Rewster

Graduation. The best players from the previous year graduated. It happens in public schools.

Steve Weeks mentioned the Pens Elite and Pittsburgh products at least 3X during the telecast. He seemed sold.

Don’t you know already? (I’m being semi-facetious when I say this…) Youth hockey development ‘can’ be a waste of time, money, energy, and resources if you take it too seriously. Some people would say that you’d be better served if you spent most of your money on a game that yields more of a tangible return. Having been involved on all sides of the hockey landscape over the years…It’s now easy to see how the financial benefactors can separate themselves and collect the endowments of the less informed. I’ll also add this, don’t let your child’s hockey development ever become a burden to you (or your family). Let them have fun while you (and your family) cultivate lifelong friendships. Hockey has no parallels with other sports when it comes to this bond.

Common sense ain’t so common anymore. What you’re proclaiming eliminates the introspective and “personasl” point of “personal conduct” element of human behavior. There’s still the 3 artificial levels of financial (in)security that we grapple with.

There’s a great point that you make here and I’d like to further…which is found in every competitive athlete. That is, the opportunity to play at the most competitive level possible. This point has been glossed over; or marginalized to almost the point of insignificance. There’s an obvious Mendoza line of legitimate AAA squads in WPA. I’m not arguing that. If there’s any doubt about who’s not “varsity material” at the 18U point in their hockey careers …well, we all get hit with the proverbial “wake-up call” to continue with our life’s work at some point in our competitive athletic lives. Some receive the news earlier than others. My whole contention is: Why nip the hockey player’s personal growth, achievements and core competitiveness in the bud at such a young age? Hockey is an absurdly expensive sport to begin with. If this isn’t acutely made aware from the start; then there is outside criminal deception involved. This ain’t soccer or basketball…hockey is expensive. All I’m saying is that there is a high percentage of people that strive to find that definitive feeling of what it’s like to reach their highest level of competitive success. It’s a fleeting moment in a young person’s life that can’t be replicated. Why censor that in an absolute fashion? Life is full of experiences. It’s the one’s that are achieved through hard work that always stand out the most. The one absolute that I have always contended with is…when that pure athletic competition is over; you can’t ever replicate it. Not in the same capacity as we had at this age. When it’s gone…it’s gone.

Just looking at their records and comparing our local AAA teams amongst the usual nationally recognized teams…so far, it doesn’t seem like Pittsburgh’s AAA representative teams are out of place. It’s obviously still early in the season, but I don’t see an immediate downturn when compare the numbers and common opponents across the region at this point of the season.

Canon Mac won the PIHL AAA regular season championship in 2021; and won the Penguins Cup AAA in 2015. Unfortunately, they have been unable to sustain the numbers and consistency since then at the AAA level. Its difficult to determine who moves up and down in divisions because the talent and participation fluctuates rapidly from year to year.

So…it was a “thing” and I am not just imagining it. When I heard that it was still going on, it immediately brought back memories of stories that I heard about how competitive the games were. Although, I never played in them, I do recall thinking that it must have been challenging just to make a team.

So, I came here thinking/hoping that there would be some chatter and/or information about this year’s event and tournament. I remember it kinda being a big deal of an event several years ago; but not sure how it is now. Does anyone have any suggestions, as to any links, maybe streaming/broadcast, or useful info? I think that I found some older stuff but the pages need updated as it still includes their tryout schedules. My brief investigation turned up no dice. At least not any topics on the games that jump out at me I am curious to see how the hockey things stack up and shake down from across the commonwealth.

Great. Another streaming service to add on to the ever increasing number of apps and viewing platforms that I already pay out the nose for. What’s one more little, tiny, minuscule, hardly noticeable automatic recurring charge gonna do? BB is quickly moving down my personal scale of organizations who negatively impact my finances and lifestyle unnecessarily.

Those who go to MidAm are based on their team / coaches nominating their players though, correct? At least that’s how I remembered it so many years ago. If that’s the case, and if there’s a down year or two locally, I’m not sure that Ohio, WV, Kentucky and Indiana can cover the gaps adequately with their representatives over any extended period of time. Also, how does it work if the kid’s billeting? Either a local kid going to MN, MI, or New England? Or, one from out of the area, but staying and playing here in Western PA?

Right…unless the guy is asking for an opinion (or asking if he would offer his firsthand knowledge and experience as an expert on minor/amateur youth hockey). I’d suggest that the best approach is to not give unilateral advice. Frankly, this point should not be assumed and glossed over as it rings true in a lot of facets of life. With that being said, I find it hard to believe that a 6 year-old has enough foresight and understanding of what their actual goals are and the commitment that is required for any of it to move along on a scale that is appropriate for a kindergartner’s age level of understanding. Not to mention, this is coupled with the obvious role where the “yes” parent is going along with the 6 year-olds wishes without any pause to contemplate anyone’s future. For a parent to knowingly accommodate all of these wishes made by a 6 year-old child; it demonstrates a slew of red flags…none of which appear more obvious than the parent’s lack of a restraining governor. I’ll admit that I’m making several assumptions in this case (i. e. child’s age being truly 6 years old; the lack of an occasionally oppositional parent AND THEIR involvement (or really anyone with a backbone that’s willing to simply say “no” to the child and parent). It’s easy for me to draw such a straw man’s analogy with obvious labels. Regardless, just going off a fraction of what has been described thus far…this is still nothing short of a parent acting as an enabler of the child. It’s a disservice on many levels.