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So what’s all this hype about Centennial?<br><br>And where in tarnation is it anyways? <br><br>No, it’s not some mythical hockey heaven — it really does exist even, though there is no town by that name in Minnesota.<br><br>Do you know where the two I-35’s meet north of St. Paul? That’s where Centennial is — encompassing Circle Pines, Lino Lakes, Centerville, Lexington and a little bit of eastern Blaine. <br><br>Centennial as a hockey association is deep. Their 550 members make them the seventh largest youth hockey association in the state. Their depth is easily confirmed by glancing at the Let’s Play Hockey rankings page. <br><br>The Cougars boys varsity team enters the state tourney ranked No. 1 in Class AA hockey. Their boys U-16 team is ranked No. 1 and won their Regional tourney. The Bantam A team went 16-0 in district play; are ranked No. 8 in the state and just lost to White Bear Lake in the Regional. <br><br>Their Bantam B team is ranked No. 9. Centennial’s Peewee A team is No. 4 and will enter the state tourney for the fifth straight year. The Peewee B’s were ranked No. 11 and lost in the Regional final.<br><br>Girls teams are just as successful. The varsity Cougars finished ranked No. 16 in the state. The U-14 A team is ranked No. 2 in state and the U-12 A’s are unranked but were very good early in the year.<br><br>Almost like magic, Centennial has become Minnesota’s new hockey super power. <br><br>How have they done it? Certainly strong membership in the youth hockey program doesn’t hurt. <br><br>“A lot of the parents of the kids on the varsity team have helped to build the program and the rink,” said youth coaching director Dave Lovick. “These people have set the stage right down through the ranks on a commitment to help the kids. It’s everything from former players coming back to help out with coaching, to parents and kids who build back yard rinks.”<br><br>They’re rink rats. With only one indoor ice sheet in Centennial, it’s a necessity for these kids to skate outdoors — the old-fashioned way. <br><br>As Dave explained, “We have a woman who does our scheduling and she spends a great deal of time scheduling practices on our outdoor rinks. All our teams practice outdoors usually once a week and many teams are outdoors twice a week.” <br><br>These Cougars continue the prowl away from formal practices as Dave continued, “I coach the Peewee A team, and out of our 20 kids, 10 have rinks in their back yard. A lot of people live on small ponds that were put in when new subdivisions were built for holding storm water. You wouldn’t believe how many of the them have rinks on them.”<br><br>Head boys varsity coach Erik Aus of the No. 1-ranked Cougars applauds the efforts of the youth coaches. <br><br>“They’ve done a great job of giving us players who are fundamentally sound. We like to teach the kids proper habits at the lower levels and then we can work on systems later. We like to teach things like when a defenseman is going after a puck in the corner, look over both shoulders first to see where your support is and where the opponents are coming from. The key to our success is we stress the fundamentals.”<br><br>Centennial doesn’t run a particular system because as Aus says, “It all depends on your personnel. That will vary year-to-year. This year, our varsity team is a good puck control team. Other years, it may be different.”<br><br>Aus also spends considerable time with the Bantam coaches. <br><br>“I’m on the phone with them almost every day. These are guys who used to play for me and have come back to help out. I can’t say enough about how great that Bantam coaching staff is.” <br><br>Last year, the Bantam A team finished second at state, then won the state VFW tournament for the second straight year. <br><br>“We have eight first-year kids on the Bantam team this year — I think they will be real good next year,” Aus said.<br><br>They’re rink rats. The Centennial kids are outdoors a lot. The city of Blaine owns 26 percent of the lone Centennial indoor arena and thus, Blaine kids get a good chunk of the ice time. <br><br>The parents are rink rats as well, explained Dave.<br><br>“When an outdoor rink has a problem with ice, the parents get out and flood or do what it takes to get it ready. The city gives us a lock box and the coaches have access to it (for rink equipment). We’ve got full reign when it comes to keeping the rinks going.”<br><br>There is no secret coaching plan that everyone must adhere to.<br><br>“The coaching plan is an ongoing development but no real blueprint. We do meet with our coaches and discuss certain aspects. We meet with our new coaches and fill them in on what’s been done in the past,” said Lovick, a neighbor of Aus who lives two doors away.<br><br>“We have a lot of past players coming back to help out. Our name has gotten out about being a top-notch program, and they want to contribute and give back,” said Lovick. <br><br>Aus has also helped develop the STP program in the off-season. <br><br>“We have 170 boys and 120 girls from Squirts through High School level involved in on-ice and dryland training. We work on fundamentals and it has really helped. We’ve always taught that along with the proper habits. It really helps at the upper levels. We’re pleased as can be on how the overall program has gone the past four or five years.”<br><br>Who can argue? At virtually every age level, Centennial has one of the top ranked teams in the state. <br><br>As the Centennial Cougars enter the state tourney ranked No. 1 in the state with only one loss (4-1 to Edina in the fourth game of the year), they are in a position to be a dominant team in the foreseeable future. <br><br>“I think now we are at a point where we don’t have to rebuild anymore — we can just reload,” Aus said. <br><br>Centennial’s bid for a state title in their first ever state tourney will be a formidable task. <br><br>The top four ranked Class AA teams in the state are all in the tourney, and Centennial could end up meeting the three next in line. <br><br>Their first-game opponent is No. 3 Holy Angels – tourney winners two years ago and third-place finisher last year. <br><br>If Centennial gets by the Stars, the Cougars could possibly meet No. 4-ranked Wayzata (who will open with No. 20 Tartan). <br><br>The top team in the lower bracket is No. 2 Moorhead. If the Spuds can get past Elk River in their first game, and then the winner of the Lakeville-Duluth East game, we could possibly have the ultimate — No. 1 vs. 2 ranked teams going for all the marbles.<br><br>But first, let the games begin.<br><br> <br><br> <br><br> Have a comment on this story? E-mail us at: editor@letsplayhockey.com<br> <p></p><i></i>

