Relocating to Minneapolis Area

[DrGaf]

Edina.

If your a private school type person - Hill.

If not the metro, then
Duluth East
Grand Rapids
Moorhead
Roseau


Theses are the best high school - youth organizations in Minnesota (not counting Shattuck... Shattuck does not participate in the MSHSL which will not give your son the opportunity to play in the state high school tournament - which is petty big thing if you are a hockey player)

OK, cool. The state tournament is something he has interest in. I've been learning about the school divisions also (which does not exist in NC). HS hockey here is pooled by region, simply not enough players at an any school, and generally the skill level is not as high as travel.

NO NO NO!

Enough with your northern ideology! Metro RULES.

[xHockeyDadx]

At the base of it all, find a good community with a good commute to work.

EVERY city in town has a team and about 10 rinks within 10 miles of them. Don't pick a school because of hockey. EVERYONE has hockey.

BUT, if you are making hockey part of the decision, I'd look at teams that were top 15 ranked last year in Bantam AA. All of those teams will have a shot at a HS championship. Kids transfer out/get drafted every year from these programs leaving to play juniors. IF, this is important to the family, I'd stay away from the Edina, Minnetonka, Wayzata, and Maple Grove programs ... They. Are. Huge. Your son would have to be a phenom to supplant a life-long resident.

Ideas for what I would look at if I were moving in knowing what I know (alphabetically of course):

Bloomington Jefferson
Eden Prairie
Elk River
Prior Lake
St Michael/Albertville

***Again, just my thoughts and frankly i would make the decision based mostly on my drive to work. Besides the winter you've heard about, the other season we joke about having is road construction.

Got it! Yeah, the commute is not an issue in our situation. Our commute these days consists of traveling to the rink or to some other state to play hockey. We are 30 mins from our rink, that part sucks. Looking forward to suburbia and closer to a rink.

[green4]

2 cents...

1. Where are you or your wife going to work? The metro is a mess for traffic and if you work in Minneapolis you want to live on the west/south side of town, if you work in St Paul you want to live on the east/north side of town.

2. The big stud organizations and schools are extremely deep..the Wayzata's, Edina, Minnetonka, Eden Prairie...so go with caution if you decide to look at the state rankings in high school and pick a place to live based off of that

3. The schools around the metro are virtually all good schools and have high graduation rates with kids going all over the country to college (not talking about hockey), so almost anywhere you end up you will find a good public education....BUT if you can't there's a private school with a great hockey program a stones throw (or 30 miles) form virtually everyone.

4. LIke others have said...AAA hockey is a summer sport here...you'll find that many many many kids though just train at any of the 50 or so off season training locations through the summer where they play pickup hockey a lot and work out on hockey specific skills/weights etc.

Good luck in your move...

Good points, and thanks. We have a lot of flexibility in terms of location. The "academic" topic, when it comes down to it, is really the most important factor. So far our investigation has been pushing us west and southwest of Minneapolis. But also we had been reading MN has many awesome schools. (very different than NC unfortunately). So this method of using AAA for summer development has come up a few times. This brings up the question of training during the winter season. Here, outside his regular team, our son has a private coach he has worked with for a couple years, on top of this, he has attended many skills camps, some lasting an entire season. Is it common for kids to be training outside their team during the season? Also, what skills camps are considered worthwhile in that area?

Lots of kids will have personal training on the side of team hockey. A lot of strength training outside of the team practices. Most high end teams will be skating together 6 days a week so there is not a lot of skating done outsode the team, but I am sure some do. In the off season kids will consistently have skating coaches and what not.

To drop my 2 cents into the equation, I went to Edina recently. School wise it was great. It does very well academically. Hockey wise It was very deep in talent and I never made the varsity team. All the Lake Coference schools are very similar in those two categories, with exception to Hopkins who is more of a Basketball school. Still not bad at hockey though.
What I like about Edina more than the other lake schools is the location. It is closer to the city and as a kid I liked that. It made it a nice blend of suburbia and city life. I would many times take my bike and ride down to uptown, the lakes or the Twins game from my home in Edina. You could do that in Hopkins I believe too, but Wayzata, Tonka and EP just felt too far away for me.

If you are looking at the west/south west side and are interested in a private school then Benilde-St. Margaret's or Breck might be a couple places to look at that have yet to be mentioned. I think living in Southwest/South Minneapolis or St.Louis Park and going to one of these private schools would be solid options.
The Twin Cities are very safe and offer a lot to do wherever you go. I dont think there is many places you could go wrong with.

