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How does the GRHS team look for the 2008 season? They lost a lot of quaility players last year (White, Morse, Stejskal, Makkinen, ect), however, they do have a very large senior class (for the 2008 season).

not too good

gopher5 wrote:How does the GRHS team look for the 2008 season? They lost a lot of quaility players last year (White, Morse, Stejskal, Makkinen, ect), however, they do have a very large senior class (for the 2008 season).

Talked to Mark White at the X, and he said the class of 08 on the B squad passes the puck extremely well.

Hard to say who will win 7AA next year.

GR: Lost top line, Stejskal, Jensen, but still have Roy, Sparen, Pallki, Kosak.

CEC: Lost Johnson and Ellingson, but still have Jokinen and work hard as always.

ER: Lost Seibert, but will always compete.

East: Lost Leis, but still have most of their rostor coming back.

The biggest question here is who will have the best goaltender. Whoever does will go to State in 08!

What really goes unnoticed in 7AA is how stacked it is with great coaches.

Frequent_MN_Flyer wrote:

gopher5 wrote:How does the GRHS team look for the 2008 season? They lost a lot of quaility players last year (White, Morse, Stejskal, Makkinen, ect), however, they do have a very large senior class (for the 2008 season).

Talked to Mark White at the X, and he said the class of 08 on the B squad passes the puck extremely well.

Hard to say who will win 7AA next year.

GR: Lost top line, Stejskal, Jensen, but still have Roy, Sparen, Pallki, Kosak.

CEC: Lost Johnson and Ellingson, but still have Jokinen and work hard as always.

ER: Lost Seibert, but will always compete.

East: Lost Leis, but still have most of their rostor coming back.

The biggest question here is who will have the best goaltender. Whoever does will go to State in 08!

What really goes unnoticed in 7AA is how stacked it is with great coaches.

I'm still wondering --- How good can these future GR Senior '08 kids be if they were only on the JV this past year? I know some of them got no Varsity playing time - is this who GR is counting on for stepping in and helping the team? They maybe need to look farther than that.

They should be decent since their junior varsity was 20-4-1 this past season.

I saw GR goalie Trevor Tabaka in action first hand and he looked really sharp, if he's at the top of his game he'll steal some wins for Rapids.

wbmd wrote:They should be decent since their junior varsity was 20-4-1 this past season.

They should have been that good with that many juniors on the JV. Not bashing, but thats alot of older, more experienced kids so I wouldn't expect them to do bad when playing against possibly younger teams.

There's already a thread for this. Look on page two for Thunderhawks '07-'08.

Check in at www.grhshockey.com throughout the offseason.

wbmd wrote:They should be decent since their junior varsity was 20-4-1 this past season.

Well over half the JV were junior. That isn't a very promising look.

pipersniper12 wrote:

wbmd wrote:They should be decent since their junior varsity was 20-4-1 this past season.

Well over half the JV were junior. That isn't a very promising look.

or the varsity was stacked.

Reggie wrote:

pipersniper12 wrote:

wbmd wrote:They should be decent since their junior varsity was 20-4-1 this past season.

Well over half the JV were junior. That isn't a very promising look.

or the varsity was stacked.

I stated an opinion on a different page, but I still believe that Grand Rapids will struggle to reach .500 if all they do is plug the holes they have with last year's jv. Some will make the leap because they will have matured that much more, but the bulk were left on the jv for good reason : They just didn't have the skills to compete at the varsity level. Next year will be a rebuilding year, not a reloading one, and the way to rebuild is to go young, not hand jobs to outgoing seniors who aren't quite there. If Rapids mixes things up with some younger players, they'll stand a chance to reach another section final. They'll certainly be a better team for it the year after.

Even if they throw in younger players they still stand a good chance for a 7AA three peat. Graduation hits all the top tier teams in 7AA hard this season.

Let's just hope the 7AA final at the DECC isn't Elk River vs. Anoka. What a horrible travesty that would be for Northland hockey!

I just love how things never change. Grand Rapids could go undefeated for the next thirty years and it still wouldn't be good enough. If Rapids can get solid goaltending, I will be adding more miles to my NWA account next March.

The 08 Thunderhawks should be very competitive. No major stars to speak of, but more balance throughout the roster. This group of kids have played well at all levels. Overall size of the team and goaltending
are question marks. A couple sophomores could step up and help the team. Skrbec has good skills and likes to play physical. Kleinendorst could help out if he focuses on playing defense.

Agreed that some younger players could possibly help GR. Still not sold on all the juniors moving up, and not completely sold on Skrbec and Kleinendorst. Both good players, but of the two, only Skrbec seems like a team guy. At any rate, all of the sophomores have a lot of growing up to do. There's possibly 4-5 of last year's Bantam A's with the potential to help next season. Lots of work to be done before then, and each will have to earn his spot.

Note to Frequent Flyer : When you've seen the excellence that the orange and black has produced over the years, you come to expect that sort of commitment and greatness. While next year's crop of sophomores have solid talent, they have never gone to a state tournament together. Not as Pee Wee A's or in Bantams. Last year was as close as they've come playing in both region championships(MAHA & VFW). Perhaps this is the year that they break through that barrier. Remember, coaching makes a difference, and GR has probably got the best staff in the state. Only time will tell.

norcon wrote:The 08 Thunderhawks should be very competitive. No major stars to speak of, but more balance throughout the roster. This group of kids have played well at all levels. Overall size of the team and goaltending
are question marks. A couple sophomores could step up and help the team. Skrbec has good skills and likes to play physical. Kleinendorst could help out if he focuses on playing defense.

