MASH Mite League

jBlaze3000 · Post by **jBlaze3000** » Thu Mar 03, 2011 10:09 pm

Anyone have any experience with MASH at the Mite level? There are only 2 levels of play available (intermediate and elite) so I was a little surprised when we received our 10 game schedule and there were only 4 teams on it in the intermediate league (including ours).

We have a team of level 2 Mites (buzzer every 2 min, offsides called loosely) and decided to go with MASH over Showcase due to the fact that its more games for less money, but I get a little nervous when I see that we play something called the "Euro American Jr. Wild" 3 times.

Just looking for input on the competition level and why there would only be 4 teams in the league.

centennialhockey · Post by **centennialhockey** » Thu Mar 03, 2011 10:15 pm

It's Mites, not Lord Stanley. I am sure they will be just fine

jBlaze3000 · Post by **jBlaze3000** » Fri Mar 04, 2011 8:41 am

centennialhockey wrote:It's Mites, not Lord Stanley. I am sure they will be just fine

Or 12U girls for that matter but thanks for the reassurance.

YouthHockeyDad · Post by **YouthHockeyDad** » Fri Mar 04, 2011 9:26 am

JBlaze-

MASH and Showcase are similar in some respects. Spring/Fall hockey is always a crap-shoot when it comes to level of play, but Duane tries his best to work with you to match skill level as best he can. Unfortunately that relies on the feedback from coaches themselves. Sometimes a coach simply over- or under- estimates the abilities of his team. This isn't always intentional, as many times they have NO idea how good/bad the other teams are.

We played MASH last year with BV mites. Duane offered us a mixed schedule of intermediate and advanced. Usually he is willing to alter schedules mid-season if necessary. Overall it is a good league.

From a development standpoint it might make sense to add a few practices to your calendar. Obviously this would require additional $ from parents, so it depends on how "into hockey" the families on your team are. It doesn't have to be a 1:1 ratio, but the more the kids skate the better for the long term.

Crusty · Post by **Crusty** » Fri Mar 04, 2011 10:03 am

If you don't have any practices, take the kids to open skate at any of your local rinks. Kids at that age need to learn how to skate forwards and backwards more then they need stickhandling practice. My kid was on a bantam team this year that had some kids on it that had a hard time skating backwards, so put the sticks away and get them skating at that age.

jBlaze3000 · Post by **jBlaze3000** » Fri Mar 04, 2011 10:24 am

YouthHockeyDad wrote:JBlaze-

MASH and Showcase are similar in some respects. Spring/Fall hockey is always a crap-shoot when it comes to level of play, but Duane tries his best to work with you to match skill level as best he can. Unfortunately that relies on the feedback from coaches themselves. Sometimes a coach simply over- or under- estimates the abilities of his team. This isn't always intentional, as many times they have NO idea how good/bad the other teams are.

We played MASH last year with BV mites. Duane offered us a mixed schedule of intermediate and advanced. Usually he is willing to alter schedules mid-season if necessary. Overall it is a good league.

From a development standpoint it might make sense to add a few practices to your calendar. Obviously this would require additional $ from parents, so it depends on how "into hockey" the families on your team are. It doesn't have to be a 1:1 ratio, but the more the kids skate the better for the long term.

Good info, thank you. Our team consists of older, more aggressive level 2 players who will probably be moving up next year. I'm sure we'll have a few practices as well.

It just kind of baffles me that there are so few teams. Showcase seems like a rip off when compared to MASH, it just seems like a no-brainer that more teams would choose the league that gives you more ice for less money...but yet Showcase seems to be far more popular.

YouthHockeyDad · Post by **YouthHockeyDad** » Fri Mar 04, 2011 11:27 am

[quote=
It just kind of baffles me that there are so few teams. Showcase seems like a rip off when compared to MASH, it just seems like a no-brainer that more teams would choose the league that gives you more ice for less money...but yet Showcase seems to be far more popular.[/quote]

Keep in mind that Showcase has been around for years and years, and has built the reputation as the place to play for spring/fall. To my knowledge MASH is relatively new in comparison. It may take a while to convert some of the Showcase folks to a different league.

In addition to that, Showcase has some wierd cache in the hockey world. From a marketing standpoint it is very well named. For the hockey uninitiated, knowing that a kid plays on a "Showcase" team has certain connotations, even though just about anybody can pay and play. Telling somebody your kid plays on a MASH team just leaves blank stares.

Give it some time, and if you like the league word of mouth will do wonders to expand it.

observer · Post by **observer** » Fri Mar 04, 2011 12:24 pm

Showcase is not a rip-off. It's very reasonably priced and they handle absolutely everything. What you'll learn is that it takes a lot of time, energy and money on the front end, to try and do things on your own. Showcase used to get criticized for their AAA organization too until dads tried to do it all on their own and found it to be even more expensive. When you include jerseys, ice, practice ice, refs and front end expenses it's a outstanding deal. Many have tried to do it for less money on their own and all have failed. Showcase is the largest hockey organization in the world and we're very lucky to have them so be supportive.

jBlaze3000 · Post by **jBlaze3000** » Fri Mar 04, 2011 2:18 pm

Maybe "rip-off" is too strong of a word but here's how it breaks down:

Showcase: 8 games for $2295
MASH: 10 games for $1350

Factor in that there are 2 teams paying for each hour of ice and Showcase comes out to $573.75 per hour (total for both teams) and MASH comes out to $270.00.

Showcase is well run and they have a nice website with standings and everything, but I don't see how it's worth the extra cost, especially at the Mite level.

I guess in the end it is up to the consumer to decide.

silentbutdeadly3139 · Post by **silentbutdeadly3139** » Fri Mar 04, 2011 2:49 pm

observer wrote:Showcase is not a rip-off. It's very reasonably priced and they handle absolutely everything. What you'll learn is that it takes a lot of time, energy and money on the front end, to try and do things on your own. Showcase used to get criticized for their AAA organization too until dads tried to do it all on their own and found it to be even more expensive. When you include jerseys, ice, practice ice, refs and front end expenses it's a outstanding deal. Many have tried to do it for less money on their own and all have failed. Showcase is the largest hockey organization in the world and we're very lucky to have them so be supportive.

I believe MASH also offers the same services. Showcase in this business to make money so saying "we're very lucky to have them so be supportive" is too strong IMHO, Its probably better to say we are lucky to have the Showcase as an option. Kids played both and found MASH more competitive ... just my experiences.

InigoMontoya · Post by **InigoMontoya** » Mon Mar 07, 2011 8:54 am

Duane is great. He goes out of his way to accommodate spring break schedules, travel schedules, if your community has more than one team, he'll even schedule them the same days at the same arena.

inthenet · Post by **inthenet** » Mon Mar 07, 2011 1:01 pm

Both of my boys played in MASH leagues with Duane, had a blast..!!!

inthenet · Post by **inthenet** » Mon Mar 07, 2011 1:02 pm

Both of my boys played in MASH leagues with Duane, had a blast..!!!

jBlaze3000 · Post by **jBlaze3000** » Tue Mar 08, 2011 2:34 pm

Well, the word must be getting out because just today we found out that they've added a 5th Mite team to the league.

mnhockeycoach · Post by **mnhockeycoach** » Sun Mar 20, 2011 11:37 am

The 2003 Minnesota Icemen are looking for players. We play in 2 tournaments this year which is really good for this age. If you have 2003/04 mites looking for a place to play, please contact Coach Rich at blums7@gmail.com.

Thanks,

Coach Rich