The Hermantown Thread

[headsupsticksdown]

If you watched the final, it was clear that HTown was head and shoulders above their opponent in all facets of the game. Not only were they faster, deeper and more “skilled”, but their decision making and overall hockey IQ clearly were on a completely different level. Is this the fault of the kids? The program? A/AA aside, are the HTown kids working that much harder, with much better resources than their opponent? What does that have to do with A/AA? The discussion about competing against better programs at least in sections is a valid point, but until more folks in the community speak out, nothing will change.

I guess my point here is that anyone with knowledge of the HTown program knows those kids bust arse 24/7, are highly committed, intelligent and benefit from a community that gives a ton back. But that has nothing to do with what level they play at and comes down to what other communities are doing in comparison. Recruiting, transfers have been discussed at length, but now it all comes down to as a competitor whether you truly want to continue to outscore and outshoot opponents 300-0 or not. IMO, if HTown finally wins another title giving Andrews his first, this may change. If they somehow lose, it’ll be the same ole “but we didn’t even win state” argument over again…

Flame on…

[stopthepuck]

Lmao. This thread is so tired. Hermantown will not go AA. They have a supreme resume feeding players into Div 1 hockey. They have an amazing youth program that prepares players. Ya...they get some glory seekers along the way. So what. Just like every successful metro program.

[stopthepuck]

How is this different

[StanleyCup55]

Seriously guy? You have screws loose. You don’t have to go to the state tourney every year to get noticed. God lord people. There is a whole section full of scouts all regular season games all season long. If they’re good they will get noticed. Smh

[rainier2]

How is this different in how andover is handling gr right now

How is it the same? Hermantown beats a top ten Denfeld team 11-0, Andover and GR play a tight one goal game. (en) Actually couldn't be more different.

[stopthepuck]

Wawawa...I am no huge fan of hermantown. But they put in the work from a very young age. And have amazing training. Yes....they sprinkle in glory seeking parents (eh players).

[rainier2]

Lmao. This thread is so tired. Hermantown will not go AA. They have a supreme resume feeding players into Div 1 hockey. They have an amazing youth program that prepares players. Ya...they get some glory seekers along the way. So what. Just like every successful metro program. Whiny ass parents need to try harder

The part I bolded is the problem. They're a metro program, playing against a bunch of actual small community teams. You know, the same imbalance that Bruce Plante would whine about every year as they lost to STA or Breck.

[rainier2]

Wawawa...I am no huge fan of hermantown. But they put in the work from a very young age. And have amazing training. Yes....they sprinkle in glory seeking parents (eh players). Step it up if ya wanna b haters in 218.

Where will International Falls get all the open enrollees from? Canada?

At least half of Hermantown's top talent were known to be good players before they ever put on a Hawk jersey for the first time, so spare me the "amazing training" BS.

[ClassAGuy]

If you watched the final, it was clear that HTown was head and shoulders above their opponent in all facets of the game. Not only were they faster, deeper and more “skilled”, but their decision making and overall hockey IQ clearly were on a completely different level. Is this the fault of the kids? The program? A/AA aside, are the HTown kids working that much harder, with much better resources than their opponent? What does that have to do with A/AA? The discussion about competing against better programs at least in sections is a valid point, but until more folks in the community speak out, nothing will change.

I guess my point here is that anyone with knowledge of the HTown program knows those kids bust arse 24/7, are highly committed, intelligent and benefit from a community that gives a ton back. But that has nothing to do with what level they play at and comes down to what other communities are doing in comparison. Recruiting, transfers have been discussed at length, but now it all comes down to as a competitor whether you truly want to continue to outscore and outshoot opponents 300-0 or not. IMO, if HTown finally wins another title giving Andrews his first, this may change. If they somehow lose, it’ll be the same ole “but we didn’t even win state” argument over again…

Flame on…

I think this is key Andrews has not done well at State yet and even found a way to not even win the Section Championship one year. He was the one who said they would go AA in his first year taking the program I think the years of failing in big games has made him step back a bit. They will win a title here here soon. Until then its a storyline to watch next week lots of Pressure on the Hawks in St Paul... GO WARRIORS!!!

[stopthepuck]

TBH....Andrews is no Plante

[stopthepuck]

TBH....Andrews is no Plante. And as usual, goaltending is their weakness. But when u out shoot ur opponents 2or 3 to 1 no worries there

[stopthepuck]

.

