new 02/03 league

Discussion of Minnesota Youth Hockey

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jg2112
Posts: 915
Joined: Fri Mar 29, 2013 8:36 am

Post by jg2112 » Mon Jul 20, 2015 1:07 pm

Any info on who the college and NHL scouts are impressed with after two weekends of LPH games?

old goalie85
Posts: 3696
Joined: Wed Feb 25, 2009 6:37 pm

Post by old goalie85 » Tue Jul 21, 2015 8:09 am

The forest Lake goalie [TS]. Should be picked early.[Hill/St Thomas/CDH frnt runners]

nobody
Posts: 40
Joined: Sat Nov 03, 2012 11:13 am

Post by nobody » Wed Jul 22, 2015 11:57 am

There seems to be a lot of players missing games? I know some were in Duluth

yesiplayedhockey
Posts: 312
Joined: Tue Mar 04, 2014 7:33 am

Post by yesiplayedhockey » Fri Jul 24, 2015 8:37 am

So parents are now double booking their kids in July. I see this happening more and more. Sign up for everything then pick and choose which games to attend.

jg2112
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Post by jg2112 » Fri Jul 24, 2015 9:25 am

yesiplayedhockey wrote:So parents are now double booking their kids in July. I see this happening more and more. Sign up for everything then pick and choose which games to attend.
Part of the problem of this league was that schedules weren't released until 2 weeks before the games started. Kids were invited to the league in January.

There's a lot of life happening in those six months. Other sports, vacations, AAA, One Direction concerts. Sometimes the kids get double-booked.

jg2112
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Joined: Fri Mar 29, 2013 8:36 am

Post by jg2112 » Tue Jul 28, 2015 8:13 am

Multiple games this past weekend were played 4 v 4 on the girls' side this past weekend. Attendance was tough due to soccer tryouts for the upcoming season.

legalbeagle05
Posts: 27
Joined: Tue Mar 19, 2013 2:31 pm

Post by legalbeagle05 » Mon Sep 21, 2015 1:47 pm

jg2112 wrote: Attendance was tough due to soccer tryouts for the upcoming season.
That's sick and wrong.

:lol:

Redarmy19
Posts: 32
Joined: Wed Apr 17, 2013 10:33 am

Post by Redarmy19 » Fri Feb 19, 2016 1:40 am

Curious to hear the thoughts of those who did participate in this last year. Worth it or waste of money? Would you do it again? Was there really top talent in the league or were the bottom spots filled with mediocre talent?

nobody
Posts: 40
Joined: Sat Nov 03, 2012 11:13 am

Post by nobody » Fri Feb 19, 2016 2:23 am

A sprinkle of top talent, mostly mediocre and lower. It was disappointing. Not much teamwork. Often the teams struggled to bring enough players.

yesiplayedhockey
Posts: 312
Joined: Tue Mar 04, 2014 7:33 am

Post by yesiplayedhockey » Fri Feb 19, 2016 2:24 am

Isn't the better question "how many kids got scholarship offers" being that the stands were going to be packed with scouts.

Seriously my insiders told me

1. Participation was limited - Kids came and went when they wanted

2. Competition level was more open level versus invite level

3. Shifts were long, passes were few and 1-2 kids per team dominated play

4. When asked "would you do it again?" 90% said no.... but I'm betting 75% of this 90% are lying.

jg2112
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Joined: Fri Mar 29, 2013 8:36 am

Post by jg2112 » Fri Feb 19, 2016 3:31 am

yesiplayedhockey wrote:Isn't the better question "how many kids got scholarship offers" being that the stands were going to be packed with scouts.

Seriously my insiders told me

1. Participation was limited - Kids came and went when they wanted

2. Competition level was more open level versus invite level

3. Shifts were long, passes were few and 1-2 kids per team dominated play

4. When asked "would you do it again?" 90% said no.... but I'm betting 75% of this 90% are lying.
My understanding is there will be no girls LPH league this year.

nobody
Posts: 40
Joined: Sat Nov 03, 2012 11:13 am

Post by nobody » Fri Feb 19, 2016 3:32 am

My take is: If your kid really wants to play and has no other options, take him, especially if you are from the outstate. I would rate the play at upper B level with a few A players and a Few AA players.

The scout thing, it does make the check easier to write for the parents.

