Jack Handey

A tryout is not the same as a tune-up. Your player will get some advice and coaching in a tune-up but will get no coaching nor feedback in the tryout. Unless you consider acceptance or rejection as feedback. Walk before you run and try a PAHL team first.

It's good to hear that he's doing well in the in-house league. I would set your sights on North Pittsburgh again since you are familiar with that rink, and have a back-up plan with another club at a nearby rink if you really want to try travel hockey. The nearest travel programs to North Pittsburgh are Butler Valley (playing out of Frozen Pond on Route 8), Arctic Foxes (RMU Island Sports Center), Pittsburgh Aviators (Shadyside Academy or UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex), Beaver Badgers (Bradys Run), and Lawrence County Lightning (in New Castle PA playing out of Hess). I would not bother with Pens Elite. You have many good programs in the north that can meet his needs. Get him a year or two of travel experience and then maybe reconsider it if and when he can earn a spot on an "AA" or "A Major" travel team in the local travel league.

One additional thought on the matter: Some who get upset at the refereeing will label it as PAHL problem. That is incorrect thinking. PAHL is just one league that is served by the local pool of referees. The same group of referees covers PPE, Esmark, Icemen, independent teams, middle school, high school, college, and beer league. Something to keep in mind if you think your player needs to move on from PAHL next year.

Amen to that. The game moves fast and no one can see everything. If there's a problem with officiating, why not don the stripes? Pretty sure every association will gladly accept your help.

There used to be some refs on the old message board. Maybe they could chime in. As to the question PAHL vs PIHL vs PIHO. PIHO is a referee scheduler service and works with youth associations up through college. PAHL referee scheduling is done by the local associations that make up PAHL. Some PAHL associations use the service of PIHO, but not all. Other associations schedule refs on their own. They have their own pool of referees, and those pools largely overlap the PIHO pool. I think PIHL uses the services of PIHO to schedule refs for the entire league, but not totally certain on that.

Another local AAA program will probably make a play for the group or part of the group. But there's no obvious next step. Historically, some go to alternative AAA programs. Some play just high school. One or two will go back to PAHL.

In all seriousness - the old icing rule (icing allowed during a PK) is in effect at PIHL JV and PAHL 16u. Many 14u are already playing JV, so with the new rule, we have kids playing the same game with two different sets of rules. I guess I shouldn't be surprised - we have many 14u players still playing middle school, where they cannot check in PIHL but can check in PAHL. I have seen a few MS players "forget" that they cannot check in PIHL. Bantam is just a tough age and we've made it harder. Since the rule reverts in PAHL at 16u, most coaches I know aren't bothering to teach the PK any different.

Not really a fan of this rule. All the kids I coach are prepping for the show, so I just tell them to go ahead and ice the puck if they need to. That's the rule they'll eventually need to follow.

Ever wonder how there came to be two associations in PAHL with the BADGERS nickname? According to the links below, Allegheny adopted the name in 1992 and Beaver adopted the name shortly thereafter in 1993. Both associations were proudly honoring the late Badger Bob Johnson of the Pittsburgh Penguins. Badger Bob coached the Pens to their first Stanley Cup in 1991, but passed away shortly after the victory. Beaver Badgers history: https://beaverhockey.teamsnapsites.com/history/ Allegheny Badgers history: https://www.ahabadgers.com/page/show/2101767-about-allegheny-hockey

It might be oversold and buyer beware on anyone's claim to being national bound. But at least they are playing in PAHL. Consider it a step in right direction.

Please join me in cheering on Mt. Lebanon Bantam A Major Black as they take on #1 Ranked USA Eagles 04 AA this weekend at the Silver Stick regional in Dayton. Go Hornets! You can do it!

Pound for pound, it seems most of the A Major Black teams would edge or tie the AA Minor teams. Why did they need that extra A again?

What's in the Harmarville water? It's a shame the old board content is gone. We could re-live all the SCIR/Am Pens parent drama of days gone by.

Looked into this a bit. Icemen 2017-18 final rank 33/112 (29th percentile) 2018-19 current rank 85/153 (56th percentile) Vengeance 2017-18 final rank 87/112 (78th percentile) 2018-19 current rank 107/153 (70th percentile) Predators 2017-18 final rank 95/112 (85th percentile) 2018-19 current rank 113/153 (74th percentile) Icemen have slipped a bit. Was kind of surprised by that. Other two programs not exactly spotlight material but seem to have improved.

Just caught film on this one. Curious to see this great big brawl. Instead, the video shows about 4-5 kids engaged in some wrestling for a grand total of about 15-20 seconds and the teams separate. Not exactly the train wreck that everyone's making it out to be. The box score is way overblown on this. Are the teams innocent? No. But would hate to be one of the 11-12 kids with fighting majors and game misconducts. Those suspended kids are getting totally screwed. Mid-Am or PAHL needs to step in here and right this wrong for those kids. Fix these majors and misconducts. Use the video. Get it right, while you still can.