AA Rankings for 12/19/21

[karl(east)]

Another week, another bit of chaos. Thanks for your patience as I did some travel today, and enjoy a brief week of hockey that nonetheless provides some interesting games.

1. Cretin-Derham Hall (5-1)
-The Raiders took care of Benilde in their only action this past week, and Edina’s stumble allows them to sneak back up to the top of the heap. We’ll see how long it lasts, as their opponents this coming week are the team that gave them their only loss and the team that may be the best one in either class. But for now, there’s been enough chaos around here that my preseason number one is back on top.
This week: Tues at St. Thomas Academy, Thurs vs. Hermantown

2. Lakeville South (6-0)
-The Cougars are the only remaining unbeaten team in AA. They have yet to play a top opponent, so this all comes with a grain of salt, but they are taking care of business against some respectable teams that are upset threats on a good day, and that shouldn’t be taken for granted. The win over North this past week has them sitting pretty in their section, too. It’s more of the same programming this week before the stakes get considerably higher in holiday tournaments.
This week: Thurs at Shakopee

3. Edina (6-1)
-The Hornets faded through the course of the Holiday Classic as they looked like world-beaters against Grand Rapids, had to grind out a narrow win against Elk River, and then received a blunt wakeup call from Eden Prairie. It’s just one game, and it’s hard to top this team’s speed and depth, but it certainly shows they’re not in some other league.
This week: Idle

4. Andover (5-1-1)
-The Huskies beefed up their résumé with a solid win over Maple Grove, and a tie to Wayzata doesn’t really hurt them, either; as others fall, they make their way up. They can shore up their positioning in 7AA by keeping up their winning ways this week.
This week: Tues vs. Duluth East, Thurs vs. Blaine

5. Roseau (7-1)
-The Rams keep climbing here following a few more solid showings, including a comfortable win over respectable Rogers. Their big wins have been narrow, but they are wins nonetheless, and it’s hard to judge that much when other teams are losing. Just one game this week, but it does have some section implications.
This week: Thurs at Bemidji

6. Hill-Murray (5-2)
-Did the Pioneers find themselves this past week? After grinding out a win over Wayzata and putting rival St. Thomas in running time, they’re making their way back up the rankings. We’ll see if they can keep that going when they renew their longstanding series with 4AA friend White Bear Lake.
This week: Thurs vs. White Bear Lake

7. Wayzata (3-3-1)
-Trojans would be Trojans: though they were winless this past week, they were very competitive with Hill-Murray and scored a tie with Andover, holding their opponents to two goals in both. This is how they want to be playing, so it’s hard to knock them much. Their game this week has some added intrigue after Eden Prairie’s big win over Edina.
This week: Wed at #15 Eden Prairie

8. Maple Grove (5-2-1)
-The Crimson lost to Andover, which sets them back a bit, but it’s not a horrible result in the grand scheme of things. They get to collect themselves before heading to St. Louis Park for a holiday tournament.
This week: Idle

9. Benilde-St. Margaret’s (3-4)
-The Red Knights lost to Cretin, though remained competitive, which rather sticks with their early season theme. They followed that up with a shutout over Holy Family, which is nice but changes little. On paper they should stay on the winning train this coming week.
This week: Thurs vs. Blake

10. Gentry Academy (4-1)
-The Stars rolled past Southwest Christian/Richfield in their lone game this past week; get used to them bouncing around in this area as I slide other teams up and down based on more competitive results. This programming is unlikely to change in visits to Greenway and Holy Family, though these teams are somewhat better than much of their Minnesota competition.
This week: Tues at Greenway, Wed at Holy Family
This week: Thurs vs. Blake

11. Centennial (4-1)
-The Cougars skated past Mounds View with little trouble in their only action this past week. A respectable Rosemount team now awaits.
This week: Thus at Rosemount

12. Grand Rapids (7-3)
-The Thunderhawks were humbled some by Edina, but they still won two games in the Holiday Classic, and the Eden Prairie win now looks better in retrospect. They now dive back into conference play.
This week: Tues vs. Cloquet, Thurs at Duluth Denfeld

