Virginia

The Masked Man · Post by **The Masked Man** » Thu Mar 04, 2004 4:28 pm

I stated what he should have done. Keith has been coaching the Virginia program for 18 years. In that time he has run across just about every scenario possible in reference to player behavior. This was not the first time a player was caught drinking. Marwick was caught two years ago and the coaches rotated him with Antonovich this year for the simple reason that they felt that they “could not trust him to not do it again”. So what did they do? They punished Marwick for the mistake he made two years ago and allow the players suspended this year back on the team. What’s worse is that they started one of them in the biggest game of the year! Give me a break! Keith knew he had a great chance at state this year and he wanted to make sure that there were no distractions…nothing wrong with that. One would think that he would have said to himself "What if one of our better players get caught with an illegal? Am I going to enforce this rule on them?" If the answer was "NO", than he should have never made the statement. Simple as that. What's worse is that after all those players were caught he again made the statement to the team, after the St. Cloud trip, that if you get caught with an illegal you would not play on the varsity. I certainly hope he didn't mean from that point on, because if he did he would have been showing favoritism to the players already suspended ("It's alright if they do it but nobody else can"). How fair was all this to the kids on the bubble, who dedicated themselves to the team all year, to worry day in and day out that one of the suspended players may bump them from their spot in the lineup if the coaches broke their word? In the end it was a HUGE distraction and the coaches should have stuck by their guns. A coach can never go back on his word if he is to gain the respect of a team. NEVER!!! To puck4ever – If it can’t get any worse than the situation should be fixed. The Board should not accept that as a reason to do nothing! The kids deserve better than that! Who is to say that a new coach wouldn’t be as much or more involved in the youth hockey program? One of the reasons Cullen was run out of town was because he wanted “total control” of the youth hockey program. Figure that one out….

Dons · Post by **Dons** » Thu Mar 04, 2004 4:45 pm

Hey..i agree with not teaching that the rules wont be enforced..and its not even that i am standing behind Hendrickson... I just think he really was between a rock and a hard place..he DID say that they wouldnt be let back on the team..and then in doing he..he totally disproved his authority. i think it would be interesting to see what the players would have to say about letting kids back on? i think it would almost be split, i mean..if Nisky for some reason happened to get caught up in drinking..you KNOW that the whole team would want him back in..but if a 4th liner gets caught..i think the whole team would agree taht an example should be made of crossing the rules set forth. ALL i was getting at is Keith reall was in a difficult position. I think if i were in his position..i would have just kept my mouth closed..and let the mshsl be the police. "The hand that rules with a velvet glove, often loses grip easily, but he who rules with an iron fist often has a sore hand"

v110sniper · Post by **v110sniper** » Thu Mar 04, 2004 8:31 pm

thats a whole different story...i mean thats just what the masked man was saying... its like hey! if the good players get caught they can come back but if they are crappy they're done!...i mean u gotta have a better solution..and its another thing if u think that nisky getting caught doing something would be alright...#1 nisky wouldnt ever do that #2 it shouldnt matter WHO the person is=if u dont care and dont wanna play then do what u want to but u shouldnt be let back on the team.....no matter what....u dont care enuff about the team then u might as well quit then cause everyone else to suffer. mainly the coach because he is the one being put in the worst spot.....no matter what he does, he is doing something wrong....so why dont the players do the right thing and keep their heads on straight and their noses clean instead of putting ur coach in a spot Edited by: <A HREF=http://pub33.ezboard.com/bmnhs.showUser ... 0sniper</A> at: 3/4/04 9:35 pm

The Masked Man · Post by **The Masked Man** » Thu Mar 04, 2004 8:56 pm

v110sniper - Thanks for hanging with me on this one! You obviously know where I'm coming from. Dons - The players did take a vote on who they would want on the playoff team about 3 or 4 weeks before the playoffs began. This was taken after the suspended players were back practicing with the team. Word has it that less that a handful voted for the suspended players. I think one would be save to think that the suspended players voted for themselves. I know for fact that Nisky voted to not allow the suspended players back and he was very upset when they were allowed back. In fact when the illegals first happened to the two seniors, Hendrickson had a meeting with all three captains. The captains all stated that they did not want to allow the suspended players back and they wanted to go with the players they had because they were the ones they could count on and they really wanted to be there. The captains backed their coach. Why asked them at all if you are not going to consider their feelings? Your right...Keith was in a difficult position, but he put himself there.

