2020-21 ND High School Hockey

[sioux rube]

4 hours ago, SiouxFan100 said:

Thanks to those of you that take the time to work with our youth as coaches. I admire you!

37th year for me and have been coaching spring/summer teams for 15 too. I just love being around the game and what better way to do it than give back to this great game 

[Frozen4sioux]

On 2/10/2021 at 7:46 PM, sioux rube said:

Last year my peewee A team here in Jamestown won the A state tourney. Played Minot and Fargo who were AA and split with them during the season. Told our scheduler to not schedule any AA teams this season. This year is a whole different story. We are 2-12 and only have 4 second year peewees on the team. Small towns like us can change from year to year real quick because of numbers 

Good team last year, and definetly earned that title game win. 

I agree and things can change quickly, even in bigger towns.

The AA concept is destroying PW hockey IMHO, and that opinion is being proved correct again this year.

AA for bantams yes,  I get it and support it, AA for PW is stupidity, especially for towns that need to develop to feed multiple High schools.

Respect how GF does it, they have 2 balanced (usually balanced) teams playing their top level. Call it A call it AA, they just play. Good on them.

 

 

 Hazen Buelah got beat 11-1 tonight and it wasn't that close. 0-15 outscoeed 121-18 on the season...

Credit to the coaches and parents for keeping it running but, thats got to be really difficult to keep kids interested in coming back night after night, year after year.  The question is... would a more level chance in a tiered system help the program, and others?

[Wilbur]

13 hours ago, Frozen4sioux said:

Good team last year, and definetly earned that title game win. 

I agree and things can change quickly, even in bigger towns.

The AA concept is destroying PW hockey IMHO, and that opinion is being proved correct again this year.

AA for bantams yes,  I get it and support it, AA for PW is stupidity, especially for towns that need to develop to feed multiple High schools.

Respect how GF does it, they have 2 balanced (usually balanced) teams playing their top level. Call it A call it AA, they just play. Good on them.

 

 

 Hazen Buelah got beat 11-1 tonight and it wasn't that close. 0-15 outscoeed 121-18 on the season...

Credit to the coaches and parents for keeping it running but, thats got to be really difficult to keep kids interested in coming back night after night, year after year.  The question is... would a more level chance in a tiered system help the program, and others?

Got to make that 0-16, they forfeited their game at Williston, another likely loss.  I checked their bantam team and they are getting waxed in the Bantam B1 ranks.  Thats basically the third tier of Bantam hockey in ND right now, outscored 16-44 according to the NDAHA website.  Got a decent number of Bantam kids for a small program but the high school team will have a bleak outlook the next several years.

I too credit the people there for keeping the program going.  0 for the season in any sport has to be difficult.  You would think having an A and AA in ND high school hockey would help them possibly get more kids out.  At the same time, knowing what I know about the NDHSAA they could care less if it doesn't involve their precious basketball or football.     

[andtheHomeoftheSIOUX!!]

It would be nice to have two levels of HS hockey and place the teams based on skill level and not enrollment.  But I doubt that is a road the NDHSAA would want to go down. 

[Frozen4sioux]

36 minutes ago, andtheHomeoftheSIOUX!! said:

It would be nice to have two levels of HS hockey and place the teams based on skill level and not enrollment.  But I doubt that is a road the NDHSAA would want to go down. 

Yea, exactly. High school hockey level of play, can not be based on school enrollment, only on the youth program enrollment. 

[Bajadanny]

On 1/16/2021 at 11:44 PM, gfhockey said:

Maybe gf hockey is that good as egf is 2nd rated a team

 

On 2/10/2021 at 8:41 AM, The Sicatoka said:

Maybe a relegation type system, two tiers, does need to be looked at in the future. 

 

22 hours ago, Wilbur said:

Now Fargo North has to forfeit their last two games due to Covid.  Hope they get to compete in the region tournament.

Absolutely a 2-class system is what is needed, both could have 10-12 teams, better for all

[andtheHomeoftheSIOUX!!]

Two classes:

AA:

GFC, GFRR, FN, FS/S, FD, WFS, WF

CHS, BHS, MHS, JHS, WHS

A:

G/PR, DL, MPCG, B/R, DHS, MHS, H/B  plus:

Watford City, Langdon, Wahpeton, Crosby

 

NDHSAA addressed competitive concerns in Football and the same can be done here. 

Eventually Minot is going to have a second high school and Legacy will have a team as well; maybe WF Horace too.

[iluvdebbies]

15 minutes ago, andtheHomeoftheSIOUX!! said:

Two classes:

AA:

GFC, GFRR, FN, FS/S, FD, WFS, WF

CHS, BHS, MHS, JHS, WHS

A:

G/PR, DL, MPCG, B/R, DHS, MHS, H/B  plus:

Watford City, Langdon, Wahpeton, Crosby

 

NDHSAA addressed competitive concerns in Football and the same can be done here. 

