State of Hockey's Team

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Slapper Al
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Joined: Wed Feb 14, 2007 3:14 pm

State of Hockey's Team

Post by Slapper Al » Fri Apr 12, 2019 10:19 am

Go Bulldogs! Coach Sandelin should be applauded for what he has done at UMD. 3 straight Frozen Four Title games and he has done it with a roster full of MSHSL guys that finished their careers in MSHSL. Sure there are some exceptions because the path doesn't look the same for everyone, but look at this roster of guys that played through their senior year. 15 kids that graduated from their high schools with their buddies.

3 - Matt Anderson - D Holy Family
4 - Dylan Samberg - D Hermantown
5 - Nick Wolff - D Eagan
6 - Louie Roehl - D Eden Prairie
7 - Scott Perunvich - D Hibbing
10 - Kobe Roth - F Warroad
11 - Koby Bender - F Cloquet
17 - Cole Koepke - F Hermantown
18 - Jesse Jacques - F Hermantown
20 - Jackson Cates - F Stillwater
21 - Noah Cates - F Stillwater
25 - Peter Krieger - F St Thomas Academy
27 - Riley Tufte - F Blaine
30 - Andrew Dietrich - G Eden Prairie
32 - Hunter Shepard - G Grand Rapids

2 more MN boys that left before they graduated Mikey Anderson & Nick Swaney

I think this is one guy that supports the MN Model. Go Dogs!

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

Re: State of Hockey's Team

Post by yesiplayedhockey » Fri Apr 12, 2019 10:34 am

Great stuff...Nice work on digging up the info... We need to see more kids play out their high school careers versus leaving early

Do you know how many went right from High School to college? Age wise they are considered a "young team" in comparison to the other 60 D-1 programs

The question is...If he wins...or should I say when UMD wins...Will the Coach cash in and sign with a NHL team? They have to be knocking down his door

bardown27
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Joined: Thu Dec 24, 2009 10:20 am

Re: State of Hockey's Team

Post by bardown27 » Fri Apr 12, 2019 10:48 am

yesiplayedhockey wrote:
Fri Apr 12, 2019 10:34 am
Great stuff...Nice work on digging up the info... We need to see more kids play out their high school careers versus leaving early

Do you know how many went right from High School to college? Age wise they are considered a "young team" in comparison to the other 60 D-1 programs

The question is...If he wins...or should I say when UMD wins...Will the Coach cash in and sign with a NHL team? They have to be knocking down his door
3 - Matt Anderson - D Holy Family - straight to college
4 - Dylan Samberg - D Hermantown - straight to college
5 - Nick Wolff - D Eagan - 2 years USHL
6 - Louie Roehl - D Eden Prairie - 1 year NAHL
7 - Scott Perunvich - D Hibbing - 1 year USHL
10 - Kobe Roth - F Warroad - 1 year split NAHL/USHL, 1 full year USHL
11 - Koby Bender - F Cloquet - 1 year NAHL, 1 year USHL
17 - Cole Koepke - F Hermantown - 2 years USHL
18 - Jesse Jacques - F Hermantown - 1 year USHL
20 - Jackson Cates - F Stillwater - 2 years USHL
21 - Noah Cates - F Stillwater - 1 year USHL
25 - Peter Krieger - F St Thomas Academy - 1 year NAHL, 1 year USHL, 2 years Alaska Fairbanks
27 - Riley Tufte - F Blaine - straight to college
30 - Andrew Dietrich - G Eden Prairie - straight to college
32 - Hunter Shepard - G Grand Rapids - 2 years NAHL

WarmUpTheBus
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Joined: Thu Dec 31, 2009 1:24 pm

Re: State of Hockey's Team

Post by WarmUpTheBus » Fri Apr 12, 2019 11:19 am

Scott Perunovich left before his senior year.

Stang5280
Posts: 1955
Joined: Wed Jun 28, 2017 1:12 pm

Re: State of Hockey's Team

Post by Stang5280 » Fri Apr 12, 2019 12:11 pm

yesiplayedhockey wrote:
Fri Apr 12, 2019 10:34 am
Great stuff...Nice work on digging up the info... We need to see more kids play out their high school careers versus leaving early

Do you know how many went right from High School to college? Age wise they are considered a "young team" in comparison to the other 60 D-1 programs

The question is...If he wins...or should I say when UMD wins...Will the Coach cash in and sign with a NHL team? They have to be knocking down his door
Bardown already did the heavy lifting for your questions in breaking down the junior experience, or lack thereof, on the UMD roster. Most everyone spent at least a year in the junior ranks, so the “youth” factor is mainly the result of having so many underclassmen (remember that last year’s team featured six freshman D, who are still just sophomores).

