BeaverFalls

7 hours ago, Wes said:

Thoughts:  16 & 18 divisions look down in # of teams from just a few years ago.  Huge amount of teams at 14 and 12.  Girls 19u also half the # of teams from just a few years back.

I wonder if this is coincidental to the registration rate formula this year. 

In the spirit of making a knowledgeable consumer, this can all be summed up to Buyer Beware. 
 

No one can say a kid or a team should or shouldn’t compete at a certain level. Maybe for some reasons it’s the best fit for them. 
 

…but people also need to be realists and know what they’re getting into and know what they’re actually getting. 
 

If you’re going solely off MHR and National wins, that’s going to give you one answer. If you have a borderline AAA/AA kid that would benefit more from actually getting into a team and facing AAA competition than they would being a top 1-5 on a AA team, it’ll give you an another answer. 
 

There are some teams, organizations and parents who just want the ego stroke of saying your AAA. There are some that truly are national powerhouses. Then there are others that do develop kids but just aren’t national competitors. And yes there are some that are pure money grabs. 
 

Idk any organization well enough to pigeon-hole any of them. But I’m sure they all fit somewhere around that continuum.  Unfortunately or fortunately the free market will dictate the number of teams. 
 

Personally I do think there are too many AAA teams, AA teams etc. I think there should be more in-house and cost effective programs and less travel and have travel reserved more for truly the top 50 percent of an areas players divided up from AAA to B because the output of time, money, and travel for travel hockey doesn’t give a reasonable return on investment. 
 

That being said, that will never happen. Just my two cents. 

What you really need to do is find a guy who is a skills coach with no experience or background and has you jump over ADM mite dividers repeatedly. 

40 minutes ago, Danner27 said:

During the argumentive process please keep this in mind - 16-18 (midget) the landscape has changed the past few years. The top kids are all gone to real juniors. The mid level kids are now falling for the tier 3 juniors garbage. 18U doesn’t have the quality of players as it did just 2-3 years ago. It’s starting to trickle down the 16U. 
 

my kids plays AAA (faux) hockey! 
Well my kid plays JUNIOR (faux) hockey!

18u also gets bleaker as more kids get jobs, dedicate to other sports, girlfriends, boyfriends, their own transportation etc. 

The game has changed a ton to allow smaller players to stand a chance. Still have to keep your head up but it’s not like it used to and there have been some kids in the 90’s and early 00’s that couldn’t have been more than 5’5” that were in top 5 in scoring in their class. 

9 minutes ago, RJUSHL said:

This is a great thing for Mon Valley hockey, but I can't help but think this is another nail in the coffin for PAHL.  Is there anyone that doesn't think Black Bear is going to be running the amateur leagues in Pittsburgh within the next year or two? Black Bear is very aggressive and PAHL cannot adapt fast enough.

This is very possible and may be a good thing. Idk enough about both organizations but I have to think there is way too much pandering to creating travel hockey for kids who should only be playing in-house (soak up that money so you can brag about your kids game 3 hours away even if it is B hockey). 

Slightly OT but does anyone else think them having the term “Elite” in their name both irritates most as snobbish as well as panders to their clientele?

Hopefully this helps keep the lights on for a resource to the community. 

8 minutes ago, rock said:

f that  shut your mouth and go to the box.. refs are sick off taking shit from kids, coaches, and parents.. kiddos to the ref.. learn some respect.. reputation makes things easier to call. pretty soon we won't have any refs. 

 

I’m pretty much sick of everything and everyone if that makes you feel any better. 

58 minutes ago, dazedandconfused said:

I'm aware of the progression but I'm also aware of officials who are very good at......... how should I put this? Exacerbating the situation. Baiting....... whatever you call it, it happens. Maybe not in this instance but who really knows?

It looks to me this official knew exactly what to assess to realistically maximize the pain. That being said, as soon as a player opens Pandora’s box and puts it in the hands of the official to even put pen to paper - they’ve gone too far and are pretty much at their mercy. 

5 hours ago, Murray Chadwick said:

First 2 minutes for roughing, the rest for his mouth.  He's the captain.  Game suspension for the Game Misconduct, another game for 4 penalties in a game. Coach gets a game too (12 or more penalties in a game).  Great start, boys. Stay hot.  

