forbin

52 minutes ago, ChiefKeef said:

Are the Pens helping kids from the start all the way up or are they primarily having kids come in from the outside, for a year, maybe 2, and then claiming them if they commit or get drafted?  

They “help” them for 4-6 years from mites to peewees and then dump them to esmark or vengeance for kids from Michigan. It’s an awesome development model for local kids. 

27 minutes ago, Sticktime56 said:

I don't think 1 will against a legitimate AAA team could make any determination. What would make that determination would be AAA talent on any given team, as well as some consistency track record of beating legitimate AAA teams. Everyone knows 1 win is irrelevant, everyone can get lucky once during a season. He'll I watched a A team scrimmage a AAA and win due to bad reffs and a lucky day ha! 

I never said one win. I'm talking about certain "faux" AAA teams beating multiple different "legitimate" AAA teams, multiple different times over the past few years.... 

So if a team declares AAA and plays against other "legitimate" AAA teams, and beats them, would you not consider them to be AAA? 

Just asking

I have said this before but I don’t see how BB being in the area is a bad thing at all. With the AHF offering a half season option, I could see many PAHL teams taking advantage of this. Say you take a 10U AA PAHL team and get your 6 preseason games, 14 regular season, 4 ODSET, add in AHF half season and that’s another 16 games spread out over 4 weekend trips to Philly/NJ, throw in a local tournament and a travel one somewhere else for another 8-10 games, maybe 4-6 independently scheduled games and you’ve got yourself a good season of around 50-55 total games with a good variety if opponents and decent amount of travel. 
 

I don’t see BB offering an AHF West division until they get more clubs on board here and that can’t be done without buying more rinks because that’s the whole thing about the AHF is that they make their own rules and schedules and it’s all done so by one group of centralized people, not by the rink. I have heard strong rumors that BB is looking at Alpha, which would make total sense as BB are now partners with the USPHL. 
 

Just wait a few more years until Black Bear buys UPMC and everyone’s head will explode. 

14 hours ago, pickle said:

Yeah - I thought this was discussed before.  It is a good move, but I still don't understand the objective and what they are really accomplishing.  My understanding is they are still going to be be putting the teams scores/rating and will be listing the teams in descending order, so effectively the rankings will still be in place? What are they getting rid of? It seems they are just not going to put an actual ranking beside the team name, but it seems pretty easy to just count.

You're absolutely right, they aren't really accomplishing anything. The way I understood it is that teams will be listed alphabetically but still have their rating listed as well, therefore little Jaxton's dad will still be able to export to an excel file and "rank" them anyway which I'm sure he will gladly do. 

6 hours ago, Danner27 said:

Sorry for all the edited posts folks. It was best for this community if we want to keep the place around ? 

I mean I wasn't gonna say anything.....LOL

On 7/9/2022 at 9:41 PM, ChiefKeef said:

I also just recently saw the that UPMC rink has started a new initiative to fundraise so kids can afford to play hockey.  While the hockey director sits and raises prices by the hundreds/thousands year after year lol

There are some MAJOR ulterior motives at play with this "fundraising" by one person in particular who has weaseled his way into the program...

There’s one former NHLer in particular I could do without exploiting everyone in Pittsburgh and turning every single thing into a giant money grab….but that’s a different story. 

I think this is good news for SSA. Might help get more talent in the door.

I see on their site that the Vipers aren’t fielding 10U or 12U teams, but the Viper Stars are….what’s the story here? 

11 hours ago, Carl Racki said:

By ridiculous I mean screaming and yelling at their own mite players/refs,  using poor language and being thrown out of mite games for it.  I didn't really want to go there with specifics.  Like I said hopefully it didn't happen often and doesn't any more.  It was a while ago but I had seen it a few times.  I didn't even have kids playing in those games.  Mine were playing in a separate game but it was so bad it caught my attention.  I saw it a few times.  To crazy for me at the mite level and hopefully it doesn't happen anymore. It was a bad look for the organization.  

Unfortunately that is EVERYWHERE with mites these days. Coaches and parents are completely nuts. I first hand saw the following this past season:

-SCIR coach jumped over the boards to yell at ref 

-66er parents ridiculing players and making fun of opposing teams parents in stands at tournament

-PREDS coach tossed for stepping on to the ice to yell at ref

-SHAHA Dad tossed for walking onto the ice and pushing ref

- Allegheny/SCIR coaches screaming at each other on bench

- Allegheny parents calling player multiple obscenities' repeatedly 

-LCL coaches instructing their kids to take out opposing players (confirmed to be true after speaking with players after game)

-RMU coaches  getting tossed for arguing with ref

-SCIR dad getting tossed for screaming at ref 

All of these at the red level and are 100% true. It was absolutely insane and it's no wonder why nobody wants to ref mite games anymore. 

Locked to prevent any type of slippery slope from happening. I understand the Athletic is website that anyone can access (if you pay), however this player is still underaged and therefore it is against this websites rules to discuss him by name. 