Part of Sandelin’s genius has been building a roster of very good players who are just below the one-and-done level, and then maximizing that talent during their time in Duluth. Ironically, Tufte was probably the most heralded recruit, and his production has been disappointing at the college level.

The Bulldogs are likely to see several early departures after this season, but the system and recruiting pipeline are strong enough to maintain momentum. (The projected 2021 incoming class is ridiculous.)

BSUBeaver
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Contact:

Re: State of Hockey's Team

Post by BSUBeaver » Fri Apr 12, 2019 2:26 pm

It is going to take someone pretty special to go straight from high school to college any more. Heck, even D-III schools want players to have junior experience under their belts. And who can blame them when the rules allow it. Why would you want an 18 or 19 year old freshman when you can have 20 or 21 year old freshman? 18 year old freshman that is right out of high school against a 24 year old senior who maxed out his junior experience? The days of players right out of high school is dwindling unless the NCAA changes the rules.

Louie22
Posts: 8
Joined: Tue Apr 05, 2016 9:32 am

Re: State of Hockey's Team

Post by Louie22 » Fri Apr 12, 2019 2:31 pm

Bender played for the NAHL's Minnesota Wilderness his senior year of HS.

WarmUpTheBus
Posts: 786
Joined: Thu Dec 31, 2009 1:24 pm

Re: State of Hockey's Team

Post by WarmUpTheBus » Fri Apr 12, 2019 2:43 pm

BSUBeaver wrote:
Fri Apr 12, 2019 2:26 pm
It is going to take someone pretty special to go straight from high school to college any more. Heck, even D-III schools want players to have junior experience under their belts. And who can blame them when the rules allow it. Why would you want an 18 or 19 year old freshman when you can have 20 or 21 year old freshman? 18 year old freshman that is right out of high school against a 24 year old senior who maxed out his junior experience? The days of players right out of high school is dwindling unless the NCAA changes the rules.
I spoke to a DIII coach once and his comment was "We are looking for kids who are playing Juniors who have given up on the dream". The dream being playing DI hockey.

northwoods oldtimer
Posts: 2679
Joined: Thu Dec 21, 2006 1:01 pm

Re: State of Hockey's Team

Post by northwoods oldtimer » Sat Apr 13, 2019 8:59 am

Stang5280 wrote:
Fri Apr 12, 2019 12:11 pm
yesiplayedhockey wrote:
Fri Apr 12, 2019 10:34 am
Great stuff...Nice work on digging up the info... We need to see more kids play out their high school careers versus leaving early

Do you know how many went right from High School to college? Age wise they are considered a "young team" in comparison to the other 60 D-1 programs

The question is...If he wins...or should I say when UMD wins...Will the Coach cash in and sign with a NHL team? They have to be knocking down his door
Bardown already did the heavy lifting for your questions in breaking down the junior experience, or lack thereof, on the UMD roster. Most everyone spent at least a year in the junior ranks, so the “youth” factor is mainly the result of having so many underclassmen (remember that last year’s team featured six freshman D, who are still just sophomores).

Part of Sandelin’s genius has been building a roster of very good players who are just below the one-and-done level, and then maximizing that talent during their time in Duluth. Ironically, Tufte was probably the most heralded recruit, and his production has been disappointing at the college level.

The Bulldogs are likely to see several early departures after this season, but the system and recruiting pipeline are strong enough to maintain momentum. (The projected 2021 incoming class is ridiculous.)
The junior resume is reality to playing at the college level wether it be D1 or D3 this day in age. Coach Sandelin and staff are doing a magnificent job getting the right type of players not necessarily the best players to form a team. They sure are very enjoyable to watch as adversity just does not rattle his teams in pressure packed playoff games. May UMD have many years of great success. Sandelin is building quite a legacy in the port city.

