HighSchoolHockeyForums.com

Rather than going A/AA how about the entire Minnkota district consider adopting the same age classification/designations as the rest of the country has.... Someone else eluded to this as well...to be able to go to the national level etc...

So Bantam major/minor Peewee major/minor... This would be tough on smaller associations, but, the opportunity to coop might be an option.
In my opinion: The broad age classifications MNHockey has actually caused some of the safety related issues... more mature kids playing with others that are not... This concept reduces that potential

Remove the instant offsides at all levels... If you as a coach can't teach "follow the leader" with the puck.... You're an idiot...

Nuff said...

Well I will take the bait and beat the drum again. Minnesota hasn't followed along with USA hockey for quite awhile now on birth years that is why we cannot participate in National Championships at the Tier 1 or 2 level. So what compels us to comply with the rest of the book? There was a reason Herb thought USA hockey was useless and the larger it grows the easier it is to see. Minnesota is able to be self contained it doesnt typically compete outside the state much as it is and I don't think Canada really gives a crap if we belong to the USA hockey model. SECEDE from big brother and do what is right. There is no reason you cant create an AAU foundation and self govern. You could reduce fees because god knows right now you are getting not a thing for what you are paying. The coaches clinics and ADM models and Age specific modules are nothing but fund raisers. I know I am not alone as this past year most conversations at the rink turn to how ridiculous it is that USA hockey is not listening to the membership about anything. We have created a governing body that exists solely to grow itself when the idea was to create universal teaching and an American way to play the game and yet the greatest state for hockey in these United States has little say. Fight the power!!!

Bring back checking to Peewee and increase body contact at Squirts before we start seeing catastrophic injuries at the Bantams and high school levels. Anyone who has watched a Peewee game this season has to see how quickly those kids have reverted to skating with their head down and making body positioning decisions that will get them killed in Bantams.

Dump USA hockey. Go it alone. Wis,N&S Dak will follow. They do nothing,But collect $$$.

Make refs watch the usa videos over and over and over until they understand what is legal and what is not, 9 out of 10 times the scenario below is called and it should not be!! OR just....bring back checking as the game was meant to be played.

bwemn3001 wrote:It is sad to see a player play the puck through the hands of another and a opinionated official puts him in the box when it is done correctly.

[quote="farmington14"]Make refs watch the usa videos over and over and over until they understand what is legal and what is not, 9 out of 10 times the scenario below is called and it should not be!! OR just....bring back checking as the game was meant to be played.

Still won't help.

Ref's don't make enough money to care that much and there is no way we would ever pay them to be "professionals".

Most of the guys I know who ref youth hockey do it for the love of the game, NOT the money. They just want to be in the middle of the action and have a good time and get a little exercise. Sure, they do their best to make the right calls, but in the end (like all of us) they want to let the kids determine the outcome of a game...not the ref. Now they have the problem of calling "forced" major penalties...no thanks, you couldn't pay me enough to ref a game. I wonder how many of them are starting to feel the same way? It should not be their job to ensure the "safety" of every kid that steps foot on the ice...it's like blaming the police for every car accident!!

We are looking at todays game in the WRONG way. We can't force change in such a short amount of time. The game will change over the generations on its own...micromanaging every detail will drive us all to insanity!! It is like trying to "fix" global warming (oops, I started a thread in a thread)

Anyway, teach your kids right from wrong and they will end up just fine (and so will the game of hockey).

It seems to me that there have been a lot of changes (rules) in a short amount of time. Who is responsible for the changes? I think it's time to take a look at the folks that are running Minnesota Hockey. I think the era of volunteers running something so large has come and gone. At the very least, let's put some transparency into the program. I find it amusing that MH shows concern that the turnout for their winter meeting is so low and yet it just happens to be scheduled on the same weekend as "Hockey Day-Minnesota". Let's see, do I go watch some quality hockey or a bunch of middle-aged men sitting around harrumphing? Tough call.

What are the hockey backgrounds of these "decision makers"? Granted, there are some with a huge amount of hockey knowledge, but it would seem they are in the minority. Coaches have to go to mandated classes, referees have to attend classes, and most associations have classes for parents to learn how to run the clock and keep the book. What criteria have to be met for an individual to serve as a District Director, for example?

Charge me an extra $5 in fees and get rid of the volunteers that have proven they aren't able to handle their role. Pay qualified professionals from the DD level and up and hold them accountable. There is no shortage of banter on this forum about the odds of kids not being able to play professional hockey. At the same time, there seems to be a fair number of kids that are playing college hockey, 5 D-1 schools in Minnesota alone. Let's utilize some of those college educated, hockey knowledgeable individuals and give them jobs.

1)Bring checking into squirts. let kids learn the game with checking, instead of needing to adapt to it later.

2)Outside the metro, players should be free to find a competitive team.
Small associations are little more then community rec programs.
Allow a club hockey model for out of metro regions.

3)Remove power from the district director. If you get an over-zealous, opinionated director, that person wields too much power over associations, kids and parents.

These type of things hurt MN hockey development. There are many potentially talented kids out there that never have a chance because of small associations, many of them with community rec. levels of intensity, and boarder restrictions keeping players from finding the most appropriate style of hockey that matches their interest, level of commitment, desire, skill level etc...

Every family should be free to find the best type of hockey (ie. training, competitiveness) that matches their family interest and players appropriate skill level.

