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ALL: Once again I am getting emails bounced back to me as a result of email addresses that are on your account, being deactivated or changed. The system generates emails to you when you get direct messaged or you are subscribed to threads, when someone replies to that thread. I am ask everyone to go into their profile RIGHT NOW and check the email address that is on your account. CLICK YOUR NAME CLICK ACCOUNT SETTINGS CHECK YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS When you are done please do a LIKE (pick an emoji) of this thread to acknowledge you've checked your email for me. THANK YOU PB

At the Moon Richland game last night. Richlands first game back in PIHL and the after the 2 hour drive, they had to stand through a 15 minute 67 jersey retirement for the Moon player who passed away last spring in a car accident. So how did they handle it? By hanging a 67 Richland jersey behind their bench. Class act all around from Richland. tenband tv broadcast the ceremony and game if anyone is interested.

My daughter was the goalie. She has been on skates since she could walk. Has been playing hockey for as long as I can remember! Eats, sleeps and breathes hockey. No amount of harassment will keep her from playing. She has handled this way better than I have.

I am the mom of the mars goalie. I unfortunately was not at the game on Thursday, although I am glad considering the events that took place. She is extremely resilient and is doing fine. She refused to say she was upset. She said all the players on the Armstrong team are friends of hers and were very upset by this. We have gotten a phone call from both the mars and Armstrong administration. Armstrong was very apologetic.

Of all the places...... they've been the tightest on restrictions and someone turned them in? So many people must have so little joy in their lives that this is how they find happiness? Such a sad state this country is in.

Hey Chief, I voted for Obama. I’m sorry that you cannot see the forest from the trees. I couldn’t either. Say what you want about Trump. The reality is he is an effective president, who can’t get out of his own way due to his ego. The Democratic Party though? Buddy, take a look at the cities being torched to the ground. Take a look at the crime rates in Dem run cities. Take a look at how fucking unhinged and wacky that party has become. You want Biden in the whitehouse sympathizing for all of the social misfits burning and looting cities? Wait until it shows up on your doorstep- you’ll change your tune very quickly. My advice to you is that you take a hard look at what is going on with “the Democrats”. Donald Trump, this virus, and the rioting/looting etc have exposed them for what they really are. The party of delusion. This isn’t Bill Clinton’s Democrats anymore Chief. This is AOC’s Democrats, aka the clown car. Furthermore, that party could give fuck all about you... you don’t fit their agenda. Wake up.

My son felt he was ready for AAA hockey around 12 or 13. Tried out at Esmark - was cut. Was told his size was too small. Pens Elite tryouts were the next week He asked to tryout. We believed all the things we had heard - the team was pre determined, If you didn't get invited you didn't stand a chance, it's all political....blah, blah, blah. We still let him tryout. He made the team. Yes, he was a bottom player. The next year (14U)- was the very first year black teams were being introduced. He was put on the black team. Coach explained - if we put you on Gold - you'll sit on the bench for games. If we put you on black - you'll get top minutes. My son was crushed - but after cooling down and thinking it through he decided to stick it out. He played the next year on black team. My kid worked hard as did every kid on that black team. (That year - the Black team beat the gold team at Mid ams.) My son continued to develop - loved the game. He continued to learn to play the speed of the game and to even pick up the speed on his shifts. It wasn't always roses and sunshine at Pens Elite. But, he continued to grow. He stayed through 16's then played 18's at a prep school. He ended up playing in the NAHL and is playing NCAA Div.1 hockey. He was a bottom player of a AAA team at 12 / 13. What changed that? skating, skating, skating - drills, practice, lessons, shooting pucks everyday in the driveway. Does the kid want to wear the jacket to wear the jacket or does he actually want to put the work in to develop? I watched Pens Elite cut a kid that then went to a prep school - that led to being drafted by the USHL and then committed to an Ivy league school for Div.1 hockey - the Pens Elite aren't the final say on a kids destiny.

