hockeyisgreat

1 hour ago, No Politics said:

Maybe I'm not understanding this team, but why is this posted under the "Western Pennsylvania YOUTH Hockey" thread?

I think it was put here originally to make people aware of the potential problems associated with the team. Most of what was speculated has come true!  And another thing for us all to gossip about!

Just a little perspective!  Western Pa had 29 18U teams, All levels. last year 16U/15U  Had 52 teams and Bantam 14U had 72 Teams.  That's PAHL and Independent.  Kind of what I thought.  The most interesting is the 11 AAA teams between 15U and 16U A compared to 5 AAA teams at 18U.

Is that Tier 1 or Tier 2?

2 hours ago, bb2j3z said:

South Pittsburgh Rebellion is currently looking for some 14u Bantam goalies (2010 or 2011 Birth years) for our mixed birth year teams.   Our 14u General tryouts start today and finish tomorrow.   If you can make it today, you can come in on the Day 2.   Just email us at orginfo@southpittsburghhockey.org.   Thanks!

Will SPR have an 18UAA team for 24-25?  Have you had those tryouts yet?

Anybody see anything on Supplementals?  Seems like a very quiet year for tryouts.  Will be interesting to see how it all shakes out!

8 hours ago, Goalsanddreams74 said:

Well I can now say he for sure has not paid the players the $500 they were supposed to get if they sold a sponsor. 

Any idea how many sponsors were sold?  He probably has no accountant or  accounting for how the money was spent!  Such a bummer!

7 hours ago, Goalsanddreams74 said:

There was a time when the team was actually good and could compete.  

had 3 ex Fed players 

3 ex D1 Club players 

5 ex D3 club players 

and couple ex USPHL players. 
 

but again that’s when everyone would show up. Last game we had that was the regular season home opener against Niagara and the home game against Toledo. 

Didn't the players know what the travel schedule would be like before they agreed to play for the team?  How could it have been different?  Were they mad that teams weren't bringing their best to Pittsburgh?  I heard good things about the home games to begin the season! 

Still have two days till tryouts start!  Why give them money any earlier than you have to?  Besides I heard they pretty much have who they want through open skates!

10 hours ago, Goalsanddreams74 said:

Ice time was paid. Yes we are all aware it was late a time or two but honestly what organization hasn’t been late. But it was paid for. 
 

Not dying on the sword pal, just explaining to everyone the story. 
 

I already had told everyone in this thread that nobody trusted our owner. We all saw the news. We all have phones. People talk. 
 

I’m just stating the story of the season. It was more so the league then the Owner.  

I admire you guys for giving it a go.  Too many people here were just waiting for it to fail!  This forum seems to be for everyone to complain about something so don't take anything personally!

This topic got way off track!  I think it's time to shut it down!

6 hours ago, Goalsanddreams74 said:

That being said this was a player commitment issue, not an owner issue. 

Thanks for giving us the update.  Sounds like you had the right idea to finish it up with 4 games left!

1 hour ago, spilledbeans said:

Sounds like an owner response. We also know alot of the players. That was not the consensus.

So what was the consensus?  Why not just finish the season with 4 games left to play? Didn't the players know what they were getting into about 2 weeks into the season?  Finish what you started and move on!  Don't leave the rest of the league hanging! 

Bummer for the players who just wanted to play the game they love!  Hopefully someone can salvage the idea for next year.  Probably couldn't get enough players to travel at their expense!

6 hours ago, Rewster said:

TPH has academy’s

Who is TPH?  

Thanks

Armstrong 18U is 3A. They start at 5:00PM Pittsburgh Ice Arena.  Tough first game but they should be in contention for a championship.  They have a very solid team!  Allegheny 18uAA is the host team so they had an automatic bid. they can play with the teams in 2A.  Down 4-3 to start the 3rd period

Good luck to all the SWPA teams!  Allegheny 18UAA kicks it off at 9:15AM this morning at Delmont.  Bring home some Champions!

8 minutes ago, Icebucket said:

You can also make the argument of, why isn't every PAHL championship a penguin cup? Is D2 really any different from PAHL amateur play where it's players from a variety of schools?

