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The best player in PIHL could just as easily be on a D2 team or a single A team than on a PIHL AA or AAA team. If the co-op schools are in their own division, shouldn't Private/Catholic schools also be in their own division?

I doubt they would put up numbers as big as they did in the open class. But they would still be good players. Without a supporting group of players it is always harder to stack points. I believe you are correct, these players would be good in AA. But no way they rack up points playing with their open class teams in AA. They would still score a good bit, but no where near what they did in open class. But put those same two players on a pure AA team and they would be among league leaders in scoring.

PIAA co-op is based off the student population of the host school, not combined. But there is a student population cap for schools they are allowed to have join. I think it’s around 250 M or F, depending on the sport.

Yes - this was the response from Keith Barnes several weeks ago when asked about the Penguin Cup coverage and then my response - then crickets KB- We cover the D2 championship game every year, but D2 schools do not compete for the Penguins Cup and are ineligible for state finals. This was a Penguins Cup playoff preview. That's what makes PIHL co-ops different from WPIAL co-ops. Penguins Cup teams have to be 'pure,' which is the league standard word used and not mine. I know that may not explain it to your satisfaction, but that has been the policy for the 10 years I have written for the Post-Gazette. My response - I am very well aware of how PIHL classifies the teams and what the difference is between a "pure" and co-op team. I am also aware that they won't call the D2 championship a Penguin Cup - that is a story in itself. I guess you missed my point in that nothing is ever covered for D2 teams/players. Have you written anything about a D2 team/player this year? - there are some really good players/teams that get no recognition. Are you aware that a D2 team - Bishop Canevin - will be going to US Hockey High School Nationals for the third year in a row? Last year they made it to the semifinals. And an additional question: will D2 players be considered for the "Stellar 6" or "Player of the Year" that will be published soon, or is that just for "pure" team players even though they all fall under PIHL?

Only two out of the 24 A-level teams make it to the Pens Cup final and they lost to a team that did not lose a game the entire season. Most schools would take that scenario in a heartbeat. On top of that, GS was a five seed.

The private schools are mostly in D2, but to your point, the leagues in the east do mostly make the private schools play AAA. And I agree, the best player in the PIHL could be on any team really. I do agree with the other point that they would not put up the same numbers in AA as D2. I don't know if there is really much gap between D2 and A. In fact, the best D2 teams might be better than the worst A teams. What is crazy is the A teams would easily handle the best teams from the 70s...back then, most teams had about 5 guys who could skate and filled the rest of the team with guys they played street hockey with.

Because they can't. That's it, they just can't. Welcome to real life, if they can't accept it, oh well. Good luck in life snowflakes.

If PAHL wants to call their championships Penguin Cups, then they would need to take that up with the Penguins organization. The issue is not with what they are called - it is with being considered basically a separate entity where the players/teams are "less than" the others. I think you missed the point of this not being about PIHL and more about coverage and including all Varsity hockey players in consideration for the accolades that are given. That is why this exchange was directed at Keith Barnes and not PIHL.

You can also make the argument of, why isn't every PAHL championship a penguin cup? Is D2 really any different from PAHL amateur play where it's players from a variety of schools? I think PIHL does a great job of giving these players a place to play despite them not actually being school teams. But people are never satisfied and always want more than the gift they were already given.

Great work! Not surprising when you questioned him further! Which brings up a really good point! Why is the D-2 Championship not for a Penguins cup? Just because there is no similar league in the East or just because the higher ups believe it is inferior hockey? It's played in the West so why can't it be called the D-2 Penguins cup? Once again small schools are being discriminated against!

As an official, sometimes you do miss the secondary assist, when that occurs I normally ask a coach or the goal scorer something like "which d-man made the 1st pass?" or something along those lines. They are good with giving me a number 99% of the time and I have to trust that they are going to give me the correct information. I only ask if I know that there was a 2nd assist and I missed the number, I won't hand out an assist just because a kid skates up to me and claims to have made a pass. If teams want to send in stats corrections, so be it. I'll be the first one to admit that I'm not perfect but I can say that I do the best job that I can when I'm out there. I always wanted my son to get credit for points when he deserved it back when he played so I make it a point to give these kids the same credit today.

It's a combination of some players "claiming" assists from the refs after a goal, some refs not caring or unable to determine goal scorers, and some coaches/organizations sending in stat corrections to the league. If you see a team that consistently has 2 assists credited for every goal, you can be pretty sure either the coach called them in after the game, or the players followed the ref to the score keeper. Most of the time it's inconsequential, my kid has had missed assists at times and assists he didn't deserve credited to him other times.

Where does D-2 get plenty of publicity? Has there ever been a D-2 player recognized in your Stellar 6? You didn't even include them in your rankings and Keith Barnes didn't include them in his previews or articles on the championship previews. Where is there any mention of D-2 in your history of PA high school hockey book? And didn't I say that was a wonderful list. Why don't you congratulate the player that led all of the PIHL in scoring? He can't make your Stellar 6? Whats the criteria for inclusion?