This is absolutely not what the judge said. What the judge actually said was that he found Montour's arguments compelling, and that the ambiguity in the rules is also troubling to him. However, he noted that in order to issue an injunction there would have to evidence that irreparable harm would come to Montour, and that Pennsylvania case law has found that a loss of opportunity to play in a potential playoff season does not constitute irreparable harm. Because Montour was unable to show that irreparable harm would result from the situation due to the case law, the judge could not issue the requested injunction. Note though the first part - the judge did say that he found Montour's arguments for why they believed the player was eligible to play credible. Paragraph 1 says (in part) "the innocent and highly successful Montour Hockey Team". That doesn't sound like the comment of a man who thinks Montour would fail in court on the facts. He also notes that he wasn't commenting on the other prerequisites for issuing an injunction because case law is clear on the question of irreparable harm in this situation and further analysis is not required (this is common in these cases - because you have to show irreparable harm to get an injunction, judges often use that as the first test and stop their review if irreparable harm cannot be demonstrated). I'm thinking the judge here believes that Montour would win this issue in court, but he cannot order an injunction. My take is that PIHL needs to overhaul their rules regarding transfer students completely, and also needs to take a lesson on due diligence here. PIHL should be able to rely on organizations to fill their paperwork out completely and correctly, but the issues with ambiguity in the letter of the rules are undeniable, even if it is reasonably clear what the intent of the rules is. As I said before, it's not hard to imagine this happening with everyone acting in good faith, and misunderstanding the rules. It's clear, at least now, what PIHL intended when they wrote that rule, but the rule itself is fuzzy as written.

Happy Hockey Fan, Unless you are a member of USAH district or national staff, or in a position of administration in a league, you have no right to expect to see such a list of evals any more than you have a right to see the nightly evaluations of NHL officials. AND NO, you do not pay the officials' game fees.... you pay money for your kid to play at xyz org and xyz org in turn pays money to play in abc league... It Is abc league that is responsible for providing officials for their league games and in turn pay for the officials so if anyone gets to see such a list it should be the folks responsible for running the league - not some pissed off self important parent. Just like eval lists, discipline of officials is not normally something made public. I know of two officials that received 1 year USAH suspensions and many other occasions where officials were removed from the schedule for a month or more. The leagues were notified of the actions but it wasn't posted on the interwebs to satisfy the need for a pound of flesh.... Does the HR department where you work send out a memo to all employees detailing infractions and disciplinary actions taken against employees?

I can't believe there's even a discussion about these rankings after the first release. Let's revisit these in about 8 weeks.

I make my 9 year old rewatch every single practice and tell me exactly why he messed up the drill or missed the shot. Then he does 100 pushups for every mistake he makes. He will thank me when he’s in the NHL in nine years. Couldn’t do it without livebarn!

Because there is community value in PAHL and good economies too. When my AA team buys in to PAHL but your AA(A) team doesn't, what happens? Hockey gets more expensive for everyone. In PAHL we might both pay $2k for our kids to play. But to be independent/AAA, you pay $5k-$6k for your additional A. Next year, because there aren't enough PAHL teams, now I have to shop for that additional A too. So where we were once paying a combined $4k, now we pay a combined $10k. Aaaand since we are too proud to play each other, both teams need to go out of town to play when they could just as easily have played here. More $$$ flushed away. Bad for us as community because we live in the same town, hold common interests, yet unable to share them. Bad for us financially because we pay a premium on something that could have been had for 50% the price.

Thanks but I have the most accurate information since I’m actually on the team

Since Jim Black was unfairly maligned in that same post, when ironically, his rink is one of the best to play at if you are female, I would name him a good one. Bob Arturo from RMU, retired. Marianne Watkins. Brianne McLaughlin. Howard Smith. Just about every coach my kid has ever had. The ones volunteering time to run their programs. Be their team managers. The young people coming out to help with the mite programs. There are lots of good refs. There are a lot of good people in the hockey community. It's why we say 'hockey community'. This Board is mostly used to complain.

The best part about all of this is we live in a world of cameras where an NHL team can go offside 40 seconds before a goal and he called back or a baseball homerun can be 2 centimeters off and be waved off but we can't punish a bunch of rednecks calling a minor girl a whore.

