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5 hours ago, forbin said:

www.southpittsburghhockey,org

 

Somebody must be a big fan of the Carolina Hurricanes...

Yeah, that's kind of what I was going for lol.    I helped with the rebrand and we had to stay with the same colors.   ;-)   

Guess it depends on the age level.    We were in the Squirt A Major 3 division last season and Altoona and State College teams were at the top of the division and would give us a hard time.    Also at the top was Crawford County Flames.    I am guessing that was their top Squirt team with lower numbers of kids.    We are in Squirt AA this year so not sure if we will see them then.

Any idea what will happen to the RMU Island Sports Center then?   If they don't want to pay for the facility upgrades, I'd imagine they would sell it at some point.   The FB page says they aren't going anywhere... but with the way the D1 hockey announcement was conducted, I wouldn't be surprised to hear anything now in the guise of saving money.

I dunno...  but considering you just joined on Sunday to bring this up...  do tell and what's your background?   Which team did they leap to?

12 hours ago, hipcheck66 said:

In terms of on ice coaching, my son has worked with Cliff and TK. Both do a good job. Felt like we got our money’s worth with both. 
 

The best skills teacher my son has ever worked with is Justin Cormack at IC. Not spring team, just lessons. He’s fantastic. My son worked with him for years, and always wants to work with again in the summers. 

Does he still work for IC Hockey?   I don't see him listed.    Looking here, http://ichockey.net/coaches/   Just wondering how to contact.    Looks like he coaches the 16U Preds so probably still at IC.

22 hours ago, forbin said:

I have a 2009 and a 2013. My 2009 isn’t interested in doing summer hockey as he plays travel baseball and enjoys that much more. My 2013 is completely addicted to hockey and would be on the ice every single day if we could. We have tried so many other sports with him and he could care less. Yes, I realize it’s pretty ridiculous to be doing all of this for a soon to be 8 year old but trust me when I say it’s him driving the train here, I just pay for it. A lot of his teammates are doing the TK/NE thing. We also live very close to Southpointe but are not with the RinkRats. That might change soon though with the strong rumor of a second ice sheet coming there. 

Thanks, that sounds like my kid.   I was a little bummed when he didn't want to do baseball this year since they switched to kid pitch.    He likes hockey all the time.    We've been doing TK for about 2 years in various mini camps + just did the TK South team at Southpointe.   We've enjoyed doing it as a supplement to the PAHL season + the drills are challenging and varied.    I don't have any experience with IC Hockey (Ice Castle) or NE (Mount Lebanon).

Yeah, I've heard about the second sheet of ice...  I guess there is a new ownership group + a re-brand is being floated + they want to add the ice probably where the sport court is located.   I think it would be a great idea... it's very convenient for us plus it's a good location and nice building.

Just curious, what age group is your son @forbin?   My son is a 2011 squirt and we are also doing the TK/NE offering in spring.    We're live around Southpointe + also looking for ideas in spring/summer.    Right now we have that plus Quest summer league.

Wasnt sure if that was still in effect....   that probably settles it.. keeping it local.

Our Squirt team is looking to schedule a tournament in the next 2 months.    Was just curious about the state of interstate travel for youth hockey in the next 2 months for different states.    I tried looking online but didn't see anything definitive.   My initial impression was that only things in WV and OH were possible at this time.    

Coach has given us options of Lansing, MI, St. Louis, MO, Cleveland, South Bend, Detroit, Columbus, Chicago.

A few of these were cancelled last year.... so didn't want to try anything that wouldn't be almost definite.    I didn't think MI was a possibility.    We've mostly done local tournaments this season.

Any insight would be appreciated.

can we keep discussions in this forum related to western pa hockey?   this + well wishes for Gov Wolf + politics should be moved to facebook/social media imho.    Seems like recently it's gotten derailed and needs admin moderation.    Yes, Covid-19 is a serious pandemic, but come on seriously guys.

Printscape is the same rule... got an email from Southpointe Rink Rats.

Effective immediately, and until further notice, all coaches, players, and anyone inside Printscape Arena must wear a mask at all times.  This includes coaches, officials, and players on the ice.  

anyone know what happened in today's pahl meeting?   Assuming similar outcome as pihl?

In Quest summer league hockey for 10u at Ice Castle, we dealt with 10 skaters, 1 goalie for each game.   As a spectator, it was one parent per child.   We got LiveBarn as a result which has been fine for us.    Our team ended up picking our 10 skaters for each game trying to rotate the players so everyone had an equal chance of playing.   I heard stories of other teams rotating the players between periods.    I'm hoping to be able to play with similar restrictions if that means playing or not playing.    Any idea when the PAHL is going to finalize a decision?    Also for those suggesting that some might leave the PAHL - what other options are there?   Especially at 10u other than moving?    Got no idea.

