Phil Kuemmel

Activities Director

Park High School

(651) 768 – 5720

www.suburbaneast.org

  When asked about the team’s success, Park Senior Hailee Potter replied, “we push ourselves and each other to the limit to do our best.  We work hard  and don’t give up.  We are one of the most closely bonded teams out there, even though we are rival schools.  We get motivated by the people who support us and, shockingly, the ones that don’t as well.  We were seated #7 and beat 10, 3, 2, and 1, so we can prove to anyone that we are a team.  Our coaches have been supportive from the start and never quit, even if we lose.  We are there for each other and no one forgets that.” 

 Captain Kelsie Anderson added, “Our team has done an amazing job at showing what we can accomplish.  We are very competitive and we’re not letting anyone take us down without a fight.  I’m so proud of this team.”  

    Clearly the girl’s agility, determination and their responsiveness to coaches, Kyle Kane and Scott Leonard, have factored into the team’s success this year.  The Royal Pack will battle for the state championship against #1 seed Eden Prairie next Tuesday at Hopkins High School at 6:00 pm.  

  Having been long time adverseries on the field, court, and track, the success of Park and Woodbury’s combined team has larger implications for their respective school communities:  It foreshadows the shifting boundaries and loyalities that will accompany the opening of East Ridge, a superbly equipped new school with a strong athletic focus.  It further suggests that, after all these years of sometimes bitter competition, co-operation might be more productive, and ultimately more fun, than rivalry. 

For more pics complements of Kelsi’s mom, Mrs. Anderson,  please visit:

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YOU GO GIRLS!!!                                                                                  

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       It will be announced today that the Minnesota Wild have hired Pittsburgh Penguins’ assistant general manager Chuck Fletcher to be the new general manager for the franchise.  He will be replacing Doug Risebrough who was relieved of his duties in April after coach Jacques Lemaire stepped down as head coach.  After an in depth search by Wild owner Craig Leipold, Fletcher beat out other candidates: broadcaster Pierre McGuire, Anaheim assistant general manager David McNab, and acting general manager Tom Lynn.  Fletcher will have the challenge of hiring a new coach, and trying to sort out the Marian Gaborik situation.

            Fletcher, 41, will be much younger than his predecessor, but he does not lack in experience.    Fletcher, who graduated from Harvard in 1990, grew up in the hockey world watching his Hall of Fame father, Cliff Fletcher.  Fletcher has spent time as the director of hockey operations, assistant GM, and vice president of amateur scouting and player development for the Anaheim Ducks, assistant general manager for the Florida Panthers, and, most recently, assistant general manager for the Pittsburg Penguins organization.  While in Pittsburgh Fletcher has scouted, been involved with contract negotiations, and directed operations for the Penguins’ AHL team.  Fletcher will no doubt use his intelligence and hockey sense to scout up and coming players in the system, and he will play an intricate part in the draft.

            One of the first tasks that he has to take care of is hiring a coach by July 1 for free agency.  It will be tough to top the excellent hockey mind of Jacques Lemaire.  The Wild have been playing a trap style hockey since its inception.  This style focuses more on the defensive aspects of the game instead of overloading on scorers.  Fletcher’s mindset will likely change this style and develop more into a more offensive rather than defensive type of system, like the one they use over in Pittsburgh.  This means he will probably look for a coach who has close to the same philosophies as him, as well as someone Fletcher he close with.  Some candidates include: Pat Quinn who also interviewed for the general manager position, Craig MacTavish, Kevin Constantine, Todd Richards, John Torchetti, and Newell Brown.  Right now it looks as if Todd Richards is the favorite because of his relationship with Fletcher, and it sounds like that’s the guy Pittsburgh wanted to bring in after they fired Therrien.

