Birddog

Not sure where the Rebellion got players from but I can’t see how they udgraded. I am pretty sure Shaha players ended up at MT Lebo and Vengeance predominantly, with NP and Steel City maybe picking up a couple. Seems that the Rebellion lost several players from last years team to a few different teams and some of those were even out of state.

16U Esmark was chosen before Vengeance. The only thing I heard was that they we’re holding a few spots open for imports.

By the looks of things 16AAA and 16AA in Pittsburgh should be a little more competitive with Shaha dropping out at 16 and 18 AAA. Seemed to be a shakeup on most teams at that 16U in the area. 16U AAA Looking like Pens, Esmark and Vengance should be at the upper end. 16U AA should be Mt Lebo, North Pitt and Renegades pushing the upper end of AA.

PPE cannot be happy with their showing this weekend by the looks of things. I would say the gap is closing.

Depends on who the advisor is and if they are actually working in the best interest of the player. A google search of the advisor should be done right away to determine their background. Also they should be able to provide a track record of players that they have worked with. Lots of really poor advisors out there.

I just looked at my hockey and it seems that so far this year shaha has played icemen, Preds and Vengeance already. Do the Pens ever play local AAA teams? I doubt they will.

My understanding is 06 Pens Elite

How are the 07 Independent teams looking at 07? Pens I heard have brought in several kids, but overall lost Moony which is a hit. Esmark brought in many new players but kept core I think. Vengance swapped a player or two with Esmark and added a few SHAHA may have added a couple Icemen I think jury is still out on. Preds added some players Foxes disbanded Allegheny disbanded Who did I leave out? What are you guys hearing? Did anyone get significantly better or worse?

I heard Preds had over 80

How does a team that finished second at Nationals go to not even having a tryout? That seems rather odd. I could understand dropping a few players but can’t imagine that they could not draw players for a team that did so well.

I just heard that Vengance 06 team just folded. Can someone verify that? If so that is going to change the landscape pretty significantly, I also assume if this is true then this is how Esmark is getting a team.

Is Esmark still having open skates? Still by invite only?

I saw Esmark named their 07 coach Chris “Sluggo” Stern. https://www.esmarkstars.com/news_article/show/1218529 I thought he was tied into Pens heavily Seems to be an interesting move for Esmark, are they going to now have a parent coach? If so, that’s a pretty strong statement about what’s going on at Pens. Why isn’t Yuri going to do it? They do not really have a 16U team.

I found it interesting that 3 western PA teams found their way into the finals at Silversticks this weekend.

https://www.facebook.com/100022757365011/posts/857556058346298/. Dont know if you guys can open this. Looks like TK is going to be involved.