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Hanowski is a great hockey player. From what I've seen this year he doesn't seem over powering or overly fast by any means. He just has great hockey sense and is in the right place at the right time. Being able to have great puck skills to go along with that, has helped him put up the points like he did over his HS career. Kind of reminds me of someone who wore the #99....

PhilRudd wrote:

Gopher Blog wrote:

Stitch Lips wrote:He needs to hide behind a pseudonym.

Oh... is Stitch Lips your real name? If so, your parents must not have liked you very much.

I'd say anything you wish to Couture's face. I think he is a jerk. He was so busy padding stats for his boy all season long that he seemed to lose sight of the fact that there are more important things. I saw a number of teams this year refuse to put their top line out in the 3rd period of games (or not play their top guys on the PP) because the game was already well at hand. They were more interested in giving other players a chance. It wasn't about padding stats against overmatched competition. He could learn some lessons from some of his more classy coaching brethren. He deserved to lose after the lack of respect he seemed to show for other teams.

As far as not respecting outstate hockey, it is quite the opposite. My family background is Iron Range. But that doesn't stop me from seeing reality on the quality of play.

What a clown Blog is. His lack of hockey intelligence shows with every post. Hanowski is a talented player who will do fine @ the next level. Biggest adjustment he will have to make is how to come to terms with the fact that he will merely be a cog in the machine as opposed to the machine. He comes back to play his Senior season as opposed to taking the Jrs route and deserved all the playing time he could get. Look back over 5 years ago and you'll see the Flyers and Couture were on the opposite side of some lopsided games, that's the way it goes in sports. Go back to the Range, Blog - I'm sure they would love to have you.

PR

Kinda the same problem the Gophers are faced with year in and year out huh????

PhilRudd wrote:Look back over 5 years ago and you'll see the Flyers and Couture were on the opposite side of some lopsided games

All the more reason that the moron behind the bench should not be trying to run it up on opponents just so his big gun can break a record. Not only does it make the coach look classless but it makes his program look the same way. If he had any memory of what it was like to be getting destroyed all the time, the last thing he should do is try to run it up on teams when the shoe is on the other foot.

As for the rest of your comments, I am crushed.

Gopher Blog wrote:

Stitch Lips wrote:He needs to hide behind a pseudonym.

Oh... is Stitch Lips your real name? If so, your parents must not have liked you very much.

I'd say anything you wish to Couture's face. I think he is a jerk. He was so busy padding stats for his boy all season long that he seemed to lose sight of the fact that there are more important things. I saw a number of teams this year refuse to put their top line out in the 3rd period of games (or not play their top guys on the PP) because the game was already well at hand. They were more interested in giving other players a chance. It wasn't about padding stats against overmatched competition. He could learn some lessons from some of his more classy coaching brethren. He deserved to lose after the lack of respect he seemed to show for other teams.

As far as not respecting outstate hockey, it is quite the opposite. My family background is Iron Range. But that doesn't stop me from seeing reality on the quality of play.

I watched Breck pound the [heck] out of Como this year so don't give me this sanctimonious "giving other players a chance" attitude. Couture isn't the first nor will he be the last coach to give his star player an opportunity to reach an individual record. I'm willing to bet Johnny Pohl wasn't sitting during the third period in blowouts during his senior year. And Little Falls and Couture have been on the other end of 10-1 games so it's not like they don't know what it's like.

Full disclosure, I'm from Little Falls but I haven't lived there for 25+ years and have no ties to the program. Couture and LF are in a danged if they do, danged if they don't situation. They get no respect if they only beat Apollo 3-1 but they get accused of running up the score if they win 10-1.

I have to respect what Couture has done for that program. When I left Little Falls they didn't even have an indoor rink and now they have a Mr.Hockey candidate. They get their butts handed to them by one of the elite private schools in the state who have access to facilities and coaches the Little Falls kids can only dream about and all the people who have been dying to call the team out as imposters crawl out of the woodwork and pound their chests. How proud you must be with yourselves. Have any of you ever been to LF's rink? It ain't Mariucci I'll tell you that much. Couture and the LF hockey parents have taken a hockey wasteland and turned it into a hotbed. If you can't respect him for 'running up the score' at least respect him for that.

