johnnyhockey

11 hours ago, The King said:

It’s in not significant but when you’re framing these 2 clubs as making the best of a small demographic then you need to expound on your biased claim. The leagues these 2 clubs participate have PREVIOUSLY helped their players achieve a higher level. But as the sport grows, other leagues are showing that the T1EHL is not the only go to. In fact, it’s not even the top tier 1 league anymore. Esmark has done well in that NAHL fundraiser they participate in but come on, they have prospered off of selling uneducated people on the hope of getting one of the few tenders they are promised every year. Eventually, people have realized that their players don’t improve and they are just lining the pockets of the career “coaches” out there. The player pool in Pittsburgh is growing so what you will see is that, each program will have to finally price their worth based on coaching and development merit, not by sales chops anymore. 

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.

4 hours ago, Jack Handey said:

Until the scouts come knocking, the driver should only be fun - for both your player and you.  Remember, it's a game.  Don't get caught up in all these labels like "Elite", "AAA", "AA".  You will surely hear from coaches and other hockey parents if there is any possibility of your player playing at a higher level.  For now, focus on the fun, and you will be glad that you did.

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.  

1 hour ago, dazedandconfused said:

They lost some good players to PPE but you also can't have the same coach with the same players for their whole careers. That's a major reason those players departed.

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

10 hours ago, Jack Handey said:

Looked into this a bit.

Icemen
2017-18 final rank 33/112 (29th percentile)
2018-19 current rank 85/153 (56th percentile)

Vengeance
2017-18 final rank 87/112 (78th percentile)
2018-19 current rank 107/153 (70th percentile)

Predators
2017-18 final rank 95/112 (85th percentile)
2018-19 current rank 113/153 (74th percentile)

Icemen have slipped a bit.  Was kind of surprised by that.   Other two programs not exactly spotlight material but seem to have improved. 

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.   

1 hour ago, Icebucket said:

What it really comes down to is should the coach teach the kids how to play to be successful right now (and get all the FPP). Or coach them to be successful as they move on to higher levels of hockey(and get minimal FPP)?

A ton of these kids are moving on to juniors and college in a few years and if they don’t learn how to throw and take hits now(u14 and 16) they end up hurt. They step onto the ice as an 18 year old college player and get hit by a 23 year old who has been throwing the body for almost 10 years. But little Johnny has never taken a real hit because all PAHL coaches tell their kids to avoid contact to get FPP. It’s really just PAHLs way of figuring as long as the kid doesn’t get hurt on their watch, who cares if he’s set up for failure later on...

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.