Question about the Tonka team

[Doglover]

Question Blueblood as you seem to be in the know. How does this group of kids go from nothing as PeeWees and Bantams to one of the better teams in the state as high schoolers? Late Bloomers? Coaching? Development vs. Winning philosophy at youth level? Other?

Great questions! My guess is they steadily got bigger, stronger and more talented due to good coaching and just good olde hard work - those closer to them though - what do you think? They seem like a great group of kids with an excellent/smart coach. Very fun to watch them this season.

[demongoed]

I think very few of them, if any, have done any AAA stuff. I'm pretty sure most of them work with Eric Johnson at Impact throughout the year, and some work out at Velocity. This seems to be a great combination, since I know there are other very talented players from other schools who work out at the same 2 programs.

[Factsmatter1]

Question Blueblood as you seem to be in the know. How does this group of kids go from nothing as PeeWees and Bantams to one of the better teams in the state as high schoolers? Late Bloomers? Coaching? Development vs. Winning philosophy at youth level? Other?

Blueblood,

I am with Crimson. You seem to be in the know. How did this team become this good if they are all homers (except Kruger)? And don't tell me it is all their D though they seem to be pretty darn good.

[shakey]

While I agree that Tonka is an outstanding and clearly the best team in Minnesota right now, let's have them win a state title, or at least get to a state tournament before we start talking them in comparison to the greatest teams in history. Jefferson won three straight titles in the early 90s, Burnsville and Hill-Murray each played in three title games in four years during the mid 80s, teams like Edina, Grand Rapids and Roseau have had stretches where they made numerous tournament appearances. When Minnetonka wins a title, they can be talked about in the same way as those teams.

AMEN!

[blueblood]

All great questions and here is my theory:

The current "core" group of seniors had a productive Squirt years winning over 20+ games each season. I attribute their success at that age to the passion of their coaches. (They also had Jake Gardiner play one extra year of squirts due to his late birthday which helped out their first year big time!)

As they moved into their first year of peewee's the year group ahead of them was not as strong, plus they were playing against the Fab 5 from Edina, Leddy and Co., and Jefferson's strong group. Chaska also had a strong group, but they suffered the private school departures as time went on.

This group of kids was playing off-season AAA. The Rockets, Vipers and Wolverines had several Tonka kids on their rosters.

Their second year of peewee's they had major coaching issues. Development was non-existant and the team was barely a .500 club. A bad year and no improvement. IMO they degraded as a team and lost confidence.

About this time, Impact Hockey began with summer and before school training. All of the players skated in this training program and several were taking private skating lessons.

Their first year of bantams again they had the misfortune of playing against the best in D6. However, the Bantam A coaches made some tough choices and took some 1st year players outside of the normal core group (Holl and Thornberg). This was the beginning of their rise. Also, they all began to grow; especially Holl.

In summary:

Their peewee years were lost
They played against the best teams in the state in D6 (Edina and EP)
The kids got bigger and stronger later than other D6 teams
The got better coaching the older they got
Impact Hockey has definetly played a vital role in their development

But the biggest thing IMO was, they all stayed at Tonka. There were no major defections of players unlike Chaska, EP or Edina to the likes of BSM and other private schools, USHL or US Development team.

[Roseauverrated]

I think you also should give Ken Pauly a lot of credit for reviving this program. Though he was only there for 3 seasons and left on bad terms, he really overhauled the whole program when he first came in, bringing in new coaches, setting up a great training program with facilities, and really motivating the kids to work hard and be the best they can be.

[Factsmatter1]

Great background on the Senior class Blueblood... very interesting how they developed in youth hockey... how many seniors on the team..? looks like 7-8 which is a lot less than I thought...

[dzonecoverage]

Pauly? Give all the credit to the current coaches, Urick and Aronson!

[Roseauverrated]

Urick and Aronson have also done a fantastic job. So far in his 3 seasons as head coach Urick is 66-12, it's pretty hard to argue against that. I think a lot of that has to do with Pauly bringing this program out of the dumps it was in before his hiring. He came in and set up a whole new training regime, brought in new coaches, and really turned the program around in every aspect. Urick and Aronson have done a great job building on that since his departure.

[Slap Shot]

I don't know that they completely came out of nowhere if you look beyond their youth results. Just look to recent history - Tonka had a two goal 3rd period lead against BSM two years ago in the section final by one of their better teams of late, and last year Eden Prairie may have been the only team in state that was arguably better than them. Also Kruger, Holl, Gardiner, Prochno and Hesketh were all being talked about pre-season and they were rated #2.

Also keep in mind that while they obviously have some very good seniors, this team has received very good production from non-seniors that may not have shown up together in the youth ranks. Some of them are FR Max Coatta (15-13-28.) SO Sam Rothstein (5-8-13) SO Erik Baskin (4-8-12) JR Derek Frawley (12-22-34) JR Connor Ryan (5-12-17) and JR Thomas Schutt (13-12-25). Another SO (Michael Prochno) has been solid on the blue line.

Regardless, they're truly a good bunch to watch play together. There biggest need imho is to have the killer instinct necessary to never take a game for granted a bury any team they have when given the chance.

[observer]

Slap Shot,

I was going to say the same thing. Don't know the Seniors that well and they're obviously a good bunch. But, I thought two years ago the Minnetonka Bantam A team was one of the best I saw that season. Very well coached with a lot of nice players. Those players are juniors and a few sophomores today. Add that group to the solid seniors and you have today's team.

