2021-22 ND High School Hockey

[sioux rube]

[gfhockey]

Vig better play for hnd

[cberkas]

hnd?

Must be a new school adding D1 soon 

[Yote 53]

On 3/7/2022 at 10:26 PM, ksixpack said:

Midco is all about high school football/basketball only, they could care less about hockey unless it is UND which really butters their bread.  Ditto for high school baseball/softball…they don’t care.

Half the problem is there is no publicity machine or engine for ND high school hockey. There is no central organization pulling in the same direction. No one has taken the reins to promote the sport.  There is no Youth Hockey Hub or Hockey Talk or any chatter at all promoting Prep hockey in ND like there is in MN. 

Well, pretty sure I watched the outdoor games from West Fargo on Midco.  I am watching the MN HS tournament on Midco 3 today and this week and the SD HS tournament is on Midco 2 this weekend.  So I wouldn't say that Midco doesn't care about hockey.  They have 3 stations and an app to fill with content. You can only show so many reruns of the Crystal Springs Rodeo or USD beating SDSU in football.  Well, wait, they can't show those games enough.

Would just be nice to see more regional HS events on Midco but I understand the state HS associations wanting to have free statewide access.

[ksixpack]

7 hours ago, Yote 53 said:

Well, pretty sure I watched the outdoor games from West Fargo on Midco.  I am watching the MN HS tournament on Midco 3 today and this week and the SD HS tournament is on Midco 2 this weekend.  So I wouldn't say that Midco doesn't care about hockey.  They have 3 stations and an app to fill with content. You can only show so many reruns of the Crystal Springs Rodeo or USD beating SDSU in football.  Well, wait, they can't show those games enough.

Would just be nice to see more regional HS events on Midco but I understand the state HS associations wanting to have free statewide access.

I call BS...they did a couple outdoor games in West Fargo yes between the have nots in ND...the MN HS tourney and SD HS tourney was not their production, they just aired the feed.  Not once during their weekly magazine shows did they mention ND HS hockey and no tweets either about ND high school hockey ever...it was HS football and basketball or it was nothing.

[The Sicatoka]

On 3/8/2022 at 9:45 PM, gfhockey said:

Vig better play for hnd

Does this mean the Notre Dame (Saskatchewan) Hounds? 

[Yote 53]

On 3/9/2022 at 4:30 PM, ksixpack said:

I call BS...they did a couple outdoor games in West Fargo yes between the have nots in ND...the MN HS tourney and SD HS tourney was not their production, they just aired the feed.  Not once during their weekly magazine shows did they mention ND HS hockey and no tweets either about ND high school hockey ever...it was HS football and basketball or it was nothing.

SD tournament is a Midco production.  Watching it right now.  Of course the MN tournament isn't a Midco production but at least they are picking up the feed.

[ChadR]

Are any ND seniors playing Juniors after the season right now?

[ksixpack]

On 3/13/2022 at 2:15 PM, ChadR said:

Are any ND seniors playing Juniors after the season right now?

Dillon Kuntz is in New Mexico right now with the Ice Wolves of the NAHL

[Wilbur]

Bismarck to split up the blizzard.

Century/St. Mary

Legacy/BHS

Is there enough ice to go around?  

[The Sicatoka]

10 minutes ago, Wilbur said:

Bismarck to split up the blizzard.

Century/St. Mary

Legacy/BHS

Is there enough ice to go around?  

Strange ... with Legacy and the new St Mary's both considerably north (43rd Ave plus) I'm surprised they paired that way. 

[Johnny Five]

On 4/2/2022 at 11:45 AM, The Sicatoka said:

Strange ... with Legacy and the new St Mary's both considerably north (43rd Ave plus) I'm surprised they paired that way. 

I believe that was the COOP that will mostly even out the Skaters so it's not skewed so bad towards one or the other.  Outsiders won't believe it but there is and was no easy way to do this in Fargo or Bismarck.  In fact, Fargo had to redo there girls Co-Ops this season.  And yes...I know...it's not easy to have to make 8th and 9th graders move up in the smaller communities either, I wish everyone could have the 12 and 15 u programs like the bigger communities do for proper development path. 

As for ice.  No.  There's not enough.  There's another sheet coming in 2023 but that is another bandaid.  Once the HS programs seasons are going, the Bismarck youth teams get about a 1:1 practice to game ratio (on a scale of November to end of February when HS season ends).  The upper boys and girls teams maybe 2 on ice practices a week and pile the games on during the weekend.

