carroll81

The birth year thing grew out of Tier 1, because of the Midget level, complicated by USAH using a calendar year vs. school year. Coaches/scouts wanted to see the 15U's. That is the year they wanted to focus on. Many other sports use graduation year once you get to the older ages. Once the legitimate college/junior bound levels started to do that, everybody else wants to keep up with the Jones. My solution for the older groups.... the districts should mandate that to be eligible for playoffs, you must be associated with a recognized USAH Tier I or Tier II league.

This truth is the way it is today. If they are still local after 15U, that is pretty much the ball game.

You have to be in possession AND control. You can be in possession without being in control. For example, I am stickhandling up the ice and dump it into the corner. I am in possession and control until I dump it. I am still in possession until someone else plays the puck. No more finishing the check, because I am no longer in control of the puck. It is going to take a few weeks for this to even out. Just like when they introduce the Standard of Play a few rule books ago. It took about 2 month for that to work itself out.

New book: 408 pages. Last book: 394 pages. NCAA: about 170. NFHS: 145 pages. Winner? NFHS!

They raised $40k so far. That ain't gonna cut it.

You might be mixing up your regions. Looking at the program rosters for 18U, the East was mostly from WBS teams. The South was mostly Genesis and Team Philly, with one Little Flyer and one Philly Elite (Hollydell).

It was put in to clarify what they tried to eliminate in the last go around. Two guys battling in the corner, third guys comes in and checks the opponent off the puck - Penalty. Two guys battling in the corner, third guys comes makes a play on the puck (can use body positioning) - No Penalty. They also clarified the body contact while two players are chasing the puck. Just because there is contact prior to getting to the puck does not mean there is a penalty, even if one player ends up on the ice. As long as it's a battle for position, no penalty. Nothing here is really new since the previous rulebook, at least in terms of how they want it called.

It is primarily done by volunteers: https://myhockeyrankings.com/report_scores.php

The math is actually worse than you show. NCAA D1 hockey has only 18 scholarships per team. D2 has 13.5 per team. Average team size is a little higher. The teams can split the money up. I would be curious to know how many actual full rides there are. My bet is not many. As Covid and the RMU situation show, you better like the school.

Moving to a three official system is actually worse in terms of watching all the players for roughing, head contact, plays behind the play, etc. USAH only recognizes the 1 Referee, 2 Linesman system, so that means only 1 set of eye watching for those types of infractions. At the levels you guys are talking about, it is not a good investment. The issue, as several have allured to, is the late starters, late development kids (bad AA, younger A, and all those 3rd and 4th A teams). These players get little or no introduction to body contact and angling, now referred to as Competitive Contact. They are still working on skating fundamentals, passing and shooting. Adding a third skill that needs to occur while the other 2 are happening is not good. They would benefit from a non-checking division. Those levels are also where you have the most diversity of skills. It is really hard to officiate, especially for the guys and girls that typically work those games. It is a vicious cycle, that most league and organizations are not really paying much attention. My prediction is you will see more non-checking divisions going forward. Not by USAH fiat, but by leagues and admins reacting to the market. Back to rec hockey, but not called rec hockey, because it will upset many parents.

AHF is starting out as an alternative to the EJ as supplemental games/showcases for SEPA and NJ teams. Notice that it is the teams in the area that are owned by the rinks. Those rinks were renting ice to the EJ for their showcases and those clubs were buying ice for their EJ games. Running the league themselves brings that revenue and cost structure totally under their control. The clubs will also still participate in their local Tier 2 leagues (DVHL, NJYHL, etc.). For now, it should reduce travel and cost for the teams also. Another benefit for the teams is that they don't travel to Boston, only to play in a showcase with teams from the area. As @forbin mentioned, it could be a good option for SWPA teams as well, if it can replace some of the other travel that you guys are doing.

There is no U15 in USAH Tier 2. Organizations do it to market to the parents that think it is better. Tier 1 added U15 to help with the scouting/recruiting. That is the year when legitimate junior and college programs are making decisions.

