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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.

ECHL average pay is somewhere in the 700/week range. Minimum is like 500-something and up to around 1000. Very few if any players around here would have the ability to make a team. It might be a "lower" league but when it comes down to it those guys are closer to nhl players than the best players around here are to the ECHL.

Congratulations to all the teams that won their Divisions this weekend. Too bad all we get is scores! No game sheets to see how the games went! Or for that matter any coverage at all. Does PAHL have a facebook or Twitter site? It's ashamed how far behind Black Bear Tier 2 they are. Hopefully we will be able to find the MidAms on Score Sheet this weekend. If PAHL is not going to recognize their top AA players, I would suggest all those teams Join the Atlantic Hockey Federation and have their own Western PA Division.

thats too much work for the paid " Executive Administrator " to handle - What do we pay for again?

PAHL wants to charge the money and do the least work possible. Basically they run an organized in-house league that travels to play. I can see it getting to where they're being challenged with a competitor now and will probably end up rolling over and giving up as they continue to lose players and teams. However, I'll add that the AHF/THF groups on Facebook have an awful lot of complaining about "my kid faced 60 shots but the scoresheet only said 58", "they totally missed my kid's secondary assists 3 time this weekend", or any different incarnations of that you can think of. So I can see where PAHL doesn't want hounded week in and week out with those kind of complaints.

Wouldn't it be nice if the PAHL had a social media presence and actually did more to recognize the players in their league! You would have the best of both leagues here at home!

All in due time.

The PAHL and Midam are total hack buddy-buddy orgs. I couldn't break the glass to get in there, despite trying for years when my kids were active. They want the status quo and nothing more. No ambition, nobody with motivation to improve. The top 2 people in that org are stooges... none of this is surprising.

Which makes it even more pathetic that PAHL doesn't do anything. The hardest part is getting quality teams. PAHL already has the better teams, and they are losing them because they do nothing to improve things year after year.

Last year at MidAms, a parent emailed an official livebarn clips from a game. Not about missed penalties, but about assists that were not given and that their player would not be able to choose the prep school of their choice because of this.

Yeah I went to far with that one! Maybe charge a fee to have a stat changed. If a parent is crazy enough (I hope it's only a few) then they might be crazy enough to pay to have it reviewed. I just think stats with errors are better than no stats at all! Just my opinion.

I'm hoping this was a typo and you meant were not changed. I can't imagine having every game in an amateur league have stats challengeable what a nightmare.

Icemen charge about $4400 for the season. Does not include coach fee or team fees. Also does not include jerseys, socks, shell, jackets, etc. The AHF is a low level “AA” league at best and traveling 5+ hours to Philly and NJ? Not great value for the competition.

This is the problem with having score sheets, the parents have to ruin it once again. Goalie parents are the WORST by far and most of them don't know what a REAL shit on goal is and want everything thrown near their kid listed as a shot. They yell at the coaches, refs and score keepers if their kids don't get their assist or shots right. I know parents that have actually called and Emailed the teams, leagues and companies running a tournament because they keep their own stats and even send video clips of their kids not getting a 2nd assist or a shot went off their kid and someone else got the goal. Parents ruin everything in youth sports.

Sure would be nice to see the score sheets and have the PAHL name an all tournament team!

18U had some close competition. Preds beat Mt Lebo in overtime Saturday coming back from 2 - 0 deficit in the third. Arrows beat Preds in shootout after two five minute over times to win PAHL 18U yesterday.

You have to remember that part of the cost of being in those leagues is that you have to travel E, to Philadelphia, Delaware, and New Jersey, in order to play league games. It's not just the cost of the league itself.

The AHF distinguishes itself with a full-time professional staff, live scoring and extensive social media coverage making it the ultimate choice for those seeking the best. With parity showcases All-Stars and Championships the AHF offers a complete experience for our members. Taken from the AHF website! Wouldn't it be nice if the PAHL could do just some of this!

It's been years since I've been around ACHA hockey, but my experience matches yours. In the 90s, you were happy to get kids who at least played on a high school team. Believe it or not, playing high school hockey was a much lower bar than it is now. By the early 2010s, those same kids were getting cut. And around the same time (1990s), I do remember ECHL games were nothing but fights. Were they called the Wheeling Thunderbirds at first?? Now it's a legit AA option and even some of the single A leagues are sort of legit these days. I think it started when NHL teams needed a place to put their goalie prospects and it kind of ballooned from there. I'm not sure that the money is a whole lot better for the average ECHLer, but they do offer housing and some other amenities now.

See this is the problem with hockey. "Theoretically" a lot of people may not want to pay for or have the funds to pay for Excel, Pens, and North Catholic as you would probably pay about $30,000+ for the season. Some people may not want to run their kids 50 minutes both directions to play for Pens. Your top 5-6 players and maybe goalies at Pens are possibly at another level but after that most of the other players are interchangeable with the top players from the other high level local teams. That's why it shouldn't be a free ride for certain organizations and they need to attempt to be as fair as possible. I think Mid Am does a pretty good job. It will never be perfect and there is always room for improvement.

That's called equity. If one goes, they all should be invited so as not to make anyone feel inferior.