hockeydadx3

9 hours ago, RefHannah said:

The trashing of organizations that occurs on this board is directly proportional to the number of people that have been spurned by that organization.  The organizations like PPE or Esmark that cut or didn't call back many of your kids face the most ire.  On the other end of the spectrum are Beaver Badgers and Arctic Foxes that take everyone and so everybody is happy. Nobody is coming on here and complaining they got picked for team 4 when they deserved to be on team 3. Thankfully. Lol

Hahaha. I have seen the Beaver Badgers and Arctic Foxes getting a TON of respect on here. 

3 hours ago, dazedandconfused said:

Don't leave out SHAHA and the latest AAA du jour, Aviator nation.

Ha. Actually the Shaha 06 AAA team is the only AAA team I have ever seen get any sort of respect on this forum.

4 hours ago, hockeyisgreat said:

There seems to be a whole lot of jealousy out there when it comes to Esmark and particularly Yuri.  But then again it seems that most people who come here have an ax to grind with someone.  All organizations get bashed at some point!  But then again that's human nature.

Any AAA team in the area gets trashed. PPE gets it the worst. Esmark, Vengeance and Preds get called fake AAA teams all the time. 

18 hours ago, forbin said:

I haven’t noticed that significant of a drop in number of teams at those age groups. I have noticed a pretty substantial lack of goalies though. 

Definitely a goalie shortage for the 13s and 14s. Could eventually be a good thing though. Kids that go in goal too early lack the skating skills they need. I am sure the goalie numbers will increase over time. 

I wish every poster on here could have the birth year and team their kids play for. There seems to be so many hidden agendas on here. 

29 minutes ago, dazedandconfused said:

This isn't to disparage any specific team/organization but it seems to me that there are a lot of AA promises being made whilst at the same time there is also a lot of begging go on. By the same folks.

Just an observation.

Oh, that’s interesting. When Paul started this chain I thought he said,

“THIS IS NOT A THREAD FOR DEBATE ON THE MERITS OF TEAMS.

JUST A SPACE TO ALLOW OPENINGS TO BE POSTED.”

I must of been mistaken. 

47 minutes ago, fafa fohi said:

What does it say when an organization has to hold a supplemental tryout to fill open spots for a AAA Tier 1 team?

It’s gonna be a long, long season.

Hahaha. fafa fohi and aaaahockey LOVE a good AAA failure story. aaaahockey, where are you when we need you???

2 hours ago, aaaahockey said:

Sounds like the 09 AAA teams might be right sizing if Esmark and vengeance aren't able to field teams.  Unfortunately they will just take all the cast offs and continue with too many teams in the region watering down PAHL and keeping hockey dumb.  

Hahahahahaha. There in no bigger proponent of the Pens is a waste and all other AAA teams in the area are Faux AAA filled with parents searching for the extra A. You have the respect the consistency of the guy. 

6 hours ago, hockey55 said:

Just know vengeance and shaha 09 goalies went to barons over the weekend. pens 09 release today. 

See! I knew hockey55 had some intel he was looking to share!

36 minutes ago, zam said:

Other than the birthyear when the Pens drop the black team and only field one team, is there ever a large enough cut of players to "Come to the rescue??" At least historically maybe 2 or 3 players get cut from a team, they either go to prep school, Barons, or Esmark. Has that changed?

Sounds pretty accurate 

8 hours ago, hockey55 said:

Did pens have any shake ups on their teams that will affect the other aaa teams gaining people?

Sounds like you know something hockey55. Share. 

3 hours ago, Carl Racki said:

I disagree, play pickle ball 

Oh wow. Didn’t think about that. aaaahockey, is that the best option for these kids!?!

On 4/10/2024 at 8:08 PM, CranjisMcBasketball said:

It goes to show it’s not an isolated occurrence. 

CranjisMcBasketball, I agree 100%. The challenge is it seems this board completely agrees that Pens does things unfairly and it’s a waste of money and all the other AAA organizations in the region are fake AAA teams full of parents in search of an additional A.  What is one to do?? Play basketball? It seems like the only option left. 

On 4/10/2024 at 1:11 PM, zam said:

Can we just get a permanent thread pinned at the top called "Pens Elite Problems"??

It's the most amazing thing about this message board! There are roughly six or seven "current" threads, they all have different headings, but every one of them has turned to something related to Penns Elite. And nearly every one of the posts starts with "I think" or "I heard". With so many contradicting theories from one thread to the other.

One thread says they only let locals play the younger ages and it's a fundraiser for the program and they replace all the local kids by the older ages, but another says they don't care about 18U so they let locals play without going to North Catholic. 

One thread says all the best kids leave town to go play elsewhere. Another thread says all the best kids are out of towners.  One thread says Excel and North Catholic aren't "required" for the good players that it's typically the 15,16 and 17, 18th best players have to do Excel.  

