Wingman:wingman wrote:1. Bottom line with AAA playing like 50-60 games and getting all the top scouts and talent drafted to the NHL, USHL, Div 1, aaaannnnndd High school hockey in Minnesota is losing more and more kids to USHL, NAHL, & AAA early, it only says one thing. MN High schools have chosen not to be the future prospecting grounds for D1, NHL, etc (all above).
2. And the indiviual above that said look at the home towns on the rosters--they ain't dominated with kids from Minnesota any more, he is right on....not the same numbers as lets say back in the 70's.
3. MN high schools are limiting number of games, and are putting restrictions so that options are greater other places. Simple. Make the rules to enhance the program and it becomes better, put restrictions on it (regardless if you have feelings of wether they are good or not) you make other options look better.
4. I predict in 20 years-or so-, most of the best talent in Minnesota will leave before they are 16, and a league, with less restrictions, will compete with the MN state high school league for all the talent, thereby diluting the talent further. I mean look at community based associations right now.
5. 20 years ago no one played for the AAA Fire, etc. They played for their community. Now we lose kids to this team and others, STARTING AT PEEWEES.
6. There will soon be a Tier 1 U16 team that will possibly start competing for the TOP Bantams - with something like 10 teams here in the state of MN all made up of the stars of the state--diluting community teams even more. Soon playing for your community--or maybe even your high school--- won't be the aspiration. Sad but true and look around it is the future.............Please note I'm stating fact not wether I like it or not...just fact......
7. for example---MN Summer AAA teams have grown exponentionally from 1 AAA team in 1995(per age group) to well over 20-30 teams per age group in 2010. Hey that is only 15 years---the changes they are a comin....!
You and I see the same things and reach completely different conclusions.
1) Minnesota high schools are losing far fewer players to the USHL. Not too long ago there were 40-50 "high school eligible" Minnesotans playing there and we are down to 10-15. NAHL and AAA Midgets have not been a real threat lately.
2) It is not the same as in the 1970s, but not because Minnesota hockey is weaker. There is real hockey played in California, Texas, Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, the Carolinas, Ohio, and the DC area. Where hockey in the US was once "the Three Ms" (MN, MI, MA) and a little on the side, today it is nearly national, at least matching the footprint of the NHL. Saying Minnesota hockey is down because of a lower percentage playing college is like saying Canadian hockey is off because they make up less of the NHL.
3) The HS league has done a lot, and outside interests (MN Elite League) have filled a needed void. Teams play more games and periods are longer, plus top players get another 20 games in the fall. What you are saying isn't really a problem. Kids get enough games.
4) 20 years is a long way out. Schools nationally are dropping JV and middle school sports. Extracurricular programs are on the chopping block. It is most likely that your scenario comes to pass because of budget issues, not the inability of Minnesota HS hockey to get its act together.
5) And others? Which others? Some kids from the Twins have played on a Wisconsin based team and you act like the sky is falling. Are we going to have a bunch of Fire teams? It seems as though Minnesota Hockey has been working to prevent that.
6) Soon? Fact? I was not aware. Seems to me you are making this stuff up.
7) Summer teams? Oh please. In 15 years you cite a change, but THIRTY years ago I traveled to Winnipeg with a Spring all-star Wantasa team that today would be called AAA. There was a good amount of summer hockey. The main difference today is that people are working pretty hard to form all-star options as opposed to the stuff we usually did.
Basketball nationwide has been changed because of summer "AAU" (it usually is shoe-sponsored and not AAU, but that's what people call it) tournaments. Despite this, you still have Varsity basketball in-season throughout the country. The places where AAA hockey has grown most are not the normal areas for school hockey.