My other observation is they must have a strong defensive coach working with the kids as they obviously have what would be considered the top defensive corp. Associations need defensive experts working with their teams all the way up. It's such an important part of the game and when you see well coached top D they just jump out at you. Top forwards look a lot alike but a great D is startling what they mean to the team.

[blueblood]

Roseau:

Pauly had some effect on this group, but not that much. Only #11 played for him as a Frosh. Yes, Pauly was a motivator, but he only brought in 1 set of coaches during his 3 years at Tonka. Also, Impact was already in place. He helped shape some of the program, but EJ was the founder and the backbone behind the training.

[shakey]

I think you also should give Ken Pauly a lot of credit for reviving this program. Though he was only there for 3 seasons and left on bad terms, he really overhauled the whole program when he first came in, bringing in new coaches, setting up a great training program with facilities, and really motivating the kids to work hard and be the best they can be.

BLASPHEMY!!!!

[BodyShots]

All great questions and here is my theory:

The current "core" group of seniors had a productive Squirt years winning over 20+ games each season. I attribute their success at that age to the passion of their coaches. (They also had Jake Gardiner play one extra year of squirts due to his late birthday which helped out their first year big time!)

As they moved into their first year of peewee's the year group ahead of them was not as strong, plus they were playing against the Fab 5 from Edina, Leddy and Co., and Jefferson's strong group. Chaska also had a strong group, but they suffered the private school departures as time went on.

This group of kids was playing off-season AAA. The Rockets, Vipers and Wolverines had several Tonka kids on their rosters.

Their second year of peewee's they had major coaching issues. Development was non-existant and the team was barely a .500 club. A bad year and no improvement. IMO they degraded as a team and lost confidence.

About this time, Impact Hockey began with summer and before school training. All of the players skated in this training program and several were taking private skating lessons.

Their first year of bantams again they had the misfortune of playing against the best in D6. However, the Bantam A coaches made some tough choices and took some 1st year players outside of the normal core group (Holl and Thornberg). This was the beginning of their rise. Also, they all began to grow; especially Holl.

In summary:

Their peewee years were lost
They played against the best teams in the state in D6 (Edina and EP)
The kids got bigger and stronger later than other D6 teams
The got better coaching the older they got
Impact Hockey has definetly played a vital role in their development

But the biggest thing IMO was, they all stayed at Tonka. There were no major defections of players unlike Chaska, EP or Edina to the likes of BSM and other private schools, USHL or US Development team.

You hit the nail on the head The same can be said for all levels of play. The longer you play together, the better you will be. If you lose your top end players and replace them with #17 to #20 on a roster, it makes a huge difference.

There is no better example of this than HM in the East Metro. They get top end players from all communities, including Stillwater, WBL, WB, Roseville, Shoreview, etc. This weakens these high school teams and makes HM very talented year in and year out. But, without the experience of playing together for many years, the HM teams are always good, but not great (year in and year out).

[Gov78]

Roseau:

Pauly had some effect on this group, but not that much. Only #11 played for him as a Frosh. Yes, Pauly was a motivator, but he only brought in 1 set of coaches during his 3 years at Tonka. Also, Impact was already in place. He helped shape some of the program, but EJ was the founder and the backbone behind the training.

blueblood hit most of the points that I would also make (but in more detail than I know of) but I also believe there are 2 other contributing factors.

1. Hockey Development Committee (HDC) - The Tonka Youth Association (MYHA) has a group of non-board members who make the hockey decisions. I won't name names but this group includes a number of well known ex-NHL, Olympic, and college players who along with both HS coaches determine the on ice training. Jack Blatherwick was part of this group when it originated a few years back until his NHL responsibilites resumed. This group has helped provide a consistant approach for all the youth teams.

2. Ice availability - before Pagel and Victoria ice arenas were built MYHA kids had to travel far and wide for ice. There are now 5 sheets of ice in the Tonka area where MYHA is either the primary or secondary ice purchaser and I believe this has also helped get more kids more ice at more reasonable times.

[Nostalgic Nerd]

Anyway, the point I'm making is there is a "chosen" team every year and people generally get overexcited and try to crown em.

To some degree, this is true; people will latch on to the most talented team in a given year and declare them the closest thing we have to the '93 Jags, which in a simple sense I suppose is true. And this year's Tonka team has the potential to reach that level.

I'm not sure it's the greatest team over the past few years, and to a large degree that depends on what you think makes a great team. If it's talent alone, I think '07-08 Edina might give them a good run. Some of the Moorhead teams from the middle of the decade as well, perhaps.

Personally, though, I would say that truly "great" teams should win a state title.

Not only that, there's an argument that a truly great team will not have just one good year--the best year (93 Jefferson, 98 East) will simply be the crowning achievement in the midst of a dynasty. I think there's something to that position.

I wouldn't put the '98 East above the '95 East, at least not in terms of tourney games.

[demongoed]

Hard work, playing together over the years, good coaching, these all contribute. So does genetics. Prochnos, Coattas, Gardiners. It's in the genes for many of these kids. I'm pretty sure Sam Rothstein is related to the northern Minnesota Rothsteins who had a couple of accomplished hockey players way back too. If my memory serves me right, I think there are a few other current players with older brothers who are former Skippers. At any rate, a fun team to watch.

[Nostalgic Nerd]

I haven't seen them play, so I'm curious to know how Tonka dominates territorially on the ice compared to say '93 Jefferson?