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stick tap to theroadtobeerleague!!! after posting I began to consider all the ways I might be considered an a-hole for offering constructive advice to the OP as that seems to be the norm here, but a complete lack of understanding of comparative analysis never occurred to me. hockeydad23, another option would be to see if you can get a free trial of live barn, or buy it for about $15 and then go watch some 09 AAA hockey. they only store a month of history so you should do this soon. Pretty sure NP is a live barn venue, so you could watch some of the NP squirts and see how you stack up. anyway, the point is, you have some options to compare the skill level of your child to other levels in the area, be it AAA or lower, before you start dropping tryout $$$

i love this macho internet guy thing. i've been around hockey long enough to know that 'big boy' hockey differs from squirt and peewee hockey a great deal. i've seen plenty of mite and squirt rock stars turn out to be nothing by the time bantams rolled around. that's not the issue here, though, dude. if you are comparing '09s to '09s, then it reasonable to say "go watch these aaa kids on this night. they can really skate. if you think your kid can hang, then sure... let him tryout and see what happens."

I live in Tx, so I have no skin in this... but, yeah...i've got a 2008 who can 'flat out fly.' and he could flat out fly last year, too. I've got an '06 who cannot fly and never has been able to. it's all relative, and i think the advice of going to watch some aaa kids skate so that he can get an idea of the speed and edgework at that level compared to his own son is pretty decent advice.

Kids born in 2009 can “flat out fly”? They are 9 years old. Advise to the dad: stay away from hockey parents who think this way.

hockeydad23, if you want to compare your kid to 09 AAA kids, go to the Wednesday public skate at rmu. there are some 09 vengeance kids that take skating lessons as well as other kids from PAHL teams. they usually wear their team warmups. watch them skate. not just during their lesson, but after as well. these vengeance kids can flat out fly. that should give you a good idea of what your son would experience at a AAA tryout. i understand the motivational concept behind attending a higher level tryout, but you don't want to create a discouraging experience. after you watch the AAA kids, look around and watch some of the PAHL kids and i think you'll get an idea of where your kid fits.

Very nice analogy!