Hello all, @forbin has stepped up and volunteered to be a moderator. Forbin has a good track record on the forum so I figured I'd kick the tires and see how it goes. Just don't let him know he's on double-secret probation as I evaluate his moderation skills. ? In the mean time feel free to thank him for stepping up to help the hockey community. PB

Your only problem? Really, you're only problem? You have a problem with everything that isn't what YOU want it to be. I have a suggestion for you, stay home forever if you so desire, but that's not what 95% of us want to do.

He was impressed with the extra "A"

People have too much time on their hands

Ya know what the real shame of it all is? There have been a lot of good, knowledgeable, dedicated people that have worked their asses off over the last 40 or so years to try to facilitate better opportunities for local talent. But, here we are nearly right back where we were in the 70's and 80's where you pretty much needed to find a way for your kid to play in Michigan, Massachusetts, or Canada (maybe Minnesota if they are really good and your family is from there) if you wanted a half of a sniff at JR's or NCAA D1.. just to try to get a fair shake at proving they are good enough. and even then the deck is stacked against you because you are just not part of the club. Now here's the real ironic thing.....Everything we bitch about daily just doesn't matter. For the most part, it has always been a "who you know, who you blow, or who you can buy off" prospect. The hockey world is a lot smaller than most really know. It's more like an exclusive Country Club and you gotta have the right pedigree, have enough money, or be useful to get past the front gate. Probably the only reason that kids from the hoi polloi families (as that radio personality Mr. Madden would call us) have any chance of success is that they DO have family resources that have been through the grinder. Who were chewed up and spit out, while having had their dreams shattered and eyes opened. We remember and learn from that experience. We know the game and can teach the game. We know and can teach the skills. We pass our knowledge and experience on to our kids, grand kids, nephews & nieces. And we do their best to try to guide them through the jungle.

Hi! Board member here? You had a bad experience a few years ago that I am sorry to hear about. BUT a majority of the current board was not involved in that so the continuous barrage of “bad people on the board” is annoying and offensive. Many of us are new and working extremely hard. I swear, you just sit and stare at the website waiting for something scandalous to pop up. Yes, Posey resigned on his own accord. His decision. And his “resume” is really not any more impressive than the next when you consider he did not play past high school hockey. The coaches that are lined up have all played a high level of hockey past high school: i.e AAA, Juniors, college. Is he a good skills coach? Absolutely. But so are 100’s of others. That’s not an insult it’s just a fact. Yes, we had attrition. We were expecting a high amount. We were surprised how high that amount ended up being. There was definitely a lot of self reflection and plans put in place moving forward. Hockey is fickle. I’ve been around it long enough to see many organizations have mass exodus’s and push forward. Parents are always looking for the next big thing or greener grass. Some organizations profit from it, some don’t. It ebbs and flows. The “it” organization isn’t the “it” organization for more than a few years in a row. I honestly wish you would just move on from NHAHA and find a new obsession. Some of us there are truly there to make a difference and to grow the organization. This week alone, I’ve put more hours in on the phone and sending emails than I did for my own job. Please just accept that your previous experience sucked but it had literally nothing to do with those of us there who are putting in the work to make other’s experience a positive 1.

We played AA from Bantam on. It was appropriate for his dedication level. He had talent to potentially play higher but not the passion. That’s fine with me. He had a blast. Made great friends. Played two other sports. Went to proms and homecomings etc. Hes going to play either D1 or 2 ACHA depending on his dedication level. I’m fine with either one. AA tended to cost us around 3K in fees. A couple years we played independent and PAHL so more travel was needed but everyone understood that. Some years we did 3-4 tourneys with 1 or 2 in town. Some years we did 6-8 mostly out of town. From Bantam to midget we lost about half our kids. Some to whatever AAA. Some to school full time. A few just had enough and focused on other sports. Had my son worked harder and wanted some level of AAA I would have supported it. To me hockey was red about an expectation of NHL glory. It was about the time we spent together. That was worth every dollar. He played travel baseball for a while and my daughter played travel softball. I spent a lot of money. The same I would have spent on a nice vacation every year. Adults make decisions. I’m glad we do have some intelligent discussions that newer parents can get info from. I often wonder why the bulk of this board is slamming PPE or “faux” AAA but to each their own. The fun part is my grandson played his first year of mites this year. I have the experience now. I also laugh at the ridiculous mite parents although my wife reminds me that was us 12 years ago. if your kid is playing now then cherish the time and understand they probably aren’t going to play in the NHL. Understand that there are great camps and skills development but also understand that their are people out there who will tell you anything for dollars. Sit back and get your joy from the joy your kid has. Isn’t that what it means to be a parent? If you are constantly pissed off about coaches/playing time etc. really talk to your kid. Are they really pissed off too? Ultimately listen to your kids. Understand what they really want. Fill that need if you can. If your kids aren’t playing anymore than relax and offer sage advise. Don’t just say xyz sucks. Tell them why and don’t say it if it sucked for you because of whatever. Give them a little more perspective.

