HockeyHockey

8 minutes ago, Elitedaddy said:

Ok thanks everyone. I didn’t mean to start a thing. I am digging deeper on this and appreciate the feedback. 

Most don't mean to start a thing but some chose to do so, unfortunately.
if the kid is happy, that's the most important.  You can hopefully tune out the other BS!  There are lots of decent programs in Pittsburgh so it's really about finding the right fit for your kid.  Good luck to you!! 

45 minutes ago, Happy Hockey Fan said:

Do the Preds coaches have access to ice to even do private lessons? It seems to be a big assumption considering that only certain people are approved to offer private lessons at the Ice Castle. I definitely could be wrong, but I have known of a number of kids that have played at the Preds AAA level and they haven’t taken any lessons from coaches at all. I will find out though as I have a friend whose son played for them last year at the 2010 BY.

5 hours ago, Elitedaddy said:

If anyone can give me further and more specific details about the Pittsburgh predators leadership and the 2010 head coach, I would appreciate it. I don’t want to make a mistake.

I struggle with this because I think everyone's experience is their own story.  What I will say about mine is, the squeaky wheel gets the grease and if you're willing to invest in private lessons with their coaching staff, your player will get more ice time.  Not because it's earned, because you are padding their pockets.  They will tell you what they think you want to hear and will sell the same story to others on the team.  Folks will argue the same about other organizations, but I can't speak to that so my comments are specific to this coach and org. Good luck with your decision- I know it's tough! 

56 minutes ago, Bluebird said:

Saying it’s a problem and saying it doesn’t exist are two different things. This player was correct. One of the players that went into the stands had game misconducts by PIHL and never had to serve additional games from the team while others had to.  There were also incidents with this player at practice where he hurt other players on the team, again just brushed aside by the coach. Being overly strict for many while letting a few do whatever is inconsistent.  I would agree that is a problem. 

Oh boy.  Now I understand what was being conveyed was not intended as non-existent, but inconsistent.  Thanks for clarifying and I would agree. The same standard should apply. 

7 hours ago, Happy Hockey Fan said:

It is developmental. That is what all JV sports are. Not all organizations have full rosters at the JV or even varsity levels. Therefore they have to…..wait for it……..develop players. 

Makes sense. Player development is key at every level. I think I was being too literal about development, like new to the sport players. 

5 hours ago, nemesis8679 said:

Who made the decision for the organization to give their own suspension? The MS coach? Varsity coach? Athletic Director? So they do that at MS level, but let Varsity do whatever they want? Sounds unorganized. 

I believe the MS & Varsity coaching staff made the decision they felt appropriate for his action.  I don't believe the AD was involved and I don't believe he needed to be.  It was news to me that Varsity players were going undisciplined as I would have expected there to be consistency; but if it is true, it's sends mixed messaging for sure.  

4 hours ago, Realitycheck said:

I’m wondering the same thing on this. I replied to this also this player acting this way I don’t think can mean the whole team is poorly behaved kids. I think that’s a wrongful accusation. 

4 hours ago, Realitycheck said:

I think it’s pretty harsh to blame the whole team for the acts of a few people here. I think this goes beyond coaches and hockey. Parents have to take responsibility also for their kids behavior. This is after a game while teams are coming off the ice how can you blame everyone for that happening? I just think that’s harsh and incorrectly placing the blame.  This player has been suspended by the league according to league documentation and others have as well. Do you know if the additional suspensions occurred for those players? 

I'm sorry - it doesn't appear I articulated that well. My comment was not actually regarding this specific incident, but was in response to the prior comment about players not being disciplined being nothing new at Shaler, as that hasn't been our experience. 

I agree there are likely plenty of great kids on that team, including this player; sports are intense and kids get passionate and sometimes they act on it in ways that we would not expect.  It doesn't make them "bad" but I do believe they need to be held accountable and if they aren't as was stated in a prior comment, it doesn't set the right example for those coming up through the program.  

I believe the MS and Varsity coach made the decision on the extra suspension for my son and I support it.  He needs to be accountable for his decisions on and off the ice. I would hope that if my player reaches Varsity level that he isn't off the hook from a disciplinary perspective, as he would be the role model setting the example for the younger kids in the program. 
 

5 hours ago, Realitycheck said:

I’m wondering the same thing on this. I replied to this also this player acting this way I don’t think can mean the whole team is poorly behaved kids. I think that’s a wrongful accusation. 

Just now, HockeyHockey said:

What does that even mean? 