So what I gather it's a Fundraiser thru Middle School. Strict North Catholic requirement for freshmen and sophomores, money grab with a bunch of schmo's playing Junior and Senior year.

The big takeaway regarding Pens is 90% of the people on this chain have kids good enough to play for the team but they are smart enough to not waste their money and choose to play for their local high school and PAHL hockey instead.

16 hours ago, Pucks11 said:

Yep, because those 2 Pittsburgh kids you lost to yesterday sure do suck or maybe the one at Shattuck or even the goalie on Gilmours prep team that beat the 18u Pens this year or the 3 that were at BK this year. Just naming a few. 4 of them left Pens on their own and the other 3 never wanted to play there even though they were asked to every year. Those 2 goalies alone makes my leftovers team better.

 

But it's Pens Elite or NOTHING arrrrrrrrg!

Wow, there is a guy that pays a TON of attention to the Pens program without having a kid on a team. Any other sound data points you have to prove your point?

6 hours ago, Pucks11 said:

Not one!

Pa Hockey, no worries. Pucks11 has developed a sound strategy to develop a national bound tier 1 team that will regularly bring home national championships for Western PA. You can read all about it in the “You might be a delusional hockey parent” thread. 

1 hour ago, Pucks11 said:

That Vengeance team that beat the Pens was a bunch of PPE castoffs then they lost to them 2 out of 3 and begged those kids to come back. Another it's PPE or nothing dad. How's the Kool aid? Every kid that isn't on Pens is AA now👍🏻🤣.
💪🏻💪🏻💪🏻

Oh wow. Most anti pens posters are also in the camp that all the other AAA teams in the area are faux AAA teams filled with kids whose parents are searching for that additional A.  It’s hard to keep track. Sorry for the assumption. One constant on this forum is all the trolls come out of the woodworks when a Pens team loses to a local team. Good for you, a Vengeance team beat a Pens team twice. Really something to hang your hat on.  

7 hours ago, Pucks11 said:

How does that shut my theory up that all the best kids DON'T have to play at Pens? They BARELY beat the 60th ranked team to make it to nationals. The game before that they were losing to the same team that wasn't even trying because they already earned a spot in the championship where the Pens didn't because they went to OT with the 35th ranked team and lost a point. If you took the leftovers from Pens just in Pittsburgh not even Midams I guarantee the leftovers would win.

Also all those kids did not EARN those spots. The 3 imports never tried out and walked right on. The 1 forward has been guaranteed a spot because his daddy cop got a higher up in the organizations brother off on drug charges, 1 defensemans daddy has coached/taught classes since day 1 and he was on the black team for years, another defensemans parents just have a ton of money to throw around, another forwards parents billet to keep their kid on the team. They got lucky that Vengo team imploded and picked up some of their kids. You can preach local kids but just like last year their 2 best kid are leaving and they will bring in 2 more to run that team because they don't have depth. 3 of the top 4 scorers are either imports or from out of town. All the "local" kids are on the 3rd and 4rh line behind the imports and out of towers except for 2.

Pucks11, you seem to be a guy that has it all figured out. Ever consider starting a team with all your AA castoffs that can beat Pens 8 out of 10 times? You could buy an 18 wheeler and cover it with all your tier 1 national banners and drive around town. It would be quite the flex. Just a thought…

16 minutes ago, forbin said:

The numbers are actually pretty even. Lets look at Pittsburgh VS Detroit. 16U and 150 Tier 1 specifically from this past season.

Pittsburgh (Western PA):

1,483 registered players aged 15-16

11 total teams with approx 17 players on each (187 total)

That's 12.6% of registered players on AAA teams

 

Detroit (Michigan):

2,662 registered players aged 15-16

16 total teams with appox 17 players on each (272 total)

That's 10.2% of registered players on AAA teams.

 

Looks like parents in Detroit are burning their money as well. Glad @fafafohi and the crew have it figured out or what would we all do??

7 hours ago, TheRightCall said:

Your hypothesis is a bit inaccurate, as I know of a couple ——-at least four Pitt players who did not succumb to the allure of the extra “A” and made the Pitt team and excelled. 
 

There is zero need to shell out tons of money to end up on the same place. 
 

 

One can almost say the only pathway to the NHL is through playing AA hockey and for your local High School team. Play AAA if you want to burn cash. 

On 3/21/2024 at 3:08 PM, Corsi said:

I agree with the premise that good players are found one way or another, but I would argue that each of the "low level AAA teams" you are referencing have a few players (2-4) that could play for a 30 "AAA" team and contribute (not sure where your cut off is for "low level").  Those kids that are playing at the "AAA" level have a better chance of "being found" than players at "AA" simply because the events they attend are usually attended by other "AAA" programs which lend themselves to being watched by more eyes than a "AA" or "A" event.  

Be careful stating such a thing on this forum. Unless you have your kid play AA hockey within 15 minutes from your home until they head to college you are an irresponsible parent.