13. Minnetonka (6-2)
-The Skippers sailed right back into contention with a strong week featuring wins over Moorhead and Chaska. They still have the Rogers loss on the record, but that’s looking more like a blip than a sign of who they actually are. A big week stretch of key section games continues.
This week: Wed at Prior Lake, Thurs vs. Chanhassen

14. Chaska (6-1)
-The loss to Minnetonka was the Hawks’ first blemish, though their list of accomplishments to date is not a very long one. They face a decent Shakopee team in a game with some section implications this week.
This week: Tues vs. Shakopee

15. Eden Prairie (4-3)
-The Eagles were puttering along, looking passable but probably not like top 15 material, until they blitzed Edina on Saturday. Who are the real Eagles? A test against Wayzata this coming week may give us some idea.
This week: Wed vs. #7 Wayzata

The Next Ten

Moorhead (4-5)
-The Spuds’ sputtering start continued as they beat White Bear Lake but fell to Minnetonka. With losses to Roseau and Buffalo already on the record, this week’s date with St. Michael-Albertville is actually pretty important for their seeding fate.

Eastview (5-2)
-The Lightning’s only two losses are to top 15 opponents, and they now boast quality wins over Prior Lake and St. Thomas Academy. We’ll see if this lasts, but for now, they’re looking like a legitimate contender in 3AA. Winless Burnsville is up this week.

St. Thomas Academy (3-4)
-The Cadets got thumped by Hill, which keeps them on the outside looking in. We’ll see if they can replicate their one solid result, the win over Cretin, in this week’s rematch.

Elk River (5-4)
-The Elks lost three games in Edina but nonetheless acquitted themselves fairly well as they pushed both Eden Prairie and the host Hornets to the brink. Goaltender Sam Stockman looks like a keeper, and there’s enough top line offensive juice that they could be a real pest in 8AA. Anoka is their lone opponent this coming week.

St. Michael-Albertville (5-1)
-The Knights whacked a Blaine team that has seen the top 15 this season and have only lost in a lopsided affair with Elk River. They can do a ton for their 8AA standing with a good showing against Moorhead this coming week.

Lakeville North (2-2)
-The Panthers lost to Lakeville South, but stuck around well enough that it’s not crazy to imagine a different result in a future meeting. They are idle this coming week.

Stillwater (4-1)
-Things continue to go more or less according to plan for the Ponies. They get to deal with Mahtomedi on Tuesday.

Blaine (3-2-2)
-The Bengals beat Champlin Park but lost badly to STMA, and that Maple Grove tie is doing a lot of work here. Things don’t get any easier this week when they visit Andover in what is now a section game.

Rosemount (3-1)
-The Irish joined the club of teams beating Prior Lake, and their lone loss is to Hermantown and wasn’t a bad showing, so they make their top 25 debut for the season. Farmington is up first this week, followed by a good test against Centennial.

Rogers (3-4-1)
-The Royals didn’t muster much on a road trip to the far north and slide back a bit here. Buffalo provides their competition this week.

Time for our first in-season tour of the sections, which will proceed every other week for the rest of the season.

1AA
2 Lakeville South
21 Lakeville North
Hastings
Rochester Mayo
-South took down North 6-3 in the first of their two meetings, which sets the tone here. Hastings is off to a respectable start and may yet be a higher seed; Mayo lost 5-2 to Holy Family, which isn’t a great result from a rankings perspective but is a decent enough showing relative to anyone else in this section.

2AA
13 Minnetonka
14 Chaska
15 Eden Prairie
Prior Lake
-Minnetonka’s win over Chaska was the first game with any seeding implications in this one, and may make it hard for the Hawks to have any chance at the top seed. Their fate could largely be sealed after games against Shakopee and Eden Prairie in the next two weeks. Prior Lake could do themselves a lot of favors with a positive result against Minnetonka this week, too, as the Lakers’ freefall has now dumped them from the top 25.

