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Mavs wrote:Who are the teams to beat in U15?

Edina
Minnetonka
Roseau
Brainerd

then:
Wayzata
Eagan
NE Metro
Cottage Grove
Andover?
Forest Lake

anyone?

Anoka should be in the conversation. All but one of their 9th graders stayed back to play 15's[/quote]

Anoka hosted a jamboree over the weekend. Anoka, Wayzata, and Maple Grove were the top teams. Andover, Blaine and NE Metro were 2nd tier. But it is early - things certainly can change.

Anoka is legit. Tremendous amount of size.

3 of Brainerd's best 15U eligible girls are on the HS team.

HuskiesHockey wrote:

Mavs wrote:Who are the teams to beat in U15?

Edina
Minnetonka
Roseau
Brainerd

then:
Wayzata
Eagan
NE Metro
Cottage Grove
Andover?
Forest Lake

anyone?

Anoka should be in the conversation. All but one of their 9th graders stayed back to play 15's

[/quote]

Did they decide U15 was better than JV? Which one moved up?

I think Bertolas was the only Anoka girl to go to HS

She was the only ninth grader to go to HS. I think the girls and the parents like the coaching at 15's and the experience they had last year, I think they did well at state, and decided to stay

St. Paul ended up not having a team at all at U15?
Woodbury no team at all at U15
Cottage Grove one team
Eagan one team
Stillwater went with two even A teams. Why???
Minnetonka and Edina went A1-A2 and then B teams
Wayzata one A and two B teams?
Mounds View went B only
Hastings combined with Farmington and Rosemount?
OMG one A one B

Its looking more and more like Edina, Minnetonka, Roseau, Brainerd, Anoka, Wayzata, etc are the class...with NE Metro, Andover, Forest Lake and others pretty good as well.

This division is all over the map in how associations and districts treat it.

Mavs wrote:St. Paul ended up not having a team at all at U15?
Woodbury no team at all at U15
Cottage Grove one team
Eagan one team
Stillwater went with two even A teams. Why???
Minnetonka and Edina went A1-A2 and then B teams
Wayzata one A and two B teams?
Mounds View went B only
Hastings combined with Farmington and Rosemount?
OMG one A one B

Its looking more and more like Edina, Minnetonka, Roseau, Brainerd, Anoka, Wayzata, etc are the class...with NE Metro, Andover, Forest Lake and others pretty good as well.

This division is all over the map in how associations and districts treat it.

D2 may require balanced teams at the same level. Last year I heard some Directors got a talking to because their U14 teams weren't balanced.

jg2112 wrote:

Mavs wrote:St. Paul ended up not having a team at all at U15?
Woodbury no team at all at U15
Cottage Grove one team
Eagan one team
Stillwater went with two even A teams. Why???
Minnetonka and Edina went A1-A2 and then B teams
Wayzata one A and two B teams?
Mounds View went B only
Hastings combined with Farmington and Rosemount?
OMG one A one B

Its looking more and more like Edina, Minnetonka, Roseau, Brainerd, Anoka, Wayzata, etc are the class...with NE Metro, Andover, Forest Lake and others pretty good as well.

This division is all over the map in how associations and districts treat it.

D2 may require balanced teams at the same level. Last year I heard some Directors got a talking to because their U14 teams weren't balanced.

Why do districts not have the same rules if they play in the same playoffs? Doesn't make a lot of sense. D2 wants to make sure their teams get their butts kicked by the other districts that play true A teams? What is the point?

Mavs wrote:

jg2112 wrote:

Mavs wrote:St. Paul ended up not having a team at all at U15?
Woodbury no team at all at U15
Cottage Grove one team
Eagan one team
Stillwater went with two even A teams. Why???
Minnetonka and Edina went A1-A2 and then B teams
Wayzata one A and two B teams?
Mounds View went B only
Hastings combined with Farmington and Rosemount?
OMG one A one B

Its looking more and more like Edina, Minnetonka, Roseau, Brainerd, Anoka, Wayzata, etc are the class...with NE Metro, Andover, Forest Lake and others pretty good as well.

This division is all over the map in how associations and districts treat it.

D2 may require balanced teams at the same level. Last year I heard some Directors got a talking to because their U14 teams weren't balanced.

Why do districts not have the same rules if they play in the same playoffs? Doesn't make a lot of sense. D2 wants to make sure their teams get their butts kicked by the other districts that play true A teams? What is the point?

