Pucks11

8 hours ago, hockeyisgreat said:

Rumor has it Organizations are making promises to try and entice players!  Anybody hear of this or having commitment fees waived?

This happens at a lot of organizations at all levels. If your kid is good or they really want you they will roll out the red carpet. I know kids personally that didn't tryout for a team and paid $00.00 in team fees all because they were the best players on said team. Only expense was jerseys and bags as they came from a private company.

4 hours ago, RefHannah said:

Woah, looks like Vengeance has fallen on some hard times ever since the puppet masters left town. Well, since they left that part of town. 

Gene 1 (09) and Gene 2(08)?

12 hours ago, Hky05 said:

Apparently 09 vengeance handed out offers?! 

1 hour ago, Danner27 said:

15 years later and these money grabs are still going on smh

More than ever, some teams are doing 2,3 and even 4 times a year now.

48 minutes ago, LGP13 said:

Curious about this as well. Wasn't personalized, "first invitees taken, limited spots!" Anyone have input or trust my intuition?

Money grab, those birth years don't even get looked at for another 2-3yrs.

Serious question, what is going on with all of these 09 teams folding or not having enough kids? It's not a deep birth year as it is but reading everything on here it's anywhere from 2-4 full teams folding. There is no way that many parents are okay with their superstars playing on a mixed team.

5 hours ago, nemesis8679 said:

The problem was right in the name they removed. Removing it doesn't change the fact that they still named it after him after everything came to light. And only changed their minds when the backlash was received. Plus, the word "catholic" is still there, that's enough for me to not trust them.

 

Perhaps things still go on, but I don't remember hearing of a school district covering up abuse by moving an offending staff member from school to school, allowing them to continue the abuse.

Don't forget the Tea bagging incident in the early 2000's. That kid got PAID, blew it on drugs but paid none the less. Just happened to have happen to a local funeral home owners kid.

4 minutes ago, aaaahockey said:

Especially considering there are 5+ public high schools in the area better than North Catholic.  Pay extra to go somewhere worse?

They are the 6th ranked Catholic School in the area. Add those public schools and it drops them even lower. Hey at least it's not in Troy Hill anymore.

3 hours ago, aaaahockey said:

I've heard the same.  Not necessarily out of area but that they can't field teams at certain levels.  

Didn't they kick out all of the Boys Black feeder teams to build their girls program up?

Would you be happy paying all that money to play half your schedule against A/AA teams. That's not very "Elite".

2 hours ago, Happy Hockey Fan said:

If they weren’t rules what were they? Just suggestions? Because not one kid that played U18 attended school elsewhere. 

Strongly suggested or your roster spot may be up for grabs💪🏻💪🏻, lol.

41 minutes ago, Spear and Magic Helmet said:

Was NHAHA doing well at PIA?? I don't really remember. The rink has struggled for years and some of the maintenance issues and other problems there might have given people a bad impression of the facility. I haven't been there in years, so I don't know if those issues have been resolved. I sort of assume they have fixed some of the more obvious and uglier issues, but people might be cautious of that as well.

Slapped some paint on the walls and moved some things around.

38 minutes ago, hockeydadx3 said:

Wow, there is a guy that pays a TON of attention to the Pens program without having a kid on a team. Any other sound data points you have to prove your point?

Most of the kids are friends and have played with/against each other since they were 5 or 6 years old.

I don't need anymore data, multiple people have backed my statements while you still drink the PPE Kool Aid (PPE or NOTHING).

Kids don't suck that don't play for Pens, that's all.

39 minutes ago, Carl Racki said:

Agree, lots of top players that could make the Pens roster that are from Pittsburgh  choose to not play there for different reasons.  Some because they don't want to spend the money on Excel, North Catholic,....  Not sure what the total cost would be for a year with everything including travel costs but would guess around $30,000.  It is a great program with good coaches but costs a lot of money. 

Look at their 2007 birth year team.  They lost a lot of their top players for that reason. Not bottom players.   They are still a great team.  If you take away the top 3-5 players there is not much difference between the rest and top AA players.  I have seen this for years. Believe me.  Mommy's and Daddy's that are spending lots of money don't want to believe that though.  It is a great program but does cost a lot of money. 

If you could get the next best group of 15-17 kids in Western PA all on the same team I think they would usually be competitive with great coaching.  The problem is it is tough to find parents of all the top players that are crazy enough to drive past 5 rinks to build a team like that.  Most people that crazy are willing to remortgage their house to play Pens, Prep,....

Some teams have done it.  2006 SHAHA team, 2008 Vengeance team.   

Even the 07 lost to Esmark this year in the regular season.

The biggest problem is the parents when it comes to this.

1 hour ago, hockeydadx3 said:

Pa Hockey, no worries. Pucks11 has developed a sound strategy to develop a national bound tier 1 team that will regularly bring home national championships for Western PA. You can read all about it in the “You might be a delusional hockey parent” thread. 

Yep, because those 2 Pittsburgh kids you lost to yesterday sure do suck or maybe the one at Shattuck or even the goalie on Gilmours prep team that beat the 18u Pens this year or the 3 that were at BK this year. Just naming a few. 4 of them left Pens on their own and the other 3 never wanted to play there even though they were asked to every year. Those 2 goalies alone makes my leftovers team better.

But it's Pens Elite or NOTHING arrrrrrrrg!

8 hours ago, Pa Hockey said:

Did anyone from Western Pa  make the finals at Nationals ? 

National Bound ? Maybe ? 

 

Not one!

15 hours ago, Salsemotionalfriend said:

 

Safe Travels!

