Western Pennsylvania Youth Hockey

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Hello all- It has been a while since I dropped an update but being that it's been a beautiful week, I felt it was time to update the community. #1. @Pa Hockey I have had productive discussions with @Pa Hockey and as a result I have decided to welcome him back. Due to a few events in my personal life I have re-evaluated things and decided that I am ok with @Pa Hockey posting tournaments. After taking time to digest this all, I extended an olive branch to @Pa Hockey and invited him back as I think his informative posts/rankings/and his own "takes" are more valuable than not having him on board. At the end of the day, I am for as many kids participatin…

It looks like USA Hockey will be moving forward with it's new Development League starting next season. I would assume the Pens Elite will be part of this, as no other Tier I teams in the area seem to fit the criteria. It looks like they won't be able to compete at the 16U level at Nationals though, so maybe the other area Tier I teams will benefit at the 16U level now. "The USA Hockey Development League is being designed to work in cooperation with Tier I hockey, not to replace it. The current Tier I structure consists of 13O, 14U, 15O, 16U, and 18U age groups. The USA Hockey Development League is intended to have two age categories, 15U (consisting of 14- and 15-y…

If you haven't seen this yet, it does appear that the recent publicity/pressure on the Black Bear Group and their wonderful CEO, here is the latest news. Great News for all of youth hockey that these folks are being exposed publicly and forced to try to explain the rationale. But it got me thinking about what happened to all of those BB Cheerleaders lauding what they do and how well they run everything, where are they now? https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/investigations/2026/05/07/lord-of-the-rinks-black-bear-youth-hockey/89503875007/

I do not think this is against forum rules as all player would be adults and it should be public knowledge. ************I don't want to bash any of the orgs, just a simple list of players.*************** Let's start list of local players that have gone on to play NCAA D1, D3, or any level of Professional hockey. List Male or Female just to be fair. If you know their path out of Western PA list that also. I suspect that if some of us old timers can jog out memories the results might be a bit interesting.

Pa Hockey Foundation Events 2026 - 2027 Season B = 4-15-26 - OFFICIAL INVITE Letter of Interest’ C= 4-30-26 - The Deposit of $ 750 to the Pa Hockey Foundation DUE May 15th 2026. D = 8-15-26 - TOURNAMENT PACKAGES MAILED BY PAHF E = 10-1-26 - Registration Deadline for ROSTERS + WAIVERS (ND) + FINAL PAYMENT DUE Invites are ATTACHED for 2026-27 Governors Cup Events - Deposits are required to Secure your spot for EACH Team Ohio - Pennsylvania - Challenge (12 Team) Limit - All Levels Cleveland Dec 18-20-2026 - Brunswick (Strongsville) 2025 Champions - Padua Ohio Pittsburgh Dec 27-29 2026 - Alpha Ice Complex - VAR/JV 2025 Champions - Thomas Jefferson VAR and Seneca Valle…

Dorsey has lost all control of that organization. Tryouts were complete and utter joke! Half of the players quit the U18 team and now it’s made up of mostly West Allegheny kids. A lot of them 2002‘s. I’ll be surprised if they win a fifth of their games. The U16 team is also very weak. The coach cut most of the good players. Why, who knows. “Vengeance Coaches & Friends.” The 2004 is now stealing a goalie from the renegades top bantam team. Didn’t want him at tryouts, but wants him now. Biggest joke in Pittsburgh, the Pittsburgh Vengeance.

What 16U AA teams are going National Bound this season and when are tryouts?

Has anyone heard any news coming out of the "AAA" tryouts that just finished at the beginning of the week? I heard a rumor that SHAHA did not get enough of a turnout and will NOT be fielding an 18U AAA team this season.

In the conversation about the Vengeance, it got me thinking about the nonprofit status for most of the local hockey associations. Since their information is publicly available, I did a little digging to compare their revenue/expense numbers using the ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer with their most recently reported year (most of these are from 2024 or 2025). Just wanted to share this with everyone. Not an exhaustive list, but interesting to compare. TEAM ORGANIZATION NAME REVENUE EXPENSES Pittsburgh Penguins Elite Pittsburgh Penguins Elite Amateur Hockey $3,297,413 $…

Congrats to the Armstrong Arrows u 18 and Southpointe Rebellion u 14 and good luck to two High School friendly organizations in National QF

Pete Shaffalo, who many of you may know, passed away over the weekend. He was a member of the 1987 state champion USC team and has coached many teams in the area as well as managing and working at local hockey stores. Gofundme below is mostly just for information - there will be tons of donations, so don't feel obligated to make a donation. https://gofund.me/446e18f8a