Forest Lake 11 Anoka Rogers 0 I heard that this was AR number 2 team

How many/which programs have 15u this year and didn't field a jv team at the hs level?

Regarding D2....they require two balanced teams at the same age group. There is a punishment structure in place if an association is accused of NOT balancing. D2 required each association to retain scoring sheets in order to prove one's way out of an accusation.

Agree with MAVS - why balance and then expect to compete with legit A teams? Game's over before it starts. Since when is it good to force B players to play with A players and visa versa.

easthockeydad wrote:Regarding D2....they require two balanced teams at the same age group. There is a punishment structure in place if an association is accused of NOT balancing. D2 required each association to retain scoring sheets in order to prove one's way out of an accusation.

Agree with MAVS - why balance and then expect to compete with legit A teams? Game's over before it starts. Since when is it good to force B players to play with A players and visa versa.

Brainerd went with two equal A teams too, so knock them off the list for top 5 contenders.

St. Paul, Stillwater and Brainerd would all be teams worthy of competing for a state tournament birth but with the two equal A team its a totally different deal and St. Paul isn't even fielding a team because of the blowout due to this rule.

These designations should be Minnesota Hockey, not district by district since every district plays in the same playoffs.

Brainerd must have had too many kids for one team but nobody to play at the B level thus it forced their hand?

Hopefully D2 fines associations if the "load up an A team." Think about how stupid that sounds. If you load up an A team, you are doing what, by definition, an A team is supposed to be. If you go A1 and A2 you are really loading down the A2 team. This hurts who exactly? The A2 team has the option to play B if they would rather.

This sounds like the government telling you what is best for your family.

Where did all the Saint Paul girls go? I see a couple went to Eagan.

Mavs wrote:St. Paul, Stillwater and Brainerd would all be teams worthy of competing for a state tournament birth but with the two equal A team its a totally different deal and St. Paul isn't even fielding a team because of the blowout due to this rule.

These designations should be Minnesota Hockey, not district by district since every district plays in the same playoffs.

Brainerd must have had too many kids for one team but nobody to play at the B level thus it forced their hand?

Hopefully D2 fines associations if the "load up an A team." Think about how stupid that sounds. If you load up an A team, you are doing what, by definition, an A team is supposed to be. If you go A1 and A2 you are really loading down the A2 team. This hurts who exactly? The A2 team has the option to play B if they would rather.

This sounds like the government telling you what is best for your family.

I guess it depends on if your goal as an association is to win trophies, or develop as many quality players you can. If your level does not have 25-30 true "A" players, then go A and B. If you do have 25-30 true "A" players, then split them evenly.

If you had the choice of having stacked A1 and A2 teams in which the A1 team wins 80% of their games, and the A2 wins 20-30% of their games OR split them evenly and they each win 50-60% of their games...what would you choose? Evenly split teams in this scenario would challenge the players more and lead to a better developmental environment. If you stack the teams, the A1 is not challenged enough and A2 is demoralized.

It ain't all about winning trophies. It's about sending as many quality players as possible to your high school program.

zooomx wrote:

Mavs wrote:St. Paul, Stillwater and Brainerd would all be teams worthy of competing for a state tournament birth but with the two equal A team its a totally different deal and St. Paul isn't even fielding a team because of the blowout due to this rule.

These designations should be Minnesota Hockey, not district by district since every district plays in the same playoffs.

Brainerd must have had too many kids for one team but nobody to play at the B level thus it forced their hand?

Hopefully D2 fines associations if the "load up an A team." Think about how stupid that sounds. If you load up an A team, you are doing what, by definition, an A team is supposed to be. If you go A1 and A2 you are really loading down the A2 team. This hurts who exactly? The A2 team has the option to play B if they would rather.

This sounds like the government telling you what is best for your family.

I guess it depends on if your goal as an association is to win trophies, or develop as many quality players you can. If your level does not have 25-30 true "A" players, then go A and B. If you do have 25-30 true "A" players, then split them evenly.

If you had the choice of having stacked A1 and A2 teams in which the A1 team wins 80% of their games, and the A2 wins 20-30% of their games OR split them evenly and they each win 50-60% of their games...what would you choose? Evenly split teams in this scenario would challenge the players more and lead to a better developmental environment. If you stack the teams, the A1 is not challenged enough and A2 is demoralized.

It ain't all about winning trophies. It's about sending as many quality players as possible to your high school program.

