Blake Thompson, Nick Leddy and Jason Clark

[bardown444]

Was it the right decision for blake to go to the ushl and for leddy to turn down an offer to the us u-18 team and finally Jason's recent decision to possible play for shattuck St. Marys?

[flatontheice]

Was it the right decision for blake to go to the ushl and for leddy to turn down an offer to the us u-18 team and finally Jason's recent decision to possible play for shattuck St. Marys?

Not if you can play for Lee Smith

[goep]

Was it the right decision for blake to go to the ushl and for leddy to turn down an offer to the us u-18 team and finally Jason's recent decision to possible play for shattuck St. Marys?

Leddy is the real deal, and he is staying Some people need to take off their rose colored glasses when they watch thier children. When things our going great for their kids everything is great. When there not.........This is the kind of stuff you see. LEE SMITH IS AWESOME.YOUR KIDS NEED TO LOOK AT THE BIG PICTURE AND YOU NEED TO GIVE THEM GOOD SOUND ADVICE......YOUR THEIR PARENTS NOT THEIR AGENTS:!:

[breakout]

Was it the right decision for blake to go to the ushl and for leddy to turn down an offer to the us u-18 team and finally Jason's recent decision to possible play for shattuck St. Marys?

Leddy is the real deal, and he is staying Some people need to take off their rose colored glasses when they watch thier children. When things our going great for their kids everything is great. When there not.........This is the kind of stuff you see. LEE SMITH IS AWESOME.YOUR KIDS NEED TO LOOK AT THE BIG PICTURE AND YOU NEED TO GIVE THEM GOOD SOUND ADVICE......YOUR THEIR PARENTS NOT THEIR AGENTS:!:

Let me guess, the two that are leaving are going for "DEVELOPMENT" reasons. I am guessing that because I assume their school provides a decent education.

Leddy is a future Gopher and has made the US Under 18 team. How does he develop and the others feel the need to move? One kid's parents will pay 40K a year for hockey reasons?? The other kid may not play much for his junior team vs. presumably playing a lot for his high school team?? Do you develop from the bench or by playing.

One other guess; it was the kids decisions right?

Sorry, I am a traditional hockey person that believes in high school hockey and the Elite League as development paths.

[hockeytimetonight]

You have to remember though what program these kids are leaving... Who has stayed at Eden Prairie for their entire high school career and gone somewhere? I don't think there is many.... Plus Clark and Thompson are going to be Juniors and have time to develop. The USHL develops players for D1 hockey, Shattuck... enough said. Eden Prairie hockey... great Bantam A team but Lacombe stepped down. Who knows what will happen, hopefully each kid made the right choice for themselves and their teams have succesfull years.

[Doglover]

Well said Hockeytimetonight. Good luck to the kids, whatever the path they choose!

[boardguy1998]

Was it the right decision for blake to go to the ushl and for leddy to turn down an offer to the us u-18 team and finally Jason's recent decision to possible play for shattuck St. Marys?

Leddy is the real deal, and he is staying Some people need to take off their rose colored glasses when they watch thier children. When things our going great for their kids everything is great. When there not.........This is the kind of stuff you see. LEE SMITH IS AWESOME.YOUR KIDS NEED TO LOOK AT THE BIG PICTURE AND YOU NEED TO GIVE THEM GOOD SOUND ADVICE......YOUR THEIR PARENTS NOT THEIR AGENTS:!:

GOEP, what are you talking about??
Does your kid play for Lee?
Did you play for Lee?

I assume both of those answer are no, so how would you know if he is a decent coach or not. As far as kids leaving, who cares, if that is what they or there parents want, good luck to them. Stop trying to tell people what do to with their children. Everyone I have meet that gets mad about these types of things is usually jealous their kid didn't get invited. I don't know Blake, but I do know Jason, and what a great opportunity for that kid, a chance to play at Shattuck, who could say no to that.

[bananastick]

I watched Leddy play this past weekend, he did what he wanted when he wanted. Regardless of his opponent.

[tuffpucker]

He must not have wanted to win!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Can't Never Tried]

I watched Leddy play this past weekend, he did what he wanted when he wanted. Regardless of his opponent.