Depending on when you are here I'm sure people on the forum could recommend some good games to see while you are here.

[xHockeyDadx]

2 cents...

1. Where are you or your wife going to work? The metro is a mess for traffic and if you work in Minneapolis you want to live on the west/south side of town, if you work in St Paul you want to live on the east/north side of town.

2. The big stud organizations and schools are extremely deep..the Wayzata's, Edina, Minnetonka, Eden Prairie...so go with caution if you decide to look at the state rankings in high school and pick a place to live based off of that

3. The schools around the metro are virtually all good schools and have high graduation rates with kids going all over the country to college (not talking about hockey), so almost anywhere you end up you will find a good public education....BUT if you can't there's a private school with a great hockey program a stones throw (or 30 miles) form virtually everyone.

4. LIke others have said...AAA hockey is a summer sport here...you'll find that many many many kids though just train at any of the 50 or so off season training locations through the summer where they play pickup hockey a lot and work out on hockey specific skills/weights etc.

Good luck in your move...

Good points, and thanks. We have a lot of flexibility in terms of location. The "academic" topic, when it comes down to it, is really the most important factor. So far our investigation has been pushing us west and southwest of Minneapolis. But also we had been reading MN has many awesome schools. (very different than NC unfortunately). So this method of using AAA for summer development has come up a few times. This brings up the question of training during the winter season. Here, outside his regular team, our son has a private coach he has worked with for a couple years, on top of this, he has attended many skills camps, some lasting an entire season. Is it common for kids to be training outside their team during the season? Also, what skills camps are considered worthwhile in that area?

Lots of kids will have personal training on the side of team hockey. A lot of strength training outside of the team practices. Most high end teams will be skating together 6 days a week so there is not a lot of skating done outsode the team, but I am sure some do. In the off season kids will consistently have skating coaches and what not.

To drop my 2 cents into the equation, I went to Edina recently. School wise it was great. It does very well academically. Hockey wise It was very deep in talent and I never made the varsity team. All the Lake Coference schools are very similar in those two categories, with exception to Hopkins who is more of a Basketball school. Still not bad at hockey though.
What I like about Edina more than the other lake schools is the location. It is closer to the city and as a kid I liked that. It made it a nice blend of suburbia and city life. I would many times take my bike and ride down to uptown, the lakes or the Twins game from my home in Edina. You could do that in Hopkins I believe too, but Wayzata, Tonka and EP just felt too far away for me.

If you are looking at the west/south west side and are interested in a private school then Benilde-St. Margaret's or Breck might be a couple places to look at that have yet to be mentioned. I think living in Southwest/South Minneapolis or St.Louis Park and going to one of these private schools would be solid options.
The Twin Cities are very safe and offer a lot to do wherever you go. I dont think there is many places you could go wrong with.

Depending on when you are here I'm sure people on the forum could recommend some good games to see while you are here.

Great perspective, thanks so much for this feedback!

[JoltDelivered]

Good points, and thanks. We have a lot of flexibility in terms of location. The "academic" topic, when it comes down to it, is really the most important factor. So far our investigation has been pushing us west and southwest of Minneapolis. But also we had been reading MN has many awesome schools. (very different than NC unfortunately). So this method of using AAA for summer development has come up a few times. This brings up the question of training during the winter season. Here, outside his regular team, our son has a private coach he has worked with for a couple years, on top of this, he has attended many skills camps, some lasting an entire season. Is it common for kids to be training outside their team during the season? Also, what skills camps are considered worthwhile in that area?

Lots of kids will have personal training on the side of team hockey. A lot of strength training outside of the team practices. Most high end teams will be skating together 6 days a week so there is not a lot of skating done outsode the team, but I am sure some do. In the off season kids will consistently have skating coaches and what not.

To drop my 2 cents into the equation, I went to Edina recently. School wise it was great. It does very well academically. Hockey wise It was very deep in talent and I never made the varsity team. All the Lake Coference schools are very similar in those two categories, with exception to Hopkins who is more of a Basketball school. Still not bad at hockey though.
What I like about Edina more than the other lake schools is the location. It is closer to the city and as a kid I liked that. It made it a nice blend of suburbia and city life. I would many times take my bike and ride down to uptown, the lakes or the Twins game from my home in Edina. You could do that in Hopkins I believe too, but Wayzata, Tonka and EP just felt too far away for me.

