The Hermantown Thread

[Slap Shot]

Herman(Ely,Virginia,Denfeld,Proctor, Hayward)town. I think we can all agree that transfers happen. But there was a list earlier on this topic with ten or more kids from elsewhere. That is about half your team. A little excessive! A transfer here and there is one thing, but half your team? And play class A hockey and have tgat many transfers.

8 straight c-chip games
9 out of 11 years in c-chip game
Still in class A hockey
What is left to prove in class A?
Keep winning the little boys tourney with your big boys team. D1 team beating up on D3 teams, congratulations!

Have posted this three or four times since tourney. No one has given a reason for staying in class A

Actually there are a lot if reasons that have been posted, have been stated by their coaches and players, have be es n stated by others on various platforms, have been put out by their supporters many times in the past. Some people just refuse to accept the different reasons.

It's rather convenient that all those "different reasons" happen to coincide with one school getting more transfers than anyone else and by a wide margin. So much so that it no no way sounds coincidental.

[Hunters1993]

Ok, been wanting to jump in to the most recent Hermantown discussion for a couple weeks but, haven’t had the time. Well, Covid 19 has now provided me the time I need to chime in. I hope all of you and your families are well and that you’re following the guidelines of local, state, and federal officials to maximize the safety of our more vulnerable citizens. I have a father in his late 70’s who just won a ten-month long battle with cancer and is currently cancer free. But, as many of you know, it takes as long as six months for your immune system to fully recover from the chemotherapy. Which makes him one of those “high risk” people to the virus. I also have two older children who fall into the higher risk category as well so… PLEASE be smart and practice the social distancing that can minimize everyone’s risk.

There’s a bunch of individual posts I’ve wanted to respond to in this thread over the last few weeks. The first is from “doghockey” back on March 1st when he wrote:

“It never gets old watching the wannabe hockey purists whine about St.Thomas. And Blake. And Breck. And Hermantown. Eventually you crabby folks will get your way and there will be no talent in A hockey. Then you will undoubtedly have another thread complaining about the boring A tournament and how nobody shows up to watch the un-epic Dodge County-Pine City games.”

Thankfully, “Ranier” nailed it in his response:

“People enjoy parity, not just overall talent level of teams. If you truly want to just watch hockey talent, then why are you wasting your time watching HS hockey at all? You should be watching the NAHL, no wait, the USHL, no wait, NCAA D3, no wait, NCAA D1, no wait, the AHL, no wait, the Olympics, no wait, the NHL, no wait, the NHL All-Star game. Finally, we got it! If you're only concern is watching the top talent play, then you should watch the NHL All-Star game on a loop, 24 hours a day. Parity is what most people want to see. We have it in AA, where any team could make a run to the title and lower seeds actually win games at state. Just wanna see the same at the A level.”

I’ll add to “Ranier’s” response by also stating that, yes, the overall quality of play in the Class “A” tourney might drop without a Hermantown or a SCC or a Warroad in it. But, the point to having a second/lower class option initially was to allow those teams that would literally never have a chance to get to state in a one class system to do so. Well, in Section 7A, as long as Hermantown is allowed to stay in Class “A” or, the MSHSL passes a new rule that incentivizes them to move up (more on that shortly), none of the other 7A teams will have a legitimate chance at the state tournament and the resulting shot of energy and interest which that trip to state gives to a community’s youth program. It especially won’t happen the next 4-7 years considering the current level of talent in the Hermantown Pee Wee and Bantam teams – again emphasizing that they choose to play in “AA” at those youth levels.

That brings up another significant point; we all talk about how much we value, appreciate, and believe in our “community based” model at both the youth and high school levels. Yet, our administrative leadership in both the youth and high school levels refuse to enact rules and policies that truly support it. In fact, over the last 10 years, both groups have either passed new rules that pick away at the very foundation of our community based model or, in the MSHSL’s case, refuse to uphold rules already in place. The most obvious being their reluctance to enforce the “complete change of residency requirement” to be immediately varsity-eligible on transfers beginning the 9th grade year – see the possible issues at both Hermantown and STA….

