forbin

Not saying it won't happen or that you're wrong there, King Jr. I am just saying it sounds like he doesn't want to be held accountable for it so he will let the organizations and associations make the decision as of now.

A recommendation is not a mandate. Also, why the first of the year? If anything, the cases will go up and be worse because of the holidays and everything involved in that.

If there isn't a season, I sincerely hope that most (if not all) rinks are very smart and strategic about this and remain open while offering plenty of power skating, skills instruction, 3on3 games, etc all day everyday. Hockey 2-3 times a week is my kids only shred of normalcy right now and I honestly don't think his mental state can take an entire year of no in person school AND no hockey.

I could not agree with this more. Could a solution that could help fix this be make room for PAHL teams to practice 3x a week? Although it may not be logistically possible with the amount of ice available.

Yes the mens team has 4 local kids, 3 or 4 from Ohio, and 10 from Canada. The women's team is much more lopsided.

4/28 are from Pittsburgh and 10/28 are from Canada. I get what you're saying, and it is somewhat off putting, however even D1 programs like Boston College and North Dakota have a good amount of Canadian players as well as players from other parts of the country. As a side note, Interestingly to note, I know two of the local RMU kids personally and both of their paths to D1 were the same (PPE>NAHL>RMU)

College hockey in general, but even more so in the Pittsburgh area is like that awesome band or tv show you find and love but it just doesn't get enough recognition no matter how much you try to spread the word. I think a lot of people see club hockey or ACHA as glorified beer league. RMU not being closer to the city center, and Chatham playing in a dump of a rink really hinder their exposure. If Pitt was D1, had an on campus rink, and got a local name with $$$ to back them they would pack that arena every game. Think about how ridiculous that lists of "IF's" is though. Sucks that Pittsburgh isn't more of a hockey town but it is what it is.

In my joe blow opinion I think the Pittsburgh area should have 4 legit AAA teams at the 14U, 15U, 16U, 18U levels. One team at each age group and that's it. If those organizations should choose to field peewee and squirt teams then so be it. I think those teams should be based geographically around the city. One in the North (PPE) , South (TBD), EAST (Esmark), WEST (TBD). That makes it 20 kids per team, 80 kids per age group. Which I truly believe this area has the depth of talent to support those roster numbers. All other players would play AA or A which would bolster the PAHL divisions significantly. Although this model would never work because parents suck.

I've suggested this a couple of times here and while I think it would logistically make sense and also provide a lot of room for WPA bragging rights on who the best AAA team is, a lot of players and parents that are involved LOVE the travel and exposure part of playing AAA. Going to MI, MA, NY, MN and Canada and playing other AAA organizations is a big draw for these teams. That being said I think a local AAA league would work to make the scheduling of the non tournament games much easier. Hell, 99% of the "AAA" teams in the area are faux AAA teams and play independent AA/AAA schedules anyway. If the PAHL created a AAA division it might water down the AA and A divisions even more than they already are.

Take those "rankings" with a grain of salt. That guy makes those videos to boost his kids ego. They lived in MN, his kid played for Gentry Academy. Now they live in IL and I'm just going to assume his kid plays for one of the "top" 5 teams on that list. Notice how he mentions that the Chicago area is the best in the country for AA numerous times? Not saying he's wrong, just saying its a pretty biased list in my opinion.

So do these teams fall under the "faux AAA" category?

I think the following could be included in the rink category: -Ice quality -Ice availability (only 1 sheet, multiple sheets) -facility specific training options i.e. power skating, skills sessions, summer camps etc.. (not ran by organizations) For organizations I would suggest things like: -quality of coaching -quality of practices/training -off ice training provided? -amount of practice times and ice availability (1 practice a week, multiple, etc) -responsiveness to inquiries - reputation I think this idea would be fantastic for newer parents, new people to the area or even people considering a change in organizations. Looking forward to other poster's input. I'm sure it will create a lot of discussion points! I'd be happy to help get this off the ground any way I can. Thanks Paul!

I'm not completely against the full ice mites because I have seen kids get bored with not playing "real" hockey. I honestly didn't even know the Pittsburgh area offered it. I do think the ADM model with cross ice and half ice helps them develop. Id rather see a bunch of small area puck battles and lots of scoring chances rather than a ton of half ice stretch passes and wide open ice. There are certainly the group of skilled 7 and 8 year olds who can handle it though.

They do 2 practices per week and then scrimmages against each other (there are only two teams) on weekends. When my son played we went to 3 jamboree tournaments and all three were played as red level half ice just like all the other PAHL programs do. This was two seasons ago so maybe things haven't changed? I wouldn't be surprised if the parents were petitioning for more travel tournaments. To each their own I guess, it just wasn't our scene.

The ironic thing about this is that the level of play, the training and instruction they receive, and the fact that they only play each other (besides a couple of jamborees) is essentially the exact same thing that the RMU mite in house program is doing. And RMU does it A LOT better in my opinion. I know this personally, my kid did both.

Oh man can you imagine the backlash over that!? Maybe a rotating schedule and a reduced fee (that's a joke obviously)

I am wondering how it will work if the max of 25 people restriction is still in place come time for the season to start? -1 ref ,1 coach per team,10 skaters and 1 goalie per team. I guess it would be doable, but certainly not ideal. Edit: Would they have to count the time clock operator and EMT as "on ice" people? If that's the case than it would be 9 skaters per team which is rough.

An interesting and well written article. I've never understood the whole squirt and peewee AAA thing. Seems like a total parental bragging situation. Those parents are generally the ones who spend $3k at the team store decking themselves out in the team garb. Honestly, if it weren't for the ADM rules, I could see AAA mite teams being a thing. I think the organizations would make an absolute killing off of that. To comment on the money side of this - my coworker took his family of four to Disney for a week last year and spent over $14,000. It's your money, spend it how you want.

Then why are you here? Seriously, why is someone who is not involved with youth hockey in the WPA area on this message board? Says the guy who just bragged about playing in the jungle, which started this whole debacle.

The King and I disagree on some things. He doesn't believe my completely true story about my real friend in MN, which is fine. I can easily verify it if he'd like, It's not a point to argue though. It is what it is. I don't agree with his style of demeaning fellow board members and parents about the choices we make for our kids. But he has knowledge of situations that we don't. He also makes a lot of valid points (though most of them are extremely narcissistic). What I am assuming that we can both agree on is that you are chump. Would it be possible to let me know which local organization you are involved in so I can make sure I stay far far away? Hell, can you even just narrow it down to the general area relative to Pittsburgh? (North, south, east, west)

Oh my kid is absolute hot garbage. He's gonna need all the help he can get to make it past the jungle.

My kid is still young, so I have plenty of time to grease the palms of coaches until hes a NHL player. Thank you for the advice.

No, they just paid for a billet family and a ton of coconuts for you to live your dream in the jungle.

HAHAHA you're probably right! I was assuming he was referring to the ECHL as I have heard players refer to it as the jungle. But a pay to play junior B league sounds way more likely for this kid.

I'd be willing to bet actual real money that you did not in any way shape or forum compete in the ECHL. And unlike you, I actually have three separate former business associates/acquaintances that work in team management offices in the ECHL as well as the AHL. A quick phone call or two would straighten this out.