Observations on the Peewee A tryouts
Posted: Sun Oct 12, 2008 12:06 pm
The first wave of peewee tryouts is over. What follows is a quick summary of Peewee A teams that have been formed. There is no rhyme or reason about this list. Just observations in the October pre-season.
1. Eden Prairie Peewee A’s-Of the 17 players making the A team, only 2 played A and 7 played B1 last year. That leaves 8 players that could be other second year Peewees or last year’s Squirts. That showed in their 20 man squad scrimmage with Centennial last year. There was a definite break in the talent between the top 10-12 players and the lower group. But the Eagles have a steady experienced coach returning combined with some of the best, fastest forwards, seen in the pre-season tryouts and play. They should be good.
2. Wayzata’s squad has the most number of experienced players of the teams formed to date, 14 of the 17 players played A or B1 last year leaving only three openings for last year’s squirts or other peewees. In their scrimmage with Centennial, they looked solid. They had no outstanding players as they have had in the past seasons. But as the British say, “it’s early innings”.
3. Jefferson squad looks to be improved. They will have a larger more physical team and perhaps the best defenseman in D6 to go with a tough set of workman like forwards that don’t stop pressing their opponents. They return 2 A players with 7 off their B1 squad. White Bear Lake played Edina and Jefferson in tryout scrimmages on successive days. Two observations, the White Bear team was significantly larger then Edina and significantly smaller then Jefferson; and White Bear Lake bottled up Edina in their end of the ice for two periods (Edina scoring on breakaways) but could not score. Jefferson dominated White Bear in the first half of their scrimmage, trapping White Bear in their own zone.
4. Kennedy will go with a short bench with 10 forwards and one goalie. But they will be a more talented team then past years and should make the D6 playoffs. They have a couple of talented forwards, but need to get into the top five in the D6 regular season so they can go two or three games and take a D6 regional seed. If not they will face a grueling six or seven games played on successive days to get the seed.
5. Centennial returned 7 peewee A players from last year along with 3+ from their B1 squads. They played solidly in the early scrimmages, showing a good defense and good team play. It should be their year to shine.
6. White Bear Lake picked their team early, but sort of disappeared until they played well against Edina’s A pool last Friday. They will skate a full squad and have size and speed to contend in D2 especially if they hold their early season form and continue to skate well as a team.
7. Rosemount will have a new coach who will inherit a greener younger set of players from last year that will have to be proven. They will go with 13 players and a single goalie.
8. Farmington is a growing community with potential, but the hockey board is still old school in its thinking. They did not fair well in their scrimmages with Rosemount.
9. Washburn has some size and talent on their tryout team. They look to be a hard working group that will play an aggressive fore checking style that could surprise teams this season. They won’t select their final team till later this week.
10. Burnsville appears to have a younger team with no returning A players and one returning B1 player on a 17 man squad. They have a sound experienced coach and a solid program, but will have to work hard to match last year’s record.
11. Apple Valley-They will skate at the same three levels as last. Coming off two great years, the smaller number of players catch up to them this year. They have four returning Peewee A players, but then it gets thin. With new coaches, they will struggle this year, especially with a tough D6 schedule.
12. Edina-Is this the year that the much touted Squirt A team comes forward? There is only one returning A peewee from last years State Championship team. But their two B1 teams dominated also, playing each other for the state B title (Edina White beat Edina Green 2-1 in OT in D6 championship game, Green returned the favor beating White 2-1 in OT in the state championship game). If their tryout scrimmage against White Bear Lake is any indication, it looks to be a team dominated by last year’s Squirt A’s. The tryout team played exceptionally well as team, but had long periods of play where they relied on their defense to hold White Bear Lake off the board. Typical for Edina, their break out plays led to goals, but they had difficulty holding the offensive zone against the larger White Bear. They are certainly a team to watch this year, but maybe a year away from repeating as state champs.
13. Eagan-It looks like a down year for Eagan after stringing a number of successful seasons together. The A team took the D8 regular season title, made the East Regional before losing to Woodbury in the game to advance to the state. This year’s team looks young and smaller then past teams. Their A pool tryout struggled against Apple Valley’s A pool tryout the past Friday.