If you are looking at the west/south west side and are interested in a private school then Benilde-St. Margaret's or Breck might be a couple places to look at that have yet to be mentioned. I think living in Southwest/South Minneapolis or St.Louis Park and going to one of these private schools would be solid options.
The Twin Cities are very safe and offer a lot to do wherever you go. I dont think there is many places you could go wrong with.

Depending on when you are here I'm sure people on the forum could recommend some good games to see while you are here.

Great perspective, thanks so much for this feedback!

Advice on schools and hockey programs has been solid, well written. However the posters here have missed the most important element you should be considering. How is your kid's flow? Some schools are really known for cultivating players with excellent flow. It will be important if he ends up playing at the X in March as seen in this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzhSpdPqexY

[xHockeyDadx]

Lots of kids will have personal training on the side of team hockey. A lot of strength training outside of the team practices. Most high end teams will be skating together 6 days a week so there is not a lot of skating done outsode the team, but I am sure some do. In the off season kids will consistently have skating coaches and what not.

To drop my 2 cents into the equation, I went to Edina recently. School wise it was great. It does very well academically. Hockey wise It was very deep in talent and I never made the varsity team. All the Lake Coference schools are very similar in those two categories, with exception to Hopkins who is more of a Basketball school. Still not bad at hockey though.
What I like about Edina more than the other lake schools is the location. It is closer to the city and as a kid I liked that. It made it a nice blend of suburbia and city life. I would many times take my bike and ride down to uptown, the lakes or the Twins game from my home in Edina. You could do that in Hopkins I believe too, but Wayzata, Tonka and EP just felt too far away for me.

If you are looking at the west/south west side and are interested in a private school then Benilde-St. Margaret's or Breck might be a couple places to look at that have yet to be mentioned. I think living in Southwest/South Minneapolis or St.Louis Park and going to one of these private schools would be solid options.
The Twin Cities are very safe and offer a lot to do wherever you go. I dont think there is many places you could go wrong with.

Depending on when you are here I'm sure people on the forum could recommend some good games to see while you are here.

Great perspective, thanks so much for this feedback!

Advice on schools and hockey programs has been solid, well written. However the posters here have missed the most important element you should be considering. How is your kid's flow? It will be important if he ends up playing at the X in March:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzhSpdPqexY

Too funny. He needs more training on this. But once we get there, we realize there will be little we can do to stop it. Poor kid was the only hockey player in his school for two years, he's been trying to "fit in" with his non-flow haha! I love those videos, I watched all of them.

[SCBlueLiner]

If your kid plays on a Tier 1 AAA Bantam Minor (2002) team this season it is very easy to figure out where your team sits in the grand scheme of things nationally. I would really caution you about how good you think his current quality of play is, seriously. Hockey in Minnesota is just at a completely different level. I have seen players who think they are good (and they were in relation to where they lived previously) who are not even close once they step on the ice in Minnesota. Could your team, right now, beat Belle Tire, Little Caesars, Chicago Mission, Chicago Young Americans, Syracuse Nationals, etc?

A quick look at last years rankings tells me the highest ranked team from the Southeast was TPH Thunder. If that's the case your probably looking at being well on the outside of the Top 10 Pee Wee AA teams in Minnesota last season, probably somewhere around 25th in the state or more in AA. Basically, an average Minnesota AA team. Hermantown PW AA was at about that level last year. What do you guys think, could a AAA team from the Southeast US beat Hermantown?

I know I am sounding like a homer but you really need to do your research on this and not just decide to live where there is a historic Top 5 team. I would hedge my bet a little and settle into a location that has good hockey history but where I know my son would still have a better than decent shot of playing varsity hockey. The thing is, if your son is truly a player he will get noticed whether he is at Edina, Blaine, Stillwater, or St. Paul Johnson. Opportunities will be there through other outlets than just his high school team (AAA Summer, High Performance League, etc.) That's the big difference between playing hockey in the backwaters (where you are currently at) and playing it in hockey crazy area. If you are good here you will get noticed.

[xHockeyDadx]

If your kid plays on a Tier 1 AAA Bantam Minor (2002) team this season it is very easy to figure out where your team sits in the grand scheme of things nationally. I would really caution you about how good you think his current quality of play is, seriously. Hockey in Minnesota is just at a completely different level. I have seen players who think they are good (and they were in relation to where they lived previously) who are not even close once they step on the ice in Minnesota. Could your team, right now, beat Belle Tire, Little Caesars, Chicago Mission, Chicago Young Americans, Syracuse Nationals, etc?

