"Dear Hockey Gods, please help White Bear Lake"
Moderators: Mitch Hawker, east hockey, karl(east)
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Rick O'Shay
- Posts: 41
- Joined: Fri May 13, 2011 12:58 am
"Dear Hockey Gods, please help White Bear Lake"
Could someone please save White Bear Lake from itself? One only needs to look at the performance of their top level teams and see there is a problem.
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old goalie85
- Posts: 3696
- Joined: Wed Feb 25, 2009 6:37 pm
Maybe more accurately, White Bear Lake / Mounds View / Irondale could be the next Johnson / NSP / Como. There are many things (demographics, MN Made, interesting decisions and non-decisions by their respective Boards) changing the dynamics of hockey for these Associations.old goalie85 wrote:Demographics. WBL may be the next Johnos/NSP/Como !!!
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The Exiled One
- Posts: 1788
- Joined: Wed Dec 20, 2006 8:34 am
Nope, just lower participation. MN Made and Miracle Gold take a few, but that doesn't NEARLY account for the overall drop. It's simply a decrease in relative income and interest. WBL isn't a "high-end" suburb anymore. (Though I personally think it's really nice!) Interest is down due to an increasing fear of impact sports.SimplyPut wrote:Not as many kids moving into the area ?
...not in the forseeable future.jg2112 wrote:Maybe more accurately, White Bear Lake / Mounds View / Irondale
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Rick O'Shay
- Posts: 41
- Joined: Fri May 13, 2011 12:58 am
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Retired Ref
- Posts: 11
- Joined: Sat Dec 20, 2014 2:30 pm
Numbers not the problem. WBL has 12 mite teams this year, each with about 15-17 kids per team. Another 125+ in the initiation program.Rick O'Shay wrote:I see the "AA" Bantam team was knocked out of the VFW playoffs by Roseville, a team they beat 9-1 in December. Does that have something to do with "lower participation"?
Also noticed the top five ranked "AA" Peewee's didn't fair very well in Regions. Is that due to "demographics"?
Hugo is growing like crazy and I believe most of Hugo is White Bear school district.
I could be reading into this, but it almost sounds like you have the problem? Step up, or shut up.Rick O'Shay wrote:I see the "AA" Bantam team was knocked out of the VFW playoffs by Roseville, a team they beat 9-1 in December. Does that have something to do with "lower participation"?
Also noticed the top five ranked "AA" Peewee's didn't fair very well in Regions. Is that due to "demographics"?
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Rick O'Shay
- Posts: 41
- Joined: Fri May 13, 2011 12:58 am
Karma, as Retired Ref pointed out numbers do not appear to be an issue.
White Bears Association has "fleas". For those not familiar with the "fleas" they are a small group that hold Board positions and high level coaching positions. They promote one another and pass key coaching positions back and forth like a baton.
White Bears two most recent State Championships are at the Bantam "B" and Peewee "B" level. Oddly the coaches of those two teams are not part of the "Flea Group". After winning the 2014 Peewee "B" State Championship last year - the coach of that team (non-flea) applied to move up and coach the "A" Peewee team this season. He was not awarded the position after being interviewed by a coaches selection (flea infested) committee. To the best of my knowledge he was very well liked and had positive player/parent reviews. Could anybody name another Association in the State that would not have awarded a coaching job to a defending State Champion with good reviews?
In hindsight maybe this topic should have been can someone please save White Bear hockey from the "fleas"!
White Bears Association has "fleas". For those not familiar with the "fleas" they are a small group that hold Board positions and high level coaching positions. They promote one another and pass key coaching positions back and forth like a baton.
White Bears two most recent State Championships are at the Bantam "B" and Peewee "B" level. Oddly the coaches of those two teams are not part of the "Flea Group". After winning the 2014 Peewee "B" State Championship last year - the coach of that team (non-flea) applied to move up and coach the "A" Peewee team this season. He was not awarded the position after being interviewed by a coaches selection (flea infested) committee. To the best of my knowledge he was very well liked and had positive player/parent reviews. Could anybody name another Association in the State that would not have awarded a coaching job to a defending State Champion with good reviews?
In hindsight maybe this topic should have been can someone please save White Bear hockey from the "fleas"!
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Goldfishdude
- Posts: 1596
- Joined: Fri Jan 30, 2009 4:41 pm
Goldfishdude back in the house!!!!
The system that WBL has in place has been and still is successful. You can like the coaches or not, but quite frankly, these "fleas" have done nothing but dedicate the vast majority of their lives to WBL hockey... Have sacrificed a LOT, and I mean A LOT, of family time -' some with young kids, and not even of playing age yet!
These "fleas" do it for the love of WBL hockey, and to try and make a difference in the community and with the families of the teams..
And oh, these same fleas have what we old farts like to call = EXPERIENCE!!
These group of coaches at the upper levels get into the the best tournaments, because of WHO they are and what they represent to WBL, and just because a guy won a state championship at a lower level, doesn't correlate to success at a higher level.
If a guy doesn't get elevated to a higher position strictly could only mean that that individual was not as qualified as the other coaches awarded the position.
Even though I am far removed from WBL hockey, when guys I respect the hell out of get challenged and called "Fleas", and when the phone rings for Goldfishdude, he will come knocking on doors to shake feathers...
There is nothing wrong with WBL at the youth levels.. It doesn't need saving..... It just needs more respectful parents.
Now, the varsity HS team is a different story..
Bozo the Clown is still in charge...
THAT is a mess!!
These "fleas" do it for the love of WBL hockey, and to try and make a difference in the community and with the families of the teams..
And oh, these same fleas have what we old farts like to call = EXPERIENCE!!
These group of coaches at the upper levels get into the the best tournaments, because of WHO they are and what they represent to WBL, and just because a guy won a state championship at a lower level, doesn't correlate to success at a higher level.
If a guy doesn't get elevated to a higher position strictly could only mean that that individual was not as qualified as the other coaches awarded the position.
Even though I am far removed from WBL hockey, when guys I respect the hell out of get challenged and called "Fleas", and when the phone rings for Goldfishdude, he will come knocking on doors to shake feathers...
There is nothing wrong with WBL at the youth levels.. It doesn't need saving..... It just needs more respectful parents.
Now, the varsity HS team is a different story..
Bozo the Clown is still in charge...
THAT is a mess!!
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Rick O'Shay
- Posts: 41
- Joined: Fri May 13, 2011 12:58 am
Well now I have officially seen it all! Moldfishdude is calling out hockey parents. Look up "crazy hockey parent" in the dictionary and guess who's picture you will see?
So let me get this straight, someone questions the practices of some of the youth coaches and Board Members and they are disrespectful. You constantly bash the high school coach and that is acceptable. Maybe your picture isn't under "crazy hockey parent" it's more than likely under "HYPOCRITE".
So let me get this straight, someone questions the practices of some of the youth coaches and Board Members and they are disrespectful. You constantly bash the high school coach and that is acceptable. Maybe your picture isn't under "crazy hockey parent" it's more than likely under "HYPOCRITE".