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Division 1 Commitments 2014-15

Re: Division 1 Commitments 2014-15

LOL I don't know maybe their play AT the fesitval got them removed from the team. USA hockey then took the time in the fall to reevaluate players on the list. SOUR GRAPES I say. Yes players are being turned off by USA hockey. I bet all of the players who get selected to go to the player development camps this coming year will turn it down. I wouldn't be surprised if the US couldn't even field an olympic team next year.
 
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Re: Division 1 Commitments 2014-15

UCONN FAN said:
LOL I don't know maybe their play AT the fesitval got them removed from the team. USA hockey then took the time in the fall to reevaluate players on the list. SOUR GRAPES I say. Yes players are being turned off by USA hockey. I bet all of the players who get selected to go to the player development camps this coming year will turn it down. I wouldn't be surprised if the US couldn't even field an olympic team next year.
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If I recall, quotes dripping with sarcasm are supposed to be posted in RED. :p
 
Re: Division 1 Commitments 2014-15

DC78-82 said:
If I recall, quotes dripping with sarcasm are supposed to be posted in RED. :p
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I'd suggested this based upon my experience on a particular BC board, but I don't know that it ever became custom here.
 
Re: Division 1 Commitments 2014-15

Call It said:
Who was looking at these players & where? I find this process not above the table. Laing's sister plays for Princeton and her other sister is going to Harvard. Something doesn't seem right. Very peculiar.

Is the current process fair?

If you were picked to go to festival, I very much doubt that your play in the fall kept you off the team. Very rarely does a girl's play drop off like that. Perhaps it has to do with the player being picked to go to Festival in the first place, the politics of it all. In years past, this sort of roster addition and deletion has not been like this. I think this is turning players off to USA Hockey.:confused:
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As noted, lots of politics and the best 22 players don't get picked. I would observe that the top 13-15 skaters are pretty much always the most talented and that after that the reaminder are political picks suited to a coach's agenda (example - youngest Laing will be a significant recruit for '14-'15 and the Princeton coach is probably trying to get her to follow her sister to Princeton by putting her on the U18 team he is coaching).

Another question would be why is USA Hockey allowing selections for the U18 national team that have declared other sports as their primary consideration regardless of the politics.

- As noted previoulsy on other threads and boards(hockey and soccer), McKenna is a Princeton SOCCER recruit who MAY play hockey there (I would guess she will since they can rarely roster 20 kids due to the lack of pull of the program in admissions and they'll be happy to have her).
- According to lacrosse boards, one of the new adds to the U18 team has already declared as a LACROSSE recruit for Northwestern, which has an outstanding lacrosse team but no hockey team.

Clearly, if the intent is to groom players for the national team, it is not in the best interest of USA Hockey to be selecting players that have already declared a primary priority in another sport. And you can give the "best players at all times" schpiel, but with all the politics the best team is NEVER put on the ice for the U18 team so why waste a spot on a kid who is focused elsewhere even if she is a good player.
 
Re: Division 1 Commitments 2014-15

HockeyEast33 said:
As noted, lots of politics and the best 22 players don't get picked. I would observe that the top 13-15 skaters are pretty much always the most talented and that after that the reaminder are political picks suited to a coach's agenda (example - youngest Laing will be a significant recruit for '14-'15 and the Princeton coach is probably trying to get her to follow her sister to Princeton by putting her on the U18 team he is coaching).
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Beyond the top 13-15 players, I highly doubt that there is any sort of consensus as to who the best players for the rest of the roster are. I suspect that you wouldn't even be able to get a consistent definition of what makes for the best player for those last roster slots. Some decisions that look like politics are just going to be disagreements about who the best players are. Some of them may not be the best individual players but may be the best fit for the team for one reason or another. Some of them may be picks suited to a coach's style, which can be defined in a number of ways but is not necessarily any sort of political agenda.

I'm sure some of that goes on. Welcome to dealing with human beings; while it's a good idea to minimize the role of politics in a situation like this, you're never going to get rid of it. I can certainly see that it might not be in the best interests of the national team to have a college coach in charge of these teams, but unless they want to start paying someone to be the U18 coach full time, they're going to have to draw her from somewhere and it's hard to see how they couldn't have an agenda.
 
Re: Division 1 Commitments 2014-15

Eeyore said:
Beyond the top 13-15 players, I highly doubt that there is any sort of consensus as to who the best players for the rest of the roster are. I suspect that you wouldn't even be able to get a consistent definition of what makes for the best player for those last roster slots. Some decisions that look like politics are just going to be disagreements about who the best players are. Some of them may not be the best individual players but may be the best fit for the team for one reason or another. Some of them may be picks suited to a coach's style, which can be defined in a number of ways but is not necessarily any sort of political agenda.

