johnnyhockey

Lots of good info in here that parents need to read. Question. If Yuri was such a great coach and this is his "career", why hasn't he moved on and coached at a higher level? Let's be honest, no one coaching a youth hockey team should make a salary. These career coaches are stains on WPA hockey. As far as the Pens, they have career coaches as well. But they are disguised when they are given jobs at the UPMC rink as "skills professionals". LOL.

18U should be pretty good this year. Lots of teams ranked close. Culver are the favorites but not as strong as in years past. PPE, Gilmour, and Esmark field teams that are closely ranked together. Any of these teams playing together should be pretty good. 14u,15u,16u- Likely PPE dominance.

This is so true. Once he gets older, there will always be an elite program for him/her to tryout for. Focus on the fun and keep your player competing against kids of near talent and ability. If he has truly outgrown the AA level and not on the AAA bubble, then he will be able to make the next step. The PPE is political but most organizations are. If anyone tells you that there aren't favors being done, then they aren't paying attention. One thing is for sure, if your kid is truly worth of making the PPE (not a bubble kid), then the coach will take him. Typically the bubble kids are the ones that will get passed up for a kid that has a dad affiliated with the Pens organization. And if he is on that bubble, then AA really isn't a bad option for your kid.

Looking on their website now. The cost is 16K and anyone can sign up?

I'm sure they took the right kids but defeating the 87th ranked Icemen isn't really something to hang your hat on.

Excel Academy Program Philosophy: Recruit outside of Pittsburgh and take local player spots. Proceed to underachieve all season. All of this while making sure we charge enough to pay salaries to Excel Academy.

Maybe coach should be AXed by North Pitt.

Wow. That's sad. Some people just can't let go.

Did they improve or are there simply more bad teams at the U16 level? There were 112 teams at the U15 level last season. Traditionally more teams join the AAA level at U16. Teams that shouldn't be considered AAA. Slipped a bit? #33 to #85? That's a huge drop for Icemen even without the reason I just mentioned above.

I understand what you are trying to say, but the reality is that very few of these kids will advance to a high level of juniors/college hockey. I guess it depends on what level of college/juniors. If they "advance" to tier 3 junior hockey or d3 acha club hockey, they will be with a bunch of other kids that don't know how to hit/take hits. The level of hockey is terrible.

Looking at the U16 rankings. What a mess U16 is. Vengeance, Icemen, and Preds all have a pretty terrible ranking.