Regarding this split.  2022 is about the worst time possible in the past 10 years.  There will be 2 teams with low numbers (12-13 or less depending on those who quit or move).  One of the Co-Ops doesn't have a goalie.  Yes I understand Jamestown did that this season, but that shouldn't be the norm, especially to start a new program.  But if you start with 13 skaters and force one to be a goaltender, you're down to 12 skaters.  Pulling a large volume of FR up would be OK but it would absolutely destroy the youth program and the trickle down would last for quite some time.  Robbing Peter to pay Paul.  Put it this way, trying out for the 12U team in Bismarck is now more stressful and difficult than trying out for a Varsity sport, which is now a participation sport.  A girl can put her gear away in February, do literally nothing in the off-season, pick it up in November, and stand at center ice the entire first week of practice and the administration will force the coach to keep her on the team and she's automatically dressing because there's not 18.  Good life lessons.   

The perfect storm in Bismarck was 2023.  New arena (possibly depending on construction), large numbers in the SOPH class who were able to spend another year of development in the club, and a hopeful solution to Goaltending (main problem being 5 of the 5 goalies in the immediate pipeline are on the CHS/SMCHS side of the split and administration hasn't figured out how to split them properly).

So there's some issues.  And there's issues in every community.  And too be honest, girls hockey in ND needs a serious look at it's future.  The product is OK but not great.  The state already loses high end talent (maddie brown, kennedy blair, and a pile from GF and Fargo etc), and this waters down the competition even more.  Those that have D1 aspirations will be moving East more frequently.  Not sure how to prevent that and that is certainly every families right, has happened in the boys side for years, and will now come up more often with girls.

I expect West Fargo to be the new wagon in girls hockey and now both trophies will stay east for quite some time.  

Not here to flame or bitch about it.  What's done is done and it's time to move on.

 

 

[cberkas]

Why didn’t they just build a two sheet arena at Century where the never used baseball fields are?

[Johnny Five]

42 minutes ago, cberkas said:

Why didn’t they just build a two sheet arena at Century where the never used baseball fields are?

School board and Park board will never see eye to eye on that.  School Board has kicked in zero dollars to the current arenas (think they're contributing some to the new band aid that's coming).  As of right now, Bismarck is 3 sheets behind what they need.  When Legacy was first built, there was space set aside for a ice arena and it never came to fruition.  In addition, when COVID hit, there was a half cent sales tax proposed with a massive Minot like bowl and a second practice sheet in a community center, and the grey hairs smashed that down like a rotten watermelon about 70-30%.  

No matter how hard Bismarck tries, it'll never be a "hockey town."  Football, hoops, wrestling, track, lawn darts, garage beers.  That's why it was cool what the Blizzard had and that started with parents prioritizing girls hockey growth quite some time ago (and of course it helped to have the Olympic athlete come through or we probably wouldn't be having this discussion)....this'll set back the success but I guess if little debbie gets to throw on a Varsity jersey it can go on Facebook for everyone to see.

 

Edit: regarding ice.  In fact, one or 2 of the varsity hockey teams may be asked to practice during the school day next year.  They'll get a PE credit!  Hey screw algebra, chemistry, or english I have hockey practice!  It's like being at Shattuck I recon.  

[sioux rube]

5 hours ago, Johnny Five said:

School board and Park board will never see eye to eye on that.  School Board has kicked in zero dollars to the current arenas (think they're contributing some to the new band aid that's coming).  As of right now, Bismarck is 3 sheets behind what they need.  When Legacy was first built, there was space set aside for a ice arena and it never came to fruition.  In addition, when COVID hit, there was a half cent sales tax proposed with a massive Minot like bowl and a second practice sheet in a community center, and the grey hairs smashed that down like a rotten watermelon about 70-30%.  

No matter how hard Bismarck tries, it'll never be a "hockey town."  Football, hoops, wrestling, track, lawn darts, garage beers.  That's why it was cool what the Blizzard had and that started with parents prioritizing girls hockey growth quite some time ago (and of course it helped to have the Olympic athlete come through or we probably wouldn't be having this discussion)....this'll set back the success but I guess if little debbie gets to throw on a Varsity jersey it can go on Facebook for everyone to see.

 

Edit: regarding ice.  In fact, one or 2 of the varsity hockey teams may be asked to practice during the school day next year.  They'll get a PE credit!  Hey screw algebra, chemistry, or english I have hockey practice!  It's like being at Shattuck I recon.  