Where was he playing? He was Rostered on the LF team at the Walmart Cup But I heard he wasn't there...So where did he play?

[goep]

Was it the right decision for blake to go to the ushl and for leddy to turn down an offer to the us u-18 team and finally Jason's recent decision to possible play for shattuck St. Marys?

Leddy is the real deal, and he is staying Some people need to take off their rose colored glasses when they watch thier children. When things our going great for their kids everything is great. When there not.........This is the kind of stuff you see. LEE SMITH IS AWESOME.YOUR KIDS NEED TO LOOK AT THE BIG PICTURE AND YOU NEED TO GIVE THEM GOOD SOUND ADVICE......YOUR THEIR PARENTS NOT THEIR AGENTS:!:

GOEP, what are you talking about??
Does your kid play for Lee?
Did you play for Lee?

I assume both of those answer are no, so how would you know if he is a decent coach or not. As far as kids leaving, who cares, if that is what they or there parents want, good luck to them. Stop trying to tell people what do to with their children. Everyone I have meet that gets mad about these types of things is usually jealous their kid didn't get invited. I don't know Blake, but I do know Jason, and what a great opportunity for that kid, a chance to play at Shattuck, who could say no to that.

Easy big boy! First off, My kid has been coached by Lee Smith. I was not trying to tell them what to do or not to do with their child. I was defending Lee, and merely pointing out some reasons why kids were leaving and why the truly awesome player with the brightest future is staying. Your obviuosly a little hostile so take a deep breath. You are assuming too much. I never said those two names. Think of the glass as half full next time

[bananastick]

I watched Leddy play this past weekend, he did what he wanted when he wanted. Regardless of his opponent.

Where was he playing? He was Rostered on the LF team at the Walmart Cup But I heard he wasn't there...So where did he play?

Hopkins hosted a tournament at Minnetonka Ice Arena.

[Can't Never Tried]

I watched Leddy play this past weekend, he did what he wanted when he wanted. Regardless of his opponent.

Where was he playing? He was Rostered on the LF team at the Walmart Cup But I heard he wasn't there...So where did he play?

Hopkins hosted a tournament at Minnetonka Ice Arena.

Thanks!

[breakout]

The reality is:

If you are talented enough, they will find you. The cream will rise to the top.

The Edina boys are a great example of that. Curt Giles was lamblasted a couple of years ago. Edina hockey people wanted to run him out of town. Budish and company decided to stick together and go for a championship. Budish is a future Gopher and U18 invitee, Everson is headed for Harvard to play hockey, Gaarder is being seriously looked at by colleges, Anders Lee will play college hockey and there are others.

Players rise to the top no matter where they are.

I wish the leaving players good luck. I am sure there was a lot of thought behind their decisions. Hopefully, they won't regret their choices later in life.

[flatontheice]

The reality is:

If you are talented enough, they will find you. The cream will rise to the top.

The Edina boys are a great example of that. Curt Giles was lamblasted a couple of years ago. Edina hockey people wanted to run him out of town. Budish and company decided to stick together and go for a championship. Budish is a future Gopher and U18 invitee, Everson is headed for Harvard to play hockey, Gaarder is being seriously looked at by colleges, Anders Lee will play college hockey and there are others.

Players rise to the top no matter where they are.

I wish the leaving players good luck. I am sure there was a lot of thought behind their decisions. Hopefully, they won't regret their choices later in life.

Giles needs to win a championship before any one jumps on that train too hard. Sections will be alot tougher for them this year.

[scoreboard33]

The reality is:

If you are talented enough, they will find you. The cream will rise to the top.

The Edina boys are a great example of that. Curt Giles was lamblasted a couple of years ago. Edina hockey people wanted to run him out of town. Budish and company decided to stick together and go for a championship. Budish is a future Gopher and U18 invitee, Everson is headed for Harvard to play hockey, Gaarder is being seriously looked at by colleges, Anders Lee will play college hockey and there are others.

Players rise to the top no matter where they are.

I wish the leaving players good luck. I am sure there was a lot of thought behind their decisions. Hopefully, they won't regret their choices later in life.

Giles needs to win a championship before any one jumps on that train too hard. Sections will be alot tougher for them this year.

