riverman

Posted: Mon Jan 02, 2006 1:50 pm
by hillhockey
i was just overgeneralizing..im sure you can find work up north, and it is much cheaper to live there than the cities. i know the nickname northerners use for the cities, and i have to agree with it. i just meant that there arent as many opportunities, depending on your field. <p></p><i></i>

Re: riverman

Posted: Mon Jan 02, 2006 2:25 pm
by LloydBraun
lake conference, chaska, eastview, apple valley, eden praire, bloomington jefferson, bloomington kennedy, lakeville north and lakeville south, most of the cities in the lake are up and coming neighborhoods and have many new developments mainly lakeville, chaska and apple valley/eastview <p></p><i></i>

Re: Thinking about moving to MN

Posted: Mon Jan 02, 2006 2:33 pm
by SolanumTuberosum
DenverHockey...how old is your son and how good is he? If you go to Academy of Holy Angels (expensive private school), Moorhead, Bloomington Jefferson, Centennial, Duluth East, or White Bear Lake (all public schools), your son better be REALLY good...The teams in Minnesota are much better than anywhere else in the country (for the most part), if he wants to make any of these teams that I mentioned, he probably has to be one of the better players in Denver. <p></p><i></i>

Re: Thinking about moving to MN

Posted: Mon Jan 02, 2006 2:43 pm
by RBK sniper
Lloyd-<br>Burnsville and Rosemount are in the Lake also. <p></p><i></i>

Re: Thinking about moving to MN

Posted: Mon Jan 02, 2006 3:58 pm
by denverhockey
Thank you all for your time and the complete answers to my question.<br>My son is 13 years old. Last year his PeeWee team won the Tier II national championship. I know MN is not part of that group because of birth years or some other rule. That probably helped his team.<br>We came to your state last year for a tournament and had a great time.<br>Playing for your high school with all your friends and having your classmates know you must be different than playing club. I am sure the high school hockey in MN is at a higher level than the club hockey in CO. Being able to play pond hockey down the street is another great plus.<br>Moving, picking the right area with the right school, or possibly sending him to a boarding school is quite difficult. This is additionally difficult because we are 800 or so miles away.<br><br>Once again, thanks all for your help. <p></p><i></i>

Re: Thinking about moving to MN

Posted: Mon Jan 02, 2006 4:16 pm
by pse44
(This message was left blank) <p></p><i>Edited by: <A HREF=http://p100.ezboard.com/bmnhs.showUserP ... 4>pse44</A> at: 1/2/06 5:40 pm<br></i>

Re: Thinking about moving to MN

Posted: Mon Jan 02, 2006 6:23 pm
by SolanumTuberosum
That's good that he's only 13, then he could still play a year or two of bantams. It's hard to jump into a good Minnesota hockey program at the high school level, because the hometown kids kind of have the upper hand because they are more associated with the program. Being able to play Bantams first gives the coaches a couple years to see the talent that the kid has, and gives the kid a better chance of making varsity when he gets into his sophomore/junior year. I know the Moorhead Youth Hockey program very well, and it is arguably the best in the country. They have had plenty of people transfer to the program in the last 5 years; there have been kids who have done really well and others who didn't even make the team. Two years ago there was a goalie who transfered from Alexandria and did very well (we already had a great goalie and the 2 goalies ended up playing every other game), the same year a kid transfered from Fargo North (a forward) and he ended up being one of the best players on the team. Last year a kid transfered from International Falls (a dominate minnesota team 20 or 30 years ago) and he did pretty well. Last year a couple 10th graders transfered from Fargo North (apparently a couple of Fargo North's better JV players) and 1 of the two kids didn't even make the Moorhead JV team, and the other one who did make it was on the 4th line and never played. So all in all, the only people who have transferred to Moorhead and have done well were the best players on their team at the time they transferred. But, also, all the people I have mentioned transferred when they were in high school and not when they were in Bantams. It's always a risky play when transferring to a school with a hockey program as good as Moorhead's, but if you do make the team, you are going to be on a great team, and will also get a lot of attention from from college and professional scouts. I know that almost every NHL team had a scout at at least one of Moorhead's games last year. Moorhead makes it to state almost every year, so that would be a great bonus for your son. But, it's a risk/reward deal, do you want to send him to a school where you know he's gonna make the team and you know he's going to play, or do you want to send him to a school where he's not a shoe-in to make the team, but if he does make it he's going to get a ton of attention and is going to have a great experience. <p></p><i></i>

Re: Thinking about moving to MN

Posted: Mon Jan 02, 2006 6:34 pm
by hockeykid14
Mankato is a great place to live with three rinks(indoor) with the benifits of watching college action in this town too...I know that you and your son will end up making the right choice and good luck...<br><br><br>P.S. The Avalanche Are way better then the wild...Stay Avs fans!!!<!--EZCODE EMOTICON START :hat --><img src=http://www.ezboard.com/images/emoticons/pimp.gif ALT=":hat"><!--EZCODE EMOTICON END--> <p></p><i></i>

Re: mn schools

Posted: Mon Jan 02, 2006 7:13 pm
by GNHogger
hill. you omitted eden prairie from the list. there coaching staff would welcome anybody with open arms (unlimited promises) on playing time etc..but dump you if things don't turn out (rob schriber). pick another school with coaches who aren't clueless. <p></p><i></i>

Re: mn schools

Posted: Mon Jan 02, 2006 8:09 pm
by puckfan2
GNHogger-The only one clueless on this board is you. You add nothing constructive to this board. All you do is constantly bash the E.P. coaching staff. You throw around alot of innuendo but most of it is garbage. Why the reason for all the hostility? Parent of a kid that was cut? Former coach who was let go? Whatever the reason I suggest you grow up and just let it go. <p></p><i></i>

I'm Sorry, But This Cracks Me Up

Posted: Mon Jan 02, 2006 8:17 pm
by EREmpireStrikesBack
<!--EZCODE EMOTICON START :rollin --><img src=http://www.ezboard.com/images/emoticons/roll.gif ALT=":rollin"><!--EZCODE EMOTICON END--> <br><br><!--EZCODE EMOTICON START 8) --><img src=http://www.ezboard.com/images/emoticons/glasses.gif ALT="8)"><!--EZCODE EMOTICON END--> <p>Elk River AA State Champions- 2001 Boys & 2004 Girls</p><i></i>