mrfreeze

Total hearsay, but I was told Esmark maybe moving to Ice Castle. While I have nothing to back this and while I don't think it will happen and King Ralph and Gary would not get along so well with MR K and the Crazy Russian. But this would make sense as I feel Esmark would have a better chance at building a program in the south hills and keeping some talent from going north to PPE, this would start at the younger ages and then move to older as they could be a program from Suirts to Midgets. I know Preds has U14-U18 options and Lebo and Shaha have teams at different levels. Looking forward PPE and Vengeance are the only Tier 1 from u10 - u18. It would be nice if one orginazation offered a full package under 1 roof. I know it was like that when Am Pens merged with Eastern for years, They had Tier 1, Tier 2 and Developmental, but since the Vengeance, Steel City are run as seperate programs and are loosly affliated, The Steel City ADM and Developmental programs are dwindaling and poorly run, they change Dad directors every year or two and are struggling to fill their Crosby program. Steel City once had over 25 teams and are having trouble fielding 2-3 at each age now, add that the Aviators are now skating out of that rink and seem to be pulling some away from SCIR and Vipers, it's not going to be good for those orginazations. Hopefully we are not talking about how these org are gone in a couple years.

The Bladerunners rinks where not sold cause of profitability, they along with mutiple properties including a large number of hotels where sold cause of a falling out between the brothers that owned the properties. While all 3 rinks required upgrades to icemanking equipment and other maintannce, the sale price clearly reflected the as is state. All 3 sold for less that 1/2 of the value or more on building a new comprable building. Since the sale Baierl has upgrade both surfaces icemaking equipment and made many updates to the facility, Bethel dropped to one sheet and did many update to the building, I do believe they are still running on same ice making equipment. Alpha has added Ice to the roller side and I think they replaced the ice equipment on another surface 2 years ago, they really haven't done much more as the roof leaks and the place could use a good cleaning. @Lifelongbender I guess I should submit my resume to Black Bear, can I use you as a referance. I just want to see rinks doing well and hockey growing in Pittsburgh, otherwise we would have nothing to talk about. I think RMU is sighting cost of the rink to defelct the real reason they decided to kill the programs. I am sure they could have done the math with the econmical profesors and engineers at the school and figured out that replacing some of the compressors or ice making equipment would be cost benifical and save them money in the long run. That technology, better insulations and use of LED lighting has saved rinks so much money and cost from what they paid in the past. Most rinks in the area where able to upgrade to LED at no cost with programs that would pay for the lighting if they signed a 3 year agreement to use them as their electrical provider.

I know that it seems like Black Bear maybe a bad thing cause they raise the cost of ice, but lets look at it if you owned the rink. It makes sense, Someone said ice at PIA or delmont was going to be $400 for an hour and half? I could be wrong, but most orginazation that are not playing at a comunity rink are paying between $325 and $450 for an hour. That is the going rate, I have not heard of Black Bear buying RMU and I don't think it will happen, but I could be wrong. RMU rink was given to them from the Hillman corp. Again I maybe wrong, but the way it was explained to me, is Hillman originally made this site a park and tried to give it away to the local city with everything that is burried beneeth of it and the problems. I was told if it was sold that Hillman would still be responsible for the mess under the rink/park. Well that fell though and a couple years later they built a rink, ran it for a couple years and then gifted it to RMU. It looks like RMU made it at the time, not so much now and if they decide to sell it they are still holding the responsiblity to clean up the mess. If Black Bear does its homework, I am sure this is a deal breaker. But you never know. I can tell you if it was me that bought it, I would trim some staff that have very good jobs and benifits from the school and bring the salary in line with simular rinks, that alone would increase profitablity enough that a raise of the hourly rate would be minamal. The Black Bear model actually has some great benifits. They would start their own inhouse leagues including school and amatuer, the BS that goes on in PAHL and PIHL would now have competition that can move quicker and make decsions that could be benifical to local hockey. They offer more programing like learn to play, mens leagues, camps and tournaments. They have also got involved in Junior and AAA progrms. They are part of the ownership groups of USHL, NAHL and many tier 3 Junior and AAA teams and they are creating pipeline for these programs. To be honest Black Bear might not be a bad thing, they have money and the rinks they have taken over, they have invested and cleaned up. Would you rather go to PIA and have to put up with toilets falling off walls, broken doors and just shitty enviroments that have been mis run for years or have rinks that are operated and run and are a pleasure to spend time at. Rinks like Baierl and Ice Castle, the owners take pride and run them accordingly and it shows, then you have Alpha and Frozen Pond, they both made improvements and are better than they where in the past, but still are not run the best or the cleanest or offer more modern conviences. Then you have the shit holes like PIA which is one step above the old Golden Mile or South Side before it closed. I say the added cost will not be much more than what you paid before, if it is, it is a buyers market and you can go to other rinks. Lets be glad there are people or groups willing to buy or invest in rinks and not closing rinks as was happening a few years ago with Airport closing, Bethel almost closing and loosing a sheet of ice, Rostraver on the verge of being condemend. Change and the unkown are difficult, but I think Pittsburgh hockey is still growing.

