The Hermantown Thread

[greenwayraider]

It is so entertaining when someone tries to defend Hermantown. Jeffy95 and/or ranier2 just eviscerate them.

[hockey59]

It is so entertaining when someone tries to defend Hermantown. Jeffy95 and/or ranier2 just eviscerate them.

And ME too

[kniven]

It is so entertaining when someone tries to defend Hermantown. Jeffy95 and/or ranier2 just eviscerate them.

I love it.

[Yoopskater]

People got tired of the Patriots winning all the time, Alabama football, almost any team that consistently wins will have haters. If Hermantown goes up, the same whiners will move on to Cathedral or whoever else takes over the top spot. After all, this is Minnesota HS hockey and transfers abound. Somehow it is ok for other teams to gain transfers but not Hermantown....it is either all bad or none of it is bad. Go Hawks!

[rainier2]

People got tired of the Patriots winning all the time, Alabama football, almost any team that consistently wins will have haters. If Hermantown goes up, the same whiners will move on to Cathedral or whoever else takes over the top spot. After all, this is Minnesota HS hockey and transfers abound. Somehow it is ok for other teams to gain transfers but not Hermantown....it is either all bad or none of it is bad. Go Hawks!

Not in Class A. This is the problem. Teams in metro areas getting transfers and open enrollees, but still having a small enough "enrollment" to stay in A. Community hockey programs don't have this luxury. Where will TRF or I-Falls get their transfers from? Does Moose Lake or Marshall have 200,000+ people that live within a short drive to help re-stock their talent every year, like the teams in Duluth, St. Cloud, or the Twin Cities do?

Either way, when you play AA all through youth and HS regular season, beat/play tight the AA champ every year, and have mountains of Class A trophies already, then why wouldn't you want to just play AA?

[muckandgrinder65]

That’s it!!
No more BS..
STA and Hermantown
Amsoil
Sell out?
Duh?
Tony and Karl can make a killing on this deal..
Danny will be Zamboni guy (aka Smoky)
(..Gear Daddy reference for all you young’ns)

[Yoopskater]

Looking forward to EP vs Hermantown. Will be very interesting.

[Yoopskater]

Predicting 5-2 EP

[kniven]

Predicting 5-2 EP

Hermantown BantamAA. How many transfers on that squad or is it all local Hermantown boys?

[Jeffy95]

Predicting 5-2 EP

Hermantown BantamAA. How many transfers on that squad or is it all local Hermantown boys?

Not a lot by Hermantown Standards actually. Only 4 skaters and the Goalie, that I’m aware of. I’m sure they’ll add a couple more. #2 in State with only one loss to the #1. Probably their best group yet. Gonna be real fun watching them in the Class A tourney in a few years. They will have to play a full regular season AA schedule with that group.

PeeWee AA has 5 skaters, including the top 3 on the team.

[rainier2]

Predicting 5-2 EP

Hermantown BantamAA. How many transfers on that squad or is it all local Hermantown boys?

Not a lot by Hermantown Standards actually. Only 4 skaters and the Goalie, that I’m aware of. I’m sure they’ll add a couple more. #2 in State with only one loss to the #1. Probably their best group yet. Gonna be real fun watching them in the Class A tourney in a few years. They will have to play a full regular season AA schedule with that group.

PeeWee AA has 5 skaters, including the top 3 on the team.

Looks like Denfeld's window for making it to state may be next year only, and then that Hermantown class will be juniors/sophomores.

[TwinCitiesImport]

Why did Hermantown cross the road?

It didn't... it was too chicken.


A Hermantown dad, a Moose Lake dad, and a Proctor dad each walk into a rough bar. Who walks out?

Three Hermantown dads

Ah... just having fun. I have commented all I care to on this topic. Have fun guys.

This one made me laugh out loud at work, Thank you for that!

[kniven]

Why did Hermantown cross the road?

It didn't... it was too chicken.


A Hermantown dad, a Moose Lake dad, and a Proctor dad each walk into a rough bar. Who walks out?

Three Hermantown dads

Ah... just having fun. I have commented all I care to on this topic. Have fun guys.

This one made me laugh out loud at work, Thank you for that!

Wow. The three Hermantown dad one made me chuckle. That is so funny. Good stuff.....

[Orty]

Still having this discussion? Hermantown is playing by the rules. Why hate? Just beat them

Why hate? Here's a few reasons:

A program that plays AA from squirts through HS regular season, beats/plays tight with the AA champ every year, and has arena rafters that sag under the weight of single A banners, yet it's still not enough to move up. Greed

A program whose coach and fans complained loudly about metro privates drawing top talent from AA-sized areas yet having enrollments small enough to qualify for A, yet now they are doing the exact same thing themselves. Hypocrisy

A program whose exploitation of the rules has distorted reality for expectations of Class A teams, hence we see clueless statements like "just beat them". TRF, Luverne, I-Falls, LF, Eveleth, etc., don't have the 200,000 people just a relative short drive away so they can re-stock with all-stars every year. What type of A team can "just beat them"? Greenway needed to add three late transfers to their best team in twenty years to do it, SCC needed to draw all the top talent from a metro area of 150,000, EGF needed to be a suburb of an area of 100,000 to do it, and Alexandria needed to be on the cusp of AA enrollment and face hands-down the worst Hermantown team in years to do it. Fueling the erosion of community loyalty and hockey in small towns

Lou Nanne, Mike McGraw, Mark Parrish, Scott Pionk, and even Hermantown's current head coach didn't believe the answer was "just beat them". They said "Hermantown should be in AA." Decision makers at Hermantown remain unmoved. Tone deaf

Farting in a full elevator, making fun of the handicapped behind their backs, and handing out apples for Halloween aren't against the rules either. But does that mean you should you do them?