3AA
1 Cretin-Derham Hall
17 Eastview
18 St. Thomas Academy
24 Rosemount
-So far, this is a seeding conundrum, with Cretin losing to St. Thomas losing to Eastview. I’m going to stick with ranking order for now; if they end up close toward the end, we will have a reason to use those head-to-head tiebreakers. More pressingly, we’ve got a Cretin-St. Thomas rematch this coming week.

4AA
6 Hill-Murray
10 Gentry Academy
22 Stillwater
White Bear Lake
-The early news here is that Stillwater has beaten White Bear, which helps the Ponies in the direction of a higher seed. I also struggle to see Gentry getting their top seed with their schedule, but it would still take a real push from Stillwater (or White Bear) to dislodge them from the 2-seed. Hill and White Bear collide this coming week.

5AA
8 Maple Grove
11 Centennial
25 Rogers
Champlin Park
-The Maple Grove win over Centennial puts the Crimson in line for the top seed, but shows this isn’t a foregone conclusion, either. Nothing much of interest for the next two weeks, save for a Centennial game with the default 4-seed here, Champlin.

6AA
3 Edina
7 Wayzata
9 Benilde-St. Margaret’s
Holy Angels
-The big three here are in a pretty clear order at the moment, with Edina beating Wayzata and Wayzata beating Benilde, though there are plenty more games among them. The 4-seed is an open question, with Blake and Holy Angels in the same tier, and St. Louis Park is somewhat hard to rank against them right now. I’m giving it to the Stars at the moment since they’ve actually won some games.

7AA
4 Andover
12 Grand Rapids
23 Blaine
Forest Lake
-There haven’t been any games among these teams yet, but the ordering makes enough sense for now. There are a whole bunch of games between Andover, Blaine, Forest Lake, and Duluth East over the next two weeks, so we’ll have more clarity by the next time we check in. Rapids’ big in-section games come later.

8AA
5 Roseau
16 Moorhead
19 Elk River
20 St. Michael-Albertville
-The Rams are up top after edging past Moorhead, and Elk River’s respectable showing in Edina gives them some statewide cred. The Elks have already taken some strides toward sewing up a high seed with wins over St. Michael-Albertville and a Buffalo team that beat Moorhead. The Spuds, meanwhile, have some objects approaching in their rear view mirror, and may have some work to do to even hold on to the likely 2-seed.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all! There will be rankings next week.

[Slap Shot]

Great work again.

One small ask if it's not too much trouble but would understand if you don't find it necessary.

It would be cool for each team mentioned to have their previous rank noted - either as one of the Top 15 if applicable or (NR) for +15?

Either way thanks - always look forward to seeing this write-up each week.

[East Side Pioneer Guy]

When a program like STAA (formerly STA) meets the wrong end of running time, there may be a late night bag skate involved. Any word on whether or not that happened?

Typically, long time top tier teams will noticeably step it up when the opposing team goes up by 5. I didn't notice that in this game. But catching the live stream while in a covid induced hazed on my couch, I was not on the top of my own game.

[Brodziak Fan Club]

Great job as always, Karl!

Man, what a fun, wide open season this is shaping up to be. There's only one section where I would be legitimately surprised if the "favorite" didn't win. That's 1AA with Lakeville South. Even then, A South-North rivalry championship would be no gimme for the Cougars.

[WestMetro]

Nice job as usual

Might have raised EP a little higher after win over Edina and OT loss to GR?

Gentry still has some things to prove before being above those teams ?

But i digress - great to see you at Braemar and hoping Covid Grinch will not shut things down this season !

[TheNightman]

Surprised there hasn't been much chatter about Ryan Andor, who transferred to EP from Edina, carrying a big load for EP this year and helping them beat the Hornets

[Brodziak Fan Club]

Surprised there hasn't been much chatter about Ryan Andor, who transferred to EP from Edina, carrying a big load for EP this year and helping them beat the Hornets

He has been very good for EP. Right now Edina has 2 scoring lines and a solid checking 3rd line. With Andor in the mix they would have 3 lines that could light the lamp on any shift.