            Another thing he will have to take care of is the Marian Gaborik situation.  Talks during the season between Risebrough and Gaborik’s agent Ron Salcer stalled out.  It sounded as if the Wild were offering around $8 million a year but, I think they only offered at the most a three to four year contract due to his injury problems.  While Gaborik was looking more in the range of $9 to $9.5 million a year over five to six years.  It looks as if they will test the market, but who knows, maybe the change in face will help out the negotiations.  Fletcher was a part of the huge 58 million dollar contract for former Russian bust Pavel Bure.  Look for Fletcher to reel in at least one big fish in the free agency pool.  Hopefully the Wild can bring home former Gopher Phil Kessel if he does not resign with the Boston Bruins.

            Something that Fletcher will need to address is signing a key player or two during free agency who can help the team now, instead of the build from within program that it seems all Minnesota teams do.  It is great to develop players and bring them up, but bringing those like Olvecky and Gillies in before they are ready can be detrimental to their development.  Gillies, who the Wild chose to put on the roster because he would have had to play two years in junior hockey since he was not able to play in the AHL or ECHL yet.  This effected him because he got less than a season in and did not help the cause very much.  He could have used the two years in juniors to develop into a solid third line hockey player, instead of a player watching from the press box.  It would be a step in the right direction to further them as a threat to get more than one scoring all stars on the team.

            The fans would also like to see Fletcher make that blockbuster deal around the trade deadline.  Too many years have gone by where the Wild needed help and they did not make a trade, or they acquired players who did not make enough of an impact. Ideally they should package some of those younger player or those whose contract is about to expire for someone who can help the cause and be a factor on the score sheet.

            Something else that I would like to see is the reevaluation of our players.  Those like Stephane Veilleux who was safe under Lemaire because he was his Punto of the team.  Besides being a solid checker, Veilleux was nonexistent for many years on the score sheet.  The Wild finally gave him a reality check when they placed him on waivers during the offseason last year to say, “Hey step up your play or you are out.”  Another player is Kim Johnsson, a good defensive player, but I would like to see a little more offense out of him.  He makes that good first pass that is very important for all defensemen.  Maybe with the new system, he will step up his scoring more.  So far,  I feel that he has not lived up to his over 5 million dollars a year contract. One more thing:  Give Derek Boogaard more ice time.  Boogaard works the intimidation very well, but when you put him in front of the net it is the goalie’s worst nightmare.  He will score more and our power play can be more effective with Boogaard screening the goaltender.

            Fletcher will have some flaws to fix with the Wild, but I am sure he will do a good job.  This guy has one of the best hockey minds for a younger person in the league.  All of his valuable experience will pay off.  If all goes well and the Wild make some key moves through free agency and trade, look for another Northwest division title, and look for them to go deeper than the first round in the playoffs. Also… look for coaching news coming within the next month before free agency starts.

        I was recently watching the Twins game against the New York Yankees, when I saw something that made me question the game.  In the bottom of the 11^th inning, Alex Rodriguez belted a two run shot to end the game.  As soon as my friends and I saw this we instantly said, “What a juicer.”  To myself I thought, “How many has this guy actually hit on his own without the juice?”  Don’t get me wrong A Rod was a good player in Seattle before he joined the Rangers and started taking the juice.  So why did he choose to?  In his words, it was to live up to the expectations and get that big contract.

            Many of these up and coming players right out of high school see all the stars in the game today and say, “How can I be like him and get that big contract?”  Many do what is right and work hard and make their way through the farm leagues.  But some, like A Rod choose to take the lower road.  There is an unprecedented amount of pressure on these young players to make it in the “Bigs”.  This is not a small problem that started recently; this is a huge problem that has been going on since the 1980’s and has not been taken seriously until fairly recently.

            Since the days of Jose Canseco, this has been a problem that, until recently, has been ignored completely due to the fear of tarnishing the game.  Back before baseball started making a feeble attempt to toughen toughening the regulations of drug testing, players were known to take steroids in the club house.  It was kind of an “I know nothing” kind of thing.  No one wanted to rat out their teammates, and no one wanted to acknowledge that it was a problem.  Finally a sorry excuse for a Commissioner Bud Selig addressed the problem by hiring Senator George J. Mitchell to make a report that took him 20 months to complete.  In spite of the fact that it did not hold an incredible amount of surprises, this 409 page report helped expose the problem in baseball.  By the way, if you have the time and attention span I suggest reading this report; it is worth the time. 

