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Polar Bear Tournament.........What Happened?

B

Beantown Puckfan

Go Dawgs
I guess Fitzy's scheduling has finally caught up to him....Only 18 teams in the U-19 AA bracket:eek:. No NAHA, No Assabet, No teams from Michigan and 1 team from Canada. I know many teams have laughed at Fitzy's playing the weakest teams in the field every year but I guess they just thought the Wizards were a better option.....:)
 
Re: Polar Bear Tournament.........What Happened?

Cost of flights and 12 minute periods weren't too appealing
 
Re: Polar Bear Tournament.........What Happened?

Agreed - And to boot, mostly prep school schools in attendance trying to rape club teams players. Id say this tournament is just about over.
 
Re: Polar Bear Tournament.........What Happened?

CLUBTEAMS said:
Agreed - And to boot, mostly prep school schools in attendance trying to rape club teams players. Id say this tournament is just about over.
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That is too bad. This used to be a great event to attend. I remember watching some great games in the past in the U19 division with power house teams from back then like Assabet, St-Jerome, Syracuse and the Aeros playing in this tourney. This was in the day the the Polar bears had Knight, Ryabkina and Snickeris on their team.
 
CLUBTEAMS said:
Agreed - And to boot, mostly prep school schools in attendance trying to rape club teams players. Id say this tournament is just about over.
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leave it to the insecure club teams to think that getting on the ice twice a week and playing a few tournament games is the best thing for a kid.

given how many prep kids also play for club teams i hardly think this is a big issue. also, there were still plenty of college coaches there. may not have been where it was at it's peak, but neither was the talent. if the talent is there, the coaches show up.

i imagine the 12 min periods and no floods is actually appealing to the college coaches as it keeps things moving and they can see more kids more quickly so if the good teams show up the coaches will go.

obviously there are administrative issues that have caused the tournament numbers to dwindle...whether it's the period length, the cost of travel, or whatever i have no idea. i imagine the rapid deterioration of the newington rink hasn't helped matters either.
 
Re: Polar Bear Tournament.........What Happened?

WIrinkrat said:
leave it to the insecure club teams to think that getting on the ice twice a week and playing a few tournament games is the best thing for a kid.

given how many prep kids also play for club teams i hardly think this is a big issue. also, there were still plenty of college coaches there. may not have been where it was at it's peak, but neither was the talent. if the talent is there, the coaches show up.

i imagine the 12 min periods and no floods is actually appealing to the college coaches as it keeps things moving and they can see more kids more quickly so if the good teams show up the coaches will go.

obviously there are administrative issues that have caused the tournament numbers to dwindle...whether it's the period length, the cost of travel, or whatever i have no idea. i imagine the rapid deterioration of the newington rink hasn't helped matters either.
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Leave it to a prep school saying "leave home and come play our horse @#$% teams". Yah thats best for a players development.
NO THANKS!

Would rather keep my D at home, tuck her in, send her to a 30K Private School in our home city, play on the local club teams; who skate 4.5-5 hrs a week. KEEP YOUR D AT HOME.

CLearly this is what has been transpiring over the last few years. This tournament is a direct reflection of families recognizing the opportunities in their own backyard.
 
Re: Polar Bear Tournament.........What Happened?

CLUBTEAMS said:
Would rather keep my D at home, tuck her in, send her to a 30K Private School in our home city, play on the local club teams; who skate 4.5-5 hrs a week.
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Everything in the quote above sounds good BUT the 30k.

Who would want to go to a tournament right after Christmas anyway?
 
Re: Polar Bear Tournament.........What Happened?

WIrat - didn't your daughter play club hockey before heading out to the mid-east? Would you change that decision now, or was it the best fit for her?
 
123kidd said:
WIrat - didn't your daughter play club hockey before heading out to the mid-east? Would you change that decision now, or was it the best fit for her?
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A lot more college coaches used to goto this tourney when there weren't better options for the top teams. But then came the NAHA Labor Day Tournament, USA-Canada Cups! Stoney Creek Showcase. All the top programs want to goto these now and thus the college coaches follow.

The problem with Polar Bear is 4 games in 3 days. Teams are used to the better showcases where they play 5 games in 48 hours. College coaches love that too! And, at the Polar Bear you have to win your division to even advance, so few teams get a 5th game.
 
Re: Polar Bear Tournament.........What Happened?

123kidd said:
WIrat - didn't your daughter play club hockey before heading out to the mid-east? Would you change that decision now, or was it the best fit for her?
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indeed she did, and no i wouldn't change it. it was what was best for her. it's not what is best for everyone, especially those in more remote hockey areas or those who don't get access to as much ice time or those who have crazy parents that they need to get away from so they have a chance at growing up. i was never afraid to listen to any opportunity for her and had an open mind to any of them.
 
Re: Polar Bear Tournament.........What Happened?

Call It said:
Who would want to go to a tournament right after Christmas anyway?
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I think a little bit of the luster is gone from any of the holiday tournaments now that many of the top US and Canadian players are at U-18 Worlds and not playing for their club or prep teams.
 
Re: Polar Bear Tournament.........What Happened?

The Wizards tournament was good. It was nice not having to be in CT for four days. The first games were on Friday night, then two on Saturday, and one or two on Sunday. Lots of college coaches were there.
 
Re: Polar Bear Tournament.........What Happened?