Minnesota Hockey could solve the “Hermantown issue” (obviously not just a “Hermantown” issue at the youth level but…) by simply going back to an eligibility rule that requires a player to play in the youth association where they live geographically vs allowing a player to also play where they go to school. Meaning, if you’re going to switch associations you need to move into that other association’s geographic boundary. And, as many others have already suggested, the MSHSL could enact a rule which only allows a Class “A” team to play a “AA” team if the “AA” team is in their conference (and even then, only once per season) or, if they happen to be matched up against a “AA” team in a holiday tournament. I’m confident if that were to happen it wouldn’t be long before Hermantown moved up to “AA” since the core of their advantage is they get to play this incredibly challenging schedule against the top “AA” teams during the regular season but, then have a “gravy train” to get to the state tournament. Talk about getting to have your cake and eat it too….who do they think they are? East High School…

Another post I want to respond to is one from “defense” on March 2nd where he stated:

“I cant figure out why these boards dont have more " how can we beat them?" How can Denfeld win? " ...
Instead of " Hermantown is a AA team blaha.. wah wah.."
People realize that their enrollment doesnt even approach AA yet?”…
Along with another post from “defense” in response to “Hunters1993” that asked:
“I assume you are a Denfeld fan? Why can't Denfeld have any more success than they have??”

Ok -- ”defense” -- yes most of us are well aware that Hermantown’s student numbers aren’t close to the limit for Class A. As many here have already pointed out, that’s not the point. Let me ask you, are you aware that from 2013-2017 that between the Duluth and Proctor Amateur Hockey Associations, approximately 24 total players “transferred/open-enrolled” at Hermantown? AND….only one, that’s right, ONE of those kids’ families actually moved into the Hermantown district? Heck, Proctor’s best Pee Wee goalie’s parents just informed the Proctor youth association that their son is moving to Hermantown next year! So, the migration to Hermantown continues. What’s interesting is, almost all of those parents of players who open-enrolled into Hermantown from Proctor and Duluth when contacted, admitted that the main reason they were switching to Hermantown was because they believed their child would almost be guaranteed a trip to state if they were fortunate enough to play high school. Trust me, since almost all of these kids tend to be above average players for their age group when they choose to open-enroll to Hermantown, these parents almost always assume their kid will eventually play for the high school team. That goes directly to your question about why people from Proctor, or Denfeld (or even now Virginia) aren’t asking themselves “How can we beat Hermantown”? Or, “Why can’t Denfeld have any more success than they have?”.The answer is they know full well why they can’t compete with Hermantown and that’s because of the fact Hermantown has basically been guaranteed a trip to state due to those program’s better players open-enrolling to Hermantown at some point in their youth or high school years.

Let me be clear, I am not accusing either Hermantown’s youth or high school programs of doing anything illegal – although there is some chatter that Coach Andrews may have broken an MSHSL rule in regards to stating his summer program was mandatory on the flyer for last summer’s program. Along with the possibility of certain player’s families not completely moving to Hermantown. To be clear, I don’t have personal knowledge of any of these things but, the chatter is out there in the Duluth-area hockey community. However, as we all know, there is the “black and white” rule and, there is the spirit in which a rule is intended to be applied/enforced. It’s quite obvious to anybody with any common sense or intelligence that Hermantown (among others) is significantly abusing the spirit of the rule(s), especially at the high school level.

Next, is a post from “zooomx” on March 2nd where he states:

Today it's Hermantown
Yesterday it was STA
If Hermantown moves up then tomorrow it will be St. Cloud Cathedral, EGF and Warroad.
Soon after Alexandria, Mahtomedi, Orono, etc, etc, etc.
So, if all larger or stronger Class A schools move up we would be left with a great AA tournament, yet a lot of quality programs that have little chance to make it. The Class A tournament would be a yawner. If we are going to go that route, we might as well just go 3 classes that are more evenly balanced. Let's also identify the rub here. For years Hermantown was sick of playing Jan to STA's Marsha. So they pissed and moaned until STA moved up. Today the screaming about Hermantown is 99% about Section 7A. If Hermantown was 5A, then the Monticellos, Princetons and North Branches of the world would be on this board complaining. My point is this: There will always be a big bully school in the way of some teams getting what they want. Hermantown moving up only moves the scrutiny on to the next school. It will never end and it is exhausting.

My response to “zooomx”: no, if it's not Hermantown it won’t be SCC, or EGF, or Warroad, or Alexandria, or Mahtomedi and no, there won’t always be a “big bully” because literally no other non-metro school has the specific advantages that Hermantown possesses in regards to open-enrollment at both the youth and high school levels. This is an argument that is simply lacking in an understanding of what the realities truly are of the situations of the teams mentioned .

Next, a response to a post by “pekyman” on March 6th where he states:

“ the Hibbing program is disarray and the Red Plan in Duluth (Closing Central, etc.) all happening in 2011, is it any wonder Hermantown got a flood of open enrollment students. The vast majority of these kids were not Hockey players and the ones that were definitely did not need to be recruited. The Duluth Public Schools are still a mess and Hibbing seems to be also. The recruiting thing is just a joke. Hermantown doesn't need to recruit.”

