sample39

I can sympathize with you, I really can, but honestly what did all of you expect going into this? You said nobody wanted to travel to play you. That's because the make-up of the teams you were playing were adults with full time jobs and possibly young families. Like most adult league teams. Can you blame anyone for choosing (or needing) to stay home? It's why 99.9% of beer league players only play at their local rink in a league that works with the personal and professional schedule. I think it's great that you guys all shared the same vision and wanted to make this work, but finding decent competition in a competent organized league was going to be damn near impossible. I said this last year when this team was announced, but history tends to repeat itself. See the MAHL in 2008. Anyone who remembers that league probably saw this coming from a mile away. The owner and all of his personal business aside, the concept of the team and league were flawed from the start, and it's you guys -the players - that were let down.

He's a fantastic player, but over 40% of his points came in games against the bottom 4 teams in D2. Teams that would struggle to beat or even compete with good Tier 1 and Tier 2 JV teams.

USA Hockey doesn't recognize 15U as a division under Tier 2, which is why you haven't seen a PAHL division for it yet. There are a couple of different approaches to this. You can play up in AA as the minor birth year for the sake of greater competition but at the cost of winning. I believe the Huskies did this last year. Or you can play one year in Major Black and continue the build towards AA for the following season. I believe the Hornets did this last year. Both teams have similar records in 16AA this year. So I would hesitate to say one route is better than the other. It's more about what makes most sense for the team.

This was brought up in an older post, but if I'm opening a new rink, the airport area is exactly where I'm putting it.

Better game times, more press coverage, etc. There's likely no evidence that was EVER the case, but I was told that by someone who worked for PIHL a few years ago. And yes, not taking into account graduating classes from the year before is an issue (I've been there, believe me). This is where school enrollment, program enrollment, and 5-10 year history should be taken into consideration like Rewster said above. It would provide a good idea of how quickly a program can bounce back. The attitude of "there is no benefit of moving up, ever" though is why the classifications are sized the way they are currently.

I concur. These 6 teams should be in the same section based on history and geography. This is what happens though when you have an A division with 24 teams. More than double the size of AAA and AA. I believe one of the initial goals of the "3 Year Formula" before it was abandoned was to promote and reward teams for moving up a classification. What instead has happened are teams are fighting to get moved down, or refusing to get moved up. Hence the logjam we now have in A. Realignment at this point is necessary, whether programs like it or not.

I know you're a Montour guy and I appreciate the optimism, but man, Montour might need to score 10 goals a game if they want to contend for anything this season.

History has a funny way of repeating itself. Do your homework on the Mid-Atlantic Hockey League (MAHL) in 2007-2008. If this new league actually gets off the ground, I would expect a similar demise.

I am pretty sure the "front desk" at Rostraver is the pub.

That 07 squad was THE ONLY Huskies team before the takeover, so it's not surprising that team specifically is full. The question is all of the other age levels.

They did not field a single team. I've heard conflicting stories as to why. First being they cut most of their players for "AAA" players, and those "AAA" players bailed after accepting their placements for a different team. I have also heard they cut better players to accommodate their returning players, and that's why those "AAA" players left. The truth is probably somewhere in the middle. It's been amusing to watch how absolutely absurd this 18U tryout season has been. I have never seen it this bad. That's a good coaching staff at the Rebellion that now inexplicably doesn't have a team to coach.

The top guys move on while some guys decide to play AA and/or HS instead. It happens, it's nothing out of the ordinary, and it shouldn't diminish the good runs those team's had.

"No dog in the fight", but you felt compelled to create a post on this forum... okay. I coached against Plum, and I recall them having a pretty good team in the 19-20 season in Class AA. I don't remember what their record was, but I think they made the playoffs. Varsity teams from small to mid sized programs will always have their peaks and valleys. If you are lucky, you get a few strong classes and you can compete for a few years. Sometimes that's not the case, and all you can do is maximize whatever the potential is for your team. If that potential is only a handful of wins, or hell - even no wins - then you still give your players, the team and the program everything you have. If this coach is doing that, then kudos to him, and he should stay put and Plum should be thankful he remains committed to them.

This was a directive from their board, I believe.

It's absolutely possible, I just don't have a clear recollection of those team's playing home games or having banners hanging on the Landside rink. Those banners do exist though. I believe they are hanging up at Brady's Run in all their wrinkled glory.