WarmUpTheBus
Posts: 786
Joined: Thu Dec 31, 2009 1:24 pm

Re: State of Hockey's Team

Post by WarmUpTheBus » Sat Apr 13, 2019 12:27 pm

northwoods oldtimer wrote:
Sat Apr 13, 2019 8:59 am
Stang5280 wrote:
Fri Apr 12, 2019 12:11 pm
yesiplayedhockey wrote:
Fri Apr 12, 2019 10:34 am
Great stuff...Nice work on digging up the info... We need to see more kids play out their high school careers versus leaving early

Do you know how many went right from High School to college? Age wise they are considered a "young team" in comparison to the other 60 D-1 programs

The question is...If he wins...or should I say when UMD wins...Will the Coach cash in and sign with a NHL team? They have to be knocking down his door
Bardown already did the heavy lifting for your questions in breaking down the junior experience, or lack thereof, on the UMD roster. Most everyone spent at least a year in the junior ranks, so the “youth” factor is mainly the result of having so many underclassmen (remember that last year’s team featured six freshman D, who are still just sophomores).

Part of Sandelin’s genius has been building a roster of very good players who are just below the one-and-done level, and then maximizing that talent during their time in Duluth. Ironically, Tufte was probably the most heralded recruit, and his production has been disappointing at the college level.

The Bulldogs are likely to see several early departures after this season, but the system and recruiting pipeline are strong enough to maintain momentum. (The projected 2021 incoming class is ridiculous.)
The junior resume is reality to playing at the college level wether it be D1 or D3 this day in age. Coach Sandelin and staff are doing a magnificent job getting the right type of players not necessarily the best players to form a team. They sure are very enjoyable to watch as adversity just does not rattle his teams in pressure packed playoff games. May UMD have many years of great success. Sandelin is building quite a legacy in the port city.
Lots of speculation on the Saturday morning sports radio shows about Coach Sandelin moving to the NHL.

Stang5280
Posts: 1955
Joined: Wed Jun 28, 2017 1:12 pm

Re: State of Hockey's Team

Post by Stang5280 » Sat Apr 13, 2019 1:21 pm

WarmUpTheBus wrote:
Fri Apr 12, 2019 2:43 pm
BSUBeaver wrote:
Fri Apr 12, 2019 2:26 pm
It is going to take someone pretty special to go straight from high school to college any more. Heck, even D-III schools want players to have junior experience under their belts. And who can blame them when the rules allow it. Why would you want an 18 or 19 year old freshman when you can have 20 or 21 year old freshman? 18 year old freshman that is right out of high school against a 24 year old senior who maxed out his junior experience? The days of players right out of high school is dwindling unless the NCAA changes the rules.
I spoke to a DIII coach once and his comment was "We are looking for kids who are playing Juniors who have given up on the dream". The dream being playing DI hockey.
That’s kind of a depressing way of looking at it, but I understand what the coach is saying. You would much rather have players who are happy to be at the D-III level, instead of kids who view it as a disappointment that they aren’t D-I material. Taking a look at this year’s Stevens Point roster (undefeated national champions!), every single player had junior experience, mostly multiple years in the NAHL or Canadian leagues. There were also multiple D-I transfers, including TJ Roo from Bemidji.

The MIAC schools were among the last to recruit almost exclusively from the junior ranks, and it’s no coincidence that they struggled to compete at the national level. The NESCAC still recruits mainly from high school, but most of those kids are from top prep schools and either repeated a year or did a postgrad year.

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

Re: State of Hockey's Team

Post by yesiplayedhockey » Sat Apr 13, 2019 3:00 pm

I don't know how everyone else feels but the older college hockey gets, the less I'm interested in it

I switched my preference from the NHL to college many years ago. But if I'm going to be watching a bunch of 21-25 year olds, I'll probably just switch back to the NHL

I certainly hope college coaches realize they are on dangerous grounds of losing viewership the older their product gets..

Imagine watching High School hockey if it was full of 19-20 year olds

thestickler07
Posts: 806
Joined: Mon Oct 02, 2006 9:00 pm

Re: State of Hockey's Team

Post by thestickler07 » Sat Apr 13, 2019 7:10 pm

yesiplayedhockey wrote:
Sat Apr 13, 2019 3:00 pm
I don't know how everyone else feels but the older college hockey gets, the less I'm interested in it

I switched my preference from the NHL to college many years ago. But if I'm going to be watching a bunch of 21-25 year olds, I'll probably just switch back to the NHL

I certainly hope college coaches realize they are on dangerous grounds of losing viewership the older their product gets..

Imagine watching High School hockey if it was full of 19-20 year olds
I'm right here as well.