“Peky”; first, I will agree with others that Hibbing’s program is far from being in “disarray”. They’ve had some struggles at the high school level, specifically the last few years but, their youth program is in fine shape and your description is simply inaccurate. And yes, the Red Plan in Duluth created some restructuring challenges and, there were some Duluth public school parents that chose to open-enroll their kids to Hermantown due to frustration with the Duluth public schools in the first two or three years after it was enacted. However, as I stated previously, the vast majority of youth hockey players that open-enrolled did so between 2013 and 2017 and had nothing to do with frustration over the Red Plan. Finally, you’re simply flat out wrong that there hasn’t been any recruiting. Has there been any by anyone in an official position of administrative leadership at the youth or high school levels? I don’t know of any. However, I am aware of certain youth parents making very direct efforts to recruit kids from other youth associations. Especially in the associations in the immediate Duluth area. Definitely not the “joke” you think it is. Again, as has already been mentioned, there is proof of discussion/frustration about this being presented by Hermantown youth parents at HAHA Board meetings.

Finally, I’m lucky to call Scott Pionk a friend and we have discussed the situation regarding Hermantown and that administration’s refusal to move to “AA” many times. As I watched the Class “A” final, it was apparent to me that Aaron Pionk was the best overall player on the ice from either team. When he scored the game tying goal to send the game into OT, I thought how ironic it would be if the son of the most vocal hockey person in Hermantown that wants Hermantown to go “AA” scored the goal that allowed Hermantown to possibly win another state championship which, in turn, might increase the public pressure for the program to move to “AA”. Alas, it was not to be and I genuinely felt bad for Aaron as he’s a truly great kid.

It’s interesting to me that someone who is as respected within the state-wide youth and high school hockey communities as Scott is, along with having helped develop one son into a bonafide NHLer, another who is the captain of his Div. III college team (was selected as a sophomore!), and his youngest son looking as if he’ll be another high level player, is the ONLY person I’ve ever spoken with in Hermantown hockey circles who truly gets it. He’s literally embarrassed by the fact they won’t move up. It frustrates him greatly. I don’t mind putting this out there as I know he’s already stated it directly to those involved. The word he uses to describe the feeling around both the youth and high school programs – and I’ve heard many others who deal directly with players and parents in Hermantown use this word as well – is ENTITLED. It’s as if being able to go to the state tournament is now a birthright. I’m fortunate to know a few of the youth and high school on-ice officials in the area and to a person, the teams they prefer not to work the most are Hermantown’s because of the overall poor behavior of their players and coaches. Not all of them mind you but, far more than in any other youth or high school association in the area.

The other mindset that has entrenched itself in the program is the idea that everyone is out to get them. What’s sad is that is really the result of Bruce Plante’s approach when he would play the “pity card” at the state tournament about them being the “public school champion” before the championship games against STA were even played. Also, that nobody respected them and that Hermantown was this little northern Minnesota town that’s comprised of just “home grown” kids…etc…etc…etc. And, at the time they were playing STA in the finals, people bought it. Unfortunately, it sowed the seeds of a mindset that's become the rallying call every time a call or situation doesn’t go their way. Please understand, there is much about how Coach Plante ran his program that I truly respected. They played the game the “right way” and he never brought up kids early from bantams. Unlike a different high school coach in the Duluth area.

One thing I can share is that there are a group of Hermantown hockey alumns who are in the process of developing a letter they will present to Beth Clark and Pat Andrews that strongly requests that the program move to “AA” as they also feel embarrassed that it has yet to do so. The sad thing is, there are good people involved in both the youth and high school programs at Hermantown. Unfortunately, they have lost their way. They have forgotten that the greatest lessons of athletics -- especially team sports -- is the bond that the journey of each season creates with your teammates and coaches, as well as knowing that no matter how the season ends, the outcome is measured not only on the final result, but also the amount of effort, dedication, and sacrifice expended to reach the final buzzer. But, even more importantly, the glow of any championship achieved shines brightest when the struggle to achieve it is greatest. Thus, until the Hermantown hockey community chooses to challenge themselves at the highest level of high school hockey, the glow of any future championship will never shine as brightly as it otherwise may, always leaving a level of doubt about how genuine that championship truly is.

Your post gave me hope that Hermantown will man up and move to class AA. Do you really think anything is going to change? I have lost all hope of class A hockey.

[defense]

Herman(Ely,Virginia,Denfeld,Proctor, Hayward)town. I think we can all agree that transfers happen. But there was a list earlier on this topic with ten or more kids from elsewhere. That is about half your team. A little excessive! A transfer here and there is one thing, but half your team? And play class A hockey and have tgat many transfers.

8 straight c-chip games
9 out of 11 years in c-chip game
Still in class A hockey
What is left to prove in class A?
Keep winning the little boys tourney with your big boys team. D1 team beating up on D3 teams, congratulations!

