Time to Put the Choice to the test. Where did they Land?

[dogeatdog1]

Legitimate ? for the MM crowd. Was the promise fulfilled. Now that the Peewee teams are formed How many kids came back to the association hockey after spending time at the Made Choice league and Made Peewee A teams? Did your player develop as expected and are you happy with the progress made at the Made?

[dogeatdog1]

Lots of views and no posting? I am surprised. Are there any A peewees that came out of the choice? HD 41 you have to be chompin at the bit on this post...cmon... I thought that we would have had a list a mile long.

[mnhockeyperson]

This is a great question. How many kids that spent their two years of squirts jump straight to Peewee A? My guess is that some are on the 99 Fire but that would only be a small number compared to the kids skating in the Choice League.

[HockeyDad41]

Lots of views and no posting? I am surprised. Are there any A peewees that came out of the choice? HD 41 you have to be chompin at the bit on this post...cmon... I thought that we would have had a list a mile long.

We're in our first year of squirts at MM. I'd say it's still a far better value than my home association but the blush has definitely worn off.

[old goalie85]

Forest lake had zero at the pee-wee A, I think one or two squirts had spent a year with Bernie and they made the A squirts.

[O-townClown]

We're in our first year of squirts at MM. I'd say it's still a far better value than my home association but the blush has definitely worn off.

Clarification please?

[MrBoDangles]

We're in our first year of squirts at MM. I'd say it's still a far better value than my home association but the blush has definitely worn off.

Clarification please?

............ Maybe a former crush on Bernie..........

[High Off The Glass]

Lots of views and no posting? I am surprised. Are there any A peewees that came out of the choice? HD 41 you have to be chompin at the bit on this post...cmon... I thought that we would have had a list a mile long.

We're in our first year of squirts at MM. I'd say it's still a far better value than my home association but the blush has definitely worn off.

Man, BM must have cut your kid or something, just another parent with a grudge against the Made...Sound familiar?

[dogeatdog1]

Lots of views and no posting? I am surprised. Are there any A peewees that came out of the choice? HD 41 you have to be chompin at the bit on this post...cmon... I thought that we would have had a list a mile long.

We're in our first year of squirts at MM. I'd say it's still a far better value than my home association but the blush has definitely worn off.

Man, BM must have cut your kid or something, just another parent with a grudge against the Made...Sound familiar?

WOAH!!! here we go with the bernie cut your kid line. The legitimate question was asked. I was wondering if the Choice program was living up to the hype.. I saved a flyer from the original year that it was launched and was wondering if the promise of turning your youngun into a Peewee A player was delivered on ... Absoulutely no bashing on my part and If the program delivers I would be more apt to spend the time and $ to give it a shot..Is there a better way to promote the success of the program than to come on here and stuff all of the nay sayers by showing us that 20 or 30 or maybe 300 of the Choice kids made A teams?

[hockeyover40]

Looking at one team in Choice two years ago.

15 skaters
6 PWA or Fire
1 PWB1
5 Still squirts
3 not sure

[InigoMontoya]

Our association was 2 for 2 regarding Choice squirts making the A team as first year peewees this year.

[dogeatdog1]

Looking at one team in Choice two years ago.

15 skaters
6 PWA or Fire
1 PWB1
5 Still squirts
3 not sure

That would be a pretty good result. Typically if you look at the bigger associations kids coming out of squirts 3-or 4 first year players Making a Peewee A is a good result. Lots of smaller associations have up to 6 or seven. A question that I would have is did they load that one team or is this typical of the Choice teams? That I don't know were all the Machine kids or higher end kids placed on one team in the winter over there or were they spread out throughout the league?There is a lot of data behind the kids also including what summer team they play on etc. What interests me is that we had a couple of kids in our association that have gone there and gone in two different directions. One improved a ton and the other went backwards? Would they have done the same in association hockey? Maybe Maybe not. I wish we could make a comparison for example say if Lakeville has 45 first year kids trying out for peewees and 4 make it. that would be a great ratio. If the made sends 200 kids back to associations and 20 make it one could make the assumption that leaving isn't giving you that extra edge.. if 40 kids makeit then it is easier to say that it is a success. do you agree?

[observer]

Lots of generalities there. I've heard that the teams at Choice are balanced or it wouldn't be a lot of fun playing the various teams week to week in their house league.

Remember, even thought the name is Minnesota Made we agree there's a certain level of genetic predisposition as to who has the natural ability to improve over some that may not have the same physical, and mental, potential. We also know that some of the kids may have showed the same improvement had they stayed with their community association while others may not have because of the difference in various associations.