unless you're PPE....

I think any parent addressing another child should be an auto ejection.

Gonna need to update my user name

I feel it is necessary for me to speak up on this forum and offer my apologies to the entire Western Pennsylavania Hockey Community, the Mars School District Community, the Mars Area School District and the hockey team itself for the behavior of our student section Thursday night. Since we first heard of these behaviors as school adminstrators we have been in contact with the owner/operator of the venue in which the game occured, as well as our local president expressing our displeasure for this behavior as well as the lack of action taken on the security officers’ part as well as the arena management. They agreed that more should have been done. We have reached out and discussed this incident with the administration at Mars High School to offer our aplogogies not only to them but mostly to offer our apologies to the young lady that was ridiculed. The school adminstration stated that they appreicated our efforts in this regard. We have been in contact with the PIHL and have been part of banning our students from attending any further games until a point in time in which the PIHL feels we have taken enough steps to ensure apporiate behavior. We will respect any decision they make and will be supportive in any way in which we can. Ironically, we are in the process of creating and implementing a sportsmanship program within our school to serve as an educational opportunity for our students. Unfortunately, we were not fast enough in the implementation of this program. We are still trying to identify the students from the video to take disciplinary action. The bottom line is we do not condone these actions from any of our students and will look to take appropriate disciplinary actions as a school. This is certainly a mess. We are embarrassed and working hard to change the behaviors and ensure what happened Thursday night never hapens again. Mike Cominos Principal

The mythology of masks (and this "vaccine") is ridiculous. Our entire family got COVID back in January 2020. None of us got the Vaccine this year, nor do we plan to do so. However, the government is pushing this MYTH that you must get the prick even if you have had COVID. No thank you. I won't patronize anywhere that forces me to show proof of vax, when I already have the God Given antibodies in me. If you're that damn concerned about catching coof, don't go out in public. Masks AREN'T going to help unless you are practically wearing a mustard-gas preventing gas mask. So glad I no longer have kids in youth hockey. This is all BS.

Congratulations to 2021 SCS Girls 14U - Bronze Medal 16U - Silver Medal 19U - Bronze Medal

I'm dreaming of adult discussion...that doesn't involve name calling or COVID 19. I miss hockey....and slamming PPE. .and arguing whose squirt is going pro....

I contend that every kid I know is NOT happy about the restrictions. I contend that you should stop trying to speak for some supposed majority when you have no idea what anyone thinks or feels outside of your kids small realm. The issue that you seem to not understand is that these restrictions in no way make anything safer. Actually, quite the opposite. I have a son that plays cards at a small card shop on Saturdays. Being indoors, they have a 25 person max capacity. Let me tell you, if you put 25 people in this place, there would be a few body parts forced up asses to get them all to fit. But yet a 17,000 sq foot building with a 15-20 foot ceiling has the same capacity? It's arbitrary, asinine and has nothing to do with safety. It has nothing to do with staying home and fear or lack of fear or freedom fighting. it's a simple matter of once you've let 25 in a building for a game, WTF difference does another 25 make? NONE!! Players can be spread on the benches in creative ways to distance them, which is a HELL ton safer than the current recommendation of staying in the locker room for 30 minutes.

