mulefarm wrote:I really can't figure out why Mn isn't producing top end talent. Is hockey getting to expensive so many good young athletes are playing other sports? Maybe hockey isn't getting the cream of the crop? It could be a down cycle? Maybe hockey is getting to structured as far as playing year around, training year around and.....
This is a lovely troll that might just get the puck dropped and the juices flowing in this year's version of the perennial discussion.
I think that each of your questions have been stand-alone topics in older threads. Assuming that your premise is accurate (and that MN really is producing less "top end" talent), the simplest answer might be something else...
Somebody has to have the stats to test this idea, but maybe it's that it's not just us. Maybe Canada, Mich and Massachusetss are also producing less high-round NHL draft pics than they were 20 years ago, because more kids in Europe and California that have raw talent and game sense are choosing to focus on hockey, rather than football (or football)? And it's not that we're now doing something wrong, so much as it is that other places are finally doing it right?
This.
Soooooo much more competition these days, and getting more so all the time.
MrBoDangles wrote: They're now leaving as 15/16 year olds and trying to still be the go to guy against a bunch of 20 year olds.. Taking a back seat elsewhere while they could have been building star potential here.
so you think Bittner is still a MN "A" prospect if he stayed in Crookston?
MrBoDangles wrote: They're now leaving as 15/16 year olds and trying to still be the go to guy against a bunch of 20 year olds.. Taking a back seat elsewhere while they could have been building star potential here.
so you think Bittner is still a MN "A" prospect if he stayed in Crookston?
He went straight from being a freshman at Crookston to WHL Portland. Of course he was projected as an A player... They're not stupid in Portland and knew exactly what the were getting. When he *first got there he was pretty much projected on all first round lists... The fact that these kids can step in, and do fairly well at a sophomore age, should show you the strength of our hockey around here. Alec Baer stepped into a first and second line role mid HS season in the CHL and I think he was a third liner at BSM.
Last edited by MrBoDangles on Thu Oct 02, 2014 5:25 pm, edited 1 time in total.
imlisteningtothefnsong wrote:Muley, we do have them. As I said before, you don't want to go down this road here. It is not something that is easy to swallow. Let's say your son is a high end player. Let's say he is a high enough player that may have a chance to play at the highest level if he gets developed in the manner that those at the highest level would like to see. Let's say that those people approach you and your son and say we would like your boy to play for this team for a few years because we think if he practiced and played in these situations, we feel he would be an A or B prospect in the big draft. We don't care if he scores 60 goals in MN high school, we don't care if he plays 17 years of community hockey, we think he will be a great player if he gets developed in the manner in which we play. If your son is one of these players, you both will have to decide if staying all 4 years in HS is most important or most beneficial, or should you listen to what those people are saying. MN HS will not be ruined if a few of the seriously gifted players move on to NHL breeding grounds. It may even help a few late bloomers blossom into HS studs.
Do you have valid examples fitting the scenario - "verbatim" - you describe ?
imlisteningtothefnsong wrote:Muley, we do have them. As I said before, you don't want to go down this road here. It is not something that is easy to swallow. Let's say your son is a high end player. Let's say he is a high enough player that may have a chance to play at the highest level if he gets developed in the manner that those at the highest level would like to see. Let's say that those people approach you and your son and say we would like your boy to play for this team for a few years because we think if he practiced and played in these situations, we feel he would be an A or B prospect in the big draft. We don't care if he scores 60 goals in MN high school, we don't care if he plays 17 years of community hockey, we think he will be a great player if he gets developed in the manner in which we play. If your son is one of these players, you both will have to decide if staying all 4 years in HS is most important or most beneficial, or should you listen to what those people are saying. MN HS will not be ruined if a few of the seriously gifted players move on to NHL breeding grounds. It may even help a few late bloomers blossom into HS studs.
Do you have valid examples fitting the scenario - "verbatim" - you describe ?
I can't really think of kids past age 10-11 that move away to get good at hockey.
Usually the good players move away to get noticed.
It's no mystery that you'll have a chance to be a 1st Round NHL pick if you stand out at age 17 in Canadian Major Junior. It's also no mystery that many strong NHL players weren't drafted that early.
O-townClown wrote:I can't really think of kids past age 10-11 that move away to get good at hockey.
Usually the good players move away to get noticed.
It's no mystery that you'll have a chance to be a 1st Round NHL pick if you stand out at age 17 in Canadian Major Junior. It's also no mystery that many strong NHL players weren't drafted that early.
Bo, I think you are just baiting me into this.... Do you think AB being a 3rd liner at BSM and a starter for Vancouver means BSM beats Vancouver??
Also big difference between being noticed and being developed.
imlisteningtothefnsong wrote:Bo, I think you are just baiting me into this.... Do you think AB being a 3rd liner at BSM and a starter for Vancouver means BSM beats Vancouver??
Also big difference between being noticed and being developed.
I sure hope I don't have you up all night (see you're posting pretty late) scratching your head with a bottle stuck to your nose..
BSM was loaded with D-1 talent and Vancouver was pretty weak....Vancouver would have swept them if they had a series? Not so sure... We've seen the "no chance" local HS teams beat SSM prep at a pretty good (occasional) clip.. How would SSM have fared against the down Vancouver team in a series that year..? Wasn't Vancouver mostly HS age kids with a few over agers?
C JAREMKO JACOB ELK RIVER HIGH-MN
C OLSON JACOB HILL-MURRAY HIGH-MN
C MCNEELY JACK LAKEVILLE NORTH HIGH-MN
C POEHLING NICK LAKEVILLE NORTH HIGH-MN
C SADEK JACK LAKEVILLE NORTH HIGH-MN
C BECKER JACK MAHTOMEDI HIGH-MN
C JAYCOX LUKAS WARROAD HIGH-MN
Others Minnesota players also made the updated list from the USHL and WHL.
