sadday4hockey

No, it means everyone that wasn't placed on one of these teams. SHAHA Vengeance Preds Esmark Renegades North Pitt Am I forgetting any 06 teams?

The list of past winners is interesting. It's a shame that the Forge only lasted a couple of years.

You have to be careful with how many times a plays another team. In league play, once you hit 4 times it often times begins to deteriorate either on the ice or in the stands. Or both.

Shouldn't they be held to a higher standard than the pop-ups like Icemen and SHAHA and Appalachian Elite?

So, let's look at this from the point of view of their description of themselves as best players, best coaches and best facility and how this has played out. The 2006 players were the first group to come out of 8U and into the 2 team model at PPE. So, in year 1 there would have been 30 skaters and 4 goalies that had the benefit of "the best of the best". I think what remains is 1 goalie and 3 skaters (maybe 4), so the question is what happened? If they had all the best players being coached by the best coaches in the best facility for 6 seasons in the prime development years, why did so many of those players not develop to the point of a higher retention rate?

So is it true that in 22-23 the Rebellion will also be fielding Tier 1 teams? That seems to be the prevailing rumor regarding the wishes of the new management.

They have teams playing in both PAHL and WNYAHL. I think each team gets to choose their own preference year by year as to which one they play in.

Isn't that the industry standard? You start getting beyond 15's and add in an ice cut at the AAA level but don't you also start to see entry amounts around 2K+?

To stay relevant, you would have had to actually have been relevant. Other than Hockey, I don't think any of their other sports can be considered relevant.

Monopolies are never good for the paying customers.

We all have one person and one person only to thank for this "Elite" mess. He seems to be very well versed at making a mess of things too. You can include the current state of youth hockey in Pittsburgh along with the current state of the NHL team and on top of both of those, let's not forget that giant cluster F that still sits empty across from the new arena. Almost 11 years and counting.

There is no competition for PPE. That's exactly how they want it. As soon as the Vengeance got all those 08's to stay together when they hit 10U, the evil empire sprung into action under the watchful eye of Trevor Edwards. They created the Little 66'ers Elite Mite program. Just think about that name, Elite Mite Program. Each year at "The Jam" they recruit 6 and 7 year olds heavily in an effort to never allow this to happen again.

So now it's about quantity at tryouts and not quality?

Congratulations!! You should give yourself a pat on the back. Oh, wait........................ you already did.

So then shouldn't it be a Yeti's team and play 16U PAHL? Oh wait, then the fees would only be $2500 instead of $5000 and parents wouldn't have their 3rd A. That's a lot of $$ for a vowel.

Brian Mueller was a Vice President of 200x85 and the Coach of the 2003 Chicago Mission. At that time there was no chance for PPE to beat them so........... they bought him and his star player whom just so happened to be the grandson of Rocky Saganiuk. Who is Rocky Saganiuk you ask? A former NHL player who also had a lucrative business in Chicago called Rocky hockey which was a great program and was 8U ADM before USA hockey joined the bandwagon. Rocky now oversees the Little Pens program and does a great job with it. Now back to the 6 figure coaching salaries. What number do you think it took to uproot these guys from their existing lucrative jobs and their families? Hint: there's a better chance it was 7 figures than 5 figures.

I don't know that anyone on here really refutes that. The issue is how they go about their way of getting to that position. So what would you suggest that the players who fall in this category do? Take the recently completed 15U tryouts. A handful of local players who have played there for 6 years have been replaced by players from all over the US and Canada. Is your contention that these players have no reason to continue their pursuit of high level hockey because the PPE and its' associates prioritize profits over everything?

Lebo has finally given up the delusion at 05BY. Preds and Icemen are on life support. Esmark will gain players and Vengeance, well..... sort of like a roulette wheel.

See, the two of us can lead the way back to world-wide harmony.

Losing 6-3 in the QF's is a success? For The Chosen team? With all those years of Excel Academy training? The best facility. The best coaching. All the other hoopla and kool-aid. That's not a very high standard.

So at Tier 1 18U, the only team from Michigan is Meijer and there are 4 teams from the MidAm District. In the "this makes no sense" world, Esmark leads the way having been outscored 14-3 in their first two games, while Culver is a close second considering they didn't didn't even participate in the MidAm tournament. Such a great group of folks leading our District.

Oh no, it's a two-fold problem. But to be honest those two entities fit together so well it's like they were meant for each other. They've both done their share of soiling each others as well as their own "reputations". One has put $$ over the sport and the other $$ over education.

Cardinal Wuerl. Catholic Diocese. Bishop Zubik. You get the idea.

So nice. The Snowflake himself found a friend in mrfreeze.