Minnesota Hockey Adopts Fall Tier 1 Season
On January 27, 2015 Minnesota Hockey’s Board of Directors passed a resolution supporting USA Hockey Tier 1 hockey. While this is significant, MYHockey would like to put this into context for those of you not intimately familiar with the youth game in the state of Minnesota.
Background info. Minnesota Hockey pretty much operates in a world of its own. They still use summer cut-off dates for their teams, essentially allowing squirt, peewee and bantam teams to have players 6 months older than the rest of the hockey world. They do this, at least in part, because youth hockey organized by school district and the majority of kids who play the sport are playing at the same level as their classmates. Essentially, 4th and 5th graders play squirts, 6th and 7th graders play peewees and 8th and 9th graders play bantams. Youth players are essentially required to play for the program that is located in their school district. There is no winter season AAA or Tier 1 hockey. The hockey season in Minnesota starts later in the fall and is more intense. Players are on the ice an average of 5-6 days per week in most programs. During the off season, which includes the fall to varying degrees, many players are members of AAA programs that do operate like AAA programs in other parts of the USA. Unlike the winter season, they can shop around and find the program that works best for them (assuming they can make it through the tryout process). While the Minnesota Blades summer program has a history of playing some fall games against other Midwest AAA programs, they are about the only one below the Midget level that has done this. Most teams play in summer AAA tournaments and disband in the fall.
The Minnesota Hockey announcement states that they this will take effect during the 2015-16 season and includes teams at the Bantam Major, Midget Minor and Midget Major levels. The teams will only participate in the late summer and early fall. It will NOT compete directly against the Minnesota winter season, be it youth or their unparalleled High School season.
This means that Shattuck-St Mary’s teams will no longer get an automatic bid to the USA Hockey National Championships. This means that you will be more likely to see Minnesota AAA teams playing in fall tournaments. That is a reason cited for the change, although it’s unknown how much these teams might actually leave the state. That said, it appears almost certain that the rest of the country will see more hockey talent from the Minnesota. The encouraging nature of the decision is that the state is not abandoning its current system, it’s making a tweak to allow Fall Tier 1 hockey.
MYHockey is a huge fan of the traditional Minnesota hockey development model and policies. The list of details is long and maybe a subject of a future column, but Tier 1 hockey has been threatening to tip over the apple cart for years. Lawsuits have been a cost of doing business for Minnesota Hockey. It’s not clear if the lawsuits will disappear completely with this announcement, but it’s unlikely given the litigious nature of our society. Still, this is a good move for Minnesota Hockey. It preserves their community model while allowing for the best to have additional opportunities to grow and showcase their game. How it exactly impacts the existing high school fall league is unknown. There are some rumors out there regarding how teams will be organized and/or limited, but it’s not currently certain if teams will be formed by District or by random competitive forces. Those details will definitely be released in the coming days, weeks or months. Best of luck with the new policy, Minnesota Hockey!
Link to Minnesota Hockey Announcement
Background info. Minnesota Hockey pretty much operates in a world of its own. They still use summer cut-off dates for their teams, essentially allowing squirt, peewee and bantam teams to have players 6 months older than the rest of the hockey world. They do this, at least in part, because youth hockey organized by school district and the majority of kids who play the sport are playing at the same level as their classmates. Essentially, 4th and 5th graders play squirts, 6th and 7th graders play peewees and 8th and 9th graders play bantams. Youth players are essentially required to play for the program that is located in their school district. There is no winter season AAA or Tier 1 hockey. The hockey season in Minnesota starts later in the fall and is more intense. Players are on the ice an average of 5-6 days per week in most programs. During the off season, which includes the fall to varying degrees, many players are members of AAA programs that do operate like AAA programs in other parts of the USA. Unlike the winter season, they can shop around and find the program that works best for them (assuming they can make it through the tryout process). While the Minnesota Blades summer program has a history of playing some fall games against other Midwest AAA programs, they are about the only one below the Midget level that has done this. Most teams play in summer AAA tournaments and disband in the fall.
The Minnesota Hockey announcement states that they this will take effect during the 2015-16 season and includes teams at the Bantam Major, Midget Minor and Midget Major levels. The teams will only participate in the late summer and early fall. It will NOT compete directly against the Minnesota winter season, be it youth or their unparalleled High School season.
This means that Shattuck-St Mary’s teams will no longer get an automatic bid to the USA Hockey National Championships. This means that you will be more likely to see Minnesota AAA teams playing in fall tournaments. That is a reason cited for the change, although it’s unknown how much these teams might actually leave the state. That said, it appears almost certain that the rest of the country will see more hockey talent from the Minnesota. The encouraging nature of the decision is that the state is not abandoning its current system, it’s making a tweak to allow Fall Tier 1 hockey.
MYHockey is a huge fan of the traditional Minnesota hockey development model and policies. The list of details is long and maybe a subject of a future column, but Tier 1 hockey has been threatening to tip over the apple cart for years. Lawsuits have been a cost of doing business for Minnesota Hockey. It’s not clear if the lawsuits will disappear completely with this announcement, but it’s unlikely given the litigious nature of our society. Still, this is a good move for Minnesota Hockey. It preserves their community model while allowing for the best to have additional opportunities to grow and showcase their game. How it exactly impacts the existing high school fall league is unknown. There are some rumors out there regarding how teams will be organized and/or limited, but it’s not currently certain if teams will be formed by District or by random competitive forces. Those details will definitely be released in the coming days, weeks or months. Best of luck with the new policy, Minnesota Hockey!
Link to Minnesota Hockey Announcement