Have posted this three or four times since tourney. No one has given a reason for staying in class A

Actually there are a lot if reasons that have been posted, have been stated by their coaches and players, have be es n stated by others on various platforms, have been put out by their supporters many times in the past. Some people just refuse to accept the different reasons.

It's rather convenient that all those "different reasons" happen to coincide with one school getting more transfers than anyone else and by a wide margin. So much so that it no no way sounds coincidental.

So, what you're saying is that Hermantown has a bunch of transfers, and that is why they should move to AA right? Well I'm pretty sure the reasons in question here either really are not concerned with the transfers if there are any, or directly address them. So kinda confused by the post really.

[defense]

Ok, been wanting to jump in to the most recent Hermantown discussion for a couple weeks but, haven’t had the time. Well, Covid 19 has now provided me the time I need to chime in. I hope all of you and your families are well and that you’re following the guidelines of local, state, and federal officials to maximize the safety of our more vulnerable citizens. I have a father in his late 70’s who just won a ten-month long battle with cancer and is currently cancer free. But, as many of you know, it takes as long as six months for your immune system to fully recover from the chemotherapy. Which makes him one of those “high risk” people to the virus. I also have two older children who fall into the higher risk category as well so… PLEASE be smart and practice the social distancing that can minimize everyone’s risk.

There’s a bunch of individual posts I’ve wanted to respond to in this thread over the last few weeks. The first is from “doghockey” back on March 1st when he wrote:

“It never gets old watching the wannabe hockey purists whine about St.Thomas. And Blake. And Breck. And Hermantown. Eventually you crabby folks will get your way and there will be no talent in A hockey. Then you will undoubtedly have another thread complaining about the boring A tournament and how nobody shows up to watch the un-epic Dodge County-Pine City games.”

Thankfully, “Ranier” nailed it in his response:

“People enjoy parity, not just overall talent level of teams. If you truly want to just watch hockey talent, then why are you wasting your time watching HS hockey at all? You should be watching the NAHL, no wait, the USHL, no wait, NCAA D3, no wait, NCAA D1, no wait, the AHL, no wait, the Olympics, no wait, the NHL, no wait, the NHL All-Star game. Finally, we got it! If you're only concern is watching the top talent play, then you should watch the NHL All-Star game on a loop, 24 hours a day. Parity is what most people want to see. We have it in AA, where any team could make a run to the title and lower seeds actually win games at state. Just wanna see the same at the A level.”

I’ll add to “Ranier’s” response by also stating that, yes, the overall quality of play in the Class “A” tourney might drop without a Hermantown or a SCC or a Warroad in it. But, the point to having a second/lower class option initially was to allow those teams that would literally never have a chance to get to state in a one class system to do so. Well, in Section 7A, as long as Hermantown is allowed to stay in Class “A” or, the MSHSL passes a new rule that incentivizes them to move up (more on that shortly), none of the other 7A teams will have a legitimate chance at the state tournament and the resulting shot of energy and interest which that trip to state gives to a community’s youth program. It especially won’t happen the next 4-7 years considering the current level of talent in the Hermantown Pee Wee and Bantam teams – again emphasizing that they choose to play in “AA” at those youth levels.

That brings up another significant point; we all talk about how much we value, appreciate, and believe in our “community based” model at both the youth and high school levels. Yet, our administrative leadership in both the youth and high school levels refuse to enact rules and policies that truly support it. In fact, over the last 10 years, both groups have either passed new rules that pick away at the very foundation of our community based model or, in the MSHSL’s case, refuse to uphold rules already in place. The most obvious being their reluctance to enforce the “complete change of residency requirement” to be immediately varsity-eligible on transfers beginning the 9th grade year – see the possible issues at both Hermantown and STA….

Minnesota Hockey could solve the “Hermantown issue” (obviously not just a “Hermantown” issue at the youth level but…) by simply going back to an eligibility rule that requires a player to play in the youth association where they live geographically vs allowing a player to also play where they go to school. Meaning, if you’re going to switch associations you need to move into that other association’s geographic boundary. And, as many others have already suggested, the MSHSL could enact a rule which only allows a Class “A” team to play a “AA” team if the “AA” team is in their conference (and even then, only once per season) or, if they happen to be matched up against a “AA” team in a holiday tournament. I’m confident if that were to happen it wouldn’t be long before Hermantown moved up to “AA” since the core of their advantage is they get to play this incredibly challenging schedule against the top “AA” teams during the regular season but, then have a “gravy train” to get to the state tournament. Talk about getting to have your cake and eat it too….who do they think they are? East High School…

Another post I want to respond to is one from “defense” on March 2nd where he stated:

“I cant figure out why these boards dont have more " how can we beat them?" How can Denfeld win? " ...
Instead of " Hermantown is a AA team blaha.. wah wah.."
People realize that their enrollment doesnt even approach AA yet?”…
Along with another post from “defense” in response to “Hunters1993” that asked:
“I assume you are a Denfeld fan? Why can't Denfeld have any more success than they have??”