I am with you there, however Edina might be the only team with 25 kids that can play at the A level and still touch the puck. 95% of of U15 teams don't have any/many 9th graders due to JV. I like what Anoka did staying together but unless that becomes a trend, its rare.

Can you run quality practices with the top of the top and bottom of the bottom on the same teams? Not impossible but certainly difficult to run high end concepts and flow drills. Difficult yes, impossible no.

I agree it should be based on the talent pool. Having two equal A teams is a great idea if you have the talent to do it. Edina and Minnetonka (with 3 teams) have that ability and still have the B players playing B. That luxury probably stops at those two teams.

Its usually not based on talent, its based on B having to travel too far and based on District mandate. Leave it open to choice and it probably doesn't happen as much.

Does Brainerd have that kind of talent? My guess it was about nobody to play at the B level. You have to do what you have to do. Sometimes there isn't really a choice.

Would AA Bantams ever play AA kids with C Bantams? Top of top with bottom of bottom? Dumb question because of all the kids on the boys side but it gives you a visual. Boys have AA, A, B1, B2, C so they have like talent playing with like talent and numbers gives you that luxury so everyone is playing at a level at which they can make plays.

cheddar wrote:Where did all the Saint Paul girls go? I see a couple went to Eagan.

Zeigler went to Park-Cottage Grove.

jg2112 wrote:

cheddar wrote:Where did all the Saint Paul girls go? I see a couple went to Eagan.

Zeigler went to Park-Cottage Grove.

Bothun Forest Lake A bantams
Ryan Eagan
Dolan Eagan
Karelitz St. Paul Blades
Lavelle AHA
Bishop SPA
Killian Sibley U-15 A
Novak Sibley U-15A
McQuillen, Murphy not playing
The Blowout was more about coaching than anything else.

zambonidriver wrote:

jg2112 wrote:

cheddar wrote:Where did all the Saint Paul girls go? I see a couple went to Eagan.

Zeigler went to Park-Cottage Grove.

Bothun Forest Lake A bantams
Ryan Eagan
Dolan Eagan
Karelitz St. Paul Blades
Lavelle AHA
Bishop SPA
Killian Sibley U-15 A
Novak Sibley U-15A
McQuillen, Murphy not playing
The Blowout was more about coaching than anything else.

Was it in regard to the coaching situation last year at St. Paul 14A, or potential coaching this year?

Lace'emUp wrote:

zambonidriver wrote:

jg2112 wrote: Zeigler went to Park-Cottage Grove.

Bothun Forest Lake A bantams
Ryan Eagan
Dolan Eagan
Karelitz St. Paul Blades
Lavelle AHA
Bishop SPA
Killian Sibley U-15 A
Novak Sibley U-15A
McQuillen, Murphy not playing
The Blowout was more about coaching than anything else.

Was it in regard to the coaching situation last year at St. Paul 14A, or potential coaching this year?

Potential coaching this year. They had a great coach all the way up and he wasn't brought back!!!!!! Not one bad review end of the season!!!!!

zambonidriver wrote:

Lace'emUp wrote:

zambonidriver wrote: Bothun Forest Lake A bantams
Ryan Eagan
Dolan Eagan
Karelitz St. Paul Blades
Lavelle AHA
Bishop SPA
Killian Sibley U-15 A
Novak Sibley U-15A
McQuillen, Murphy not playing
The Blowout was more about coaching than anything else.

Was it in regard to the coaching situation last year at St. Paul 14A, or potential coaching this year?

Potential coaching this year. They had a great coach all the way up and he wasn't brought back!!!!!! Not one bad review end of the season!!!!!

Crazy

Mavs wrote:

zooomx wrote:

Mavs wrote:St. Paul, Stillwater and Brainerd would all be teams worthy of competing for a state tournament birth but with the two equal A team its a totally different deal and St. Paul isn't even fielding a team because of the blowout due to this rule.

These designations should be Minnesota Hockey, not district by district since every district plays in the same playoffs.

Brainerd must have had too many kids for one team but nobody to play at the B level thus it forced their hand?

Hopefully D2 fines associations if the "load up an A team." Think about how stupid that sounds. If you load up an A team, you are doing what, by definition, an A team is supposed to be. If you go A1 and A2 you are really loading down the A2 team. This hurts who exactly? The A2 team has the option to play B if they would rather.

This sounds like the government telling you what is best for your family.

I guess it depends on if your goal as an association is to win trophies, or develop as many quality players you can. If your level does not have 25-30 true "A" players, then go A and B. If you do have 25-30 true "A" players, then split them evenly.

