Will Austin win a game this year?

merritt29 · Post by **merritt29** » Sun Feb 10, 2008 11:05 am

01state, learn how to spell its swatfager and merritt.. and what makes you think that john kirby would come on here and talk crap about his own team, and yes we will win a game this year. it came agianst east. this game was i would say kirby's best. he used his strenght to shoot the puck by east goaltender and look what happend he got 2 goals and his second was the winning won in overtime.

futureeagle · Post by **futureeagle** » Sun Feb 10, 2008 12:12 pm

Alright if i were john kirby why in the first place would i talk crap about my team this is the biggest joke i have heard in a long time on this message board ha i am from rochester just to let you know i go to lourdes how else do you think i seen the jm game

maddog · Post by **maddog** » Sun Feb 10, 2008 12:22 pm

futureeagle wrote:Alright if i were john kirby why in the first place would i talk crap about my team this is the biggest joke i have heard in a long time on this message board ha i am from rochester just to let you know i go to lourdes how else do you think i seen the jm game

So 01 state you think futureeagle is john kirby like eagle said who would tak crap about there whole team ha then on top of that talk crap about himself jeez he must really not like himself

fivehole628 · Post by **fivehole628** » Sun Feb 10, 2008 12:28 pm

hockeyplaya101 wrote:Yes very close game! austin outshot them and had way more scoring chances. I also thought that the refs were making some really bad calls...

Doesnt everyone...

futureeagle · Post by **futureeagle** » Sun Feb 10, 2008 6:32 pm

01state wrote:
futureeagle wrote:ahs grad is that all you have to say about your brother kyle he needs to start shooting more also he is trying to make things happen on his own i seen a couple chances he could have shot against jm and probably scored against that weak goalie great player helps his team with his hard work but needs to use his team more cant do it all himself
also dooley does le in the occasional softy but you cant put any blame on him cause the goal usually doesnt matter cause they are already losing at the time kirby has come along but he is still making those blind passes needs to play more positional hockey he scored the only 2 goals against jm then merritt needs to stop stick handling and start skating not very hard worker but give him and open shot theres a good chance he will score doley same when he could play he needed to stop stick handlin behind the net the packers are better then there record but when they keep it close there is always about a 5 minute period when they garp it up and let in about 4 or 5 goals

okay john kirby why dont you stop coming on here talking crap about your team and mentioning that your the only one to score against JM. If your going to come on here and talk like that then why dont you mention swatfigures hat-trick against new ulm. from what i hear from the other coaching staffs is that you, swatfigure, and marit are the only ones that stick out but you all have your weaknesses. starting with you.. never pass, always out of position and its never your fault (so you think). swatfigure.. hardworking, best on the team but, he stickhandles way to much, tries to make everything look fancy, and can take dumb penelties. marit.. alright with his hands but doesn't follow through with any move he atempts, and is a one way player.

Alright i mentioned that jon kirby scored 2 goals against jm so i am stating a fact i dont see how that is so bad then i say almost the exact same thing you did in that he is never in position then i added that he makes some blind passes alright

hocmom · Post by **hocmom** » Mon Feb 11, 2008 8:49 am

SEMinnHockeyNut wrote:Mankato East is one of the weakest teams in the area. Mankato West could very well be the best. West beat East 12-0 and 11-1. Yet...these players all come from the same youth assn.

Can't be....can it?

Hocmom - that is a totally slanted view....if you look at Mankato youth hockey, it is basically Mankato West youth hockey...much of the top teams in their association are loaded with future West players. Why do you think East had so many kids skip Bantams last year?

The bottom line is that it is up to youth hockey associations to create an environment where the necessary skills are developed - skating, shooting, stickhandling, game sense, etc....I see many examples - not just in Austin - where this is not taking place, including my own - RYHA.
Don't get defensive and create a division between the HS and youth programs, but create a cohesive environment where kids get ice time and the HS staff has some input if they are willing to....

We don't disagree on what makes for a good program.

Question. So the top teams in Mankato are loaded with West players...is this the tale wagging the dog? Could it be that the best teams are the best because they have the best guys...that just happen to be from West?

How did these West guys get so good?

Why does the West side produce better players?

davey · Post by **davey** » Mon Feb 11, 2008 9:07 am

hocmom wrote:
SEMinnHockeyNut wrote:Mankato East is one of the weakest teams in the area. Mankato West could very well be the best. West beat East 12-0 and 11-1. Yet...these players all come from the same youth assn.

Can't be....can it?

Hocmom - that is a totally slanted view....if you look at Mankato youth hockey, it is basically Mankato West youth hockey...much of the top teams in their association are loaded with future West players. Why do you think East had so many kids skip Bantams last year?

The bottom line is that it is up to youth hockey associations to create an environment where the necessary skills are developed - skating, shooting, stickhandling, game sense, etc....I see many examples - not just in Austin - where this is not taking place, including my own - RYHA.
Don't get defensive and create a division between the HS and youth programs, but create a cohesive environment where kids get ice time and the HS staff has some input if they are willing to....
We don't disagree on what makes for a good program.

