Now that the ice is just about cleaned and the results are in and the only thing left to look forward to is the credit card bills, does anyone have any opinions, gripes, stories, etc that they would like to share?

Competition at the 14u level was pretty even accross teams at the B and A levels with only a couple of teams that seemed out of place. The weak teams in the B division had no place to move down too and I know that one of the weak teams in the A was a much stonger team last year that was experiencing some recruiting prob lems. It seemed that half the teams in the AA division would have been better suited in the A division and that the real AA contest involved less than 10 teams.

Unlike boys teams where there are ways of more accurately assessing abilities, girls hockey has almost no benchmarks for determining ability especially when it comes to the smaller northeast organizations that seem to be at least half of the teams. Being the most prestigious girls tournament in the country, does the Polar Bear committee penalize organizations that put teams into divisions that they can't compete? Limiting a team next year to the a lower division if they show poor results would provide incentives for organizations to not overestimate their abilities? Should teams that do not score a certain amount of points be encouraged to move down and those that post a certain amount of points at B or A level be moved up?

If organization is going to put up with above average entry fees, nickel and dime door fees etc, short periods, and drawn out schedules that allow no accomodations, they should expect quality competition. No team gets anything out of walking away from there with large blow outs. It is much more exciting and fun for the girls and their families to walk out of a one point win or loss.

Hello Everyone,

Well, for the first time since my daughter began playing competitive hockey at the age of 8, I was fortunate enough to witness the famous "POLAR BEAR GIRL'S HOCKEY TOURNAMENT" that I had been hearing about for years. What makes the tournament special is the competition level that was displayed on the ice! Girls hockey has definitely come a very long way just over the past 5 years. I saw some very good U16 and U14 teams that could compete favorably with some very good AA boys teams at the same age level. It is a tournament that I would recommend for parents who have girls playing at a competitive level just to see the calibur of play among girls in the USA.

I have read some other posts in the YOUTH HOCKEY FORUM regarding the number of teams competing at the AA level at each of the age groups. I really don't fault the tournament directors for the discrepancy in talent level among the teams in the AA and A levels of play. I fault the organizations and coaches that have put politics above competition. The organizations and coaches should have some understanding of the capabilities and talent level of their individual teams. I certainly will never understand why certain organizations would register for the tournament and play at a level that is way above the level that their team is capable of playing. There were certainly a few blowouts that left many girls on those teams discouraged, embarrassed, and wondering why they even competed in the tournament. I am sure it left many of their parents wondering why they spent the $$$$ on plane fares, hotels, rental cars, etc. to see such one-sided games.

I know my daughter certainly enjoyed the experience of playing in the tournament and welcomed the opportunity to compete for a championship rather than knowing that there was absolutely no way of reaching the finals. For my daughter's team, it was a very special experience and gave the girls on her team a chance to spend a week together enjoying the sights and sounds of New Haven, Connecticut in the winter. The positive memories will certainly last a lifetime. Going undefeated in the tournament will only add to the confidence level of the girls as they compete later this year in other tournaments and (hopefully) the nationals.

Her team, which is comprised mainly of 14 and 15 year old girls, already has plans on returning to Connecticut next year and moving up a level of competition commensurate with the team's abilities. I can't wait for the return trip and the competition.

Great to hear another girls parent chime in!

It was our third year at the tournament and I can say that my daughter had a great time. Her team had a great showing missing the division playoffs by a hair! It's fun when things come down to one goal or period points as everyone goes away with a sense of achievement.

Was this Team Illinois's first trip to the tournament. Are you a tournament team or a league team?

My daughter plays for Team Illinois U16's. Unfortunately, I had to stay home this year while my wife got to see the action!

The Polar Bear Tourney is a mandatory one for all TI teams from the 12's on up. It's been a good tournament with many scouts attending and actually contacting coaches. The only drawback, IMHO, is if you make it all the way to the finals, you've played 4 high intensity games in less than 24 hours. Conditioning is the key.

My daughter plays for Team Illinois 16's. Unfortunately, I didn't get to go. It was my wife's turn this year!

Team Illinois makes the Polar Bear tourny a mandatory one for all teams at the U12 and up levels. The 16's that won this year placed 2nd last year. They got beat by Assabet.

Overall, it's a good tournament. It provides an opportunity to play teams you don't get to see otherwise. Also, very good attendance by scouts who actually talk to the coaches!

I wish to add a little more information about why teams end up playing at a level that at the time of the tournament seems to be a bad fit.

The Connecticut Polar Bears open up registration of teams for their tournament during the summer. The AA division is always filled well before Labor Day at the u19 through u14 age groups.

Teams wishing to play at that level present what they did LAST season with the players they had LAST season to get themselves seeded in the tournament. Often this is before committments (or sometimes even final tryouts) are made. So you have organizations that don't know exactly who will be playing for them signing up based upon who they think should be playing for them next season - hardly an exact science.