So noticed that these two rinks don't offer Live Barn yet - just recently got a subscription.    They have it at Ice Castle and Printscape.    These four are usually the ones that we go to a lot.    Unfortunately in addition, both rinks don't allow spectators to watch currently during the pandemic - so we have to wait outside while our son is at practice.     Anyone got the inside scoop from either of these two rinks if they are in the works now?   Was just curious.    Thanks!

I've had a good experience with TK at Mt Lebo.   We have used him for group mites red and will continue to use him for Squirts.   Haven't done privates.    Seemed to be the best option for extra skills work South of Pittsburgh for us.    My eight year old also enjoys the experience.   I like that the drills are pretty varied.   We are in Canonsburg.   

If anyone has a better option in that area, we'll definitely check it out once things get back to normal.    Right now, my son isn't really interested in doing off-ice stuff so far...  I've tried...  he much more interested in just going outside and shooting on the net and playing catch.

Rink Rats in Southpointe are going to have a 2011 birth year Squirt team at probably A major.   We will be on this team.   We have a great group of kids, coaches and parents from their Mite Red level that are moving up.   Hoping to have 25 kids tryout then end up with the top 13/14/15.   

I think we were seriously thinking about trying out for another team but liked the idea of the birth year team for next season and the commitment of the coaches.     So that changed our mind and we are doing Rink Rats next year with the birth year team.

Just mentioning it here since there was a 2011 thinking about Rink Rats.

I assume Interel does Squirt Level and up?    Didn't see it on the site.   

The Planet hockey one sounded interesting as it's the closest to us at Printscape.    Wasn't sure if it was any good considering I think it's the first year it's been offered at Printscape, but they do it nationally.    Anyone know about this?   I did like that it was for most of the day and looked detailed for the agenda.

Looking for summer camp recommendations in the pgh area that are within driving distance.   We are in Canonsburg.    My son is a 2011 red mite but will be in squirts next year.    

Last year, we did RMU Hockey Academy..   Powerskating and Shoot to Score which was good - so considering that again as they have a Mite to Squirt transition camp, but was wondering what other offerings are in the area that you would recommend?   We are looking for something high level with low coach to student ratios.   We have been doing Tyler Kennedy skill sessions weekly.

I searched the forum and saw a lot of recommends for this: http://www.interelhockeyacademy.com/ which looked good.

Probably not looking to travel out of town yet for a camp, but maybe next year.   I saw Penn State and Kent State.

Any help would be appreciated, thanks!

We have been doing red level Mites with TK on Wednesdays on 6p at Mt Lebanon.    It works well with our schedule and the drills are high intensity and varied.   We've really enjoyed the TK sessions and they are a good value.     

Thanks for the info, we will try RMU 3 on 3 next year.    I think we have enough for the summer with Rink Rats tues practice, Printscape 3 on 3, and Quest summer league at Ice Castle.   Then we are doing a 1 week hockey summer camp at RMU in July for powerskating and shooting.

Actually speaking of other sports, he likes inline hockey.   Any parents with kids here that are doing both?   We do the in house league at Bridgeville Rollerplex which is on Sundays at noon, but it's mostly beginners and they only really play a game for 15mins.   Is there any inline hockey teams in the area that do not practice on Tues?   We had to back out of Canon Mac inline last year because of scheduling conflict with Rink Rats practices.    Seems like everybody likes Tuesday for scheduling.    Looking for something to compliment Rink Rats.    The baseball season at Canon Mac worked perfectly because it was from April - end of May.

Just an update for possible readers in a similar situation, we're almost done with spring baseball at canon mac and he's really into it and having fun.    They also keep track of standings so that's new to him as mite hockey - they don't keep track of wins and losses.   We're going into playoffs now.   It works pretty well in our hockey schedule since the baseball season goes from April-May.     Highly recommended.

We're doing Mite 3x3 at Southpointe and it's been okay - more to get some ice time, but the skill level is varied and also there isn't any goalies so the scores are using in their 20s.    Goalies I think can play for free if there are any interested out there.     We might consider trying out RMUs next year.

So we made the red team in mites for Rink Rats, which is the top team there.    Do mite teams play the same number of games per skill level?    Also I've noticed that a couple players from our previous team are now playing for Pittsburgh Predators at Ice Castle in the squirt and mite levels.    Is there any thoughts on programs in the area?   It seems like many of the coaches are parents of the players as they go through the system.    Was just thinking about options for next year when we go into squirts.

Thanks for the advice, he is also doing spring baseball until the end of May.    I should have given the full picture.   I think we will probably just keep what we have now then maybe look for something else in July/August when the schedule frees up again post camp.    Anyone familiar with the area programs in that time period, any suggestions would be appreciated.   It's just maybe adding a day or two of hockey to get some more ice time... not looking to overload his schedule, he just wants to play more.

thanks, he is also doing roller hockey at Bridgeville Rollerplex with their in house hockey league.   It's just every Sun for an hour.   He also really likes roller hockey so we sometimes go to Wiltshire Park in Upper St Clair.    Pretty nice outdoor rink for inline and dek hockey in the area.    Sorry I should have mentioned that in our initial post.