[ND High School Hockey 2018-19]

34 minutes ago, OgieOgilthorpe said:

I would love for this to happen, and I agree that more Jr. Gold teams would finally switch over to HS hockey if it did happen. That Jr. Gold league has been broken for a while now. Plus maybe even Whap would come back?

Unfortunately I think there are still quite a few kinks in the plan that makes it more complicated than it seems. But I also see a lot of positives to it as well!

-If the Jr. Gold league did fold due to the 2 tier HS league, then GF and Fargo would lose their teams and a lot of kids would miss out on being able to play hockey after 9th grade. Although, Fargo Shanley+OG and South might be able to split back up eventually due to the higher numbers.

-In 1A the travel distances would get pretty extensive, especially if some of the Jr. Gold teams did join. 2A travel would actually get better, outside of extra trips to MNPLS to play possibly

- I see a lot of AA teams and A teams ending up scheduling each other a lot anyway. But with this new setup, the more elite teams could have the freedom to schedule more out of state games. Keeping the league game number low would keep the freedom of scheduling high. 

-Would the A/AA split be by enrollment or skill level or? Teams like Mandan, Dickinson, Williston, WFS, and Jamestown+VC will fit the bill for AA but will fit in much better competitively in A. Same goes for some of the weaker Fargo/WF teams that seem to rotate. Then teams like Grafton and Devils Lake will often fit in much better AA but will have enrollment numbers for A. This is a common problem everywhere for every sport, but it's just something to think about.

- Any time there is a top tier player from any of the A teams, they're surely going to transfer to a AA school or even out of state while they're at it. Which would really hurt the morale and tradition at some of these schools bound to be put in the A pool. If 1A has an enrollment maximum and AA has no minimum, then quite a few schools are going to push to be AA. Who would want to drive their program downward by losing their best players to AA schools and by having to play less competitive teams? MN has the luxury of having enough schools in each league to help minimize some of this, but in ND it would end up being a pretty big swing between the 2 leagues eventually. In MN both A and AA teams are able to hold onto players and traditions just because of the sheer numbers in each level...ND would not have that luxury, and would eventually be turning 1A into a JV league essentially. 

It's frustrating how obvious this decision is to everyone but the state and AD's.  They are comfortable switching up the football conferences every other year, but it seems like it takes an act of congress to even consider reworking the hockey setup.

- Jr. Gold could still exist in Fargo and GF, they would just have to rely on MN and SD tournaments. It would probably look more like a Youth AAA program.

- Travel wouldn't be a big issue for the eastern half of the state as they have MN to pull from. The west is obviously a different story.

- I think you'd almost have to split up the A/AA by enrollment. Maybe there is one or two teams that are on the bubble that would have to declare intentions for x amount of years at a time. If everyone played on a points system and then it was split into a Gold and Silver bracket like they do in the youth state tournaments, you'd end up with programs devaluing the lower bracket. 

-It's weird how hockey is the only sport where top end player retention is a big deal. You don't hear about elite basketball players moving from B schools to A schools. Maybe i'm naive and this happens all the time.  

[ND High School Hockey 2018-19]

I thought I heard that Devils Lake killed a 5 minute major at the end of the game too.

[ND High School Hockey 2018-19]

I like it except the thought of JV teams in the A. There are some years when GFC or RR have a JV team that would be in the top 10 in the varsity league. 

[ND High School Hockey 2018-19]

28 minutes ago, The Sicatoka said:

Are Valley City kids still playing for Jamestown?

Yes they do.

[ND High School Hockey 2018-19]

Talking with some of the parents, they are very happy with their season. They wish they could get more ND teams to schedule them. They did get Williston's varsity team this year, other than that only JV will commit from ND. I think they would fit in pretty good out west.  I think its funny how they get poked fun of for the different communities it takes to make the coop up. You don't hear about the outlying towns in the Grafton/PR or Devils Lake coop's. I would guess those are almost as long.