Meltdown: alot of missing 12U Teams

[Cut Above]

I was just looking at the Meltdown Tournament and noticed some prominent teams missing.

Where were the 98 Blades this weekend, the 98 Ice Cats, the new 12U Ice Edge teams? Not one of them were in the Meltdown.

I'd have expected at least one to have made an appearance.

[gphockey1]

First, Congratulations to the Fighting Saints for winning the Meltdown.

Many of the top 12U teams elected to play in other tournaments. The Skate to Excellence Red played and won in Duluth at the Northern Wings Showdown which had five 12U teams in it.

The 98 Ice Cats, 98 OS, and the Reebok 98 Ice Edge competed in a very well run 8 team invatational tournament in Stillwater - the first Reebok CLASH Invitational Tournament.

I say that, individually, any of the STE Red, the IceCats (who won the CLASH), 98OS (who lost to the Ice Cats 3-2 in the semi's before beating the Ice Edge 2-0 for third) and Ice Edge would have made it to the Championship game of the 2011 Meltdown. Obviously, all the teams who accepted an invitation to play in the CLASH wanted to compete against the best in a true tournament atmosphere.

Each team was guaranteed five games in the CLASH - the tournament was held at a great rink, not scattered over three rinks - the CLASH included a wonderful dinner and dance for the players and parents at the Grand Ballroom in Stillwater on Saturday night - 350 attended - a great opportunity for parents and players to interact with or make new friends from other teams.

I suggest that the CLASH will continue to draw the best teams away from the Meltdown next year at both the 12U and 14U level.

[InigoMontoya]

First, Congratulations to the Fighting Saints for winning the Meltdown.

Many of the top 12U teams elected to play in other tournaments. The Skate to Excellence Red played and won in Duluth at the Northern Wings Showdown which had five 12U teams in it.

The 98 Ice Cats, 98 OS, and the Reebok 98 Ice Edge competed in a very well run 8 team invatational tournament in Stillwater - the first Reebok CLASH Invitational Tournament.

I say that, individually, any of the STE Red, the IceCats (who won the CLASH), 98OS (who lost to the Ice Cats 3-2 in the semi's before beating the Ice Edge 2-0 for third) and Ice Edge would have made it to the Championship game of the 2011 Meltdown. Obviously, all the teams who accepted an invitation to play in the CLASH wanted to compete against the best in a true tournament atmosphere.

Each team was guaranteed five games in the CLASH - the tournament was held at a great rink, not scattered over three rinks - the CLASH included a wonderful dinner and dance for the players and parents at the Grand Ballroom in Stillwater on Saturday night - 350 attended - a great opportunity for parents and players to interact with or make new friends from other teams.

I suggest that the CLASH will continue to draw the best teams away from the Meltdown next year at both the 12U and 14U level.

Wow, if you would have bragged it up that well BEFORE the tourney, you may have filled it.

[bluebyou]

Top 12-U and 14-U teams were at a new tourney called The Clash sponsored by Reebok. A small cozy tournament at Stillwater rink that was well run, fun and highly competitive. The Clash had the top 12-U teams in Minn. - Ice Cats (’98), OS Selects (’98), and a very solid new 12U Ice Edge (’98) team. Plenty of parity as the Ice Edge and OS Selects split in the two games and OS lost a nailbiter to a speedy Ice Cats team in the semi’s. Ice Cat's won the 12-U bracket.

Clash also had several of the top 14-U teams from Minn: Reebok, Ice Cats, OS Selects and Blades. Canadian teams too. Lot's of parity at the 14-U level with four OT's and SO's on the final day. Reebok went on to win the 14’s with a fantastic squad.

The dance & DJ on Saturday night for the girls was a hit off the ice, and on the ice the competition was tops in the State. The Clash proved quality of teams versus quantity is good way to attract – hats off to the Clash on a first class event. Also want to say congrats to Saints and STE Red for winning – both are also top 12-U teams. Agree with gphockey1, likely to see the Clash draw more from Minn and Canada next year.

[bluebyou]

Top 12-U and 14-U teams were at a new tourney called The Clash sponsored by Reebok. A small cozy tournament at Stillwater rink that was well run, fun and highly competitive. The Clash had the top 12-U teams in Minn. - Ice Cats (’98), OS Selects (’98), and a very solid new 12U Ice Edge (’98) team. Plenty of parity as the Ice Edge and OS Selects split in the two games and OS lost a nailbiter to a speedy Ice Cats team in the semi’s. Ice Cat's won the 12-U bracket.

Clash also had several of the top 14-U teams from Minn: Reebok, Ice Cats, OS Selects and Blades. Canadian teams too. Lot's of parity at the 14-U level with four OT's and SO's on the final day. Reebok went on to win the 14’s with a fantastic squad.

