USA Hockey National Championships

[Rightnut]

Re: USA Hockey National Championships

It's true that Nationals are expensive, but in my opinion it is a great experience for the girls and does wonders for self-confidence and maturity - you can always not play if you don't want to spend the money or time. With regards to the timing of district qualification tournaments, the MA U16 and U19 national tournaments are held over Thanksgiving weekend so these folks have 3-4 months to make travel reservations to Nationals and get reasonable rates. At the U14 level it is still held in March (not really sure why). But it is up to the local districts to schedule their qualifying tournaments, not USA Hockey - you should be complaining to your local district if you have a problem with the timing.

Completely agree. No one is making you go and it is a great experience for the girls. Those that are there are really excited. Its a big deal for most of them. They have reached the pinnacle of their sport at their age. No doubt it could be run better. It should be a far bigger experience than a regular tournament. That is up to the host and USA Hockey. This year was a disappointment.

4. Fund it by charging every team competing in a state and regional a "nationals' fee". In other words, if you are vying for nationals, you pay, whether you go or not.

The idea about charging all teams a "Nationals" fee to offset some costs is a pretty good idea. Its not cheap to go to Nationals but its not anymore expensive than any other tournament. The problem is that those "fees" would probably just be kept by USA Hockey so the individual teams would like never get any benefit. It would simply be another tax.

With regard to the complaint about missing school, that's a valid concern but if your player can't juggle school and hockey, they need to either find another team or give up hockey.

 

[agfire]

Re: USA Hockey National Championships

Being expensive is understandable but I just think that there are some things that can be reconsidered. As far as timing, I think there are some other factors that have an impact such as District and National camps. I don't think the timing for those is great either but unfortunately we cant add days to the calendar either. As far as contacting the local districts, their hands might be tied by the above point.

 

[PenaltyKill]

Re: USA Hockey National Championships

There are plenty of kids low in SES playing club and prep school hockey in New England. Clubs waive fees and preps provide financial aid on a frequent basis, particularly for better kids.

The at-large spots were given out by USA Hockey 10 days before the tournament; not much time to get a good deal on a flight or arrange work/school schedules

 

[HockeyEast33]

Re: USA Hockey National Championships

The difference between the Minnesota system and the previously described New England system seems to be that players try out for spots on a state-wide tournament team, not a club team. If Mass, NY, etc. did that, you'd have much more competitive teams showing up at Nationals

It's not about the season these girls play in (and who are we kidding, any player who wants to play in college pretty much skates year round, in addition to playing other sports), it's the system, and as someone from Mass, I'd say the Minnesota model is better

So for years Assabet Valley was a de facto MA state team (best MA players played there along with some other NE kids) and they won tens of national championships. It was very inexpensive (way cheaper than most town hockey programs) so most anybody could afford to play. And people in MA (including MA hockey) hated it because they dominated MA girls hockey, not every girl made the top team, and everyone thought their daughter was Olympic team level talent. So individuals started up other programs to compete with Assabet - Spitfires, Wizards, Breakers, etc. to increase the number of Tier 1 player spots and broaden participation. Now MA and NE have generally watered down teams that are less competitive nationally (just like on the boys side), but more girls compete. MA folks had a very similar model to what is being done in MN now, but they didn't like it and changed it - you can't have it both ways.

Also - unless you have some sort of warrant out for your arrest there, you can always move to MN if you like it there better... or send your daughter there to one of the better hockey school districts, because NOBODY in MN ever moves to get into a better hockey school/team - yeah, right, Edina just happens to always have some of the best girl players in the country living in the neighborhood. Sure.

 

[HockeyEast33]

Re: USA Hockey National Championships

Being expensive is understandable but I just think that there are some things that can be reconsidered. As far as timing, I think there are some other factors that have an impact such as District and National camps. I don't think the timing for those is great either but unfortunately we cant add days to the calendar either. As far as contacting the local districts, their hands might be tied by the above point.

Districts will tell you their hands are tied but they aren't. They have total schedule flexibility other than they must be done by the time the tournament/camp starts. MA does the team qualifying around Thanksgiving and the NDC tryouts in the Spring. Pluses and minues to all approaches.

 

[HockeyEast33]

Re: USA Hockey National Championships

The at-large spots were given out by USA Hockey 10 days before the tournament; not much time to get a good deal on a flight or arrange work/school schedules

Well, not up on current at-large policy, but in the past the district allocations were always known before the season started including the "at large" bids - MA typically got two teams for each tournament (not always) and occasionally a third. It was all based on number of participants in each district. Of course, to avoid the at-large issue, you could always win the district tournament and eliminate the doubt.