Think anyone would be offended if I show up for PittsburghHockeyDigest? I don’t want to take up a spot a parent could have but would like to get some quotes

It's very simple. WPA DOES NOT develop hockey players. They take the money. Play lots of games and leave a bunch of kids wanting. I go to a lot of games. The fundamentals that are lacking in our kids is obvious. They can skate and shoot with the best of any one. It's how they play the game that leaves them behind. Maybe instead of kids under the age of 16 playing 60 games and having 40+ on ice practices. They should have 100 practices and 30 games. The NCAA has that sort of schedule and it doesn't seem to hurt the development of their players.

Would you rather have sports, businesses and restaurants opened on a limited basis while wearing a mask when you go out, or have everything closed while not having to wear a mask at all......... Everyone has choices, and if I need to wear a mask when entering / exiting a restaurant or seeing an amateur hockey game, I am OK with it. Those same businesses mandate shoes and a shirt, no?

Not to completely derail this thread, but the Preds are a joke. You mentioned you “spoke to the coaching staff”. That’s great. They will tell you anything you want to hear to get your tryout money and if your kid sucks up to them enough, or your wife is hot and flirtatious, your kid will make the team. However, he won’t see any playing minutes unless you are ponying up and taking weekly private or small group lessons with the coach. Thats a fact. DM me for more info. I know these guys personally and have for many years. Nothing ever changes. Ask some of the 08-12’s who have left because of those exact reasons. They over promise, under deliver, and over charge you.

My son played in the AHF. I'll say that the league does a much better job of managing their website. Live scoring, stats, players of the week, all-star teams are all pretty cool and certainly add to the experience. I'll also say that the level of competition in that league is absolutely not worth the 10-12 hours of driving you'd do for a weekend, even if you do get 4-6 games. If you're in PAHL already there's no point in adding that amount of driving and hotel stays to play teams that are equal to the competition out here (at best). If you're an independent team you can easily find equal or better competition within 2-3 hours (Ohio, Buffalo) and not take that long trip on the turnpike.

Unfortunately all the independent/“faux AAA” teams impact the other players and families who would love to play a good, competitive, LOCAL schedule. That is why people get frustrated with organizations like Icemen that take some talent and travel all over the place instead of playing PAHL.

I'm going to take a guess that at the upper ages, especially 18u, that kids are deciding to play for school only. And why not? I think it's hard for a lot of kids to do both, or have little enough interest in anything else to have the time to do both. Now if these club teams just played PAHL and a few tournaments, that's one thing. You can do 20 games, maybe 4 tournament weekends, 20 school games, and the practices to go with it if you wanted to. But add another 35-45 independent games to that, and now you're playing more than an NHL'er. And going to school, and trying to have a life in there on top of it. Makes it not very easy. They come to the realization that chasing PAHL/Independant isn't worth what they might have to give up. Hockey is supposed to be a fun thing, maybe there are other things they enjoy, too. Whether it's spending time with friends, a part time job, spending a lot of time looking at colleges, wanting a few nights to play video games, or whatever else they could be doing instead of being at the rink 6 nights a week. Friends going out to the movies this weekend? Girlfriend wants to go to the school dance? Too bad, you have to drive to Philadelphia or Columbus to play a handful of games to count towards your My Hockey Rankings. It's stressful, it consumes a big chunk of free time, you might get split up from your friends you like playing with, higher costs, etc. And it becomes increasingly apparent for just about everybody that there is no scholarship to Notre Dame or getting drafted to the OHL coming any time soon. Or alternatively, you can play for school. Still be part of a team, still play good hockey, and actually get a crowd engaged in the game, other than half a dozen dads yelling over the glass at you. And unlike the independant teams, you're actually playing for something. You're at school half of your day, 5 days a week with your peers. It's more likely some of those kids you go to school with care more about talking about and cheering for their school team than the Pittsburgh Icemen, or the Allegheny Badgers did over the weekend. I don't know if I'm right, but my guess is that is contributing to where these players have gone.

Nobody seems to have noticed that Pittsburgh was well represented in the girls brackets. Pens Elite won 14U Tier 1, Rebellion won 14U Tier II, with Steel City Selects and Arctic Foxes coming in second and third. Steel City Selects won 19U Tier II, with Armstrong in second. A strong showing for Pittsburgh Girls' teams! Congratulations to the girls.