There are lots of kids that may be "athletic" at 10. The ones on the "elite" teams at that age are usually there because they developed sooner than the other 10 year olds. Moving to a hockey hotbed is not going to change that. If you asked me to choose which 10 year old is going to be the better athlete at 18, I'm looking at the parents. Did they play sports in college? Did they play any sport at a high level? Are they athletic? I'll be right more often than looking at are they on the 10 year old elite team.

All new and improved Body Contact: "Changes “Body Contact” to “Competitive Contact” and incorporates language from Declaration of Player Safety, Fair Play and Respect to more completely define competitive contact." We also now have "Physical Engagement"" "Adds new Glossary definition for “Physical Engagement” and is defined as: Two players who are in pursuit of the puck are allowed to use competitive contact provided that possession of the puck remains the sole objective of the two players. This includes opposing players competing for the puck in front of the goal or along the boards." Can't be good when there are as many changes to the Glossary than there are to the actual rules in Section 6.

Looks like they added some wording regarding the contact before playing the puck. Lots of updates to the glossary regarding contact, not to mention how to apply Major penalties when there is an injury. "Adds new Glossary definition for “Physical Engagement” and is defined as: Two players who are in pursuit of the puck are allowed to use competitive contact provided that possession of the puck remains the sole objective of the two players. This includes opposing players competing for the puck in front of the goal or along the boards." The first month or so of the season during rule changes years is always interesting,

Agree with Saucy here. It's in all sports.

Icing is now always in effect at all times.

I think so. As for the adjustments to the penalty times, that also more closely reflects what was happening locally. Many districts/affiliates were already adjusting the penalty time based on period length, which was allowed.

Period length depends on how much ice time you buy. Crazy here in the East: Tier 1 Midget - 17 minute periods with an ice cut Tier 2 Midget - 16 minute periods, no ice cut Varsity - 16 minute periods, no ice cut (Flyers Cup is 17 with a cut) JV - 15 minute periods, no cut Prep School - 17 or 18 minute periods with 1 or 2 ice cuts Local Tournaments - midget is typically 13/13/15, no cuts

Unfortunately, the Fighting Planets didn't have much fight in them after the long bus ride to West Chester. They went down to Allentown CC 14-5. Congratulations to them for making their first state final. For those who don't care and want to keep the tenor of the vocal hockey posters, obviously Allentown is sandbagging in the AA division and should be playing AAA since they can recruit. Finally, there are probably more lacrosse guys from western PA playing NCAA lax than there are playing NCAA hockey. Oh, and Pens Elite still sucks.

Pens Elite sucks... PAHL should just become the faux AAA league... Anybody who's kid plays in the PIHL is just throwing money away... and my son would be in the NHL if that crappy squirt coach hadn't cut him. Better now?

A little off topic, but Mars will be playing in the PIAA Lacrosse AA championship this weekend. They will be playing against Allentown CC. It is the first time a team from the west will be in a title game and it will be the first time there is a non-Philly champion. Good Luck to the Fightin' Planets! They play at 2:30 on Saturday, followed by the AAA final (Kennet vs. Radnor). PCN will broadcast the games.

Hockey is going to help Chattam, Pitt, CMU, and Duquesne with diversity? If hockey can bring in kids that will pay full tuition, those schools will consider it. Otherwise it is a non-starter. Unless some rich alumni decides to pay for it.

Colleges are re-evaluating all the sports programs. Covid accelerated the financial decline of many universities. I would be curious how many of the effected athletes were paying full boat vs. on some type of aid. Quick look at the finances of Bobby Mo show that they are struggling. Enrollment is down. They cut staff. Their endowment is one of the lowest of the 800 colleges in PA and is poorly managed. At ~$37m it is less than the cost to run the place for a year (~$59m). Bottom line, they need to attract full paying students.

The latest few post show the problems of hockey and youth sports in general today, especially regarding "development". Many parents want "development" because they want to keep up with the Jones and brag about their kids Some/many parents want "development: because they have unrealistic knowledge of college admissions and sports Most of the kids just want to play games. What USA Hockey advises for development (3:1 practice/ game ration; playing multi-sports) is not what the market (families) or the suppliers (rinks/clubs) want. The suppliers follow the market.