SinBin125
Posts: 3
Joined: Wed Feb 11, 2015 6:03 pm

Post by SinBin125 » Fri Feb 19, 2016 3:14 pm

It was a little disappointing. At times it felt like expensive pick up hockey. Other times it was exciting and competitive. It was obvious that the league struggled to get top players to fill the teams.

Most weekends my sons team played with 3 defense. Maybe 7 to 9 kids showed up. There wasn't really any coaching going on at least not in the traditional sense.

The teams were pretty balanced, but they did have to move some kids around after the first week to get a better balance.

This year the format is a little different. They are only having 6 boys teams. The teams will be made up of late 02 and all 03 birth years. I'm assuming this is to help fill the teams. They also moved the games to late afternoon Sunday. No Saturday games and I believe only one game instead of 2 each week.

These are my observations. Yes, I was a little let down by some of it. I wasn't really considering doing it again, but my son wants to do it. If you were to ask my kid if he liked it he'd tell you absolutely YES and that he wants to play again. He made some new friends too. That is the best part if you ask me.

yesiplayedhockey
Posts: 312
Joined: Tue Mar 04, 2014 7:33 am

Post by yesiplayedhockey » Sat Feb 20, 2016 1:29 am

Here is my issue with "asking the kid"...If you asked your kid "do you want chocolate cake for breakfast" he's going to say yes. If you ask your kid do you want a new Xbox with Grand Theft Auto...He's going to say yes..

It's our job to parent these kids and make sure we are limiting how much is to much. I've said this in other posts, Go to Tria and see who the doctors are treating today..It's not a 75 year old man....It's 12 year olds with bad groins, its 15 year olds with hip problems. Let the kids the rest. Let the kids recover. Let the kids be kids on a Sunday night in July.

I get it, to each their own..I get it, it's hard to say no when that damn Jimmy down the street is getting all the press on YHH. But no specials schools, no private lessons and no Sunday night hockey is going to matter if the kid develops health issues or is burned out by the time he or she hits 16. Keep them hungry by pulling back. Keep them energized by making hockey what it is, a sport, and not what it's becoming, a job. Thank you for allowing me to share my thoughts. I know some of you will agree with this and some will disagree. My guess is most will agree yet still ignore my advice and I'm fine with that

I'll see you at the rink (Just not on a beautiful Sunday night during one of Minnesota's short summer months.)

SinBin125
Posts: 3
Joined: Wed Feb 11, 2015 6:03 pm

Post by SinBin125 » Sat Feb 20, 2016 1:56 am

yesiplayedhockey - I'm struggling to put together a response to your comment about it being "our job to parent these kids and make sure we are limiting how much is too much" that isn't rude. You've made some pretty broad assumptions.

Just because I ask my kid if he wants to play doesn't mean I never say 'no' to him. I don't ask the question in the first place if my answer is 'no'. I'm also not going to sign my kid up for something without asking him if he is interested in participating.

One of the things we work very hard to do is give our kid balance. He plays other sports in the summer, he has down time and we limit hockey camps and clinics. Your broad assumptions and parenting lessons should be kept to yourself.

yesiplayedhockey
Posts: 312
Joined: Tue Mar 04, 2014 7:33 am

Post by yesiplayedhockey » Sat Feb 20, 2016 3:23 am

SinBin

I think you are missing the point of a OPEN forum. It's to share ideas, to discuss topics openly. If you feel threatened by my post I think that falls back on you not me. Broad assumptions are part of the forum.

I'm happy your family has a "well balanced" life. I'm happy you seem have all the answers for your family. I actually agreed 100% with your summary of the league.

I'm not here to fight. I simply here to share my thoughts and past experiences with the sport. Chances are our kids will be fine. The only real victim in all of this is the sport of hockey. More and more families are keeping their kids away from this great sport. They hear the horrors stories, they don't have the money it takes to keep up with the jones and worst of all they see all the craziness.

If you think year around hockey is best for your kids, I wish you nothing but luck. But I'm encouraging all my friends, family and loved ones that it's okay to take a break. It's okay to hide the skates for a month or so. At the end of the day I guarantee you it will have NO impact on whether he plays 4th line as a 11th grader for a class A school or is taken in first round in the 2022 NHL draft

Redarmy19
Posts: 32
Joined: Wed Apr 17, 2013 10:33 am

Post by Redarmy19 » Mon Feb 22, 2016 2:36 am

SinBin125 wrote:It was a little disappointing. At times it felt like expensive pick up hockey. Other times it was exciting and competitive. It was obvious that the league struggled to get top players to fill the teams.

