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!!!!