Not exactly gooning it up as it’s been ascertained earlier, but not smart behavior. 

4 hours ago, Pucks11 said:

Puck possession/keep away is more of a d*ck move/embarrassment than running up the score. 

I think if you do it like it’s monkey in the middle then yes. But there’s ways it can be done to an extent. 
 

I’m of the school of thought both organizations are at fault. Who thought it would even be a good idea to have this game with that much disparity?  I can’t blame the players for playing the game. They’re looking to move on and move up too.

7 hours ago, GrumpyOldPucker said:

People have moved their girls to Michigan to play Tier 1 because of her (kathy's) role\influence at PPE. Over the years I have heard a lot more people bad mouth kathy than praise her. It seemed like many of the PPE girls that were invited on pippy's summer tour wound up at selects academy. I feel it (Kathy, PPE Girls, Selects Academy, etc) deserves it own thread if those that were there and lived through it both positive and negative side would be willing to share their stories.

The firstest of world problems. 

7 hours ago, GrumpyOldPucker said:

@BeaverFalls - DO NOT LIST ANY ACHA, we are talking NCAA D1, D3 and any level of pro

 

- Tom Mooney played 4 years at Notre Dame

- Dave Tench played 1 game for Toledo ECHL

- Jack Williams - Greensburg Salem, left the area in (i think) 10th grade to billet & play somewhere north of PA just don't remember where. Played 5 yrs OHL (Kitchener, North Bay) then 11 years bouncing from ECHL, CHL, WCHL, WPHL, IHL, UHL

Josh Piro - Johnstown - Played NCAA Elmira, ECHL, UHL, SPHL, Germany GerObl

 

I gotta think about the women's side a bit, I can probably list a dozen or so.... Several NCAA D1 and lots of NCAA D3 for sure, at least one female pro NWHL? and for sure one olympian.

NCAA d3 lmao ok. 

NCAA D3 or legit ACHA D1

2 hours ago, Lucky17 said:

 

4 hours ago, Saucey said:

It's too many games for kids  We hear over and over from USA Hockey as coaches and the medical profession that it isn't good for them. 70 to 80 games are what the pros play. They do it full time and get paid.bKids need to do school, etc on top of their season. Burn out, over use injuries, etc.

I’m sure they’re all getting the recommended ammount of practice time per game too lol. 

I’m one for making it at least until the age where teams can compete for Nationals and probably at the tier I and II levels only. How many TIII teams really are running part to full independent schedules?

 USA hockey is nothing more than an insurance company that quasi props up a hockey program to create a self fulfilling cycle. It’s a business first. 

On 7/16/2022 at 4:31 PM, Stanley PK said:

Check out Safesport's Website, you will see that is in every sport. It's sickening how many people are on the list with suspensions, bans etc. 

That’s only the ones who have gotten caught.  statistically speaking, more players of parents on this site will have played for a deviant during their hockey career than have not.  It’s just the reality of the numbers.

But it’s next to impossible to catch them all. In fact, the ones who do get caught and banned typically are inadvertent or the dumbest of the dumb. Morale crushing when you really think about it. 

General location at least?

11 hours ago, PUCKCOVID19 said:

lol they will probably have their players drive themselves to cut costs. 

I’ve seen this. I’ve seen 3 players to a queen size bed and one $5 hot and ready per 4 players all first hand. 
 

If done right, it’s feasible. And hopefully they do it right. If not, it’s truly exhausting and demoralizing. 

This is going to be a big increase in travel. Hopefully the program ensures the increased budget for appropriate travel, lodging and meals to help mitigate the fatigue that comes a long with these long road trips. Good luck to them in their move. 

…and?

23 hours ago, carroll81 said:

It really isn't.  It just follows a path unlike other traditional sports.  It has evolved recently to include more prep and NCAA vs. junior, but if you know the path it is pretty straight forward. 

Idk if I agree with this. I’ve seen a ton more baseball players and football players go D1 NCAA straight out of high school than be able to name a single hockey player do it. It takes an inordinate amount of time and money to navigate to simply any level NCAA hockey over most other sports.