Would like to see college hockey put an upper age limit on participation, say your eligibility expires past your age 23 season. If you want to stay in juniors for a long time, the clock is still ticking for you.

ThatMNHockeyGuy62
Posts: 508
Joined: Wed Dec 27, 2017 8:44 am

Re: State of Hockey's Team

Post by ThatMNHockeyGuy62 » Sat Apr 13, 2019 8:37 pm

thestickler07 wrote:
Sat Apr 13, 2019 7:10 pm
yesiplayedhockey wrote:
Sat Apr 13, 2019 3:00 pm
I don't know how everyone else feels but the older college hockey gets, the less I'm interested in it

I switched my preference from the NHL to college many years ago. But if I'm going to be watching a bunch of 21-25 year olds, I'll probably just switch back to the NHL

I certainly hope college coaches realize they are on dangerous grounds of losing viewership the older their product gets..

Imagine watching High School hockey if it was full of 19-20 year olds
I'm right here as well.

Would like to see college hockey put an upper age limit on participation, say your eligibility expires past your age 23 season. If you want to stay in juniors for a long time, the clock is still ticking for you.
As long as college hockey cares about not losing players to major juniors, it’s never going to happen. Right now their key argument to keep kids on the college hockey route is that they have more time to develop. Not saying I disagree with you, especially since 23 is still 3 years more of development than major juniors, just that college hockey decision makers probably don’t.

thestickler07
Posts: 806
Joined: Mon Oct 02, 2006 9:00 pm

Re: State of Hockey's Team

Post by thestickler07 » Sat Apr 13, 2019 9:51 pm

ThatMNHockeyGuy62 wrote:
Sat Apr 13, 2019 8:37 pm
thestickler07 wrote:
Sat Apr 13, 2019 7:10 pm
yesiplayedhockey wrote:
Sat Apr 13, 2019 3:00 pm
I don't know how everyone else feels but the older college hockey gets, the less I'm interested in it

I switched my preference from the NHL to college many years ago. But if I'm going to be watching a bunch of 21-25 year olds, I'll probably just switch back to the NHL

I certainly hope college coaches realize they are on dangerous grounds of losing viewership the older their product gets..

Imagine watching High School hockey if it was full of 19-20 year olds
I'm right here as well.

Would like to see college hockey put an upper age limit on participation, say your eligibility expires past your age 23 season. If you want to stay in juniors for a long time, the clock is still ticking for you.
As long as college hockey cares about not losing players to major juniors, it’s never going to happen. Right now their key argument to keep kids on the college hockey route is that they have more time to develop. Not saying I disagree with you, especially since 23 is still 3 years more of development than major juniors, just that college hockey decision makers probably don’t.
Yea, that's the rub - structural challenges that college hockey is trying to work around unfortunately.

The game winning goal scorer in tonight's championship played 3 years of AJHL and is ~2 months shy of his 25th birthday. :roll:

MrBoDangles
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Re: State of Hockey's Team

Post by MrBoDangles » Sat Apr 13, 2019 10:19 pm

Obviously turning into a Lucia type pout fest on here...

College representation is creeping up in percentage in the NHL and the longer development is turning undrafted players into future NHLer's. A win-win. Go ahead and watch the 18-21 year olds play 35 year olds in the NHL if you can't handle it...

Congrats to UMD!!

WestMetro
Posts: 3824
Joined: Tue Mar 04, 2014 4:08 pm

Re: State of Hockey's Team

Post by WestMetro » Sun Apr 14, 2019 9:39 am

Well stated Bo

For about past 20 years, maybe more, college hockey and pipeline in both direction has become more and more of a business

So may as well accept it

If you want to stick to pure youngster love of the game , enjoyment of developing young skill, and community excitement , cant beat association or MSHSL hockey

rainier2
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Re: State of Hockey's Team

Post by rainier2 » Sun Apr 14, 2019 1:38 pm

MrBoDangles wrote:
Sat Apr 13, 2019 10:19 pm
Obviously turning into a Lucia type pout fest on here...

College representation is creeping up in percentage in the NHL and the longer development is turning undrafted players into future NHLer's. A win-win. Go ahead and watch the 18-21 year olds play 35 year olds in the NHL if you can't handle it...

