Randy Schmitz fired from Lakeville North??
Moderators: Mitch Hawker, east hockey, karl(east)
Some coaches who coached their sons: Larry Ross, Willard Ikola, Tom Saterdalen, John Bianchi, Mike Randolph, Tom Osiecki, Carl Davis Tony Sarsland, Tim Guyer, Kevin Gordon, Steve Sertich, Todd Manthey, Terry Cullen, Keith Hendrickson, Larry Hendrickson, Mark DeCenzo, Russ Welch.Vaneilli(STA), Bruce Johnson, Ken Staples. Feel free to add.
-
- Site Admin
- Posts: 7428
- Joined: Tue Dec 10, 2002 8:33 pm
- Location: Proctor, MN
Mulefarm, I believe that is Pat Guyer, not Tim?mulefarm wrote:Some coaches who coached their sons: Larry Ross, Willard Ikola, Tom Saterdalen, John Bianchi, Mike Randolph, Tom Osiecki, Carl Davis Tony Sarsland, Tim Guyer, Kevin Gordon, Steve Sertich, Todd Manthey, Terry Cullen, Keith Hendrickson, Larry Hendrickson, Mark DeCenzo, Russ Welch.Vaneilli(STA), Bruce Johnson, Ken Staples. Feel free to add.
Lee
PageStat Guy on Bluesky
The last thing I would like to reply about now that I saw some of hockey1979 posts taken down, is I would like to see you own up to what you were more than likely involved in and call Randy tell him you didn't have the manhood to tell him what you felt to his face so went crying to the athletic director and got your way like a 5 year old. I am sure that the new head coach whoever that may be would love to know the parents who complained and got a 30 year coach fired.
-
- Posts: 40
- Joined: Wed Dec 03, 2008 4:37 am
mulefarm wrote:Some coaches who coached their sons: Larry Ross, Willard Ikola, Tom Saterdalen, John Bianchi, Mike Randolph, Tom Osiecki, Carl Davis Tony Sarsland, Tim Guyer, Kevin Gordon, Steve Sertich, Todd Manthey, Terry Cullen, Keith Hendrickson, Larry Hendrickson, Mark DeCenzo, Russ Welch.Vaneilli(STA), Bruce Johnson, Ken Staples. Feel free to add.
Phil Housley, Wes Walz
With Lakeville's numbers, either North or South should be the Section 1AA Champion every year, but the section is weak and both these teams post about .500 records in their conference. They need more than nice, good old boy coaches that don't get them to the next level. A good coach who cares about his success will do what he needs to do, like demand better play from his players, more commitment from the families and certain things from the youth association, and the only way someone can demand from others is to lead by example, show that you are committed by giving what is needed to the players, parents and youth association.oldschoolpuckster wrote:Nice section.....I wouldn't read too much into that fact. It is clearly the easiest road to State.stopper1 wrote:Last I checked they won the consolation state championship last year. Were in the state tournament the last two years and have been to around 8 section finals in a row. What more do want from a staff other than your kid getting more ice time. Rutt has been coaching there since before his kid was born and you think he is only there to promote his kid. Come on and quit comparing your kid to everyone else and encourage him to get better and work hard rather than blame the coaches for him not playing. That attitude will only hurt your kid not help him. (I am assuming this is what happened from what you write).
-
- Posts: 4
- Joined: Fri Aug 26, 2011 7:53 am
stopper1 what you do not realize sadly is that for years and years parents and players have complained about Randy and a certain assitant coach . Why do you think so many players have left the program and gone else where ? It wasn't a few parents wanting to take a great kind man down it was time for a change.stopper1 wrote:The last thing I would like to reply about now that I saw some of hockey1979 posts taken down, is I would like to see you own up to what you were more than likely involved in and call Randy tell him you didn't have the manhood to tell him what you felt to his face so went crying to the athletic director and got your way like a 5 year old. I am sure that the new head coach whoever that may be would love to know the parents who complained and got a 30 year coach fired.
