Time for Hermantown to put on their Big Boy Pants?

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bemused
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Time for Hermantown to put on their Big Boy Pants?

Post by bemused » Tue Dec 11, 2012 11:53 am

Now that the worst offender has opted up to Class AA, my vote for next in line is Hermantown. They have consistently been top 4 in the A tournament for 6 or 7 years..based on the various definitions of dominance and dynastic that were thrown around they have to be next..

Tigers33
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Post by Tigers33 » Tue Dec 11, 2012 12:39 pm

That has nothing to do with it...St Thomas draws kids from 60 miles away, christian isaackson for example, so they should be AA for this reason. They also play a AA schedule almost all season long.

By your standards New Ulm should opt up since they make it to state every year.

Worst first post ever!

Puck76
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Post by Puck76 » Tue Dec 11, 2012 12:43 pm

Yes but New Ulm is not a consistent performer in the tourney. Worst put down seen recently.

GordonBombay99
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Post by GordonBombay99 » Tue Dec 11, 2012 12:54 pm

No, Hermantown is small town hockey and everything the class A tournament is ment to be. If anything teams like Totino Grace, Duluth Marshall and St Cloud Cathedral should opt up since they are a private school and "recruit".

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Post by Gopher Blog » Tue Dec 11, 2012 12:55 pm

Hermantown does nothing wrong. I don't see why they should be "punished" for having a good local development system

bemused
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Post by bemused » Tue Dec 11, 2012 1:00 pm

Really? Hermantown has produced at at least seven D-1 players in the last 5-6 years. Hermantown is second to Warroad with nine state tournament A appearances since the two class system started. in those 9 appearances they have finished 1,2, or 3rd SEVEN times and hold the state record for most runner-up finishes!1 They also have the only growing school system in NE minnesota, their youth programs are consistently beating DE and their kids deserve chance to play against the best...this is not about recruiting. Does this sound like New Ulm? I agree with Puck..

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Post by MHGr8ness » Tue Dec 11, 2012 1:13 pm

bemused wrote:Really? Hermantown has produced at at least seven D-1 players in the last 5-6 years. Hermantown is second to Warroad with nine state tournament A appearances since the two class system started. in those 9 appearances they have finished 1,2, or 3rd SEVEN times and hold the state record for most runner-up finishes!1 They also have the only growing school system in NE minnesota, their youth programs are consistently beating DE and their kids deserve chance to play against the best...this is not about recruiting. Does this sound like New Ulm? I agree with Puck..
Class is determined by enrollment, not skill or performance.

bemused
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Post by bemused » Tue Dec 11, 2012 1:16 pm

MHGr8ness wrote:
bemused wrote:Really? Hermantown has produced at at least seven D-1 players in the last 5-6 years. Hermantown is second to Warroad with nine state tournament A appearances since the two class system started. in those 9 appearances they have finished 1,2, or 3rd SEVEN times and hold the state record for most runner-up finishes!1 They also have the only growing school system in NE minnesota, their youth programs are consistently beating DE and their kids deserve chance to play against the best...this is not about recruiting. Does this sound like New Ulm? I agree with Puck..
Class is determined by enrollment, not skill or performance.
Wrong. Class is determined by choice. Ask Roseau or Holy Family.

rainier
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Post by rainier » Tue Dec 11, 2012 1:16 pm

The argument for Hermantown to move up is performance based, while the argument for STA to move up is performance and structurally based. Hermantown does not have the talent pool structure of a big city private school which would give them an advantage over most other community class A teams.

But, Hermantown certainly qualifies based on their class A performance. Plus, they seem to beat Rapids and Cloquet every year, so they could compete just fine in 7AA.

I don't have a problem with Hermantown staying in A, but if they continue to be a dominant program (and they will based on their youth teams), then the voices calling for them to move up will get louder.

I think the question is: If you have had a lot of success at A, and you could compete successfully in AA, then why not opt up?

oldschoolpuckster
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Post by oldschoolpuckster » Tue Dec 11, 2012 1:17 pm

Moving up to "AA" should be the goal of every program, large or small. Hermantown has a great group of hockey players from the ground up. Why would they want to stay in "A" year after year???

It is obviously a growing community that has a lot of pride in their hockey. After all of that success making it to state at "A"....now is the time for "AA".

I am tired of hearing about Private School recruting...it is the easy way to be a hater and it's pure B.S.!!! Great programs draw great players, period!!

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Post by DrGaf » Tue Dec 11, 2012 1:38 pm

GordonBombay99 wrote:No, Hermantown is small town hockey and everything the class A tournament is ment to be. If anything teams like Totino Grace, Duluth Marshall and St Cloud Cathedral should opt up since they are a private school and "recruit".
*ding

Guessing the orignal poster gets routinely c-blocked by Hermantown.

