Cutler, Ken wrote:
 
> I think that the Olympics are going to help accelerate a trend.  Girls and womens hockey is booming.  Here in Minnesota where the state HS championship was televised for the first time (none of the other games unfortunately) and it was a 1-0 OT game the trends are exciting.  Four years ago when girls HS hockey started there were 8 teams.  This year there were approximately 70, and the growth is continuing.  Girls youth hockey is expanding.  The quality of the game improves each year.  In the beginning it was a little bit like squirt B hockey where one girl could continually carry the puck end to end and score.  That is changing rapidly.  The number of outstanding players is increasing but so also is the number of solid players.
>
> A number of colleges here in Minnesota have announced the establishment of womens teams.  I also note that Bates, Trinity and Union will join the ECAC Alliance next year. (Curious that Bates is willing to establish a womens program as a varsity team but the men remain a club team.  We may see the same here at Carleton.)  I think the growth of girls and womens hockey is an exciting trend and nothing will stop it now (other than problems of ice time.)
 
Another element that bodes well for the future of women's hockey in Minnesota is the age of the best players in the high school ranks.  The vast majority of the dominant ones are eighth and ninth graders.  The speculation is that they started at a younger age than those who are older and have better developed skills.  It will be even more fun to watch in a few years when this crop is juniors and seniors, as well as possibly even better developed players coming behind them.
 
J. Michael Neal
 
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