14. Roseville will skate 13 forwards and two goalies. Their top line looks to be among the best in the state and they have an excellent defenseman. Depth will be their problem.
15. Cottage Grove was one of the first associations to choose a Peewee A team. Their 17 player squad has four returning A players from a good team from last year. They played their way into the D8 Playoff double elimination rounds by beating Red Wing and Rochester Red only to lose to Lakeville South and home town D8 playoff host, Hastings, 3-2 in double overtime.
16. Maple Grove had a 131 peewee players trying out for 9 teams. They will not likely settle on their A team until late this week. It is appropriate that the association is taking more time then other associations.
17. New Prague will go with eleven forwards and two goalies this year. The interesting point is that 7 of the eleven forwards are returning from last years D4 South Regional team. Their team looks good and is very even physically with good size. No Mutt and Jeff combos. They look very good for a repeat appearance in the South Regional this year. They have an early scrimmage with Kennedy at New Prague on Saturday Oct 25th. That will be a good game.
Some general observations on the peewee tryouts this year. The earliest date a team selected was September 21. The most popular date in the Twin Cities area to select a team was Oct 5. The second most popular date is Oct 12. With High School football and soccer winding down, the high school boys and girls hockey starts to eat into ice time in a couple of weeks.
In D1, Mpls Park, Irondale and Highland have selected their teams, Washburn and Johnson will have their teams by the end of this week. In D2, all the teams have selected their peewee A teams. In D3, only Maple Grove has yet to complete their tryout process. In D4, most teams will have their teams selected by the end of this week. In D5, Buffalo and Rogers (D10) pooled all their peewee players and scrimmaged in Rogers on Oct 3 and will scrimmage in Buffalo on Oct 25. Buffalo teams will be selected after the scrimmage with Rogers (I think!).
In D6, all the teams will be selected by the end of this week. In D8, most of the teams will be selected by the end of this week. In D10, most of the teams have been selected. In D11, 12, 15, and 16 most of the tryouts have yet to start mostly because local arena’s don’t have ice until middle to late October.
1. Eden Prairie Peewee A’s-Of the 17 players making the A team, only 2 played A and 7 played B1 last year. That leaves 8 players that could be other second year Peewees or last year’s Squirts. That showed in their 20 man squad scrimmage with Centennial last year. There was a definite break in the talent between the top 10-12 players and the lower group. But the Eagles have a steady experienced coach returning combined with some of the best, fastest forwards, seen in the pre-season tryouts and play. They should be good.
2. Wayzata’s squad has the most number of experienced players of the teams formed to date, 14 of the 17 players played A or B1 last year leaving only three openings for last year’s squirts or other peewees. In their scrimmage with Centennial, they looked solid. They had no outstanding players as they have had in the past seasons. But as the British say, “it’s early innings”.
3. Jefferson squad looks to be improved. They will have a larger more physical team and perhaps the best defenseman in D6 to go with a tough set of workman like forwards that don’t stop pressing their opponents. They return 2 A players with 7 off their B1 squad. White Bear Lake played Edina and Jefferson in tryout scrimmages on successive days. Two observations, the White Bear team was significantly larger then Edina and significantly smaller then Jefferson; and White Bear Lake bottled up Edina in their end of the ice for two periods (Edina scoring on breakaways) but could not score. Jefferson dominated White Bear in the first half of their scrimmage, trapping White Bear in their own zone.
4. Kennedy will go with a short bench with 10 forwards and one goalie. But they will be a more talented team then past years and should make the D6 playoffs. They have a couple of talented forwards, but need to get into the top five in the D6 regular season so they can go two or three games and take a D6 regional seed. If not they will face a grueling six or seven games played on successive days to get the seed.
5. Centennial returned 7 peewee A players from last year along with 3+ from their B1 squads. They played solidly in the early scrimmages, showing a good defense and good team play. It should be their year to shine.
