On April 19, at 7:38 pm [log in to unmask] wrote:
<snip>
>hockey is dying in most of the Mpls/St Paul high schools.
 
Established powerhouses such as St. Paul, etc. ebb and surge depending on the
caliber of talent. Certainly, Mpls has been visible in the State Tourney more
than ever before. There's a great effort to get these programs (Mpls) more
competitive. Dying? I'd say more like changeability, which is consistent with
the differences in coaching and player caliber. Take Bloomington Jefferson,
their heyday ended after losing a contingent of top players now in Division 1
and the NHL. No powerhouse remains such forever.
 
 
>The suburban Twin Cities schools have increasingly come to be the >major
powers, and like suburbs everywhere, they tend to have less >community
feeling in general.
 
Despite their newness, suburban areas like Apple Valley (who won State in
96?) have an incredible sense of community. The thing that impressed me the
most as a transplanted West Coaster is the remarkable community based
participation on all levels. Hockey is a tremendous community SHARED event in
MN even for my area which is relatively new. That's why there is real concern
among hockey people in regard to removing kids from their high school
programs, and sending them out of state to Jr. A teams or the USA program.
 
>My impression is that this has been more true in Minnesota, >probably
because it doesn't have many suburbs that are long-standing towns that have
some of their old character in the way >that Arlington is in Boston.
 
Character, BTW, in no way has to be OLD to be there. That applies to both
people and places.
 
 
>If anyone can actually tell the difference between Minnetonka, >Edina or
Apple Valley, I'd be pretty surprised.
 
This really made me giggle. I wonder what point of reference you are using to
make such statements, as a local or as an observer from the East Coast?
 
 
>I doubt that any of these "towns" has its own paper that's read >by more
than 25 people.
 
Every town you've mentioned has their own paper with readerships that usually
exceed their population. Community based news is supported heavily in the
Twin Cities, as is community based participation.
 
 
>In the few cases where there is an older suburb where they play >hockey
(South St. Paul is the only one that comes to mind), there >is quite a bit of
community loyalty.
 
Community loyality is not endemic to Arlington, Boston.
 
And, the last quote from a long list of fiction, or possibly    science
fiction. Either way the reading should be purely on an entertainment basis,
or the content should be prefaced with a note saying: no facts stated herein.
 
 
Vicki Price
Concussion Free Zone
at violentcontact.net
 
HOCKEY-L is for discussion of college ice hockey;  send information to
[log in to unmask], The College Hockey Information List.