BeaverFalls

6 hours ago, Lifelongbender said:

That looks like a fantastic event. I can't believe the OTB boys were there.

Also, congrats to the guy who got to "square off" with Brett Keisel on the ice. That pic would go on my mantle forever. They look like they had a blast faking that fight.

I had the privilege of helping “transport” Brett a few years ago for an event. He is one of the most genuine, humble and friendly celebrity/athletes I’ve ever met. Great to hear for all involved. 

5 hours ago, fafa fohi said:

So the goalie can hear the chanting as she was brought to tears during the game........but the Armstrong players can't hear it?  

Stop bro, just stop.  YOU ARE PART OF THE PROBLEM. 

There’s a lot of things I don’t agree with you on your posts, but you’ve been spot on here. While we may differ in the philosophy of what is best for hockey in WPA in some ways, we both agree that basic decency should be the standard.

1 hour ago, hockeyisgreat said:

Just listened to the Armstrong Coach on the news trying to say he didn't know what was being said. I would bet the ranch that the kids were talking about it between periods. His explanation doesn't seem sincere.  Just my opinion.

What do you expect him to say?  He knew what was going on and didn’t do anything about it?

8 hours ago, Michael Cominos said:

I feel it is necessary for me to speak up on this forum and offer my apologies to the entire Western Pennsylavania Hockey Community, the Mars School District Community, the Mars Area School District and the hockey team itself for the behavior of our student section Thursday night. 

 

Since we first heard of these behaviors as school adminstrators we have been in contact with the owner/operator of the venue in which the game occured, as well as our local president expressing our displeasure for this behavior as well as the lack of action taken on the security officers’ part as well as the arena management. They agreed that more should have been done.

 

We have reached out and discussed this incident with the administration at Mars High School to offer our aplogogies not only to them but mostly to offer our apologies to the young lady that was ridiculed. The school adminstration stated that they appreicated our efforts in this regard. 

 

We have been in contact with the PIHL and have been part of banning our students from attending any further games until a point in time in which the PIHL feels we have taken enough steps to ensure apporiate behavior. We will respect any decision they make and will be supportive in any way in which we can.  Ironically, we are in the process of creating and implementing a sportsmanship program within our school to serve as an educational opportunity for our students. Unfortunately, we were not fast enough in the implementation of this program. 

 

We are still trying to identify the students from the video to take disciplinary action. The bottom line is we do not condone these actions from any of our students and will look to take appropriate disciplinary actions as a school. 

 

This is certainly a mess. We are embarrassed and working hard to change the behaviors and ensure what happened Thursday night never hapens again. 

 

Mike Cominos

Principal

 

I appreciate your condolences now; after a major issue…but this has been a major issue at that arena with your school for a long time. Hopefully your organization will pay better attention going forward to who you have representing you. 

8 hours ago, Hockey4life said:

Why is it the Armstrong Football players aren’t being punished?? They were the majority of the student section. They were the ones who were chanting and yelling. They were questioned on Friday by the principal but since they had a big game no one got suspended! Heaven forbid the prize football players get in trouble. They were the reason to all this.  The hockey players are being targeted and getting threats. The refs (who are always horrible) and security should have done something!! They failed this poor young lady. I was at this game but was too far away I didn’t hear the chants  but I’ve seen the videos. For that I’m so sorry and ashamed. Student section was always fun growing up to be part of but this day in age, acting like this is horrible. 
Hockey is a contact sport. ALL teams play rough and dirty not just Armstrong. Recent example: Shaler picked up and tossed an Armstrong player into the penalty box almost landing on his head and another player attacked an Armstrong player that was already down breaking his collar bone. So why is Armstrong always being targeted?? Both teams had their hits and penalties.  It’s not the hockey players fault yet they are being punished way more than the student section aka the Armstrong football players and cheerleaders. 
also, there’s a letter that was sent to the school district last week naming Armstrong football players and cheerleaders “popular kids” as being bullies to the LGBTQ community yet nothing is done to these players.
 

Put the focus on the correct issue. start punishing the right team. 

Sounds like a you, your district and you surround yourselves with problem. The program ought to be shut down. 40 years of shit behavior in the greater Armstrong area. 
 

What will be next?  Nooses from the rafters?

On 10/29/2021 at 3:30 PM, nemesis8679 said:

And I'm not laying blame, they obviously weren't chanting these things, but where was the Mars coaching staff during this? I would've demanded the refs do something, and my team wouldn't have played until this was addressed, period. Yelling parents and students acting up during the course of a game is one thing. But this is something entirely different. 