If you had the choice of having stacked A1 and A2 teams in which the A1 team wins 80% of their games, and the A2 wins 20-30% of their games OR split them evenly and they each win 50-60% of their games...what would you choose? Evenly split teams in this scenario would challenge the players more and lead to a better developmental environment. If you stack the teams, the A1 is not challenged enough and A2 is demoralized.

It ain't all about winning trophies. It's about sending as many quality players as possible to your high school program.

I am with you there, however Edina might be the only team with 25 kids that can play at the A level and still touch the puck. 95% of of U15 teams don't have any/many 9th graders due to JV. I like what Anoka did staying together but unless that becomes a trend, its rare.

Can you run quality practices with the top of the top and bottom of the bottom on the same teams? Not impossible but certainly difficult to run high end concepts and flow drills. Difficult yes, impossible no.

I agree it should be based on the talent pool. Having two equal A teams is a great idea if you have the talent to do it. Edina and Minnetonka (with 3 teams) have that ability and still have the B players playing B. That luxury probably stops at those two teams.

Its usually not based on talent, its based on B having to travel too far and based on District mandate. Leave it open to choice and it probably doesn't happen as much.

Does Brainerd have that kind of talent? My guess it was about nobody to play at the B level. You have to do what you have to do. Sometimes there isn't really a choice.

Would AA Bantams ever play AA kids with C Bantams? Top of top with bottom of bottom? Dumb question because of all the kids on the boys side but it gives you a visual. Boys have AA, A, B1, B2, C so they have like talent playing with like talent and numbers gives you that luxury so everyone is playing at a level at which they can make plays.

Brainerd has to drive 1-2 hours to play any game, A or B. I doubt a metro B team would have to drive 2 hours to find other B teams to play.

In addition, did the rule change, or can a B team still find mediocre-to-struggling A teams and play them, as well.

If the drop off from player 1 to player 26 is that drastic, then the boys you mention would play A and B, probably not A1 and A2.

InigoMontoya wrote:

Mavs wrote:

zooomx wrote: I guess it depends on if your goal as an association is to win trophies, or develop as many quality players you can. If your level does not have 25-30 true "A" players, then go A and B. If you do have 25-30 true "A" players, then split them evenly.

If you had the choice of having stacked A1 and A2 teams in which the A1 team wins 80% of their games, and the A2 wins 20-30% of their games OR split them evenly and they each win 50-60% of their games...what would you choose? Evenly split teams in this scenario would challenge the players more and lead to a better developmental environment. If you stack the teams, the A1 is not challenged enough and A2 is demoralized.

It ain't all about winning trophies. It's about sending as many quality players as possible to your high school program.

I am with you there, however Edina might be the only team with 25 kids that can play at the A level and still touch the puck. 95% of of U15 teams don't have any/many 9th graders due to JV. I like what Anoka did staying together but unless that becomes a trend, its rare.

Can you run quality practices with the top of the top and bottom of the bottom on the same teams? Not impossible but certainly difficult to run high end concepts and flow drills. Difficult yes, impossible no.

I agree it should be based on the talent pool. Having two equal A teams is a great idea if you have the talent to do it. Edina and Minnetonka (with 3 teams) have that ability and still have the B players playing B. That luxury probably stops at those two teams.

Its usually not based on talent, its based on B having to travel too far and based on District mandate. Leave it open to choice and it probably doesn't happen as much.

Does Brainerd have that kind of talent? My guess it was about nobody to play at the B level. You have to do what you have to do. Sometimes there isn't really a choice.

Would AA Bantams ever play AA kids with C Bantams? Top of top with bottom of bottom? Dumb question because of all the kids on the boys side but it gives you a visual. Boys have AA, A, B1, B2, C so they have like talent playing with like talent and numbers gives you that luxury so everyone is playing at a level at which they can make plays.

Brainerd has to drive 1-2 hours to play any game, A or B. I doubt a metro B team would have to drive 2 hours to find other B teams to play.

In addition, did the rule change, or can a B team still find mediocre-to-struggling A teams and play them, as well.

If the drop off from player 1 to player 26 is that drastic, then the boys you mention would play A and B, probably not A1 and A2.

Yes, B teams are allowed to schedule A teams.

Yes, the boys visual was not a real scenario, just an illustration. They have many options on the boys to put like talent together

The girls have two options:
A option for A players
B option for B players