keegan iverson and paul bittner and mac caruth

coach95 · Post by **coach95** » Mon May 13, 2013 8:51 pm

congrats to these 3 for making it to the memorial cup..good luck and enjoy.

It's a big tournament. Represent MN..

Mailman · Post by **Mailman** » Mon May 13, 2013 9:18 pm

coach95 wrote:congrats to these 3 for making it to the memorial cup..good luck and enjoy.

It's a big tournament. Represent MN..

Haven't looked at Portland's site; did they play in the playoffs ?

coach95 · Post by **coach95** » Mon May 13, 2013 9:43 pm

yeah, they played in the games and Mac was the starting goalie..

Mailman · Post by **Mailman** » Tue May 14, 2013 7:03 am

coach95 wrote:yeah, they played in the games and Mac was the starting goalie..

Thanks.

bafata88 · Post by **bafata88** » Wed May 15, 2013 9:51 pm

The discussion on Minnesota High School Hockey vs Junior Hockey always results in a passionate debate. There was plenty of criticism tossed at Iverson and Bittner for leaving high school early. Right now though, it seems their decisions have paid off at least to the extent that they are playing in one of the biggest hockey tournaments in the world competing against players that will be in the NHL in the near future and others who will be first round picks in this year's draft. It is a shame we don't see the hockey media here in Minnesota giving these guys (along with Carruth) even a passing mention. Their and their team's accomplishments this season are a big deal. Congratulations to these Minnesota players making the most of their opportunities.

minnscout · Post by **minnscout** » Wed May 15, 2013 10:01 pm

Good for these guys but looking at their stats they dont seem to be making impact. Looks like they have been scratched a few times in the playoffs.

minnscout · Post by **minnscout** » Wed May 15, 2013 10:04 pm

I was speaking about Bittner and Iverson since they would have benn HS eligible

bafata88 · Post by **bafata88** » Thu May 16, 2013 6:50 am

Some of the games between Portland and Edmonton were televised on Roots Channel. Both Iverson and Bittner saw significant minutes as fourth and sometimes third line guys. Iverson perhaps a bit more than Bittner. Statistics do not tell the whole story. As a fourth line guy, Minnscout, you know there is little expectation to score points. Bittner did gather some points early in the season when he got to skate some with first or second line guys. Regardless, points do not necessarily tell the whole story. Remember these guys are skating with for sure future NHLers. There is no comparison between the level of play in the WHL, especially during the playoffs, and MSHSL hockey. Their development for the draft, I would assume, is one main focus of them being there. But also, these kids are experiencing some big time hockey in front of big time crowds, kind of like playing in the High School State Tournament for four weeks straight. The hockey experience by itself has to be pretty special. I suspect the Memorial Cup games will be televised on the NHL Network.

Tigers33 · Post by **Tigers33** » Thu May 16, 2013 7:57 am

Bafata - ok, does it really make sense to go play 4th line minutes or even scratched? Is it worth giving up all the other things for that? Compared to they could've stayed and logged loads and loads of ice. I would be curious as to the avg. ice time the two would see up there. Here they might have played 25-30 minutes during a high school game.

"For sure future nhler's?" Really? Lately you could say the same is true for those playing college hockey. Look at how many college guys are playing right now for team USA in the world championships.

Nothing in hockey is for sure.

2112 · Post by **2112** » Thu May 16, 2013 9:29 am

These kids are some of the youngest players in the league and on the Winterhawks. Lets have some perspective, they are 96s. Get your head out of the college sand.

mnhockfan99 · Post by **mnhockfan99** » Thu May 16, 2013 9:45 am

I think it is a very interesting debate, stay in hs and be a stud and likely put up a lot of points v. major junior, where the caliber of play is much higher in the W, Q or O. I think Portland is a terrific team and has a top coaching staff, and playing and skating with guys like Jones, Rattie, Pouliot and Petan - who will all be NHLers and possibly stars in that league would be pretty cool and obviously pushes you to be better.

I wish them the best as they obviously took a risk by doing this..one thing I'd say too is it seems like more and more of the college guys recently going to NHL are free agents and not necessarily top draft picks like you find on those 3 Canadian junior leagues...that may be a consideration for some as well...

Bonin2121 · Post by **Bonin2121** » Thu May 16, 2013 9:48 am

Tigers33 wrote:Look at how many college guys are playing right now for team USA in the world championships.