v110sniper · Post by **v110sniper** » Thu Mar 04, 2004 9:40 pm

i still think the coach should not have so much heat for what he did....i mean the seniors are the ones that put him in the spot, its their fault for what they did, the only thing hendrickson did wrong was let them back, why care about them when they are too selfish to care about the team....if thats all true about voting and having that little meeting and hendrickson still letting them back, i think it could be time for a new coach....maybe he should let the captains coach

puck4ever · Post by **puck4ever** » Thu Mar 04, 2004 10:29 pm

yes masked man, it is time for a change, i think he should be let go, all im saying is that since the schoolboard has stayed with him, they might as well let him stay till his kid gets done because i am sure that is what he wants and has wanted, to coach his kid. he doesn't deserve the position as coach and hasn't for a long time, but life isn't always fair to everyone, and sometimes "over fair" to some people, like kieth for example. i believe that the virginia bantam a coach should be the new high school coach. he has been here for two years and created two great bantam teams with kids that no one expected much from. he would be a great fit, i wish i could remember his name, my bad. but it is ironic that cullen was forced out because he wanted more control over the program, that is the worst reason i have ever heard to get rid of a great coach. but i am with u 100% masked man, on everything you have said, except for rotating marwik this year because of 2 years ago. that might be true but it seems funny that keith told me 2 years ago that he could trust erik and wanted him to play last year. im not sure how much impact that had on his playing time this year, but i could be wrong.

puck4ever · Post by **puck4ever** » Thu Mar 04, 2004 10:53 pm

if keith wasn't going to enforce his rules on everyone, he shouldn't have said anything at all. simple as that. or let the players vote in the beginning of the year on what the penalty should be, before anyone gets caught, and regardless of who gets caught. keith did not handle the situation well, and to make matters worse, he praised them in the mesabi daily news saying the seniors were great leaders on and off the ice. i dont know where the program is headed, but after thinkin just know about everything keith has done recently, i say fire him, who cares about what he wants for his kid, give the job to the bantam a virginia coach, and let the program succeed from there. i am so frustrated with keith over the past few years that i cant find any reason why he should stay. lets hope the schoolboard thinks the same. keith rewards selfish behavior, and punishes those who are always there for the team and are reliable. countless parties, drinking, and other activities detrimental to the well being of the kids on the team, and they get praised for doing everything that was asked of them on and off the ice. that must mean keith wants them to party after games, especially losses. just another case of keith letting his mouth get in the way. it is time for a change virginia, time to speak up.

Dons · Post by **Dons** » Fri Mar 05, 2004 12:37 am

I hope you dont Really think he wants them to party..or ACTUALLY praises these types of things..you counterpoint what i say as though i am defending the coach..and all of his actions. With how he acted..it appears Keith shuold not have said anything..Dont rip seniors for having a good time...surely they arent taking things to the extent where you can tell wat they are doing after games....

The Masked Man · Post by **The Masked Man** » Fri Mar 05, 2004 12:27 pm

Say Dons...I think puck4ever was just being sarcastic. Although a coach can not and should not be held accountable for their players actions away from the rink, they can make them aware the consequences of those actions.

v110sniper · Post by **v110sniper** » Fri Mar 05, 2004 3:53 pm

hey puck4ever, bantam A coaches are brent robillard and derek lamppa....good coaches. i think new blood in the va system would be a big advantadge to the team...it might have nothing to do with HOW keith is coaching , but jsut that hes been there so long everyone is ready for someone new and different

