hockeyisgreat

Thanks for the info. They are obviously much more concentrated in Eastern Pa & New Jersey. I wonder how many rinks they think they need to own in SWPA & Ohio before they make a move to a Western Division. Anybody know how long they have been in the Ice Rink business?

Isn't there a relationship between Esmark and Black Bear now? I couldn't find anything on their website. Came across this! Black Bear Sports Group, Inc., owns and/or manages 26 hockey clubs ranging from Tier II (B, A, AA) and Tier I (AAA) to Juniors. I guess they don't own or manage Esmark yet. I would think their best bet to own and manage a Tier II program in SWPA might be out of Rostraver. Maybe they will start their own. Does anyone know how they acquired or purchased the 26 they have now.

Just depends on how far you are willing to go to get competitive teams to play! I'm still not real sure of the rationale the Badgers used to go 16U Independent this year instead of playing a PAHL schedule and then all those independent games. Pretty sure Renegades, Wildcats, Preds, Rebellion and Arrows would give them good games in 16U AA PAHL this year.

Black Bear might be very aggressive! I would have thought that they would have put pressure on Allegheny and South Pittsburgh to leave the PAHL this year! It seems that most of the AHF has very high level teams. Not sure they want to get into the low levels of Squirt, PeeWee and Bantam. The PAHL might wide up being very watered down with maybe half as many teams but I think there are still enough rinks and organizations within SWPA for the Pahl to exist. Just my opinion!

Still nothing from Black Bear on their website! Last rink they have listed as purchased is Deep Freeze in Boardman Ohio. I sure hope this is true for the Mon Valley!

Maybe the SHAHA team is not a Faux AAA team! How many real AAA teams can SWPA support at 16U? 2,3 or 4? And how will we be able to tell? By MyHockeyRankings?

Hopefully! As long as Armstrong doesn't goon it up! I'm guessing the guy with 34 penalty minutes for Armstrong will not play the Semis. Looked like his minutes came from his mouth!

That's hilarious!!!! I could see some parents waiting in line to get one! All we need now are Jets on the skates!

Why did you wait till he was 9? You are behind the curve the Lil 66ers parents started that at 6 years old. Never going to make it to the NHL with that late of a start!

I don't know enough about the sport to hover over them or critique their play! I pay monthly to live barn to use their service! Got to watch 11 penguins on the Ice yesterday just having fun! Just watched Baldwin and Mt Lebo go to the shootout. I get my moneys worth and it was annoying when Alpha locked it. Better to not have it than lock it! Yeah it might be excessive and unnecessary but it's neat when they ask if I watched their goal in practice and I can say yes it was sweet!

Right now I'm watching an exciting game between Baldwin and Mt Lebanon. Thanks to Alpha opening up the livebarn. Have no one in the game! I just like to watch games! Yeah I have no life!

Can we enjoy the limited time we have with our grandkids? I enjoy watching mine having fun! They have never heard a negative word from me? They ask if I watched them at practice and games! Besides I would have no clue what to analyze in their practice! So a grandparent who can't get to the rink shouldn't watch them? Tell me why again! Not everyone berates and belittles their kids! You must have a guilty conscience!

Yes

That SHAHA 16U AAA team is very good. I won't be surprised if they beat Esmark this year. They beat Vengenance last year. Maybe that's what caused them to fold. I'm going to watch some results next month and take a stab at ranking the AAA teams around here! Oh wait I guess MyHR will do that for me! I guess we will see how many are legit AAA!

As long as Parents are willing to pay for it there will be other AAA teams in SWPA. Why did you just list Preds and SHAHA? What about Esmark, Vengenance and all the rest of the AAA teams showing up in SWPA these days. It's all about what people are willing to pay for! You can call yourself whatever you want! Doesn't make your team AAA or even AA for that matter! If you really want to blame someone blame My Hockey Rankings. That's really the only place the A's matter for some type of competitive balance.

Thanks!

Maybe I'm a grandfather who likes to watch his grandkids having fun at practice!

Yes, but why do the Renegades shut it off when ADM and squirt practice?

OK, so this list is getting pretty long and I'm sure there are a lot of kids missed along the way. Not so bad for Southwestern Pa. I'll bet if you go any farther South you won't find nearly as many kids. Pa is south in terms of serious Hockey talent. Northeast and North Central US (Minnesota, Michigan, etc.) has the bulk of US Hockey talent.

All depends on where you are coming from!

Tried that last year to watch practice and got nowhere! Besides it's much more fun to complain here. Feels like more people are listening than at Alpha! First I heard it was the Vengenance but now I'm not so sure as it seems like they don't have much to hide!

They have TOP SECRET goings on over at Alpha. It's ridiculous! This is youth hockey not the Steelers! You can watch the Penguins practice at Lemieux but not Squirt and ADM Renegades. They must be awfully paranoid!

I don't think they have closed a rink yet! They own 30 or so now! Why would PIA be the first to close?

Isn't Pittsburgh Ice a Black Bear rink also? With Vipers & Huskies low on numbers what would be the sense of moving Esmark to a rink that will be crowded even with a second sheet. Doesn't make smart business sense to me and if they were strictly out for money why not stat a new Tier 1 program at Southpointe. After all they are all just Faux AAA programs anyways according to most of the people on this forum. Anybody hear anything more about Rostraver?

Don't we always love to hate the perceived to be best programs? Patriots, Yankees, PPE, Etc. Maybe PPE has lot there way in what should be there mission. But would we bash them if they couldn't win with all local talent?