A quick look at last years rankings tells me the highest ranked team from the Southeast was TPH Thunder. If that's the case your probably looking at being well on the outside of the Top 10 Pee Wee AA teams in Minnesota last season, probably somewhere around 25th in the state or more in AA. Basically, an average Minnesota AA team. Hermantown PW AA was at about that level last year. What do you guys think, could a AAA team from the Southeast US beat Hermantown?

I know I am sounding like a homer but you really need to do your research on this and not just decide to live where there is a historic Top 5 team. I would hedge my bet a little and settle into a location that has good hockey history but where I know my son would still have a better than decent shot of playing varsity hockey. The thing is, if your son is truly a player he will get noticed whether he is at Edina, Blaine, Stillwater, or St. Paul Johnson. Opportunities will be there through other outlets than just his high school team (AAA Summer, High Performance League, etc.) That's the big difference between playing hockey in the backwaters (where you are currently at) and playing it in hockey crazy area. If you are good here you will get noticed.

Thanks for the feedback. Yeah, we are on the same page about some of the points. When he plays in Blaine in January we were hoping he'd get the chance to play against some MN teams, not sure any will be attending yet (too early to know). So far this discussion has been extremely helpful. It's interesting to hear the different perspectives. Without going into a huge post about the challenges of hockey in the SE and in NC in particular, our main goal is to keep feeding his desire to improve and try to open doors for him, what he does with it is up to him.

[Night Train]

Best neighborhood: south Minneapolis by the lakes
Shortest commute: south Minneapolis
Best HS: Minneapolis Southwest
Best youth association: Minneapolis Youth Hockey (beat Edina by the way)
Not close, Minneapolis!

[Nevertoomuchhockey]

Best neighborhood: south Minneapolis by the lakes
Shortest commute: south Minneapolis
Best HS: Minneapolis Southwest
Best youth association: Minneapolis Youth Hockey (beat Edina by the way)
Not close, Minneapolis!

Oh my god I'm still laughing 10 minutes later

[MNHockeyFan]

....I'd stay away from the Edina, Minnetonka, Wayzata, and Maple Grove programs ... They. Are. Huge....

Ideas for what I would look at if I were moving in knowing what I know (alphabetically of course):

Bloomington Jefferson
Eden Prairie
Elk River
Prior Lake
St Michael/Albertville

EP. is. not. huge?

[Nuts&Bolts]

Rent so you can keep your options open. And as they say on this bored if your kid is good enough he will be noticed and the path will become clear. Good luck.

[nu2hockey]

here is a different idea

Relocate to Massachusetts instead, they have over 200 high school boy teams. During their season, they can play both high school and tier1/aaa.

In the last 10 years of NCAA D-1 hockey, only 29 Mn kids out of 267 rostered kids have been on a national championship team

Mass has had 47 of 267

Only 1 Mn team(UMD) has won,
Mass teams have won 4

[Bigcat99]

here is a different idea

Relocate to Massachusetts instead, they have over 200 high school boy teams. During their season, they can play both high school and tier1/aaa.

In the last 10 years of NCAA D-1 hockey, only 29 Mn kids out of 267 rostered kids have been on a national championship team

Mass has had 47 of 267

Only 1 Mn team(UMD) has won,
Mass teams have won 4

You work for The Donald?

[nu2hockey]

here is a different idea

Relocate to Massachusetts instead, they have over 200 high school boy teams. During their season, they can play both high school and tier1/aaa.

In the last 10 years of NCAA D-1 hockey, only 29 Mn kids out of 267 rostered kids have been on a national championship team

Mass has had 47 of 267

Only 1 Mn team(UMD) has won,
Mass teams have won 4

You work for The Donald?

GOOD ONE..no, I have been teaching some kids how to work with spreadsheets . One of them decided to use hockey stats for both NCAA and Mn high school stats..

Some of the stats surprised us

[wishiwasfishingguy]

If you are with the Jr. Hurricane program, ask the coach from Minnesota. He has brought the bantam team to Minnesota the last few years and could give you his perspective.

