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That's a very interesting thought. The only drawback I can think of is that a lot of organizations/coaches may not have the heart/balls to tell the kids they don't want to keep.

16U Yetis tryouts start this evening (Friday the 26th) at 5:30pm. Registration is still open. Info can be found here, then by clicking on the "MIDGET 16U (08/09) - NATIONAL BOUND TEAM" tab. Last season's team was A Major Black, and they are shooting for AA this season. They had fourteen '08s on that team, and ten of them are returning. According to the board member I spoke to, they are hoping to have TWO teams at the 16U level, and already have over thirty kids signed up for tryouts. So if you know any 16U kids still looking for homes, there is still time to register.

How about we give credit to the kid. I don’t think any coach or program deserves all the credit for any player advancing. Talent has to be there. Kid has to want it and work hard. Coaches can’t do anything about either of those criteria. Yes coaches can and do influence how players advance, but without talent and dedication to hard work, kids aren’t going anywhere.

I think I found 1 player that fits your criteria! From Western PA Played,PPE 14U,15U,16U, Invited to NTDP tryout Drafted USHL Boston University Commit Drafted 3rd round NHL Who gets the credit?

Maybe we could give a little credit to the kids themselves for taking some natural talent and adding in a bunch of hard work and dedication. And the team or organization where they played or trained only played a small part. I'm pretty sure if Mooney adopted any of our kids years ago and sprinkled his magic training on them, they still wouldn't be representing the USA at world championships.

That's correct. Because he was far and away that much better than everyone else at 07 when he got to PPE because of the dad. This preceded the Elite Mites (still love that) and Jon was the Coach and the kid was playing for the 06 team.

For those that want to keep up with Team USA: https://teamusa.usahockey.com/2024u18mwcschedule

I always thought it'd be nice if teams made offers before tryouts to the players they wanted to keep in order to dial down on some of the chaos. I know baseball clubs that do that and it works out for everyone. Then you see parents signing up their kids for 3-4 tryouts because off their own paranoia of being 'left out' if everyone else leaves. I always felt bad for the kids getting dragged around to multiple tryouts, especially the ones who got cut a few times and had to keep going.

Going to hazard a guess that hockey ops in the various orgs got tired of trying to form a team and making offers to kids playing the tryout circuit and getting turned down. Used to be you made the top team, you stayed. I think its selfish to try out somewhere you have no intentions of playing for, and that happens a lot, people keeping their kids feet moving for school tryouts, too. You mess things up pretty badly for the org and there is a ripple effect....that offer could have been made to a kid who wanted it, now you want to offer to that kid but they've moved on. Too much power is in the hands of parents around here. I know you all like it. It's not that way everywhere.

I think it's a little more nuanced than that. I would give pens credit for a players development if they played both 14u and 16u years there. These are the most important. I wouldn't give them credit for a 12 year old who leaves for prep school. That seems a little silly. I also don't give them credit for someone they import for the 16u team for a year who then immediately leaves to play juniors. The hard fact is there are very very few pens players who start young and stay in the program through 16u and are successful. As a matter of fact, and speaking to their own development model, not a lot of kids develop to even make the 16u team (or maybe they are leaving due to all the extra requirements/money like excel north catholic etc.).

Sometimes it's hard to keep up with all the many wisdoms this forum provides. So far it's generally understood that, Good players leave PPE but we should credit the players' success to the team they left for. Good players come from elsewhere to PPE but credit should go to the organization they came from. The new one I got to wrap my head around, Good players start at PPE and stay there but we should credit the father's training and hype. Any others I'm missing?

Armstrong Arrows were unable to field 16U and 18U Non-National Bound Teams.

I heard some teams, not 12u, already folded. Is this true?

Knowing the most you can about what you're paying for and committing to is a fair ask.

He's right, and the family knows how to hype the kid.

Some of them sadly probably do pay some snake out there to advise them.

Armstrong Arrows have a few openings at 12U - All skill levels. Please reach out to Arrows Hockey Director at: aahlhockeydirector@yahoo.com

What exactly is in an offer beyond the spot on the roster? I love how some talk about receiving offers like they need to discuss with their agent.

I'll take your word for it! It wouldn't surprise me.

Not!! Just like his cousin, it's 90% Jon Sr. and his training methods.

I watched the game against Slovakia today, and that kid has acceleration like a freaking rocket!

I didn't see that, but kudos to them. We need more of that.

He's excellent. Probably one of the only kids the pens can actually take credit for.

Humphreys left the pens because his brother was cut if I recall - we are getting past the birth years I know much about these days. The mom ran the pens sled or special needs team, don’t recall which. Parent’s got pissed and sent their kids off to prep school. Probabaly the correct decision for the better kid even though it was made with emotion. All of us old timers know who the Mooney familay is - who they are related to. Never saw the kid play, couldn’t tell you how good he is.

I do recall seeing the guy with the Huskies account say in s post here that they will wait to see what they have before claiming a certain level. Or something to that effect.