Congrats to UMD!!
Agreed. Wanting kids to stay throughout high school and not have 24 year olds on college teams are mutually exclusive goals. Doing one year of juniors after graduation is perfectly normal, so when you add 4 years of college on to that, 23 years old is probably the default age for most NCAA hockey seniors. Add in the kid that needs an extra year of juniors to get stronger (Adam Johnson), or the player who is ready but the current college roster makes it advantageous to stay for another year of juniors (Nick Swaney), and it's surprising there aren't more 24-25 years olds out there.

If we want to see the best MN high school talent stay through senior year, then older average age of college players is the price.

northwoods oldtimer
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Joined: Thu Dec 21, 2006 1:01 pm

Re: State of Hockey's Team

Post by northwoods oldtimer » Sun Apr 14, 2019 2:55 pm

rainier2 wrote:
Sun Apr 14, 2019 1:38 pm
MrBoDangles wrote:
Sat Apr 13, 2019 10:19 pm
Obviously turning into a Lucia type pout fest on here... :lol: :lol:

College representation is creeping up in percentage in the NHL and the longer development is turning undrafted players into future NHLer's. A win-win. Go ahead and watch the 18-21 year olds play 35 year olds in the NHL if you can't handle it...

Congrats to UMD!!
Agreed. Wanting kids to stay throughout high school and not have 24 year olds on college teams are mutually exclusive goals. Doing one year of juniors after graduation is perfectly normal, so when you add 4 years of college on to that, 23 years old is probably the default age for most NCAA hockey seniors. Add in the kid that needs an extra year of juniors to get stronger (Adam Johnson), or the player who is ready but the current college roster makes it advantageous to stay for another year of juniors (Nick Swaney), and it's surprising there aren't more 24-25 years olds out there.

If we want to see the best MN high school talent stay through senior year, then older average age of college players is the price.
Westy said it, love the MSHSL and Bantam youth level community based hockey development its been good to all of these kids listed from Minny, whether leaving as juniors or playing through senior year. Junior level has done a wonderful job of tuning them up to hit college level ice as Freshmen. Quite an accomplishment to win a national title with 6 freshmen D. IMPRESSIVE!!
Lots of phenomenal hockey players out in the world and these MN kids have done a pretty remarkable job keeping pace with peers. I think the current community base development models are working pretty darn good for all levels of hockey. Occasional outlier 25 year old is not an issue as those kids generally fall into red shirt or NCAA transfer hiatus.
Last edited by northwoods oldtimer on Mon Apr 15, 2019 6:39 am, edited 1 time in total.

hockey59
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Re: State of Hockey's Team

Post by hockey59 » Sun Apr 14, 2019 10:25 pm

Slapper Al wrote:
Fri Apr 12, 2019 10:19 am
Go Bulldogs! Coach Sandelin should be applauded for what he has done at UMD. 3 straight Frozen Four Title games and he has done it with a roster full of MSHSL guys that finished their careers in MSHSL. Sure there are some exceptions because the path doesn't look the same for everyone, but look at this roster of guys that played through their senior year. 15 kids that graduated from their high schools with their buddies.

3 - Matt Anderson - D Holy Family
4 - Dylan Samberg - D Hermantown
5 - Nick Wolff - D Eagan
6 - Louie Roehl - D Eden Prairie
7 - Scott Perunvich - D Hibbing
10 - Kobe Roth - F Warroad
11 - Koby Bender - F Cloquet
17 - Cole Koepke - F Hermantown
18 - Jesse Jacques - F Hermantown
20 - Jackson Cates - F Stillwater
21 - Noah Cates - F Stillwater
25 - Peter Krieger - F St Thomas Academy
27 - Riley Tufte - F Blaine
30 - Andrew Dietrich - G Eden Prairie
32 - Hunter Shepard - G Grand Rapids

2 more MN boys that left before they graduated Mikey Anderson & Nick Swaney

I think this is one guy that supports the MN Model. Go Dogs!
Well done compilation 👍 I’ll simply add though that they wouldn’t be back to back champs without Irma, Alberta native Parker Mackay, THE CAPTAIN & arguably one of the greatest captains in Bulldog hockey history. This kid is a natural leader & a clutch player & a WINNER. I wouldn’t be surprised if down the road he is a D1 Head Coach, much like Carle at Denver. Also can’t say enough about the great job Scott, Jason & Adam did this year. Tremendous coaches☝️Last thing, these guys are a TEAM, they play for each other, hold each other accountable, but really care about the guy along side them. All talent & grit, but limited ego, So proud to be a graduate of tUMD, the best team in college hockey the past decade...and it’s not even close! And the pipeline is “stocked” going forward. Finally...how bout dem Dogs!