Puckhaug · Post by **Puckhaug** » Fri Mar 05, 2004 10:47 pm

1

puck4ever · Post by **puck4ever** » Fri Mar 05, 2004 11:14 pm

dons, once again u amaze me, you are smart i know that for a fact, and i know you dont want to go against any friends you have on the virginia hockey team, thats fine. how could you honestly not sense my sarcasm? i am really in shock. but yes, the kids are taking their partying to a level where many people know about it, including the coaches, who turn their back to it. party after the st cloud cathedral game. sound familiar anyone? and if these seniors are "just out having a good time" as you say dons, they are doing at the expense of their teammates and coaches, and city, which they are representing, as well as the people in it. i never once partied or did anything illegal for that matter during my high school career, because i was responsible for my actions, new the consequences, and did not want to let anyone down--all the kids that look up to the high school players, parents, coaches, teachers, etc. if you are not mature enough to be courteous to others, and look out for others by the time you are in high school, you shouldn't be on the team, simple as that. i dont know how else to explain this to you, i hope you understand and can admit to yourself that you dont believe what you are saying, except for a few of you, like thisguy, masked man, and v110sniper for the most part. and hay puckhaug, what does 1 mean?

Puckhaug · Post by **Puckhaug** » Fri Mar 05, 2004 11:32 pm

OK ... I'm listening. If we want to get rid of Hendrickson we will need some specifics. PUCK4EVER Please provide specific examples of where hendrickson "fails to mold and shape his players for life after hockey" "Hendrickson made some bad calls".....Please be specific. "Keith can't coach to save his life"...Please be specific. "Keep keith until his son graduates because it keeps him more involved in the youth program" If we want him out why would we want him involved in the youth program? "He is doing some great work with the youth program now that his son is a peewee" Did he just become active in the youth program this year? If he is doing great work why oust him? THE MASKED MAN "He has no communication skills"...Please be specific...Proof? "It is safe to say at least 80% of the kids that played for him think he is a jerk." That is a big number. He has coached for 18 years. (@20 x 18 = 360) . Do you have the names of these 288 players? "He broke his word about the illegals" Were you in the locker room when he made his statement? What exactly did he say? "he is always out coached in big games" Please be specific...which big games? How was he out coached? "The team looked fatigued. Maybe he was pushing them to hard. Maybe he should have given them some weekends off." They didn't have any weekends off? Does he make the game schedule? Did they practice every weekend? Were you witness to all of the practices to see how hard he pushed them? "Nothing was said to the players as to why line up changes were made." He didn't talk to any of the players? Did you hear this specifically from all of the players? "He punished Eric for mistakes he made 2 years ago" How do you know he was punishing Eric? "the team was doing great until the Eveleth - Gilbert game. Then he made line up adjustments continually the last 2 or 3 weeks of the season." When did these line up changes start, specifically? What specific adjustments were made... How many players? Which players? How many times? Lets get him!

puck4ever · Post by **puck4ever** » Fri Mar 05, 2004 11:58 pm

im glad you asked me to do this, ive been waiting for someone to ask me for some specifics. ill only answer my questions, and let masked man tear you apart himself. 1. keith fails to mold and shape players for life after hockey by taking back his word, of keeping those suspended on jv for the year, and giving the people that broke the rules a second, sometimes third chance. in real life there is no second or third chance when you make a mistake, sorry, thats life. he is a poor example of an adult for his players to follow. he cant give a speech without using some profanities, this doesn't show the kids how to communicate in the real world using inteligent comments. you can be at your job when you are in the real world and be cussing out your fellow employees on the job, or customers. he tries too much to be a friend, not a coach. kids need role models, rules, and reliable authority figures ion this stage in their lives, keith doesn't provide that. 2. keith made bad calls by starting the players he did against hibbing in the semi-finals. 2 of the forwards hadn't played against a quality team for months, or in a game that meant anything. one was let back on the varsity team after he told the jv coach to "f" off after skate with the blue devils, and just for the playoffs/hibbing game. he made a bad call not to change lines in the last 4 minutes of the hibbing game, and leave the hedley line, who everyone could see was tired, on the ice in the defensive zone for a face off with 30 seconds left. are they on the penalty kill? no. why? because they aren't fast/quick enough to cover everyone in the defensive zone. same concept here, you need good defense at that stage in the game, not offense in your own zone. just a few bad calls he made. 3. the phrase "cant coach to save his life is a cliche, a saying" sorry you lack the common sense to understand that. 4. you want him involved in the youth program because the young kids look up to him as the high school coach. their dreams at that point in life is to play for the blue devils. if they see the coach, they think its a good thing and it makes them work harder. they do it for the stereotype they have of keith, not for what we all know of him. thats why we want him involved. he became involoved 2 years ago with the beginning of quicker, faster, stronger, which made a huge impact on me as a player, even though his coaching dragged me down the following years. let me know if you want examples of that too. his son was a squirt when he became involved, to let you know. he is a poor high school coach, but little kids dont know that and want to impress him, thats why he should be let go, but is still doing good things for the youth program, but any other high school coach would do the same thing, so bring in roubilard (sp) the bantam coach and let him bring the troops to state. i hope that answers your questions, feel free if you have any others to ask. im more than open for them.

