sadday4hockey

3 hours ago, Saucey said:

What do you think he should address out of curiosity?

Prove he has a pulse would be a start.

So where is Mr. Paul Day while all of this occurs? Probably sitting poolside in Florida enjoying his lifetime MidAm/USA Hockey pension plan. Another prime example of why term limits are necessary.

Good on him for getting out. I'm all for increasing numbers and I guess I'm still uncertain what is the correct age to introduce hitting. All that being said, The $$$ amount that is spent on the top 10% players should not be 90% and the amount spent on "the other 90%" should not be 10%.

1 hour ago, Danner27 said:

“hockey is the first sport to figure out how to keep making money off kids once they age out of youth. Keep selling the dream until they are 21”.

he’s damn right.

And he's also quite the hypocrite when you realize that USA Hockey was the founder of and still the World Wide Leader in exploiting youth hockey for money.

But they won't play against the top 06's because the Badgers 06 team is too strong for PAHL and is also going independent. Quite the conundrum they have at Center Ice. maybe they could play 60 games against one another?

Allegheny 14's and SCIR 16's both playing in the Semis later today.

Allegheny 5-1 QF win

SCIR 4-0 QF win

Whoever may be left on the board answer to Kosick and Posey.

Esmark will be fine, Viper Stars maybe too but it will be very interesting to see which of these folks is correct regarding the Vipers PAHL based teams.

It's USA Hockey, good chance they just throw all the teams in the lottery basket and let Nick Perry pick the divisions from there. Gonna need to be old to understand that one. 666

Okay, but give us another reason.

I just looked back, when SHAHA won they were in 3A and so was Mid-State in 2014 but that was 3 years after they won 16U 2A in 2011 so maybe they chose to or were told they were playing 3A. Armstrong runner-up team played at 2A and SCIR 3A.

SHAHA and SCIR - larger than Altoona and Armstrong

Like I said, I think that's it but I'm not certain. At least I've provided some data and a thought process whereas you continue to state your opinions.

Guy is a great Coach and he's true to himself. He's everyman, from Pittsburgh. Love the Chapeau.

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.