The Schwan's Super Rink is a combined project of eight local governmental partners along with the Minnesota Amateur Sports Commission (MASC). The partners include the cities of Arden Hills, Blaine, Centennial, Coon Rapids, Mounds View, New Brighton, Shoreview, as well as Ramsey and Anoka Counties. This project will serve all age groups from youths to seniors. Programs are provided in a variety of skill levels for all ages. From youth hockey leagues to adult figure skating, the Schwan's Super Rink provides an outlet for all ice sport needs in the North Metro area.<br><br>Can anyone comment as to why 4 Olympic sized rinks a hop skip and jump from Centennial is not mentioned?<br><br>Can anyone comment as to how they think the Super Rink may have contributed to the development of the kids living in that neighborhood? <p></p><i></i>

Dear PokeCheck-<br><br>You are right on! The Super Rink play huge role in the development of the Centennial program. If you knew the person they interviewed for the article you would understand how it wasn't mentioned. <p></p><i></i>

Lets stop trying to get on the band wagon. The credit goes to the players, coaches and their families. That is it! Not to other rinks in the area( You are kidding right), not to people who came out of the wood work this year to cheer the team, not former coaches (they had their fun with these guys all ready). Can't we just be happy for this group of kids? Next year it may be some other team like Moorhead and everyone will want credit for their success. <p></p><i></i>

If you think that the rinks had nothing to do with Centennial's success, you are fooling yourself. Centennial's rink opened in 92 or 93, right when many of these kids on this year's varsity were starting hockey. Before then, Centennial had no 'home' and the program showed it. Within 2 years of opening, the number of Centennial's hockey players grew so fast they were looking to buy out Blaine's percentage of the arena so they would have more ice time for themselves. Then the SuperRink came along and they invested their money there instead.<br><br>To me though, the more important reason for Centennial's rapid success has to do with the demographic change that has happened over the last 15 years in that area. <p></p><i></i>

the success has much more to do with the kids playing outside than inside. almost every community has indoor ice but none of them utilize its outdoor ice like centenniel. this is the reason they are the next power. other communities would be wise to follow in its footsteps and get outside... <p></p><i></i>

So hubbaa, What do you have to say about the Packers and class A and the tournament? Are you still in a funk? Did the Breck game change anything for you? <p></p><i></i>

who are you packerboy????..and where are you from<br> -petersen-<!--EZCODE EMOTICON START :hat --><img src=http://www.ezboard.com/intl/aenglish/im ... s/pimp.gif ALT=":hat"><!--EZCODE EMOTICON END--> <p></p><i></i>

It's not like they are the only association in the state that still has outside practices. <p></p><i></i>

Blackduck and Walker are outdoor ALL the time.<br>Someday soon Walker is gunna challenge the great and powerful WDC.* <p></p><i>Edited by: <A HREF=http://pub33.ezboard.com/bmnhs.showUser ... liott70</A> at: 3/17/04 3:43 pm<br></i>

a p one, I am from SSP. They are also the Packers. In fact, I think you guys stole our name. <p></p><i></i>

packerboy,<br><br>good showing for stalock against breck, if these teams played 100 times you just saw the closest game between the two teams. class "a" is class "a", the real champ is centenniel. the real champ is always "aa". <p></p><i></i>