forbin

In this scenario would it mean that ALL minor pure BY teams would be obligated to play in the AA Minor division? What happens if the team is weak? Seeing that in a couple of cases so far this year....

Independent AA

I agree and honestly I don’t see it as a negative thing... maybe it will shake things up a bit around here.

BY makes sense to me for first year squirts, but only if their only competition is also all first year squirts. For the simple reason that everyone is generally on the same playing field. Obviously you'll still have those stand out kids who played one or two seasons of full ice AAU that have a better idea of how the game is played, but for the most part everyone will be learning as they go. In a perfect world that would be possible in PAHL, but looking at the current teams it appears there's only 3 total 12BY teams this year? (preds,foxes,vipers). Looking at MHR it seems the foxes team is really struggling against mixed year teams, which is no surprise at all.

Off topic but in regards to PAHL and their rules. I watched a game between two 07 PAHL teams this past weekend and saw a total of 3 body checks. Is this because teams don't want to risk getting penalties and messing up the FP points and all that BS or just because its preseason? Like, honestly I was shocked. There was AT LEAST 20 perfect opportunities for someone to lay a good hit and nobody did.

Preds 12BY is playing PAHL. 11BY team is a very skilled group of kids and are playing an independent schedule.

And I think that's part of the "legit" vs "faux" AAA argument/problem

Little Ceasers, JR Flyers and Florida Alliance all came to Pittsburgh to play in the ATC tourney against the Vengeance a couple of weeks ago. I'd consider all three of those clubs to be quality AAA programs.

At this point I'm just waiting for the EXCEL Academy Daycare to pop up. A competitive environment for your hockey minded infant/toddler ages 18m-4 years. The sad thing is that I personally know of a couple parents that would be all over it.

Ice Castle is the only one I can think of that meets Black Bears M.O. and I don't see them selling.

Ice rental at New Ken is $325/hr for peak times. Not sure what it was prior to BBS taking over but it’s still about $100 less than RMU and Baierl...

Absolutely. The 2011 and younger goalies are pretty much non existent in this area. I know of at least 6 large PAHL organizations that had zero or just one goalie show up to their mite evaluations this year, and several of those same organizations struggled to fill their 10U spots. Even the 66ers didn’t fill all of their goalie slots this year, and obviously this thread is a telling sign of PPE at the squirt level too. Not sure if this is because there isn’t much emphasis on the position at those ages with the ADM system, or they don’t really nurture the kids that WANT to play goalie. Then you also have the parents that don’t want their kid between the pipes. In Pittsburgh specifically maybe it’s because Fleury is no longer a Penguin which I’m positive had an effect on the number of goalies in this area in years past. Either way it’s not a good sign for the future....

Like how PPE poached their goalie?.... hence why they need another.

Look at 12U and 10U. They are all different. Different birth years, different team numbers, etc.

@dazedandconfused @aaaahockey @fafa fohi Guys I understand at this point in the pandemic it’s almost impossible to avoid, but let’s please try to keep this thread and this entire forum to just hockey related topics. If you really feel the need to discuss political matters or COVID related stuff with each other, you’re more than welcome to do so via private messages. Let’s also chill on the name calling and language. There’s no need for that crap.

Yes, aside from coaching I would say that ice time is the most important thing. I have an 09 and a 13. My 09 is a lower level player and will likely not play after this season as he has a lot of other interests he wants to pursue. My '13 will likely make the jump to "AAA" for squirts. He is a talented and driven kid who is addicted to hockey. Their practice schedule for this season seems to line up nicely. I drive 40+ minutes to the rink and pass 4 other rinks on my way. I have been really impressed with both of their coaching staffs, and like how things are properly communicated to us. I could never get a straight answer from anyone at our old organization and half the parents had no idea we had to drive to places like Johnstown or Erie for games. Then you have half the team that doesn't want to spend the extra money to participate in tournaments, it totally killed it for us.

I prefer the organizations that can offer some type of consistent practice slot for the whole season. Location obviously plays a huge part in picking the organization, but I personally don't mind driving a little further if its worth it. We switched from one large organization to a slightly smaller one for multiple reasons. Reason number one being that 5pm weeknight practices are nearly impossible to make with two working parents. And when those 5pm practices were all four 10U teams on the ice at once and running station drills like mites do, it wasn't really worth pissing my boss off by leaving early every week. Not to mention no set schedule so it really messed up our home life balance, especially when you have other kids who do other activities like dance/cheerleading etc. Reason number two was the people involved. I understand that the teams cant advertise their practice schedule ahead of time because they usually sit down and figure that out in July based on what the rink can offer, but it sure would make it an easier decision for some, myself included. Regardless, my sons are both very happy with where they are playing currently. The coaching is great for both age levels, and the set practice times make it easy to plan around my daughters schedule.

