Great Hockey, Culver Prep vs. St Louis Blues Midget Major
I was in St Louis over the weekend watching a pair of games between the Culver Prep and the #1 ranked 18U AAA team, the St Louis Blues 18U AAA. First off, what great hockey. Hats off to the coaches and players.
Culver won both games, 3-0 and 5-4. A number of people asked if I expected that result. Must admit that I would have guessed close games and probably a split, possibly even a Blues sweep since they were playing at home. Comparing Prep hockey to 18U AAA is definitely not a science. Shattuck St Marys has been consistently one of the best Prep and 18U AAA teams in the country, winning a number of USA Hockey National Championships at the 18U AAA level in the past decade. With players like Sidney Crosby on the roster, no surprise there. They also play a different kind of schedule (early in the season) and are anything but your typical Prep school when it comes to hockey. Culver, a Military Prep school located in Culver, IN, is a little more standard. They will play some 18U AAA teams, but they also play their share of East Coast Prep teams. Culver is not simply a "hockey school", it is a real Military Academy with a great tradition.
My apologies for underestimating Culver. Like most Prep teams, they start later than Midget AAA. Culver kids are not playing on any pre/post teams, they simply start a little later. Early season (for them) results did not indicate anything special. They lost to a Michigan HS All-Star team 5-2 among other early season losses. Just last weekend they lost a pair to Compuware and Victory Honda. I didn't see those game and cannot comment on what may have happened. I did see them play this weekend and was definitely impressed.
Culver skates three Sophomores, including two 93 birth year defensemen. Both kids get a lot of ice time and neither is that big, but wow! Actually, one of the things that struck me most about Culver was the lack of height at defense. Not real tall, but could they skate. Tough, not afraid to take the body, but no interest in goon hockey. A pleasure to watch.
In defense of the Blues, they played against a brick wall on Saturday evening. Simply not fair... Sunday morning's game was more exciting with the result definitely in doubt until the last few seconds. At times they looked like the better team, but Culver kept finding a way to put the puck in the net. The talent and coaching is there, I think it was just one of those weekends...
The best thing about the hockey was the effort. Watching kids bust their butts virtually every second of every shift was awesome. And there was a form of justice being played out. Goals were often scored when someone could only must 99% effort... The backchecker that didn't give it all. The defensemen that let the man without the puck get behind him. There were a few great plays by offense, but most were aided by a very small breakdown, often with effort, but occasionally a mental breakdown.
Watching the coaches was great. Watching Al Clark, Culver head coach, is a little like watching Scotty Bowman. No matter what happens on the ice, he keeps his emotions in check. Stupid penalty, no need to yell. Bad drop pass that leads to a breakaway goal, no expletive for all to hear. He didn't even seem to move. Scott Sanderson, Blues head coach, was different, but equally impressive. Generally a student of the game, he seemed to execute quick strikes when instructing his players about something that happened on the ice or something he wanted to see happen.
Again, to the coaches, kids and even the parents that got their kids there, thanks. It was a joy to watch such great hockey with a bunch of kids who will go somewhere some day, whether on the ice or off it.
Note: There are only two Prep teams that I am planning on ranking among the 18U AAA teams in MYHockey. Gilmour Academy and Shattuck St Marys are the only two Prep teams that I am aware of that have registered with USA Hockey as Tier 1 18U AAA teams. Culver's Prep team is not and will be ranked only among Prep teams, not among the 18U AAA teams. If you are aware of other Prep teams that are registered as 18U AAA and will try to compete for a National Championship, please forward along to me.
Culver won both games, 3-0 and 5-4. A number of people asked if I expected that result. Must admit that I would have guessed close games and probably a split, possibly even a Blues sweep since they were playing at home. Comparing Prep hockey to 18U AAA is definitely not a science. Shattuck St Marys has been consistently one of the best Prep and 18U AAA teams in the country, winning a number of USA Hockey National Championships at the 18U AAA level in the past decade. With players like Sidney Crosby on the roster, no surprise there. They also play a different kind of schedule (early in the season) and are anything but your typical Prep school when it comes to hockey. Culver, a Military Prep school located in Culver, IN, is a little more standard. They will play some 18U AAA teams, but they also play their share of East Coast Prep teams. Culver is not simply a "hockey school", it is a real Military Academy with a great tradition.
My apologies for underestimating Culver. Like most Prep teams, they start later than Midget AAA. Culver kids are not playing on any pre/post teams, they simply start a little later. Early season (for them) results did not indicate anything special. They lost to a Michigan HS All-Star team 5-2 among other early season losses. Just last weekend they lost a pair to Compuware and Victory Honda. I didn't see those game and cannot comment on what may have happened. I did see them play this weekend and was definitely impressed.
Culver skates three Sophomores, including two 93 birth year defensemen. Both kids get a lot of ice time and neither is that big, but wow! Actually, one of the things that struck me most about Culver was the lack of height at defense. Not real tall, but could they skate. Tough, not afraid to take the body, but no interest in goon hockey. A pleasure to watch.
In defense of the Blues, they played against a brick wall on Saturday evening. Simply not fair... Sunday morning's game was more exciting with the result definitely in doubt until the last few seconds. At times they looked like the better team, but Culver kept finding a way to put the puck in the net. The talent and coaching is there, I think it was just one of those weekends...
The best thing about the hockey was the effort. Watching kids bust their butts virtually every second of every shift was awesome. And there was a form of justice being played out. Goals were often scored when someone could only must 99% effort... The backchecker that didn't give it all. The defensemen that let the man without the puck get behind him. There were a few great plays by offense, but most were aided by a very small breakdown, often with effort, but occasionally a mental breakdown.
Watching the coaches was great. Watching Al Clark, Culver head coach, is a little like watching Scotty Bowman. No matter what happens on the ice, he keeps his emotions in check. Stupid penalty, no need to yell. Bad drop pass that leads to a breakaway goal, no expletive for all to hear. He didn't even seem to move. Scott Sanderson, Blues head coach, was different, but equally impressive. Generally a student of the game, he seemed to execute quick strikes when instructing his players about something that happened on the ice or something he wanted to see happen.
Again, to the coaches, kids and even the parents that got their kids there, thanks. It was a joy to watch such great hockey with a bunch of kids who will go somewhere some day, whether on the ice or off it.
Note: There are only two Prep teams that I am planning on ranking among the 18U AAA teams in MYHockey. Gilmour Academy and Shattuck St Marys are the only two Prep teams that I am aware of that have registered with USA Hockey as Tier 1 18U AAA teams. Culver's Prep team is not and will be ranked only among Prep teams, not among the 18U AAA teams. If you are aware of other Prep teams that are registered as 18U AAA and will try to compete for a National Championship, please forward along to me.
