Suburban east conference

[BodyShots]

As a white bear fan, I would welcome Bill Lechner to white bear with open arms! It would be a monstrous improvement over the current coach.

That’s not saying much. Although I don’t recall him being very successful at Stillwater.

Whisler wasn't all that successful at Mahtomedi. But he did take Hill to 2 finals in 2 years, winning one.

Exactly, any coach would be successful at HM! When you can get players from Roseau to Rochester, Hutchinson to Wisconsin, its not difficult.

[mnpuckster]

As a white bear fan, I would welcome Bill Lechner to white bear with open arms! It would be a monstrous improvement over the current coach.

Sagar is a fine coach, he's very talented, and WB is fortunate to have him. They should keep him for many, many years. Please.

Haha. Sager must be a fine leader of young men and a good dude....or else he would have been gone long ago. I cant think of anyone who has achieved less with the teams he has had since 2003. He has had some VERY talented teams and Sager has almost always underachieved. Save his 2011 upset of HM, Sager has been pretty poor overall.

[East Side Pioneer Guy]

That’s not saying much. Although I don’t recall him being very successful at Stillwater.

Whisler wasn't all that successful at Mahtomedi. But he did take Hill to 2 finals in 2 years, winning one.

Exactly, any coach would be successful at HM! When you can get players from Roseau to Rochester, Hutchinson to Wisconsin, its not difficult.

My counter to that: Steve Rohlik. With all due respect, it's really naïve to think any coach could have done what Lex has done at Hill.

[East Side Pioneer Guy]

As a white bear fan, I would welcome Bill Lechner to white bear with open arms! It would be a monstrous improvement over the current coach.

Sagar is a fine coach, he's very talented, and WB is fortunate to have him. They should keep him for many, many years. Please.

Haha. Sager must be a fine leader of young men and a good dude....or else he would have been gone long ago. I cant think of anyone who has achieved less with the teams he has had since 2003. He has had some VERY talented teams and Sager has almost always underachieved. Save his 2011 upset of HM, Sager has been pretty poor overall.

Uh, no, Sagar has had his teams punching far above their weight. If Lex were to step down tomorrow, why we'd make Sagar a very attractive offer to be behind our bench. Really, just a super-duper offer.

[The Exiled One]

Looks like Irondale is leaving the SEC next season for the newly formed Tri-Metro Conference (St. Paul Highland Park, Minneapolis, Holy Angels, Bloomington Kennedy). Hopkins will join the year after.

It's a bit sad to note that all of these teams had played in the State Tournament at some point (other than Hopkins), and now they feel the need to form a new conference in order to play at a more modest and competitive schedule. Just more evidence to show how much has changed in the city and first ring suburbs.

[Sparlimb]

Looks like Irondale is leaving the SEC next season for the newly formed Tri-Metro Conference (St. Paul Highland Park, Minneapolis, Holy Angels, Bloomington Kennedy). Hopkins will join the year after.

It's a bit sad to note that all of these teams had played in the State Tournament at some point (other than Hopkins), and now they feel the need to form a new conference in order to play at a more modest and competitive schedule. Just more evidence to show how much has changed in the city and first ring suburbs.

Irondale and Mounds View should have joined forces a long time ago, but certain personalities did not let that happen. Will be an interesting conference.

[The Exiled One]

Irondale and Mounds View should have joined forces a long time ago, but certain personalities did not let that happen. Will be an interesting conference.

They'll be joining forces on the girls side starting next season. Could it be a preview of things to come on the boys side? Maybe, but apparently numbers stabilize a bit starting AFTER next season, so we'll see. Next season is going to be very challenging for Irondale-St. Anthony.

If folks at the district insist that the girls play under the MV Mustangs banner, they'll likely get more resistance to merge on the boys side down the road, so I'm curious to see how the girls brand themselves.

[Sparlimb]

Irondale and Mounds View should have joined forces a long time ago, but certain personalities did not let that happen. Will be an interesting conference.

They'll be joining forces on the girls side starting next season. Could it be a preview of things to come on the boys side? Maybe, but apparently numbers stabilize a bit starting AFTER next season, so we'll see. Next season is going to be very challenging for Irondale-St. Anthony.

If folks at the district insist that the girls play under the MV Mustangs banner, they'll likely get more resistance to merge on the boys side down the road, so I'm curious to see how the girls brand themselves.

Is Rodefeld still coaching the Irondale girls? My daughter played for him and I really liked him. The trick would be for Irondale and Mounds View to combine the youth system.

[The Exiled One]

Is Rodefeld still coaching the Irondale girls? My daughter played for him and I really liked him. The trick would be for Irondale and Mounds View to combine the youth system.

The youth system has been combined for about 8 years. They go by Mounds View Irondale.

Rodefeld coached this year's Irondale girls, but I wouldn't bet on him being a the head coach of the combined team. Could be the current MV head coach or they could go in a new direction.

[Sparlimb]

Is Rodefeld still coaching the Irondale girls? My daughter played for him and I really liked him. The trick would be for Irondale and Mounds View to combine the youth system.

The youth system has been combined for about 8 years. They go by Mounds View Irondale.

Rodefeld coached this year's Irondale girls, but I wouldn't bet on him being a the head coach of the combined team. Could be the current MV head coach or they could go in a new direction.

8 years... well you can tell how long my kids have been out of hockey!

[East Side Pioneer Guy]

Looks like Irondale is leaving the SEC next season for the newly formed Tri-Metro Conference (St. Paul Highland Park, Minneapolis, Holy Angels, Bloomington Kennedy). Hopkins will join the year after.

It's a bit sad to note that all of these teams had played in the State Tournament at some point (other than Hopkins), and now they feel the need to form a new conference in order to play at a more modest and competitive schedule. Just more evidence to show how much has changed in the city and first ring suburbs.

Hopkins Lindbergh made the tournament twice, but your mileage may vary on that counting as a Hopkins appearance. I think it was 1975 and 1980.

[tourneytickssince59]

Since I don’t see a TRME topic, I guess I will have to ask this question here, for all you HM boys.

Why is Lech still allowed to coach your team? Given the incident (and this isn’t the first time a hazing incident has occurred under his watch). This isn’t as bad as the Proctor football situation, but it’s not far away.

I resisted even commenting on this. I will simply say that from everything I know about Bill Lechner he is a class act in every aspect of his life. Look at any interview or article quoting him, and he talks about not only coaching these kids on the ice but also doing everything in his power to coach them on being socially responsible, honest, and upholding the values we should all strive for. He's made plenty of difficult decisions that cost the team wins, and maybe even titles, because a student-athlete didn't meet those standards.

I wish I cared about other people as much as Lechner does. I'd be a better person if I followed his lead. I think it's a sad state of affairs when the coach of a team should somehow be responsible for the every action of a bunch of kids, both on and off the ice. He has them for a few hours a week for a couple of months of the year and he's going to be held to account for their every dumb decision? Come on.

Bill Lechner sets the expectation these kids need to abide by, and if they don't they'll be held accountable. That's all I could expect of any coach. I certainly don't expect them to supplant parents and personal responsibility as the sole authority on morality or good behavior 24/7/365

All is not always as it seems. Administration having one's back goes a long way.