[edited slightly. I guess I'd rather not get banned--ChrisK]

Fantastic post, ChrisK.
Much of what you say applies to many out-state programs.
(Except not many have a Mr Hockey candidate)
Danged if you do and danged if you don't.
They've had a great run, no one can take it away from them.

ChrisK wrote:

Gopher Blog wrote:

Stitch Lips wrote:He needs to hide behind a pseudonym.

Oh... is Stitch Lips your real name? If so, your parents must not have liked you very much.

I'd say anything you wish to Couture's face. I think he is a jerk. He was so busy padding stats for his boy all season long that he seemed to lose sight of the fact that there are more important things. I saw a number of teams this year refuse to put their top line out in the 3rd period of games (or not play their top guys on the PP) because the game was already well at hand. They were more interested in giving other players a chance. It wasn't about padding stats against overmatched competition. He could learn some lessons from some of his more classy coaching brethren. He deserved to lose after the lack of respect he seemed to show for other teams.

As far as not respecting outstate hockey, it is quite the opposite. My family background is Iron Range. But that doesn't stop me from seeing reality on the quality of play.

I watched Breck pound the [heck] out of Como this year so don't give me this sanctimonious "giving other players a chance" attitude. Couture isn't the first nor will he be the last coach to give his star player an opportunity to reach an individual record. I'm willing to bet Johnny Pohl wasn't sitting during the third period in blowouts during his senior year. And Little Falls and Couture have been on the other end of 10-1 games so it's not like they don't know what it's like.

Full disclosure, I'm from Little Falls but I haven't lived there for 25+ years and have no ties to the program. Couture and LF are in a danged if they do, danged if they don't situation. They get no respect if they only beat Apollo 3-1 but they get accused of running up the score if they win 10-1.

I have to respect what Couture has done for that program. When I left Little Falls they didn't even have an indoor rink and now they have a Mr.Hockey candidate. They get their butts handed to them by one of the elite private schools in the state who have access to facilities and coaches the Little Falls kids can only dream about and all the people who have been dying to call the team out as imposters crawl out of the woodwork and pound their chests. How proud you must be with yourselves. Have any of you ever been to LF's rink? It ain't Mariucci I'll tell you that much. Couture and the LF hockey parents have taken a hockey wasteland and turned it into a hotbed. If you can't respect him for 'running up the score' at least respect him for that.

[edited slightly. I guess I'd rather not get banned--ChrisK]

I take nothing away from Little Falls. I am not a Flyer fan. I remember vividly the days when Little Falls was nothing more than Wadena or Park Rapids. I remember playing Little Falls at Exchange Arena, usually it was a 7-1 type of game with the outcome never in question. I also remember extra curriculars in front of the goal crease against Little Falls and against other teams. Moorhead for example would simply point their noses to the sky and skate off, Brainerd would want to fight...The Little Falls player helped you to your feet. . . . ......
There is nothing wrong with beating Apollo High, Tech High, Fergus Falls, Sauk Centre, Greenway 10 or 14 to doughnut. The problem here is that Ben Hanowski had like 5 or 6 points, possibly 4 or 5 goals in those games. Tallying points in say the latter part of the second period when the score is 8-0 or 9-0.... or the fact that going into the third period up by 7-0 in a game you are well in control of, usually results in a 7-0 or possibly 8-0 final, not 10-0.
Little Falls' coach is not from Little Falls he is from some small hockey town on the Canadien border. He likely does not remember the days of Alexandria beating the flyers 10-0,.... was he even around when Oscar winner Mario dove all over the ice for the Flyers???? Does it make it right?? NO.

What does Little Falls have in store for next year????

