MrBoDangles wrote:RMWCHOCKEY wrote:
Unlike the Machine, the Blades have a future..
Why do most of the older Machine teams seem to fall apart? Will you still be on your knees in a few years?
Still no comment on the 98's?
The "older" Machine teams don't necessarily "fall apart" - they just move on. Happens every year - the top kids have many more options than just playing on a summer AAA team and that's what happens to the Machine teams. Many top players start focusing on bigger and better things than settling in on a good AAA team. High school, Shattuck, Jr's etc. . . This whole situation is more of a compliment to MM and what they afford the kids along the lines of development and opening doors than it is a dig. While MM bashers may look at it like "their teams fall apart" others look at it as it is intended to be and that is that MM develops
players first and not necessarily teams. The teams are just good by-products of having and developing solid talent in the early years. They seem to be doing just fine at the 99 - 02 which just happens to be before the kids start thinking about HS and other hockey options beyond AAA.
As far as the 98s go - dominant for three years before they lost their best player (and probably the best 98 in the country) to the 97 team. Hard to replace 60-80% of your offense especially in one player. Also lost two players to the 98 Blades "super team" that in all respects should be better than the 98 Machine or years past but for some reason hasn't had nearly the same success.[/quote]
"HS, Shattuck, Jr's".........?
All kids out grow AAA teams
It happens with all teams. It's called aging out..... It wasn't too long ago that they only had a few age groups because so many kids bailed.
Nice try with the commercial[/quote]
Mr Bo,
No commercial - just my opinion.
So now you call it "aging out"? Hey, I was just trying to respond to your obvious issue with the Machine and MM with how their teams "fall apart". You apparently just explained it though with the "aging out" comment.
Do yourself a favor and shelf your hate of the Machine and MM. Like you said, kids move on. VERY few, if any teams stay in tact for more than a year or two. It's the same with the Blades and Machine - just look at the most recent example with the 98s. 98 Machine had some kids move on (they accomplished just about EVERYTHING they could at their age level) and the 98 Blades re-vamped totally (bringing in 5+ new guys). If history shows us anything I would say that the Machine teams are better in the first couple years and the Blades have the edge later only because they still have teams at the older levels (96). If you look at the current state between the Blades and Machine, the Machine has a very decided edge over the Blades. Compare the levels and their records and you'll soon see.
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