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Believe it or not, this is actually good news for Minneapolis hockey and its future.

Minneapolis high school hockey has been dysfunctional as there have been two, three or four teams over the last decade with no logical feeder program.

South youth hockey folded into Washburn and Southwest associations, and Edison folded up about five years ago. Some kids who would play for Southwest youth hockey would go to South high and play for Minneapolis East. Some kids would play in the Washburn program, but attend South and play for Minneapolis East....while all of these kids have their youth program buddies playing for Minneapolis West because they attend Southwest or Washburn.....what a mess.

Couple the change to one youth program with the youth programs of Washburn and Southwest combining (650 youth players - including 350 mite/u8), and now there is a quality feeder system where public school mighty mites can dream of playing one day.

The recent issues moving Minneapolis to one school are a result of 1) poor youth recruiting 8-10 years ago, and 2) of the players Minneapolis has, many go to private schools (Minneapolis kids were on Varsity rosters at Breck, Blake, Benilde, Holy Angels, Saints, and Providence this past season).

This was a great decision by Minneapolis Schools to not only put a more competitive product on the ice, but also to become more aligned with what is going on at the youth levels in the city. The future will be brighter.

At least they will have a team. Look for Richfield to either fold this year or next. I cannot see how they can field a team. This is real sad. I am a resident, for now and my kids are Richfield and I have been there for the last 13 years at the arena. This is real sad..

Zamman wrote:At least they will have a team. Look for Richfield to either fold this year or next. I cannot see how they can field a team. This is real sad. I am a resident, for now and my kids are Richfield and I have been there for the last 13 years at the arena. This is real sad..

Would they ever co-op with Kennedy?

Obviously if kids live around the lakes, their folks have money to go to private schools, but how do most of these kids parents afford it? How many kids go to these 7 private schools?

I heard two or three more kids tonight off District 1 15's are going to BSM next year and one of the families is poor.

Do these schools have all kinds of scholarship or aid for families? If so, I wonder why my buddy who coached at BSM for years can't get any aid for his son to go to school there. Seems whacked.

I'm just baffled because I grew up by Washburn and never knew anyone who went to a private school. At least the Newton Fuller boy is playing hs hockey in Mpls. That is good news.

This is really an indictment of the Minneapolis Schools, not that the schools or teachers are bad, because they aren't, it's that there are so many unmotivated and unprepared students in the district, that kids who want to learn are being hurt because their time with the teaching professionals are being used up by the overwhelming volume of underachievers. Those that that are educationally motivated and can open enroll elsewhere do, those that can afford private schools, leave for them. That doesn't leave many kids to turn into hockey players!

I think where Minneapolis Public Schools could do a better job is realizing that strength of athletic programs is a drawing card for any school. The large suburban schools? No problem because of the number of youth involved in youth athletics in those communities leads to strong high school teams.

The privates figured out what a good drawing card strengthening their athletic programs can be to the point where they are now attracting several more kids for athletics than they have positions on the team. That's causing some unfortunate experiences in the last few years at the privates as they cut great kids from their teams even if they've attended the school, and paid, for years. That hurts. What's the goal there? Did they exceed their goal? They attract all kinds of students, and the schools are good, but a big percentage of their new students make the decision partially based on strength of athletics. But, there's no room on the athletic teams.

Minneapolis needs to realize they can attract, and more importantly retain, good students, and athletes, by doing a better job of managing and improving high school sports opportunities.

Schools compete for students, and the revenue that comes with them, so marketing is part of the process. Not sure Minneapolis Public Schools has the charismatic athletic department leadership required to improve all their sports offerings to retain their resident kids. Because it can lead to increased enrollment it's really not even just the athletic department but overall school leadership. Kinda marketing 101 at this point.

summer wrote:This is really an indictment of the Minneapolis Schools, not that the schools or teachers are bad, because they aren't, it's that there are so many unmotivated and unprepared students in the district, that kids who want to learn are being hurt because their time with the teaching professionals are being used up by the overwhelming volume of underachievers. Those that that are educationally motivated and can open enroll elsewhere do, those that can afford private schools, leave for them. That doesn't leave many kids to turn into hockey players!

Easy Summer, Easy....

Southwest Minneapolis high school is consistently ranked in the top 250 public schools in the country, along with Edina, Saint Louis Park, and a few other Twin Cities metro schools.

Both Southwest and Washburn schools run International Baccalaureate programs. Motivated students are more than challenged in these programs and come out as prepared for college as any private school.

With that said, because of Southwest High School being the 'it' school in Minneapolis, class sizes approach 40 students. Not the teachers faults, not the unmotivated students fault. Chaps my hide that every few years signs go up in front yards saying "Vote for Kids" in a school referendum promising class sizes of 22 kids and it never gets below 35 in the Southwest quadrant of the city.

