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This^^^^^ PPE coaches have been included in the evaluation process and lo and behold, many gold buckets always seem to advance ahead of those that were more deserving. I think MidAms are a sham and a complete waste.

I heard from a reliable source that only children born in a UPMC hospital will be considered for the Pens Elite Learn to Skate Academy.

Listen up, orgs! I have the next big moneymaker— Elite Learn-To-Skate. It's a gold mine waiting to happen.

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.

You missed at least 2 SHAHA 08s

I don't know much about this, and really don't care to. What I will tell you is that I know some kids on those lists who were made to look stupid against some A Major and AA kids when they played against each other at Varsity/JV/Middle School this past season. I saw the shaming occur live with my own eyes, so that makes me question the whole process/purpose.

Not all nominated kids get to go.

This is the kind of thing that devalues this board. You make a statement like this as if you know it to be fact and it's 100% false. Tier 1 coaches are allowed to evaluate the kids they have just finished coaching, but not allowed to evaluate kids they will be coaching next season. They know the tier 1 kids better than anybody.

Have to throw pens on the front. Pens Elite Learn to Skate. People would fall over themselves to sign up.

It appears that Q has infiltrated this forum.