There was a video (or at least a livebarn time and date, I cant completely remember) posted here not that long ago which showed Preds players playing dirty after the whistle and resulted in one player punching a ref. It also resulted in the parents brawling in the stands. If you are asking as an outsider looking in maybe thinking of moving to the area or possibly changing organizations, I would suggest you look elsewhere unless that kind of atmosphere is your thing. Just my .02 as some random hockey dad on the internet.

Which team specifically? From an organizational stand point they are the favoritism type. The kids that get the best looks and ice time are the ones who’s parents worship at the alter. They are known to play loose and fast with the rules, have parents manipulate game clocks, argue with refs, fight in the stands, and tout a higher level of play than what they can produce. My experience with them both have being involved at one point to playing against/coaching against them and being a visiting parent dates back to 2004 and ranges from mites to midgets. It’s seems like it’s the same stuff every year. Coaching wise they have some good coaches in their system, they also have some that don’t mind having their palms greased to give a kid some extra ice time. Lately my experience with their younger teams (mites and squirts) has been mostly positive, aside from the occasional too intense mite parents which you’ll find everywhere.

I hate to be the pessimistic a$$hole here but none of this will matter because nobody will show up for the games and the program wont get the continued funding it needs and will be shut down again. Everyone wants to be a keyboard warrior for the program but when it comes to actually supporting the teams and showing up to the games, that's too much of an inconvenience. Or they come back and the arena is packed every night and they win the NCAA championship and Disney makes a movie about it.

Penguins Launching Hockey Diversity Program at Hunt Armory (nhl.com)

Well then for his sake, I guess it's a good thing that Pittsburgh has a f*ck ton of bridges....

@Mess I really did enjoy it and appreciate you taking the time to not only make the film but share your sons story as well. I'd love to see a follow up. I hope your kid is still playing at a high level and checking didn't scare him off, from what I saw on the film he has some great hands. I would agree with the experience level being determined by amount of years played is a good start. Maybe if there were more in house type outlets that those less experienced players could start in it would help. That also goes back to what I have complained about on here a few times that PAHL organizations don't really even cut kids anymore. They just field 4-6 bantam teams and let them struggle. Maybe by cutting kids it would force them into the in house non check leagues which would be a better learning environment. Ideally 14U and up would have at least 3 officials but I don't see that happening anytime soon. Hell, sometimes were lucky that two show up! A very close family friend has three boys ( 2005, 2007 and 2011) who all play or have played Choice hockey in MN that teaches checking at the squirt level (which in MN is actually 10-11 and not 9-10) and it absolutely makes a difference. The coaches even go as far as trying to keep the larger kids on the ice together if they can. You would be amazed at the skill level and awareness some of these kids have. If you ever want clips or stories from their experience for another film please reach out. I'm sure my buddy would love to be involved.

Your point 1 - I felt the same way about the parenting part. It seemed to me that the dad was actually instilling fear into his son about checking instead of just letting him feel it out for himself. It only takes one or two times of getting checked or checking someone to know that its not THAT bad. Point 2- Agreed. For what its worth I don't see the kids name on this years Vengeance roster so....idk. Point 3 - A lot of people would rather their kids quit hockey all together than play in house. Come on, can you imagine the blow to their ego around the water cooler? It was a well made documentary in my opinion. Some of the reoccurring themes repeated themselves too much and some of that fat could have been trimmed, but overall it was enjoyable to watch. I will say that it had the narrative that checking should be either banned from bantams or moved up to midgets, which I could not disagree with more. It needs to be introduced much earlier. The best part for me personally was when that giant 12 year old was just dummying kids and enjoying every second of it.

Not to completely derail this thread but building of this comment: Looking at how the AHF is structured I think it would be a really smart move for those organizations at Black Bear rinks to join the AHF as a supplemental program. Looks like they play 2 showcases (8 total games) and 8 AHF regular season games, that you could easily schedule in 2 or 3 weekend trips to NJ/MD/ Eastern PA. It appears the majority of the teams in the AHF also play in their local travel league as well. So using 12U as the example your looking at (20) PAHL regular season games, 4-5 weekend trips to AHF territory for 16 more games total (showcases and league games). Maybe throw in another local tournament and one to Buffalo or whatever for an additional 8-10 games and you have a nice 44-46 game schedule with some variety in travel and teams played. From my perspective that sounds pretty sweet. @bb2j3z since you're involved in the Rebellion, what are your thoughts on this idea?