dazedandconfused

Never happen. Those kids will scatter around to other PAHL teams. They'll get 5-6 that are willing to make that drive. This will be the recipe. 6 former PPE Black players A couple of Viper 08's plus 2-3 other PAHL AA players Mix in some A players to fill the roster Pluck a random guy off the Coaching tree Mix them all together and you have a "AAA" team that plays a maximum of 10 games on PIA ice, costs $4500 plus 12 weekends on the road. That's the Esmark model. What a value.

A once-thriving program has been stripped down to rubble due mainly to the one thing that can kill any youth sports program. TOO MUCH PARENT INVOLVEMENT.

So this was your '99 who was drafted in the USHL Futures draft?

Why are they issuing refunds? Did you request one or did they refund everyone with plans to start over if this ever ends?

Good for him. That's just as productive (probably more so) as some structured program online.

I've been told that Belmont and Southpointe have taken down their ice. Not sure if those are facts or rumors.

I've heard both sides. You say they're good, others say he's just out there herding cattle and collecting money. I know this much, he caused the Beaver organization a lot of headaches by booking clinics and then sending other people to run them because he was off collecting money from another organization at another rink. I don't think there is a whole lot of morality shown by him. Not that the same can't be said about many others doing the same thing.

Maybe he should have been doing those during his playing days? For his own development. #drillkillerhimself

So, I watched on the news last night that Heritage Valley, AHN and Excela Health have all stopped all elective surgeries but UPMC has not done so. As I watched the UPMC talking head doing her best to justify it and spinning it different ways, I thought to myself has there ever been two better partners in the name of greed than UPMC and the PPE? Me thinks not, but would like to hear thoughts.

Not sure if a list of all associations was necessary but okay...... This is probably the most difficult thing to determine. Not necessarily at the PAHL A levels and lower but at the AAA, High AA PAHL and independent team levels. Travel costs, tournament fees, coach travel expenses and other "unknown fees" vary greatly. You practically need to be a CPA and have a reliable person at each organization to get an accurate measure.

Then why the f&#@ is it called a Prep team. If it's not affiliated 100% with a school (hence the word Prep) then it's just a 18U team.

PPE 15's crap the bed and lose in the final. But don't worry, I'm sure they'll buy at large bid for them since they own MidAm.

12-0 PPE over Preds at 16U. Dear God Ralph, throw in the towel. And then laugh all the way to the bank.

I guess that would make me the technologically challenged one. Thanks.

Is there a website to locate all of the scores? Or is that too much to ask of the technologically challenged folks at MidAm?

14's, 15's and 16's are pretty much a foregone conclusion barring any major upsets. 18's are probably Esmark's to lose

I just don't see it happening. So many obstacles and the cost is so high. Just because they are buying the building doesn't ensure any further steps. That's the simplest and cheapest part of the process.

Well I guess USA hockey is in agreement with you because technically there is no Tier 1 until that age which is why there is no longer a 12U National Championship.

This is false. This is true

Cue the lack of credibility alarm on this guy. PPE Gold and Black plus Preds playing at the Tier 1 level The TOP 7 - that's 7!!!!! Not 6 or 4 or 2, But 7. Top 7 teams in the state are from Pittsburgh area. The problem isn't the players, there's a ton of depth. The problem is the 3 parent coaches that won't let go and the two organizations that take the teams/players just for the $$$. 05 might just be the deepest in a long time but we'll never know how many actual Tier 1 teams could have been competitive.

The guy "in charge there" is near the top of the list of people with self serving agendas.

I have no idea whether or not this is factual but what I was told was that they received a substantial grant to "grow" girls hockey. So, if this is indeed factual, then the logical decision for any business would be to put the $$$ in your pocket and get rid of the teams that haven't earned you a grant and replace them with teams that have. Do this while still charging those new teams the same amount as the old teams and now that nest-egg just keeps growing.

Don't forget about the RMU D1 Men's Coach. He has a hand on those reigns as well.

Come on............... the Yeti's? The DAWGS have been a PAHL institution for many years. If I'm not mistaken, that's where Brandon Saad began his journey to the NHL. Imagine that, making it to the NHL without playing in the Elite Mites.

Take a 2 man system for the example since it is by far the most common. Ref 1 and Ref 2 each get paid X for their time and effort. The customer, in this case let's use PIHL since they cover all of those games, and in turn the player families are charged Y for Ref 1 and Ref 2. You can rest assured that Y = X + $15-$30 (per game/per ref). So for each game that they schedule referees to show up, they are taking $30-$60 for themselves. That, Ref33, is a surcharge.