[rainier2]

TBH....Andrews is no Plante. And as usual, goaltending is their weakness. But when u out shoot ur opponents 2or 3 to 1 no worries there

Very true. Andrews has yet to complain on TV about metro tourney teams getting "kids from everywhere", and that his team is all "hometown" kids.

[stopthepuck]

Name me one goalie from htown that has had amazing success. Htown is a goalie cemetary

[rainier2]

Name me one goalie from htown that has had amazing success. Htown is a goalie cemetary

I can't disagree. It does make me wonder why anyone would transfer there. (Other than for the guaranteed trip to state, that is.)

[rainier2]

If you watched the final, it was clear that HTown was head and shoulders above their opponent in all facets of the game. Not only were they faster, deeper and more “skilled”, but their decision making and overall hockey IQ clearly were on a completely different level. Is this the fault of the kids? The program? A/AA aside, are the HTown kids working that much harder, with much better resources than their opponent? What does that have to do with A/AA? The discussion about competing against better programs at least in sections is a valid point, but until more folks in the community speak out, nothing will change.

I guess my point here is that anyone with knowledge of the HTown program knows those kids bust arse 24/7, are highly committed, intelligent and benefit from a community that gives a ton back. But that has nothing to do with what level they play at and comes down to what other communities are doing in comparison. Recruiting, transfers have been discussed at length, but now it all comes down to as a competitor whether you truly want to continue to outscore and outshoot opponents 300-0 or not. IMO, if HTown finally wins another title giving Andrews his first, this may change. If they somehow lose, it’ll be the same ole “but we didn’t even win state” argument over again…

Flame on…

I think this is key Andrews has not done well at State yet and even found a way to not even win the Section Championship one year. He was the one who said they would go AA in his first year taking the program I think the years of failing in big games has made him step back a bit. They will win a title here here soon. Until then its a storyline to watch next week lots of Pressure on the Hawks in St Paul... GO WARRIORS!!!

This touches on my theory that Htown just doesn't get jacked up to win the A tournament. Think about it-they play AA all the way up, testing themselves at regions and state against the very best year after year, getting hungrier with each tight loss to a top teams, they'd give anything for another shot at it...and then they get to HS, where they start blowing everybody out come playoff time.

If you've ever played a video game on easy mode or arm-wrestled a kindergartner, you've probably noticed the shine of victory wears off pretty quick

[rainier2]

Step it up if ya wanna b haters in 218.

So by staying "step up", you're saying the other 7A teams need to get so much better that they can be top ten in AA every year? And be able to beat the AA champ almost every year? Because that's what they would need to do get on the same level as Hermantown.

Is that expectation in any way realistic?

[BigWorm]

Streaming this 7AA final. Sad to say but north eastern MN hockey is dead other than Hermantown. Yet they still choose to sand bag. If they move up, the area might not be considered an after thought in hockey circles. Here’s to hoping they move up for northerners prides sake.

Maybe I'm taking your statement the wrong way, but NE MN hockey is absolutely not dead. Over the past 5-6 years, Hibbing, Greenway, Virginia, Eveleth, and Denfeld have all had some excellent teams, sometimes in the top 5. I agree this year was down overall, but Denfeld is a top ten team, and they lost 11-0!!!! Hibbing was the #3 team in 2016 and lost 8-1!

Virginia and Eveleth both have strong bantam teams that will join forces next year as Rock Ridge, and Hibbing has a pee wee state champion group coming up in a few years. There are good teams and players up here, but getting to state has been near impossible because Hermantown has been able to use the Class A cheat code that Bruce Plante vociferously and publicly railed against for years.

Rapids still relevant. Cloquet fell off a cliff and it doesn’t appear it’ll be changing anytime soon. No idea what happened to Duluth East’s program, didn’t see their abrupt fall coming. Hermantown is by far the current premier program in the Arrowhead region still beating up on the little guys. 100% think they would’ve won the 7AA championship tonight had they been out there. Maybe saying north eastern MN hockey is dead is a little steep but it certainly isn’t what it was. Hope it’s just a cyclical thing and not a trend. 3/4 of section 7AA final four this year were metro teams. Hopefully things are better next year.