LF doesn't have people transfering schools to play hockey here its a hometown thing and yet they don't get any respect....Festler and Ben brought alot of the program the last five years as well as couture. These d-1 players that came out of LF have been an inspiration.

its very annoying watching people constantly put LF down...theres no players that transfer from schools up north or metro area to little falls nearly all of the players grow up in little falls and go to school in little falls to me thats a true single A team

not taking anything away from private schools it takes hard work to win a state title thats not what bothers me its just when people talk smack about little falls like the expectations of a metro team where they can play top teams every week but central minnesota isn't the most populated nor have alot of top teams Little Falls and SCC....

ChrisK wrote:

Gopher Blog wrote:

Stitch Lips wrote:He needs to hide behind a pseudonym.

Oh... is Stitch Lips your real name? If so, your parents must not have liked you very much.

I'd say anything you wish to Couture's face. I think he is a jerk. He was so busy padding stats for his boy all season long that he seemed to lose sight of the fact that there are more important things. I saw a number of teams this year refuse to put their top line out in the 3rd period of games (or not play their top guys on the PP) because the game was already well at hand. They were more interested in giving other players a chance. It wasn't about padding stats against overmatched competition. He could learn some lessons from some of his more classy coaching brethren. He deserved to lose after the lack of respect he seemed to show for other teams.

As far as not respecting outstate hockey, it is quite the opposite. My family background is Iron Range. But that doesn't stop me from seeing reality on the quality of play.

I watched Breck pound the [heck] out of Como this year so don't give me this sanctimonious "giving other players a chance" attitude. Couture isn't the first nor will he be the last coach to give his star player an opportunity to reach an individual record. I'm willing to bet Johnny Pohl wasn't sitting during the third period in blowouts during his senior year. And Little Falls and Couture have been on the other end of 10-1 games so it's not like they don't know what it's like.

Full disclosure, I'm from Little Falls but I haven't lived there for 25+ years and have no ties to the program. Couture and LF are in a danged if they do, danged if they don't situation. They get no respect if they only beat Apollo 3-1 but they get accused of running up the score if they win 10-1.

I have to respect what Couture has done for that program. When I left Little Falls they didn't even have an indoor rink and now they have a Mr.Hockey candidate. They get their butts handed to them by one of the elite private schools in the state who have access to facilities and coaches the Little Falls kids can only dream about and all the people who have been dying to call the team out as imposters crawl out of the woodwork and pound their chests. How proud you must be with yourselves. Have any of you ever been to LF's rink? It ain't Mariucci I'll tell you that much. Couture and the LF hockey parents have taken a hockey wasteland and turned it into a hotbed. If you can't respect him for 'running up the score' at least respect him for that.

[edited slightly. I guess I'd rather not get banned--ChrisK]

The kids and the coach are great, class acts, my son played a little summer hockey with them, but if you wern't in the stands with the fans this INCLUDES the parents (not all of them i'm sure) than pipe it. For the past 10-12years I witnessed many classless things, one year some of the parents even joined in for the seasons over chant. (Classy) It was also fun showing up for a batam game one year to see Bens bro Bou was Ref. The stories could go on and on but you get the point. Hope your Basketball team is good next year, back to the mid 80's. for hockey.

Point taken, defense. If Hanowski didn't have a shot at that record and Couture was running the first line on regular shifts during running time I would have a problem with that. In this case he had a player that had the opportunity to accomplish something noteworthy individually and also that would give visibility to the program. In comparison, does anyone know if Johnny Pohl sat at the end in blowout games?

I do think some of the criticisms of Ben are valid. He does seem to spend a lot of time waiting for the play to come to him and he could back check more. He might be playing that way because the coaches want him to feeling that's best for the team, I don't know. I think he's aware of the weaknesses in his game, I read in an interview where he was compared to Anders Lee and he said he thought Anders was better in the corners than he, which I'd agree with. The one thing he does have is a nose for the net and that's a very difficult to acquire skill. Little Falls and Hanowski ran into a very good team and goalie yesterday and couldn't solve them. That doesn't suddenly mean they're a bad team or Hanowski's a bad player.

defense wrote:

ChrisK wrote:

Gopher Blog wrote: Oh... is Stitch Lips your real name? If so, your parents must not have liked you very much.