I don't know why Andor and fellow former-Hornet Choi ended up at Eden Prairie, so I'll refrain from comment. I also don't have anything good to say about the Eden Prairie high school hockey program and their year to year propensity for poaching players from other communities. I know it happens everywhere but they're on a level more egregious than most, in my opinion.

[Cookster]

Given that most players do not transfer from Edina to EP, I would surmise that both players were told by their previous team that there was no space on the team. If true, it was kind of the Edina coach to give the players time to find a new home and not wait and get cut their senior year. One of the two kids happened to play Ice Edge with a bunch of the EP kids every summer.

Transfers happen. Edina has 2 kids on their roster (brothers) who live in EP. Tonka has 2 kids on their roster whose kids played Bantams in EP. Holy Angels has 2 kids that played in the EP system. SWC has a couple of players that played in the EP system. It does go both ways. Maybe, just maybe families from out of the area have seen the success that EP has had the past 13 years (3 titles, 10 trips to state), and they want their kids to be on a team that has a chance to play in St. Paul in March. I will say that the move ins are not as blatant as they are with the girls teams. (HF, Tonka, Edina et al)

Private schools have "recruiting" benefits that Public schools technically do not.

Chaska has kids that technically live in the Chanhassen school zone that open enrolled to Chaska. They wanted to play for a perceived better team and a perceived better coach. Granted most of these kids came over in 9th grade, but I am sure they were "recruited"

This season, unlike other years, has parity, and it is going to be fun to watch the entire year. There are a number of teams that can win, and I look forward to watching it all unfold.

[yesiplayedhockey]

High School hockey is no longer a community based sport

Parents will continue to shop their kids for greener pastures

MSHSL is sitting on their hands with little or no desire to fix this (and it's very easy to fix)

Coaches say they are handcuffed, but come on, we are all smarter than that

AD's just want to sit at their cozy desk and read the 20-30 angry emails they get every day from bitter parents in all the sports (not just hockey)

The top parents love it, the middle parents like it until the middle of the season when then see their little Billy is losing ice to the newbies and the bottom parents...well no one listens to those bottom parents...

Minnesota hockey? Well they probably don't even realize they have a problem....they are to busy "preaching multi sport kids" all while creating profitable leagues that the kids feel pressured to playing in all year around

I've said it before...20 years from now you will look back at the AA state champs and notice that the same 5 - 6 teams won it 90% of the time.

[jg2112]

High School hockey is no longer a community based sport

Parents will continue to shop their kids for greener pastures

MSHSL is sitting on their hands with little or no desire to fix this (and it's very easy to fix)

Coaches say they are handcuffed, but come on, we are all smarter than that

AD's just want to sit at their cozy desk and read the 20-30 angry emails they get every day from bitter parents in all the sports (not just hockey)

The top parents love it, the middle parents like it until the middle of the season when then see their little Billy is losing ice to the newbies and the bottom parents...well no one listens to those bottom parents...

Minnesota hockey? Well they probably don't even realize they have a problem....they are to busy "preaching multi sport kids" all while creating profitable leagues that the kids feel pressured to playing in all year around

I've said it before...20 years from now you will look back at the AA state champs and notice that the same 5 - 6 teams won it 90% of the time.

And this is too bad, because, almost every other high school sport in Minnesota remains a community based sport. Soccer, football, basketball, cross country, lacrosse, etc. There is no mass movement of athletes from school to school like in hockey. The bonds to a local high school (education, friendship, community) remain strong.

Hockey, in the State of Hockey, is the outlier.

[Slapper Al]

Hopkins basketball anyone???

[jg2112]

Hopkins basketball anyone???

Please. One school. You can't compare that to what happens in hockey every single season.