49 minutes ago, hockeydadx3 said:

Pucks11, you seem to be a guy that has it all figured out. Ever consider starting a team with all your AA castoffs that can beat Pens 8 out of 10 times? You could buy an 18 wheeler and cover it with all your tier 1 national banners and drive around town. It would be quite the flex. Just a thought…

That Vengeance team that beat the Pens was a bunch of PPE castoffs then they lost to them 2 out of 3 and begged those kids to come back. Another it's PPE or nothing dad. How's the Kool aid? Every kid that isn't on Pens is AA now👍🏻🤣.
💪🏻💪🏻💪🏻

3 hours ago, Salsemotionalfriend said:

Hey, you can’t talk like that to Pucks. Pucks is my best friend. 

Good win today, the PK was on point. I have you pegged down to 2 parents and 1 we are friends, the other ahh his wife slept with another dad on a previous Pens team they played on but they played it off as "just friends".

3 hours ago, MashedTaters00 said:

Pucks11…. You are completely out of your mind. You are the definition of the title of this thread… DELUSIONAL. So fitting. The kids in the high level teams like Pens have earned their spots. Unlike the prep schools, the Pens are majority local and yet they are still competing in North Dakota. Totally shuts your theory and stupid thought process down. Clearly you have a kid that can’t hang with the Pens. That’s ok. Just accept it, move on, and play AA. 

How does that shut my theory up that all the best kids DON'T have to play at Pens? They BARELY beat the 60th ranked team to make it to nationals. The game before that they were losing to the same team that wasn't even trying because they already earned a spot in the championship where the Pens didn't because they went to OT with the 35th ranked team and lost a point. If you took the leftovers from Pens just in Pittsburgh not even Midams I guarantee the leftovers would win.

Also all those kids did not EARN those spots. The 3 imports never tried out and walked right on. The 1 forward has been guaranteed a spot because his daddy cop got a higher up in the organizations brother off on drug charges, 1 defensemans daddy has coached/taught classes since day 1 and he was on the black team for years, another defensemans parents just have a ton of money to throw around, another forwards parents billet to keep their kid on the team. They got lucky that Vengo team imploded and picked up some of their kids. You can preach local kids but just like last year their 2 best kid are leaving and they will bring in 2 more to run that team because they don't have depth. 3 of the top 4 scorers are either imports or from out of town. All the "local" kids are on the 3rd and 4rh line behind the imports and out of towers except for 2.

2 hours ago, Salsemotionalfriend said:

Pucks! You on spring break?  Fargo, ND by chance? It’s sunny and cold up here at USA hockey national championships.  Pens took it to Mt. St. Charles this morning.  Its like $55k to wear the MSC bucket and they are going home.  

Spoke with a few parents out there today after the game. I will always cheer for a Pittsburgh team to win. Definitely some good teams out there and some imposters also. Enjoy and good luck!

33 minutes ago, Icebucket said:

Welcome to the world where refs can pass out 10s like Oprah. Luckily they don't use fair play points at nationals 

Welcome to AA hockey. Don't blame the refs. This is everywhere across AA.

1 minute ago, aaaahockey said:

No one said they all have to play at Pens.  I'm very opposed to both what the Pens are doing and especially faux AAA.  I don't even think the kid is as good as multiple AA players on multiple teams.  

 

I don't think every coach thinks they have the best player at an age group.  As a matter of fact I don't think I've ever heard a coach claim that unless they were blowing smoke up someone's butt to get them to stay.  

 

 

There are definitely to many AAA teams in this area. I don't know the kid or coach, just sick of all the Pens cronies thinking it's PPE or nothing. PPE claims to get all of these donations yet they are still the most expensive organization around.

There are plenty of good AA kids, some don't have the money and some parents don't like to travel.

The smoke is how they get kids hanging on the fence.

4 minutes ago, dazedandconfused said:

One would hope that in your premature excitement you typed that incorrectly and meant 8 or 10 games total and not 8 out of 10.

No typo. 8 out of 10 at each level. All kids from Pittsburgh not playing for Pens. All of their best players are imports or 2+hrs away.

1 hour ago, aaaahockey said:

They absolutely do not have the best 2011 on either of their 2011 teams last year.   There were at least 8 kids better than anyone on their team at Pens and I could likely name several AA PAHL and AAA players on other teams as good or close to good as him that it would be competitive if they were actually evaluated together.   If their best player was as good as they pretend he would go to Pens as well.  Just a silly thing to say.  

All the best players do not HAVE to play for Pens, nor do all the best ones play at Pens at every level. Some families can't afford to play there, it doesn't mean their kid isn't good enough. Some kids go out of town because it's cheaper than Pens. Some parents/kids just don't like the Pens. It's not Pens or die.

Again, every coach thinks they have the best kid. It's PERSONAL OPINION. Those 8 kids that you know for sure at Pens that are better are 1 injury or growth spurt away from being in PAHL.

I guarantee I could make a team at EVERY level of AAA from the leftovers that are not at/cut from Pens and win 8 out of 10 games at each level.

48 minutes ago, Not in the cult said:

Coach of red

Their website lists 2 2012 teams and 1 2011 team. There are 2 coaches that overlap from those teams.

Who is to say that they don't have the best forward in PA? It's not like they said all of USA, North America or the World. I am sure there are coaches in Philly saying they have the best kid in PA also. It's personal opinion and at that age no real facts to prove it.

The best kid on my kids squirt team played on the 4th line of 100+ ranked team when he hit 16u. Anything can happen and a lot can change.