Most weekends my sons team played with 3 defense. Maybe 7 to 9 kids showed up. There wasn't really any coaching going on at least not in the traditional sense.

The teams were pretty balanced, but they did have to move some kids around after the first week to get a better balance.

This year the format is a little different. They are only having 6 boys teams. The teams will be made up of late 02 and all 03 birth years. I'm assuming this is to help fill the teams. They also moved the games to late afternoon Sunday. No Saturday games and I believe only one game instead of 2 each week.

These are my observations. Yes, I was a little let down by some of it. I wasn't really considering doing it again, but my son wants to do it. If you were to ask my kid if he liked it he'd tell you absolutely YES and that he wants to play again. He made some new friends too. That is the best part if you ask me.
Thanks, this was really helpful.

Section 8 guy
Posts: 540
Joined: Sun Jun 24, 2012 9:04 pm

Post by Section 8 guy » Mon Feb 22, 2016 5:00 pm

One good litmus test is to find a handful of friends that have older kids playing Bantams or High School hockey Ask them if it's apparent now which kids in their sons age group played year round hockey when they were younger and if it appears to have benefitted them.......and which approach they took with their older sons and if they would repeat their choice or do it differently.

Learning from those that have seen more of the development process can probably provide good information.

JSR
Posts: 1673
Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2009 5:26 pm

Post by JSR » Wed Feb 24, 2016 5:10 am

Section 8 guy wrote:One good litmus test is to find a handful of friends that have older kids playing Bantams or High School hockey Ask them if it's apparent now which kids in their sons age group played year round hockey when they were younger and if it appears to have benefitted them.......and which approach they took with their older sons and if they would repeat their choice or do it differently.

Learning from those that have seen more of the development process can probably provide good information.
On paper that sounds good but depending on your sample size doesn't give a whole lot of clarity the way you think it would. I would say it really depends a lot on a lot of factors. For instance I'd say kids who made the national camp are a good litmus test as far as high school age kids who are at the top of their age group. It's not 100% of them but it's a good cross section and barometer in general terms. Of the ones that I know personally who made it there from the 2000 age group as an example. Five of them are what I would probably call "year round hockey players", then there is one who was a three sport athlete all the way through his freshman year and made it to the national camp, definitely not a year round kid before but since he made that camp he has now as a sophomore become year round, but this is the first time doing that, he is a tremendous all around athlete for sure. The last kid was sort of the late bloomer type, was on a lot of B and C teams through pee wees, then got on an A team his first bantam year, then made a AAA team his bantam major year and made natty camp from there. He is a goalie though.... he started doing year round toward the end of second year of pee wees and it's tough to say if that was the reason for his sudden rise or if it just coincided with growth spurts and coordination working its way out etc... That's a pretty small sample size of kids who made it to the "top" as they say for the age group. I also know year rounders who are good hockey players and are still chasing the dream, I know ones who are not who are good hockey players but aren't chasing it. I know year rounders who have quit the sport and I know three sport athlete non year rounders who quit the sport. So I could talk to all these families and I would get 15 different answers I guarantee it... like I said, nice idea, and all information and input is always welcome but ultimately its the individual kid and family and the route that is right for them that matters

nobody
Posts: 40
Joined: Sat Nov 03, 2012 11:13 am

Post by nobody » Wed Feb 24, 2016 5:35 am

There are kids that want to do nothing other than hockey. Their no hockey days are wishing they were playing hockey--with other kids with the same mindset. They are driven and when they meet a good coach magic happens. Unfortunately hockey has more than its share of corruption and that will cull off good players more than "year round hockey"

Section 8 guy
Posts: 540
Joined: Sun Jun 24, 2012 9:04 pm

Post by Section 8 guy » Wed Feb 24, 2016 6:20 pm

My bad. I thought we were talking about improving and getting better. I didn't know we were talking about " Getting to the top".

