Zach Parise was the lone Minnesota native in the top 25 in scoring in the NHL last season. Let’s Play Hockey photo by Mike Thill
Last Updated on Monday, 08 October 2012 10:11
By Kevin Hartzell
Let’s Play Hockey Columnist
Hello everyone. With my current time away from coaching, I have agreed to do some writing in Let’s Play Hockey. For those of you who don’t know me, I am a former Gopher hockey captain and have coached in the USHL for 13 years. I am one of only three coaches to win championships with two different franchises and I am hoping in time to possibly win another with a third franchise. That sounds fun. I had a period of time where I coached my kids in Squirts and Bantams in White Bear Lake and also coached three years in the High School Elite League with Team Northeast. I have plenty of opinions and feel it my duty at times to share them. So here goes.
I was asked for this first column to tackle the question of why Minnesota seems to develop so few elite goaltenders. I think the bigger question is why the State of Hockey doesn’t develop more elite players period. I don’t believe that any state has done a better job than Minnesota in developing many good players for college, but somewhere along the line, we seem to lack in the development of the elite of the elite.
First some numbers. Let’s look first at the USHL statistics from 2011-12. Minnesota had four goaltenders in the top 20. That is quite impressive. The four goaltenders were Zane Gothberg, Alex Lyon, Adam Wilcox and Charlie Lindgren. Two are from northern Minnesota and two are from the south-metro. Three of these four left high school early to play their senior season in the USHL with Lyon being the only of the four who stayed through his senior year. By contrast, Taylor Cammarata was the lone Minnesota native in the top 20 in scoring. One Minnesotan in the top 20 in scoring is not very impressive.
Looking at NCAA Division I statistics from 2011-12, Minnesota had three goaltenders in the top 20 – Eric Hartzell, Mike Lee and Kent Patterson. That is pretty good. All three of these goaltenders left Minnesota high school early to compete elsewhere for their senior years and stayed in the USHL beyond their high school playing days. Minnesota had four skaters in the top 20 in scoring – Jack Connolly, JT Brown, Brock Nelson and Danny Kristo. All but Nelson played in the USHL and three of these four did remain in Minnesota high school through their senior years.
Finally, a look at NHL statistics from 2011-12. There is not a Minnesota goaltender anywhere near a statistical level we can call elite. There is only one Minnesota scorer near the top and that is Zach Parise at 24. Blake Wheeler is next at 43. Parise developed in the Shattuck-St. Mary’s program and Wheeler spent a year in the USHL during high school. So what does all this tell us?
It appears the USHL has been instrumental in the development of our elite players and especially for our goaltenders. While the USHL and its competitiveness are no doubt important, maybe an equally important factor is that of time. Time allows for more opportunity for growth, more opportunity for success and also more opportunity to learn from the bumps in the road. Our elite NCAA players noted above have bought time via the USHL. Time and perseverance through hard times is a factor!
The larger question remains: Why over time haven’t we produced more NHL elites? The answer is too complex for me or any one person to answer, but I shall at least try and start the conversation.
Let’s first look specifically at goaltenders. There are a number of initial questions. Do our top athletes play the position? I believe at least some elite athletes have gone into goaltending, though that is a premise impossible to prove.
Do we have the coaching? I believe there are many excellent instructors throughout the state, so I believe the training is there.
Are our goaltenders willing to put in the time? I want to believe that many are willing. Certainly Minnesota natives that are currently excelling at the NCAA level have done so.
Are our Minnesota kids willing to do the “hard”? Will they persevere when challenges present themselves? I think our latest crop of goaltenders for the most part has, but that is a nebulous question with no real answer.
I also think it is important to understand that goaltenders are like a security blanket for any organization. It’s not good enough to be good enough. The barrier to entry into this small elite is great for a goaltender. You must have a track record, a resumé that folks can look at and appreciate and maybe even admire.
Do I think there is some kind of prejudice against Minnesota goalies that is hard to define? I do think it exists. Do I think high school hockey is a good test and developing grounds for an elite goalie? I do not. I also believe that many at the higher levels of hockey agree with that general assessment.
The experience of an elite Minnesota high school goaltender most often does not compare to the experience of elite goaltenders in Canada and elsewhere. Many of these elite players move away from home at an earlier age in a quest to be tested at very high levels, to play with and against elite shooters, with traffic, with players as good as or better than themselves.
I think it is especially important for elite students to face superior competition during their formative adolescent years where key learning takes place. And if they survive and prosper with the hardest of tests, these goaltenders have a chance to build a real resumé that can be appreciated and even admired. With an admirable resumé, a goaltender may then be welcomed in for an opportunity to compete for a position at the most important position within a franchise. It is a complex formula for sure.
This complex formula is important not just for goalies, but high-end forwards and scorers as well. I don’t believe we as a state have ever in any great numbers developed elite scorers or goaltenders. Maybe our curriculum and tests are not hard enough for our elite students to become the very elite. No matter the field, I have to believe that elite students need elite curriculum to realize their potential.
On what I think is an inter-related subject, I have heard many non-Minnesotans around the rinks saying we Minnesotans lack grit. Do we? At times, I have believed the same.
Grit is cultivated through adversity, through hard times and hard experiences, through one’s perseverance and willingness to take on the next challenge. Grit is unafraid of a challenge and tenacious in its confrontation of the challenge.
Coming out of high school, I know I lacked grit. Ask Doug Woog who coached me in juniors … he can attest to the fact that I came into the junior experience a bit soft. I have always been thankful for my two years with the St. Paul Vulcans. Did I harden? Did I develop grit? Some for sure, but how much I don’t know. I do know, had I went straight to college from high school, I never would have contributed like I did to the Gopher hockey program.
There are numbers of exceptions. I had the privilege to coach Kyle Rau two years ago for about 20 USHL games … that little bugger has lots of grit. He is tenacious! That is why he is the player he is. Where his amazing grit comes from I don’t know, but he’s got it. I suspect there are goaltenders who share Rau’s amazing tenacity. The psychology of where grit comes from could be a subject matter for another day.
I like the system of hockey we have in Minnesota. I have said for many years that it serves most of our young players very well. We do a great job of developing hockey players and people, good people with good foundational values brought up in community organizations. That said, I am not sure that the Minnesota hockey system is “hard” or a severe enough test for our elite players nor do we embrace the concept. When that elite player in other hockey communities leaves home for a more severe test, that player is often celebrated for that achievement and the challenge it brings with it. That often does not happen in the State of Hockey.
In the end, it is our youngsters who will have to persevere and put in the time to become the elite of the elite. That means, for some, they will need to leave home before family and communities would prefer. Others will play junior hockey beyond their high school years. Some will put extra time in college and then maybe some perseverance as a minor pro. Time and willingness to do the “hard” – that is up to the individual.
History has shown us becoming an NCAA or NHL elite is no easy matter. We may yet need a new generation of strong-willed pioneers to lead the way and judging by our current numbers, some may already be on the way.