I'm sad to hear this. I thought it was great when RMU brought NCAA DIv 1 hockey to Pittsburgh. It was great to see how many Pittsburgh kids played in this program at the begining and over the years. It is a shame, cause I don't see a D1 program coming back anytime soon. WJ was on track to do a NCAA 1 or 3 program years ago before the AD left and went to Adrian College, Pitt hates it's hockey program and tried to get rid of the club team years ago. Cal U was making good efforts to build a rink and maybe go NCAA years ago before they fired the AD and that program took a step back. Maybe Duquesne can pull it off with some help and luck, but I think it will be a long time. Let's hope Chattam is able to stay and improves. I don't get RMU and why having hockey misaligns them with other simular Universities. So many smaller schools have been able to pull it off, even with the title 9 requirments. BGSU, Miami of OH, Canisus, Niagra, Mercyhurst to name a few. Maybe Kent State can start its D1 program back. I wonder what that does to UPMC Lemiuex plans to add their 3rd sheet, I had heard the RMU men's team was going there. Good news is that opens up a good bit of ice time at the rink for youth programs. Maybe the foxes will now have a set practice schedule. Good luck to coach Schooley and all the current and upcoming players on finding a new home. I sure hope this is not the start of cancel culture with college sports, specifically hockey. Hockey has never trully been a very diversed sport to begin with. Hockey does not discrimnate against race, sex or age, but it does discrimnate against the green in your pocket, if you don't have it, your not going to play it, end of story.