BIG FAN of this post right here. Well done young man!

[PuckOff]

Where did Pionk's kids play hockey again??

[stopthepuck]

Where did Pionk's kids play hockey again??

Whats your point? Scott Pionk has dedicated his life to promoting hockey in the region and helping countless numbers of young hockey players improve and advance no matter where they played

[Puck8]

Still having this discussion? Hermantown is playing by the rules. Why hate? Just beat them

Why hate? Here's a few reasons:

A program that plays AA from squirts through HS regular season, beats/plays tight with the AA champ every year, and has arena rafters that sag under the weight of single A banners, yet it's still not enough to move up. Greed

A program whose coach and fans complained loudly about metro privates drawing top talent from AA-sized areas yet having enrollments small enough to qualify for A, yet now they are doing the exact same thing themselves. Hypocrisy

A program whose exploitation of the rules has distorted reality for expectations of Class A teams, hence we see clueless statements like "just beat them". TRF, Luverne, I-Falls, LF, Eveleth, etc., don't have the 200,000 people just a relative short drive away so they can re-stock with all-stars every year. What type of A team can "just beat them"? Greenway needed to add three late transfers to their best team in twenty years to do it, SCC needed to draw all the top talent from a metro area of 150,000, EGF needed to be a suburb of an area of 100,000 to do it, and Alexandria needed to be on the cusp of AA enrollment and face hands-down the worst Hermantown team in years to do it. Fueling the erosion of community loyalty and hockey in small towns

Lou Nanne, Mike McGraw, Mark Parrish, Scott Pionk, and even Hermantown's current head coach didn't believe the answer was "just beat them". They said "Hermantown should be in AA." Decision makers at Hermantown remain unmoved. Tone deaf

Farting in a full elevator, making fun of the handicapped behind their backs, and handing out apples for Halloween aren't against the rules either. But does that mean you should you do them?

Been lurking for awhile and appreciate everyone's posts. But this post nails it on the head. I will never understand how they rationalize playing top AA teams (and to their credit, do well) but then dip down to play Class A for the tourney. Maybe for 1 year, possibly 2-3 as you build a program, but then have some pride and move to the next level.
Why doesn’t the MSHSL limit the # of games a team can play up a class? It would encourage successful teams to move up and play AA where they belong. Bottom line, the above post is fantastic!

[greenwayraider]

A good start would would be to adopt the following rule: If you play AA in Youth Hockey you must play AA at the high school level.

[elliott70]

A good start would would be to adopt the following rule: If you play AA in Youth Hockey you must play AA at the high school level.

Huh, that' s the youth hockey rule.
Of course any association can request to play differently.
So Hermantown plays up, Rogers plays down as well as others.

It's hard to do anything by school population because a lot of high school success is a direct result of the quality of your youth organization. How does one measure that?
Rochester has good youth hockey but not enough to feed the number of high school teams.
In Roseau kids want to be a hockey player - they produce enough athletes to be competitive or top team. But their other team sports suffer (generally).

If you win a lot and should be forced to move up, but then have down year(s). It's that fair?
In our youth district we discuss the quality of teams prior to the season before letting a program NOT play at the A level. Of course with only 11 associations and everyone pretty much knows everyone it is fairly simple.

MSHSL should find some hockey people to try and find another method and at least try something different.

[greenwayraider]

Maybe I didn’t make my point clear. The MSHSL is the party that needs to enforce this. If Hermantown or Mahtomedi want to play AA at the youth level then they must play AA at the high school level

[rainier2]

Where did Pionk's kids play hockey again??

Whats your point? Scott Pionk has dedicated his life to promoting hockey in the region and helping countless numbers of young hockey players improve and advance no matter where they played

Yep, and Pionk stood up at the school board meeting and said the "scholastic bullying" of Hermantown being in A had to stop. He knows what it is doing to small town hockey in MN, especially up north.

[elliott70]

Maybe I didn’t make my point clear. The MSHSL is the party that needs to enforce this. If Hermantown or Mahtomedi want to play AA at the youth level then they must play AA at the high school level

I understood your point and not arguing its validity but if that happens you have a circular equation- a catch 22.
Youth hockey assigns teams class by what their high school does. If high school would assign by what the youth does then who makes the first move?

[greenwayraider]

You would have to make the youth association choose first. If Hermantown chooses AA then they will be assigned AA at the high school level. You have to change the paradigm.

[Pertyboy]

4

[elliott70]

You would have to make the youth association choose first. If Hermantown chooses AA then they will be assigned AA at the high school level. You have to change the paradigm.

But who is going to make the youth choose first?
The Minnesota Hockey board will not do that and the MSHSL has no say, no power.