I wouldn't use the WC as a good example for anything. They have a heck of a time getting people to actually play in it, and obviously USA hockey is going to favor college kids when the tournament doesn't mean much. Coming from a college hockey fan.

minnscout · Post by **minnscout** » Thu May 16, 2013 2:28 pm

There is nothing worse than using the excuse that their role is not to score or produce points, really? So when they hit the ice on the 4th line the coach says "whatever you do just check but dont score". Ok, so they can handle the Mike Rupp role, great. Of course they are still young players and will produce points in the years to come but I think you are giving the WHL way to much respect. Baer scored about as many goals in the WHL as he did for Benilde and he played only 5 games in the WHL. If your goal is to play junior hockey wait until you are ready to get a regular shift on the top 3 lines otherwise you are better off playing where you are where you get into every situation and have the puck on your stick.

Tigers33 · Post by **Tigers33** » Thu May 16, 2013 3:48 pm

Ditto!!

And about the WC...looks like lots big names out there in my mind.
Ovechkin, giroux, stamkos, subban, sedin brothers, etc...

Bluewhitefan · Post by **Bluewhitefan** » Thu May 16, 2013 4:36 pm

minnscout wrote:Baer scored about as many goals in the WHL as he did for Benilde and he played only 5 games in the WHL.

So Baer scored just one goal for BSM this year?

coach95 · Post by **coach95** » Thu May 16, 2013 8:45 pm

I agree with batafa. The problem with Mn hockey is that they think they are the best. Yes, it would be great to log a lot of minutes but it is also great to skate against Seth Jones everyday.

Even if Iverson and Bittner never make it to the next level,they have already skated against the top in the world. Their game on Saturday had 10 first round drafts including 1,2,3, You can't get that in high school.

Once again, good luck to them and their team. It is really sad that no one in Mn papers wants to write about this. Makes Mn hockey look really bad if you ask me.

Bonin2121 · Post by **Bonin2121** » Thu May 16, 2013 9:33 pm

Tigers33 wrote: And about the WC...looks like lots big names out there in my mind.
Ovechkin, giroux, stamkos, subban, sedin brothers, etc...

And the US roster has LeBlanc, Kristo, Bjugstad, Jeff Petry... Not quite the squad you'll see at the Olympics. You will see a lot of NCAA guys on a full strength Olympic team, but I'm just pointing out the US roster at WCs is always watered down. The other countries take more pride in the tournament.

394 West · Post by **394 West** » Thu May 16, 2013 9:49 pm

Bluewhitefan wrote:
minnscout wrote:Baer scored about as many goals in the WHL as he did for Benilde and he played only 5 games in the WHL.
So Baer scored just one goal for BSM this year?

Percentage wise he is close Baer scored 5 goals in 19 games and logged a very good amount of ice time. So not that big of a deal

2112 · Post by **2112** » Fri May 17, 2013 9:02 am

minnscout wrote:There is nothing worse than using the excuse that their role is not to score or produce points, really? So when they hit the ice on the 4th line the coach says "whatever you do just check but dont score". Ok, so they can handle the Mike Rupp role, great. Of course they are still young players and will produce points in the years to come but I think you are giving the WHL way to much respect. Baer scored about as many goals in the WHL as he did for Benilde and he played only 5 games in the WHL. If your goal is to play junior hockey wait until you are ready to get a regular shift on the top 3 lines otherwise you are better off playing where you are where you get into every situation and have the puck on your stick.

So practising everyday against older players and learning from a veteran of the league wouldn`t help your game, hopefully your moniker is just that. Ask a kid that made the jump from Minnesota High School to the CHL and they will tell you how much their game improved.

MrBoDangles · Post by **MrBoDangles** » Fri May 17, 2013 9:13 am

Fairly positive that BSM would have had their way with the Vancouver Giants last year.

Baer (freshman) plugged into the Giant's first line in his first game.....?

Bittner (soph?) looks like an ALL STAR when inserted to the first line of the "ALL WORLD" Portland Winterhawks for a few games.....?

I'm able to see the positives of the training and number of games in the CHL when compared to HS, but a little too much credit is given to that league and not enough to the USHL and college Hockey in the states. The smart NHL scouts know this....

That's why you'll see the number of U.S. and Minnesota born NHL players CONTINUE to go up.

mnhockfan99 · Post by **mnhockfan99** » Fri May 17, 2013 9:30 am

I'm a huge fan of MN HS hockey but I ask you - where do most of the top NHL draft picks come from currently? The big 3 Canadian junior leagues..I am all for more MN kids making it to that level, without a doubt..I know there is hesitation for some teams to pick HS kids high or at all at times, because they do not consistently play against other kids who are top end kids and no one with half a brain is going to invest that kind of pick on someone that hasn't consistently proved they can compete and be a player vs. other top end players..

