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what are the best MN associations? top 20.
my rankings next post

1.Edina
2.Wayzata
3.Eden Prairie
4.Centennial
5.White Bear Lake
6.Eagan
7.Chaska
8.Roseau
9.Grand Rapids
10.Woodbury
11.Lakeville North/South
12.East (duluth)
13.Minnetonka
14.Burnsville
15.Maple Grove/Osseo in most cases
16.Apple Valley
17.Blaine
18.Roseville
19.Elk River
20.Jefferson
almost positive im missing a few but give me your thoughts.

slapshot88 wrote:what are the best MN associations? top 20.
my rankings next post

What do you mean by 'best'?

I think it depends on what criteria determine "the best"

elliott-
you beat me to it

netminder.net wrote:elliott-
you beat me to it

3

Great minds..

i AM doing this based on talent and ranked teams. boys hcky

Bemidji, St. Cloud, Rochester

Why not add Girls Hockey in, too. Success is success. The same people are generally in charge of both, so why not include the girls?

Edina sends teams to state in all of the following:
PWB
PWA
BA
U16
JGB
JGA
U14B (2 teams)
U14A
Oh, and a high school team, too.

Wayzata sends these following teams:
PWB
PWA
BB
BA
JGB
U12B

That is darn impressive

At the youth level we all know that ONE KID can make or break a team. Take that ONE player and move him from team A to team B and that team goes 24-6 instead of 10-20 and vice versa. One awesome goalie can make a team look good as well. Season records are OVERATED when it comes to judging talent development.

What organizations have sent the most kids to the NTDP national select tryout at 16/17/18?

Where are all the college players coming from?

That's how you can adequately judge who's developing talent or who has the players willing to work harder than their peers. Nobody who is a hockey guy/person/scout/anything gives a hoot about youth hockey team records.

Tenoverpar wrote:Season records are OVERATED when it comes to judging talent development.

What organizations have sent the most kids to the NTDP national select tryout at 16/17/18?

Where are all the college players coming from?

That's how you can adequately judge who's developing talent or who has the players willing to work harder than their peers. Nobody who is a hockey guy/person/scout/anything gives a hoot about youth hockey team records.

This would be YOUR criteria for ranking teams.
The post originator was looking for "talent and ranked teams".
"Ranked teams" is easy, and certainly your Edina's and Wayzata's, and Eden Prairie's are in some of those top positions.

I also believe the easy implication, here, is that we are merely talking about talent/performance/success at the youth level, not "prep for college/juniors or the NDTP. And it doesn't matter that "one kid makes a difference." If that kid is on an Edina team, it makes the Edina association more successful, in youth play.
In this regard, the answer remains the same.

Perhaps you should start your own thread on "Which youth associations create the most successful college/NDTP/Junior players?

Im going to have to go with Wayzata

Thief River Falls and Red Lake Falls...
well organized, kids enjoy the game.


Hallock and Lake of the Woods...
same thing.

Crookston and East Grand Forks...
cities are very supportive, don't cause problems.

Warroad and Roseau...
winning programs, get all their paper work done with little prodding.




Bagley - work hard at it.

Bemidji, okay 9 out of 10.

Elliot could possibly be from northern MN...

slapshot88 wrote:Elliot could possibly be from northern MN...

Its more than possible.

Probably from Bemidji.

slapshot88 wrote:Elliot could possibly be from northern MN...

you can tell because he uses a plaid font

It would be interesting to compare a list of the biggest associations to Slapshot88's list.

I have to believe #20 on his list has sent the most players to the NHL in the last decade, even though they are probably a quarter the size his top 6 or 7 associations.

The best association is the one that keeps working hard for the players year after year no matter what size they are. Large associations are expected to do well because of their size, but there are a number of small associations that do very well in teaching the sport. I will take quality over quantity.

greybeard58 wrote:The best association is the one that keeps working hard for the players year after year no matter what size they are. Large associations are expected to do well because of their size, but there are a number of small associations that do very well in teaching the sport. I will take quality over quantity.

Best Answer yet!

Austin...hahahah

I fully agree with Greybeard58. Until large associations put forth multiple A teams equal to the enrollment size of small/mid associations and then demonstrate dominence year over year will the question truly be answered.

I prefer the building programs that most of the northern teams have.
Edina and a few others have a very impressive program -- at the youth levels but yet when they get to HS they are good but not quite as good as you would exspect. If you look bad at their youth games.
warroad, Grand Rapids, roseau, and a few others dont do much at the youth levels (they go to state tourniesbut dont win much), but when it comes to HS -- they do quite well.
i think this is because the youth coaches in the northen part is coaching for the long haul. and some of the other teams are coaching for today.
I do agree with Elliott he sees it right
some towns coach for fun,
some towns coach for success today,
some towns coach for success tomorrow.
some really dont take a direction - shooting from the hip -- this i think is because some of the parents want to win, some want to have fun, some want to be successful in the long run.