There seems to be a wide range of opinion regarding Minnesota's recuitment of
Minnesota natives only.  The way I see it, college is full of traditions, and
one of Minnesota's traditions is that they have only players from Minnesota on
their hockey team.  I think that it gives the school a sense of pride.  Sure,
the team is having their problems in the early going, but as others have
pointed out, it's been a very successful method in the past.  Maybe with the
recent jump of St. Cloud to DivI, and maybe a jump for Mankato State in the
near future, competion for the best high school players will become even
greater.  If Coach Woog feels he may have to look elsewhere for players, then
he should be free to do so, but I, for one, would hate to see it happen.
 
On a side note, it seems like a popular move for many high school grads that
aren't offered a scholarship by the school of their choice (or any school for
that matter) is to play a year or two in the juniors.  This gives them a year
to improve their skills at a very competitive level.  Well, now it seems as
though the juniors is proving to be an option taken by some high school
players as well.
 
I just read a story about a high school junior from Anoka, MN in my home-town
newspaper that I found interesting.  The kid had a great sophomore year in
high school hockey, accumulating over 70 points.  In order to move up to the
next level of play, he wanted to play for the St. Paul Vulcans, and also play
for Anoka high school during his junior year.  The only problem was that his
rights were owned by the Des Moines Bucaneers.  (I really don't understand why
Des Moines had his rights, but I think that it had something to do to the fact
that he went to Anoka High School.  I believe that Des Moines has the rights to
every player at Anoka, if they choose to play in the USJHL.  Does anyone know
how this works?)
 
The kid decided to play for Des Moines, and was their leading scorer during the
time he was there, but has now returned to his high school team.  He will then
return to Des Moines when the high school season is over.  Under MN high school
rules, the only way he could play on both teams is if either his permanent
residence changed, meaning that his parents would have to move to Des Moines
and then back again, or if his guardianship changed.  And, I guess his parents
legally gave up their guardianship for a short time while he was in Des Moines,
and have now resumed guardianship.
 
Are moves like this common in other parts of the country?  I've heard of players
skipping their senior year in favor of the juniors, but this is the first time
that I've seen a player do both.
 
Robert Holmes
Weather weenie
Go Big Red!!!!