Kids do leave for a variety of reasons - class size is one main one. Several kids that have left to Edina never were in the public schools. I sent my kid to a private for 1) education, 2) 'moral grounding' - I got tired of 'Inconvenient Truth' being shoved down my kid's throat three times a year!, and 3) as Night Train points out - athletics.

Over the past ten years or more, Minneapolis Public Schools have ignored providing a competitive and quality athletic 'product'. Their referendums have focused on the teacher's unions over building turf fields, domes, and quality training facilities. Not only in hockey, but look at the defections in basketball to Hopkins, and other sports. Part is budgetary, part is a refusal of the school system and park board to work together, part is the school system placing hurdles in front of local athletic programs. Everyone seems more worried about their turf and job security than providing a quality product for kids. Good athletics keep good athletes & students enrolled.

SWPrez wrote:

summer wrote:This is really an indictment of the Minneapolis Schools, not that the schools or teachers are bad, because they aren't, it's that there are so many unmotivated and unprepared students in the district, that kids who want to learn are being hurt because their time with the teaching professionals are being used up by the overwhelming volume of underachievers. Those that that are educationally motivated and can open enroll elsewhere do, those that can afford private schools, leave for them. That doesn't leave many kids to turn into hockey players!

Easy Summer, Easy....

Southwest Minneapolis high school is consistently ranked in the top 250 public schools in the country, along with Edina, Saint Louis Park, and a few other Twin Cities metro schools.

Both Southwest and Washburn schools run International Baccalaureate programs. Motivated students are more than challenged in these programs and come out as prepared for college as any private school.

With that said, because of Southwest High School being the 'it' school in Minneapolis, class sizes approach 40 students. Not the teachers faults, not the unmotivated students fault. Chaps my hide that every few years signs go up in front yards saying "Vote for Kids" in a school referendum promising class sizes of 22 kids and it never gets below 35 in the Southwest quadrant of the city.

Kids do leave for a variety of reasons - class size is one main one. Several kids that have left to Edina never were in the public schools. I sent my kid to a private for 1) education, 2) 'moral grounding' - I got tired of 'Inconvenient Truth' being shoved down my kid's throat three times a year!, and 3) as Night Train points out - athletics.

Over the past ten years or more, Minneapolis Public Schools have ignored providing a competitive and quality athletic 'product'. Their referendums have focused on the teacher's unions over building turf fields, domes, and quality training facilities. Not only in hockey, but look at the defections in basketball to Hopkins, and other sports. Part is budgetary, part is a refusal of the school system and park board to work together, part is the school system placing hurdles in front of local athletic programs. Everyone seems more worried about their turf and job security than providing a quality product for kids. Good athletics keep good athletes & students enrolled.

I feel that this can be attributed to, in part, the fact that Minneapolis seems to have a lot of artistic parents who couldn't care less about sports, and their kids have the same mentality. Southwest has a very active arts program, from my understanding.

I have a friend who went to South. She remembers the complete lack of school spirit there as well as the complete lack of competitive sports teams at South along with their poor funding, lack of interest, and open enrollment to suburban schools.

I do think that Minneapolis produces great hockey talent and that Southwest in particular could do very well on its own if it was able to retain the talent that grows up within its boundaries. I hope to see Southwest do well soon.

SWPrez wrote:

summer wrote:This is really an indictment of the Minneapolis Schools, not that the schools or teachers are bad, because they aren't, it's that there are so many unmotivated and unprepared students in the district, that kids who want to learn are being hurt because their time with the teaching professionals are being used up by the overwhelming volume of underachievers. Those that that are educationally motivated and can open enroll elsewhere do, those that can afford private schools, leave for them. That doesn't leave many kids to turn into hockey players!

Easy Summer, Easy....

Southwest Minneapolis high school is consistently ranked in the top 250 public schools in the country, along with Edina, Saint Louis Park, and a few other Twin Cities metro schools.

Both Southwest and Washburn schools run International Baccalaureate programs. Motivated students are more than challenged in these programs and come out as prepared for college as any private school.

With that said, because of Southwest High School being the 'it' school in Minneapolis, class sizes approach 40 students. Not the teachers faults, not the unmotivated students fault. Chaps my hide that every few years signs go up in front yards saying "Vote for Kids" in a school referendum promising class sizes of 22 kids and it never gets below 35 in the Southwest quadrant of the city.

Kids do leave for a variety of reasons - class size is one main one. Several kids that have left to Edina never were in the public schools. I sent my kid to a private for 1) education, 2) 'moral grounding' - I got tired of 'Inconvenient Truth' being shoved down my kid's throat three times a year!, and 3) as Night Train points out - athletics.