6. White Bear Lake picked their team early, but sort of disappeared until they played well against Edina’s A pool last Friday. They will skate a full squad and have size and speed to contend in D2 especially if they hold their early season form and continue to skate well as a team.
7. Rosemount will have a new coach who will inherit a greener younger set of players from last year that will have to be proven. They will go with 13 players and a single goalie.
8. Farmington is a growing community with potential, but the hockey board is still old school in its thinking. They did not fair well in their scrimmages with Rosemount.
9. Washburn has some size and talent on their tryout team. They look to be a hard working group that will play an aggressive fore checking style that could surprise teams this season. They won’t select their final team till later this week.
10. Burnsville appears to have a younger team with no returning A players and one returning B1 player on a 17 man squad. They have a sound experienced coach and a solid program, but will have to work hard to match last year’s record.
11. Apple Valley-They will skate at the same three levels as last. Coming off two great years, the smaller number of players catch up to them this year. They have four returning Peewee A players, but then it gets thin. With new coaches, they will struggle this year, especially with a tough D6 schedule.
12. Edina-Is this the year that the much touted Squirt A team comes forward? There is only one returning A peewee from last years State Championship team. But their two B1 teams dominated also, playing each other for the state B title (Edina White beat Edina Green 2-1 in OT in D6 championship game, Green returned the favor beating White 2-1 in OT in the state championship game). If their tryout scrimmage against White Bear Lake is any indication, it looks to be a team dominated by last year’s Squirt A’s. The tryout team played exceptionally well as team, but had long periods of play where they relied on their defense to hold White Bear Lake off the board. Typical for Edina, their break out plays led to goals, but they had difficulty holding the offensive zone against the larger White Bear. They are certainly a team to watch this year, but maybe a year away from repeating as state champs.
13. Eagan-It looks like a down year for Eagan after stringing a number of successful seasons together. The A team took the D8 regular season title, made the East Regional before losing to Woodbury in the game to advance to the state. This year’s team looks young and smaller then past teams. Their A pool tryout struggled against Apple Valley’s A pool tryout the past Friday.
14. Roseville will skate 13 forwards and two goalies. Their top line looks to be among the best in the state and they have an excellent defenseman. Depth will be their problem.
15. Cottage Grove was one of the first associations to choose a Peewee A team. Their 17 player squad has four returning A players from a good team from last year. They played their way into the D8 Playoff double elimination rounds by beating Red Wing and Rochester Red only to lose to Lakeville South and home town D8 playoff host, Hastings, 3-2 in double overtime.
16. Maple Grove had a 131 peewee players trying out for 9 teams. They will not likely settle on their A team until late this week. It is appropriate that the association is taking more time then other associations.
17. New Prague will go with eleven forwards and two goalies this year. The interesting point is that 7 of the eleven forwards are returning from last years D4 South Regional team. Their team looks good and is very even physically with good size. No Mutt and Jeff combos. They look very good for a repeat appearance in the South Regional this year. They have an early scrimmage with Kennedy at New Prague on Saturday Oct 25th. That will be a good game.
Some general observations on the peewee tryouts this year. The earliest date a team selected was September 21. The most popular date in the Twin Cities area to select a team was Oct 5. The second most popular date is Oct 12. With High School football and soccer winding down, the high school boys and girls hockey starts to eat into ice time in a couple of weeks.
In D1, Mpls Park, Irondale and Highland have selected their teams, Washburn and Johnson will have their teams by the end of this week. In D2, all the teams have selected their peewee A teams. In D3, only Maple Grove has yet to complete their tryout process. In D4, most teams will have their teams selected by the end of this week. In D5, Buffalo and Rogers (D10) pooled all their peewee players and scrimmaged in Rogers on Oct 3 and will scrimmage in Buffalo on Oct 25. Buffalo teams will be selected after the scrimmage with Rogers (I think!).
In D6, all the teams will be selected by the end of this week. In D8, most of the teams will be selected by the end of this week. In D10, most of the teams have been selected. In D11, 12, 15, and 16 most of the tryouts have yet to start mostly because local arena’s don’t have ice until middle to late October.