 

[Birdwatcher]

Re: USA Hockey National Championships

No, the opposite. Hockey is a winter sport. Keep it there. For the older kids, summer should be used for cross/strength training. For the younger kids summer should be used to play other sports. You can still have on ice skill development during this period.

If you make hockey a 12 month sport, you will find a lot of kids suffering from burnout by the time they get to Midget.

Hmmmm...22 years ago after his baseball game my son would change from his little league baseball uniform into his hockey gear in the dugout so he would be ready to be on the ice for an 8:30PM game. My daughter just wore her hockey pants to watch his baseball game on the night's of her game.

 

[pokechecker]

Re: USA Hockey National Championships

There are plenty of kids low in SES playing club and prep school hockey in New England. Clubs waive fees and preps provide financial aid on a frequent basis, particularly for better kids.

and there is where the rubber meets the road, you are only fooling yourself if you think it is the same

who pays for transportation? hotels? food?
those are just the major expenses
and what about time?

 

[D2D]

Re: USA Hockey National Championships

Also - unless you have some sort of warrant out for your arrest there, you can always move to MN if you like it there better... or send your daughter there to one of the better hockey school districts, because NOBODY in MN ever moves to get into a better hockey school/team - yeah, right, Edina just happens to always have some of the best girl players in the country living in the neighborhood. Sure.

Not to derail the discussion but I did want to set the record straight with respect to your comment about Edina. The two main reasons why they've had success in girls' hockey are:

(1) A large number of players who start at a very early age - they actively recruit girls in their grade schools, and have so many little girls playing that they have their own "Mites" league (pretty remarkable considering it's an older, close in suburb of less than 50,000 people).

(2) It's a relatively affluent community (making hockey easily affordable for most parents) and has a rich hockey tradition on the boys side that goes back many years. That tradition of success has spilled over to the girls side.

But despite these two factors Edina has never won a state championship in girls hockey! The main reason for this is that over the years the school has lost more talented players (to private schools) than they've gained by hockey families moving in. So their large number of players really are mostly "home grown" but they just don't keep them all playing at home through high school.

 

[CrossCheck]

Re: USA Hockey National Championships

So for years Assabet Valley was a de facto MA state team (best MA players played there along with some other NE kids) and they won tens of national championships. It was very inexpensive (way cheaper than most town hockey programs) so most anybody could afford to play. And people in MA (including MA hockey) hated it because they dominated MA girls hockey, not every girl made the top team, and everyone thought their daughter was Olympic team level talent. So individuals started up other programs to compete with Assabet - Spitfires, Wizards, Breakers, etc. to increase the number of Tier 1 player spots and broaden participation. Now MA and NE have generally watered down teams that are less competitive nationally (just like on the boys side), but more girls compete. MA folks had a very similar model to what is being done in MN now, but they didn't like it and changed it - you can't have it both ways.

Also - unless you have some sort of warrant out for your arrest there, you can always move to MN if you like it there better... or send your daughter there to one of the better hockey school districts, because NOBODY in MN ever moves to get into a better hockey school/team - yeah, right, Edina just happens to always have some of the best girl players in the country living in the neighborhood. Sure.

"Assabet was the de facto Mass team"??

Now that's funny. When most of your players [maybe 90% or more] come from prep schools, you really don't have a "Mass" team...what you have is an All-Star team from across the country...and sometimes including girls from Europe too. Puts other "State and Local" teams at a huge disadvantage...when you can only draw from your immediate area [say w/in 20-30 miles of your home rink].

As for the demise of Assabet...it may be slightly premature, but I think what's [finally] happening now is that people have wised up to the Old Man and his BS and are finding greener pastures at places like the Wizards, Breakers, etc. Competition is always a good thing.

 

[knight7]

Re: USA Hockey National Championships

From HockeyEast33

Also - unless you have some sort of warrant out for your arrest there, you can always move to MN if you like it there better... or send your daughter there to one of the better hockey school districts, because NOBODY in MN ever moves to get into a better hockey school/team - yeah, right, Edina just happens to always have some of the best girl players in the country living in the neighborhood. Sure.

Link to Edina- Home of the Cake Eaters!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvU_Zhe8tpw

 

[HockeyEast33]

Re: USA Hockey National Championships

from hockeyeast33

link to edina- home of the cake eaters!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvu_zhe8tpw

lol!!