Go Hawks.

Besides, they have the coolest goal horn in the state. Argument invalid.
Sorry, fresh out, Don't Really Give Any.

EHSHack
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Post by EHSHack » Tue Dec 11, 2012 1:46 pm

Clearly no one here has seen Hermantown play St. Thomas the last couple of years.
Go Hounds.

MNHockeyFan
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Post by MNHockeyFan » Tue Dec 11, 2012 1:50 pm

Just because you are good at A does not mean you should opt up to AA. No more than if you are bad at AA you should be allowed to opt down to A.

It's not how GOOD you are; it's how BIG you are!

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Post by TTpuckster » Tue Dec 11, 2012 1:53 pm

oldschoolpuckster wrote:Moving up to "AA" should be the goal of every program, large or small. Hermantown has a great group of hockey players from the ground up. Why would they want to stay in "A" year after year???

It is obviously a growing community that has a lot of pride in their hockey. After all of that success making it to state at "A"....now is the time for "AA".

I am tired of hearing about Private School recruting...it is the easy way to be a hater and it's pure B.S.!!! Great programs draw great players, period!!
Although I do not agree with everything that OSP is saying here, I agree with the move up theory.
If you have a good consistent program why wouldn't you want to be AA.
I understand that Hermantown may have some years when they do not do well, but, as somebody said earlier, look at Roseau. Every so often, they come up with a championship caliber team and compete well at state.

If Hermantown wants to stay A, then so be it. But AA would be better!! At least in my eyes.

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Post by mnmouth » Tue Dec 11, 2012 4:27 pm

EHSHack wrote:Clearly no one here has seen Hermantown play St. Thomas the last couple of years.
Exactly.

Hockey North
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Post by Hockey North » Tue Dec 11, 2012 4:37 pm

rainier wrote:The argument for Hermantown to move up is performance based, while the argument for STA to move up is performance and structurally based. Hermantown does not have the talent pool structure of a big city private school which would give them an advantage over most other community class A teams.
Ya right, like Hermantown hasnt had kids move there from Duluth or Virginia or elsewhere. Lots of kids have moved from Duluth to go there. You keep ripping on Marshall and how they "recruit". The same can be said about Hermantown whether is recruiting or just the lure of a good program. They benefitted the most from families that moved there back when the Duluth School District was announcing all the changes they were going to do with the schools. They draw from Duluth and Hermantown and dont forget the kids who came from Virginia and Proctor.

rainier
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Post by rainier » Tue Dec 11, 2012 4:43 pm

Hockey North wrote:
rainier wrote:The argument for Hermantown to move up is performance based, while the argument for STA to move up is performance and structurally based. Hermantown does not have the talent pool structure of a big city private school which would give them an advantage over most other community class A teams.
Ya right, like Hermantown hasnt had kids move there from Duluth or Virginia or elsewhere. Lots of kids have moved from Duluth to go there. You keep ripping on Marshall and how they "recruit". The same can be said about Hermantown whether is recruiting or just the lure of a good program. They benefitted the most from families that moved there back when the Duluth School District was announcing all the changes they were going to do with the schools. They draw from Duluth and Hermantown and dont forget the kids who came from Virginia and Proctor.
Any Hermantonians want to comment on the validity of this clown's claims? I was under the impression that Hermantown did not allow transfers; is this the case?

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Post by TheHockeyDJ » Tue Dec 11, 2012 4:43 pm

All I know is I'd rather play in a sold out Xcel than 8,000 fans in just the lower bowl with the club level and upper deck empty.
YouTube.com/BarbellMedicine

Hockey North
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Post by Hockey North » Tue Dec 11, 2012 6:04 pm

Rainier, your a dope. You have no clue on whats going on with anything outside of Hibbing.

MNHockeyFan
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Post by MNHockeyFan » Tue Dec 11, 2012 6:11 pm

TheHockeyDJ wrote:All I know is I'd rather play in a sold out Xcel than 8,000 fans in just the lower bowl with the club level and upper deck empty.
No doubt, but the question for A teams thinking about opting up is, would we rather play in front of "8,000 fans in just the lower bowl with the club level and upper deck empty", or stay home and not vie for any state title at all?

Realistically, Hermantown would have had no shot at winning AA, probably ever. Starting next year, with St. Thomas not in the picture, they'll have a decent shot at winning the A tourney....which I bet they'll figure is a lot better than nothing.

mulefarm
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Post by mulefarm » Tue Dec 11, 2012 6:34 pm

If people want Hermantown to move up, what about Warroad? They seem to get players from out of the state and a few from out of the country.

