AAA hockey

Discussion of AAA Hockey

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hockeymomtomany
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Joined: Tue Sep 17, 2013 12:59 am

AAA hockey

Post by hockeymomtomany » Tue Sep 17, 2013 10:12 am

How do you choose the right AAA program for your child? We are feeling very torn on the decision.
Our son was given an opportunity to play with Team Walser from MM but we also have a great AAA program in our town.
I have noticed that most people given the chance go to MM. Is it an opportunity we shouldn't pass up for our son?
Any insight in this would be greatly appreciated.
Last edited by hockeymomtomany on Tue Sep 17, 2013 11:45 am, edited 1 time in total.

This is nuts!
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Re: AAA hockey

Post by This is nuts! » Tue Sep 17, 2013 10:46 am

hockeymomtomany wrote:How do you choose the right AAA program for your child? We are feeling very torn on the decision.
Our son was given an opportunity to play with Team Walser from MM but we also have a great AAA program in our town.
I have noticed that most people given the chance go to MM. Is it an opportunity we shouldn't pass up for our son?
Any insite on this would be greatly appreciated.
Two things to consider. Where will he have the most fun? And where is the better development.. It would be helpful to know your other choice.. Remember Walser is the mm's "C" level team.. But development is good at the made..

barry_mcconnell
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Post by barry_mcconnell » Tue Sep 17, 2013 11:48 am

A big part of the equation is the coaching. Just because the 02's are happy and developing doesn't mean the 04's will. Make sure you talk with the head coach and decide if his coaching style is a good fit for your kid.

There are lots of choices in that same group of teams that Walser is in. Whatever team you choose make sure they have nice uniforms. :wink:

InigoMontoya
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Post by InigoMontoya » Wed Sep 18, 2013 6:50 am

Another factor is the location of 'our town'. If it is Eden Prairie or Bloomington or Hopkins, no big deal; if it is Duluth, you'd better factor in the time on the road and cost of gas. An hour's drive each way in your Suburban will cost you about $20 per practice; at 70 touches, that's probably more than twice the cost of the team in your town, not to mention the 140 hours spent in the vehicle (and the 2 hours you need to entertain yourself, since you can't just run back home after dropping him off).

hockeymomtomany
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Post by hockeymomtomany » Wed Sep 18, 2013 9:26 am

Location is not a problem. We just want what is best for our son but we really don't know.

Wet Paint
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Post by Wet Paint » Wed Sep 18, 2013 10:42 am

You need to figure out what you want from AAA hockey. There are basically 2 kinds of programs that are out there.

The first kind is if your kid just likes hockey and want to play some summer hockey. They don't practice, they have tryouts but don't really cut anybody whose check clears the bank and etc. They can be fun, sort of expensive (in the 750 range), and go to tournies in places like Duluth, St Cloud, Blaine, and etc. Just that fun summer stuff. They are great for making friends and meeting new people and for getting out of town for a few weekends in the summer. They are good if your kid is training hard someplace and you want to give him/her place to tryout their new skills in a game. Not much coaching (if any) the families tend to band together based on towns and programs and your kid should get some ice time assuming they can skate. Some of them that you see advertised alot are the Northland hockey group but there are others. All in all, fun, not much development, slightly spendy, etc. Typically the coaching staff is composed of parents who might or might not be youth coaches. Pretty wide open and free flowing.

The other kind of program is more of a AAA program. They start in the spring, go into the fall, have practices and go to places like Toronto, Chicago, Detroit and etc. These are expensive. You can easily drop 2500+ in a summer with them. You pay to get on the team, buy the jerseys and etc and then you are off to the races. Your kid will be on a team that wants to win. They don't roll lines, they have tryouts and will cut kids who are not good enough to make it but will keep those 3rd and 4th line kids around to make some money. They will tell you things like this year is a developmental year and next year your kid will be a player. They tend to have the same kids year after year so that might or might not be true. They have practices and as long as your kid can make them you will be OK. These are pretty hard core teams and the parents are not really that much fun to be around if your kid is competing with their kid. They have non-parent coaches which adds to the cost. If your kid is good enough to play AAA hockey this can be a way to get some exposure since many of these tourneys have "real" AAA teams in them which are getting scouted at the higher levels. If your kid is playing and is good enough they can wind up as a note in somebody's book, maybe. All in all this is more of a job, can be (usually is) less fun and is another developmental tool.