 

[HockeyEast33]

Re: USA Hockey National Championships

"Assabet was the de facto Mass team"??

Now that's funny. When most of your players [maybe 90% or more] come from prep schools, you really don't have a "Mass" team...what you have is an All-Star team from across the country...and sometimes including girls from Europe too. Puts other "State and Local" teams at a huge disadvantage...when you can only draw from your immediate area [say w/in 20-30 miles of your home rink].

As for the demise of Assabet...it may be slightly premature, but I think what's [finally] happening now is that people have wised up to the Old Man and his BS and are finding greener pastures at places like the Wizards, Breakers, etc. Competition is always a good thing.

Hey, as usual, thanks for knowledgelessly weighing in. The comparison in this discussion was to MN and the MN Tier 1 teams that are being put together draw from the entire state which is a **** site farther than 20-30 miles from some rink. Hell, MA itself is over 100 miles long. Pay attention and don't let your hatred for Assabet (whatever the reason) obscure reality.

Most prep school players in MA are actually from MA and/or NE, not around the country/world as you state. Regardless, the fact that the girls are in or aren't in prep school has nothing to do with where they are from. And a good portion of NE is within 50 miles of Concord, MA where Assabet plays (the Western half of MA is farther from Concord than NH, RI, and CT). Below are the state and (where I knew them the town) residences of graduating Tier 1 players of the past 5-6 years at Assabet as listed on the website (and a couple I know were missing). Of the 55 girls, 36 (65%) are from MA, 49 are from NE (including MA - 90%), and 6 are from outside NE (including two from Albany, NY area which is 2.5 hours from Concord). There is 1, count her 1, international player in the last 6 years. I suppose you can say that it's not really a de facto MA team since only 2/3 of the players are from MA, but it is definitely a de facto New England team and drawing from a geographic area not significantly different than MN.

The clueless meanderings by some on this forum about how Assabet Valley historically gathered players from all over the country to form a super team is misinformed and outright wrong. It's primarily a NE based program and pretty much always has been (at the younger and Tier 2 levels it is 100% New England). You can hate the program for whatever reason you want (usually because you lost to them), but at least get the facts straight. Also, the Polar Bears, Wizards, Stars, Breakers, Spitfires, and other NE programs pretty much all draw from NE prep schools and usually have a higher percentage of players from the rest of the country than Assabet Valley (especially the Polar Bears and Stars).

Caitrin Lonergan - Roslindale, MA
Cara Najjar - MA
Leah Olsen - MA
Alexandria Laing - Marblehead, MA
Makenzie Kent - MA
Lauren Kelly - Watertown, MA
Katherine Pate - Saco, ME
Haley Mullins - RI
Shayna Tomlinson - NH
Julianne Landry - MA
Mallory Souliotis - Acton, MA
Victoria Deangelis - RI
Brooke Avery - Concord, NH
Brooke Wolejko - CT
Sydney Daniels - MA
Brianna Laing - Marblehead, MA
Natashia Rachlin - Dedham, MA
Robyn White - MA
Briana Mastel - Wallingford, CT
Taylor Marchin - MI
Erin Conway - MI
Phoebe Staenz - Switzerland
Meghan Turner - NH
Molly Strabley - ME
Margaret Draper - MA
Martha Findley - Duxbury, MA
Casey Leveillee - NY
Janelle Ferrara - Winthrop, MA
Mary Parker - Acton, MA
Jordan Juron - Latham, NY
Jamie Haddad - Springfield, MA
Jordan Hampton - NH
Melissa Piacentini - MA
Taylor Cross - Saugus, MA
Kathrin Goguen - Acton, MA
Nicole Ferrara - Winthrop, MA
Emily Field - Littleton, MA
Ann Doherty - IL
Chelsiea Goll - NH
Lauren Guarente - MA
Brooke Simpson - Boxborough, MA
Mariana Walsh - Walpole, MA
Ann DiPastina - NH
Kerrin Sperry - No Reading, MA
Eliza Butler - Lexington, MA
Jacqueline Young - Medford, MA
Denna Laing - Marblehead, MA
Jacqueline Ham - MA
Marissa Gedman - Framingham, MA
Madeline Joyce - Boxborough, MA
Elizabeth Parker - Acton, MA
Ashley Salerno - Brunswick, ME
Kerri Stuart - Tewksbury, MA
Sammy Woodward - Lexington, MA
Nina Riley - Lexington, MA

 

[ne7minder]

Re: USA Hockey National Championships

Not to derail the discussion but I did want to set the record straight with respect to your comment about Edina. The two main reasons why they've had success in girls' hockey are:

(1) A large number of players who start at a very early age - they actively recruit girls in their grade schools, and have so many little girls playing that they have their own "Mites" league (pretty remarkable considering it's an older, close in suburb of less than 50,000 people).