[east hockey]

Your son should enroll directly at Hill. I'm sure everyone here will agree with that?
Purchase a home in beautiful Blaine, MN. A decent commute and your younger children can play with a great association, 8 sheets of ice in your backyard, and great people!
Do you play golf by any chance??

Seriously, MN high school hockey is just about the best you can get in the Midwest. There are a few elite Tier 1 or AAA that could match up well with our top high schools teams, but not many. Good luck!

Well, of course! Just make sure he stays away from parks.

Lee

[thespellchecker]

Wood Mrs XHockeyMomX be a candidate for the reality show?

[elliott70]

Edina.

If your a private school type person - Hill.

If not the metro, then
Duluth East
Grand Rapids
Moorhead
Roseau


Theses are the best high school - youth organizations in Minnesota (not counting Shattuck... Shattuck does not participate in the MSHSL which will not give your son the opportunity to play in the state high school tournament - which is petty big thing if you are a hockey player)

OK, cool. The state tournament is something he has interest in. I've been learning about the school divisions also (which does not exist in NC). HS hockey here is pooled by region, simply not enough players at an any school, and generally the skill level is not as high as travel.

NO NO NO!

Enough with your northern ideology! Metro RULES.

Yes, everyone knows that.
But in the metro, Edina rules.

[DrGaf]

....I'd stay away from the Edina, Minnetonka, Wayzata, and Maple Grove programs ... They. Are. Huge....

Ideas for what I would look at if I were moving in knowing what I know (alphabetically of course):

Bloomington Jefferson
Eden Prairie
Elk River
Prior Lake
St Michael/Albertville

EP. is. not. huge?

Not at those levels. Not huge on talent either at those levels. Room to grow as they say.

[elliott70]

Rochester.

Chosen the best city to live in the USA.
And they do have hockey, or did at one time.

[C-dad]

....I'd stay away from the Edina, Minnetonka, Wayzata, and Maple Grove programs ... They. Are. Huge....

Ideas for what I would look at if I were moving in knowing what I know (alphabetically of course):

Bloomington Jefferson
Eden Prairie
Elk River
Prior Lake
St Michael/Albertville

EP. is. not. huge?

Not at those levels. Not huge on talent either at those levels. Room to grow as they say.

They list 5 teams at both PW and Bantam levels. Doesn't match Edina, but still a very large association. Certainly as big as Tonka.

[almostashappy]

Thanks for the feedback...

I agree that there's been some pretty solid advice, but here's a couple of other points to consider...

1. While AAA in the summer is an option, many/most high school coaches run their own summer training programs from mid-June to the end of July (the State High School league, in its infinite wisdom, restricts the amount of off-season contact between coaches and his players to this six week window of time). A player technically doesn't have to participate in a coach's summer camp in order to make the team that fall, but a lot of unofficial decisions about who is going to make the team are made during that camp. It will also get your kid lined up for fall captain's practices, and give your family a chance to interact with (and size up) the other parents in the program (most STP teams play at least one summer tournament where you'd be able to meet other families). And finally, it gives both your son and his potential coach the opportunity to figure out where he would fit within the program. Transfer rules and eligibility issues kick in on the first day of school in September; if it doesn't seem like a good fit in June there's still time to shop for better options.

So try to get your son up here as soon as he is out of school, if you can, and check with potential high school coaches/programs about getting invited to their camps (cost/time commitment varies by program).

2. Speaking of the parents of potential teammates...if your son ends up on a public high school team, be aware of the potential for grief/resentment from other parents in that program. Parachuting into "their" program means that your son will be "taking" one of the spots that would have gone to a local kid who has grown up playing within the community-based program.

3. The Fall leagues up here are something to look into as you size up summer options. There's a healthy on-going debate about the value/fairness of the Elite League, and it's junior varsity equivalent (the MN Elite Prep Development League), but if your son is an entering ninth-grader next year, might be worth at least talking with a potential coach about how he might get an invite to tryout for the D-league.

4. We have a lot of pro/college scouts that live in Minnesota, and it's not all that hard to run into one during a mid-week high school game. So long, that is, as there's somebody that they're taking a look at. Doesn't have to be your kid they're looking at, or even a teammate...a stud on the opposing team will draw them in, and they don't get paid to wear blinders. In other words, you don't have to be playing for Edina in order to be seen...it's enough just to be playing against Edina once in a while. Or (more to the point), to be playing for a team that either plays a lot of other good teams within their conference/section, or travels a lot to bolster their non-conference schedule.