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Post by cooperalls4ever » Tue Dec 11, 2012 7:07 pm

TheHockeyDJ wrote:
All I know is I'd rather play in a sold out Xcel than 8,000 fans in just the lower bowl with the club level and upper deck empty.

Your entitled to your own opinion, but what you just said is that you'd play in any sold out building and not a 1/2 full one. If we put a rink in the dome(I know who'd want a hockey game in the dome? :lol: ) for the AA tourney and it sold 35,000 tickets, you'd rather play in a sold out building with only 22,000. Yeah, it's the building we play in that counts right? Not the experience or game?


I'm guessing you're not going to find many HS students/alum in MN playing in any other sport if asked if they'd give their state tourny experience (and Championship) back because they won an inferior A, AA, 3A tourney because 4A is it; The kid who ran 10.70 in the 100 @ the A meet is in an inferior meet (and who'd want to watch? or participate in?) to the AA kid who ran 10.75 right?


MNHockeyFan
"Realistically, Hermantown would have had no shot at winning AA, probably ever"

Actually, I'm pretty sure the PeeWee A's took 2nd in State last year. Someone correct me, but it was to Eden Prairie? For comparison's of PUBLIC SCHOOLS, Hermantown's H.S. enrollment is what? <700, EP >3000. Hermantown's population is less then 10,000, while EP is over 60,000. One class of 7th or 8th graders probably won't win a state AA championship, but 3 solid classes "might".

There's no comparison to the Private schools who can or do "recruit" from all over the state. Just take a look where STA's players come from and start adding the numbers up from those programs and communities...

Hermantown's numbers of kids on the ice are based on success building success within. Sure there are a few families that move into the city for various reasons, it is really the only "suburb" of Duluth. You'll see future success as many former athlete's from the area have moved into Hermantown and started their families there. It's very rare to find the 9th grade "ringer" moving into the community. Hockey is not the only sport with success. You just might see a move to AA after a few A titles occuring (but I doubt prior) and a solid program down to the mites. I can't predict the future, but I do know of alot of very athletic parents of children 4-13 in the district.

There are a few Swedes and Fins in the program at Hermantown this year! IALTO!

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Post by rainier » Tue Dec 11, 2012 7:40 pm

Hockey North wrote:Rainier, your a dope. You have no clue on whats going on with anything outside of Hibbing.
Fair enough. Maybe if Marshall ever wins an A title then there will be a thread similar to this for them. But that is unlikely given they only have an enrollment of 231. :roll:

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Post by RangeHockeyFan1817 » Tue Dec 11, 2012 8:18 pm

Hermantown, in my opinion, should absolutetly NOT opt up. Hermantown is everything small town hockey, and the single A hockey should be. I don't think anyone wants EVERY good team to leave single A, then think of how watered down the tournament becomes, it already has so little respect from clearly so many people, which is frankly a little silly. And secondly, as far as I know, Hermantown does NOT accept any open enrollment for High School, Someone correct me if I am wrong, but that is how it has been in years past. I would bet 98-99% of the Hermantown kids grew up and played there nearly their whole lives, with few exceptions.

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Post by HawkeyPower » Tue Dec 11, 2012 8:52 pm

rainier wrote:
Hockey North wrote:
rainier wrote:The argument for Hermantown to move up is performance based, while the argument for STA to move up is performance and structurally based. Hermantown does not have the talent pool structure of a big city private school which would give them an advantage over most other community class A teams.
Ya right, like Hermantown hasnt had kids move there from Duluth or Virginia or elsewhere. Lots of kids have moved from Duluth to go there. You keep ripping on Marshall and how they "recruit". The same can be said about Hermantown whether is recruiting or just the lure of a good program. They benefitted the most from families that moved there back when the Duluth School District was announcing all the changes they were going to do with the schools. They draw from Duluth and Hermantown and dont forget the kids who came from Virginia and Proctor.
Any Hermantonians want to comment on the validity of this clown's claims? I was under the impression that Hermantown did not allow transfers; is this the case?
There is a 2nd line forward that moved from Virginia when he was in Bantams. One JV forward also came from Proctor during his Bantam years.
(may be open enrolled) All members of the current Varsity roster live wiithin the School District. I cant give many examples for the youth levels that have come into town, but I believe most of the grade levels in the District are closed for any other open enrollments.
I also do believe when the youth levels continue to compete at a high level, then it would be time for Hermantown to think of opting up. But until that time I think they are where they belong.
Last edited by HawkeyPower on Tue Dec 11, 2012 8:54 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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