From college to the NHL

By Kevin Kurtt
Let’s Play Hockey Editor

If you’ve watched nearly any NCAA sporting event on television in the past several years, you’ve seen the ad. You may even be able to recite the tagline: “There are 380,000 NCAA student-athletes, and just about all of them will be going pro in something other than sports.”

It’s a noble campaign directed at educating the masses that most athletes in college will see their athletic careers come to an end at graduation.

In the world of NCAA hockey, the vast majority of players on the 59 Division I and 78 Division II/III men’s teams will not make the jump to the NHL, AHL, ECHL or any other of the various professional hockey leagues around the world. But for a select few, college hockey is merely a steppingstone to the bright lights of the National Hockey League.

Latest News

Do I have to go?

Details: Last Updated on Monday, 08 October 2012 15:07

A Minnesota high school coach touts the merits of staying home to play hockey

By Ken Pauly
Head Coach, Benilde-St. Margaret’s School
President, MHCA

The headline in the September 7 issue of Let’s Play Hockey asks “Should I stay or should I go?” It’s a good question, but the better question is “Do I have to go?”

It will come as no surprise that Minnesota’s high school hockey coaches would answer that question with an emphatic NO! Is this an emotional response? Perhaps.

But the emotion is based upon experience. All parents know the feeling of watching a child make a mistake that he will soon regret. The parent would like to make the decision, but you know that too often the hardest lessons in life have be lived in order to be learned. Besides, who wants to listen to mom and dad? What do they know?

High School coaches often find themselves in this type of situation. Today’s high school player has more options. It is a consumer’s market and players and their families will often view their high school experience in these terms.

Does “All American” mean “not Minnesota high schools?”

Details: Last Updated on Monday, 08 October 2012 15:09

By Tom Lynn, with Kyle Kosior

The CCM/All American Prospects Game was held last Saturday in Buffalo, N.Y., purporting to showcase, in USA Hockey’s words, “40 of the top America-born prospects for the 2013 NHL Entry Draft.” USA Hockey, the NHL, the USHL and many individual programs with players in the game touted the game as the culmination of years of building U.S. hockey and as a true competitor to the Canadian Hockey League’s annual Top Prospects Game (which is a national television event in Canada).

However, the All American Prospects Game did not have all of the best American-born hopefuls for the 2013 Draft. No American high school hockey player was represented. For some unknown reason, the organizers did not choose any player who opted out of juniors or the NTDP to stay home and play high school hockey.

The Stand-up Goalie: Rise of the Very Talented Hockey Parent

Details: Last Updated on Thursday, 04 October 2012 17:36

By Hans Eisenbeis

I’m not sure if he actually said it, but I think it’s a great quote: Asked why he is rarely seen on skates anymore, Neal Broten supposedly said, “On the mailman’s day off, you don’t see him going for a walk.”

Now, for my money, Neal is the best all-around player Minnesota has ever produced in the modern era, and he has pretty much earned the right to do whatever he pleases, including hanging up those Super Tacks permanently in the Tack shed. (John Mayasich, you can keep your well-deserved laurels, but you guys played with soft toes, wool sweaters and sticks that were actually mallets. It’s not apples-to-oranges, it’s apples-to-rocks.)

This is sort of a dirty secret of elite sports: It’s entirely possible to have too much of a good thing, and there are plenty of retired pro athletes who are happy to never put their feet in a pair of cleats, on a locker room floor or anywhere near the scoreboard for the rest of their lives.

A scarcity of elite players from Minnesota?

Details: Last Updated on Monday, 08 October 2012 15:11

By Kevin Hartzell
Let’s Play Hockey Columnist

Hello everyone. With my current time away from coaching, I have agreed to do some writing in Let’s Play Hockey. For those of you who don’t know me, I am a former Gopher hockey captain and have coached in the USHL for 13 years. I am one of only three coaches to win championships with two different franchises and I am hoping in time to possibly win another with a third franchise. That sounds fun. I had a period of time where I coached my kids in Squirts and Bantams in White Bear Lake and also coached three years in the High School Elite League with Team Northeast. I have plenty of opinions and feel it my duty at times to share them. So here goes.

I was asked for this first column to tackle the question of why Minnesota seems to develop so few elite goaltenders. I think the bigger question is why the State of Hockey doesn’t develop more elite players period. I don’t believe that any state has done a better job than Minnesota in developing many good players for college, but somewhere along the line, we seem to lack in the development of the elite of the elite.

Finding an extra gear

Details: Last Updated on Thursday, 04 October 2012 17:45

By Diane Ness

Being able to have a fifth gear is a trait desired by almost every skater but only few really possess. Can we teach our skaters to develop that extra gear or is their genetic make-up going to hold them back?

The answer is that any skater can get faster and more powerful by mastering a few specific areas. Yes, we are all made up and built differently as skaters, but with some improvement on basic fundamentals, you can increase your top speed no matter what age or level. We even have a 9-year-old girl in one of the photos that was able to increase her speed with quality practice and quality repetition.

To stay, or not to stay

Details: Last Updated on Thursday, 18 October 2012 16:46

Coaches and former players weigh in on staying in high school vs. leaving early

By Peter Knutson
Let’s Play Hockey

To stay, or not to stay. That is the question many Minnesota high school hockey players have faced over the years. While some have stayed and some have gone, there have been many successes, and regrets, on both sides. Players have gone on to play in the NHL while others have struggled to make it in the minor leagues.

Did playing in high school or juniors help or hurt these players? We may never know, but these are the stories of ex-Minnesota high school hockey players who either stayed or left and their thoughts on their decision.