I like the A, AA format. Just let players tryout for whatever best matches their skill level, even if its not in their home association.

The state tourney is a pipe-dream for most associations, yet it continues to hold on to the best players in some fantasy land dream. In most cases you need a full roster of great players to get to the tourney. Small associations will have 1-3 good players; not enough to ever go to state. I say let them condense in a club hockey format, so we can potentially bring all the best players to the big show.

Use age as a guideline only. Let skill be the sole determining factor of where a kid plays.

oldschoolpuckster wrote: We are looking at todays game in the WRONG way. We can't force change in such a short amount of time. The game will change over the generations on its own...)

I think that's the idea. Change will take time. Not generations, but no sane person things that a few rule changes are immediately going change the game of hockey.

What will happen is that Coach A is going to get tired of his team having reserved seats in the penalty box. He's going to think "Hmmm, throwing the puck to the corners all the time is either A) resulting in a lot of penalties, or B) making my players tentative because they're afraid go get a penalty. I wonder what would happen if I actually taught my players how to control their passes and skate with the puck? They may actually be able to CONTROL the puck as we move it across the blue line. Of course that will result in a more fluid game where players have to think instead of just play a system." Dangerous thinking for sure. You might end up with a game that more than a handful of kids want to play and more than a handful of people want to watch.

Great idea!!

Tonight, our state ranked peewee team learned that our coaches are done for the year, because as they were taking their USA Hockey online coaching seminars, their sessions timed out and they couldn't get back on THREE DAYS BEFORE DISTRICT PLAYOFFS!!!! I get rules, and these coaches knew them and still didn't get it done, but c'mon... really? These guys are minoring in coaching in college, and the kids and parents idolize them. USA Hockey will not even speak to this issue, we're done.

I do not know what sort of bureaucratic idiot thinks that kicking a kid's coach out at this point in the season for a reason like this, promotes our activity.

If there is anybody organizing any sort of effort to stand up and do this at a state level, let me know. I've got a whole team of pissed parents willing to help the effort. If Herbie thought it was a good idea, it's still a good idea.

USA Hockey?? Who do they think they are? We're Minnesota Hockey!

skills_coach1 wrote:Rather than going A/AA how about the entire Minnkota district consider adopting the same age classification/designations as the rest of the country has.... Someone else eluded to this as well...to be able to go to the national level etc...

So Bantam major/minor Peewee major/minor... This would be tough on smaller associations, but, the opportunity to coop might be an option.
In my opinion: The broad age classifications MNHockey has actually caused some of the safety related issues... more mature kids playing with others that are not... This concept reduces that potential

Remove the instant offsides at all levels... If you as a coach can't teach "follow the leader" with the puck.... You're an idiot...

Nuff said...

USA Hockey has 24 month age groups everywhere. The only difference in Minnesota is that it spans from July 1st through June 30th rather than January through December.

zipperdude wrote:Great idea!!

Tonight, our state ranked peewee team learned that our coaches are done for the year, because as they were taking their USA Hockey online coaching seminars, their sessions timed out and they couldn't get back on THREE DAYS BEFORE DISTRICT PLAYOFFS!!!! I get rules, and these coaches knew them and still didn't get it done, but c'mon... really? These guys are minoring in coaching in college, and the kids and parents idolize them. USA Hockey will not even speak to this issue, we're done.

I do not know what sort of bureaucratic idiot thinks that kicking a kid's coach out at this point in the season for a reason like this, promotes our activity.

If there is anybody organizing any sort of effort to stand up and do this at a state level, let me know. I've got a whole team of pissed parents willing to help the effort. If Herbie thought it was a good idea, it's still a good idea.

USA Hockey?? Who do they think they are? We're Minnesota Hockey!

Did they think they could just ignor it? they had almost 4 months to get it done! And they even extended it a month! What a bunch of clowns.

Sounds like the coaches have a lot of apologizing to do. And maybe some refunding of their coaching stipend.

jancze5 wrote:-I would make all district games a home and home each weekend.
You play Saturday at one place, Sunday at the other. All weekend ice is game ice, you have Sunday night through Friday to schedule practices or scrimmages. Doing so may allow you to have that one extra night a week for schoolwork and other stuff.

A D2 monthly schedule for say WBL may look like this

1st at Stillwater
2nd H Stillwater
7th H FLake
8th at FLake
14th at Roseville
15th H Roseville
21st tournament Duluth
22nd tournament Duluth
28th at Mahtomedi
29th H Mahtomedi

not a bad idea....just wondering how the really big associations would handle all those games on the weekends?

**District All-Star teams that play the full season. Run it like the old Elite 2 league with weekend games 3 teams at neutral sites. Ability to schedule out-state teams and/or tournaments. Or allow Winter AAA teams.

** Checking at all A level, B Peewee and B Bantam, C Level no checking at all.

farmington14 wrote:Make refs watch the usa videos over and over and over until they understand what is legal and what is not, 9 out of 10 times the scenario below is called and it should not be!! OR just....bring back checking as the game was meant to be played.

bwemn3001 wrote:It is sad to see a player play the puck through the hands of another and a opinionated official puts him in the box when it is done correctly.

Legal or not.......... it is all in the eyes of the beholder.

Deep Breath wrote:Without question, bringing in Tier 1 hockey during the winter season.

Yep