The dance & DJ on Saturday night for the girls was a hit off the ice, and on the ice the competition was tops in the State. The Clash proved quality of teams versus quantity is good way to attract – hats off to the Clash on a first class event. Also want to say congrats to Saints and STE Red for winning – both are also top 12-U teams. Agree with gphockey1, likely to see the Clash draw more from Minn and Canada next year.

[bluebyou]

Top 12-U and 14-U teams were at a new tourney called The Clash sponsored by Reebok. A small cozy tournament at Stillwater rink that was well run, fun and highly competitive. The Clash had the top 12-U teams in Minn. - Ice Cats (’98), OS Selects (’98), and a very solid new 12U Ice Edge (’98) team. Plenty of parity as the Ice Edge and OS Selects split in the two games and OS lost a nailbiter to a speedy Ice Cats team in the semi’s. Ice Cat's won the 12-U bracket.

Clash also had several of the top 14-U teams from Minn: Reebok, Ice Cats, OS Selects and Blades. Canadian teams too. Lot's of parity at the 14-U level with four OT's and SO's on the final day. Reebok went on to win the 14’s with a fantastic squad.

The dance & DJ on Saturday night for the girls was a hit off the ice, and on the ice the competition was tops in the State. The Clash proved quality of teams versus quantity is good way to attract – hats off to the Clash on a first class event. Also want to say congrats to Saints and STE Red for winning – both are also top 12-U teams. Agree with gphockey1, likely to see the Clash draw more from Minn and Canada next year.

[bluebyou]

sorry for the triple post, I'm not sure what happened!

[redarmydad]

Wow, if you would have bragged it up that well BEFORE the tourney, you may have filled it.

No need to brag it up, it filled up no problem. Just had some conflicts with Advance 15's, but it was still very well run.

It was refreshing to see that the event was directed at providing the best experience for the players and parents possible. Not just throwing a tournament together to make money, don't get me wrong, I am sure they made money, but they also provided one of the best, most competitive AAA season tournaments I have been a part of for a long time. We did not have to drive to 5 different rinks, each and every game was professionally announced and music was played, the website, http://teamreebokhockey.com/TRH/Home.html , was instantly updated for our friends and family memebers who could not be there, Trophies and medals for 1st through 3rd place, a banquet with great food and great music for families of the players. Great opportunity to meet new people and make new friends. After all, isn't that what it is all about. So thank you to the Clash staff and participents for hosting a class act tournament, all the way.

[hornethockeymom]

The best part of the Clash was the fact that it was an Invitational. Too many of these Girls tournaments are Open, with coaches putting their kids in at levels where they are not competitive.

Almost all of the games were won/lost by 1-2 points. The teams that were not at the same level were noticeable, and probably won't be invited back next year. No 99's or 00's were allowed to play at U12 as you are seeing in other tournaments.

Best summer competition we'll see all year in a MN tournament.

[jollyroger]

I'm sure it was a great time and wonderful tournament. But how can you even hold a U14 tournament when every '96 in the state was in New Hope this weekend?

[L84hockey]

Mr. Jolly,

Most of the top 14 teams were in attendance. There were a couple from Canada that would have been nice to have. The Advance 15 were that weekend of which a lot of girls played in both. Most 96 girls are paired with 95 birth dates which forces them into a high school or 16's bracket. I do not know of stronger local 14 teams that do have any 95 on there roster that do not were not in attendance. There are probably organizations that have 25 person floating rosters, but not actual 15 skater teams. This is a tournament people enjoyed themselves at and is not looking for validation by the absence of a team, player or your daughter. If you know of a tournament that has all the best 14U players...post it, I will talk to our coach and we will be there. If not there is always the Meltdown.

[L84hockey]

Jolly,

Read my post again and did not mean to sound negative. With no State or Nationals for AAA, we are all looking for a good experience thats not watered down and expensive.

[fun&games]

The best part of the Clash was the fact that it was an Invitational. Too many of these Girls tournaments are Open, with coaches putting their kids in at levels where they are not competitive.

Almost all of the games were won/lost by 1-2 points. The teams that were not at the same level were noticeable, and probably won't be invited back next year. No 99's or 00's were allowed to play at U12 as you are seeing in other tournaments.

Best summer competition we'll see all year in a MN tournament.

Great, fun, well-run tournament. Agreed. I am glad our player had a chance to participate. However, to say this would be the best competition of the summer season is a little much. Speaking of the U12 bracket, only 6 of 20 games were decided by a one or two goal difference (not almost all). Actually, 9 of 20 games were decided by 4 or more goals. The championship game was 8-0. There were many lopsided games. Ice Cats had 25 goals for and 3 against. OS had 14 goals for and 5 against. Ice Edge Reebok had 14 goals for and 7 goals against.