puck4ever · Post by **puck4ever** » Sat Mar 06, 2004 12:12 am

i meant to say that you cant cuss out your employees/customers on yhe job in the real world, not "can" and i also was implying that the hedleys aren't on the penalty kill, not that the team had a penalty in the last few seconds of the game. most people would understand what i meant, but there are a few people out there that try to make this as tough as possible when they have nothing better to say, so these corrections are for your benefit, not for those who knew what i mean and agree with me.

The Masked Man · Post by **The Masked Man** » Sun Mar 07, 2004 10:36 am

No communication skills (This also ties into saying nothing to the players)… He leaves it to the player to sort it out themselves. This is where Hendrickson’s famous “mind games”. come into play. The players feel that they can not approach the coaches for the simply fact that they feel that they truly don’t listen to them and that they already have their minds made up. They do not talk “to” the players, they talk “at” the players. This information is verified. 80% of the kids thinks he’s a jerk… As far as an official survey being done, I have none. But I have talked to many ex-players and parents of ex-players over the years and not one of them has told me otherwise. The 80% is giving him the benefit of a doubt. As far as being out coached… Latest example of that is the Hibbing game. Hibbing continually changed their forward lines (8 times) in the final 5 minutes of the game to keep their players fresh. Virginia stayed with the same forwards for that whole time. OUT COACHED! Hibbing was using the stoppages in play to diagram plays and communicate with their players to make sure what their assignments were. Hendrickson did not gather his players together. Instead he stood there and looked like a deer in front of a set of headlights. All of this can been seen on the video tape of the game (verification). OUT COACHED! This is only 5 minutes of one game. Multiply this by 18 years and I would be writing the “scrolls of time”. As far as the big games…Keith has led his team to very few big games in his 18 years. They win most of the games they should based strickly on talent vs. talent. But there has been the occasional meltdown like when Marwick was caught with an illegal 2 years ago and Keith bypassed his backup goalie and played a JV goalie against Mesabi East. That may not fall into being out coached but it does play into Keith’s continual parade of bad coaching decisions. Breaking his word on the illegals… No, I was not in the locker room. He can deny it all he wants, but what was said in the locker room has been verified. Punishing Marwick… The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines punishment as… a : suffering, pain, or loss that serves as retribution b : a penalty inflicted on an offender through judicial procedure. Overall Marwick was the better goalie. Hendrickson passed judgement on Marwick because he “can not be trusted” (this is verified). The retribution was served by his loss of playing time. Line up adjustments… I do not keep a log of all the line up changes. Other than the Hedley line, all lines were shuffled during this time. Coucco was brought back for the E/G game. Grueser was replaced by Scipioni for the Central game. Asbach was brought back for the Central game. Loftquist was brought back for the playoffs. Gentilini’s ice time was shortened. Ralston and Lach were delegated to bench time for the most part. Anyone who attended the games can verify this. There is verification on all this. The reason that no specific names are mentioned for verification is that the person or persons may still have direct ties to the team. The disclosure of these sources at this time may jeopardize them and for fear of retaliation against said parties. One final comment… If things aren’t that bad why did two players, who practiced and played for the team the whole year, quit the team in the final couple of weeks of the season?

