HighSchoolHockeyForums.com

so let me get this right, they took 9 players from D10 who was in the bottom pool and only won 1 game all weekend and they didn't even take the best Defenseman from D10. Then you only take 4 players from D6 who won the tournament. There were several other players from D5 and D6 that belong on this list way before some of the players listed. I don't know much about the talent from the other districts, but I can only assume that if they over looked these 3 districts there are others! It is too bad for the girls that worked so hard to earn these spots to get denied, there will always be a few players that not everyone agrees with but this is crazy.

hockeygroupie wrote:MN hockey has posted list of summer festival participants. It is under Adv. 15s info on the website.

sorry but how do you access the list

go to minnesotahockey.com and it is under Advanced 15 information on home page.

I see a list of 2008 summer festival participants, but that list pretty long, is there a list with only the final 17 players??

BackCheckN' wrote:I see a list of 2008 summer festival participants, but that list pretty long, is there a list with only the final 17 players??

I also think it's www.minnesotahockey.org right?

If you read the brochure it tells you the final 20 will be selected at the
summer camp.

Stillh2ofan wrote:If you read the brochure it tells you the final 20 will be selected at the
summer camp.

It doesn't surprise me it took so long for the list to be posted. Many inconsistencies with the way the program was represented and what actually occurred. One district only picked "high school" players. Small, private high schools almost always have 8th and 9th graders playing Varsity. This doesn't mean they are better players than U14's who attend schools that only have 10, 11, and 12th graders playing JV and Varsity. Does anybody know what it means to be on this list? Do you have a better chance of playing D1? If so, they should have independent evaluators who don't have any name recognition or political ties.

NotfromMN wrote: Does anybody know what it means to be on this list? Do you have a better chance of playing D1?.

It means these girls will participate in Phase 5 (June 14-19, 2008) for $525 at Minnesota Hockey Summer Festival, Mankato. It is a weeklong training camp at Minnesota State University Mankato. It is a round robin schedule of games, the gals attend dry land training sessions, and classroom sessions daily. The staff at the Summer Festival is headed by Jeff Vizenor, Head Coach of the Minnesota State University Mankato.

All staff members evaluate each player and develop a watch list on the second day of the festival. Players are continually evaluated and added to the watch list. Nightly meetings are held to discuss player performances. Each team staff plus the Festival coaching staff then ranks their top 20 players. Numerical values are attached to each rank position. Final player rankings are then calculated according to their total numerical values from all evaluators. The twenty players with the highest numbers for each position are selected to represent Minnesota Hockey at the USA Hockey National Select 15 Development Camp Phase 6 (July 26 – August 1, 2008) in Rochester, New York.

Looks like staff will include college and high school coaches teamed with current and former college hockey players to serve as coaches, role models, and counselors for each team.

This information comes from the USA hockey Select 15, 16, 17 Minnesota Advanced brochure on the minnesota hockey website.

Better chance of playing DI? Who knows so many variables affect that possibility but it does give the girls an opportunity to train and learn more.

NotfromMN wrote: It doesn't surprise me it took so long for the list to be posted. Many inconsistencies with the way the program was represented and what actually occurred. One district only picked "high school" players. Small, private high schools almost always have 8th and 9th graders playing Varsity. This doesn't mean they are better players than U14's who attend schools that only have 10, 11, and 12th graders playing JV and Varsity. Does anybody know what it means to be on this list? Do you have a better chance of playing D1? If so, they should have independent evaluators who don't have any name recognition or political ties.

All these reasons and more are why Minnesota has chosen to not participate in U14 NDP. Other states like WI and MI might have 150-200 girls at each age group playing hockey, making it manageable to find the top 12-14. Minnesota has approx. 600-700 in each group, making it a losing proposition.

I think you have to keep this in perspective. This process (Advanced 15, 16 and 17) is used to identify those players for the U18 and U22 teams with the end result being members of the National team. Less then 1% of all these participants will ever wear the USA sweater. Although the odds are better, it’s still fewer than 10% will ever have their school paid for playing hockey. So all this nitpicking about who is getting jobbed is just silly. As for the U15 players, it is still 3-4 years before anyone is offered a D1 scholarship. A lot can happen in those years. The top players today won’t necessarily be the top players then. The name of the game is (and has always been) about development. Not making the cut is hard and I understand someone being dejected for not making it. Going to Mankato is a great opportunity. To be the best you have to compete against the best. However there are many avenues one can take to continue to develop. If it is your goal to be amongst the elite, then use this disappointment as fuel. Look at the 17 group I heard there was a 50% turn over. IMO half of the players who make it are phenoms who continue to work hard and the other half is players of lesser skill who refuse to accept this fact.

Congrats to District 2 (16 players), District 16 (15 players), District 8 (13 players) and Distrticts 5&10 (11 players each).

While it may be hard for the average fan to pick out the top players (especially 102 from approximately 240), it's not as difficult to pick out the top 10-15. From my standpoint, Hannah Brandt-D2 was the most complete player I saw. Also, the goalie from D8, Allison McKeever, was very good.

From my standpoint, Hannah Brandt-D2 was the most complete player I saw. Also, the goalie from D8, Allison McKeever, was very good.[/quote]


Great first post! Is this Greg? You obviously missed alot of other complete players like Kuehl, Ness, McMillan.

hacker wrote:From my standpoint, Hannah Brandt-D2 was the most complete player I saw. Also, the goalie from D8, Allison McKeever, was very good.