That guy for that thing
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Re: State of Hockey's Team

Post by That guy for that thing » Mon Apr 15, 2019 8:32 am

A lot of you have been talking about the age limit in NCAA hockey. There currently is a limit to when a player can start his freshman year of playing hockey. The current age is 21, although the BIG10 tried to get it down to 20 a few years ago and were attacked for it. I have listed a few articles about this below, but what it came out to be was that the BIG10 was recruiting more 1-and-done players who are high draft picks, and the kids come in younger, and then leave sooner, while most other schools are taking kids who play numerous years of juniors to develop and then stay all 4 years trying to get picked up by an NHL organization.

What it think we also need to focus on, is that this is a ridiculously high-intensity high contact sport, played at a time in a kids life where you have full grown men playing against kids maybe 2-3 years behind them who are nowhere near fully developed. Colleges do a good job of determining when a kid should come into the program, based upon his skill and development. If you look at the pro leagues for numerous other sports, baseball is the only other sport that has the development structure in place for kids to grow into the pro leagues that is similar to hockey. Football, quite a few kids are starting NCAA DI as an 18 y.o. and then starting the NFL as a 20 y.o. DI basketball has numerous 1-and-done's every year. Do you want NCAA hockey to be a bunch of 1-and-done's with the kids not getting academically prepared for life after sports? With the NHL draft happening before these kids are getting into college, a lot of kids that aren't quite developed as a man yet, are looked over, and the NHL speed and strength is so much faster and stronger than any high school team that these kids need time to develop and get prepared for a 6'7" 245# Dustin Byfuglien coming at them at full speed in the corner. The kids need this time to develop and the SPHL/FHL/ECHL/AHL are not going to do that. MLB can sustain the kids coming from HS to play in their numerous minor league programs, but they are only working on timing and throwing/hitting strength, not the same kind of physical strength needed for the NHL.

If you want kids to go to the NHL from college, they need time or HGH. one or the other.


http://www.startribune.com/report-big-t ... 353198561/
https://www.courant.com/sports/college/ ... story.html

Slap Shot
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Re: State of Hockey's Team

Post by Slap Shot » Mon Apr 15, 2019 10:16 am

Denver was the 4th youngest team in the country by DOB and finished 8th in PWR and 4th in KRACH.
Quinnipiac 11th youngest, 7th and 8th.
UMD 16th, 2nd and 2nd.
Cornell 17th, 11th and 11th
UMASS 18th, 4th and 4th.

MSUM was the only team in the country in the Top 21 for oldest age (3rd overall) that finished Top 10 for PWR/KRACH (3rd and 3rd to be precise)
OSU at 22nd youngest was 9th and 7th
AIC at 4th oldest made the tournament as the auto-bid from a terrible conference.
ASU at 24th oldest made it as an independent via PWR

Leaving out MSUM the average age rank for Top 16 teams in PWR was 41st oldest out of 60 teams - meaning towards the younger end of the spectrum.

Someone did some research elsewhere and found there has not been a significant upward trend in the average age of college players the past several years (or longer) and there is very little evidence to suggest it helps. Therefore it is highly unlikely the blue bloods are going to tip the scales in that direction either anytime soon.

btw even AA had 13 players that as of today are under 23 so I imagine teams at the other end (BU at 20y 6m for instance) have the vast majority of their roster < 23.

SCBlueLiner
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Re: State of Hockey's Team

Post by SCBlueLiner » Mon Apr 15, 2019 12:20 pm

The thread has derailed a little from the OP, so congrats to Duluth and it is nice to see all that homegrown talent on the roster. The community based hockey model is working indeed. Now for me to derail it some more.