1 hour ago, hockey57410 said:

 Foxes are big organization, but they cater to the casual player and don't develop kids or work any harder for talented groups.  Basically foxes treat AA down to Low B all the same.  

100% agree. This is the reason we left.

12 minutes ago, Saucey said:

Perfect. They'll be ready for beer league.

Wow I have never seen someone downplay the development model of NCAA D1 programs ?

2 hours ago, RJUSHL said:

How long until there is a "West" division in the Atlantic Hockey Federation? https://atlantichockeyfederation.com

Lots and lots of teams. There are 21 teams in 12U AA just as an example.

PAHL AA can be pretty good hockey, but the problem is that the number of teams are limited so you end up playing the same 6-7 teams with roughly the same players year after year after year. It can feel like you're in some type of echo chamber. If you're in an A division there is so much more movement and you end up playing different teams and different clubs each year.

I just don't think there's any possible chance that Black Bear isn't already planning this. It's going to further weaken PAHL. I would guess the four organizations at Black Bear owned rinks would be the first to go. No chance Black Bear is going to leave this money on the table.

Anything appealing about AHF over PAHL?

Its only matter of time until AHF is in Pittsburgh and personally I see it as a good thing. Strong rumors that BB is looking at buying up a couple more rinks in Ohio and Buffalo area, so I could absolutely see an AHF West division happening. Maybe it will force PAHL to restructure a bit, or teams could probably play in both and get a nice variety of opponents and a hefty schedule. 

Do players develop more during games or at practice?

2 hours ago, Jack Handey said:

 

Because there is community value in PAHL and good economies too.  When my AA team buys in to PAHL but your AA(A) team doesn't, what happens?  Hockey gets more expensive for everyone.  In PAHL we might both pay $2k for our kids to play.  But to be independent/AAA, you pay $5k-$6k for your additional A.  Next year, because there aren't enough PAHL teams, now I have to shop for that additional A too.  So where we were once paying a combined $4k, now we pay a combined $10k.  Aaaand since we are too proud to play each other, both teams need to go out of town to play when they could just as easily have played here.  More $$$ flushed away.  Bad for us as community because we live in the same town, hold common interests, yet unable to share them.  Bad for us financially because we pay a premium on something that could have been had for 50% the price.

Those are some deep thoughts….

ill see myself out

4 hours ago, mrfreeze said:

I heard 2 more Pittsburgh kids left PPE 06 and went to Cleveland Barons. 

Are these people seriously driving the 4hr plus round trip from Pittsburgh to Cleveland 2-3 times a week for Barons practices? That seems insane to me

Can 100% confirm this happens even at the younger age groups (10U). We were approached about my son and asked to come to team practices starting in Feb and talk with the coaches. We really liked what we saw and my son felt super comfortable. Coaches said he a great tryout and made the team. I don't see a problem with this, because we are on the "winning" side of the situation this time. Now the kid who had his spot taken because of my son, I'm sure his parents hate me.

Why is every thread turning into a pissing match lately? I feel like we are back in the days of The King ?

@Pucks11and @hockeydadlife I'm all for debate and heated discussion, but lets keep it civil and leave peoples spouses out of the conversation, ok?

Is this the WBS Knights team? 

4 minutes ago, rock said:

great year for Pittsburgh based hockey!!

 

unless you're PPE....

19 minutes ago, mrfreeze said:

The guy in charge of the Vengeance does not have his finger on the pulse and often lacks communication. 

This is the understatement of the year. The problems start from the top down.

Good luck to those younger teams this season, they may have some talented kids, but it's my understanding that some of those teams don't even have coaches yet....

10 minutes ago, RegDunlop7 said:

Never mind, there are some Viper Stars teams at the PAHL A level. What's the difference between Viper Stars and Vipers then?

Apparently just a different logo and more money?.... which is a shame. 

5 minutes ago, Clonbur said:

It was definitely not the only reason.  Unfortunately it's not always as simple as you put it.  Viper Stars is a AA program.  They were going to get placed into AA if they are competitive at that level or not.  They need to market and make their $$.  PAIHL also plays the #'s game to make sure the teams have so many in each level.  Plus.... If they didn't make AA then we would be paying AA prices as Stars which is more than regular Vipers with minimal difference in ice time.  Do you set your kid up to fail?  Don't you want your kid (or every kid) to play at the correct skill level?  They want to money.... they don't care about the kids.

I have without a doubt seen Viper Stars teams placed in PAHL A divisions, so just because they are a AA program doesn't mean they will be automatically placed in AA. 

13 minutes ago, Clonbur said:

 

Because my kid is not a AA player and neither was 1/2 the team they accepted at the time.   Next competition level was A minor.  All other talent left for greener pastures.

 

So you were specifically looking for A Major it sounds. Isn't that decision made based on PAHL placement games and not at the time of tryouts? How was it determined that the next team available to your son would be A Minor without playing any games? I'm not trying to belittle your decision to change organizations at all, I'm just wondering why you think it was predetermined as it sounds you do.