            What this report did  was to help baseball start taking steps to refurbish the image of Major League Baseball to the world.  Along with this report came stronger punishments.  In 2005, Rafael Palmeiro was suspended just ten games for testing positive for a banned substance.  After the report and the new guidelines, first time offenders are now given fifty games for their first offence.  The biggest player to see this handed down to him is Dodger’s outfielder Manny Ramirez.  An interesting comment from former Yankees pitcher David “Boomer Wells, who pitched a perfect game against the Twins hung-over.  “I think that would be great. No 50-game suspension. Ban them right away,” Wells said. “That would stop it in a heartbeat, especially with the money they are giving out today. It would be incredible if they did that. You wouldn’t have to worry about steroids or HGH.”  This is almost a good idea except for the fact that baseball would be ruined if they lost their star players because of steroid use.

            In my opinion, the best thing for MLB to do is give out the suspensions, take classes on steroids, have players forfeit their pay checks for those games suspended, and have an asterisk placed next to their name when Hall of Fame voting comes around.  With a new exhibit in Cooperstown called “Wall of Shame,” come see your juicers.  Usually for the players who don’t have a huge ego unlike A Rod the embarrassment of being associated with steroids is enough for them.  So the next time you see someone cranking the ball 500 feet out of the park think, “Hey is this guy a juicer?”

Interested in Learning More?  Check out the following books:

-         Juiced by Jose Canseco, he tells it how it is, believe him or not.

-         The Mitchell Report by Sen. George J. Mitchell, it gives you an insight on what was going on and some possible solutions to fix it.

-         Game of Shadows by Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams, gives you the inside look of Bonds, BALCO, and more.

If you have any comments on Mr. Hunt’s article or on juice use in the Big Leagues, drop a comment below.  We love hearing from our readers

            On May 2^nd, 2009, former Park graduate Kerry Ligtenberg signed a deal with the Saint Paul Saints of the American Association.  Ligtenberg, a graduate and Park High School Hall of Fame member, will be playing

professionally for the first time since 2006.

            Ligtenberg a stand out pitcher for the Wolfpack, was a three-time letter-winner in baseball, who was twice named All-Conference and was a member of the 1987 State Tournament team. In his senior season he was named to the All-Region 3AA and he participated in the Lions All-Star Series.  After graduating from Park in 1989, Ligtenberg went on to play for the University of Minnesota, and was an All-Big Ten performer.  He was the first Park baseball player to reach the Major Leagues when he made his Major League debut on 8/12 vs. Pittsburgh Pirates pitching 2/3 innings giving up one hit while walking one and striking out one.  He pitched his first full season in 1998 with the Atlanta Braves finishing fourth in Rookie of the Year voting.  He pitched 8 seasons in the MLB with Atlanta, Baltimore, Toronto, and Arizona.  In his career he was 17-20, with a 3.82 ERA, and 48 saves.

            Ligtenberg will be a veteran on the Saint’s pitching staff.  Possibly being the closer that the Saints have been looking for.  Ligtenberg has already pitched in two exhibition games for the Saints this season.  The regular season starts 5/19 versus the Lincoln Saltdogs.  So come out and catch a game at Midway this year and cheer on Ligtenberg.