Ok -- ”defense” -- yes most of us are well aware that Hermantown’s student numbers aren’t close to the limit for Class A. As many here have already pointed out, that’s not the point. Let me ask you, are you aware that from 2013-2017 that between the Duluth and Proctor Amateur Hockey Associations, approximately 24 total players “transferred/open-enrolled” at Hermantown? AND….only one, that’s right, ONE of those kids’ families actually moved into the Hermantown district? Heck, Proctor’s best Pee Wee goalie’s parents just informed the Proctor youth association that their son is moving to Hermantown next year! So, the migration to Hermantown continues. What’s interesting is, almost all of those parents of players who open-enrolled into Hermantown from Proctor and Duluth when contacted, admitted that the main reason they were switching to Hermantown was because they believed their child would almost be guaranteed a trip to state if they were fortunate enough to play high school. Trust me, since almost all of these kids tend to be above average players for their age group when they choose to open-enroll to Hermantown, these parents almost always assume their kid will eventually play for the high school team. That goes directly to your question about why people from Proctor, or Denfeld (or even now Virginia) aren’t asking themselves “How can we beat Hermantown”? Or, “Why can’t Denfeld have any more success than they have?”.The answer is they know full well why they can’t compete with Hermantown and that’s because of the fact Hermantown has basically been guaranteed a trip to state due to those program’s better players open-enrolling to Hermantown at some point in their youth or high school years.

Let me be clear, I am not accusing either Hermantown’s youth or high school programs of doing anything illegal – although there is some chatter that Coach Andrews may have broken an MSHSL rule in regards to stating his summer program was mandatory on the flyer for last summer’s program. Along with the possibility of certain player’s families not completely moving to Hermantown. To be clear, I don’t have personal knowledge of any of these things but, the chatter is out there in the Duluth-area hockey community. However, as we all know, there is the “black and white” rule and, there is the spirit in which a rule is intended to be applied/enforced. It’s quite obvious to anybody with any common sense or intelligence that Hermantown (among others) is significantly abusing the spirit of the rule(s), especially at the high school level.

Next, is a post from “zooomx” on March 2nd where he states:

Today it's Hermantown
Yesterday it was STA
If Hermantown moves up then tomorrow it will be St. Cloud Cathedral, EGF and Warroad.
Soon after Alexandria, Mahtomedi, Orono, etc, etc, etc.
So, if all larger or stronger Class A schools move up we would be left with a great AA tournament, yet a lot of quality programs that have little chance to make it. The Class A tournament would be a yawner. If we are going to go that route, we might as well just go 3 classes that are more evenly balanced. Let's also identify the rub here. For years Hermantown was sick of playing Jan to STA's Marsha. So they pissed and moaned until STA moved up. Today the screaming about Hermantown is 99% about Section 7A. If Hermantown was 5A, then the Monticellos, Princetons and North Branches of the world would be on this board complaining. My point is this: There will always be a big bully school in the way of some teams getting what they want. Hermantown moving up only moves the scrutiny on to the next school. It will never end and it is exhausting.

My response to “zooomx”: no, if it's not Hermantown it won’t be SCC, or EGF, or Warroad, or Alexandria, or Mahtomedi and no, there won’t always be a “big bully” because literally no other non-metro school has the specific advantages that Hermantown possesses in regards to open-enrollment at both the youth and high school levels. This is an argument that is simply lacking in an understanding of what the realities truly are of the situations of the teams mentioned .

Next, a response to a post by “pekyman” on March 6th where he states:

“ the Hibbing program is disarray and the Red Plan in Duluth (Closing Central, etc.) all happening in 2011, is it any wonder Hermantown got a flood of open enrollment students. The vast majority of these kids were not Hockey players and the ones that were definitely did not need to be recruited. The Duluth Public Schools are still a mess and Hibbing seems to be also. The recruiting thing is just a joke. Hermantown doesn't need to recruit.”