Question. So the top teams in Mankato are loaded with West players...is this the tale wagging the dog? Could it be that the best teams are the best because they have the best guys...that just happen to be from West?

How did these West guys get so good?

Why does the West side produce better players?

Pretty much in mankato it has followed where all of the new housing developments are being built. 10-15 years ago, all of the new developments were on the West side. They are seeing the benefits of the additional families that built in these areas. Plus the fact that West has had some stability in their staff and those coaches gave extra time in the youth program. Even while being the head Coach at West, Coach Essay also was the mite lead instructor for 5+years. Current Assistant Hvinden now holds that position. We are seeing more development on the East side now so I would expect in 10-15 years you may see a change.

goldy313 · Post by **goldy313** » Mon Feb 11, 2008 12:50 pm

Often times these things are cyclical, 2 years ago Mankato East was very good now it's West's turn. East wouldn't be so bad if Kolstad and Means decided to play but that's another issue.

JM, Mayo, and Century have all took turns being the best team in Rochester. East and West each have great football programs usually not the same year but it's not too hard to tell where the better athletes are and that changes every few years.

Austin may very wll be in the same boat many other programs in this area (Faribault, JM, Century, Mankato, Dodge Cty, even Owatonna) are, that being there just aren't enough kids playing youth hockey to continually sustain a program at even a marginal level. These programs will have to take bantams to survive more years than not and will have to live with periods of very bad hockey.

Black Ice · Post by **Black Ice** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 7:36 pm

hocmom wrote:
SEMinnHockeyNut wrote:Mankato East is one of the weakest teams in the area. Mankato West could very well be the best. West beat East 12-0 and 11-1. Yet...these players all come from the same youth assn.

Can't be....can it?

Hocmom - that is a totally slanted view....if you look at Mankato youth hockey, it is basically Mankato West youth hockey...much of the top teams in their association are loaded with future West players. Why do you think East had so many kids skip Bantams last year?

The bottom line is that it is up to youth hockey associations to create an environment where the necessary skills are developed - skating, shooting, stickhandling, game sense, etc....I see many examples - not just in Austin - where this is not taking place, including my own - RYHA.
Don't get defensive and create a division between the HS and youth programs, but create a cohesive environment where kids get ice time and the HS staff has some input if they are willing to....
We don't disagree on what makes for a good program.

Question. So the top teams in Mankato are loaded with West players...is this the tale wagging the dog? Could it be that the best teams are the best because they have the best guys...that just happen to be from West?

How did these West guys get so good?

Why does the West side produce better players?

The overall numbers tell part of the tale:

Albert Lea- PW+Bantams = 63 skaters/9 goalies (25/3 'A' players)
Austin - PW+Bantams = 40 skaters/4 goalies (20/2 'A' players)
N. Prague - PW+Bantams = 70 skaters/10 goalies (27/4 'A' players)
Faribault - PW+Bantams = 58 skaters/7 golalies (23/3 'A' players)
*Mankato - PW+Bantams = 66 skaters/9 goalies (24/3 'A' players)

*split @ high school level

It looks like Austin hasn't gotten the benefit of increased nos. in their program from the success they had in the late 90's and early 00's.If they want to compete in the section and big-9 they need to work with the school district to promote hockey to the younger classes. Mankato may not be a very good example to compare to since they have to split. They rely more heavily on their 'B' and even 'C' prorams to fill their high school rosters. The other programs get to keep all their 'A' players and don't need to use 'B' players unless they are late bloomers. At first glance Mankato may not seem like a very successful program, but if you look at the track record the last 6 years it's not too shabby.
04-06 East had 3 straight section finals and a trip to state. In 04 West still sent a team to the section semi's. 07 West had a section semi appearance and this year a possible conference champ. Goldy's right about East being better if they hadn't had some defections this year. They actually lost 4 senior skaters that would have started and a senior goalie who would have shared at least some of the playing time. Their defense would have been much stronger, bigger/faster & more physical. Their 1st 2 lines much tougher to stop. Most importantly they would have been able to put together a 3rd line, which they haven't really had all season. For either Mankato team to succeed they need kids that are dedicated enough to see it through to the end. West has a group like that this year. East had it a couple of years ago. This year only 3 seniors stuck with it. If the current crop of younger players don't get discouraged and stay motivated to get better they have a chance to turn the program back the other direction.

Dwatcher17 · Post by **Dwatcher17** » Wed Feb 13, 2008 12:07 pm

austin hockey is in bad shape from top to bottom. the numbers are low, the youth coaching may earn a d+. the city and youth hockey half to do something together to try to get the numbers back up. as for the high school they have average talent, but if you watch a game its all about me, passing dosent exist no hustle. when you are of average talent all of the little battels win the games, i dont no if it is the coaching or the kids