[farmtown55]

Yes Hopkins has done it for years. CDH did it for years in baseball and nobody cared, or at least said very little about it. It happens, and to a degree goes in cycles. People, particularly online, just talk about it more. As far as same teams winning, well IMO that has more to do with the price of hockey than most other things. When hockey was played outside for a good portion of the season it was cost effective for smaller towns and more kids played. Now that it is crazy expensive I don't think there is the participation in certain areas. Also with the proliferation of single sport athletes you don't see a ton of very good athletes continue with hockey. Just a thought!

[farmtown55]

One other thing I think is a huge factor is AAA hockey. These kids play with kids from all over now starting at a very young age, and many become closer friends than they even do with association kids. You see it most in hockey and basketball, with AAU. Even baseball club teams are starting younger and younger. I still think the MN model is the still the best and that is why kids do stay for HS hockey mostly. It's also the reason MN pumps out the most USHL, NAHL and NCAA hockey players year after year. Open enrollment isn't perfect, but it's better than the Michigan and Massachusetts tier1/Prep model.

[alcloseshaver]

Hopkins basketball anyone???

Please. One school. You can't compare that to what happens in hockey every single season.

Player movement is out of control in basketball as well. Players recruited during the summer, private schools at the forefront of this but public school powers also in the mix. Top players leaving early for prep BB powers similar to hockey also.

[Slap Shot]

High School hockey is no longer a community based sport

Hogwash. While it's true a lot of teams are no longer 100% home grown, yet if a team has say 3 'transfers' that's still roughly 90% of the roster came from the community and if a family actually moves into a district that bothers me not at all. Moving isn't easy and imho is usually decided upon for reasons well beyond athletics.

[yesiplayedhockey]

Slap shot...if you tell me a very good hockey player who's say a sophomore, moves from Edina to Minnetonka for "academic reasons" I will laugh myself off this chair.

It's always about hockey..Yes we can disguise it as academics, divorce and the good old reliable excuse " the bully" card ...but it's "hockey" that forced this change.,.nothing else...

Now I'm not calling for people to go to the death chamber for this but lets at least agree it exists....and it's not getting any better

Are there rare exceptions...yes... but it is rare...

You are right that it's a small percentage of the total team but as you very well know, it only takes 1-2 players to make an average team a great team

Here's a very simple way to solve this

ANY athlete who transfers after their 9th grade year is eligible that season to play in the regular season BUT NOT ELGIBlE FOR THAT YEARS POST SEASON PLAY

Example...Kid transfers his junior year...He can play the regular season that year but not the post season..His senior season he'd be eligible to play in both....simple and easy to enforce....

[farmtown55]

Slap shot...if you tell me a very good hockey player who's say a sophomore, moves from Edina to Minnetonka for "academic reasons" I will laugh myself off this chair.

It's always about hockey..Yes we can disguise it as academics, divorce and the good old reliable excuse " the bully" card ...but it's "hockey" that forced this change.,.nothing else...

Now I'm not calling for people to go to the death chamber for this but lets at least agree it exists....and it's not getting any better

Are there rare exceptions...yes... but it is rare...

You are right that it's a small percentage of the total team but as you very well know, it only takes 1-2 players to make an average team a great team

Here's a very simple way to solve this

ANY athlete who transfers after their 9th grade year is eligible that season to play in the regular season BUT NOT ELGIBlE FOR THAT YEARS POST SEASON PLAY

Example...Kid transfers his junior year...He can play the regular season that year but not the post season..His senior season he'd be eligible to play in both....simple and easy to enforce....

And the families that do move for reasons other than sports?

[yesiplayedhockey]

Then they are eligible immediately

But a job transfer from Minnetonka to Edina does not fly.....Kids can drive themselves to their old schools....

I'm sure someone a lot smarter than me can think of the 1-2 "special cases"...Ie...A family moving from Thief River Falls to say Lakeville for a parents job....If nothing else we can eliminate those who have the means to sell their place on Lake Minnetonka and downgrade to a 6 bedroom colony home on Interlachen country club ..