“Peky”; first, I will agree with others that Hibbing’s program is far from being in “disarray”. They’ve had some struggles at the high school level, specifically the last few years but, their youth program is in fine shape and your description is simply inaccurate. And yes, the Red Plan in Duluth created some restructuring challenges and, there were some Duluth public school parents that chose to open-enroll their kids to Hermantown due to frustration with the Duluth public schools in the first two or three years after it was enacted. However, as I stated previously, the vast majority of youth hockey players that open-enrolled did so between 2013 and 2017 and had nothing to do with frustration over the Red Plan. Finally, you’re simply flat out wrong that there hasn’t been any recruiting. Has there been any by anyone in an official position of administrative leadership at the youth or high school levels? I don’t know of any. However, I am aware of certain youth parents making very direct efforts to recruit kids from other youth associations. Especially in the associations in the immediate Duluth area. Definitely not the “joke” you think it is. Again, as has already been mentioned, there is proof of discussion/frustration about this being presented by Hermantown youth parents at HAHA Board meetings.

Finally, I’m lucky to call Scott Pionk a friend and we have discussed the situation regarding Hermantown and that administration’s refusal to move to “AA” many times. As I watched the Class “A” final, it was apparent to me that Aaron Pionk was the best overall player on the ice from either team. When he scored the game tying goal to send the game into OT, I thought how ironic it would be if the son of the most vocal hockey person in Hermantown that wants Hermantown to go “AA” scored the goal that allowed Hermantown to possibly win another state championship which, in turn, might increase the public pressure for the program to move to “AA”. Alas, it was not to be and I genuinely felt bad for Aaron as he’s a truly great kid.

It’s interesting to me that someone who is as respected within the state-wide youth and high school hockey communities as Scott is, along with having helped develop one son into a bonafide NHLer, another who is the captain of his Div. III college team (was selected as a sophomore!), and his youngest son looking as if he’ll be another high level player, is the ONLY person I’ve ever spoken with in Hermantown hockey circles who truly gets it. He’s literally embarrassed by the fact they won’t move up. It frustrates him greatly. I don’t mind putting this out there as I know he’s already stated it directly to those involved. The word he uses to describe the feeling around both the youth and high school programs – and I’ve heard many others who deal directly with players and parents in Hermantown use this word as well – is ENTITLED. It’s as if being able to go to the state tournament is now a birthright. I’m fortunate to know a few of the youth and high school on-ice officials in the area and to a person, the teams they prefer not to work the most are Hermantown’s because of the overall poor behavior of their players and coaches. Not all of them mind you but, far more than in any other youth or high school association in the area.

The other mindset that has entrenched itself in the program is the idea that everyone is out to get them. What’s sad is that is really the result of Bruce Plante’s approach when he would play the “pity card” at the state tournament about them being the “public school champion” before the championship games against STA were even played. Also, that nobody respected them and that Hermantown was this little northern Minnesota town that’s comprised of just “home grown” kids…etc…etc…etc. And, at the time they were playing STA in the finals, people bought it. Unfortunately, it sowed the seeds of a mindset that's become the rallying call every time a call or situation doesn’t go their way. Please understand, there is much about how Coach Plante ran his program that I truly respected. They played the game the “right way” and he never brought up kids early from bantams. Unlike a different high school coach in the Duluth area.

One thing I can share is that there are a group of Hermantown hockey alumns who are in the process of developing a letter they will present to Beth Clark and Pat Andrews that strongly requests that the program move to “AA” as they also feel embarrassed that it has yet to do so. The sad thing is, there are good people involved in both the youth and high school programs at Hermantown. Unfortunately, they have lost their way. They have forgotten that the greatest lessons of athletics -- especially team sports -- is the bond that the journey of each season creates with your teammates and coaches, as well as knowing that no matter how the season ends, the outcome is measured not only on the final result, but also the amount of effort, dedication, and sacrifice expended to reach the final buzzer. But, even more importantly, the glow of any championship achieved shines brightest when the struggle to achieve it is greatest. Thus, until the Hermantown hockey community chooses to challenge themselves at the highest level of high school hockey, the glow of any future championship will never shine as brightly as it otherwise may, always leaving a level of doubt about how genuine that championship truly is.

Your post gave me hope that Hermantown will man up and move to class AA. Do you really think anything is going to change? I have lost all hope of class A hockey.

Better start to try and get on the Hounds bandwagon I guess

[kniven]

Hermantown stay in A if you want. Denfeld and Hibbing guy angry your standing in the way. Your winning and sending so many kids to D1 hockey. CEC will be there to compete with you soon instead of whining about loosing to you in A . Ps. We will loose to you allot more than we win. We do that already now against East, Rapids, Andover and Elk. Andover and Elk don’t even bother playing us in the regular season. I hear Ashland and North Shore are back onto our schedule next year.

[defense]

Hermantown stay in A if you want. Denfeld and Hibbing guy angry your standing in the way. Your winning and sending so many kids to D1 hockey. CEC will be there to compete with you soon instead of whining about loosing to you in A . Ps. We will loose to you allot more than we win. We do that already now against East, Rapids, Andover and Elk. Andover and Elk don’t even bother playing us in the regular season. I hear Ashland and North Shore are back onto our schedule next year.