I spent the past weekend in Detroit at the NAHL combine. My takeaways from sitting through the player/parent seminar are this, and it is very sobering to think about. The message was that if you plan on being an NCAA hockey player be prepared to be a 20 year old freshman. Obviously, this is not true for the cream of crop, but for the other 90% of players playing D1 hockey, and 100% of players at the D3 level, multiple years of grinding it out in Juniors and entering school as a 20 year old freshman is a given. Pretty much all D1 players play free to play junior hockey in the USHL and NAHL, financially the hit is not that bad, it's more about the wait to enter college. For D3 players, about half of them come from that NAHL (and the emerging NCDC) and the other half from Tier 3 juniors. Tier 3 juniors is pay to play, so for those players/parents, they are looking at 2-3 years of $8-10,000 hockey bills just so they can play non-scholarship NCAA D3 or ACHA D1 hockey. The upsides I see to delayed entry to college are it gives kids the chance to mature before they start college and they can also take some community college courses that gives them some college credits so they can come in essentially as sophomores. Considering the college freshman dropout rate is 30%, maybe not a bad thing to delay entry to college. At least playing junior hockey provides a structured environment where a kid can mature before entering college. So there are some positives too.

The other takeaway was that hiring a family advisor was recommended and pretty much necessary for the 95% of aspiring NCAA players out there. The elite, elite level players will have multiple colleges recruiting them so they don't need an advisor to place them, rather for them an advisor can be very helpful in wading through their many opportunities. For everyone else, an advisor is almost a necessity to provide contacts in the youth Tier 1 and Junior hockey ranks and to help place the player in a good position each step along the way. My takeaway from this, very sad. Very sad that families are being put in a position where they have to pay for access. Is it required to hire an advisor? No. Can you still navigate the hockey world on your own? Sure, maybe. But it's a very difficult.

The bottom line is hockey is all about $$$. Because of that only those that have the means and the will to pay are going to make it through. I think about all the players that wash out not due to lack of talent but because they cannot afford to continue or they just want to get on with their lives and don't want to be a 20 year old freshman playing D3 hockey but would be perfectly happy being an 18 year old freshman playing D3 hockey, but that isn't really an option under the current system.

Stang5280
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Re: State of Hockey's Team

Post by Stang5280 » Mon Apr 15, 2019 12:42 pm

Changing gears a bit, I am copying a post from the USCHO forums that touches on an interesting point regarding UMD’s success, one which was echoed by a friend of mine who is a UMD alumnus and is a season ticket holder.
As someone who has been going to UMD games since the early 80's as a little kid, I don't know how we've gotten to where we are today. There were some dark years between 1986, 1993, and 2003-2004, until we finally got it going in 2009. Personally, first one was surreal and last year was really a validation for the program, but last night was just enjoying the ride. We are going to lose some guys early and Sandelin deserves a shot at the NHL, so who knows where it all goes from here. Back to my original question I've thought about how we went from being a second tier program and one described by my Gopher friends as their ugly stepchild, to now the best program in the nation and this is what I have as factors:
1. The obvious Sandelin figuring it out. There were some valleys in his tenure and I think the lowest was pulling scholarships from guys and still feel it was a bad look.
2. A shift towards Minnesota kids and not just older Canadian players who didn't develop much from their freshman year.
3. Amsoil Arena feels like a big time venue as opposed to the DECC.
4. The biggest factor in my opinion the development of the Hermantown program. That school has been the gift that has just kept on giving us top tier talent.

rainier2
Posts: 720
Joined: Thu Nov 09, 2017 4:24 pm

Re: State of Hockey's Team

Post by rainier2 » Mon Apr 15, 2019 1:22 pm

Stang5280 wrote:
Mon Apr 15, 2019 12:42 pm
Changing gears a bit, I am copying a post from the USCHO forums that touches on an interesting point regarding UMD’s success, one which was echoed by a friend of mine who is a UMD alumnus and is a season ticket holder.
As someone who has been going to UMD games since the early 80's as a little kid, I don't know how we've gotten to where we are today. There were some dark years between 1986, 1993, and 2003-2004, until we finally got it going in 2009. Personally, first one was surreal and last year was really a validation for the program, but last night was just enjoying the ride. We are going to lose some guys early and Sandelin deserves a shot at the NHL, so who knows where it all goes from here. Back to my original question I've thought about how we went from being a second tier program and one described by my Gopher friends as their ugly stepchild, to now the best program in the nation and this is what I have as factors:
1. The obvious Sandelin figuring it out. There were some valleys in his tenure and I think the lowest was pulling scholarships from guys and still feel it was a bad look.
2. A shift towards Minnesota kids and not just older Canadian players who didn't develop much from their freshman year.
3. Amsoil Arena feels like a big time venue as opposed to the DECC.
4. The biggest factor in my opinion the development of the Hibbing program. That school has been the gift that has just kept on giving us top tier talent.
Fixed that for ya. :D

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