virginia hockey fan no mo · Sun Mar 07, 2004 12:57 pm

Your dead on. I have lived in Virginia the better part of 20 years and have never, and I mean NEVER,heard a good comment about Hendrickson as a coach. How many good players have left because of him? The sad thing is that these kids that spend up to 10 years playing of youth hockey, all have a dream, but if they end up playing for Hendrickson and his equally bad spin-off Cornell, it turns into a nightmare! It would be interesting to talk to these kids who have quit and find out why. You don't bust your butt for someone for 4 months only to quit the last 2 or 3 weeks of the season and give up your dream. Another sad thing is most of these kids have no choice if they want to play hockey in high school, they just can't easily go to another school. so there they are stuck with the cream of the crap of high school hockey coaches. In Hendrickson's own mind, he feels he is a great coach. I'll say this he's the best coach Eveleth, Hibbing, Mesabi East, Int'l Falls, Greenway, and Hermatown etc. etc.have ever had. I realize there is no perfect coach, but somebody get rid of this dynamic duo that we have so our kids can at least enjoy the sport when they get to high school.

grennwayraiders · Post by **grennwayraiders** » Sun Mar 07, 2004 1:35 pm

It's that simple, the only thing hibbing has is the walter boys, they wouldnt have one win this year if it wasnt for them. Thats the reason why they went last year too.

grennwayraiders · Post by **grennwayraiders** » Sun Mar 07, 2004 1:38 pm

It's that simple, the only thing hibbing has is the walter boys, they wouldnt have one win this year if it wasnt for them. Thats the reason why they went last year too.<img src=http://www.ezboard.com/intl/aenglish/im ... s/eyes.gif ALT=":rolleyes">

Dafreak0 · Post by **Dafreak0** » Sun Mar 07, 2004 1:38 pm

Hey Grennway???? Nice spelling on your name. Thats northern education for ya.

HBK 15 · Post by **HBK 15** » Sun Mar 07, 2004 1:40 pm

nah i think they still would have beaten washburn and mesabi east if they didnt have the walters boys.<img src=http://www.ezboard.com/intl/aenglish/im ... s/roll.gif ALT=":rollin"> and the reason hibbing went to state last year was kern and vesel not the walters

cletus · Post by **cletus** » Sun Mar 07, 2004 2:43 pm

I dont know if I remember correctly but wasn't it shea walters who scored the only goal against falls to make it 1 -0.

Dons · Post by **Dons** » Sun Mar 07, 2004 4:34 pm

you hibbing boys are really convinced that you are THAT good of a team. do you realize that you would get worked by warroads juniors..ALONE..? i love iron range hockey...but not when it starts to remind me of teh crap that goes on down in teh metro area. and no..not recruiting..but just really beleiving you are that great..be humble..trust me.its the best way to not look like a fool

puck4ever · Post by **puck4ever** » Sun Mar 07, 2004 9:55 pm

where did all this hibbing talk come from? we have been talkin about the virginia blue devils, so grennway whoever, quit giving the range a bad rep. with your terrible spelling and attempts at making smart comments on here. but if you insist in making stupid remarks, there are plenty of hibbing threads to go into. and hibbing was carried by tommassoni, their goalie that stood on his head all year for them. how could anyone not acknowledge him? and kern and vessel both had bigger impacts than the walters boys last year. sure shea scored the only goal, but he didn't do it alone, it was a team effort. why single someone out that only had that one impact goal in the playoffs? just a thought. if thats the case, vessel scored both goals against virginia last year in the semis, if im not mistaken. see, you could go on forever like that, thats how naive that comment was.

defender · Post by **defender** » Sun Mar 07, 2004 11:30 pm

maybe virginia wouldn't be back home licking there wounds and smoking a pound of weed each right now if they hadn't looked past hibbing. they thought they were gonna have a cake walk. hehe to bad.But theres always next year for them to mess up and then get high. Cletus is right Shea did score the game winning goal against I.Falls which was a complete upset game also maybe Nisky and Gordon are off smoking pott together talking about there days of getting there asses kicked by Hibbbing

HighSchoolHockeyForums.com

Virginia

Dons

Re: example

Re: example

Just the facts

Re: Just the facts

masked man

one more thing

Re: one more thing

Re: Dons

puck4ever

1

truly amazing

Oust him

examples

a few corrections

CASE CLOSED!!!

Re: CASE CLOSED!!!

Hibbing

Hibbing

????

greenwayfan

hibbing in 2003

Re: hibbing in 2003

hibbing?

upset!