Icebucket

I'm surprised no one has brought up the BS that PPE pulls at the younger levels. They pick all the players as one large group over the summer, then do not announce who made which team until as late as mid September. They leave all those kids and parents on the hook thinking they made the top team so they have no option but to stick around when they are finally told they got cut from elite.

I think you are overselling Esmark and vengeance. You can make a case that Esmark is borderline AAA, but certainly not vengeance.

Yea I've heard that alpha is in a very bad spot financially, so I could see that being the next black bear acquisition...

Yea it's midam that should step in, but they won't. It's more money in their pocket when more teams declare. The faux AAA teams are all going to, then the A+ players who now become AA will at the tier 2 level....

Anyone have any info on this? I'd be interested to see how the 14, 16 and 18s initially placed in PAHL

I do think the playing experience of a coach is very much overrated. I'd take a coach with good coaching history over a good player any day. With that being said, the lack of playing experience isn't what makes Posey a poor coach. I have no problem exposing a bad coach who is overpaid, but I think it's crazy that people come on here to bash board members of clubs. These are volunteers, who almost all have the players best interest in mind at all times. There are always going to be a few bad ones, but the majority are very generous for donating their time just to get bashed by parents who had a bad experience. Maybe those parents should donate their time to help out instead of complaining about everything.

In what world does Posey have a good resume?

I'd say it's more based on the players work ethic. Many top end players at 10U learn at a young age that they don't have to work hard to be the best. The kids who struggle through the early stages of hockey learn how much the hard work pays off. Obviously this isn't always the case as there are good young players who work very hard, but it's certainly easier for them to just go through the motions.

Obviously any team can go overboard and travel a bunch regardless of their level, but the AA teams are almost always significantly cheaper... The 15-20 guaranteed local PAHL games fill out the schedule nicely and help hit the benchmark of expected games without having to travel all around the country.

All in, I'd have trouble believing you could do a AAA team for less than $12k at younger ages and 15-17k for the older guys. 10 years ago every birthyear had 30-40 AAA level players split between 2 clubs. Now it's closer to 70-120 players split between 4-7 clubs. Think of all that extra cash being dumped into these teams. You'd think people would realize PAHL AA would actually be very competitive if you didn't skim all these players off the top. Everyone saves a boatload of money and could still play at the same level, just labeled with one less A.

While I know it helps to fuel egos of the crazy parents who's son is a future NHL superstar, I think the rankings are very helpful. They have made scheduling games significantly easier for most. It's made finding opponents simple and has also really cut down on those 10 goal thumpings that used to happen all the time back in the day.

Looks like foxes have u18 tryouts this weekend and NP is next week. Aside from those two it looks like it would just be teams with supplemental skates.

I think you are drastically overrating the level of play in local HS. This isn't MN or MA...

I don't think it's all that surprising. I do not know the kid, but where you play makes a huge difference, especially today. Years ago tons of hornets and Jr pens were noticed because they were legitimate AAA teams. Now every age has 5-10 "AAA" teams, which causes all of them except the top to lose interest from scouts. And he certainly wouldn't have had any looks at the HS level. Don't know that anyone would ever consider looking at PIHL for players. HS hockey here is great for the social aspect, but not really something to help advance on hockey...

All you did there was further prove my point. I was saying that the yournger up and coming refs should wear the bands for u16 and u18 AAA games. I stated that they are learning and need to be given this chance. It is a shame that the older refs who can no longer keep up take this opportunity from the younger officials so they can make the extra buck. it is apparent that you are one of those refs who the game has passed by. Your stubbornness and greed have blinded you from allowing the younger refs the opportunity to learn and grow. I hope you feel good about yourself

I certainly understand that all refs are human and are going to miss things. The players and coaches mess up every game much more than the officials... however, it irritates me incredibly bad when a ref is not capable of skating to keep up with the play. In a three man system, when they put the bands on the guy with seniority instead of giving it to the young ref who can get up and down the ice. Problem is the refs are too stubborn to realize that they eventually reach a point where they should only be doing lines in higher level games.

A little more info might be nice...

You can say the vengeance have improved, but if run those same numbers over 4 or 5 years instead of 2 they aren’t looking so good...

You can say the vengeance have improved, but if run those same numbers over 4 or 5 years instead of 2 they aren’t looking so good...

You can say the vengeance have improved, but if run those same numbers over 4 or 5 years instead of 2 they aren’t looking so good...

You can say the vengeance have improved, but if run those same numbers over 4 or 5 years instead of 2 they aren’t looking so good...

I agree that not many kids will advance to high levels. I think the FPP needs to be dependent on what level they are playing.. no need to restrict the AA kids. It’s a big factor of why a lot of parents are having their kids play on these bad AAA teams instead of PAHL

What it really comes down to is should the coach teach the kids how to play to be successful right now (and get all the FPP). Or coach them to be successful as they move on to higher levels of hockey(and get minimal FPP)? A ton of these kids are moving on to juniors and college in a few years and if they don’t learn how to throw and take hits now(u14 and 16) they end up hurt. They step onto the ice as an 18 year old college player and get hit by a 23 year old who has been throwing the body for almost 10 years. But little Johnny has never taken a real hit because all PAHL coaches tell their kids to avoid contact to get FPP. It’s really just PAHLs way of figuring as long as the kid doesn’t get hurt on their watch, who cares if he’s set up for failure later on...