[jollyroger]

I wasn't trying to knock the teams that were there or the organizers or anything. I'm just saying that the choice of this weekend was bizarre to have a U14 tournament (1996-97 birth years) when the top 160 '96s had more important business across town. Considering what was riding on the Adv. 15 games I really doubt any of the girls tried to play in both, especially since the Adv. 15 games were at night so would have had to be the 2nd game of the day for them.
But I do realize that it's humiliating to some parents to allow their kids to skate on AAA teams in the actual age-level where they belong. Thus, most '96s are on U16 teams, for instance. And I'm sure the '98s this summer are being pushed into U14.
A very curious thing happened last summer. During April-May there were a couple tournaments with the 96 Prospects, the U14 Blades, the U14 Ice Cats, both Wisc. Jr. Badgers teams, and the U14 Lake Superior Stars. The competition was outstanding and the games very close. After they saw what kind of competition they were getting, these teams also scheduled some scrimmages against each other.
Then when August rolled around for the "2nd" summer tournament season, the Ice Cats and '96 Prospects no longer played in the U14 brackets with the rest--they placed themselves in the U16 levels of the August tournaments. The U16 teams they faced were much weaker than the teams they left behind in the U14 level. So they blew the 16s away when they might not have even been in the championship games of the 14 bracket. Does that make any sense to anybody? The joke around the arena was that the IceCat parents insisted on playing U16 so that they could tell their co-workers that their daughter is U14 eligible but plays up a level at U16.

[InigoMontoya]

It'll be nice when the girls switch to birth year, rather than 10/12/14/16. If you are not going to invite the 99s to play 12U, where are they going to play? I think the top 12U teams mentioned above will be challenged (or beaten) by a couple of the Meltdown teams before the year is over; I would say the top 5 were pretty solid.

[observer]

Even though girls tournaments still generally go by 12, 14, 16, etc, most smart organizations now develop their teams with single birth year players. It allows the teams to stay together instead of having to change some of the players each year. I've heard of some organizations playing in the open level of tournaments the first year and then move to invite the second. The next step might be seeing some birthyear tournaments. But, as an earlier poster pointed out, girls seem to play outside their birth year more frequently than the boys trying to find the right level for their team to compete. That can also vary based on the tournament which can make finding full fields of evenly competitive teams difficult. There are often 2-3 teams at the wrong level in an eight team field.

[endtoend]

It'll be nice when the girls switch to birth year, rather than 10/12/14/16. If you are not going to invite the 99s to play 12U, where are they going to play? I think the top 12U teams mentioned above will be challenged (or beaten) by a couple of the Meltdown teams before the year is over; I would say the top 5 were pretty solid.

If you are so sure that some of the teams from the Meltdown will do as you say, send out your invites for scrimmages. I will say that there is not one of the top level teams that will refuse. In other words, BRING IT!

[Cut Above]

I wasn't trying to knock the teams that were there or the organizers or anything. I'm just saying that the choice of this weekend was bizarre to have a U14 tournament (1996-97 birth years) when the top 160 '96s had more important business across town. Considering what was riding on the Adv. 15 games I really doubt any of the girls tried to play in both, especially since the Adv. 15 games were at night so would have had to be the 2nd game of the day for them.
But I do realize that it's humiliating to some parents to allow their kids to skate on AAA teams in the actual age-level where they belong. Thus, most '96s are on U16 teams, for instance. And I'm sure the '98s this summer are being pushed into U14.
A very curious thing happened last summer. During April-May there were a couple tournaments with the 96 Prospects, the U14 Blades, the U14 Ice Cats, both Wisc. Jr. Badgers teams, and the U14 Lake Superior Stars. The competition was outstanding and the games very close. After they saw what kind of competition they were getting, these teams also scheduled some scrimmages against each other.
Then when August rolled around for the "2nd" summer tournament season, the Ice Cats and '96 Prospects no longer played in the U14 brackets with the rest--they placed themselves in the U16 levels of the August tournaments. The U16 teams they faced were much weaker than the teams they left behind in the U14 level. So they blew the 16s away when they might not have even been in the championship games of the 14 bracket. Does that make any sense to anybody? The joke around the arena was that the IceCat parents insisted on playing U16 so that they could tell their co-workers that their daughter is U14 eligible but plays up a level at U16.

More proof the the younger girls are better then the current crop of girl high schoolers with of course the exception of strength and size.

