76 replies to this topic

[sioux24/7]

Schlossman mentioned something about Grand Forks getting a junior team or something. Anybody know anything about this?

[Smoggy]

Do you mean the midget team that the Hockey Academy is in process of beginning to start?

[sioux24/7]

Smoggy, on 14 April 2012 - 10:12 PM, said:

Do you mean the midget team that the Hockey Academy is in process of beginning to start?

Yeah, that's probably it.

[Cratter]

http://www.letsplayh...sed-hockey.html

[choyt3]

Cratter, on 15 April 2012 - 01:53 PM, said:

http://www.letsplayh...sed-hockey.html

Karl Goehring's response to that column: http://www.letsplayh...ting-russo.html

[fightingsioux4life]

I have an idea, we can call THIS team the Fighting Sioux!  Then we can keep selling merchandise with the name and logo on it and the nickname-at-all-costers can switch their UND Men's Hockey tickets for season tickets to watch THIS team instead!  Then they don't have to keep whining, moaning and complaining about UND not using the name and logo and UND can move on in Division I athletics.

It's a win-win!

[Goon]

Cratter, on 15 April 2012 - 01:53 PM, said:

http://www.letsplayh...sed-hockey.html

That was a hatchet job. I think this Midget team could be a good recruiting tool for UND hockey and a good way to recruit players.

[fightingsioux4life]

Goon, on 15 April 2012 - 02:14 PM, said:

That was a hatchet job. I think this Midget team could be a good recruiting tool for UND hockey and a good way to recruit players.

That should not surprise anyone.  Let's Play Hockey is a Gopher-sucking publication and it always has been.  I am willing to bet some of the people that work there don't even realize that there is more than one Division I program in the State of Minnesota.  If some private entity decided to set up their own Midget team based in the Twin Cities (Xcel Energy Center?), these same people would call it the greatest thing since sliced bread because it would benefit the Rodent Hockey Program.

I think Karl Goehring had a nice response to this drivel.

[Goon]

I love the idea of a having a AAA Midget team in town and I can't wait to see them play. I think high school hockey in North Dakota has really fallen off and this season's North Dakota High School Hockey tourney was some of the worst High School hockey I have seen in a long time. I don't know if it's because the ND teams are losing the best talent in the state to the Jr Ranks or not?

[sioux24/7]

Would this team play a team like SSM and be in that Little Caesars Tournament?

[Goon]

sioux24/7, on 15 April 2012 - 03:01 PM, said:

Would this team play a team like SSM and be in that Little Caesars Tournament?

I would imagine so... I can just imagine the screaming other schools would do, claiming UND has an unfair advantage with a AAA Midget team in their back yard to recruit from. But also they would have exposure with other teams coming into the REA as well.

[geaux_sioux]

Goon, on 15 April 2012 - 02:37 PM, said:

I love the idea of a having a AAA Midget team in town and I can't wait to see them play. I think high school hockey in North Dakota has really fallen off and this season's North Dakota High School Hockey tourney was some of the worst High School hockey I have seen in a long time. I don't know if it's because the ND teams are losing the best talent in the state to the Jr Ranks or not?

Central lost a bunch of talent to juniors. Red River didn't lose anything that I can remember.  I'm not sure about other schools other than DL with Thompson and Minot with that one kid.

And every sport has been down in the state the past couple years.  Especially hockey and football in Grand Forks.

[tnt]

Goon, on 15 April 2012 - 02:37 PM, said:

I love the idea of a having a AAA Midget team in town and I can't wait to see them play. I think high school hockey in North Dakota has really fallen off and this season's North Dakota High School Hockey tourney was some of the worst High School hockey I have seen in a long time. I don't know if it's because the ND teams are losing the best talent in the state to the Jr Ranks or not?

If this team comes about, high school hockey in Grand Forks will fall off even worse, and interest in it as well.  Would Fugelberg, Jennewein or Lizotte have been playing for Red River last year if this program were around?  Unless most of the makeup from the team comes from outside of the state, I think high school hockey will suffer greatly and not be as exciting a product to watch for the average fan.

[Siouxman]

choyt3, on 15 April 2012 - 01:59 PM, said:

Karl Goehring's response to that column: http://www.letsplayh...ting-russo.html

Whether or not you agree with forming a AAA Midget team, Karl Goehring's response was really well written.

[sioux rube]

geaux_sioux, on 15 April 2012 - 04:55 PM, said:

Central lost a bunch of talent to juniors. Red River didn't lose anything that I can remember.  I'm not sure about other schools other than DL with Thompson and Minot with that one kid.

And every sport has been down in the state the past couple years.  Especially hockey and football in Grand Forks.

Here in Jamestown we lost our best D to Belle Tire in Michigan. With talent not real high here it hurts big time.

[farce poobah]

Having the USNDT in Ann Arbor has certainly led to a home-town advantage for Michigan.    

Anything that concentrates talent and exposes them to The Ralph has to be a good thing.

[Goon]

farce poobah, on 15 April 2012 - 07:05 PM, said:

Having the USNDT in Ann Arbor has certainly led to a home-town advantage for Michigan.

Anything that concentrates talent and exposes them to The Ralph has to be a good thing.

It would benefit the Sioux a lot and I am definitely for it and I think it's an awesome idea.

[Goon]

tnt, on 15 April 2012 - 06:23 PM, said:

If this team comes about, high school hockey in Grand Forks will fall off even worse, and interest in it as well.  Would Fugelberg, Jennewein or Lizotte have been playing for Red River last year if this program were around?  Unless most of the makeup from the team comes from outside of the state, I think high school hockey will suffer greatly and not be as exciting a product to watch for the average fan.

That is a question that will probably be answered in the futures. I could see the talent coming from all over the place I would imagine.

[watchmaker49]

Cratter, on 15 April 2012 - 01:53 PM, said:

http://www.letsplayh...sed-hockey.html

This say all there is to lnow as to why he is so against it.
John Russo, Ph.D., is founder and director of the Upper Midwest High School Elite League. He was a captain at the University of Wisconsin, and his Coaches’ Corner columns have appeared in LPH since 1986.
It would compete with his league.

[watchmaker49]

Karl even covered one of my pet peeves with his responce.
“There is no such thing as a free lunch” is a principle taught in most entry level economics courses and the truth is everyone has to pay to play hockey. High school hockey teams would not be able to operate without taxpayer dollars subsidizing the program and the school districts. If it is wrong for The Hockey Academy to charge direct fees for playing on our proposed team, then why is it right to ask the general public to cover the cost of high school hockey even if their son or daughter does not play? The truth is even “community-based” youth programs charge a fee to play in order to cover costs and that is the exact same thing that our proposed team would do.
Why do the tax payers have to cover the cost?