If your teams or organization is looking for a business that provides medical services on or off the ice, please contact me. Howard Halle MEDIX LLC 4122873215 or howardhalle@comcast.net

With a number of new people popping up on this forum, and a number of us older guys probably soon to move on, I thought maybe a thread on "things we learned" would be productive. I'll start by sharing a story from yesterday. Sitting in the stands yesterday at a rink, I heard about a paid coach that is staying with the same team 3 years in a row because he's got a side piece mom on the team and another kids "sugar daddy" throwing money his way. Another coach that has his apartment paid for by a dad on the team. 10-year-olds that are relocating their entire family because they didn't make the local team they wanted. ANY ADVICE? Like what's the end …

So a few weeks ago PAHL sent out this notice to all organizations: For tryouts involving teams declared as Tier I and Tier II, the USAH policy applies, stating that no tryout activities are permitted until 48 hours after the end of USAH National Tournaments. Last date of USAH National Tournaments is Sunday, March 29, so those tryout activities can begin on Tuesday 3/31. This policy is found in Section III, Part B of the "Rules & Regulations" section of the USA Hockey Annual Guide (Page 164). Policies on recruiting and tampering are on page 169, and Tier II and house/rec tryout policies are on page 171. The use of the phrase "tryout activities" is inten…

🚨 WE’RE HIRING: Assistant Hockey Director 🚨 Ready to make a real impact in youth hockey? RMU Island Sports Center is looking for a motivated leader to help drive player development, coaching, and program growth across our ice, inline, and dek hockey programs. This role is ideal for someone who brings strong experience in youth hockey development and coaching, and who understands how to build athletes the right way—through structure, consistency, and passion. 🏒 What You’ll Do: • Lead and support on-ice development across youth and adult programs • Work closely with the Hockey Director to grow and manage all hockey operations • Serve as an active coach …

EASTERN PENNSYLVANIA FLYERS CUP CHAMPIONS YEAR FLYERS CUP AAA FLYERS CUP AA FLYERS CUP A 1980 1 ARCHBISHOP CARROLL (ICSHL) - - 1981 2 ARCHBISHOP CARROLL (ICSHL) - - 1982 3 GERMANTOWN ACADEMY (SHSHL) …

PENNSYLVANIA CUP - STATE CHAMPIONS YEAR STATE AAA CHAMPION STATE AA CHAMPION STATE A CHAMPION 1975 1 BALDWIN (WPIHL) - - 1976 2 MT LEBANON (WPIHL) ABINGTON (IC…

YEAR STATE AAA CHAMPION STATE AA CHAMPION STATE A CHAMPION 1975 1 BALDWIN (WPIHL) - - Glenwood Zoo Arena Erie 1976 2 MT LEBANON (WPIHL) ABINGTON (ICSHL) - Pittsburgh Civic Arena 1977 3 CHURCHILL (WPIHL) ERIE FAIRVIEW (LKSHL) - …

Now that my son is done I’ve been wanting to say this for years while he was part of the program. I debated posting this hopefully this helps kids in the future or can inspire change. The school has its flaws but as a school it’s pretty good value due to the cost. Hockey, not so much. Just seeing some socials about their recent camp finally got me off my butt to write this my son was the one of the lucky ones he was part of the click played with some of these guys in youth friends with some but I do feel bad for some of the other kids that go play there. Yes, my kid benefited let’s get that out of the way. It all started to go downhill when slippery roc…

What in the he— happened with the match penalties, misconducts, etc this weekend

Its a shame that such a big school with great history put so little effort into their hockey program. Hardly any mentions in school emails about games or scores or anything. The hire for coach was retread disaster. Practices are poorly run, lots of standing around. Tryouts were terrible run and end up costing the team players. The communication between staff and players are non existent. When coaches tell you dont talk to us, we dont want to hear from you. Whats that say to a player on the team? There is no system, no plays, no proper breakouts. I know parents and players are fed up. Hopefully the AD who was supposed to hire a coach with full board hired the coaches on …

Not a word on their website as to who is playing when! Absoultely useless for the casual fan! They need new leadership bad!

PA HOCKEY 2025-2026 "AAA AA & A" DIVISION PRE-SEASON RANKINGS FINAL - WEEK 0 AAA 1 SENECA VALLEY AAA 2 SOUTH FAYETTE AAA 3 THOMAS JEFFERSON …