forbin

Yes. 100%. I've had coaches that have rented out a dek hockey rink and worked with kids on positioning and knowing where to be if certain things happen. It is extremely beneficial. That being said, you cant really replicate the speed of the scenario on ice, unless you're on ice. To you point about standing around. I hate it too, and I see it a lot at these "skills" practices. Group of 8 kids waiting on one to finish doing a 6 step drill.

It's so painful to watch too. It's understandable to a certain extent at mites and lower level squirts, but I have seen this type of playing style at PeeWee Major AA as recently as last weekend. The kids with hockey IQ are really easy to separate from the pack. There absolutely has to be more of an emphasis placed on positioning and team play across the board. The problem is the younger kids get bored with those practices and the parents may think its a waste of ice time to break things down that way.

How do we fix that?

Without derailing this thread to oblivion. I loved going to those games. That was pre Crosby era and I think a NAHL team would do better in Pittsburgh now. Make the tickets cheap, make it accessible, make a youth program that "feeds" into it and name it the same as the team like Jr. Forge or something and people would be ALL about it. Pittsburgh may not be a "hockey town" by other standards, but something like that would generate a good amount of buzz for the sport. UPMC already hosts the USHL Fall classic. I am positive some conversations have been held about bringing a junior team here.

Maybe if Pittsburgh had a NAHL or USHL team with their own barn it would make for a perfectly sized venue to host High School state finals.....

Because the cost is too high. Most schools have their own football fields and multipurpose courts for basketball/volleyball etc that are already paid for by the taxpayers therefore they aren't having to rent ice time for practices and games. Ok, so then people ask why don't schools just have their own arena for their teams? Awesome idea however the cost to build a single sheet arena is probably around 3-5 million and then to maintain and upkeep is likely close to $30-40k a month. There is no way a public school could afford that so we are left with paying the $300+ per hour for ice time, which really adds up.

The short and cynical answer is because Pittsburgh is small professional football town who cheers for the professional hockey team when they are playing well. People don't give a crap about high school sports here. The long answer is there is simply no point in comparing Pittsburgh to Minnesota. High School Hockey in Minnesota is the pinnacle of top level play there. Every single youth organization feeds into their high school program, and every single kid that wears that sweater WANTS to play for their school. The varsity teams practice every day after school. These kids don't play for multiple teams. They play for their school and that's it. The high school games are packed every single night because the towns rally around them the way they rally around high school football in TX. The kids that don't play for the school essentially play high level in house. The only AAA hockey in MN is played during the spring and summer. There are dedicated newspapers, and websites and talk shows about MN high school hockey. People who don't have any kids on the team go to the games. Offices take their employees to games as a night out. People tailgate in the parking lots. Most arenas have a local water hole nearby that the old timers hang out at and watch the game on TV. When people talk about "did you catch the game last night?" its not about the Vikings game, its about the Edina vs Eden Prairie varsity game. It is an incredible atmosphere to witness. I highly suggest going to a game or two if you ever get the chance. I had the pleasure of living in MN for 3 years and saw some amazing hockey. The state championship sells out the Xcel center. There's nothing like it and Pittsburgh will unfortunately never get there. With how many AAA and "faux AAA", AA and National Bound teams here, there is no set in stone pinnacle of hockey. There is no community support for the high school teams, hell 99% of the teams are CLUB sports for their schools! They don't even have the financial backing of their own school! Most schools don't have youth programs too which is a HUGE issue. Some schools have "developmental" programs for the mites/squirts/peewees where they practice once a week and MAYBE play a scrimmage or two. That needs to change. Get these kids and parents on board from the start. Why can first and second graders play football for their school and play in actual games against other schools on the weekends but we can't do the same for hockey kids? Imagine how much pride those kids would have for their school if they did it from the beginning? As much as its a nice thought that the Pens and Flyers would support high school hockey, they wont. They both have their own "Junior" teams (PPE and Jr. Flyers) and those parents help pay for their practice facilities and that's all they care about.

It looks like U18 and U16 Vengeance both went 3-2. 05 SCIR went 4-1 and 06 Badgers went 5-1-1. The rest of the local teams didn’t fair too well.

If anyone cares at all here is the 10U placements. TEAMS 2122-10U Divisions-11.2.21.pdf

They have banned all students from attending the games for the rest of the year but this is a FANTASTIC idea moving forward.

You can sort threads by most viewed. It's 10th right now on this new version of the site. 20k views in a few days is quite a bit. I'm very happy to see this issue is getting national attention now as well. Saw an article on Yahoo Sports about it.

This is a very concerning part of the entire issue. Hard to believe there was not a single parent of a Mars or Armstrong player there that didn't stand up and say something. Really disappointing all around.

Please do not post the photo on this site. You may private message it to people if you wish. Feel free to send it my way if you’d like.

WARNING FOR LANGUAGE. I understand this is a sensitive subject and we are all (mostly) adults here, BUT there is a strict language policy on this forum. I am not going to go through and mark every post I see with foul language, but moving forward, if I see it or its reported you will be marked for it. This subject has obviously brought a lot of new posters on to this site - please help me by continuing to report any unsavory posts.

I'll echo others and say that the RMU guys are great for the little ones. A lot of really good volunteer coaches and managers there. It's the best inhouse program in the area, by far. Unsure of her name, but the mom who coordinated their mite program with Bob last year was one of the most organized and knowledgeable people I've ever come across. I hope she is still involved somewhere in some capacity. Brad Michalski is an excellent skills coach and an all around great guy. I have never had a single bad experience with him, nor have I heard anyone else experiencing anything negative.

I would like for this thread to continue because this is a topic that is absolutely due a discussion, however lets all please remember what the topic at hand is, and to have some respect for the individuals involved. Trolling comments like this will no longer be tolerated: This is blatant verbal sexual assault against a minor female we are talking about. Please don't come back here again with this type of crap.

Yikes. @sutton I would highly suggest you report this to PIHL immediately.

Parent head coaches or assistant? Also, completely unrelated and strictly a vanity issue. Why don't they provide pant shells for the youth teams, and why don't they have the players last name on their jerseys? I mean even the most basic of PAHL teams have those for their kids.

Maybe, and just maybe the group of parents are sensible would rather see their son actually win some games and be happy, than care about that extra A. I know, I'm completely off my rocker for even thinking it.

How does that process work? Are they able to move down to Tier 2 now or is it too late? Perhaps the players, parents and organization wouldn't want to "swallow their pride" anyway.

The Ohio Prospects do not appear to be a very strong organization from top to bottom.

The path to D1 hockey is vastly different than football or basketball. The only time you'll see a kid go from high school hockey to NCAA D1 is if they are lighting it up for a powerhouse Minnesota high school program. Even then its still highly likely that they played at least half a season in the USHL or for the US national team. D1 schools aren't scouting the USPHL and the other tier 3 junior leagues, and yes they are pay to play leagues for around $10-15k or more a season.

Locked because we’re not going to have every thread on this site turn into COVID talk. Take it to Facebook.

I have asked and been told that Alpha blocks 99% of their weekday/night slots because of teams practices. They only allow it to be accessed on the weekends for games, but even then sometimes it’s locked. I am not sure about the college games but I know the majority of PAHL, PIHL and Vengeance games you can watch.

I'd say its probably closer to 50%. Worse at the younger ages. Nobody wants to be a ref anymore because parents are complete a$$holes to them. Its a shame.