Why put the blame on them and not the actors?

On 10/29/2021 at 12:02 PM, HSFBLJ said:

No more students at the games.  Only parents.  The on ice officials should have done something.  Game management should have done something.  One of the parents should have done something.  Somone from the rink should have done something.  Isn't there a police officer at all PIHL games?

Make it no fans period. It’s not like anyone from the fans, to students, to organization, to team did anything to stop it. 

49 minutes ago, Danner27 said:

This made me spit my coffee out! Not so much because the 09’s, because the last 2-3 years I’ve seen all these social media posts, parents on Facebook etc “my kid committed to play hockey at XXX university” They have a little hockey card made up etc. club hockey is great at the M1 level, but come on with the committed bs. 

There is nothing wrong with club hockey in the sense of continuing to play etc. but these people who sell their souls to the devil along with multiple mortgages on their homes need to realize they have a better chance of winning the lottery than their kid becoming the next Crosby out of Western PA. 

Setting my watch for 2027 when these 09’s declare which ACHA program they will be playing for…

What is a tender? 
A tender is a contract, of sorts, a player signs announcing his intentions to play for that particular NAHL team and that NAHL team only. Once a player signs a tender with an NAHL team, his playing rights belong to that team within the NAHL and he may not be recruited by any other NAHL team. Each team is granted ten (10) tenders - plus or minus any trades - which become active on Nov. 1. Tendered players are not eligible for the NAHL draft.

53 minutes ago, Danner27 said:

While I somewhat agree, PPE will have a 2002 & 2003 drafted into the NHL pretty soon. Both kids were tossed aside, PPE had nothing to do with their success.

with that said, PPE will start to see other kids of theirs drafted from the 2002-2004 BY alone. I can think of 5 kids excluding the two I mentioned above.

To clarify to someone - getting tendered by a junior team does not mean they own your rights. It’s just a ticket to main camp for the coming season. 
 

 

It’s a little more than that and something that should not be taken lightly.  Plenty of eager souls signed tenders and ended up regretting it because it limits the potential for other teams to pursue them  

http://navigatingjuniorhockey.blogspot.com/p/jr-hockey-tenders-drafts.html

22 minutes ago, nemesis8679 said:

The new checking rule appears to be:

If it's loud on the boards or glass- 2 minutes

If the kid being checked falls- 2 minutes

 

If the kid doing the checking is bigger than the one being checked and one or both of the above happen- that's a two and ten

 

It's ridiculous. 

BuT iT maKeS ThEM CrEaTIve!

59 minutes ago, RJUSHL said:

I have no axe to grind. I’ve really never had any major issue with placements. PAHL does a nice job imo. All I’m saying is that if an organization has two teams, there could be a wide delta between the top player and the bottom player on each team. Not saying that’s bad at all, just saying that has the potential to make placement more challenging. But they usually get it right. 
 

I have no clue what I said to make you think I have an issue with smaller organizations. Your comment makes no sense.

Youve bashed “smaller” (see inferior) organizations repeatedly on this bored, while acting hokey and as if people can’t see through your thinly veiled act as to who you are and what you’re advocating.

7 hours ago, RJUSHL said:

That’s interesting. Placing teams in smaller orgs is challenging because there can be a large talent disparity between the top and bottom of the roster. You see this much less at places that field 5+ teams at each age group. 

Obviously you have an ax to grind with smaller organizations.  Shouldn’t they opposite be true?  If an organization can field 7 teams, wouldn’t they have more money and resources?

1 hour ago, RJUSHL said:

More continuous play actually. You really think dumping and chasing is skilled hockey with fluid play? That’s the easiest play for the unskilled and robotic player.

Look at all those players making it to the next level because they can shove the puck up the boards constantly and dump and chase! So much skill!

It sounds like you’ve just completed your first level cep and had your head pumped full from the good idea fairies from usa hockey.

kids get better by playing the game. Not by constant whistles and stoppage of play.

There is no proof that automatic offside has made anyone a better player. It’s simply there because it’s easier for newer and unskilled officials to make the call than managing the numbers of delayed off sides. Same with icing at all times. It makes it easier to just call an icing regardless of game context. 
 

