Ihearthockey

Lebo too correct? Aren't they all within spitting distance?

Think what you want big guy, I did a little bit of homework to support the subject of the thread and I had value to add to the thread since I'm good friends with a parent of a kid in the PW program. That's how these message board things work if you didn't know.

Just for the heck of it, I wanted to see trending on MHR for the Esmark PW teams. Esmark 11s certainly has a packed schedule and it looks like they played some high level teams this year (Mercer, Illinois, Regals SCTA, Little Caps) and have not performed very well against them. They have some solid wins but also perhaps some bad losses. Looks like they were in Detroit this past weekend and had a pretty respectable showing against teams well above them in MHR and then beat up a weak Compuware team, which you should if you want to be in the discussion. They only lost to the eventual bracket champion from Canada by 2 goals. Another thing to note is that this team is 20 games in and have yet to play a home game. That's a lot of travel that I'm guessing impacts the ability to play well at that age, especially early in the year and especially for what I'm guessing are mostly first year "AAA" players. But maybe not. They have a 10 game homestand starting this weekend so we'll see if travel matters. The Esmark 10s with a similar story, and they actually won their bracket this past weekend. It's not the Elite bracket but the AA/AAA bracket but still a solid result nonetheless. Again, I'd say let's see how these teams stack up after a couple more months to see if the development story holds up.

I think it's this. A buddy of mine's kid plays in the PW program at Esmark and he acknowledges that even though the team isn't even in the same zip code as the Pens, that his kid is getting tons of ice time and off ice work and education and they added another 20 minutes to their commute this year. And the team has steadily improved since game 1 which is really what I think it's about at this level. Looking at the coaching staff at the PW level, you have a couple really established and well respected names there it seems (at least from what I know). I'm sure somebody will have something to complain about them though. I know that some of those other programs listed above get one of maybe two ice slots per week and limited off ice workouts and education and even though they're better (now), they aren't developing according to what I've heard from parents in those organizations. So I guess to sum up my observations so far at least at the PW level, Esmark underperforming but families are happy with development. Others are performing slightly better but parents are not happy with the value they are getting for their money. I'll be interested to see how these stack up on Jan 1. I think we'll see then if my observations are correct as they may be completely way off base. Edit to add that I also believe that the location has a major impact here. That drive does suck for anybody that isn't East of the city. I'm not sure what the tryout turnouts were like but if they were sparse, that tells me location is a major factor.

I can't believe there's even a discussion about these rankings after the first release. Let's revisit these in about 8 weeks.

Crosby Malkin

Rebellion 07s are already listed as part of AHF on MHR I believe. As well as with PAHL.

Alot

8. A new zamboni driver

Aren't most kids on these "AAA" teams AA players at one point? PW minor is still young enough where it's not crazy to think that some AA PAHL kids can make these teams. Just my opinion.

Wasn't PPE basically telling all kids/parents in the program that they are going to start importing players and "thanks for playing"? This doesn't surprise me.

Seems like the BY11 group is getting alot of attention? Is there something I don't know about this group? Icemen have created a AA/AAA Indep BY11 team now, as well as Esmark. Vengeance has been going a couple years in that program. Preds have an Independent team. Now breaking the mold, NP is putting together its first BY team ever in this age group. Is this a big group with enough talent to spread around?

Touche

How the heck do 2011s get an invite only? I suspect PPE black and PV kids all got invites? That's pretty much all that's out there no? Small list I suppose.

Wasn't the Aviators team created to keep the team together? Meaning, if NP would have committed to keeping those BY10s together, would they still be at NP playing in PAHL? Or am I being naive? What would be the recommendation for a team that truly wants to stay together (as much as possible) but the organization just doesn't believe in BY teams?

10 - Aviators 11 - North Pittsburgh 12 - Predators If I'm reading MHR correctly

No disagreement there. I think I said in another thread that these are all new kids on this team playing with each other for the first time, getting their first taste to this level of hockey. Their goal should be to improve throughout the year and end the year as a better team than when they started, but expectations should be tempered.

Two shutouts for the Vengeance this weekend. Granted against a low tier AAA team. But maybe that poach has value. More likely...too early to tell.

A 10u team in A minor protested up successfully to A major last year. They finished in the upper half of their division.

Agreed, offsides is ridiculous.

That's what AAA threads do. I like the banter as long as people don't get all butt hurt and take it personally.

Those other three should list themselves as AA/AAA programs. They will play teams from both pots. And some of the AAA teams they play will be low tier AAA from other states. And some of the AA teams they play could probably beat a good bit of AAA in the country. While the money grab and status thing is real, I'd also say that if an A major kid gets an invite to one of these programs, like a poster earlier in this thread pointed out, I'd say it's less about status and more about taking advantage of what was probably considered a low probability opportunity (with a little status sprinkled on top). IMO

I can see why you would say that. But no, not a parent. I couldn't care less if that team didn't win a game. Just my observation. But go on, continue the accusations.

Not to mention that it looks like they are under-rostered, if you look at the website. 4 D? That's going to make it tough to win. Unless you convert a forward. But then you're still a player short with only 14 skaters.

Yeah, pretty much aligns to my sentiments that teams that have been together will most likely trump teams that just played their first two games together....talent being similar.