Hockey as every sport will always be a pryamid. It is lonely at the top, the better you are the less piers you will have so you will have to travel to other markets. In Tier 1 it is seperated into Tier 1 Elite the teams in the top 25/30, "PPE Barons" these teams will play each other and are usally good competetion. The next bracket is teams falling in the 30 to 75. Typically their are 2-3 teams like "Vengeance, Esmark, Shaha, Mt. Lebo" Sometimes these teams can shift to elite or vice versa. Next is the bottom of Tier 1 which starts to mix in with the top of tier 2 and this is where we get the argument of why are you tier 1, you should just be tier 2. Why don't we just get rid of tier 2. You pick your organzation based on factors like coaching, and ice time. Obvisly these options can cost more or less. Some have the benifit of playing in a league like PAHL or even PIHL. I think in the future you will see some leagues pop up that will chalenge PAHL and even USA Hockey. Black Bear ownership group is making a play on the Pittsburgh market, they will start their own leagues, RMU and Baierl/North Pitt have inhouse leagues, Alpha started its own inhouse school league. To get back on track, when my son came up through, I would here the A-Major parents bitch about the AA parents and the AA bitch about the AAA and the AAA about the AAA Elites. In reality all these teams are just a spot in line and everyone will always bitch about the ones in front and spin it in their favor. Just read back through some of this message board. North Pitt 06 beat the Preds, why would those preds parents pay to play since a so called AA team beat them and they are AAA. Iceman suck cause they are not AAA and those kids/parents are not allowed to spend money on more ice time and coaching "not saying it is better, just another fee. So again, lets just get rid of Tier 2 and make everyone just one big group. Maybe you will be good enough to play on a top 10 team in the country or maybe you be on the 6345 team. As I have said in the past, do your research, spend what you feel comfortable spending and do whats best for your family. Also stop blaming Orginazations, Coaches, Teams and other players cause little Johnny did not develop as you thought he should, their are lots of volenteers and good people putting time into youth sports, but you and your child are ultimatly responsible for making the choices and putting in the work to develop. Feel free to look at My hockey rankings for the district, it will give a general idea of where you kids team ranked overall. Here is top 10 for midam 14u for the season the just ended. 1 Pittsburgh Penguins Elite 06 AAA (PA) 25-12-3 94.99 1.25 93.74 2 Cleveland Barons 06 AAA (OH) 37-19-5 94.09 1.05 93.05 3 South Hills Panthers 06 AAA (PA) 14-17-10 92.27 -0.12 92.39 4 Ohio Blue Jackets 06 AAA (OH) 20-30-4 91.88 -0.20 92.08 5 Pittsburgh Vengeance 06 AAA (PA) 27-18-3 91.75 0.50 91.25 6 Tri-State Spartans 06 AAA (OH) 23-21-2 90.89 0.43 90.45 7 Indy Jr Fuel 06 AAA (IN) 18-30-0 89.49 -1.06 90.55 8 North Pittsburgh Wildcats (#681) AA (PA) 35-11-1 88.71 2.13 86.59 9 Allegheny Badgers (#759) 06 AA (PA) 36-10-3 88.64 2.35 86.30 10 Steel City Ice Renegades (#859) AA (PA) 38-20-5 88.30 1.40 86.91

Good for Vengeance Goalie, as far as the 07, I'm sure everone has their own reasons to switch. Sounds like Iceman will finally field an 06 team but it will be far from AAA, maybe an A-Major 16u team at best.Good luck to all landed those final spots and teams, looks like tryouts should all be wrapped up by the end of the month.

You might want to inquire sooner than later. If you are moving this summer, most teams have already completed tryouts for next season. You might be able to find your way onto a roster spot if your player is extremly good or lucky if a spot is open or becomes available. But I would start reaching out to Teams and orginazation right away.

Esmark got most of the 07 Vengeance team from last year, They left cause of the coaching change and not getting their way. They will not hesitate to pull this again, so time will tell if they stay. Esmark has a big hole at 06/u15 level, they tried hard to pry kids away from Vengeance and SHAHA. The Crazy Russian was making promises and recruiting hard from Mid Am till tryouts. He promised most of them spots on the 05 team and just wanted them to show up to help bolster the numbers. They combined the 05/06 tryout, maybe this was to look more impresive or just made sense, you take what you want. PPE 06 turned over about half its team. It is still a good team, it definatly has some good kids and definatly has some pot holes that are there for other reasons. They will be able to shorten the bench come playoff time and we will see how that works for them. Vengeance and Shaha both look a little better, but just swapped players for mutiple reasons and picked up some of the PPE cuts. Baron probably upgraded the most picking up the big D the Pens cut, the Vengeance Goalie and looks like a couple other players to be determined. I did hear the Pittsburgh kids that are going to the Barons and going to billet and not do the daily drive. Lets check back at the end of season to see how it worked out. Iceman might make out the best of this as many are going there, but this will be far from a AAA team and might be better playing local and some regional team. Maybe even play in PAHL since there is no 15 u aa tournament.