Creativity on the penalty kill is about the last thing you want to be teaching young players. Positioning, reading passes etc on the other hand…

2 minutes ago, HockeyDad23 said:

Sure. Keep in mind last year was an odd year due to Covid. So they skipped placement games.

we were listed as A minor gold. Our coach looked at our roster and where kids were prior year and thought PAHL was way off.

Our team loaded a ton of scrimmages against PAHl teams one to 2 divisions above us. Because PA was closed we bought ice in Ohio.

Our team outshot and out scored opponents. In the end the team moved up to A Major white. Scoresheets and evals were sent to PAHl for consideration

They played a little over 50 games between tournaments and PAHL. In PAHL they finished around the .500 mark. Games were very competitive and didnt have any blowouts.

 

 

 

The diligence this team took is what it takes to be moved. Whining, using one game score etc won’t cause a team to be moved. 

In theory, sunshine, rainbows and magical skills. In reality just one whistle after another, no flow and even less continuous play. 

2 hours ago, RJUSHL said:

Anyone have the placements/divisions yet?

Association presidents should have those at some point today. I’m guessing there is someone on the placement committee in this forum. 
 

PAHL does a surprisingly good job with placements. I do feel like the misplacements are usually the smaller organizations. Their formula which considers where kids played the previous year isn’t as helpful with the small organizations. But then placement games usually sort this out pretty well at least from my experience. 

Ive found the exact opposite to be true, where one or two good players cause an entire team to be bumped up several levels above their ability. So it’s a case by case scenario. 

33 minutes ago, hockeyisgreat said:

From what I have heard the placement committee is very thorough in their reviews before they place teams.  When in question they review all the players on a team as to previous playing experience.  I would think the hardest placements are in squirt and you are pretty much left to an associations assessment of the teams.  It's a big job I wouldn't want to do!

I’d say as a whole they do a pretty darn good job. Is it perfect?  Far from it. There usually is a team that’s probably too good for a division and a team that has no business being there…that being said it’s a far far cry better than it was competitive wise than it was 10, 20 and 30 years ago. 

Why

https://www.pahockey.com/teamplacement
 

As it’s been said on here already. The likelihood of moving from the initial placement to a different division, let alone appealing after final placement is extremely low. 
 

5 minutes ago, hockeyisgreat said:

Problem becomes the AA.  Too many parents feel it is beneath their kids to play A.  By playing independent you can hid a weak BY team with a weak schedule and still call it AA.  Some come back to PAHL but most don't. 

This is pretty much what this whole post is calling for. Creating a whole new AA division, specially catered to 1-2 teams because mommy and daddy can bear to have their kid not called AA for a season.  Listen, if you’re that worried that your kid as a 11 year old can’t even share the same sheet of ice with a 12 year old, regardless of level, that’s a big problem. 
 

Regardless if programs want to go full independent to avoid it, that’s their choice. An expensive and busy one but who cares from anyone in the league or not on the predators pee wee team.  We’ve given about 100 scenarios why it’s generally a bad idea and what might work but RJ only will accept the creation of a new division to cater to one team, allegedly in the name of saving pahl hockey.

4 hours ago, RJUSHL said:

So what's your solution to minor year BY teams leaving PAHL and going independent? Is there anything PAHL should be doing that would help the situation?

Maybe ask them and find out why they are leaving instead of speculating on here?

A few BY teams leaving for a season isn’t going to affect PAHL in the slightest. 

4 minutes ago, Jack Handey said:

Here is 14u AA Minor from a few years ago featuring a low participation birth year.  NP and SHAHA couldn't form teams and Predators went AAA.  Armstrong and Westmoreland were not pure birth year but were close.  Does it look competitive?

TEAM                             GP W L T PTS FPP TPTS GF GA PIM
FOXES 235                       20 13 2 5 31 17 48 93 57 178
MT LEBANON 316           20 11 7 2 24 17 41 72 59 162
RENEGADES 412             20 10 4 6 26 13 39 64 48 251
WESTMORELAND 430    20 10 5 5 25 12 37 90 69 262
SOUTHPOINTE 374         20 6 10 4 16 15 31 54 56 192
ARMSTRONG 457           20 5 12 3 13 16 29 52 75 245
ALLEGHENY 297              20 2 17 1 5 12 17 43 104 230

 

Side note- It does look like teams took a ton of penalties. 

At this point I think the league would have better success focusing on making Eastern and Western divisions at the non AA level first, then worrying about parody. 
 

Nobody wants to go to Johnstown, State College or Altoona and vice versa for 4-6 hours round trip to play a 1 hour game.