Norcon, as usual your comments are right on the money!

FANMAN wrote:Agreed that some younger players could possibly help GR. Still not sold on all the juniors moving up, and not completely sold on Skrbec and Kleinendorst. Both good players, but of the two, only Skrbec seems like a team guy. At any rate, all of the sophomores have a lot of growing up to do. There's possibly 4-5 of last year's Bantam A's with the potential to help next season. Lots of work to be done before then, and each will have to earn his spot.

Note to Frequent Flyer : When you've seen the excellence that the orange and black has produced over the years, you come to expect that sort of commitment and greatness. While next year's crop of sophomores have solid talent, they have never gone to a state tournament together. Not as Pee Wee A's or in Bantams. Last year was as close as they've come playing in both region championships(MAHA & VFW). Perhaps this is the year that they break through that barrier. Remember, coaching makes a difference, and GR has probably got the best staff in the state. Only time will tell.

Fanman, I agree that next year's senior class has some question marks, but the Rapids coaches are loyal to their boys who have worked their butts off over the years. The incoming junior class is low in numbers, so a few soph's may get that opportunity. I've seen a fair amount of that sophomore class play the last few seasons and I think they will prosper under the guidance of the H.S. coaches. They have had a couple seasons where the coaching has been much too critical and negative. It's hard for kids to play loose and with any confidence under that type of environment.

norcon wrote:

FANMAN wrote:Agreed that some younger players could possibly help GR. Still not sold on all the juniors moving up, and not completely sold on Skrbec and Kleinendorst. Both good players, but of the two, only Skrbec seems like a team guy. At any rate, all of the sophomores have a lot of growing up to do. There's possibly 4-5 of last year's Bantam A's with the potential to help next season. Lots of work to be done before then, and each will have to earn his spot.

Note to Frequent Flyer : When you've seen the excellence that the orange and black has produced over the years, you come to expect that sort of commitment and greatness. While next year's crop of sophomores have solid talent, they have never gone to a state tournament together. Not as Pee Wee A's or in Bantams. Last year was as close as they've come playing in both region championships(MAHA & VFW). Perhaps this is the year that they break through that barrier. Remember, coaching makes a difference, and GR has probably got the best staff in the state. Only time will tell.

Fanman, I agree that next year's senior class has some question marks, but the Rapids coaches are loyal to their boys who have worked their butts off over the years. The incoming junior class is low in numbers, so a few soph's may get that opportunity. I've seen a fair amount of that sophomore class play the last few seasons and I think they will prosper under the guidance of the H.S. coaches. They have had a couple seasons where the coaching has been much too critical and negative. It's hard for kids to play loose and with any confidence under that type of environment.

I agree 100% with you on the coaching. The incoming sophomore has several with very good skills. While the knowledge of their previous coaches is probably unmatched, the actual coaching part left something to be desired. You probably can get more out of kids by letting them enjoy the experiences they're going through rather than to try to intimidate them into succeeding. Creativity is a lost art amongst our young players, and it's a vital part of the game. Bottom line is the kids will respect and learn at a higher success rate with coaches that constructively criticize and often praise their efforts, something I believe that the current coaching staff at GRHS has done with great success.

GR3343 wrote:

norcon wrote:

FANMAN wrote:Agreed that some younger players could possibly help GR. Still not sold on all the juniors moving up, and not completely sold on Skrbec and Kleinendorst. Both good players, but of the two, only Skrbec seems like a team guy. At any rate, all of the sophomores have a lot of growing up to do. There's possibly 4-5 of last year's Bantam A's with the potential to help next season. Lots of work to be done before then, and each will have to earn his spot.

Note to Frequent Flyer : When you've seen the excellence that the orange and black has produced over the years, you come to expect that sort of commitment and greatness. While next year's crop of sophomores have solid talent, they have never gone to a state tournament together. Not as Pee Wee A's or in Bantams. Last year was as close as they've come playing in both region championships(MAHA & VFW). Perhaps this is the year that they break through that barrier. Remember, coaching makes a difference, and GR has probably got the best staff in the state. Only time will tell.

Fanman, I agree that next year's senior class has some question marks, but the Rapids coaches are loyal to their boys who have worked their butts off over the years. The incoming junior class is low in numbers, so a few soph's may get that opportunity. I've seen a fair amount of that sophomore class play the last few seasons and I think they will prosper under the guidance of the H.S. coaches. They have had a couple seasons where the coaching has been much too critical and negative. It's hard for kids to play loose and with any confidence under that type of environment.

I agree 100% with you on the coaching. The incoming sophomore has several with very good skills. While the knowledge of their previous coaches is probably unmatched, the actual coaching part left something to be desired. You probably can get more out of kids by letting them enjoy the experiences they're going through rather than to try to intimidate them into succeeding. Creativity is a lost art amongst our young players, and it's a vital part of the game. Bottom line is the kids will respect and learn at a higher success rate with coaches that constructively criticize and often praise their efforts, something I believe that the current coaching staff at GRHS has done with great success.

Well said, Your boy and the rest of the in coming class will really enjoy playing for Coach LaRoque. hockey will be fun again.