sadday4hockey

I think it's based upon the size of the organization itself and how many total members they have or how many they average. I'm not certain about but if anyone has the motivation to look at past Armstrong results, that would be an indication. And even the old Mid-State teams that were so loaded.

As far as the HS Nationals, that's just a bad HS tournament with a fancy name. Not that all the teams are bad but as stated above, the competition is greatly varied and makes for some ugly scores.

Players and organizations went there for the cheap ice rate. That's why Esmark did everything they could to move, the new pricing severely cut into their profit margins. You have to have something really good to get people to drive to that area.

While that may be true, the PPE laid the groundwork for early recruiting with the "Elite Mites".

They use the Jam to secure every participants contact info and then the great push by Trevor Edwards to get them to bring their SuperStar to the only place for developing their great talents.

Then 5 years (2 @8U) of bleeding them dry before they cast off more than half at 12U Major and then of course, the final purge of local players at 14U and 15U to get the high rent out of town players to stay, play and mostly PAY.

What a great job they've done growing local hockey.

Pretty sure all of those factors are used in "competitive formula". It may not be perfect, but no one has presented a better alternative since it started and I think the vast majority would agree it's better than the old alternative described by Racki

4 hours ago, Jack Handey said:

I'm aware of a few teams without flags in MHR that are going.  Not sure what the criteria for a flag is.

I think at Tier 1 all 16 are accounted for for 18, 16 and 15. Didn't check 14's because ...... well, they actually earned that birth.

Look at Myhockeyrankings. All the flags appear to have been assigned next to the teams.

It appears they got in at 15U and 16U but not at 18U

Nothing like openly flaunting a violation of the Tier 1 recruiting rules. Strange that they have 05/06/07 together since 05 falls in the 18U age group.

1 hour ago, RJUSHL said:

Is it just a matter of time before South Pgh, North Hills, and Allegheny are in this league?

Let's wait and see if North Hills survives tryout season. Other that the older Esmark age groups, NHAHA as a whole is on unsteady footing.

1 hour ago, Jack Handey said:

That's sad but maybe an indication that the development model in Cranberry needs a tweaking.

This!!! Without a doubt.

However, I hear the CFR (Chief Financial Recipient) and others are quite happy.

Yes, definitely an unfortunate way to lose but all 3 Tier 2 divisions were tightly contested and many teams were capable of winning at each age group.

That was a gutsy call by the referee in OT. It was the right call but kudos to whoever it was to have the backbone to do it because we all know the NHL guys would never do it. That kid was just medically cleared from injury on Friday and notched two GWG's this weekend including that one. Something surely he'll never forget.

Esmark 14's with a strong 0-3 fifth place finish. Guess that name change, Coaching change, league change really had a positive effect.

Keeping Tier 1 up to date, Tier 2 not so much.

It's typically NOT a strong field. Not to take anything away from the teams but there are typically no teams from Minnesota or New England so.......

17 hours ago, stickboy said:

Where is MidAm to help stop this Tier 2 Independent nonsense?!  Real simple, make Tier 2 independent teams not eligible for Districts and Nationals. If you want to be on your own island, then stay there.  If you want to be NB, then play in the league your affliate is part of to qualify!  Or better yet, grow some balls, go AAA and find the better competition you are looking for. Quit trying to make a special place for you to fit in and feel good!

I think on the surface this approach would be a good place to start but after giving it some thought realized that something like this would make the Ohio split-season teams ineligible. Ohio hockey has a rule that players are not allowed to play HS hockey and amateur hockey at the same time which is why that system works there. Ohio HS is not under USA hockey but under the Federation Hockey umbrella.

2 hours ago, hockeyisgreat said:

Not to mention NP which has one of the strongest 06 teams!

Pretty sure they are 05/06 this year. That's why some bolted for the vaunted Icemen I thought.

Right? The Stan's tend to enjoy war as much as we enjoy our hockey nonsense.

37 minutes ago, HSFBLJ said:

The world today exists outside of PAHL, if you play PAHL your entire career and never leave the local market your not going anywhere.  Like it or not travel and the cost of travel hockey is necessary if you plan on playing anything more than club hockey.

So the world today exists only for 2% of the players currently playing? Because that's probably the percentage that will ACTUALLY play more than club hockey.

Viewing those two links above, neither the Tier 1 group and especially the Tier 2 group strike fear into any top 25 programs. That Tier1 thing makes some sense for all those east coast teams but it would appear to add a lot of travel for Esmark? Did they leave the NAPHL and the trips to Minnesota and Texas?

Right, so now Yuri is the standard bearer for hockey value?

3 hours ago, Jack Handey said:

therefore are higher risk for insurance claims

I would LOVE to see an accounting of what they have actually paid out in claims over the years versus what they have collected/paid in premiums. Your personal insurance is always used first so only people with no insurance or limited coverage can even start the process of trying to utilize their insurance and while I've thankfully never had to look into it I do know several families who have and they it's a very difficult process to deal with.

48 minutes ago, Hattrick Swayze said:

The 15U Icemen are not listed tier 1 and we’re higher ranked than SHAHA

I see you used the word we're which implies you have a player on the team. Perhaps you should check with your organization because your team is NOT listed in the 16U Tier 2 NB rankings for Mid-Am District. https://myhockeyrankings.com/rank.php?d=MM&y=2021&v=127

This could signify a couple of things such as your organization never filed the paperwork or they filed the paperwork for Tier 1 and then tried to change it to Tier 2 (love that about face option) and were denied.

They take the rankings as of a certain date so they can plan accordingly. Teams close in ranking may have interchanged since then.

6 hours ago, Hattrick Swayze said:

At 16U the 06 PHA Icemen had a better MHR than SHAHA but  SHAHA got the bid to the tournament over them.

They are listed as Tier 1 which means they aren't eligible for Tier 2. But hey, they'll all be back to buy another vowel I'm sure.

Can anyone say Juwan Howard? Is it possible that the media is the main culprit in all of this craziness that is exploding everywhere due to the over-saturation we get of all the nonsense? The media LOVES this crap, some stations only exist because of it. Maybe we see so much of it that some people's subconscious minds normalize it and it gets worse? Or.... I could be deep in wishful thinking mode and about to get crushed on here. Either way, thoughts?

Take it easy, Karen.