HighSchoolHockeyForums.com

You were asked to participate in tryouts because of your skill and your knowledge of hockey. Please, please, please LOOK LIKE YOU WANT TO BE THERE! Those kids are on the ice skating their hearts out and it hurts them to look up and see one or two of the graders always talking on the cell phone, chatting with someone who has no business being on your side of the rink or flipping through a LET'S PLAY HOCKEY newspaper.

Charliedog,
I'm assuming your kid didn't get picked for the A team, which is why you are so mad. If your kid wasn't good enough, deal with it. Why should someone have to look twice if they got it right the first time.

Hockeymom,

Please reread my post as it was was not written in anger. It was a plea for the small number of graders who look distracted to please give the illusion of watching the kids. I know and I understand that these are skilled graders who have the abiltiy to multi-task, but the kids don't understand that. It is no different than trying to have a heart to heart discussion with your spouse or attend a job interview and have the other person talk on the phone or read the paper while you are trying to communicate with them.

I am chosing to ignore the unkind comment you made about my child. He is not an "A" player and may never be. He is a special needs child who has overcome unbelievable obstacles through hard work and determination and actually sits on the B/B2 bubble. We will are thrilled just to be a part of the upcoming tryout process.

For the record, I have also lived on the "A" side of the tracks as our older son played "A" and varsity. It was he who attended the "A" tryouts and passed this observation on to me.

Any "grader" that doesn't give his/her full attention to the process of "grading" should not be put into the position.

Hey Hockeymom:

I guess you feel pretty good about your post now.

The only thing worse than a crass hockeydad is a crass hockeymom. I'll bet your kid is a first line "A" player in any association. Hey mommy, checkout the username.

I doubt its a hockey mom anyway, more like a kid thinking he'll get more respect from his posts if people think he's an adult. Look at the name "hockeymom6t9". hockey mom sixty nine?

Absolutely no class there.

I know at the end of last year, there were two kids from the johnson program on the board with the name hockeymom69. I would bet that these two are up to it again, seeing as they told me the other day I should check out the board and see what they've been writing.

Don't take them too seriously. I'd be more worried about coach Pogreba though. He's on the board and most likely, starting lots of stuff.

Hi Greg. You know who???? The iceman cometh..........

First those were not Johnson kids but a teacher, Second I have not been on this board for quite sometime and this is the reason. Hockey6t9, johnsonhockeyfan123456789 and a number of other goofey names are all the same person and should be banned and quit trying to make the Johnson hockey program look so bad. LET IT GO!!!!!!!!!!!
I can handle personal attacks but don't involve the Johnson kids or association it is hard enough making a inter city program a positive thing.

Hey Johnsonpres,
Maybe you should come to Como where maybe the people might just repect what you do. You know who the cancer is at Johnson and he is in your high school.

You aren't from como tuna, any more than I am.

Replace the H for the C and thats where you are from.

last time you guys started this, you got a bunch of people kicked off the board. Remember Johnnie Appleseed?????????

I just love it when people copy the artist.

I don't know who hockeymom6T9 is, but I know that this hockeymom isn't a kid, or a highschool teacher, or a hockey coach.

I do have icypalms once and awhile, but thats for another time.

Glad to see that you're all well and on speaking terms.

Hey Tyrell, get a life, stop calling me. My kids think you are freeky. Me too.

It is down right wrong, for someone to rip on kids with special needs. I think the graders should pay attention for at least the time the skaters are on the ice.

Get off the board hockeymom(s) and stay off.

I get a real kick out of areas that pay independent people to come in and grade due to the coaches not having enough guts, security or confidence to back picking the players they think are best suited for there team.
It is nice in this day and age where hockey costs are high some areas can pay evaluaters.(So much for money going to the kids)

A lot of associations hire evaluators to reduce suspicion of favoritism. In our association, evaluators to grade the kids until they are in the A pool and then it is up to the coach.

Solution: Don't let parents be the coaches of their children!

i agree that the evauluators should pay attention or at least look like you are because if someone looks up and sees them not even paying attention that might discourage him/her to not try hard

My son just finished tryouts Sunday, which by the way Tyrell was wrong, and he didn't make the top team. I think something needs to be done about how coaches pick these kids.

My kid did just fine in all the drills, but still wasn't picked. If he wasn't going to make it, there should be a list of things that he should work on for next time, or at least a form that we could see what the coach was going on.

You sound a lot like the parent I was talking too on Sunday night at the Johnson youth hockey parent meeting. My son did make the A team at the Bantam level, but there are a LOT of parents that didn't like the way things were picked.

How does a coach pick his own kid, and the assistant pick his own kid, when none of them are from the area?

Fishy smell, or tunavichy?

Ah, my kid didn't make it so I'm going to complain. Give me a break. You're kid did not make the team because he was not good enough. Do not blame the coaches for not picking your kid, obviously he did not have something that the coaches were looking for.

Not trying to point out the obvious, but a few posts back, the writer said he wished the coaches would write some things down on paper, so there was justification to the picks.

I agree, if you not good enough, you don't get picked, but you have to have asked yourself at one point, WHY?

Its easy to pick the top 10 on most days, but I think hockeymom is right, there needs to be something writen down. You can only take what a person gives you at face value for so long. There has to be something we can do. Maybe MN hockey needs to mandate something.

I like that idea also, just give me some reason why you think the picks are the way they are.

I will be keeping a close watch on the board for ideas to improve this process.

I do not think Minnesota hOckey will mandate anything.

The mandate needs to come from the local association.

Be calm, be collected but have a discsussion with the board or committee that decides how teams are picked. If there is no policy, ask that one be established.

Get yourself elected to the Board and change your association, maybe not for your kid but the next kid coming through the program.

I do not know what Bemidji does today, but at one time all coaches at a particular level plus the Hockey Director evaluated ALL the kids and provided numerical ranking for various skills/factors. These were compiled and if questioned an individuals rankings would be discussed.
All coaches had a say, the teams coaches the most to say, the head coach the final say. But everyone at any one level put a number(s) to each kid.