What you don't realize is there isn't too many(young or old) qualifed guys wanting to be a head hs coach. Not many young guys are going onto education, plus there are many junior opportunties where they don't have to put up with parents like in Lakeville.hockey1979 wrote:stopper1 what you do not realize sadly is that for years and years parents and players have complained about Randy and a certain assitant coach . Why do you think so many players have left the program and gone else where ? It wasn't a few parents wanting to take a great kind man down it was time for a change.stopper1 wrote:The last thing I would like to reply about now that I saw some of hockey1979 posts taken down, is I would like to see you own up to what you were more than likely involved in and call Randy tell him you didn't have the manhood to tell him what you felt to his face so went crying to the athletic director and got your way like a 5 year old. I am sure that the new head coach whoever that may be would love to know the parents who complained and got a 30 year coach fired.
There are otherways to go about it. From what I gather it was done in a very unprofessional way by the group of parents and the administration. Thats where I have a very big issue and something needs to be done to stop this from happening. Parents are way too involved especially in the high school ranks. Let the coaches coach, let the players play, and let the parents support their team, kids, coaches, and community. Pride is leaving the game. Sad.
-
- Posts: 68
- Joined: Fri Oct 01, 2010 8:10 am
There are significant problems in Lakeville Hockey from the bottom up (Association to High School). LHA has had it's share of, and is embroiled in controversy due to the people (parents) that take on leadership positions to benefit only their kids or in some cases their wallet. True development is the key to a successful program, whether it is on the youth hockey side of things or High School. Development is not happening in most levels of Lakeville Hockey and it bears out in the fact that strong players leave for other programs and it also bears out in the performance of both High Schools as noted above. It is true that Lakeville has made its way to the State Tournament from Section 1, but it is a weak section and someone has to win. They ultimately did not fare well in the Tournament, and would have been killed except for the outstanding play of Charlie Lindgren, and a few others.
The whole program needs to be shaken up, revamped and set on a course of excellence and development. Stop the people who are in it for personal gain. Make it a requirement that parent coaches cannot coach their kids on the A team or in High School. The AD has the perfect chance to go out and find a top notch coach from outside of Lakeville that has a strong moral compass and the passion to reach down into LHA and cause the changes necessary to fix this program from the bottom-up. Lakeville's only hope is to stop the "good-ole-boy" network, and this would be a start.
The whole program needs to be shaken up, revamped and set on a course of excellence and development. Stop the people who are in it for personal gain. Make it a requirement that parent coaches cannot coach their kids on the A team or in High School. The AD has the perfect chance to go out and find a top notch coach from outside of Lakeville that has a strong moral compass and the passion to reach down into LHA and cause the changes necessary to fix this program from the bottom-up. Lakeville's only hope is to stop the "good-ole-boy" network, and this would be a start.
-
- Posts: 68
- Joined: Fri Oct 01, 2010 8:10 am
-
- Posts: 1102
- Joined: Wed Jan 17, 2007 2:07 pm
While LHA has had its problems on the administrative side, to conclude that they are not developing players is way off the mark. Here is a little background. As soon as it became official that the high school would be split the expectations of a certain group of parents were dashed, their answer was to go private. This mentality gained strength and continues today. Once the youth program split I'm not sure people realized that LHA became two average size programs at best.
Now back to player development....regardlesss of where kids play high school much of their early development is done in the youth association and Lakeville has produced some extremely talented players over the last 5 years. Four players to Ann Arbor in the last two years alone. Reid, Kroska, Schroeder(2), Haeg, Simon, Kloos, Harvey, Aerntz, and the list goes on. Mulefarm was right, it won't be easy for the next guy, too many crazy parents down there.
Now back to player development....regardlesss of where kids play high school much of their early development is done in the youth association and Lakeville has produced some extremely talented players over the last 5 years. Four players to Ann Arbor in the last two years alone. Reid, Kroska, Schroeder(2), Haeg, Simon, Kloos, Harvey, Aerntz, and the list goes on. Mulefarm was right, it won't be easy for the next guy, too many crazy parents down there.
-
- Posts: 3
- Joined: Wed Aug 31, 2011 12:53 pm
Bottom line all are failing to realize here is people have been trying to get Schmitz out of that program since the early 90's! In fact, in the early 2000's (don't recall the exact year) Schmitz was featured on the front page of the sports section in the strib with a story about how the parents (yes almost always biased) AND players were willing to lose their season if Schmitz refused to step down. In fact, 90 percent of the players met up outside of the coaches and agreed to turn in their jerseys and quit half way through the season because of the coaching staff and their obvious lack of understanding for the game. It wasn't until an enraged parent caught wind of this and strong armed them back into staying.
