Jack Handey

Hockey is better in the north, it being closer to Canada.

Anyway, back to the topic at hand. We've had a few dealings as a PPE customer. It was good. At times. But not always. One kid tried out, made a black team. Placement was fair. Liked the program, and the practices. Liked it all, except the power skating. In our second season - again, liked it all. Had a better coach, good manager, good practices, competitive games. Had another good year and got great experience. Unfortunately, during the season, had a disagreement with the organization about a policy. Can't elaborate here, but the next season, our player was cut. Was our kid legitimately overtaken by better players? Possibly. Watched that team the following year and their two new additions. One was better. One was not better. But such is life. It is a hard conversation to have with your child - but we did, and we moved on. Another kid tried out a few times, couldn't break in. Felt most who made it were rightfully placed. All except one - who couldn't keep up. How this one made the team every year is a mystery. After a few rounds of tryouts, our kid observed that many of the incumbents don't even try at tryouts. Eventually stopped trying out; felt it was a fix. Again, we moved on. So in the end, our time in the organization was good. It is not easy to get in. At times, felt like bystanders, maybe victims, of politics. Is that unique to PPE? Probably no. We didn't agree with the way they did everything, but youth hockey is not run as a democracy.

Is this all you got? Did you write a freaking book on local hockey? You must have more.

Yeah I can remember when there were 8-12 teams in PAHL girls 14u and 19u. In recent years, it has been as low as 3-4. But I hear things are picking up again. PAHL has gone to major and minor divisions which should help, as some teams go independent and individual players play boys only due to no competition. Note that the growth at 12u is due to the grassroots movements in J-town, State College, Westmoreland, and girls-only programs like you find at Foxes, NP, and elsewhere. And where is mid-am on this whole topic?

well, it's the drama, right? The org is founded in drama. Going all the way back to the acquiring the Hornets. At times, it's good prime time TV. Pass the popcorn. By the way, the message board that pre-dated this message board had very little criticism of the Hornets - only a fraction of the flak that PPE gets here.

They should have one vote on an independent committee made up of representatives from across Mid-Am. How about this: the selection committee is made up of one representative from each of the top 6 teams that make it to districts. There, I fixed it.

I haven't had personal dealings with either of these guys but I find the one guy on FB - his video content is often spot on. Guessing you crossed paths at one point @Danner27 and you didn't much care for him. The other guy (junior hockey news) also runs a FB group too but I find that page less helpful, content flavored with cynicism, aloofness, and an occasional axe-to-grind personal tone. @hockeyisgreat be advised (ha ha see what I did there) that there are two kinds of professionals in this space. The first type - let's call them "advisors". They will charge a fee up front (usually $4k and up) - giving you access to them, their network, their contact lists, and they help you to market your player with self-promotional materials like resumes, videos, and social media. They will also recommend camps to attend for exposure. JDM and NCSA are examples. There are several out there that will gladly take your money. Their performance will vary widely. The second type - let's call them "agents". Much like their counterparts, they are well connected and will provide you guidance on where to play. Most of them are former pro players, coaches, or scouts. The main difference is that they do not charge a fee until your player becomes a professional.

Well you said they were there to recruit. Maybe they were recruiting him. Especially if the candidate family was of the correct ilk, and/or an incumbent defenseman family was causing problems. Did he attend tryouts? Did they take him? But there is no doubt who is calling the shots at this camp. This camp gets a big fat DO NOT ATTEND from Jack Handey. Unless you are invited by an evaluator (wink, nudge), or until Mid-Am level-sets by publishing the evaluators and evaluation process.

There aren't going to be any 06s on NCDC rosters. Not for awhile. This year's draft was a marketing stunt to promote awareness of the league to families with younger players. A LOT of families. Remember - the draft itself went 39 rounds and the league has a mandated 70 player protected list per team, going into training camp. I mean, props to the kid for being recognized. But, he'll have some work ahead of himself to see it through.

Unfortunately there is some truth in this. Mid-Am camp at present is a waste. Rampant favoritism and the team is picked before you even show up. You are better off spending your time effort and money in private lessons.

@carroll81 what if any impact has there been to DVHL?

ugh. hard pass. In pahl, I want 4 trips total in a season, and probably less if we are doing high school too.

@RJUSHL what teams do you recognize as missing?

An assistant coach for a junior team in Minnesota was reportedly relieved of his job after being caught in an alleged child solicitation. Wilderness hockey coach loses job following sex solicitation allegations | www.WDIO.com So troubling and awful.

It's like reading a library book with a few pages torn out.

I am preparing to be underwhelmed. When do you plan to make the big reveal?

yeah understood but several signings are made public and wouldn't it be useful to have one page where all teams tenders were located vs having to visit a bunch different web sites? there are what 29 teams in nahl?

You know what else would be useful? A signed tenders web site. Which of you smart techie guys can get on that?

Look at it on a PC or laptop and not your phone. You'll see birth location and last team, which seem to fall off the screen on a phone. You can also click on the kid's name to get more info on the kid. Agree, the page is not designed very well - seems to be a pre- smartphone relic. I think I see one kid there from western PA, an 04 who played PPE in the past.

Not much love for western PA hockey in the NAHL draft today. https://nahldraft.rinknet.com/

Rock on AMR24. Thanks for putting in the hours.

*prophet

Sure it does, especially when the perspective is you are the tail and you are wagging the dog. It's not just 18u. Any 16u AA or A Major team has the same problem because most of those kids are playing varsity too. Hey, at 16u/18u, I agree their focus expands beyond hockey. There is social life, part-time jobs, girlfriends, etc. Add to that, you lose a few weekends for standardized tests, a few weekends for homecoming and other dances. There just isn't time in the course of the season for HS teams to hog entire weekends. And there's no recourse for the youth teams - their swim lane is fixed to Saturday and Sunday, and they can't decide to move PAHL games or weekend tournament games to a random Monday Tuesday or Thursday.

NCDC entry draft was published last night. Per the web site, each team was made to keep drafting until they have 70 players protected. Yep, that reads SEVEN ZERO (!) In an attempt to get younger, the league restricted selections to 2005 and 2006s instead of the traditional junior range (2002 to 2006). Peters/SHAHA kid taken in round 28. Congrats. https://www.usphl.com/news_article/show/1225151

and leftover 06s. Including a 06 Baron just now - one of the ones mentioned above.