Whole teams that go to the finals at Nationals (see Wisconsin Wild u12 last season) suddenly have their u14 team disband when a couple of key players defect to another team.

I will be the first to admit that my D's team had a poor performance at the tourney and in hindsight should have been playing 1 level down from where they were at. However, in order to get into the tournament at the AA level it was necessary to commit to the tourney and pay money down in June, well before our team was formed.

While our organization's u14 struggled, the u12 team that played in the AA (that also applied in June to the tourney in order to get a AA spot) won all 4 of their pool games including beating the Polar Bears and Spitfires. They had a bad game against the Winner Honeybaked team in the semi-finals, but proved that they did belong at the AA level.

On the other hand, the team that won the TPH Thunder u16b level entered late and if what I hear is correct, was only offered a B level slot due to their late entry. This is because they didn't apply to the tourney until after their team was finalized in the fall. They ended up killing everyone in their bracket and definitely should have been playing A level.

Other bad things happen as well. While I was there, I talked to some folks down from New Brunswick who because of bad weather(snow/ice/freezing rain), didn't arrive at the tourney until 15 minutes before their first game and as a result had a horrible first game which cost them a real chance at making it out of their bracket.

Another group of Canadians I talked with were put in a HoJo hotel that was sooo bad that the girls wanted to sleep on the bus. One of them had a severe case of bed bug bites (yes, they really do exist!). Needless to say they had a horrible first game and fortunately were able to find a better hotel (without the help of the tourney!).

So what is the correct solution? My advice to the Polar Bears is to not take registrations until November 1 and then base seedings on score sheets turned in for the current season. You can get a pretty decent idea of where a team should be playing by their early (September and October) games.

I don't think they have to worry about not having enough teams if they wait until November 1. In fact, I think they would get more applicants at the lower levels if teams know that they will be playing against teams with track records that look like theirs.

It is really easy to take pot shots at tourneys that have unequal levels of competition. I think when you step back and look at how some very small things such as a few missing players or a bad travel experience can drastically change a teams performance, you can see that getting a perfectly seeded tourney is a truly difficult thing.

First, let me appologize for the double post!

Now on to RedwingsGuy's post. I generally agree with what you have to say. Since I scheduled most of our team's games for this season, I feel I can talk with some authority. I started scheduling in June. By September, I had only a few weekends open. By waiting to see "IF" we got into the Polar Bear tournament until November, I would have missed out on potentially securing a spot in other tournaments. Now, realistically, since Team Illinois has been attending for quite awhile, I doubt that we would not get in. However, what about those clubs that don't have the history? At this level, team schedules fill very quickly. Also, most parents want to know as early as possible where they will be spending their holidays. Waiting until after Thanksgiving to find out would not be acceptable to my parents!

As to signing up, I applied for my team in early August. I know that some of our teams didn't apply until early September. Once again, we may not have a problem because of bringing 4 teams for many years.

For me, the reality is that until the schedule is posted, you don't really know how things are going to go. Once it is posted, you may have an easy bracket but get killed in the playoffs. You may have a tough bracket and not get to the playoffs. I do feel for the teams that get beat bad. However, you need to learn from those games. Maybe the team's preparation wasn't good. Maybe you need to arrive a day earlier. You may need to play in different division next year.Take a look at our scores at this tournament (http://www.pcyoi.com/2005_u19_tournament_schedule.html) and tell me if we should have been disappointed. Our girls learned a lot from playing that weekend.

But why do we go? At the two older divisions, generally, the first reason is to be seen by scouts. The second is to compare your team with others. Finally, you want to play teams that you don't get a chance to otherwise. We hadn't seen any of the first 5 teams we played this year. Fortunately, we were able to accomplish all of our goals for this tournament. It hasn't always been that way for my daughter however. We were in the same division as Assabet last year and lost to them. Yet, we still made the finals (and lost to them again!)

With as many teams that are at this tournament, I know that I don't want to have to be the one to setup the pairings! With 37 teams in the 17AA division alone, there are bound to be some blowouts. I'd like to give the person who did set them up a little bit of slack.

bbikebbs,

In hind sight, I do agree that parents do want to know where they are going early on in the process. Perhaps Polar Bear should reserve the right to re-assign you to a higher or lower division based upon your early month's results (September/October). Thus you would be committed to go to the tourney, and hopefully placed in a competitive level. If you don't like where you are assigned, I guess that would be tough, regardless.

To the Polar Bears, it is then a matter of perhaps shifiting a couple of teams back and forth, but no change in the quantity of ice required.

Maybe that is the correct solution.

BTW, having been (a few years ago) associated with the Wisconsin Wild in the past, I do have a lot of respect for how TI has consistently been able to field competitive teams year in and year out, despite all the ever shifting players within a very very competitve district.