Yea yea I know with everyone today working from home, someone will still figure out a way to beat this.. but at least it stops all this metro transfers we've been seeing the past few years..(now how we stop the Hermantown recruiting? )

I'm not here to pick any fights..I just wish we could get back to some sense of "playing for your community" again and not let these parents who have the means (or the right lawyer) to shop their kid like a free agent ....And by having this one year no post season rule, I think you see these numbers go drastically down.

[East Side Pioneer Guy]

Then they are eligible immediately

But a job transfer from Minnetonka to Edina does not fly.....Kids can drive themselves to their old schools....

In vehicles much nicer than the teachers, no less!

[headsupsticksdown]

Slap shot...if you tell me a very good hockey player who's say a sophomore, moves from Edina to Minnetonka for "academic reasons" I will laugh myself off this chair.

It's always about hockey..Yes we can disguise it as academics, divorce and the good old reliable excuse " the bully" card ...but it's "hockey" that forced this change.,.nothing else...

Now I'm not calling for people to go to the death chamber for this but lets at least agree it exists....and it's not getting any better

Are there rare exceptions...yes... but it is rare...

You are right that it's a small percentage of the total team but as you very well know, it only takes 1-2 players to make an average team a great team

Here's a very simple way to solve this

ANY athlete who transfers after their 9th grade year is eligible that season to play in the regular season BUT NOT ELGIBlE FOR THAT YEARS POST SEASON PLAY

Example...Kid transfers his junior year...He can play the regular season that year but not the post season..His senior season he'd be eligible to play in both....simple and easy to enforce....

And the families that do move for reasons other than sports?

^^

This. I have no issue with kids transferring if it's in the best interest of the kid/family, for whatever reason. When you start implementing rules like this, the kids/families that are in this situation for legit reasons end up suffering. From HS all the way down to association, there are rules, bylaws, blah blah blah. Most of it is there for good reason as a few bad apples have taken advantage of the situation or would flat out raise heck if someone were to come in and take up a roster spot that wasn't even in the discussion previously. There are associations out there that won't even let a friggin SQ/PW level player come in mid season or post tryouts and give them a legit shot at placement for fear of backlash or claims from other families. And guess what? This poor kid will have to sit out an entire season just because he happened to come post tryouts or what not due to relocation or some legit reason. Is that fair? All while you have kids jumping back and forth at the drop of a time where people turn their cheek at the high school level...

The point is, there are rules in place to prevent this, but they are "bendable" depending on who's asking.

[headsupsticksdown]

Then they are eligible immediately

But a job transfer from Minnetonka to Edina does not fly.....Kids can drive themselves to their old schools....

I'm sure someone a lot smarter than me can think of the 1-2 "special cases"...Ie...A family moving from Thief River Falls to say Lakeville for a parents job....If nothing else we can eliminate those who have the means to sell their place on Lake Minnetonka and downgrade to a 6 bedroom colony home on Interlachen country club ..

Yea yea I know with everyone today working from home, someone will still figure out a way to beat this.. but at least it stops all this metro transfers we've been seeing the past few years..(now how we stop the Hermantown recruiting? )

I'm not here to pick any fights..I just wish we could get back to some sense of "playing for your community" again and not let these parents who have the means (or the right lawyer) to shop their kid like a free agent ....And by having this one year no post season rule, I think you see these numbers go drastically down.

The same reason why community hockey is great also makes it fragile in this world today. I'll give you an example, you have Johnny who's grown up in said community--born and raised. Plays association hockey from mini mites all the way through, with his buddies, etc. Heck, he even plays in the Spring/Summer with the local "AAA" team---not some team 45 minutes away, the team that is based out of his home rink because he loves his community and playing with his buddies. But guess what? At some point he realizes he's still on the mid/lower team. He then figures he'd check out some other teams tryout and guess what? He ends up getting selected for the better team, makes new friends and now has options he never really had his eye open for. In this situation, Johnny, his parents, etc., love his community and have always only wanted to play and represent his community. But if there's a point where he or his parents feel he has better options elsewhere, then so be it. Should they have pie thrown at them?