As far as lakeville teams reaching the tourney is concerned, they play in hands down the worst section in the state, before this season I am not sure they ever won a tourney game, and if you have ever watched a lakeville team they typically have a solid goalie, a few above average players and an occasional guy that can scoot who puts up solid numbers, but all around just sloppy players
In regards to Rutt, he is clearly in it for his kids. Both his kids are average at best and the example you guys gave of other hs coaches who end up coaching their kids is poor as ALL of their kids were studs and would have been a top player ANYWHERE they played regardless if dad was coach or not.
Its time for someone new who not only understands hockey but has a passion for the game. Lakeville hockey has been at a standstill for over 15 yrs now, as their pee wee and bantam teams have historically been very good since the mid 90s, yet their development ends there. Interesting that nearly EVERY potential d-1 player has left lakeville before their hs years ended (most leaving after bantams) in the last decade..(Brutlag, shroeder brothers, reid, arentz, smeija, skjei, osterberg,mcneely, lindgren, now lindgrens younger brother)
Time for new blood.
As far as lakeville teams reaching the tourney is concerned, they play in hands down the worst section in the state, before this season I am not sure they ever won a tourney game, and if you have ever watched a lakeville team they typically have a solid goalie, a few above average players and an occasional guy that can scoot who puts up solid numbers, but all around just sloppy players
In regards to Rutt, he is clearly in it for his kids. Both his kids are average at best and the example you guys gave of other hs coaches who end up coaching their kids is poor as ALL of their kids were studs and would have been a top player ANYWHERE they played regardless if dad was coach or not.
Its time for someone new who not only understands hockey but has a passion for the game. Lakeville hockey has been at a standstill for over 15 yrs now, as their pee wee and bantam teams have historically been very good since the mid 90s, yet their development ends there. Interesting that nearly EVERY potential d-1 player has left lakeville before their hs years ended (most leaving after bantams) in the last decade..(Brutlag, shroeder brothers, reid, arentz, smeija, skjei, osterberg,mcneely, lindgren, now lindgrens younger brother)
Time for new blood.
-
- Posts: 1102
- Joined: Wed Jan 17, 2007 2:07 pm
Yep, your right on sats, the bigger question is why they felt they had to leave? The overwelming sentiment in Lakeville is that if you don't leave, your career is over. Lakeville kids don't stop developing, they leave before anyone can make that call. Weather its Schmitz or Weber they have both lost so much talent its not fair to judge there results. Neither Randy or Weber have been willing to bow down to the demands of the top end players in their communities. While I'm not a fan of Coach Schmitz, he was crucified for not allowing Jordan Schroeder to play as a eighth grader and is now being blasted for playing ninth and tenth graders. As for the sloppy player good goalie theory, Lakeville chose to split, If they had chosen the EP model I think your opinion might be a little different.
Lorne Grosso and Roy Nystrom alos coached their own kids, they each have over 600 wins.
People try and get coaches out all the time and everywhere. How many threads were here about getting Smith out of Eden Prairie until he won? Blaming the coach for kids leaving when they leave for Ann Arbor or the USHL is beyond stupid and since we all know it is againt the rules for kids to leave for places like St Thomas for athletic reasons.......
"the overwhelming sentiment at Lakeville is that if you don't leave your career is over" For most kids their career is over after high school anyhow whether they leave or not.
90% of all 9/11 truthers are hockey parents
People try and get coaches out all the time and everywhere. How many threads were here about getting Smith out of Eden Prairie until he won? Blaming the coach for kids leaving when they leave for Ann Arbor or the USHL is beyond stupid and since we all know it is againt the rules for kids to leave for places like St Thomas for athletic reasons.......
"the overwhelming sentiment at Lakeville is that if you don't leave your career is over" For most kids their career is over after high school anyhow whether they leave or not.
90% of all 9/11 truthers are hockey parents

Keepyourheadup-schmitz did get crucified for not allowing jordan schroeder to try out as an 8th grader, but Vannelli let him. Think he was happy with that decision in hindsight? My point being is you make exceptions for certain players, and obviously jordan was a rare talent that easily would have been their best player as an 8th grader and helped the team significantly. Funny how a few yrs prior to that before the split of north and south kurt webers kid was allowed to try out as a freshman (another very AVERAGE at best player) and not only made the team but got significant playing time! Interesting that kurt weber was an assistant on the staff at the time. By the time he was a sr, after playing 4 yrs on the varsity in what was a extremely competitive lake conf, I don't think ever he put up over 10 pts in a season his entire career (and played on 1st line for almost 3 yrs, not to mention played on 1st pp unit and was on ice at almost all critical times).