[MinnGirlsHockey]

I wasn't trying to knock the teams that were there or the organizers or anything. I'm just saying that the choice of this weekend was bizarre to have a U14 tournament (1996-97 birth years) when the top 160 '96s had more important business across town. Considering what was riding on the Adv. 15 games I really doubt any of the girls tried to play in both, especially since the Adv. 15 games were at night so would have had to be the 2nd game of the day for them.
But I do realize that it's humiliating to some parents to allow their kids to skate on AAA teams in the actual age-level where they belong. Thus, most '96s are on U16 teams, for instance. And I'm sure the '98s this summer are being pushed into U14.
A very curious thing happened last summer. During April-May there were a couple tournaments with the 96 Prospects, the U14 Blades, the U14 Ice Cats, both Wisc. Jr. Badgers teams, and the U14 Lake Superior Stars. The competition was outstanding and the games very close. After they saw what kind of competition they were getting, these teams also scheduled some scrimmages against each other.
Then when August rolled around for the "2nd" summer tournament season, the Ice Cats and '96 Prospects no longer played in the U14 brackets with the rest--they placed themselves in the U16 levels of the August tournaments. The U16 teams they faced were much weaker than the teams they left behind in the U14 level. So they blew the 16s away when they might not have even been in the championship games of the 14 bracket. Does that make any sense to anybody? The joke around the arena was that the IceCat parents insisted on playing U16 so that they could tell their co-workers that their daughter is U14 eligible but plays up a level at U16.

Great post.

I happened to be in Stillwater for a mite practice on Saturday and noticed that there was one player who played in both the Clash tournament (for the Wisconsin team, which seemed strange) and the MN Adv. 15's spring festival. But I'm guessing that was the exception rather than the rule.

[InigoMontoya]

It'll be nice when the girls switch to birth year, rather than 10/12/14/16. If you are not going to invite the 99s to play 12U, where are they going to play? I think the top 12U teams mentioned above will be challenged (or beaten) by a couple of the Meltdown teams before the year is over; I would say the top 5 were pretty solid.

If you are so sure that some of the teams from the Meltdown will do as you say, send out your invites for scrimmages. I will say that there is not one of the top level teams that will refuse. In other words, BRING IT!

Really?!?

[redarmydad]

Bottom line is over the weekend there were 22 12U girls AAA team competing in the state of hockey. What an improvement in numbers. Didn't count the 14's or 10' but I would think they were the same if not more, especially at the 10U level. Great for the sport and great for the progression of girls hockey. SOLID!!! And that my friends is what truly matters. Building this sport and being able to give back a portion of what it has given to our kids and us.

[InigoMontoya]

Nice to see STE skating at the Indy. Once again, 23 teams of 12U with an opportunity to skate.

[Pens4]

I wasn't trying to knock the teams that were there or the organizers or anything. I'm just saying that the choice of this weekend was bizarre to have a U14 tournament (1996-97 birth years) when the top 160 '96s had more important business across town. Considering what was riding on the Adv. 15 games I really doubt any of the girls tried to play in both, especially since the Adv. 15 games were at night so would have had to be the 2nd game of the day for them.
But I do realize that it's humiliating to some parents to allow their kids to skate on AAA teams in the actual age-level where they belong. Thus, most '96s are on U16 teams, for instance. And I'm sure the '98s this summer are being pushed into U14.

We were at the 14U Clash tournament and have three 96' girls on the team. They did two games a day and made the Mankato roster. I didn't get a chance to see any of the Advance 15 games but I am sure they were competitive. Most of these kids are just getting warmed up after one game....But it would of made sense to schedule the tournament a different weekend.

[InigoMontoya]

I say that, individually, any of the STE Red, the IceCats (who won the CLASH), 98OS (who lost to the Ice Cats 3-2 in the semi's before beating the Ice Edge 2-0 for third) and Ice Edge would have made it to the Championship game of the 2011 Meltdown. Obviously, all the teams who accepted an invitation to play in the CLASH wanted to compete against the best in a true tournament atmosphere.

Two STE teams played this weekend; they finished 5th and 8th.
The teams that finished 1st and 3rd at the Meltdown won their respective tourneys.

My point on early posts was that there were in fact good teams at the Meltdown; the only good teams were not either STE or at the clash. Simply attending a tournament and stating that it is elite doesn't make a team better than others. As I said before, if the Ice Cats, OS, and Ice Edge (Team Reebok) choose to play 12U tourneys in the area, they will be challenged (and beaten) by teams from the Meltdown (including teams of 99s). There are more than 4 good 12U teams in the state.

[jollyroger]

The fact that adults are bickering over who are the best teams in the off-season U12 season is in itself a very good indicator that the sport is very healthy. There have been some reports that numbers have peaked and girls' hockey is in decline. (Some say the high-water mark is with the '95s, other say the '96s, but everyone thinks it's over). Even if that's true and overall numbers have leveled off though, the participation in spring-fall hockey and summer STPs means that the quality will hold it's own.