Over the past ten years or more, Minneapolis Public Schools have ignored providing a competitive and quality athletic 'product'. Their referendums have focused on the teacher's unions over building turf fields, domes, and quality training facilities. Not only in hockey, but look at the defections in basketball to Hopkins, and other sports. Part is budgetary, part is a refusal of the school system and park board to work together, part is the school system placing hurdles in front of local athletic programs. Everyone seems more worried about their turf and job security than providing a quality product for kids. Good athletics keep good athletes & students enrolled.

My comment is on the entire district only having one hockey team. I am a proud Southwest alum, I was there 40 years ago when we won state!

I could go on and on about what has changed, bottom line is city schools, and the city are not offering what most young families want. What you are saying is that Southwest is the only good school in Minneapolis, pretty sad.

So what's the word on this program? With the combined roster they will have it will be a joke for them to play in the Two Rivers Conference. They will need to make a move if they want to keep some kids from that big youth program.

Remember, the Storm kids currently go to 9 different high schools. The Minneapolis High School team has received one player from the Storm Bantam A team in each of the last three years. More schools in the co-op but most have zero hockey players including Roosevelt that graduated both Reed Larson and Mike Ramsey. Zero from Edison that graduated Joe Dziedzic. Zero from North. Most of the kids come from Washburn and Southwest with a few from South and one from Henry.

Night Train wrote:Remember, the Storm kids currently go to 9 different high schools. The Minneapolis High School team has received one player from the Storm Bantam A team in each of the last three years. More schools in the co-op but most have zero hockey players including Roosevelt that graduated both Reed Larson and Mike Ramsey. Zero from Edison that graduated Joe Dziedzic. Zero from North. Most of the kids come from Washburn and Southwest with a few from South and one from Henry.

So you are saying?

MrBoDangles wrote:

Night Train wrote:Remember, the Storm kids currently go to 9 different high schools. The Minneapolis High School team has received one player from the Storm Bantam A team in each of the last three years. More schools in the co-op but most have zero hockey players including Roosevelt that graduated both Reed Larson and Mike Ramsey. Zero from Edison that graduated Joe Dziedzic. Zero from North. Most of the kids come from Washburn and Southwest with a few from South and one from Henry.

So you are saying?

I think what he's saying is that most of the top players from the Storm have been and will be going to Breck or BSM.....Combining both Mpls HS programs will have very little, if any, impact on that.

muckandgrind wrote:

MrBoDangles wrote:

Night Train wrote:Remember, the Storm kids currently go to 9 different high schools. The Minneapolis High School team has received one player from the Storm Bantam A team in each of the last three years. More schools in the co-op but most have zero hockey players including Roosevelt that graduated both Reed Larson and Mike Ramsey. Zero from Edison that graduated Joe Dziedzic. Zero from North. Most of the kids come from Washburn and Southwest with a few from South and one from Henry.

So you are saying?

I think what he's saying is that most of the top players from the Storm have been and will be going to Breck or BSM.....Combining both Mpls HS programs will have very little, if any, impact on that.

I would not be so sure about that... They will have a MUCH stronger team this year and will be even stronger the year after. The kids leave for hockey opportunities! If they start to see the program come around they will start to stay more often. I know there are plenty of families with less gifted hockey players, but have a lot more money that don't send their kids to Breck etc.

They will have no competition in the 2RC. Is that a smart thing for trying to keep some of those incoming Bantams?

MrBoDangles wrote:

muckandgrind wrote:

MrBoDangles wrote: So you are saying?

I think what he's saying is that most of the top players from the Storm have been and will be going to Breck or BSM.....Combining both Mpls HS programs will have very little, if any, impact on that.

I would not be so sure about that... They will have a MUCH stronger team this year and will be even stronger the year after. The kids leave for hockey opportunities! If they start to see the program come around they will start to stay more often. I know there are plenty of families with less gifted hockey players, but have a lot more money that don't send their kids to Breck etc.

They will have no competition in the 2RC. Is that a smart thing for trying to keep some of those incoming Bantams?

You're making a strong assumption there. Many of these kids attend private schools K-8 and naturally move on to private high schools as well. Not all of them do, of course....but many of the stronger players that I know of do.

muckandgrind wrote:

MrBoDangles wrote:

muckandgrind wrote: I think what he's saying is that most of the top players from the Storm have been and will be going to Breck or BSM.....Combining both Mpls HS programs will have very little, if any, impact on that.

I would not be so sure about that... They will have a MUCH stronger team this year and will be even stronger the year after. The kids leave for hockey opportunities! If they start to see the program come around they will start to stay more often. I know there are plenty of families with less gifted hockey players, but have a lot more money that don't send their kids to Breck etc.

They will have no competition in the 2RC. Is that a smart thing for trying to keep some of those incoming Bantams?

You're making a strong assumption there. Many of these kids attend private schools K-8 and naturally move on to private high schools as well. Not all of them do, of course....but many of the stronger players that I know of do.

True...... The very good K-8 public school kids seem to also end up at private schools in 9th grade. That will change (some) with a better team.