All things being equal, and they’re not, we know that kids that work hard often show more improvement than the players that aren’t working as hard. Could be hours on the ice, coaching, natural physical ability, mental ability and more.

There are families with strong skaters that opt for MM and there are families with weak skaters that go there as well so suggesting one model is better than another one is difficult.

Don’t worry about what you can’t define. Just make sure your player is enjoying their time on the ice and focus on what you can control.

[The Huge Hook]

Looking at one team in Choice two years ago.

15 skaters
6 PWA or Fire
1 PWB1
5 Still squirts
3 not sure

That would be a pretty good result. Typically if you look at the bigger associations kids coming out of squirts 3-or 4 first year players Making a Peewee A is a good result. Lots of smaller associations have up to 6 or seven. A question that I would have is did they load that one team or is this typical of the Choice teams? That I don't know were all the Machine kids or higher end kids placed on one team in the winter over there or were they spread out throughout the league?There is a lot of data behind the kids also including what summer team they play on etc. What interests me is that we had a couple of kids in our association that have gone there and gone in two different directions. One improved a ton and the other went backwards? Would they have done the same in association hockey? Maybe Maybe not. I wish we could make a comparison for example say if Lakeville has 45 first year kids trying out for peewees and 4 make it. that would be a great ratio. If the made sends 200 kids back to associations and 20 make it one could make the assumption that leaving isn't giving you that extra edge.. if 40 kids makeit then it is easier to say that it is a success. do you agree?

The Choice League teams are all as evenly balanced as possible. They will actually break-up teams if they are tooooo successful. Some Machine players are in Squirt Choice, some are in Mite Choice. Generally Machine kids are not on the same team.

Additionally, zero 1st year Pee-wee's made the Edina PWA team.

[Juggernaut]

Correction- One 1st year made the Edina PeeWee A team
[/quote]Additionally, zero 1st year Pee-wee's made the Edina PWA team.

[old goalie85]

Did he play in the MMCL. Is he the son of the former North Star [B.B.]

[trippedovertheblueline]

Did he play in the MMCL. Is he the son of the former North Star [B.B.]

he is a 2nd year

[HockeyDad41]

We're in our first year of squirts at MM. I'd say it's still a far better value than my home association but the blush has definitely worn off.

Clarification please?

Typically it is a saying used in reference to something not being as attractive or desirable as it once was.

I still think at the end of the day the skating and individual skill development will serve my skater well once he returns to the association as a PeeWee, but I think the Choice kids lose a little something in the house league games they play.

Because there is such a heavy emphasis placed on the individual skill development in practice, the league games that are being played resemble more of a glorified mite game than what I would have expected at the squirt level. I guess it's kind of a trade off - at my home association the emphasis is on positional play and systems, and not skating development. So at Choice I see some pretty good skaters out of position and not playing as a team, and at the association I see some pretty good positional play and systems but a severe drop off in skating ability about a third of the way down the roster.

One other issue that detracts from the Choice league experience is the lack of emphasis placed on recruiting and retention of goalies. It is my understanding that the squirt level was not able to recruit enough goalies to fill all of the teams. This issue was addressed by Bernie at the parent meeting and I left feeling like it is not an issue that is considered important by the organization.

Although I think there is room for some improvement with the Choice league squirts, it is still by far superior in terms of skating development than what my skater could receive at the association.

[JSR]

We're in our first year of squirts at MM. I'd say it's still a far better value than my home association but the blush has definitely worn off.

Clarification please?

Typically it is a saying used in reference to something not being as attractive or desirable as it once was.

I still think at the end of the day the skating and individual skill development will serve my skater well once he returns to the association as a PeeWee, but I think the Choice kids lose a little something in the house league games they play.

Because there is such a heavy emphasis placed on the individual skill development in practice, the league games that are being played resemble more of a glorified mite game than what I would have expected at the squirt level. I guess it's kind of a trade off - at my home association the emphasis is on positional play and systems, and not skating development. So at Choice I see some pretty good skaters out of position and not playing as a team, and at the association I see some pretty good positional play and systems but a severe drop off in skating ability about a third of the way down the roster.

One other issue that detracts from the Choice league experience is the lack of emphasis placed on recruiting and retention of goalies. It is my understanding that the squirt level was not able to recruit enough goalies to fill all of the teams. This issue was addressed by Bernie at the parent meeting and I left feeling like it is not an issue that is considered important by the organization.

Although I think there is room for some improvement with the Choice league squirts, it is still by far superior in terms of skating development than what my skater could receive at the association.