(2) It's a relatively affluent community (making hockey easily affordable for most parents) and has a rich hockey tradition on the boys side that goes back many years. That tradition of success has spilled over to the girls side.

But despite these two factors Edina has never won a state championship in girls hockey! The main reason for this is that over the years the school has lost more talented players (to private schools) than they've gained by hockey families moving in. So their large number of players really are mostly "home grown" but they just don't keep them all playing at home through high school.

I'm second to no one when it comes to hating Edina. Its an old grudge, they beat my team in OT, then a couple years later sent Henry Bucha to the hospital on a cheap shot. But they are home grown. They have a commitment to the game and a history that drives a lot of kids into the game & that produces some very good players. It is true they have the money to pay for it all but they are home grown. Not like the hockey factory private schools that use hockey as a loss leader and PR arm.

I am a bigger fan of SSP that has the history and the commitment along with several championships without the money.
Also, Edina might have a state title except for a really stupid cheap shot to the head in the last few minutes of a tied title game.

 

[Call It]

As for the demise of Assabet...it may be slightly premature, but I think what's [finally] happening now is that people have wised up to the Old Man and his BS and are finding greener pastures at places like the Wizards, Breakers, etc. Competition is always a good thing.

I'm not an Assabet fan but I have the highest of respect for that assoc! How many championships have the other associations won?

 

[Leather helmet]

Re: USA Hockey National Championships

I'm second to no one when it comes to hating Edina. Its an old grudge, they beat my team in OT, then a couple years later sent Henry Bucha to the hospital on a cheap shot. But they are home grown. They have a commitment to the game and a history that drives a lot of kids into the game & that produces some very good players. It is true they have the money to pay for it all but they are home grown. Not like the hockey factory private schools that use hockey as a loss leader and PR arm.

I am a bigger fan of SSP that has the history and the commitment along with several championships without the money.
Also, Edina might have a state title except for a really stupid cheap shot to the head in the last few minutes of a tied title game.

The difference between Edina and any other school you can name (in MN, anyway) is that Edina is an aspirational hometown for well-to-do hockey parents. Nobody moves to Maple Grove or Lakeville so their kid can play hockey there: they move there and then put their kid into youth hockey. In the case of Edina, people move there so their kid can play for that association (if they can afford it). The youth program has former NHL players/D1 players coaching at most levels (both boys and girls) and they routinely dominate at U12 before many of their best players are poached by BSM, Blake and Breck. I don't have a problem with that; my daughter had nothing but a good experience being schooled by the Edina kids from Mites through HS. It is just different than any other program.

 

[PenaltyKill]

Re: USA Hockey National Championships

NAHA simply did not qualify and Assabet had girls leave the program and play for another team.

My understanding was that JWHL teams were not eligible for Nationals, but SSM was an exception because Minnesota (used to) did not have a Tier 1 program. Is that true?

Re: Assabet. The teams were organized as HockeyEast stated--mostly Mass, but a handful of New Englanders as well. As with any program, girls jumped ship due to coaches,
not making the "1" team and other issues. Not sure if the program will find its way back. There are enough club teams now in Mass that no single organization will dominate the
way Assabet did, as the talent is spread across multiple teams

 

[Iceburg]

My understanding was that JWHL teams were not eligible for Nationals, but SSM was an exception because Minnesota (used to) did not have a Tier 1 program. Is that true?

Don't think so, JWHL teams Washington Pride and Colorado Selects were there. BTW, Shattuck is not a JWHL team.

 

[Whockeyfan]

Re: USA Hockey National Championships

Wait until next year when USA Hockey has eliminated the quarterfinals because ADM does not want anyone playing two games in one day.

All the expense and time to get to Michigan, and only 4 teams will make the playoffs.

It will be interesting to see if teams start saying no.

 

[joecct]

Re: USA Hockey National Championships

I think NAHA is not allowed to participate because of the affiliate rules that, I believe, prohibit out of state players.