I heard at the 15u they cut 4 d, 1 goalie and 2 forwards, now I belive in addition 1 d and 2 or 3 forwars did not tryout. They took kids from LA, Dallas, Little Ceasers and a goalie from British Columbia. They also added 1 kid also from Pittsburgh, that went to play in the ccm 68 a year ago. The team has 3 kids from Pittsburgh if you count the 2007 that will play up with them most of the year, but not at mid am or nationals, the new kid they added, that never played there ever and 1 kid that has played on the team since first year squirts. The team will be good, some additions maybe better then some that did not make it, some won't. Some where guaranteed spots and the parent/s may be new staff members or skill instructors. Some of these kids have agents or influnce that helped them out. With this being said, it is hard to say they are great at development if you have 1 kid left after starting with this team from first year squirts, I would love to see if they are tracking any of this and any relitive data. I do think in the most part the kids that have been cast off this year and in the past are all good hockey players, some will go on farther than what is there, some won't. There is not much difference in other markets, this one might be more cause of the NHL franchise, but Detriot is a worst mess and now seems to be regresing, Chicago is a mess, so much a brand new team called the reapers poped up and is now advertising they are better and beyond this BS, it will only be a matter of time before they become what they hate. California is the same shit show with Parents willing to spend to get there kid on the Elite teams and then to send their kids to Shatuck, look how many kids from the Kings to Shatuck have happened overr the last couple years. One famouse NHL agents son I think is on the u16? Please don't bring up how perfect Minesotta hockey system is, cause it has its own shit show going on, just not as public as this message board. Florida started a program that was just to bring all the best Florida kids together and that has now blown up to kids from around the world. If the boarder was easier to get across you would see worst. Prep Schools / Catholic Schools and Hockey Academys like Excel are poping all over the country. Tahoe Prep, American Hockey Academy, Boston Hockey Academy, North Christian Hockey Academy, Bishop Kerney all in last 5 years or last year have all popped up. Getting back on track, Competion drives the market, it will continue to grow, hockey was never a sport for the poor, money will help your kids get farther and more chances / oppertunities. Overall Pens elite have increased the development of the area, while your kid might have got left behind, he might have also benifitted. It is a game outside a game, crying and bitching will get you know where, either get in and play or get out and shut up. The sad part is if you could somehow get people to fall in line and you took the best kids not on PPE in the area and put them one one team, they would probably kick the shit out of the ppe teams in most cases. But there are to many others that make money on the dream of your kid playing Juniors or College so they offer other options and dilute what could be a solid area team and before the AA or PAHL mom crashes this and says you should just give up, your kid will never make it and he should just play PAHL, relize you are just in a line, the more you push down the lower your kid goes in most cases. You don't add 10 AAA kids to a AA team and your kid doesnt move or get bumped off the team. Oh well we can't all agree, do whats best for you and your kid and move on.

Here is my take on what will happen. PPE will bring in 4-6 players, that will knock a couple of those kids off the team, those 4-6 will likely go to Vengeance, Shaha or might go outside of PA to other AAA teams or prep schools. I think Vengeance has a solid core and added a very good coach, that may draw in a couple kids over shaha, but shaha still has a aaa level group and these 2 teams will see improvment over last year. I think Esmark and Preds will field teams from the leftovers of these teams, they will be low end AAA, but probably better than most AA teams in the area and will offer more ice, non parent coaches, more games and higher level competition. Iceman have tried every year to feild an 06 team, this team if it even happens will be the money grab team. I'm sure the coach will stress he is from Canada, so he knows hockey at the first meeting, but I would really be surprised if this team actually comes together. As far a the statement of 6 teams, it is also the 15u birth year and this does not exist at the Tier 2 AA level, only AAA, so yes you will see more that your share of 15u teams including the renagades, Allegheny Badgers and probably North Pitt trying to keep the 14u team they had together, all 3 are solid AA teams and would be good competetion for the Esmark and Preds squads, but you will hear all year long that these are joke teams, cause they call themselves AAA and our AA teams are better, when they are all the same. Have you ever noticed that as kids get older their are more AA and AAA team and less A minor/ B level. It is a relative, just changing groupings. So PPE 1, Vengeance, Shaha group 2, other 5-6 team group 3, rest, have fun and score some goals.