Give it some time my friend. My girls played with 11 skaters and a goalie for 2 years in 12’ and 13’ here in Jamestown. Needed a goalie when I started coaching the girls at the U14 level and got the soccer goalie to play. All state goalie by her senior year. Program now is in good shape. Sure they will take some lumps but hell there are teams that that can’t even make state at a consistent basis when 8 of 11 teams make it. Hopefully the 2 teams eventually get a good rivalry going between them 
 

No doubt more ice is needed in Bismarck and I bet the U of Mary will now get a Womens team now that the University of Jamestown will be starting their Womens program this fall and I hope they do. My daughter has one recruit to go to fill out her team. Really looking forward to see how they can compete next season 

[Johnny Five]

I understand the small town struggles, that's how I grew up with the game.

There's a couple frustrations:

1.  That it's now a participation sport.  Girls at least used to have to earn playing time and the ability to make the roster.  That is gone for the time being.  Do that in any other sport in Bismarck and you're done.

2.  A majority of Bismarck hockey (even the ultra competitive) finally got behind the need to split and 2023 was the perfect time to do so based on skaters, goaltenders and a new ice facility.  Rushing it one year has the potential for disaster (some leaving town, quitting or what have you).  The administration never formally announced how the Co-Op would be split, and the 2 goaltenders with experience for 2022 are at SMCHS and CHS (and the 3 in the pipeline are all SMCHS), leaving one side to scramble the next 6 months.   

Both Bismarck teams will be fighting and scraping to make the state tournament next season.  It'll be new territory.

And yes...you are correct.  It is going to be OK.  As I said above, every community has it's struggles, some just come in different forms.  As I told some of the girls, if your aspirations are to play beyond HS (Jamestown, Minot, Concordia or beyond), maybe a coach will look at you different if you suck it up and become a leader in the face of an adverse situation, instead of tucking tail and heading to MN as an easy solution.

First world problems.....

 

What's sad in ND.  I'll be curious to see how many teams of the 12 can actually field a full roster next season of 18 and 2.  That's not a great look for the sport.

[sioux rube]

We shall see how it goes but I’m a firm believer that with 2 teams more girls will play the game not less. If I’m wrong I will be a bit shocked. I do agree they should of waited one more year for the reasons you give

As far as kids taking off for Minnesota or elsewhere a prime example of that not being necessary is your own Brenna Curl 

[Johnny Five]

2 hours ago, sioux rube said:

We shall see how it goes but I’m a firm believer that with 2 teams more girls will play the game not less. If I’m wrong I will be a bit shocked. I do agree they should of waited one more year for the reasons you give

As far as kids taking off for Minnesota or elsewhere a prime example of that not being necessary is your own Brenna Curl 

They hay in girls hockey is being made in HP camps and Tier 1 leagues (for those that want to pursue opportunities).  Those girls who want other opportunities will pursue them.  Do they have to leave?  Not necessarily.  For every Curl there are 4x more Maddie Brown's and Kennedy Blair's (Pomersberger even went away and come back) etc.  It used to bother me when kids left, but in my old age I've come to understand that humans and sports are first and foremost selfish and people will do things and make decisions that are shocking and beyond our control.  Gotta worry about our own lane these days.  

What drives me nuts is people saying this is growing the game.  This is literally just splitting a team in half.  And yes in 5-10 years it'll be much better and there will be competition for playing time.  If we all want to grow the game it drives me nuts that there's not more 12 and 15u programs around the state.  Cities with great hockey history like Minot and Grand Forks seem to struggle on the girls side.  Hell I think Minot had 12 on their team last year?  West Fargo didn't have 18?  Grand Forks had like 15?  But all the grief was sent towards Bismarck.  The growth of the game needs to come from the base and it needs to come everywhere.  Like I said, there may not be a team in the entire state that can field a full roster of 18 skaters and 2 goalies next year.  That blows my mind.  

During the HS season, people complained that Legacy cleared out the depth in Bismarck.  And it did yes and that the power will remain East for a long time.  This is no different and probably even worse on the girls side.  The East is in total control.

Good conversation and I always appreciate your knowledge, passion and opinion.  What's done is done.  We can either choose to teach our daughters to bitch about it or tell them to buckle up and get to work.  I know which option mine will chose and hopefully everyone hops on board.

 

PS...I will be pulling for the Jimmies  and looking forward to following them!