[xHockeyDadx]

Thanks for the feedback...

I agree that there's been some pretty solid advice, but here's a couple of other points to consider...

1. While AAA in the summer is an option, many/most high school coaches run their own summer training programs from mid-June to the end of July (the State High School league, in its infinite wisdom, restricts the amount of off-season contact between coaches and his players to this six week window of time). A player technically doesn't have to participate in a coach's summer camp in order to make the team that fall, but a lot of unofficial decisions about who is going to make the team are made during that camp. It will also get your kid lined up for fall captain's practices, and give your family a chance to interact with (and size up) the other parents in the program (most STP teams play at least one summer tournament where you'd be able to meet other families). And finally, it gives both your son and his potential coach the opportunity to figure out where he would fit within the program. Transfer rules and eligibility issues kick in on the first day of school in September; if it doesn't seem like a good fit in June there's still time to shop for better options.

So try to get your son up here as soon as he is out of school, if you can, and check with potential high school coaches/programs about getting invited to their camps (cost/time commitment varies by program).

2. Speaking of the parents of potential teammates...if your son ends up on a public high school team, be aware of the potential for grief/resentment from other parents in that program. Parachuting into "their" program means that your son will be "taking" one of the spots that would have gone to a local kid who has grown up playing within the community-based program.

3. The Fall leagues up here are something to look into as you size up summer options. There's a healthy on-going debate about the value/fairness of the Elite League, and it's junior varsity equivalent (the MN Elite Prep Development League), but if your son is an entering ninth-grader next year, might be worth at least talking with a potential coach about how he might get an invite to tryout for the D-league.

4. We have a lot of pro/college scouts that live in Minnesota, and it's not all that hard to run into one during a mid-week high school game. So long, that is, as there's somebody that they're taking a look at. Doesn't have to be your kid they're looking at, or even a teammate...a stud on the opposing team will draw them in, and they don't get paid to wear blinders. In other words, you don't have to be playing for Edina in order to be seen...it's enough just to be playing against Edina once in a while. Or (more to the point), to be playing for a team that either plays a lot of other good teams within their conference/section, or travels a lot to bolster their non-conference schedule.

Love the feedback!!! Thanks so much. Your point #2 is a sensitive one I know. We have been on the receiving end of it here before. The way we dealt with it here was....my son knows he's not "entitled" to anything, he must work and work his butt off. He knows he's not even entitled to a place on his current team next year. Every coach he has ever had has done a fantastic job of hitting home the point that "There is ALWAYS someone right behind you, that wants it as bad as you do." He lives this mantra.

[Wet Paint]

Thanks for the feedback...

*************SNIP************

2. Speaking of the parents of potential teammates...if your son ends up on a public high school team, be aware of the potential for grief/resentment from other parents in that program. Parachuting into "their" program means that your son will be "taking" one of the spots that would have gone to a local kid who has grown up playing within the community-based program.

***SNIP**********

.

Love the feedback!!! Thanks so much. Your point #2 is a sensitive one I know. We have been on the receiving end of it here before. The way we dealt with it here was....my son knows he's not "entitled" to anything, he must work and work his butt off. He knows he's not even entitled to a place on his current team next year. Every coach he has ever had has done a fantastic job of hitting home the point that "There is ALWAYS someone right behind you, that wants it as bad as you do." He lives this mantra.

Gotta laugh here. The potential for parents to become upset with a kid parachuting into a program??? Yeah, the sun could potentially come up in the east, the temps potentially might hit -30 up in MN this winter, and etc etc etc. If you are serious about bringing a kid into MN to play hockey then be smart about it. Forget all of the big western school named here. Their pipelines are full of kids who (no offense meant) are as good as or better than your kid who is coming in from Carolina. Good hockey player in Carolina is not the same as good hockey player in MN. Go to one of those middle sized schools that need players bad enough to be willing to take a look at your son. If you are moving to MN so that your kid can play hockey and go pro (or at least play D1) then you are screwing up big time because in all reality he has as good a chance of getting hit by lightening. As they have said in other posts pretty much all of the kids who play hockey in MN find themselves in front of a scout or 6 at one time or another. Either via tournies or summer hockey or etc. Take your kid to a school in a town that you all like and can live in. That is close enough to your work so that you don't spend all of your free time in a traffic jam and that has a hockey program that has a good coach. Then tell your kid to buckle down and work his a$$ off to help his team and go from there.