Great first post! Is this Greg? You obviously missed alot of other complete players like Kuehl, Ness, McMillan.[/quote]
Agreed. Ness is one of the most complete players at the tournament.

I also agree with your assessment of Ness, Kuehl and McMillan. They are all great players. I just threw out the Brandt girl because she stuck out more to me......and no, this is not Greg, sorry!

Although I agree with the both of you on these players (they would be relatively safe in booking their flight to NY), but let’s be careful about referring to 14-15 year old kids as a complete player. None of them have a complete game…yet.

hacker, hocktang,

Greg is one of best guys around and would never talk about his own daughter. Relax.

Hannah played for me in the gopher state and went up against some pretty strong Juniors and Sophs and I'll tell you in my opinion she was one of the top 5-10 players.

talkhockey,

All these girls mentioned (Ness, Kuehl and McMillan) and again in my opinion are very close to being complete players and can play with anyone at the high school level. There are also others not listed. I'm sure they will be soon.

These are 14/15 year old kids they will change mentally and physically over the next 3-4 years. Those who made it this year may not make it next and those who didn't may be the players that make U16. I'm sure most would agree that most of those players who improve or build on existing talent are also the ones that are dedicated and work at refining their skills mentally and physically. Then you have the kids that one day the light bulb goes on and they get what it takes and they come out of no where. This is a player development program, the games were basically tryouts. Yes, some teams won more than others, but the team winning or losing shouldn't have been part of the evaluation, players ability was. Maybe I'm naieve, but my understanding is that players were evaluated on skill and potential for development, hence being a player development program. These kids were fun to watch in those games and I look forward to seeing them all grow over the next 3-4 years; I sure we'll witness alot of change.

Goalzilla a question How do you evaluate potential. I personally dont see that as possible unless you predetermine the absoloute dimensions of a great player. Not being argumenative but your thread brought that to mind.

Quote: Look at the 17 group I heard there was a 50% turn over.

2008 MN 1991's (Select 17) 2007 MN 1991'S (Select 16)
In no particular order: In no particular order:

G Laura Bellamy G Laura Bellamy
G (At-Large) Brittney Evers

F Jessica Christofferson F Jessica Christofferson
F Callie Dahl F Callie Dahl
F Megan Gilbert F Megan Gilbert
F sally Komarek F Sally Komarek
F Becky Kortum F Becky Kortum
F Sadie Lundquist F Sadie Lundquist
F Gina McDonald F Gina McDonald
F Alex Nelson F Alex Nelson
F Lauren Zrust
F Ashley Stenerson
F Cara Johnson (At-Large)
F Jenn Paul (At-Large)

D Janessa Haller D Janessa Haller
D Kelsey Romatoski D Kelsey Romatoski
D Lisa Martinson D Lisa Martinson
D Erika Wheelhouse D Erika Wheelhouse (At-Large)
D Erika Magnusson D Hannah Buchite
D Christine Schendel
D Ellie Gleason


Since we do not yet know if any of our MN players will be selected At-Large, it may be that the same kids end up in New York after all (or pretty darn close to the same kids.)

My bad. My intent was to make reference to the U16 squad. However, it is interesting seeing the U17 make up. Big surprise that Zrust from Blaine is absent from the team. She was all the rage during the second half of the HS season.

curious if ay of you have an opinion on if the spring and summer festivals are a benifit to the kids playing goalie?
i read alot about forwards and defense but not much about the kids in goal. might they be better off in a goalie camp

goalzilla wrote:These are 14/15 year old kids they will change mentally and physically over the next 3-4 years. Those who made it this year may not make it next and those who didn't may be the players that make U16. I'm sure most would agree that most of those players who improve or build on existing talent are also the ones that are dedicated and work at refining their skills mentally and physically. Then you have the kids that one day the light bulb goes on and they get what it takes and they come out of no where. This is a player development program, the games were basically tryouts. Yes, some teams won more than others, but the team winning or losing shouldn't have been part of the evaluation, players ability was. Maybe I'm naieve, but my understanding is that players were evaluated on skill and potential for development, hence being a player development program. These kids were fun to watch in those games and I look forward to seeing them all grow over the next 3-4 years; I sure we'll witness alot of change.

Actually, winning the tournament should be taken into consideration. Hockey is a team sport, it doesn't matter how much talent an individual has if they can't play as a team player and win games. From what I heard, D6 creamed everyone, yet have the fewest players selected. Mmmm.....

Actually District 6 defeated District 5 in the Championship game when the 9th shooter in an overtime shootout scored.

Quote "curious if ay of you have an opinion on if the spring and summer festivals are a benifit to the kids playing goalie? "

I would have to guess that once you get to Mankato the goalie experience has to be as meaningful for them as it is for the rest of the players. My observations suggested that it may have been hit or miss during the first 3 phases. Some teams had only one goalie so they may have had more work, or others were up against a stronger District and face many more challenging situations. However, I witnessed several games were the goalies (splitting time) maybe faced only 3-4 shots all game. Overall it’s hard to say. I would defer to the goalies to say if it was worth the cost and time.

It wasn't about who won and who lost, but about the best players.