Vicki Price wrote:
 
> 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.
 
Exactly when has Minneapolis been visible recently in the state tournament?
Certainly not among the public high schools, which was the point of Clay Satow's
original question.  Roosevelt's team is gone; South's might as well be.  Edison
is the only Minneapolis high school that's even putting up much of a struggle,
and they haven't done anything lately.  Powerhouses don't remain forever, but
dead programs tend to stay that way.
 
> 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.
 
It's certainly something that all of my suburban friends, in places like Fridley
or Cottage Grove or Apple Valley comment is missing.  Granted, they all come from
my set of friends that aren't sports fans (my sports following friends have all
stayed in the city), but they haven't noticed a lot of togetherness out there.
 
It has been pointed out to me off-list, and somewhat more lucidly, that Edina may
have been a poor choice for my original example.  It was said that the legacy of
Willard Ikola has held the Edina hockey community fairly well.
 
> 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'm a Minneapolis resident, and have been for slightly more than a decade.  I've
been moving westwards pretty steadily for most of my life, but the time I spent
on the East Coast was a long time ago.
 
And while there are a lot of things I like about living here, a sense of variety
is not high on the list.  Minneapolis is one of the most plastic feeling cities
I've ever been in, and the suburbs even more so.  This isn't entirely a bad
thing, despite the way the Loring Park types can work themselves into a lather.
There's something to be said for having a hometown that's comfortable feeling and
saving the interesting sites for places you visit.  But the scenery and
personality is about as bland as the food.
 
> 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.
 
Your welcome to your own opinion.  But most of those I talk to feel differently.
 
J. Michael Neal
 
HOCKEY-L is for discussion of college ice hockey;  send information to
[log in to unmask], The College Hockey Information List.