13 hours ago, Realitycheck said:

I am a parent that knows a lot of the families within the organization and hockey community. Believe me what I am saying I’m sure more than just the coaches and board members know. 

What does that mean? Meaning more than the coaches and board members know what?  

15 hours ago, ItsJustASport said:

Hi I used be the Senior goalie for Shaler Hockey. I quit about 2 months ago for various reasons. Players not being disciplined at Shaler is nothing new. Safe-sport actually reached out to me. I am assuming they reached out to me because a current player/parent reported shaler. I have nothing to hide, and no reason to protect anyone. 

Interesting takes from people who claim to know nothing. The coach first asked me if we could text. He is in a position of power over me and if I were to say no, I would’ve been “punished” by docking my play. 

P.S. if you think this is the first time I didn’t get what I want then you obviously know nothing.

This is interesting to me since my MS  player was serving an extra suspension  for telling a ref to "end the damn game" after a terribly ref'd game: note one suspension was from the league and other from Shaler to make clear the disrespect will not be tolerated.  

The additional game suspension is given due to the disrespect towards the referees which lead to the game suspension that they gave to XXXX. We want to make it clear that this behavior is unacceptable especially towards referees. If you have any questions or anything please let me know.

Seems like they aren't afraid to discipline when warranted at the MS level so why would Varsity be any different? The MS kids are looking up to the Varsity kids as role models so that seems comical their conduct would go undisciplined.  

On 2/11/2022 at 11:19 PM, rkowallis said:

This is a great thread initiated by a great question.  I will offer a few opinions as I coach JV at McDowell and have been a coach for 20 some years.

First let me offer that JV hockey is absolutely developmental. You need to have effort for JV but you need to have effort AND execution for varsity. 

Practices AND games are treated much differently than varsity because they are not the same.

JV practices look like:

50% skill development (power skating, simple passing, stickhandling, shooting)

25% systems drills (breakouts, regroups, angling, cycling, etc)

25% competition drills (1v1s, 2v1s, net front battles, simple puck races, etc)

There is A LOT of teaching that goes into each of those components…

Skill development: we are trying to make them faster, stronger skaters, every year we have to teach kids how to pass and catch passes on their backhand, we have to get their shots quicker and stronger, stickhandle with their heads up…

Systems drills: they are broken down into much smaller components than varsity. We have to teach them how to use the dots, how to support the puck, how to create space for themselves, do they need to use a direct pass, area pass, indirect pass? We deal with a lot of the why you’re doing what you’re doing.  Hockey is such a fluid game that the why is VERY important.

Competition drills: we have to teach proper lanes to the puck, puck protection, self-protection, leverage, etc

JV coaches obviously teach their programs systems but most of that is done on the board in the locker room or thru video review AND in the way we structure the practice drills. Many of the drills varsity teams run are worthless to JV teams because there would be too many breakdowns in skill and execution.

Generally speaking the season is broken into 1/3s. In the first third, your practices are geared toward the skill level of the bottom third of your players, the middle to your average player and then the last third pushes even your most skilled players. Its 50/25/25 all season long though. By February, 75% of varsity practice is breakouts and special teams.  JV teams may work on special teams but its more the principles rather than structure (creating 2v1s with the advantage and eliminating them on the kill)

The goal is to have your players be able to step into varsity as upperclassmen as complete players.  Players that have effort and execution inside whatever drill or system they want to run.

As far as games, I will repeat that only effort is required at JV.  If you compete your hardest, you have EARNED the ice time.
Now the caveat here is that a big part of coaching is that you try to put kids in positions to succeed so everything is not exactly equal. JV coaches dont match lines like varsity teams. If a varsity coach has an off zone draw and he sees the other teams third D pair out, that coach is probably putting out his top line. At JV, the opposite is true much of the time. JV coaches will put out their third line to give them the opportunity to get some off zone pressure against the other teams weaker players. But conversely, the third line MAY get a shorter shift if there is a dzone draw and the other team has their top line on the ice.

I know this was a long response but I wanted to offer insights as to how JV teams are run. As for McDowell, we are down to about 10 healthy players because we keep playing JV teams loaded with 04s and 05s for some reason. I will save my complaints about PIHL JV team placement for another day, however.

I agree ice time is earned with effort.  Even at lower levels though, I have seen ice time not be equal for kids working just as hard or perhaps even harder, as the kids with "more" skill and not just in certain situations.  Interested in your  view on this  and if it differs for travel teams vs school teams?