The face of hockey is changing in MN and does not look like what it did 10 years ago or even 5 years ago. MM and others are behind some of this change and are driving it in many ways. Lots of people don't like Bernie for that reason alone. I am NOT affiliated with them, have never had a kid skate with them, and would not know "them" if I met them at the snack bar, nor would they know me. It is what it is though. Don't do a MM team based on the fact that they are MM and also do not not do a MM team for that reason.

Find a team that will off you what you want out of the season. If your kid is young and you have siblings to go along with him or her then find a team that goes fun places. If your kid is older and is good and you want to get crazy serious about it then go that route.

SCBlueLiner
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Post by SCBlueLiner » Wed Sep 18, 2013 11:44 am

Paint-

There are plenty of AAA programs in between the two levels you just described. There are programs who have regular practice throughout the spring, generally take off around June/July for baseball or other sports, and resume in August. Lots of practice and development, competitive as heck but not flying all over North America. They'll play somewhere around 4 tournaments a year and operate like an actual team, not hired guns out to win.

SCBlueLiner
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Post by SCBlueLiner » Wed Sep 18, 2013 11:50 am

As I clicked on my post and went back to the main page a few programs like I was describing have tryout threads up. Minnesota Magicians, Total Hockey Fusion, I think Easton Stealth and Miracle Gold are along those lines competively from games we've had against them. Solid AAA level teams, not Elite level, but very solid.

hockeymomtomany
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Post by hockeymomtomany » Wed Sep 18, 2013 1:41 pm

The other team is just like what SCBlue has described.

thefatcat
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Post by thefatcat » Thu Sep 19, 2013 10:38 pm

You can get development by simply sending him to a camp if he plays other summer sports. My '04 plays traveling soccer, lacrosse and baseball which leaves no time for AAA hockey so he just did a 5 week camp at MN Made. It's my opinion that he "developed" as much in those 5 weeks as he would have during an entire summer of AAA hockey at a fraction of the cost.

My $0.02

a-rod
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Post by a-rod » Thu Sep 26, 2013 2:55 pm

Great info.

Does anyone have an idea of where CCM Elite Teams usually fit in amongst the programs described earlier in the thread (ie hyper competitive, or more developmental laid back)?

suitcase
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I would also like to know

Post by suitcase » Thu Mar 06, 2014 11:40 am

I would also like to know which teams I should be looking at.
Last edited by suitcase on Wed May 27, 2015 11:21 am, edited 2 times in total.

50cent
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Re: I would also like to know

Post by 50cent » Thu Mar 06, 2014 3:49 pm

suitcase wrote:I would also like to know which teams I should be looking at. We are planning on moving to Minneapolis and looking for a good AAA 04 program. It is confusing to say the least. We will be playing in the Stars and Stripes and the USA International Cup coming up. Would these 2 tournaments give me a good idea what teams we should be looking to try out for? We would like competitive play and good coaching and the team would influence what area we would move to. We enjoy going to tournaments and dont mind traveling.
What team will your son be playing on in these 2 tournaments?

suitcase
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Post by suitcase » Thu Mar 06, 2014 5:35 pm

Maybe I should have said we are concidering moving to the Minneapolis area.
Last edited by suitcase on Wed May 27, 2015 11:25 am, edited 1 time in total.

MrBoDangles
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Post by MrBoDangles » Wed Mar 26, 2014 7:59 am

suitcase wrote:Maybe I should have said we are concidering moving to the Minneapolis area. Some things need to happen first, like selling our house. I know what I'm looking for in a program and know a lot of people in different areas from my years of playing, just none in Minneapolis. I have asked them the same question and they said they would do some checking. I just thought I would ask the people here about there opinion. I have a feeling it will vary greatly but I would still like to hear it.
04's
Miracle Gold
Blades

Miracle Gold has a very strong group of kids and good coaching. Program seems to be more about developing kids than getting rich. Probably not a better program for the money.

Blades have a strong group and also have good coaching. They do a lot of traveling for tournaments so the cost can be a little more.

And plenty of other "good" programs out there.

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