[WestMetro]

Well done boys ! 77 pages and counting ! Keep ‘er up !

…. I notice all the Gentry haters calmed down after they won one title and then did the right thing and moved up this year . Roseau, Bsm , Sta, Hf , Gentry , who is left that should move up but hasn’t ? Maybe if Andrews has a call with Poeschel they can both move up together ?

[rainier2]

Well done boys ! 77 pages and counting ! Keep ‘er up !

…. I notice all the Gentry haters calmed down after they won one title and then did the right thing and moved up this year . Roseau, Bsm , Sta, Hf , Gentry , who is left that should move up but hasn’t ? Maybe if Andrews has a call with Poeschel they can both move up together ?

I'm not sure who else in Class A is going to the state title game every year, beating the AA champ almost every year, and putting top ten-ranked opponents into running time every section final, but if I find one, you'll be the first to know!

[Slap Shot]

I find it extremely weird that Hermantown continues to celebrate with happiness and joy after winning 11-0 in a section final after outscoring opponents 30-0 in the three games. How can you actually be excited about that when you’ve beat all the top teams in the state and you’re one of the best overall. So effen weird.

I would bet the kids would prefer to move up to AA, but I'd be curious to hear how the parents feel behind the scenes. If they really wanted AA and pushed hard for it you'd think the administration would eventually acquiesce.

[Slap Shot]

Wawawa...I am no huge fan of hermantown. But they put in the work from a very young age. And have amazing training. Yes....they sprinkle in glory seeking parents (eh players).

I doubt anyone is pointing fingers at the players.

[norcon]

I overheard a Hermantown fan say between periods of the Rapids/Hawks game a couple weeks ago…the Rapids players are so big. We can’t ever go up to AA. Our kids aren’t big enough.

[Goose21]

I find it extremely weird that Hermantown continues to celebrate with happiness and joy after winning 11-0 in a section final after outscoring opponents 30-0 in the three games. How can you actually be excited about that when you’ve beat all the top teams in the state and you’re one of the best overall. So effen weird.

I would bet the kids would prefer to move up to AA, but I'd be curious to hear how the parents feel behind the scenes. If they really wanted AA and pushed hard for it you'd think the administration would eventually acquiesce.

I have posted this here before, but some Hermantown parents agreed that making the Youth AA State Tournament and going 0-2 showed they don’t belong in AA. Since then, the loses to Alexandria, Greenway, Mahtomedi, and the Covid situation last year have had an impact.

[norcon]

Streaming this 7AA final. Sad to say but north eastern MN hockey is dead other than Hermantown. Yet they still choose to sand bag. If they move up, the area might not be considered an after thought in hockey circles. Here’s to hoping they move up for northerners prides sake.

Maybe I'm taking your statement the wrong way, but NE MN hockey is absolutely not dead. Over the past 5-6 years, Hibbing, Greenway, Virginia, Eveleth, and Denfeld have all had some excellent teams, sometimes in the top 5. I agree this year was down overall, but Denfeld is a top ten team, and they lost 11-0!!!! Hibbing was the #3 team in 2016 and lost 8-1!

Virginia and Eveleth both have strong bantam teams that will join forces next year as Rock Ridge, and Hibbing has a pee wee state champion group coming up in a few years. There are good teams and players up here, but getting to state has been near impossible because Hermantown has been able to use the Class A cheat code that Bruce Plante vociferously and publicly railed against for years.

Rapids still relevant. Cloquet fell off a cliff and it doesn’t appear it’ll be changing anytime soon. No idea what happened to Duluth East’s program, didn’t see their abrupt fall coming. Hermantown is by far the current premier program in the Arrowhead region still beating up on the little guys. 100% think they would’ve won the 7AA championship tonight had they been out there. Maybe saying north eastern MN hockey is dead is a little steep but it certainly isn’t what it was. Hope it’s just a cyclical thing and not a trend. 3/4 of section 7AA final four this year were metro teams. Hopefully things are better next year.

I would say was relevant. Twelve seniors on this years team, which was very competitive group through their youth years. Things drop off considerably now. Bantam team has maybe a 500 record and doesn’t have much to offer to next years team. Peewee team is really weak.
Next season they should be competitive but no threat to win a section title. Lean years ahead I’m afraid.