Today we played the dreaded Woodbury Royals at home (April 30). Woodbury manages to beat us in all four rounds of singles. In doubles, Woodbury wins the first round, while Park wins the second round, but Woodbury comes back and defeats us in the third round. Woodbury took the game with a final score of 6-1. We’ll get them next time. Great effort out there boys, you played an excellent game.  [Record 5-6]

Hill-Murray is the opponent for today, and our boys weren’t going to lose again. Which they didn’t they beat Hill-Murray with a 5 point lead, ending score was 6-1, Park. Matches won by Tyler Bertelsen (single), Ben Uecker (single), Austin Kringle (single), Nick Jury (single), Brady Scott and Luke Landgraf (doubles), and John Vaillancourt and Peter Shrankler (doubles). [Record: 4-3]

Our rivals from Inver Grove Heights (Simley High School) had to play our Wolfpack boys. Simley hadn’t been doing so good so far this season and we just made it worse from them. We won with a 7-0 ending score. Excellent job, a congrats goes out to the whole team for defeating them and winning in every match played. [Record: 5-3]

Today was the first Junior Varsity’s Girls Softball game (April 7^th), and they played Hastings High School. The girls played an amazing game, in two five-inning games they won the first one 8-3 and won the second one 6-5. They have started out the season to a good start. Come on girls let’s make this a great season. Great job, keep up the work. [Record: 2-0]

Our girls played the much rivaled team, Cretin-Derham Hall (April 14^th). These girls are so determined to have an excellent season this year. This is going to be a very interesting season. JV took Cretin down; in the first game they scored 27 runs, while only giving up 3 runs to Cretin. In the second game Cretin held them back a little bit but not by much. Ending score for game two was 17-2. Another great game played by our JV girls. Good job. [Record 4-0]

They never seem to let us down, tonight Park JV played against Stillwater (April 28^th). Our girls have so much determination and they never seem to give up. In game one they won by 6 runs; with an ending score at 10-4, Park. Stillwater finally upped they game and ended the game with a score of 0-3, Stillwater. Excellent work girls, you showing everybody what the Wolfpack is made of. [Record 5-1]

            The Wolfpack boy’s hockey team’s season ended in the first round of the Section 3AA playoffs.  The seventh seeded Wolfpack gave up three goals to the Raders in less than two minutes, which put the game almost out of reach for the ‘Pack’.  At the end of the first period, Cretin had a solid 4-0 lead on the Wolfpack.  Both teams played to a 3-3 tie through the next two periods, giving the Raiders the 7-3 win.  Sophomore forward Kirby Quebodeaux scored two goals and added an assist in the game.  Also scoring for Park was junior forward Branden Graf, who had a goal and two assists in the game.  This game ended the season for 11 seniors out of 20 players on its roster.

Final Record- 4-20-1 (SEC: 2-13-1)

Forwards

Goals

Kirby Quebodeaux; Soph. – 15

Brandon Graf; Jr. – 7

Luke Vogelgesang; Jr. – 7

Assists

Kirby Quebodeaux; Soph. – 11

Brandon Graf; Jr. – 11

Brandon Handwerk; Jr. – 9

Total Points

Kirby Quebodeaux; Soph. – 26

Brandon Graf; Jr. – 18

Brandon Handwerk; Jr. – 13

Goaltenders

Wins

Matt Fretwell; Sr. – 4

SPCT

Jeremy Larson; Jr. – .865

Matt Fretwell; Sr. – .852

            “It’s not a sport, it’s a lifestyle,” stated Nick Arrigoni. For co-captain of the Park Wrestling Team, wrestling means everything. He spends his days running, stretching, pinning, and putting other guys in headlocks. With wrestling being a “24/7 sport” people may wonder why in the world anyone would want to wrestle.

            “I like the intensity of the sport. It’s a lot of hard work,” said Arrigoni. Wrestlers have to push it every day, all year to stay in top condition. Their bodies have to be physically strong and their minds mentally tough. The most strenuous part of the year is in winter when wrestling season is in full swing. Wrestlers practice every day and attend matches and tournaments throughout the week. During their off season, wrestlers cross train in other sports and attend freestyle practices in the spring.

            “I go through a match in my head. Get focused and warm up,” Arrigoni answered when asked how he prepares for his matches. It helps to visualize how others will move and what kind of positions he may be put in. His favorite pump up music is Sky’s the limit by Lil’ Wayne.

            Arrigoni is attending Century College next fall to become a paramedic. They do not have a wrestling program at Century. His plans are to come back next year to help coach any age of wrestlers.