30th Annual Spirit of Duluth Tournament December 8 - 10

[thorhockey]

Tartan takes home 3rd place beating white bear 4 - 1
the only two teams to go 3 and 0 in pool play

any updates on duluth east vs green bay in champs ga

[gopherhockey33]

thorhockey is this kids mom or dad or even him. hes knows his gaa in a tourney when you play what? 4 games? c'mon get a life! ill bet you his goals against when he plays EP will 5! with a 80 save %!

[Duluth East Hockey Fan]

Tartan takes home 3rd place beating white bear 4 - 1
the only two teams to go 3 and 0 in pool play

any updates on duluth east vs green bay in champs game?

(side note) gierke was on selects in 2006 / 1.3 gaa in duluth tourney

Hounds lose Spirit of Duluth finals to Greenbay 3 - 2 in 4ot's. They outshot the gamblers 47 - 27 for the game dropping their first game since a loss to Centennial back in late October.

[pucknutz]

Hey thorhockey. What did he eat for breakfast this morning. you turn more ppl off by plugging your kid. Let him stand on his own. and ill say this seen him play 5 or 6 times hes a solid tender.

[woody22]

I was supprised to see Edina play so bad this weekend with a tie to Hermantown, a loss to Blaine and Tartan (a very good team) but they were some how #1 that will change, Also I would have liked to see Duluth East win in the Final.

[badgerdad]

MY PREDICTIONS WERE JUST ABOUT 100%

FINAL FOUR:
MADISON
MINNETONKA
FIRE
DULUTH EAST

FIRE 6 MINNETONKA 0
MADISON 5 DULUTH EAST 2

FINAL:
MADISON 2 FIRE 1

TIER ONE TEAMS DOMINATED THE TOURNAMENT. GREEN BAY WON THE BANTAM TOURNAMENT. MAYBE MINNESOTA NEEDS TO LOOK AT GOING TIER 1!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Ricky]

Madison didn't beat East by that much... 6-4 with an empty netter. Tier One might have its advantages, but you are comparing apples and oranges... in Minnesota there is neighborhood pride incorporated in teams, not just hand picked all star teams. For neighborhoods to compete against metropolitan areas is a credit to the Minnesota system. Quality wins are quality wins... congratulations to the WI kids, but you are way off base with your other comments.

[Rhino]

I agree with Ricky, I wonder how the Tier 1 teams from Wi would fair against an allstar-hand picked team from either the metro or outstate areas. They wouldn't even stand a chance! Enough said.

[plunk]

I guess Duluth East put a little mud on the faces of ther LPH rankers. I think everyone but LPH thought DE's low ranking was unbelievable!

It looks like with the 47-27 shot difference, the better team DID NOT win the championship....tier 1 or not!

Great job, DE....you represented the northern teams well!

[boblee]

did East slaughter in the 3rd place game?

[demongoed]

DE lost 4-3 to Tonka in a great overtime game. Two teams, well matched, well played. I agree with Rhino, and with Ricky. Apples and Oranges. Change to Tier I just to win some tournaments? No way. I'd take the kids playing on the local rinks, talking about the games with their classmates at school the next day, getting together last minute for some outdoor pickup hockey with their teammates, all of that, over traveling miles and miles every weekend. This constant focus on winning is one of the main things that is hurting youth hockey.

[SLP/SW Coach]

Does anyone have scores for more of the PWA games?
Not just the BA or the Semi-Final Games?
Please post them......Thanks

[hockeynut19]

Does anyone have scores for more of the PWA games?
Not just the BA or the Semi-Final Games?
Please post them......Thanks

Here are all the scores for the whole tournament
http://www.spiritofduluth.org/

[SLP/SW Coach]

Here are all the scores for the whole tournament
http://www.spiritofduluth.org/

Thanks, didn't see them up before.
Good Stuff.

[wannagototherink]

DE lost 4-3 to Tonka in a great overtime game. Two teams, well matched, well played. I agree with Rhino, and with Ricky. Apples and Oranges. Change to Tier I just to win some tournaments? No way. I'd take the kids playing on the local rinks, talking about the games with their classmates at school the next day, getting together last minute for some outdoor pickup hockey with their teammates, all of that, over traveling miles and miles every weekend. This constant focus on winning is one of the main things that is hurting youth hockey.

Are we talking bantams or peewee's?

