Saucey

Listen....my kid is getting the same offers that the Icemen and the Vengeance are getting. Truly. Tier III pay to play juniors need bodies. He hasn't gone to a single showcase. We haven't paid for an extra A. Same opportunities. Dream killer? How about telling you it is completely unnecessary to play.... independent AA to do what those kids are doing. Faux AAA... They end up at the Same. Exact. Place. I mean, nothing changes over the years. After your kids come through, there will be another crop convinced it will work for their kid. Chase getting better in a good program. Good privates. Don't sweat it beyond that. If your kid has something, you won't need to chase. The right people will notice and suggest some other things to do. Ones without a team roster to fill.

Whoops quoted wrong thing. But it is true that even the pros do end up in beer league eventually.

I heard they had 100. ? I wouldn't get too excited, 07 is a low birth year. I doubt any team around here is going to look great.

Perfect. They'll be ready for beer league.

There are so many teams playing and not enough ice. That is what was explained to me about the length of the season. Split seasons have their issues, too. Travel programs end up playing their season in a compressed time frame in order to play enough games to qualify for Nationals. There really is no perfect way to do it.

Why ask a question I know you know the answer to? To never play in a game, how does that help? Why not get both practices and games? There are plenty of PAHL teams that offer both. This blanket assumption AAA programs sell, that PAHL doesn't offer enough, I challenge that. You can also...offer too much. Burn them out. Injure them. What kid wants to sit the bench all season?

This is exactly why I am so critical of these programs. The desire to chase and profiting from it, kid or parent. Many coaches will tell you being a fourth line player with few ice touches on a higher level team will not develop your player like playing the lower level will. Your kid does not need to go faux to develop. I have no trouble with the word no if I don't think it is going to work.

Lots of very defensive AAA folks. If you are allowed to spend your money as you want, I am allowed to believe that these programs are not good for my pocket book, bad for community programming and predatory towards families. And I can express that opinion. As can Danner. I have interest in hearing how the tryouts go. You don't... don't read the post. I know what they sell. I have been subjected to the sales pitches. The recruiting done directly to the child through social media accounts. The absolute nastiness displayed when you don't want to do it. (Name calling? Disparaging the very player they claimed to want not a few seconds before? You know who engages in that kind of behavior? The con man.) Be respectful of your choice to play AAA? Be respectful of mine not to do it. The 'benefit' of AAA programming sold is a fallacy. You do not have to have your kid on the ice 24/7 all year long to become good players. You do not have to travel all over the country. You do not have to have paid coaches. The amount of money and time spent is not directly related to the creation of a good hockey player. You don't even need to have a fantastic coach and squad every year. Your kid can still develop. I criticize because I feel like a parents' desire to give their kids the best and achieve their dreams is abused. I watch the chasers. I know their kid isn't going anywhere because they just aren't good enough. There is always somewhere for that child to land to continue chasing. WTF is that? You are allowed to say that is ok since it is their money, and I am allowed to say I think that is wrong. The comment about the PAHL travel...used to be all rec was in house. But parent demand was fed. Lots of things not good for the overall development of a player change because parents don't know any better. I don't disagree that youth hockey as a whole could stand to have less travel. Why are parents traveling hours to watch kids who can barely stand in their skates? ?‍♂️ Such babies on this thread. Man up and take the criticism without crying. Or wait...are these tears because people aren't lining up for the crap AAA programming this season like they were?

Hockey season starts so quickly, I can see doing it in spring. And the programs have ice to use.

Meh this board is used for gossip. Anonymous posting. ?‍♂️

True. They were advertising a supplemental. ?‍♂️

Assuming that most kids and parents are there to get to the next level, the other programs just aren't being scouted. You have to be looked at to move on. I don't ever see anyone drooling over the Pens on this board. I don't hear anyone who has ever played for them do any drooling, either. People are there to move up. That's it. Every once in a while someone gets all excited and says....PAHL sucks or doesn't offer enough and that's why we left for independent or faux AAA and we are so happy etc. But those teams always seem to disintegrate. So...since those things were still on offer, presumably, the families left to chase. Still going nowhere. Those of you saying those things just don't want to admit you are chasing.

Icemen have been fielding independent AA. You know, charge parents AAA prices to play same level they could have in PAHL.

Been playing under this rule for a few years now. I don't mind it at all. Doesn't apply to high school. Kids adjust or take a whistle when they do ice. I HATE automatic off sides applied at all levels, however. Bleh.

One of my takeaways is that if your AAA team isn't moving players to USPHL or NAHL and that is your purpose in playing AAA, going NCAA Div 1, why bother? Tier III junior pay to play won't get you there. Doesn't look like Esmark and it's ilk will, either. MOST KIDS PLAYING PPE and other AAA organizations won't, as well. I knew this but I liked that this chart spells it out, for all the new parents looking to spend money on hockey.

Since this is frequently a topic of conversation, I thought I would share.

That was useful discussion. ?

What do you think he should address out of curiosity? No one addresses raiding anywhere, not just Mid Am. If an organization tries to run a fair tryout, doesn't actively recruit, blow a lot of smoke up parents' tushes about what a jewel their kid is, and promise a lot of crap, the organization can expect movement.

I find it unfortunate that a post meant to celebrate an accomplishment devolved into a large discussion regarding a complaint. Standard for here. It's ok to want to discuss it. But it's really a tangent to the OP that could be its own post. I understand the complaint, very talented hockey players don't get as much attention in high school because of where they go to school, something they do not have control over. However, it is true that it is more of an accomplishment to do what the six celebrated here did both because of their talent AND because of the level of hockey they played. It's a reason I completely approve of not basing hockey divisions over size of the school district alone. PIHL's current system generates and encourages the development of good hockey. I would submit that there are opportunities in PIHL to allow kids to get looks from juniors, etc, while not playing AAA. Rare, but the players celebrated here are also rare. It's a celebration of elite talent. The All Star game is how all the talent at every division is celebrated. Why, exactly, is that not enough? Sorry, there isn't much of a comparison between the level of hockey played at D2 and the stars of AAA. The hockey is almost an entirely different game. The speed, the difference in shot totals, etc. It's just not comparable. I'm guilty of straying from the OP's topic, obviously, since I just did it. ?

I don't think kids play juniors to get into ACHA. They didn't get what they wanted from the juniors.

Fresh from High school can play. Look at rosters. They might not play much but that may be similar to a high school freshman on high school varsity. I dislike that trend, too. The 20 21 year old player spent a lot of money in juniors somewhere and delayed life. Pitt IUP Ca University RMU John Carroll are options for the player who does not wish to delay school. You need to have the grades..

Meh I am sure a lot of those programs will take other programs' cast offs after tryouts are over.

Comments about the difficulty in figuring out the quality of hockey is another reason to make hockey the secondary choice after picking your school based on quality of school/area of study. If your kid is thinking club hockey. Plus coaches come and go.

I beg to differ. It only takes one charismatic dad to convince entire teams that what the organization did was wrong and another organization in need of check books. That's how the Icemen fill their rosters every year. You know, because they don't have a program that develops from the mites on.