I have spent $0 or very very little on any private instructions. His instructions has been included in the programs he has been involved in. I have however invested in private stregth coach and have saw the benifits of it and can not say enough about spending your time and money in this aspect over pouring in money on private lessons. Mutiple sports is so important. When it comes down to any sport including hockey, I think the best players are the best athletes and have control and cordinations of their bodies. It is so hard so many people are trying to keep up and think playing sports 365 is the way to get ahead. I know cause I struggled with it, helping my son and guiding him. Coaches want you for spring and summer hockey, everyone is doing lessons and this goes for all sports. My son was a very good baseball player, but it was frowned upon, that he would not play fall ball or all year and only played spring and summers, he was also pressured to make all spring and summer hockey events, group training, spring games, pick up, you name it the phone was always ringing. Throw in LAX, roller hockey and just being a kid and going swimming and playing pickup basketball and football, it is tough to do it all. I took a different approach then most, the strength and cordination training was key to all of it. As also previosly stated, your child has to want to do particapate or you are wasting time and money, and I see it all the time. Burnout is huge and as they get older it increases. I was lucky enough to play growing up as well as coached at many levels from learn to play/mite through Junior hockey and College and have been involved in hockey at so many levels, that I have seen and experienced. Rather than trying to motivate my son, I created an enviroment for him that fostered development. It all started with a net and bucket of pucks in the back yard, i probably spent more on pucks and balls then private lessons, add the shooting board, add a shooter tooter. Add a basket ball and hoop and a football, get him a baseball mit, though with him, teach him to through off the wall, while it will drive you crazy, it helps them. Buy them rollerblades, kep them working, which means wheels. Be willing to take them to the park and find friends and teammates with simular intrest. Introduce them to the different levels of sports, for hockey, take them to a college game, and some of the junior games. I was luckey to have coached many kids that went on to play high level junior, ncaa and pro hockey that I could introduce him and his friends to. It is amazing how easy it is for a young kid to have someone to look upto and learn from. This keeps them involved and out of trouble and builds on a solid fondation. I would recomend reading thebook "The Talent Code" it is one of many that has helped me understand development in a different way. I don't have all the answers and the hockey world has changed so much over the years. Like anything, do your research, make good decisions, turn off the negative people that say your kid will never make the NHL so why bother, most of them all Jealous and according to the odds they are right, but it is about so much more. All of these kids are heading to the beer leauge, wether it is hockey, sofball or golf, it is envidable, but they will learn to compete, make life long friends and memories. It is all about the journey and the people you meet along the way. My son is still in the middle of his journey, I don't know where it will take him and I oftem struggle with helping him make the decisions that will affect his life, but I can say he has far exceeded my expetations as an athlete and has become a better person because of it. I look forward to watching and supporting him. Good luck and hope I helped, take my advise and apply as you feel suits you best.