Eventually Minot is going to have a second high school and Legacy will have a team as well; maybe WF Horace too.

You have it pretty close.....Jamestown and Williston should also be A.

[Wilbur]

1 hour ago, andtheHomeoftheSIOUX!! said:

Two classes:

AA:

GFC, GFRR, FN, FS/S, FD, WFS, WF

CHS, BHS, MHS, JHS, WHS

A:

G/PR, DL, MPCG, B/R, DHS, MHS, H/B  plus:

Watford City, Langdon, Wahpeton, Crosby

 

NDHSAA addressed competitive concerns in Football and the same can be done here. 

Eventually Minot is going to have a second high school and Legacy will have a team as well; maybe WF Horace too.

I think this is pretty close.  If you did a statewide league at both the A and AA then you are ensuring that the best teams are at the state tournament in both leagues instead of region tournaments happening and the annual 1E vs. 4W beat down.  You could also see a possible GFC-Red River or Fargo Davies-Fargo South, Bismarck High-Century quarterfinal matchups that would add some fire to the opening round of the tournament.

With an A league you could see schools like Shanley, Park River, or a Rugby possibly try to give it a go independently.  That being said I have zero knowledge of the current numbers the aforementioned have in their program, and if its even feasible for them.  If having an A league meant adding high school teams all over the state and Wahpeton coming back its a win win in my book.

I look at a school like Red Lake Falls in Minnesota.  Used to coach against them every year.  They'd have 16 skaters and 2 goalies in their entire high school program and always found a way to play both jv and varsity schedules.

[Frozen4sioux]

11 hours ago, andtheHomeoftheSIOUX!! said:

Legacy will have a team as well; maybe WF Horace too.

Within the next 2 years for both.

[cberkas]

51 minutes ago, Frozen4sioux said:

Within the next 2 years for both.

Does Bismarck have enough arenas for 3 high school teams?

[sioux rube]

7 hours ago, cberkas said:

Does Bismarck have enough arenas for 3 high school teams?

Supposedly another Bismarck girls team but I’ve heard that the last 5 years 

[MoSiouxFan]

58 minutes ago, sioux rube said:

Supposedly another Bismarck girls team but I’ve heard that the last 5 years 

That needs to happen.  Otherwise, you've got a small school (Devils Lake) going up against, in effect, three large schools (Century, Legacy, and High; plus St. Mary's?),  Even at that, Devils Lake (1-14) played Bismarck(13-2) to a one goal game last night.  It would be nice to see a level playing field.

[sioux rube]

4 minutes ago, MoSiouxFan said:

That needs to happen.  Otherwise, you've got a small school (Devils Lake) going up against, in effect, three large schools (Century, Legacy, and High; plus St. Mary's?),  Even at that, Devils Lake (1-14) played Bismarck(13-2) to a one goal game last night.  It would be nice to see a level playing field.

DL has a hell of a goalie if not it would be really ugly. There is also Shiloh too so in essence they have 5 high schools for one team 

[Frozen4sioux]

31 minutes ago, MoSiouxFan said:

That needs to happen.  Otherwise, you've got a small school (Devils Lake) going up against, in effect, three large schools (Century, Legacy, and High; plus St. Mary's?),  Even at that, Devils Lake (1-14) played Bismarck(13-2) to a one goal game last night.  It would be nice to see a level playing field.

Again, and I cant believe this is such a difficult concept to understand.

Schools and school enrollment..... 5 schools 10 schools 50 schools....

DO. NOT. MATTER. In. Hockey.

Boys or Girls.

ONLY numbers of players in the youth program. 

As of now and the past few years the numbers indicate a 2nd Bis Girls team would be mildly viable. The numbers coming up DO NOT, in most peoples opinion. Some are very adement they can pull it off...

But it will happen anyway. There will be another girls team in the future.

 

[Frozen4sioux]

8 hours ago, cberkas said:

Does Bismarck have enough arenas for 3 high school teams?

No. Theres not nearly enough ice in Bismarck, not even close. 

To add a nother high school Varsity, Jv, and a Jr Gold........

All of which the numbers are very much there for...could honestly field 2 Jr Gold teams... 

Ice will be extreamly short. Add in  a 2nd Girls team and it'll be 5ams, 10pms, and outdoor practices for youth hockey, thats not ideal for retention to say the least.

Bismarck needs more rinks but unfortunately its an "old man screams at clouds" and "i dont have kids in hockey, I'm not voting for a $20 yearly tax increase" type town.

Its basically a mess, great job has been done to get kids in hockey, but to retain them or develop a depth of talent has fallen woefully short.