[justanobserver]

DE lost 4-3 to Tonka in a great overtime game. Two teams, well matched, well played. I agree with Rhino, and with Ricky. Apples and Oranges. Change to Tier I just to win some tournaments? No way. I'd take the kids playing on the local rinks, talking about the games with their classmates at school the next day, getting together last minute for some outdoor pickup hockey with their teammates, all of that, over traveling miles and miles every weekend. This constant focus on winning is one of the main things that is hurting youth hockey.

Here we go again. The boys do not play Tier 1 so they can go win MN Hockey Tournaments. Your statement is absurd. The boys play Tier 1 for the extra ice time, coaching, better competition and DEVELOPMENT. Go take a look at the Fire thread and it is all spelled out for any person who thinks that it is just about winning and playing games. Are they an ALL-Star team? These boys are developing into very good hockey players. The boys are working very hard at becoming very good hockey players. The boys are skating many hours and playing against the best teams in N. America to assist with their development. MN Hockey and their Districts have put SOME of these boys and families in a hole by not allowing some of these boys an opportunity to play PW A hockey either this year or in the past. You cannot blame the families for not wanting to be told that they have to play B hockey?? I guess that some in MN Hockey would like everyone to think that playing Tier 1 Hockey is just about winning. This is just not the case for those Tier 1 boys.

[Ricky]

Observer... I think you are pointing the finger at the wrong guy. I think everyone understands that kids won't get a chance to improve if they are the only good player in Altoona, Wausau, or whatever. So you band the good guys together so they can go compete. People do realize that, but when Badgerdad comes on here saying how great WI hockey is... everyone in MN rolls their eyes. Tell him that winning isn't important. We invite those teams to MN tourneys because we want to play good teams. Grandstanding about how great they are when they win is kind of nauseating.

[plunk]

Demongoed....you are so right! The kids on our team love wearing their Jerseys to school on game days, playing pick-up hockey as a team and being part of a community hockey association that supports the teams at all levels. Minnesota community hockey associations are like families. We are developing much more than hockey all-stars!

[demongoed]

Ricky--I couldn't have said it better. Perhaps Tier I was the best choice for some of those kids. More power to the parents for doing what they believe is right for them. However, to generalize that Tier I is better at developing players, gives the boys more ice time, better coaching, etc. is absurd too. It's likely that some of these boys didn't make their association A teams, so the parents looked elsewhere. That's fine. But don't imply that playing B doesn't develop players. We all know of kids who didn't make the A teams, but got good coaching and developed nonetheless. I don't need to list for anyone here the names of great players who have emerged form Minnesota association hockey.

I responded to badgerdad's comment about winning the tournament as evidence that Minnesota association hockey isn't as good as Tier I. After watching the DE Minnetonka game, I'd bet the top 3-4 from each team could compete with players on the Madison or Fire teams anyday. You find kids like this in teams all around the state, products of great coaching, hard work, and lots of ice time. You can't argue that by their very nature, Tier I eliminates lesser skilled players at the outset. Association teams as a whole might not be as good because the associations, and the parents that support them, adopt a different set of values than Tier I hockey. Those values include things like community support, development at all levels, and, for the most part, inclusion at some level of even the most unskilled player. These things you can't measure on a scoreboard, but boy do they add to the value of playing for the association. I'm not knocking Tier I, I'm just saying that each choice is a good one, depending on what you're looking for.

[badgerdad]

Get a clue. Minnesota hockey is very good, but don't be so arrogant. There are many good hockey players outside the Minnesota borders!

Minnesota doesn't win everything. By the way, Rhino, the Fire is made up of mostly Minnesota players.

[thinkb4engaging]

I agree with Ricky, I wonder how the Tier 1 teams from Wi would fair against an allstar-hand picked team from either the metro or outstate areas. They wouldn't even stand a chance! Enough said.

Ricky and Rhino, these boys DO play against ALL STAR teams in the summer.
Most of these boys were on a couple AAA teams which did not lose a MN Tourney last year. These tourneys had ALL STAR teams from MN and outstates teams like the CT Yankees, US Cyclones, Team Northwest, Team Manitoba, Team WI and a few others. Think before engaging!

[54fighting]

So we have a PWA tournament that has Minnetonka, Duluth East, Chaska and Rochester ( all in the top 12 or so including #1 & #2 ). Then you throw in the Madison team and the Fire (who must be at that level because they both advanced) and put them all in a great place like Duluth. Sounds like a fun tournament to me. Looking at the scores on the website it seems all of the above teams played in some close games. What is there to complain about. If parents can't appreciate being in a tournament with a field like that then find another tournament. There are plenty of bad ones out there if all you are looking to do is bring home some hardware.

[badgerdad]

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