Why are you so hell bent on class A?? Just wondering

[kniven]

Well, first of all. I prefer girls high school hockey now over boys. Secondly, everyone on this bored thinks AA is the greatest and A is just a bunch of community cry babies that want everything elementated so they can make it to state. I’m going to throw up. More schools need to be opting down not hermantown opting up. Duluth area has a class A power and class AA power. Leave it alone. I like it.

[Hunters1993]

So, what you're saying is that Hermantown has a bunch of transfers, and that is why they should move to AA right? Well I'm pretty sure the reasons in question here either really are not concerned with the transfers if there are any, or directly address them. So kinda confused by the post really.
[/quote]

Are you really questioning if they have transfers?
That is ultimate head in the sand right there! Oh my !
Herman(Denfeld,Virginia,Ely,Proctor,Hayward)town.

There is no way in you know where you can call Herman(Proctor,Denfeld,Ely,Virginia, Hayward)town community based hockey.

[defense]

Well, first of all. I prefer girls high school hockey now over boys. Secondly, everyone on this bored thinks AA is the greatest and A is just a bunch of community cry babies that want everything elementated so they can make it to state. I’m going to throw up. More schools need to be opting down not hermantown opting up. Duluth area has a class A power and class AA power. Leave it alone. I like it.

This mantra I'm ok with

[defense]

So, what you're saying is that Hermantown has a bunch of transfers, and that is why they should move to AA right? Well I'm pretty sure the reasons in question here either really are not concerned with the transfers if there are any, or directly address them. So kinda confused by the post really.

Are you really questioning if they have transfers?
That is ultimate head in the sand right there! Oh my !
Herman(Denfeld,Virginia,Ely,Proctor,Hayward)town.

There is no way in you know where you can call Herman(Proctor,Denfeld,Ely,Virginia, Hayward)town community based hockey.
[/quote]

Dude. If you are a 1993 hunters grad... damn man.. frustration etc. You guys ever go to FF Christmas tourney?

[defense]

So, what you're saying is that Hermantown has a bunch of transfers, and that is why they should move to AA right? Well I'm pretty sure the reasons in question here either really are not concerned with the transfers if there are any, or directly address them. So kinda confused by the post really.

Are you really questioning if they have transfers?
That is ultimate head in the sand right there! Oh my !
Herman(Denfeld,Virginia,Ely,Proctor,Hayward)town.

There is no way in you know where you can call Herman(Proctor,Denfeld,Ely,Virginia, Hayward)town community based hockey.
[/quote]

No. I am turning your attention to the other reasons Hermantown will never move to AA. Swim away from the light!!! Go!!

[Slap Shot]

Actually there are a lot if reasons that have been posted, have been stated by their coaches and players, have be es n stated by others on various platforms, have been put out by their supporters many times in the past. Some people just refuse to accept the different reasons.

It's rather convenient that all those "different reasons" happen to coincide with one school getting more transfers than anyone else and by a wide margin. So much so that it no no way sounds coincidental.

So, what you're saying is that Hermantown has a bunch of transfers, and that is why they should move to AA right? Well I'm pretty sure the reasons in question here either really are not concerned with the transfers if there are any, or directly address them. So kinda confused by the post really.

I am saying the practice of taking that many transfers doesn't mesh with the idea that they're a smaller program that continues to play an AA regular season schedule while opting to wuss out and play in the A class tournament. They want to play with the big boys but not when it counts.

If they weren't the king of transfers no one would give it a second thought. I doubt St. Thomas or BSM for instance have ever looked back, even though their road to a title now remains infinitely more challenging. Yet all the more rewarding regardless of the final outcome.

I would actually be ok with all A programs staying in A if they limited the privates to as few regions as possible. It would make the A tournament infinitely more interesting.

[Hunters1993]

So, what you're saying is that Hermantown has a bunch of transfers, and that is why they should move to AA right? Well I'm pretty sure the reasons in question here either really are not concerned with the transfers if there are any, or directly address them. So kinda confused by the post really.

Are you really questioning if they have transfers?
That is ultimate head in the sand right there! Oh my !
Herman(Denfeld,Virginia,Ely,Proctor,Hayward)town.

There is no way in you know where you can call Herman(Proctor,Denfeld,Ely,Virginia, Hayward)town community based hockey.

No. I am turning your attention to the other reasons Hermantown will never move to AA. Swim away from the light!!! Go!!
[/quote]

Can’t! That is the exact reason they shouldn’t be in Class A hockey. This is the problem Herman(Ely,Virginia,Denfeld, Proctor, Hayward)town. The transfer thing is the problem. What is your defense to staying in class A with nine transfers(recruits) on one team.

