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This much is clear. They have 4 rinks already and control or influence over the orgs in their rinks. PAHL cant stop it. As with anything in this world, money talks. When you have 4 billion in capital to work with, can the single owner rink afford to not listen? If this is going to continue, which it is, is it better to cooperate or dig in and fight as long as you can? I dont see how PAHL can fend BB off, if they wanted to. Its really in the rink owners, who own a single rink squaring off against a corporation that owns 36 now (think he just bought two more), can you afford not to? Im sure there are some owners that will not sell but if the orgs dont join their AHF league, the org and the rink will suffer in a dying PAHL division. (Look at DVHL - which still exists, so not all hope is lost). Maybe its worth cooperating to salvage what can be salvaged, or at least accept certain levels of compromise. Whats better for youth hockey in this area? Is it a knock down drag out fight or work with the incoming to keep the programs that are building, investing and improving. Im on the middle on this. I think BB could be good thing, it seems like it could be a better product than PAHL and MidAM. Is it perfect? Nothing is in youth sports is. Either way its coming, surf the wave or get toppled over and hope you float to the top. I dont rejoyce about the Vipers current situation, it will be hard to find a new home. Alpha is buying up all of Shadysides ice, so their school league is using a lot of that. Its possible they could move there. Butler? Shadyside Academy, what Alpha doesnt buy? What about that Hunt Armory, I dont know it or who plays there, would they have ice. I dont think any of the one sheet rinks would have enough, like Nevin. I can see Vipers losing a bunch of kids to Huskies, Renegades, or Aviators. Its tough, hope they find a solution. If you havent at least read up on the AHF, Blackstone Investment group, Black Bear sports, Murry Gunty. Websites and social media are a good start. Make an informed decision about whether or not its a worthy fight or worth compromising. One thing that does concern me is while we have a lot of bad parents and coaches in youth sports, there are a lot of good folks who put their time in and work to do things right. Watching people like that work hard to do it the right way getting pushed out does suck. I hope they find a way to stay invovled if thats the case. Sure its demoralizing, but if your character is true, another opportunity will be there for you to continue to support youth hockey.

No, I am talking about slamming his stick, face turning red screaming because 5-7 year olds couldn't catch a pass. If you scream at kids as a coach you're failing. Communication and leadership is how you'll gain their respect. This just proves he hasn't gotten his temper under control.

Little League Baseball has adopted the USA Hockey model of stations where players are completing different tasks at different stations, then rotating every 5-10 minutes. Fungos in one area, grounders in another, BP, fly balls, running bases.......kids at this age are known for kicking daisies in the outfield and making dust clouds on the dirt infield when they are bored. If kids are standing around at a Mite practice that is a major problem and the fault lies with the coaches on the ice - kids that age have the attention span of a gnat. Keep the kids engaged and moving around should fix that problem.

Boy this pretty constructive conversation broke down quickly

I think you make a lot of great points. While I have my suspicions of BB sports monopolizing the market, it could do some good. I do believe there are some other rinks throughout the PAHL footprint that could use a very thorough house cleaning. I think the corporate non-parent sector joined with the “right” parents and volunteers could make a viable team. There’s always been politics in youth sports and no place is immune to politicians being in the mix but it’s out of hand. This could be a solution. Maybe not a cure but a step in the right direction. I think BB needs to address with its customer base is simple…. 1. How to avoid pricing families that are on the borderline out of access to the game. 2. plans on keeping travel reasonable for all levels and limited for those playing on the lower level teams. The A minor and B teams don’t need to go to incredible distances for play. 3. how converting to for profit status effects playing in PAHL, how that effects one’s ability to fundraise etc. I think some town hall type meetings in each respective rink allowing for parent Q&A. the coming weeks and months are going to be very interesting and I think all of us paying parents deserve as much information as possible before decisions are made.

Only "Team PA" team I know of is the brick team that gets their butts kicked every year. I'm sure if there is money in it for them Pens Elite would put it together for you.

This is one reason people are fed up with Mid AM, same with PAHL. For a non-profit, these people are making a lot of money and the source of the money (parents) have no say in who governs.

Yep, with behavior like that these kids are never going to get to the NHL. Someone needs to keep them in line.

You nailed that Mite practice! Sounds like kids having fun at that age! Isn't that the most important thing. Also it's the coaches job to keep all those mite kids entertained and doing positive hockey things. Your example above has them having to much time on their hands at practice. But I love it and that's the real deal.

Unless he was swearing at them, who cares. I coached Mites and some of the nicest parents I know would HAVE to scream at Mite kids because they don't listen for crap. You have little Johnny skating doing whatever he wants, Timmy going to the boards to wave to Gma and Gpa, Danny riding his stick like a horse, Sammy picking his nose, Alex squirting other kids with a water bottle, Mikey sitting down in the middle of the ice (where he can get hurt), Joey playing rock paper scissors with a kid from the other team with his gloves off, Collin skating in the middle of the ice trying to get other kids to see his new trick he learned at practice the other day and little Brandon swinging his stick everywhere but at the puck

The top 16UAA team in the country came out of PAHL last year and they weren't perfect in the league! Didn't they win the league in OT last year? Sounds like a pretty good league to me!

Ok, so what is so bad about PAHL? What are the suggestions to make it better? Other than the Fair Play Points what are the other problems? Seems like a decent league for kids who want to stay local to play!

Isn't PAHL also run by parent volunteers?

Is there anyone in a leadership position with PAHL on this message board? We've been looking at things from the Black Bear perspective and anticipating and speculating their next move. But it's just as valid to look at PAHL and think through ways they can improve and even respond to these coming changes. Does PAHL have a game plan? Or do they feel this takeover is just inevitable, just like the DVHL out east?

It amazes me how people come on these message boards and trash people by name while offering no solutions nor raising their hand to offer their “expertise” (because they could obviously do it better) all while hiding behind an anonymous account name. Carry on.