WRONG!!! Edina will have an easier section than last year because burnsville loses their studs and they were the best team that didn't make state.

Your right about Giles. He will get to stay as long as he continues to have good years. Edina parents will not accept losing, no matter if Edina has the studs stay or go. Giles needs to win regardless to keep his job, even a state championship wont get him a pass for very long.

[Bub]

Wasn't Giles there 6 or 7 years before making the State Tournament for the first time? I think you overestimate the power of the parents.

[RLStars]

Nice job of taking this thread away from three players and turning it into a debate about one coach.

[breakout]

Nice job of taking this thread away from three players and turning it into a debate about one coach.

My point, Budish and company stayed. Their top players have developed and have recognized while playing at the high school level.

I would imagine the same can happen in Eden Prairie. I would imagine that a few scouts will be in attendance during their season. Good exposure? I tend to think so.

[boardguy1998]

Nice job of taking this thread away from three players and turning it into a debate about one coach.

My point, Budish and company stayed. Their top players have developed and have recognized while playing at the high school level.

I would imagine the same can happen in Eden Prairie. I would imagine that a few scouts will be in attendance during their season. Good exposure? I tend to think so.

Not sure with Thompson, Clark, maybe Rush leaving and Leddy already committed to U of M, that there will be many scouts at the EP games? Who is left to watch?

[The Exiled One]

Nice job of taking this thread away from three players and turning it into a debate about one coach.

My point, Budish and company stayed. Their top players have developed and have recognized while playing at the high school level.

I would imagine the same can happen in Eden Prairie. I would imagine that a few scouts will be in attendance during their season. Good exposure? I tend to think so.

I'm a college fan first, so normally I don't care either way if a high school kid chooses to go to the USHL or not. And, while I would defend the USHL as a better option to develop hockey skills, I agree with you that it doesn' really increase "exposure" that drastically.

However, there is a difference in Rush and Thompson's situation than with Budish, Everson and Lee's situation. Budish is committed, and his college coach has offered him a scholarship for '09. Basically, though his college coach may appreciate a year of development in the USHL, he's not pushing for it. The same goes for Everson. Even Lee has had scholarship offers. In other words, they didn't need the USHL for "exposure" in order to get college scholarships.

As for the Eden Prarie boys, I'm not sure how much college attention they've received, but they seem to be under the impression that the USHL will give them more "exposure". I don't necessarily agree with that, but I do think they'll get better hockey training which may help them secure scholarships for '09, rather than waiting for '10 or later.

To sum up, the topics of "exposure" and "development" should be kept separate.

[seek & destroy]

WRONG!!! Edina will have an easier section than last year because burnsville loses their studs and they were the best team that didn't make state.

Your right about Giles. He will get to stay as long as he continues to have good years. Edina parents will not accept losing, no matter if Edina has the studs stay or go. Giles needs to win regardless to keep his job, even a state championship wont get him a pass for very long.

I agree Burnsville is not as big a threat but the section is still tough. Jefferson and Holy Angels have solid young teams that are sure to give Edina a challenge. Once teams start the section tournament all it takes is a hot goalie and one good game by your opponent and the best teams can fall.

As far as EP's players go, players should do what they think is best for their particular desires. If they want to experience everything that HS offers (dances, graduation parties, long time friends etc.) that is great. If they'd rather start pursuing their hockey career at a younger age, more power to them. The important thing is that they are happy with the decision they make and that they make it for the right reasons. The road to D1 scholarships or higher is a long, hard journey no matter what route you take and if your heart isn't in it, you will fail.

[scoreboard33]

Wasn't Giles there 6 or 7 years before making the State Tournament for the first time? I think you overestimate the power of the parents.

That was in the Steve Dove AD era, with the knew AD comes more parents trying to throw their weight around.

[gerryodrowski]

Thompson and Clark were unhappy at EP and took the reasonable path of seeking alternatives. At least they didn't hang around and complain.

[breakout]

Thompson and Clark were unhappy at EP and took the reasonable path of seeking alternatives. At least they didn't hang around and complain.

They were unhappy being with their friends who they won state championships in bantams (I believe) with?

Why not chase a state high school championship with those same buddies?

Parents?