[MoSiouxFan]

3 hours ago, sioux rube said:

DL has a hell of a goalie if not it would be really ugly. There is also Shiloh too so in essence they have 5 high schools for one team 

I know.  She's kept them in most games this season, as they've lost 7 one-goal games.  If they weren't so young and had some scoring, it may have been a different season.

[Bajadanny]

1 hour ago, MoSiouxFan said:

I know.  She's kept them in most games this season, as they've lost 7 one-goal games.  If they weren't so young and had some scoring, it may have been a 

 

1 hour ago, MoSiouxFan said:

I know.  She's kept them in most games this season, as they've lost 7 one-goal games.  If they weren't so young and had some scoring, it may have been a different season.

Come on Bismarck step up and get 2 more teams, this is flipping crazy 

[Wilbur]

According to The NDHSAA, Fargo North has already forfeited their first round game against South.  Wondering if they are able to be cleared for Thursday?  If not why wouldn't they just move all the teams up a seed below them and give the highest seeded eliminated team the 8 seed?

[siouxweet]

On 2/11/2021 at 9:14 PM, Frozen4sioux said:

Good team last year, and definetly earned that title game win. 

I agree and things can change quickly, even in bigger towns.

The AA concept is destroying PW hockey IMHO, and that opinion is being proved correct again this year.

AA for bantams yes,  I get it and support it, AA for PW is stupidity, especially for towns that need to develop to feed multiple High schools.

Respect how GF does it, they have 2 balanced (usually balanced) teams playing their top level. Call it A call it AA, they just play. Good on them.

 

 

 Hazen Buelah got beat 11-1 tonight and it wasn't that close. 0-15 outscoeed 121-18 on the season...

Credit to the coaches and parents for keeping it running but, thats got to be really difficult to keep kids interested in coming back night after night, year after year.  The question is... would a more level chance in a tiered system help the program, and others?

The AA thing is even happening at the squirt level.

[JakeLove]

If all this HS hockey ran through USA Hockey in conjunction with the schools a multi-tier HS league would happen in about 15 minutes. 

[UNDMOORHEAD]

6 hours ago, siouxweet said:

The AA thing is even happening at the squirt level.

They don't call it AA in Fargo and Moorhead for squirts, but they both have two A teams and one is clearly the AA team. I think that's true of most towns in Minnesota that have the kids to do it.

[Speez]

On 2/11/2021 at 9:14 PM, Frozen4sioux said:

Good team last year, and definetly earned that title game win. 

I agree and things can change quickly, even in bigger towns.

The AA concept is destroying PW hockey IMHO, and that opinion is being proved correct again this year.

AA for bantams yes,  I get it and support it, AA for PW is stupidity, especially for towns that need to develop to feed multiple High schools.

Respect how GF does it, they have 2 balanced (usually balanced) teams playing their top level. Call it A call it AA, they just play. Good on them.

 

 

 Hazen Buelah got beat 11-1 tonight and it wasn't that close. 0-15 outscoeed 121-18 on the season...

Credit to the coaches and parents for keeping it running but, thats got to be really difficult to keep kids interested in coming back night after night, year after year.  The question is... would a more level chance in a tiered system help the program, and others?

I watched my grandson play in the GF hockey PWAA tournament this past weekend. His Fargo team played "GF PWAA Red" and "Bismarck PWAA". Very good & competitive games. There is also a GF PWAA Blue team that he has played in the past. Maybe they don't call themselves AA teams unless they are in a PWAA tournament. You can't hold the better players back to lower levels. They will just go somewhere else for the competition like move across the border to EGF. I always believed,  "if you want to be the best you have to play against the best."

 

[siouxweet]

39 minutes ago, Speez said:

I watched my grandson play in the GF hockey PWAA tournament this past weekend. His Fargo team played "GF PWAA Red" and "Bismarck PWAA". Very good & competitive games. There is also a GF PWAA Blue team that he has played in the past. Maybe they don't call themselves AA teams unless they are in a PWAA tournament. You can't hold the better players back to lower levels. They will just go somewhere else for the competition like move across the border to EGF. I always believed,  "if you want to be the best you have to play against the best."

 

At the Peewee level this year GF has two AA teams, one A team, one B1 and three B teams.  Last year they had two A teams that competed at the state AA tournament and changed it this year to actually have 2 teams labeled AA.

[NDNative]

On 2/5/2021 at 1:38 PM, Wilbur said:

GFC puts up 8 goals in the first period against the Spoilers.  At some point I'm going to need an explanation of what is hurting Grafton hockey.  When I was reffing a few years back one of their coaches told me politics was to blame, another said it was the numbers.  Likely to not make the state tournament this year.  Made it one time in the last 8 years?

Declining enrollment, changing demographics, animosity towards Grafton, politics, parents, and loss of pride has hurt Grafton hockey.  Also, North Dakota high school hockey isn't what it used to be.