I would agree with the assement on Max, He was more worried about looking good and running drills that look good and the language barrier did not help with instructions. As far as new technique vs old, it really has not changed much, some instructors can use video and new technology to help show a player what they can do to improve, but the drills and technique is pretty much the same. My 2 cents, most kids lack the strength and or control of their body to perform most drills or refine their stride. Your son being a 2006 14/15 you may find it better to spend some of your budget on a good strength and conditioning coach as well as lessons as he progresses. If you really want a good skating coach, I would say go the figure skating route, then have spent their entire lives working on balance and edge work, it is all broken down and taught at the different levels of learn to skate and then on as they get older. With any players, they need to learn to munipulate their balance and learn to trust their edges. Proper recovery and learning to use their full stride is key, then being able to apply that while changing direction and rotation. Once they have that then you can add stick and puck work to complete the skill set. I give a few recomendations and plus and minus. Do you own homework and see what fits. Mary ann Watkins - RMU/Island sports - She is a figure skater that has a world renowned resume of teaching kids to pros, she knows skating from head to toe - I don't know if she offers private lessons, but it will most likley be expensive, In my opionon she I think she has lost her hunger and is often going through the motions with lessons and instruction. Brad Michalski - Alpha Ice/ Baierl Ice rink - Brad was a skill instructor for PPE, but had a falling out, he did skills and power skating when Max was there and is probaly more the reason those kids became good skaters than Max, he does do some drills that is more for show, you will often see his students touching a knee or glove to get low and use their edges, while it does get them low, I think it is more of one of his drills he likes. He does a decent job at skills, most of his practice are thought out and he loves putting toys out on the ice, his students are the best at skating, passing and stick handaling around non moving object. But overall he is one of the better and seems to care about his students. Mark Voit - Baierl - I don't know how you get on Mark list, but he is a very good skating and skills coach, I have been told he does not do it for money an will turn away anyone that is not serious or works hard. He works the kids hard and pushes them beyond what they think they can do. Grant Springer - Frozen Pond - Grant is more of a skills coach, but is also very good with power skating, he works kids hard, and holds them accountable. very engaging with the kids and would work well with a 2006 player. Cliff Loya - Baierl / MT.Lebo - Cliff has a good following and his lessons are always packed. I find him very robotic and just running the kids though same drills with very little correction when they do it wrong. Tyler Kennedy - Baierl - I see Tyler and he seems to be focused on kids younger than 2006, he does lots of station based drills, simular to Brad M and loves his toys and props as well. CJ Stelabot - Alpha and PIA - CJ comes off as being younger and more energy than most and is very engaging in his lessons. He is a good skater and does engage the kids, not sure it gets though to most, but he does a good job and also does skills, he will be boostful about his resume and playing history, but he is trying to build his brand. Yuri ??? - PIA - Yuri is a good defensive coach and runs some camps in the summer, but I would not waste my time, as he will tell you what you want to here and drain your pocket book, once you are out of money, your out of luck. Tyler Murovich - Ice Castle - Tyler is one of the top skill coaches in the area, he played a number of year in minor hockey and was very skilled forward, he relates well to kids and often runs very engaging drills and practice, he has his hands full as his family own the rink and he is doing a lot with the teams. I'm not sure how much he does with just power skating, but is a good young coach. Sean Berkstresser - Alpha - Sean is a very n o non sense kind of guy, he tells you the truth and will stop kids in drills and correct them, sometimes being honest, but blunt. He also runs the Gym at the rink, he is one of the top coaches and skill guys in the area and might be a good pick as he is listed to coach a local 2006 team this season. His practice are fast and the drills are meant to get the players to think on their own. While he may not break down the stride mechanics, most of his drills combine transtions, passing and shooting, he also offers work out and additional programing. Sean also had a long monor league career. John Zieler - Alpha- John played in the NHL and AHL for a number of years, he coaches and works with mostly younger kids, while skating may not be his best skill set he teaches, his kids and teams all seem to play at a very high level and show excellent skill sets over all. High compete, puck support and passing are top notch. He is an excellent overall skills coach Cody Black - Baierl - Cody is a young skills coach that has a great attitude and the kids love him, I think he has been mostly working with younger kids and concentrating on the mutiple programs that baierl offers, but does a good job with instructions. Take this for what it is worth, I'm sure everyone has their own oppinions, I have been around to watch all of these instructor practice and refine their trade craft, I still say if you are just looking at improved edgework the figure skater insturctor would be best bang for your buck, if not my top 3 in no order for a 2006 would be Brad M, Berkie or Tyler M. I'm sure the PPE, UPMC guys are good also, but with the restrictions that rink has and seems like they have better things than private lessons on their plate. I'm sure I missed many skill guys around the area, but I know the ones above.

I was there. It was the Pred player that would not stop throwing punches after your video cut away that hit the ref. Parents where crazy, I know 2 Preds parents got thrown out in the first round, then some parents outside the rink where tuanting players going off and still on the ice while refs figured it out, I think Armstrong, but that esculated into a maylay of its own. To be honest it was a shit show on both ends. But I do think more Preds parents and players where tossed than Armstrong. I guess next year 4 refs and 4 security guards with tazers for each game.

Does anyone have the schedule for the Western Pa Tier 2 playoffs?