Mpls pounding most conference foes 10+ next year (and they will) will do nothing for the program (just my opinion)...... or will it? That's what I'm wondering. Would they be better off in a North Suburban type of conference or pounding weaker competition?

SW Prez, give us your opinion.

MrBoDangles wrote:
Mpls pounding most conference foes 10+ next year (and they will) will do nothing for the program (just my opinion)...... or will it? That's what I'm wondering. Would they be better off in a North Suburban type of conference or pounding weaker competition?

SW Prez, give us your opinion.

yes, I think that they would be better off in the North Suburban or the Tri Metro - they are good enough to be there now that they are combined...but schedules are already set for the upcoming year. Their current talent pool could easily compete with the St. Francis (post Benik era), Saint Louis Park, Chisago Lakes, and Irondale - not saying they would win every game, but they would all be close contests. Hopefully they scheduled in some of these teams this year as I haven't seen the schedule yet.

They should do well in the Two Rivers this year and should be near or at the top. They do have depth issues over the future years as recruiting numbers were low in the 9-12th grade classes back when they were mites. Public school recruiting has increased and should have a longer term effect in strengthening teams.

The Missota conference may be a good fit also.

Have they decided on a mascot yet? I'm thinking the likeliest candidates are the Pioneers like the old Central HS (Minneapolis' first high school), the Millers (for the historical factor of the old minor league baseball and hockey teams), or Lakers (representing the majority of the players on the team). Maybe SWPrez has some inside info. on this.

brandy38 wrote:Have they decided on a mascot yet? I'm thinking the likeliest candidates are the Pioneers like the old Central HS (Minneapolis' first high school), the Millers (for the historical factor of the old minor league baseball and hockey teams), or Lakers (representing the majority of the players on the team). Maybe SWPrez has some inside info. on this.

Brandy, the community and the majority of the players/parents wanted them to be 'The Storm' in order to have continuity from our association (which now is minneapolis inclusive no matter where you live in the city) from mites through high school. Just like every other program in the state.

The athletic directors had their egos and didn't want the community to make decisions for them. So......the name of the team is:

The Minneapolis Novas

The Novas has been the co-oped Minneapolis girls team for the past 7-8 years.

SWPrez wrote:

brandy38 wrote:Have they decided on a mascot yet? I'm thinking the likeliest candidates are the Pioneers like the old Central HS (Minneapolis' first high school), the Millers (for the historical factor of the old minor league baseball and hockey teams), or Lakers (representing the majority of the players on the team). Maybe SWPrez has some inside info. on this.

Brandy, the community and the majority of the players/parents wanted them to be 'The Storm' in order to have continuity from our association (which now is minneapolis inclusive no matter where you live in the city) from mites through high school. Just like every other program in the state.

The athletic directors had their egos and didn't want the community to make decisions for them. So......the name of the team is:

The Minneapolis Novas

The Novas has been the co-oped Minneapolis girls team for the past 7-8 years.

Whatever the name is they are going to have a very strong program this year.... Looking forward to catching a couple of their games.

SWPrez wrote:

brandy38 wrote:Have they decided on a mascot yet? I'm thinking the likeliest candidates are the Pioneers like the old Central HS (Minneapolis' first high school), the Millers (for the historical factor of the old minor league baseball and hockey teams), or Lakers (representing the majority of the players on the team). Maybe SWPrez has some inside info. on this.

Brandy, the community and the majority of the players/parents wanted them to be 'The Storm' in order to have continuity from our association (which now is minneapolis inclusive no matter where you live in the city) from mites through high school. Just like every other program in the state.

The athletic directors had their egos and didn't want the community to make decisions for them. So......the name of the team is:

The Minneapolis Novas

The Novas has been the co-oped Minneapolis girls team for the past 7-8 years.

Kind of an effeminate name if you ask me regardless of being attached to the girls team for years. I guess I would have liked to see Lakers the most.

Very perceptive

The origin is Latin - in which Nova is feminine and Novus is masculine

Also - did they look at the definition?

a star that suddenly increases its light output tremendously and then fades away to its former obscurity in a few months or years

Haute hockeymom wrote:Very perceptive

The origin is Latin - in which Nova is feminine and Novus is masculine

Also - did they look at the definition?

a star that suddenly increases its light output tremendously and then fades away to its former obscurity in a few months or years

I would think they will hear of this.

Good work!

Haute hockeymom wrote:Very perceptive

The origin is Latin - in which Nova is feminine and Novus is masculine

Also - did they look at the definition?

a star that suddenly increases its light output tremendously and then fades away to its former obscurity in a few months or years

Chevrolet discovered when they tried to market the Nova in Mexico that No va translates to "doesn't go". The car wasn't a big seller south of the border. "It doesn't go" isn't exactly what one might want in an automobile, or a hockey team