So.....if we're talking about "getting to the top"......then.......there's a good chance you are 99% nuts.

yesiplayedhockey
Posts: 312
Joined: Tue Mar 04, 2014 7:33 am

Post by yesiplayedhockey » Thu Feb 25, 2016 2:33 am

I think the definition of "year around hockey" varies from parent to parent.

Let's admit the standard is now Association hockey October - March...AAA hockey April and May then again in August. So is that year around hockey? maybe to some but not to others.

For me, I define year around hockey as that parent who insists his kids need to also play in every "select" tournament they can possibly sign up for. They attend a camp or two and private lessons and special Sunday night leagues. Oh and lets not forget about all the 3x3 stuff or the hockey schools. These are the parents who deep down honestly believe more is better. I would say these types of activities result in more burn out than corruption. In my humble opinion, corruption tends to effect us parents more than it does the kids.

But let's be honest here every parent knows (or thinks they know) whats best for their kid. So no matter how many articles get published on over use or burnout out, 99.99% of the parents will simply say "not my kid, he's different"

Someday, someone will have all sorts of fun stats for us to read on this very topic. Heck maybe a book is already in the works. When it does, I'm willing to bet my left testicle that what you will see is what we all know. Talent will rise to the top, whether that talent is playing hockey 6 months a year or 365 days a year

JSR
Posts: 1673
Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2009 5:26 pm

Post by JSR » Thu Feb 25, 2016 6:09 am

Section 8 guy wrote:My bad. I thought we were talking about improving and getting better. I didn't know we were talking about " Getting to the top".

So.....if we're talking about "getting to the top"......then.......there's a good chance you are 99% nuts.
Define what we are talking about then.... I didn't define it as getting to the top. I defined it as what each individual wants out of it. I just used one subset as an example..... that said, then again if everyone had your mindset we'd have no one to watch in the NHL, AAA or travel hockey wouldn't exist, and everyone would just play pond hockey all day every day. :roll: (see how ridiculous it sounds when someone puts words in your mouth and takes you out of context)

JSR
Posts: 1673
Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2009 5:26 pm

Post by JSR » Thu Feb 25, 2016 6:14 am

yesiplayedhockey wrote:I think the definition of "year around hockey" varies from parent to parent.

Let's admit the standard is now Association hockey October - March...AAA hockey April and May then again in August. So is that year around hockey? maybe to some but not to others.

For me, I define year around hockey as that parent who insists his kids need to also play in every "select" tournament they can possibly sign up for. They attend a camp or two and private lessons and special Sunday night leagues. Oh and lets not forget about all the 3x3 stuff or the hockey schools. These are the parents who deep down honestly believe more is better. I would say these types of activities result in more burn out than corruption. In my humble opinion, corruption tends to effect us parents more than it does the kids.

But let's be honest here every parent knows (or thinks they know) whats best for their kid. So no matter how many articles get published on over use or burnout out, 99.99% of the parents will simply say "not my kid, he's different"

Someday, someone will have all sorts of fun stats for us to read on this very topic. Heck maybe a book is already in the works. When it does, I'm willing to bet my left testicle that what you will see is what we all know. Talent will rise to the top, whether that talent is playing hockey 6 months a year or 365 days a year
Except your theory assumes that talent is a genetically embedded thing that can't be altered.... Don't get me wrong, I don't personally believe in playing 365 days a year but I also don't believe talent is natural. I believe it's developed. I believe your height, to s certain degree your build and to a certain small degree your natural athletic gifts are genetically predetermined but I also believe through enough practice and hard work a lot can be overcome provided your have atleast "enough" of the predetermined stuff.... hence would the talent that rises to the top through 365 days a year training still rise t the top with only 6 months a year training. It's literally impossible o know :?:

yesiplayedhockey
Posts: 312
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Post by yesiplayedhockey » Thu Feb 25, 2016 8:36 am

Maybe..Who knows. It's a great discussion

Repetition is very effective especially at a young age but I think to some degree it really only gives a lot of these kids a "head start" over the rest of the pack. At the end of the day if you are 5'7" and have perfect form going around those cones or 6'2" and shoot the puck hard but can't win a battle, that may not be enough to get you past a high school locker room.

When I talk to scouts, aside from being a great skater, many of the things they look for aren't necessary taught at some hockey school or from a private instructor or at another summer hockey league..It comes from within

I agree in general what you are saying JSR. I just worry that some parents focus to much on quantity and not enough on quality.

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