I'm sure some of that goes on. Welcome to dealing with human beings; while it's a good idea to minimize the role of politics in a situation like this, you're never going to get rid of it. I can certainly see that it might not be in the best interests of the national team to have a college coach in charge of these teams, but unless they want to start paying someone to be the U18 coach full time, they're going to have to draw her from somewhere and it's hard to see how they couldn't have an agenda.
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Paying a full time U18 coach, YESSSSSS!!!! Have you seen the budget for the Boys NTDP? USA Hockey members pay for that. You made some solid points on the roster spots and politics. I would add what my mother told me once, "it's who you know".
 
Re: Division 1 Commitments 2014-15

Player....................Position ...............(Current Team) .......................Hometown

(Based on reliable info, but to paraphrase Yogi, "It ain't official 'til it's official.")
* Denotes commitments are official, as announced by the school



Bemidji State

Boston College
Kali Flanagan .....................D ............................(NSA) .................................Burlington, MA
Megan Keller ......................D ......................(Honeybaked) .....................Farmington Hills, MI

Boston University

Brown

Clarkson

Colgate

Connecticut

Cornell
Sydnee Saracco.................D ......................(Chicago Mission) ........................Countryside, IL

Dartmouth

Harvard
Erin O'Connor ....................D .............................(CYA) ...................................Evanston, IL

Lindenwood

Maine

Mercyhurst

Minnesota
Cara Piazza ......................F ...................(USA 18s/Chicago Mission) .......................Darien, IL
Kelly Pannek .....................F .........................(USA 18s/BSM) .........................................MN

Minnesota-Duluth

Minnesota State

New Hampshire

North Dakota
Lynn Astrup ......................D ............................(Warroad)...............................Warroad, MN

Northeastern

Ohio State

Penn State

Princeton

Providence

Quinnipiac

Rochester

Robert Morris

Rensselaer

St. Cloud State

St. Lawrence

Syracuse

Union

Vermont

Wisconsin
Maddie Rolfes .....................D ........................(USA 18s/SSM) ..............West Des Moines, IA
Baylee Wellhausen ...............F ........................(USA 18s/SSM) ....................Williams Bay, WI

Yale

U.S. 9: Illinois, and Minnesota 2 each; Iowa, Massachusetts, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin 1 each;

Canada:
 
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Re: Division 1 Commitments 2014-15

Hux said:
Player....................Position ...............(Current Team) .......................Hometown

(Based on reliable info, but to paraphrase Yogi, "It ain't official 'til it's official.")
* Denotes commitments are official, as announced by the school

Ohio State
Mikalea Gardner..................D .........................(Chicago Fury) ............................Plainfield, IL
Click to expand...

Gardner is a sophomore - 2015-2016 Commitment (already posted on that thread).
 
Re: Division 1 Commitments 2014-15

HockeyEast33 said:
As noted, lots of politics and the best 22 players don't get picked. I would observe that the top 13-15 skaters are pretty much always the most talented and that after that the reaminder are political picks suited to a coach's agenda (example - youngest Laing will be a significant recruit for '14-'15 and the Princeton coach is probably trying to get her to follow her sister to Princeton by putting her on the U18 team he is coaching).

Another question would be why is USA Hockey allowing selections for the U18 national team that have declared other sports as their primary consideration regardless of the politics.

- As noted previoulsy on other threads and boards(hockey and soccer), McKenna is a Princeton SOCCER recruit who MAY play hockey there (I would guess she will since they can rarely roster 20 kids due to the lack of pull of the program in admissions and they'll be happy to have her).
- According to lacrosse boards, one of the new adds to the U18 team has already declared as a LACROSSE recruit for Northwestern, which has an outstanding lacrosse team but no hockey team.

Clearly, if the intent is to groom players for the national team, it is not in the best interest of USA Hockey to be selecting players that have already declared a primary priority in another sport. And you can give the "best players at all times" schpiel, but with all the politics the best team is NEVER put on the ice for the U18 team so why waste a spot on a kid who is focused elsewhere even if she is a good player.
Click to expand...

Look at how many top notch players of their age at the time played on the U18s, and have yet to play past that level. There are others that played with the +/-30s or U22s and haven't played again. Pool is deep enough to select the best of the best for the +/-30s National team.

Bottom line, you pick the players you think will best achieve the goal of winning the U18 championship.
 
[new add =96IllinoisDad;5560831]Hometowns:
Boston College
Keller - Farmington Hills, MI

Harvard
O'Connor - Evanston, IL
ADD:
Penn State
Christi Vetter- Lakeville, MN
 
Re: Division 1 Commitments 2014-15

Clarkson
Savannah Harmon.................D..................(NSA)................Downers Grove, IL

Ohio State
Jessica Dunne.......................D.................(St. Louis Lady Blues).....O'Fallon, MO
 
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96IllinoisDad; [B said:
Ohio State[/B]
Jessica Dunne.......................D.................(St. Louis Lady Blues).....O'Fallon, MO
Click to expand...

This is maybe the most impressive thing I heard today (even over Colgate beating #2 ranked Clarkson)!! Kudos to Ohio State. This could have major (future) implications for their program!!!
 
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