I'd say anything you wish to Couture's face. I think he is a jerk. He was so busy padding stats for his boy all season long that he seemed to lose sight of the fact that there are more important things. I saw a number of teams this year refuse to put their top line out in the 3rd period of games (or not play their top guys on the PP) because the game was already well at hand. They were more interested in giving other players a chance. It wasn't about padding stats against overmatched competition. He could learn some lessons from some of his more classy coaching brethren. He deserved to lose after the lack of respect he seemed to show for other teams.

As far as not respecting outstate hockey, it is quite the opposite. My family background is Iron Range. But that doesn't stop me from seeing reality on the quality of play.

I watched Breck pound the [heck] out of Como this year so don't give me this sanctimonious "giving other players a chance" attitude. Couture isn't the first nor will he be the last coach to give his star player an opportunity to reach an individual record. I'm willing to bet Johnny Pohl wasn't sitting during the third period in blowouts during his senior year. And Little Falls and Couture have been on the other end of 10-1 games so it's not like they don't know what it's like.

Full disclosure, I'm from Little Falls but I haven't lived there for 25+ years and have no ties to the program. Couture and LF are in a danged if they do, danged if they don't situation. They get no respect if they only beat Apollo 3-1 but they get accused of running up the score if they win 10-1.

I have to respect what Couture has done for that program. When I left Little Falls they didn't even have an indoor rink and now they have a Mr.Hockey candidate. They get their butts handed to them by one of the elite private schools in the state who have access to facilities and coaches the Little Falls kids can only dream about and all the people who have been dying to call the team out as imposters crawl out of the woodwork and pound their chests. How proud you must be with yourselves. Have any of you ever been to LF's rink? It ain't Mariucci I'll tell you that much. Couture and the LF hockey parents have taken a hockey wasteland and turned it into a hotbed. If you can't respect him for 'running up the score' at least respect him for that.

[edited slightly. I guess I'd rather not get banned--ChrisK]

I take nothing away from Little Falls. I am not a Flyer fan. I remember vividly the days when Little Falls was nothing more than Wadena or Park Rapids. I remember playing Little Falls at Exchange Arena, usually it was a 7-1 type of game with the outcome never in question. I also remember extra curriculars in front of the goal crease against Little Falls and against other teams. Moorhead for example would simply point their noses to the sky and skate off, Brainerd would want to fight...The Little Falls player helped you to your feet. . . . ......
There is nothing wrong with beating Apollo High, Tech High, Fergus Falls, Sauk Centre, Greenway 10 or 14 to doughnut. The problem here is that Ben Hanowski had like 5 or 6 points, possibly 4 or 5 goals in those games. Tallying points in say the latter part of the second period when the score is 8-0 or 9-0.... or the fact that going into the third period up by 7-0 in a game you are well in control of, usually results in a 7-0 or possibly 8-0 final, not 10-0.
Little Falls' coach is not from Little Falls he is from some small hockey town on the Canadien border. He likely does not remember the days of Alexandria beating the flyers 10-0,.... was he even around when Oscar winner Mario dove all over the ice for the Flyers???? Does it make it right?? NO.

What does Little Falls have in store for next year????

30-1-0

onemoveOTH wrote: The kids and the coach are great, class acts, my son played a little summer hockey with them, but if you wern't in the stands with the fans this INCLUDES the parents (not all of them i'm sure) than pipe it. For the past 10-12years I witnessed many classless things, one year some of the parents even joined in for the seasons over chant. (Classy) It was also fun showing up for a batam game one year to see Bens bro Bou was Ref. The stories could go on and on but you get the point. Hope your Basketball team is good next year, back to the mid 80's. for hockey.

I think you could make those comments about the parents of any hockey program across the state. I'm not saying that behavior is right but unfortunately it's more the norm than not. Just because I'm not at every game every night doesn't invalidate my point. This program started in 1980/81 playing their games outside. They now have a program that develops D-1 caliber players. Somebody deserves credit for that and I would give it to Couture and the parents who put the time, money and heart into the program.

And yeah, they'll be down next year. That's small town hockey. What kind of team is Roseau going to have?