U15

[Mavs]

Did the U15 experiment work last year and do folks think this level will be more or less competitive than a year ago? Other than the top 4-6 teams there really weren't many "top" tier teams. Thoughts?

I don't think there will ever be more than 5-6 top end teams due to needs at JV and Varsity taking 9th graders and top 8th graders. The top teams are always the teams that stay together.

Anoka was an exception last year keeping all but one 9th grader down in U15.

Edina, Minnetonka. Andover will likely keep that good group of 8th graders together so look for Edina, Andver, Minnetonka and not sure who else?

[AlterEagle]

Did the U15 experiment work last year and do folks think this level will be more or less competitive than a year ago? Other than the top 4-6 teams there really weren't many "top" tier teams. Thoughts?

Daughter played last year. I thought the league was good. There were 1-5 deep teams, another 5-10 that were competitive with the top 5 on many nights. I thought the skill level of hockey was much better than U12. Speed was definitely faster. I'm sure those 3 you list will be at the top and maybe one or 2 surprises like Buffalo and NE Metro were last year.

[hockeychopper]

Did the U15 experiment work last year and do folks think this level will be more or less competitive than a year ago? Other than the top 4-6 teams there really weren't many "top" tier teams. Thoughts?

Daughter played last year. I thought the league was good. There were 1-5 deep teams, another 5-10 that were competitive with the top 5 on many nights. I thought the skill level of hockey was much better than U12. Speed was definitely faster. I'm sure those 3 you list will be at the top and maybe one or 2 surprises like Buffalo and NE Metro were last year.

Having older daughters and not as close to the youth programs anymore, has the overall talent level for girls hockey improved enough over the years that more and more 9th and perhaps a few 8th graders can compete at the HS Varsity level? Is this why more and more HS programs have 8th and 9th graders on the roster OR is it because numbers in some areas are down so they keep as many as they need to fill out varsity and jv teams?