Keepyourheadup, I also have to disagree with you in reference to the 'sloppy player, solid goalie' model lakeville teams seem to always have. It has not been just because of the split, as it has been like that since Schmitz has been on board.
Keepyourheadup, I also have to disagree with you in reference to the 'sloppy player, solid goalie' model lakeville teams seem to always have. It has not been just because of the split, as it has been like that since Schmitz has been on board.
Below is a list of lakeville players who moved on to different modes of development prior to attending the lakeville public high schools. The reasons for their defection I am sure are as diverse as the list itself, but I am confident each would agree that the high schools in lakeville did not meet their hockey development wants/needs. It is a massive list, off the top of my head. Please feel free to add as I am sure there are omissions. Some of the more alarming aspects of this list----the vast majority are recent defections(5 years or less), the quality of players is top notch as most will play, or are playing at high levels beyond high school, the split between North and South is near identical in numbers, which makes me wonder how the coach at South is being allowed to slither under the radar of the most current "lets get the North coach" mania. Based on his team's performances in the section final game the past two years, especially against North and with superior talent, one would think that the spotlight should be focused on him as well. But back to the list. It does not include the players that have gone from North to South or South to North, nor does it include the players in the youth ranks that will do the same in the near future.
LHS(one school) Matt Laatsch USHL
LS Jordan Schroeder STA
LS AJ Reid STA
LS Zach Schroeder STA
LS Matt Kroska STA
LS Matt McNeely STA
LS JP Graveline STA
LS Kyle Osterberg NTDP
LS Clint Lewis Shattuck
LS John Haeg AHA
LS Tony Haeg AHA
LS Will Reedy Prior Lake
LS Adam Peterson STA
LS Eric Peterson STA
LN Aaron Crandall STA
LN Jon Schreiner STA
LN Tony Mergens STA
LN Justin Crandall STA
LN Brady Skjei NTDP
LN Nate Arentz USHL
LN Bryan Brutlag AHA
LN Charlie Lindgren USHL
LN Andrew Lindgren Eagan
LN Matt Perry STA
LN Will Dupont AHA
LHS(one school) Matt Laatsch USHL
LS Jordan Schroeder STA
LS AJ Reid STA
LS Zach Schroeder STA
LS Matt Kroska STA
LS Matt McNeely STA
LS JP Graveline STA
LS Kyle Osterberg NTDP
LS Clint Lewis Shattuck
LS John Haeg AHA
LS Tony Haeg AHA
LS Will Reedy Prior Lake
LS Adam Peterson STA
LS Eric Peterson STA
LN Aaron Crandall STA
LN Jon Schreiner STA
LN Tony Mergens STA
LN Justin Crandall STA
LN Brady Skjei NTDP
LN Nate Arentz USHL
LN Bryan Brutlag AHA
LN Charlie Lindgren USHL
LN Andrew Lindgren Eagan
LN Matt Perry STA
LN Will Dupont AHA
-
- Posts: 1102
- Joined: Wed Jan 17, 2007 2:07 pm
My point concerning the sloppy play was that it might have looked a whole lot less sloppy if the above had played at a single high school....like EP as I mentioned. Randy Schmitz will never be confused with Scotty Bowman but when the top kids in your program consistently bail out the product you put on the rink isn't quite the same. As someone mentioned earlier, Lee Smith has been on the hot seat a number of times but given the horses he won two out of three. In the end there is little doubt that change was required but they should have given him the option of going out on his own terms...ie...make this your last year Randy so we don't have to fire a 30 year coach. We agree on one thing SATS81, how Weber was/is able to survive after what he did with his own kid is a mystery to me. For what its worth the few top end kids that have stayed don't appear to be suffering, Brevig is on Sioux Falls roster and Kloos will be moving on to the next level as well.
-
- Posts: 1102
- Joined: Wed Jan 17, 2007 2:07 pm
-
- Posts: 1102
- Joined: Wed Jan 17, 2007 2:07 pm