[sioux rube]

4 hours ago, Johnny Five said:

They hay in girls hockey is being made in HP camps and Tier 1 leagues (for those that want to pursue opportunities).  Those girls who want other opportunities will pursue them.  Do they have to leave?  Not necessarily.  For every Curl there are 4x more Maddie Brown's and Kennedy Blair's (Pomersberger even went away and come back) etc.  It used to bother me when kids left, but in my old age I've come to understand that humans and sports are first and foremost selfish and people will do things and make decisions that are shocking and beyond our control.  Gotta worry about our own lane these days.  

What drives me nuts is people saying this is growing the game.  This is literally just splitting a team in half.  And yes in 5-10 years it'll be much better and there will be competition for playing time.  If we all want to grow the game it drives me nuts that there's not more 12 and 15u programs around the state.  Cities with great hockey history like Minot and Grand Forks seem to struggle on the girls side.  Hell I think Minot had 12 on their team last year?  West Fargo didn't have 18?  Grand Forks had like 15?  But all the grief was sent towards Bismarck.  The growth of the game needs to come from the base and it needs to come everywhere.  Like I said, there may not be a team in the entire state that can field a full roster of 18 skaters and 2 goalies next year.  That blows my mind.  

During the HS season, people complained that Legacy cleared out the depth in Bismarck.  And it did yes and that the power will remain East for a long time.  This is no different and probably even worse on the girls side.  The East is in total control.

Good conversation and I always appreciate your knowledge, passion and opinion.  What's done is done.  We can either choose to teach our daughters to bitch about it or tell them to buckle up and get to work.  I know which option mine will chose and hopefully everyone hops on board.

 

PS...I will be pulling for the Jimmies  and looking forward to following them!

I have to admit my daughter came real close to going to Shattuck. At the time there was no girls program here just high school. Then a U14 girls team was going to happen and they wanted me to coach and of course my daughter to play on it. I did and she did and everything worked out for the good. Best of luck to your daughter moving forward buddy. Appreciate your passion for the girls game too 

[Wilbur]

Williston with a new head hockey coach.  

[sioux rube]

[andtheHomeoftheSIOUX!!]

 

[andtheHomeoftheSIOUX!!]

3 minutes ago, andtheHomeoftheSIOUX!! said:

 

https://www.inforum.com/sports/prep/north-dakota-high-school-girls-hockey-season-to-move-one-week-later-break-up-state-tournament-with-boys

[NoiseInsideMyHead]

6 hours ago, andtheHomeoftheSIOUX!! said:

https://www.inforum.com/sports/prep/north-dakota-high-school-girls-hockey-season-to-move-one-week-later-break-up-state-tournament-with-boys

I know it's easy to complain about change, but I'll play devil's advocate and float a potentially unpopular take:

Having boys and girls tourneys at the same site and on the same days actually gets MORE eyeballs on the girls' games than would otherwise be possible.  Parents, students and fans will hardly complain about having more hockey to watch between boys' games, especially given the cost of daily/weekend passes.  Combining the events creates a better value proposition for ticketholders.  And the girls' teams might make a few new fans in the process, especially if the product is good.

[Frozen4sioux]

On 4/2/2022 at 11:33 AM, Wilbur said:

Bismarck to split up the blizzard.

Century/St. Mary

Legacy/BHS

Is there enough ice to go around?  

As stated no. And construction is not as of yet started on the 1 sheet bandaid.

On 4/5/2022 at 5:07 PM, cberkas said:

Why didn’t they just build a two sheet arena at Century where the never used baseball fields are?

Appearently that is the old dump and ground is not able to support development, or any resource we need, like a baseball field to practice on.

Its suitable for dogs to crap there, and thats it Appearently. 

On 6/7/2022 at 10:57 PM, NoiseInsideMyHead said:

I know it's easy to complain about change, but I'll play devil's advocate and float a potentially unpopular take:

Having boys and girls tourneys at the same site and on the same days actually gets MORE eyeballs on the girls' games than would otherwise be possible.  Parents, students and fans will hardly complain about having more hockey to watch between boys' games, especially given the cost of daily/weekend passes.  Combining the events creates a better value proposition for ticketholders.  And the girls' teams might make a few new fans in the process, especially if the product is good.

Im hoping it works out but the skeptic in me thinks its a way for the NDHSSA to say "see we told you state hockey tourneys dont work out west" and never consider Minot for boys state again