Swede said:
The Wizards tournament was good. It was nice not having to be in CT for four days. The first games were on Friday night, then two on Saturday, and one or two on Sunday. Lots of college coaches were there.
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Totally agree.

Polar Bear has been crap for years. Way too much $$ for what it is...The 12 min periods is a joke, then they rip you off and make you stay at their approved hotels, where they smack you for another $20-30 extra per night [that they keep]...oh, while we're at it, lets make you stay 4 nights when you could do it in 2 or 3] ...then they bang you for a door fee to watch your own kid play [oh, and if gramps wants to watch one game...sorry old man, you need to buy a weekly pass $20 for that one [36 min] game. Oh, and can we talk about the seedings? PBs play all the patsies, and lets put all the good teams in the same bracket, so we make sure out little superstars make the finals. Glad to see this one is on it's last legs...just wish it had happened years ago. NO more CTPB fund raiser paid for by the rest of us.

Wizards ran a very good event. Looking forward to doing that again.
 
Re: Polar Bear Tournament.........What Happened?

This was my D first time at this tournament since she is new to girls hockey. After everything I had heard about the exposure, I was pretty upset about how it turned out. Expensive flights from the west coast, 12 min periods, 1:30 penalties, $20 entry fee, AND there were only 6 teams in the entire 16U division?!?! What a waste. We flew out there on Christmas night and gave up our entire holiday week for that. I'm campaigning next year for our organization to skip this one.
 
Re: Polar Bear Tournament.........What Happened?

rcktgirl05 said:
This was my D first time at this tournament since she is new to girls hockey. After everything I had heard about the exposure, I was pretty upset about how it turned out. Expensive flights from the west coast, 12 min periods, 1:30 penalties, $20 entry fee, AND there were only 6 teams in the entire 16U division?!?! What a waste. We flew out there on Christmas night and gave up our entire holiday week for that. I'm campaigning next year for our organization to skip this one.
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Live and Learn....PB is a HUGE waste of time and money....Like the Chowder Cup hanging on last year when Beantown came to town...this one is nearly done. The older age groups are already toast. I'd give it about one more year before the joke gets out among the 12's and 14's...at that point it will be over.
 
Re: Polar Bear Tournament.........What Happened?

LOL decided to do some homework.
U19AA Polar Bear brackets by year.

2007:
Brewster Lady Bulldogs,NY
Bridgewater Bandits, MA
Connecticut Polar Bears
Lady Patriots, PA

2008:
Connecticut Polar Bears
Force, MA
Middlesex Islanders, MA
NE Junior Falcons, MA
New Jersey Selects
Wyoming Seminary, PA

2009:
Alliance Girls College Prep,
Connecticut Polar Bears
New England Falcons, MA
New Jersey Selects
The Force, MA

2010:
Alliance Bulldogs, TX
Connecticut Polar Bears
Lady Islanders, NY
Middlesex Islanders, MA
New Jersey Colonials
Rice School, VT

2011:
Boston Shamrocks, MA
Charles River, MA
Connecticut Polar Bears
Reston Raiders, VA
Troy Albany Ice Cats, NY

Not exactly playing the cream of the crop here.

In 2008 the Polar Bears played NAHA in the semifinals but only because NAHA lost in round robin play and advanced as a wild card. Assabet's bracket was scheduled to play the winner of NAHA's bracket in the semifinals. Safe to say this is NOT what Fitzy had predicted. "Just by chance" in 2009 and 2010 Assabet and NAHA played each other in the semifinal game. So for three straight years Fitzy arranged it so that if NAHA and Assabet advanced they would meet in the semi finals.
In 2007 when my daughter was on the U16 team. Assabet's schedule was:
12/27 8:10am game 1, 4:10pm game 2
12/28 7:10am game 3
12/29 3:10pm game 4 round robin, 9:10 Quarter final game
12/30 9:20am semi final, 2:10 final. Stayed in Connecticut for 4 days. Played 3 games in the first 26 hours of the tournament. Had the next 28 hours off.Then played 4 games in the last 23 hours! When the schedule came out I sent Fitzy an email because I thought it was an error. Clearly a hockey guy like Fitzy would never have a team play 4 games in less than 24 hours. His response was nasty. My reply was simply "thought it was an error Fitzy but obviously done intentionally sorry and good luck." One of the many reasons we opted of this joke of a tournament.
 
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Re: Polar Bear Tournament.........What Happened?

Agree with UCONN Fan post - Fitz deserves credit for starting this tournament going. It has benefited 1000's of young women to get the exposure to prep and college recruiters.

If we (the forum community) were a consultant to Fitz - what would we tell him to improve on the tournament?

Here is a start:

1) Start the tournament a day later - don't make anyone leave on Christmas Day. allow generous time to travel for teams from Midwest, Canada and West Coast etc

2) Every team plays 4 games (excluding playoffs)

3) Older teams play 15 minute periods

4) Make seeding random and geographic in initial pairings to the best extend possible - A team doesn't want to see their crosstown or cross state rival in the preliminary round. The team from Madison wants to play the team from California, Texas versus Massachusetts, Philly v Chicago.

5) Stop charging $20 to watch your Daughter play for 3 days - my #1 pet peeve. This fall into the "adding insult to injury" category.

I'm sure there are more.

If Fitz were to make the changes suggested above (and other added by this community), the tournament could regain its past glory.
 
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