hockeyisgreat

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.

58 minutes ago, Pucks11 said:

There is not an open and regular division. It is Prep, Tier 1 and Tier 2.

Yes, you do just sign up. Any school can apply. If the 1A, 2A or 3A teams cared about Nationals I am sure they would complain to PIHL.

Latrobe played in 2A this year.  They made it out of pool play.  Represented SWPA well!

23 minutes ago, Pucks11 said:

Just go to the Nationals website and read the USA hockey rule book for High School Nationals. Prep, Tier 1, Tier 2 and Girls are the ONLY divisions they have and the only qualifications are to APPLY. If you want BC to get more recognition then tell their coach to move them up a division. 3 losses in 3yrs should help them out with that process but judging by the way you brag about volunteering for Nationals every year and 3 losses in 3yrs they won't ask to move up because they like stats over Chips.

Can't move up in the PIHL.  They are a co-op team with players from multiple schools who can't field a team on their own.  The PIAA lets schools co-op and qualify for the State tournaments. I guess it is a SWPA thing and there is no complimentary division in the east.  It is great that close to 300 kids play in D-2 that otherwise wouldn't get a chance to play High School Hockey.  No Amateur team can duplicate the High School fan atmosphere!  Even if it is coming from 5 different schools.

8 minutes ago, Icebucket said:

And to go a step further since you love he coach so much. He's a coach who can run it up against bad teams, but can't coach well enough to win tough games when it matters. "3 losses in 3 years", but zero championships

Wow!  I'm just wondering what your High School Hockey Coaching record is over the last 3 years?

7 hours ago, Pa Hockey said:

I have been a part of picking the Stellar 6 for almost 30 years and its great that the PG recognizes these players ............do me a favor and congratulate these great kids . D-2 gets plenty of publicity 

Where does D-2 get plenty of publicity? Has there ever been a D-2 player recognized in your Stellar 6?  You didn't even include them in your rankings and Keith Barnes didn't include them in his previews or articles on the championship previews.  Where is there any mention of D-2 in your history of PA high school hockey book? 

And didn't I say that was a wonderful list.  Why don't you congratulate the player that led all of the PIHL in scoring?  He can't make your Stellar 6?  Whats the criteria for inclusion?

While that is a wonderful list it is very sad that Keith Barnes does not recognize the co-op players! 

Ryan Saginaw and Gio Valentine were as good if not better than the Stellar 6!

It's not their fault that they play for teams that need to combine schools to form a team.  I would say that what they accomplished in some ways was tougher than what the Stellar 6 accomplished!  

Anyone ever ask Barnes why he doesn't even consider D-2!

In my opinion (isn't worth much) there are good players on almost all AAA teams. Just not enough of them. Once again most folks here will tell you that if your team isn't ranked in the top 25 of Tier 1 it's a Faux AAA team.   I didn't know that the Aviators were trying to put together a AAA team.  What age group?  I'm guessing they had a good AA team they think can move up! Most likely they will end up in the bottom of AAA!

And according to most folks here they are the only ones that are true AAA!  Everybody else (which is almost every organization) is just a money grab and a Faux AAA team!  

30 minutes ago, Law said:

Adrian 3 UNLV 0 Adrian wins their 3rd National Championship.

How good is Adrian?  Did you see the game?  Adrian has a great D-3 team as well!  Not bad for a school that has 1700 total undergrads!

37 minutes ago, nemesis8679 said:

Here's another thing with stats... Besides favoring goals and shutout, who benefits?
And assists aren't going to be accurate at all. 
I know kids that score a good amount of goals. Some of them do this by cherry picking constantly and giving up a lot of goals because of it. 
I know kids that have gotten shutouts because the team in front of them held the opponents to <15 shots in a game. 

So good for them.

I also know kids who don't necessarily score all the time but play the game very well, consistently work hard creating opportunities for their team, don't take lazy penalties, excellent at killing penalties, excel at taking away the middle of the ice, etc. Kind of like the baseball player that never hits the homerun yet is almost always on first base and doesn't make errors in the field. 

Those kids really don't benefit at all from stats on some website, other than their friends or some parent saying, "oh well so-and-so really doesn't score a lot."

Maybe they should just all play for fun and not keep score!  But then why even have PAHL? Just let all the kids play pickup at their home rinks!  I just think if you are going to do something do it the best possible way.  There will always be parents who complain about something. That's life!  I admire the kids who play outside of PAHL and have their stats published!

Thanks for the scoop!  Seems there will be more info coming out! Don't trust what JK has to say!  Sure would like to see someone honest take over this team!

13 minutes ago, JerryTime said:

Looks like the UHL ceases to exist but 8 teams (including Pittsburgh) formed their own league called the APHL.

Interesting!  Where do we find out more about this? What does APHL stand for?

21 minutes ago, Overqualified said:

What a good game

Too bad a dad from Armstrong that was working the clock was giving the Predators kids the finger and trash talking them after a 0 to 0 game

Who does that?