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and Happy New Year to all our members. Thank you for participating in our free forum on Western PA Hockey. I wish everyone nothing but the best in 2023. PB

But..... aren't the majority of the "AAA" players not actually AAA but in reality "faux AAA" as many on here profess? If that's the case, then the AA players should have no issue competing with them and the A players should use the opportunity to push themselves to their best. It can't be both ways.

I posted this in the girls section but it deserves general acknowledgement. The SCS U19 girls just defeated Arizona 1-0 in OT to take the National championship! Great job ladies!

Can we please reserve talk about calling ANY U12 or below team a "powerhouse" until they at least reach U14 and checking comes into play?

At this point I'm just waiting for the EXCEL Academy Daycare to pop up. A competitive environment for your hockey minded infant/toddler ages 18m-4 years. The sad thing is that I personally know of a couple parents that would be all over it.

What started as a weak topic (Icemen - why? should really be “who cares?”) actually turned into a decent discussion. Now it’s devolved into basically insinuating that other posters are pedophiles and we have others liking that. You’re the ones who are sick minded.

I know I have a call in with the PIHL this week, I hope to have some official answers. I do know that we are not going to be at as many games (PittsburghHockeyDigest) for obvious reasons, but are offering broadcasting again and pre-determined coverage. I know some of last years broadcasts weren’t very high quality and left a lot to be desired, but I’ve worked on fixing things in the off-season. I was learning as I went and it showed. Hopefully they translate to a better product.

I am very real and all of your comments further validate why we are so happy at PPE. You all are just jealous your little Johnny’s can make a real hockey team and are stuck playing PAHL. Or should I say, not playing.

Hmm, I sense a Lil’ 66’er parent is bitter by not having games. I totally get it. How else can 7 year old Johnny get scouted? Maybe it’s time to uproot the family so he can chase HIS dream.......

I complied the list of western PA reps that have opposed this bill. The rest are all in Eastern PA and probably 8-10 are in Montgomery County alone. I hope this helps make it easier to reach out and contact these folks. A. DAVIS (D) DISTRICT 35 Allegheny County (412) 664-0035 DEASY (D) DISTRICT 27 Allegheny County (412) 928-9514 DERMODY (D) DISTRICT 33 Allegheny County, Westmoreland County (724) 274-4770 FRANKEL (D) DISTRICT 23 Allegheny County (412) 422-1774 GAINEY (D) DISTRICT 24 Allegheny County (412) 665-5502 INNAMORATO (D) DISTRICT 21 Allegheny County (412) 781-2750 LEE (D) DISTRICT 34 Allegheny County (412) 273-3400 LONGIETTI (D) DISTRICT 07 Mercer County (724) 981-4655 MATZIE (D) DISTRICT 16 Beaver County, Allegheny County (724) 266-7774 D. MILLER (D) DISTRICT 42 Allegheny County (412) 343-3870 RAVENSTAHL (D) DISTRICT 20 Allegheny County (412) 321-5523 SAINATO (D) DISTRICT 09 Lawrence County (724) 656-1112 WHEATLEY (D) DISTRICT 19 Allegheny County (412) 471-7760

That's your opinion along with the Governor and his Health Secretary. A health secretary who among other things moved her mother out of a nursing home at the very start of this mess while at the same time sent positive patients back into other homes such as the one in Beaver County. That facility is the SOLE reason Beaver county is still in the Red phase. That leaves a lot of room to question their plans as well as their motives You have your Fauci's with one opinion, people from Stanford with another and last night I saw another doctor who had his message removed from youtube just like may others have. His message was this, the schools and children weren't at risk and we closed them immediately. The senior care facilities were the highest risk and they took forever to be closed. If we left the schools open, there would have been a better chance for building herd immunity. The bottom line is this, you don't know. I don't know and I'm not sure anyone really does know. So, for two months we have listened to their "rules" and now it's time to get back to life if you're so inclined OR stay at home in fear of something that is the unknown and which the duration is also unknown. Just not the way this country is supposed to work.