I don't think it is a trade off at all at this age. At this age teachign skills and skating is 100 times more important than positional stuff. I've been lucky enough to get to know some really high level coaches (D1 coaches, US Select team coaches, High School etc....) and all of them have said the same two things (this being in regards to high school sophmore kids and older) and that is "We can teach skilled kids where they need to be in the time we have them, but we can't teach the skills in the time we have them if they don't already posses them" the other is "If the kid cannot skate at our level he cannot play at our level". In otherwords don;t worry about a Squirt who is out of position, if he is a highly skilled skater, stick handler and can properly pass the puck with his head up etc... the other stuff is easy to teach in the pee wee and older age groups but the older they get without proper skills the harder it gets to teach them. There is exceptions to every rule of course but that is the rule the guys I have spoken to preach constantly. That said I know squat about MM, BM or MN associations in general so this is not a comment on any of that, its just a comment about this pinpointed part of that post above

[hockeyover40]

Clarification please?

Typically it is a saying used in reference to something not being as attractive or desirable as it once was.

I still think at the end of the day the skating and individual skill development will serve my skater well once he returns to the association as a PeeWee, but I think the Choice kids lose a little something in the house league games they play.

Because there is such a heavy emphasis placed on the individual skill development in practice, the league games that are being played resemble more of a glorified mite game than what I would have expected at the squirt level. I guess it's kind of a trade off - at my home association the emphasis is on positional play and systems, and not skating development. So at Choice I see some pretty good skaters out of position and not playing as a team, and at the association I see some pretty good positional play and systems but a severe drop off in skating ability about a third of the way down the roster.

One other issue that detracts from the Choice league experience is the lack of emphasis placed on recruiting and retention of goalies. It is my understanding that the squirt level was not able to recruit enough goalies to fill all of the teams. This issue was addressed by Bernie at the parent meeting and I left feeling like it is not an issue that is considered important by the organization.

Although I think there is room for some improvement with the Choice league squirts, it is still by far superior in terms of skating development than what my skater could receive at the association.

I don't think it is a trade off at all at this age. At this age teachign skills and skating is 100 times more important than positional stuff. I've been lucky enough to get to know some really high level coaches (D1 coaches, US Select team coaches, High School etc....) and all of them have said the same two things (this being in regards to high school sophmore kids and older) and that is "We can teach skilled kids where they need to be in the time we have them, but we can't teach the skills in the time we have them if they don't already posses them" the other is "If the kid cannot skate at our level he cannot play at our level". In otherwords don;t worry about a Squirt who is out of position, if he is a highly skilled skater, stick handler and can properly pass the puck with his head up etc... the other stuff is easy to teach in the pee wee and older age groups but the older they get without proper skills the harder it gets to teach them. There is exceptions to every rule of course but that is the rule the guys I have spoken to preach constantly. That said I know squat about MM, BM or MN associations in general so this is not a comment on any of that, its just a comment about this pinpointed part of that post above

100% Correct. That's why most MM made kids will do well when they go back to their associations. They all might not make the A team, but they all will do well.

The break down of the MM made Choice team in an early post would be a typical Choice team during the first two years of the Choice league squirts. I don't have the time to research all the teams, but do know of a number of kids are playing for their PWA teams. If my memory serves me, there were 6 squirt teams that second season. That's 90 skaters. Take 10 players off the 99 Fire, the six off the team I know of, and that's 16 out of ninety already. If only 3 out of the other five teams (which I think would be a low number), that's 15 more, making it 31 out of 90. I think that's a pretty good showing.

To set the record straight, I no longer have anyone playing or training at MM, summer or winter season. Just trying to get the number correct.

[B-Ville Hockey Guy]

In Burnsville one player that left after mites and just came back for 1st year peewees made b1. One player that left after Mites and came back for first year peewees is a b2. I don't know of any other players that play at MM.

[Dangle the Puck]

In our association the Squirt A team took 11 MM Choice skaters out of 15 skaters on the team. 6 of them are 1st year Squirts. 12 out of 15 play AAA hockey in the summer.

In case any of you are interested, my son played one year of Choice in Mites and has never been interested in playing AAA and missed making the A team.

[dogeatdog1]

In our association the Squirt A team took 11 MM Choice skaters out of 15 skaters on the team. 6 of them are 1st year Squirts. 12 out of 15 play AAA hockey in the summer.

In case any of you are interested, my son played one year of Choice in Mites and has never been interested in playing AAA and missed making the A team.

Now that would be a great result... what association. I don't doubt you but you got to put up that result especially as it is your first post. Lots of people get on the board with first posts and are not given much credibility.

[old goalie85]

That is impressive. Wow... Some sw assc????

[Toomuchtoosoon]

One out of ten made PW A. Did not make a difference in their pecking order. No MM AAA players made PWA.