No pahl rep was present at game

And the president of Armstrong didn't care

Wow, who does that?  That's the kind of thing PAHL discipline rep should be looking at!  The Dad should never be allowed near the clock again!  Even if the Preds egged him on he needs to remain neutral!  Again that's part of why you hear about the homers at Belmont all the time.  Probably most peoples least favorite place to play!  But they do have good U18 & U16AA teams! So that probably adds to the frustration when you get beat at Belmont.

You have to go to the Standings tab to actually see the teams etc. I don't get to use it that often so I'm still figuring it out.  Sure would be nice if PAHL used this.  Would be easy!  Wonder what it costs for a league?

For those who might be interested in the MidAms starting today go the this website and put in MidAm.  Will take you to Tier 1, 2 and girls stats.

https://gamesheetinc.com/stats/

12 hours ago, Happy Hockey Fan said:

Went to a couple playoff games the other night. Two things I found strange, no admission fee, and no announcements during the game. No goals, assists, penalties announced. 

 

 

Interesting!  Varsity playoff guide on the front page of the PIHL site indicates that each team is responsible for a ticket taker and the proceeds have to go to PIHL.   The Semis are totally run by PIHL so be prepared to pay the 10 dollars to get in!

8 hours ago, Rewster said:

Life is a competition. People keep score. Oftentimes, it validates one’s hard work, effort, and commitment to obtaining a team’s success through the individual effort of the 6-person unit at any one time on the ice.

AWESOME!  Truer words have never been spoken!  Your whole text is right on the money!  We need to keep this discussion alive and try to put pressure on the PAHL through the member organizations to change their dinosaur way of thinking.  You would think that if enough members want stats and pressure them it will happen!   PIHL uses the same platform, You can see stats all the way down to Middle school.  Stats aren't hiding anyone from other organizations. They all know who the best players in PAHL AA are.  If coaches want to poach them they already have all the info they need.  Just a poor excuse from PAHL!

4 minutes ago, aaaahockey said:

I'm hoping this was a typo and you meant were not changed. I can't imagine having every game in an amateur league have stats challengeable what a nightmare. 

Yeah I went to far with that one!  Maybe charge a fee to have a stat changed. If a parent is crazy enough (I hope it's only a few) then they might be crazy enough to pay to have it reviewed. I just think stats with errors are better than no stats at all!  Just my opinion.

7 minutes ago, Duster19 said:

Icemen charge about $4400 for the season.  Does not include coach fee or team fees.  Also does not include jerseys, socks, shell, jackets, etc.  
 

The AHF is a low level “AA” league at best and traveling 5+ hours to Philly and NJ?  Not great value for the competition.

Why not get the AA teams in SWPA into the AHF and have a midwest division. Have a few weekends of crossover competition with the east.  What do most AA teams in the PAHL cost?  Seems to me they are in the 3800,00 range.  Doesn't include Coach or team fees and uniforms.  Does the PAHL charge for a team to play in their league?

51 minutes ago, Pucks11 said:

This is the problem with having score sheets, the parents have to ruin it once again. Goalie parents are the WORST by far and most of them don't know what a REAL shit on goal is and want everything thrown near their kid listed as a shot. They yell at the coaches, refs and score keepers if their kids don't get their assist or shots right. I know parents that have actually called and Emailed the teams, leagues and companies running a tournament because they keep their own stats and even send video clips of their kids not getting a 2nd assist or a shot went off their kid and someone else got the goal. Parents ruin everything in youth sports.

All that is true and no one person or system is perfect.  But what the PAHL does now (absoulutely nothing) is a joke and anything would be an improvement. Parents will always find ways to complain.   I hope that if the video clips were sent in the stats were changed.  I do agree that parents get out of control. I would tell any parent that complains to get involved with the score sheet and stats at the games.

1 hour ago, YouthHockey? said:

18U had some close competition. Preds beat Mt Lebo in overtime Saturday coming back from 2 - 0 deficit in the third. Arrows beat Preds in shootout after two five minute over times to win PAHL 18U yesterday. 

Sure would be nice to see the score sheets and have the PAHL name an all tournament team!

1 hour ago, TeamRamRod said:

My son played in the AHF.  I'll say that the league does a much better job of managing their website.  Live scoring, stats, players of the week, all-star teams are all pretty cool and certainly add to the experience.  I'll also say that the level of competition in that league is absolutely not worth the 10-12 hours of driving you'd do for a weekend, even if you do get 4-6 games.  If you're in PAHL already there's no point in adding that amount of driving and hotel stays to play teams that are equal to the competition out here (at best).  If you're an independent team you can easily find equal or better competition within 2-3 hours (Ohio, Buffalo) and not take that long trip on the turnpike. 

Wouldn't it be nice if the PAHL had a social media presence and actually did more to recognize the players in their league! You would have the best of both leagues here at home!