What decline?
 
It's very popular right now, particularly here in Minnesota with the
football/basketball media, to say Minnesota hockey is on the decline.  But
with 211 players on D1 rosters and more Minnesota NHLer's than ever I'm
having a hard time seeing the demise of Minnesota hockey.
 
Just because the Gophers are struggling a bit right now in no way reflects
upon what 40,000 youth, 3,500 high school, and hundreds of collegiate
athletes are accomplishing.
 
 
> >May I remind you that backyards freeze in Canada - they do not in >most
of
>
> >the US.
>
> Minnesota's are frozen! Every community has a minimum of 2 in-door arenas!
> Yet, at this point in time MN is experiencing a decline in player caliber,
> despite plentiful ice. No ice doesn't wash! Ryan Murphy of Bowling Green
> played with my son in LA when they were mites and squirts. Ice was
something
> that was expensive and or a 3 hour trip away. They played stick hockey on
the
> street. Even way back then, though Murph was not a great skater, he had
real
> finesse and a forward's offensive abilities. Tell me, talent is natural!
Of
> course, you could say some of that talent was inherited via Dad! There you
> have it again: it's in the genes or it's not! Brother, Sean hasn't fared
as
> well! Both great boys with another Murph coming up in the ranks, maybe!
>
>
> >I think this goes without saying ... but once again, the rinks >have to
be
>
> >there.
>
> No, the burning desire has to be there and a stick and a puck and a dream!
>
>
>
> >I don't agree a star is a star - they have to been afforded the
>opportunity
>
> >to develop their skill.  If Wayne Gretzky hadn't laced up skates >until
he
>
> >was 14, we wouldn't know who he was.
> >But those opportunities weren't there - and they still aren't - >though
it's
>
> >getting better.
>
> Of course, it's also fate, luck and all those elusive commodities we don't
> understand that combine to make a STAR! But, I believe it's mostly raw
> talent....first!
>
>
> >You make it sound like a conspiracy - they're bigger, better and >faster
...
>
> >If a US player that heads to Europe were as good as Jagr, he >wouldn't
go to
>
> >Europe. Pretty simple.
>
> It's not that simple! It has lots to do with the way the NHL is recruiting
> right now; Europeans are shoved into a draft spot and Americans are
yanked!
> Jagr is the ultimate exception!
>
> Certainly, youth hockey is bounding in the USA! Kids in the deep south are
> becoming CHL fans and creating their own clubs. NHL expansion in
Nashville and
> Carolina will spawn Southern interest in ice hockey. Texas, and Oklahoma
and
> the mid-western states are becoming more involved in ice hockey. In time
the
> USA, with all its resources should be a real contender.
>
>
> Vicki Price
> violentcontact.net
> Concussion Free Zone
>
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>
 
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