The USHL is a great league I don't think anyone is discounting that...and if Bittner - and I have nothing against him, simply using him as an example - was looking like an 'all star' - why in the world does he have zero points and is -4 in 19 playoff games? If he was that kind of player he should fall out of bed and get a point every couple games..if you think any of the current MN high school kids can hang with Rattie, Jones or Pouliot - sorry..

minnscout · Post by **minnscout** » Fri May 17, 2013 10:01 am

You are right the old time scouts continue to draft CHL players but the NCAA players playing in the NHL has never been higher? The point is you do not need to play major junior hockey to make it to the NHL, if you are good enough you will make it. Watching the World championships yesterday, USA college guys looked pretty good beating the Russian Stars. You cannot convince me that a 15 or 16 year old playing 4th line going in and out of the lineup is better than playing top 2 lines on HS team, getting PP time and having the puck on your stick is better for development. If you can dominate the HS game for a season or 2 sure move on but why rush?

observer · Post by **observer** » Fri May 17, 2013 10:18 am

People, in 10 years the US will roll Canada regularly. It's started already.

The 10th largest city in Canada has 400,000 people.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_th ... population

The 40th largest city is the US is the same size

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Un ... population

There are no people in Canada. Hockey is their #1 sport. For youth in America, as far as participation numbers, it's #5, maybe. We're developing so many more players at such a faster rate it will be all US in the very near future. US players used to come from 4-5 states and now excellent players are being developed in 20 different states. Top players will continue to go to the WHL, OHL and QMJHL, because they're 3 great leagues. After that the drop is steep. Top USHL teams could compete in the CHL without a problem. The top NAHL teams would smoke almost all the CJHL teams other than the top few. Again, the drop in quality in the CJHL is steep.

Bittner and Iverson are both outstanding hockey players. They're not the best 96s from Minnesota. Top 20. They're both in the CHL because they're really big. Not sure either is a scorer. Baer is a 97 but probably a better scorer.

2112 · Post by **2112** » Fri May 17, 2013 10:32 am

observer wrote:People, in 10 years the US will roll Canada regularly. It's started already.

The 10th largest city in Canada has 400,000 people.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_th ... population

The 40th largest city is the US is the same size

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Un ... population

There are no people in Canada. Hockey is their #1 sport. For youth in America, as far as participation numbers, it's #5, maybe. We're developing so many more players at such a faster rate it will be all US in the very near future. US players used to come from 4-5 states and now excellent players are being developed in 20 different states. Top players will continue to go to the WHL, OHL and QMJHL, because they're 3 great leagues. After that the drop is steep. Top USHL teams could compete in the CHL without a problem. The top NAHL teams would smoke almost all the CJHL teams other than the top few. Again, the drop in quality in the CJHL is steep.

Bittner and Iverson are both outstanding hockey players. They're not the best 96s from Minnesota. Top 20. They're both in the CHL because they're really big. Not sure either is a scorer. Baer is a 97 but probably a better scorer.

Yeah we could see how popular the college game is at the frozen four, i think every seat was filled. Still alot of rink and kids playing hockey up north, maybe your argument is valid in 200 years. You were alot more credible when you posted Bantam scores, you are just sour at families that made decisions that you didn`t have the choice to.

bafata88 · Post by **bafata88** » Fri May 17, 2013 8:52 pm

Iverson not a scorer? He had well over 100 points as a Bantam A. His 8th grade year, he played D; and his 9th grade year, he played on a Breck team loaded with upper classmen, so he did not get alot of special team opportunities. Iverson will find his way and he will end up being the player he ends up being. Iverson and Bittner not the best 96rs from Minnesota? Well that is a difficult thing to assess, but the proof ultimately is in who gets drafted higher and who ends up playing in the NHL more. So that assessment is a few years off but I promise you five or six years from now, there is not one person who will ask who is the best 96 birthyear player from Minnesota. Who is the best 88 birthyear player from Minnesota? Who cares I say. Is it not cool that Okposo, Mueller and Johnson and the others have all got there? I'm sure they don't care who is the best 88. I suspect Iverson and Bittner [and Carruth] are enjoying the hell out of the fact that they are playing for the Memorial Cup.

I have said before, each path to hockey nirvana is the right path; it all depends on which path is right for each player and his family. There are success stories and failures from all of the paths. MSHSL hockey supporters do tend to get sanctimonious about the high school, USHL, NCAA path. But it is a good path for alot of kids, not everyone. I am rooting for Iverson and Bittner; and I am rooting for Collins and Gersich. Let's hope they all reach hockey nirvana.

I just hope that Minnesota people understand how big of deal it is to play in the Memorial Cup tournament.

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keegan iverson and paul bittner and mac caruth

keegan iverson and paul bittner and mac caruth

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