PAHL players can be from anywhere. No geographic requirements.  D2 teams are supposed to be from no more than 5 schools within a geographic region who are unable to field a team on their own.  PAHL hockey is nothing like PIHL High School hockey!  Once again it is not the players faults that they live in an area where their school can't field a team.  Why can't they be on equal terms with the "Pure Teams".

Great work!  Not surprising when you questioned him further!   

Which brings up a really good point!  Why is the D-2 Championship not for a Penguins cup?   Just because there is no similar league in the East or just because the higher ups believe it is inferior hockey?

It's played in the West so why can't it be called the D-2 Penguins cup?

Once again small schools are being discriminated against!

Does anyone know how the PeeWee tryouts at Esmark are going?  Do they have a lot of kids at the tryouts or will they be taking everyone who is trying out like they did last year!  They started Saturday and are ending today!  Will be interesting to see if they field teams considering all the bad press they got this year!

17 minutes ago, Pa Hockey said:

 

Congratulations to the Stellar 6! 

You still didn't show me where D-2 gets plenty of publicity! Maybe they should have their own Top 6!  Maybe call them the Co-op Top 6.  Would be an impressive list!

51 minutes ago, Pa Hockey said:

I am not against D-2 at all and completely understand the model and appreciate the challenges. They get to play their championship at Lemieux, get coverage on Web, have an all star game and enjoy the same benefits as Varsity AAA, AA and A. Yet you cry discrimination. Stop crying foul and appreciate what d-2 has. Deer Lakes has a JV and will join A Hockey soon and will be another example of the original intention.   

I call it like I see it!  Maybe next year you will include D-2 in your rankings from the begining of the season and Keith Barnes might mention them in his articles.  Those kids are working as hard as everyone else and they have some great players in their league!  That's all I want to say!

1 hour ago, Pa Hockey said:

D-2 is impure teams with multiple High Schools and was originally supposed to develop into pure and never did.

Schools in AAA, AA and A work very hard to earn an opportunity to play for a State Championship and are rewarded for their efforts.  

TJ beat Greensburg Salem 8-0 in the PAHSS and both had all their players and was a good experience because Salem rebounded and committed themselves and almost pulled off a Penguins Cup this year.

Canevin sent half their players to play Latrobe ? Why? 

Look at what Avonworth is doing and South Park is doing with MS and Developmental and they should be applauded  

So you are saying that the Schools in D-2 don't work hard?  Those teams and coaches have to work harder to join players from 5 schools together to form a team.  Wow I didn't realize how much you are against D-2.  So that's why you try hard not to recognize their accomplishments!  Very sad!

12 minutes ago, Spear and Magic Helmet said:

There are impure/co-op hockey teams in other parts of the state. There was one based at the Indiana rink a few years back. Not sure if it is still there. The Lake Shore league, based in Erie, also has impure teams. In Eastern PA, there is no umbrella organization for all of Greater Philadelphia like we have with the PIHL, but many of the 6-8 leagues out there do have impure divisions, particularly those based near Harrisburg and Hershey. If there were demand for it, there could be a co-op state championship. However, I think many co-ops are just happy to get a team on the ice.

As for other sports, football is a good example because of the number of players you need to field a team. There are lots of co-ops and yes they can play PIAA playoffs. Dane Jackson comes to mind as someone who did the co-op route. It's a lot different for football because there is no option other than high school football.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dane_Jackson_(American_football)

So the champions from those leagues should get together and have a playoff to play against the D-2 champion from SWPA!  And while we are on the subject why do they call it D-2 or B?  That's a little discriminatory!  But then again I wouldn't want it called A-. Maybe the PIHL should realign to AAAA, AAA, AA and A!  If they are going to keep 4 divisions!

1 hour ago, Stanley PK said:

Would pay to see that game. Top 6 in D2 this year were pretty damn good. 

The kid from Burrell would of set records if he played all of the games. He also scored against the tougher teams in the division, not like some others. He was also a team player, when the game was in hand for Burrell, he focused on helping other kids try to score that didn't see much playing time during the season. True sportsmanship.

And yes, I am a Burrell parent.

Got to agree with you 100%  I would love to see the top 6 in D-2 play the Stellar 6.  Congratulations Burrell on a great season! A bad call away from a chance at the championship.  One of the best championship games.  I will say that D-2 might come up a little short in the goalie area.

Some good discussions going on here.  Glad to see we have some new folks to add their perspective to this site.