Is Johnny supposed to just suck it up gutting it out with his local association "hoping" for the best? Because guess what, you can come up through the association from mites to bantam and STILL get pushed out due to someone else. Do you think coaches and associations nowadays are going to take the local kid vs. someone else who gives them a better chance to win? Let me know if you find a coach willing the do the former, I'd gladly have my kid play for him. Oh wait...

[StanleyCup55]

Only 8 teams make it to state in each class so there are no guarantees unless you transfer to Hermantown and play in a section where the other teams are light years behind you. Johnny could transfer and still not make the state tourney. What surprises me, with the non-enforcement of the transfer rules by the league, is why more bubble players don’t transfer from the higher profile teams to the lower profile teams.

I get wanting to play at state but wouldn’t you want to actually play and get ice time? It would definitely help a kid develop into a better player.

[Slap Shot]

Slap shot...if you tell me a very good hockey player who's say a sophomore, moves from Edina to Minnetonka for "academic reasons" I will laugh myself off this chair.

Yeah because a kid good enough to make Tonka isn't good enough to make Edina right?

When I was in 1st grade my parents moved from Edina to Deephaven and guess what - that put me in the Tonka school district. No I am not comparing myself to a h.s. hockey player, but the point is families move all the time for many reasons and it doesn't have to be about athletics. Plus it's not easy for say a 10th grader to have to go to a new school and have to make friends all over again. One size does not fit all.

Now I am not naive. Of course shenanigans happen but to me a family that actually goes to the trouble of moving (which is a pain the ***) bothers me far less than other situations.

But getting back to my original point the fact is most h.s. team rosters are dominated by community based players and the few that don't doesn't mean to community model is done. It's not even close to the truth. Perspective please?

[Goose21]

Then they are eligible immediately

But a job transfer from Minnetonka to Edina does not fly.....Kids can drive themselves to their old schools....

I'm sure someone a lot smarter than me can think of the 1-2 "special cases"...Ie...A family moving from Thief River Falls to say Lakeville for a parents job....If nothing else we can eliminate those who have the means to sell their place on Lake Minnetonka and downgrade to a 6 bedroom colony home on Interlachen country club ..

Yea yea I know with everyone today working from home, someone will still figure out a way to beat this.. but at least it stops all this metro transfers we've been seeing the past few years..(now how we stop the Hermantown recruiting? )

I'm not here to pick any fights..I just wish we could get back to some sense of "playing for your community" again and not let these parents who have the means (or the right lawyer) to shop their kid like a free agent ....And by having this one year no post season rule, I think you see these numbers go drastically down.

The same reason why community hockey is great also makes it fragile in this world today. I'll give you an example, you have Johnny who's grown up in said community--born and raised. Plays association hockey from mini mites all the way through, with his buddies, etc. Heck, he even plays in the Spring/Summer with the local "AAA" team---not some team 45 minutes away, the team that is based out of his home rink because he loves his community and playing with his buddies. But guess what? At some point he realizes he's still on the mid/lower team. He then figures he'd check out some other teams tryout and guess what? He ends up getting selected for the better team, makes new friends and now has options he never really had his eye open for. In this situation, Johnny, his parents, etc., love his community and have always only wanted to play and represent his community. But if there's a point where he or his parents feel he has better options elsewhere, then so be it. Should they have pie thrown at them?

Is Johnny supposed to just suck it up gutting it out with his local association "hoping" for the best? Because guess what, you can come up through the association from mites to bantam and STILL get pushed out due to someone else. Do you think coaches and associations nowadays are going to take the local kid vs. someone else who gives them a better chance to win? Let me know if you find a coach willing the do the former, I'd gladly have my kid play for him. Oh wait...

So, if Johnny is so good that he can play on a better team, why would he have to worry about being pushed out on the lower level team?