Feature Story
Nothing compares
A Wisconsin high school
hockey coach gives his take on the Minnesota hockey
landscape and the opportunities available in the land of 10,000 hockey ponds
By Dan Bauer
Minnesota hockey coaches have introduced a campaign called
“Nothing Compares” to promote the value of their high
school hockey programs. This is like encouraging fans in Green Bay to root for the Packers. Some marketing executives
spend their whole career trying to hit a campaign slogan this perfect. If you
don’t believe that, try finding the ad guys who came up with “Avoid the Noid” or “Make 7-Up Yours.” It
doesn’t take a genius to figure you shouldn’t tell your customers “Up Yours”
unless you’re selling a hemorrhoid treatment.
When it comes to high school hockey, Minnesota has the blueprint we all desire. The overall
experience of high school athletics has more upside than investing in gold, but
the Minnesota hockey event truly has the King Midas touch.
This is the state of 10,000 lakes and in the winter,
10,000 hockey ponds. Newborn babies in Minnesota aren’t slapped, they are hip checked. Every town has
an outdoor rink and elementary school kids who misbehave serve time outs in a
penalty box. You don’t raise your hand in class, you raise your stick.
Their high school tournament is an event hailed as the
best in the country. It draws more spectators, 116,789, than we can muster in
10 years here in Wisconsin. The tournament draws a gathering of scouts the likes
of which we haven’t seen since Gretzky played in the OHA. Last year, 28 players
earned Division I scholarships and 13 more were taken in the NHL
draft.
Now here is the crazy part, some players actually
leave their high school teams to play elsewhere. I could scratch all the hair
off my head and still not understand why anyone would leave this hockey utopia.
This is one of those mysteries that can’t be explained, like trying to figure
out where all your pucks go every year.
Now I know the grass is always greener, but residing
in a bordering state where the grass is pale green and a little weedy, Minnesota looks like the turf at Miller Park. Any grass that appears greener than Minnesota high school hockey would either have to be artificial
or simply a mirage. I don’t believe a better experience exists and those who
are searching for one are truly chasing down a Holy Grail.
Every year I make my best effort to attend the
Minnesota High School Hockey Coaches Fall Clinic. This year I made the trek to Mankato, where as usual, I was welcomed. For two days I get
to sit back and soak up the energy, enthusiasm and ideas of the nation’s best
collection of high school hockey coaches. I always leave envious, but energized
and optimistic that we can continue to take small steps here in Wisconsin toward the model they have constructed.
Mike MacMillan, head coach
at Buffalo, is the heart that pumps this impressive machine, but
there is an active cast supporting him. This is a knowledgeable and active
group of coaches playing in an incredibly competitive environment. They are a
group that holds a healthy respect for the old school/pond hockey roots most
grew up with, but also an understanding that today’s player is much different.
Their passion for this great game is as clear and clean as a Zdeno Chara check.
On Friday, Craig Perry of the Minnesota State High
School League, the equivalent of the WIAA in Wisconsin, addressed the clinic regarding the reduction of
scrimmages. A former player, Perry is a strong advocate for the game. He
clearly pushes the coach’s agenda and the promotion of hockey. If the MSHSL
passes a rule they don’t feel is in the best interest of the game, the state
legislature steps in and changes it. Their game is protected by a glorious past
and a cooperative desire to improve the game. From youth hockey to the
Minnesota Wild, this is a task force with a common goal.
The Minnesota coaches are fortunate to lead an army of players
motivated by a tradition of hockey that is as deeply ingrained in them as our
basic instinct to survive. All dream of standing at center ice of the Xcel Energy Center in March. Most, but not all, dream of playing college
hockey and some know that playing in the NHL
is not just a fantasy. This is a hockey factory that has no equal.
Despite this impressive hockey checklist, the real benefit
of this experience, that eludes many, is simply staying in high school. This
four-year window of opportunity that opens and closes in the blink of an eye
provides priceless memories that won’t be found in other attempts to find
greener grass.
It is difficult to put a price on sleeping in your own bed,
eating lunch with your friends and dinner with your family. There’s no price
tag hanging on playing on the same line with your best friend from kindergarten
or pulling on the same jersey as your older bother. You won’t be able to get an
estimate on the pride you will feel when you go to school the day after beating
your biggest rival. There is no bar code to scan the value of playing before
the hometown crowd that includes your girlfriend, your family, your favorite
teacher and your pastor.
Wall Street executives would be fortunate to receive the wealth of
emotions felt in being introduced on Senior Night for your last home game or
the agony of leaving the ice after a playoff loss that ends your high school
career. It is a pain and pride that unites you for a lifetime. Winston
Churchill, one of history’s greatest competitors, summed it up with a quote
that ends, “so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls
who have never tasted victory or defeat.”
Just try to put a price sticker on the significance of being
a three-sport athlete. There is no blue book on the value of discipline,
sacrifice, commitment and responsibility, but those qualities will land you any
job you ever go after. Tell Matt Niskanen from Virginia
that you can’t play three sports and be an NHL
first round draft choice.
Coincidently all of those benefits I just mentioned
are available no matter what state you live in. As a Dad who is about to
graduate my third from high school, believe me, this
is time you never get back. No amount of money or fame will replace those
precious days of high school. Don’t let someone in a Nike jacket with a fancy
business card convince you of anything different.
And if you just happen to live in the state of Minnesota, and are fortunate enough to play in the state
tournament, it is an experience that few, if any, have found an equal. In the
realm of athletic achievements, not Stanley Cups, nor NCAA championships or
even Olympic Gold Medals have equaled that dream of skating in the Minnesota
State High School Hockey Tournament.
Simply stated, Nothing Compares.
Dan
Bauer is the head hockey coach at Wausau East
High School. You can contact him at dbauer@wausau.k12.wi.us and
read more of his work at www.hockeybybauer.com
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