Is there room for another class in hockey?

Mite-dad · Post by **Mite-dad** » Thu Dec 14, 2017 1:25 pm

Interesting elliott70, thanks for adding the requirements. That really throws a wrench into the third class argument for sure.

LASERBLUE135 · Post by **LASERBLUE135** » Thu Dec 14, 2017 1:37 pm

Let me look at it from another point of view. I'm from a small town in WI. We do have a hockey team, but as we all play 1 division we have never made the state tournament and likely never will. I'm 100% ok with that. We still play 20 games a year. We still get the excitement of playoff hockey. We take pride in beating the "big guys" when we can. It's exciting watching teams from our area (small schools like ours) make the tournament! Its been a long time (over 20 years now, back in 1993) since a small school has won in WI.

In Minnesota the state tournament has a magic that is unmistakable. You can dilute that magic. AND I BELIEVE WE HAVE. I think its hard to imagine that some A schools would not have been able to make the tournament over the years. There have been some extremely talented teams. And based on last years Grand Rapids group, its not unthinkable they would have had the possibility to compete for a title.

I like the 2 tier setup that MN chose, but there is no question it watered down the magic. Please don't do a 3 tier setup. Minnesota is more competitive than WI. No reason to add a 3rd division.

WI currently has 88 teams.

LSQRANK · Post by **LSQRANK** » Thu Dec 14, 2017 10:46 pm

Sure why not, Michigan boys have 3 separate classes in their state tourney. The biggest issue is to get the quasi-A teams who are AA caliper to play AA. Then you would find that the single A teams would rotate thru into the state tournament often. Girls tournament should be held at Ridder to up the excitement level. The X is too big a venue for the amount of supporting fans, too empty .. make the venue smaller .. increase fans ambiance .. better overall experience for the girls teams.

ryguyMN · Post by **ryguyMN** » Fri Dec 15, 2017 11:27 am

I've seen the argument on Twitter that there should be a separate class for Edina - AAA!

boblee · Post by **boblee** » Fri Dec 15, 2017 11:39 am

If there was ever a sign of our participation trophy culture, this is the thread.

mnmouth · Post by **mnmouth** » Fri Dec 15, 2017 11:49 am

boblee wrote:If there was ever a sign of our participation trophy culture, this is the thread.

Exactly. May this thread just whither away and disappear like dust in the wind.

elliott70 · Post by **elliott70** » Fri Dec 15, 2017 12:09 pm

mnmouth wrote:
boblee wrote:If there was ever a sign of our participation trophy culture, this is the thread.
Exactly. May this thread just whither away and disappear like dust in the wind.

Great, now that song will be stuck in my head all day.

mnmouth · Post by **mnmouth** » Fri Dec 15, 2017 12:30 pm

elliott70 wrote:
mnmouth wrote:
boblee wrote:If there was ever a sign of our participation trophy culture, this is the thread.
Exactly. May this thread just whither away and disappear like dust in the wind.
Great, now that song will be stuck in my head all day.

Sorry, brother. I was thinking the same thing when I wrote it and I hate that song.

Stang5280 · Post by **Stang5280** » Fri Dec 15, 2017 5:19 pm

elliott70 wrote:Minneapolis would be given a break I would guess and not sure how St Paul schools are grouped.

I also wanted to express my thanks for your thorough explanation of the league rules regarding state tournaments. To follow up regarding classification of the city schools, the main criterion is the number of students receiving free or reduced price lunches (FRPL). First, the enrollment is modified by subtracting 40 percent of FRPL students. Additionally, any school where this FRPL ratio exceeds 50 percent is able to opt down one classification if desired. So the Minneapolis and St. Paul schools should always be able to step down a class as long as this methodology remains in place.