I would suggest you swim towards the light!
Maybe the blazing light will finally help you see the light my friend!

[defense]

So, what you're saying is that Hermantown has a bunch of transfers, and that is why they should move to AA right? Well I'm pretty sure the reasons in question here either really are not concerned with the transfers if there are any, or directly address them. So kinda confused by the post really.

Are you really questioning if they have transfers?
That is ultimate head in the sand right there! Oh my !
Herman(Denfeld,Virginia,Ely,Proctor,Hayward)town.

There is no way in you know where you can call Herman(Proctor,Denfeld,Ely,Virginia, Hayward)town community based hockey.

No. I am turning your attention to the other reasons Hermantown will never move to AA. Swim away from the light!!! Go!!

Can’t! That is the exact reason they shouldn’t be in Class A hockey. This is the problem Herman(Ely,Virginia,Denfeld, Proctor, Hayward)town. The transfer thing is the problem. What is your defense to staying in class A with nine transfers(recruits) on one team.

I would suggest you swim towards the light!
Maybe the blazing light will finally help you see the light my friend!
[/quote]
Budy, I have already stated my stance. You refuse to read it even. Probably mad that Denfeld's one team in ten years got beat by them. Better tournament, integrity, interest, competition, no broken rules, big bad guy, I can go on. You should have another beer or talk to a psychiatrist

[Hunters1993]

Are you really questioning if they have transfers?
That is ultimate head in the sand right there! Oh my !
Herman(Denfeld,Virginia,Ely,Proctor,Hayward)town.

There is no way in you know where you can call Herman(Proctor,Denfeld,Ely,Virginia, Hayward)town community based hockey.

No. I am turning your attention to the other reasons Hermantown will never move to AA. Swim away from the light!!! Go!!

Can’t! That is the exact reason they shouldn’t be in Class A hockey. This is the problem Herman(Ely,Virginia,Denfeld, Proctor, Hayward)town. The transfer thing is the problem. What is your defense to staying in class A with nine transfers(recruits) on one team.

I would suggest you swim towards the light!
Maybe the blazing light will finally help you see the light my friend!

Budy, I have already stated my stance. You refuse to read it even. Probably mad that Denfeld's one team in ten years got beat by them. Better tournament, integrity, interest, competition, no broken rules, big bad guy, I can go on. You should have another beer or talk to a psychiatrist
[/quote]


Your defense is for the transfers ..............

[defense]

Shot maybe???


Tournement had unprecedented interest, competition, and the integrity of it. Just because the Hunter 2020 team couldnt break through doesn't mean the class A tournement is dead. Probably Denfeld wouldnt win any of the sections... Hermantown was the best team! Well second best

[defense]

Shot maybe???


Tournement had unprecedented interest, competition, and the integrity of it. Just because the Hunter 2020 team couldnt break through doesn't mean the class A tournement is dead. Probably Denfeld wouldnt win any of the sections... Hermantown was the best team! Well second best

[Hunters1993]

What is your defense for all the transfers!

[defense]

Denfeld wasn't good enough!!! Ready.. shot.

[Hunters1993]

That is not the question! What is your defense for the number of transfers?

[defense]

Wasn't illegal! Duh. They would be disciplined if it was

[defense]

What if Grand Rapids was in 7A?? You would be whining about a AA school in A!! And they exactly opposite that

[defense]

Alright. Acceptance is setting in.
Want to cure the Hermantown problem? Beat them

[defense]

No. I am turning your attention to the other reasons Hermantown will never move to AA. Swim away from the light!!! Go!!

Can’t! That is the exact reason they shouldn’t be in Class A hockey. This is the problem Herman(Ely,Virginia,Denfeld, Proctor, Hayward)town. The transfer thing is the problem. What is your defense to staying in class A with nine transfers(recruits) on one team.

I would suggest you swim towards the light!
Maybe the blazing light will finally help you see the light my friend!

Budy, I have already stated my stance. You refuse to read it even. Probably mad that Denfeld's one team in ten years got beat by them. Better tournament, integrity, interest, competition, no broken rules, big bad guy, I can go on. You should have another beer or talk to a psychiatrist

Your defense is for the transfers ..............
[/quote]
Didnt Denfeld cease to exist when most of these transfers took place? Pretty sure if I was in Duluth at that point in time, I would be looking for a better school and hockey team for my boy.. just saying bro... Hunters didnt exist.. little defense has to learn and skate somewhere.. Hermantown is right there.. makes a little sense

[defense]

My son has amazing hockey skills.. he dominates our local league. He might get to have college paid for from his ice skills... I should leave him at Ely hockey... lol.
Jesus guys