The original plan had parking for over 150 cars, it also contained a friendly traffic pattern that worked for the school that you entered on one side of the building and left from the other side and would accommodate the school closing the street. The parking revenue alone paid for the project, The ice rink and other parts of the project just needed to break even, if they made money it was a plus. I can't speak for the new plans, but I am sure they are similar but could be affected by changes or unforeseen structural issue that may cause changes.

Any of these organizations going to post coaches soon or tryout guides with expected fees?

You should just go to the 4 man system for u10, u12 and u14 games and have goal judges for every game. Also only experienced efficient skating officials that have previous NCAA, Semi Pro or Pro games under their belt be allowed these games. New learning officials should not be given the chance at these games, maybe put the new guys in the pro level games since the players know all the rules and can ref themselves. That sound like it would work. Or maybe whistle should be given out to all the people in the stands, having all those eyes and views they would never miss a call or get it wrong. HA HA HA. This entire thread is a joke. The players as well as the referees are learning, The officiating organizations and schedulers try their best to distribute games and pair experienced refs with newer refs and provide feedback. Refs are responsible for honing their skills, taking the test and learning on the job what it takes to be a good official. Yes there are refs that have made poor calls, you could ask any NHL Ref and they could site the many mistakes they made and learned from coming up. But the constant bashing is a joke and anyone on here bashing referees really has no clue what is going on or the rules of the game. It is clear there is a shortage as who would want to deal with the people that commented on here. If you really think it is that bad, come up with a better system, I find it hard to believe it would be much different and would not have the same restraints the current system has.

Let's do it this way and get rid of the 20 different levels PAHL has at each age bracket like A major gold, A Minor Black, Gold, White and B hockey and put those kids into house programs instead of traveling all over for bad hockey.

He was angry that his kids team is 16-0

How are the refs making the game about them. Is it about the kids if they don't make any calls, then you are bitching they suck. If they called a consistent game, that is a good thing. The kids know what is and is not a penalty. They are teaching the kids what is right and wrong. If a kid takes a shot to the head is it ok, as long as it is not your kid?

Did team placements come out yet for Midget, Bantam and Peewee?

I saw today the current PIHL Director is now in charge of the ACHA. Is he or does he have to step down from PIHL. Didn't the last guy have to step down to run his ice rink?

Talk shit all you want, the Vengeance have the best working model at the bottom. 2 of the top squirt teams in the area. They play competition to there level and not flying to Boston to do so. The Junior team now has a legit league. They have a solid 04 team that outplayed the local competition and then moved to a regional schedule. They are missing teams at all levels but I think you will start to see more team fill in the spots. With Pens Black teams dropping in talent and PAHL falling apart as you hit u12aa or u14aa. It makes more sense. Midget hockey is always going to be hit or miss, to many issues to list. If the Vengeance put in the right pieces and build from the bottom up, they will be a go to program in the area. They have more going for them or against them, just because you don't like Dorsey or Berkie does not mean that orginzation is done. Also Finish First is a franchise, there are lots of options out there, Berky runs his different than what Hoy or the one in Baierl does. He focuses on coaching and what worked for him for fitness over his career, but it is his business to run, seems like he is very busy so I would say he has a following. But if it does not work for you, lots of options out there.

Your wasting your time if you are looking at the financials. They say they collected x and spent it on y. The things you need to look at is distribution of ice time. Are certain team getting a lot more than others. I have seen in the past teams taking an entire weekend like presidents day and run a small tournament or showcase, how ever the money from those teams that attend never make it back to the org and end up in a team fund. Tryouts and team formation is another issue. Bv sold the birth year model last year to keep the 04 group together and had an 03 and 07 team. They then pulled the plug this year cause it would not affect the current 04. All org have issue along with people with agendas. While having little turnover on a board creates more stability, not having term limits causes more people to push their agenda. Add in the for profit teams like selects and Iceman and it screwed up the landscape more.

12u looks a little heavy at the top. 3 SCIR teams, 2 North Hills, 2 Foxes if they make the cut. So North hills went from no AA to possibly 2, and now huskies may have a AA, Combine that with 3 SCIR and an Allegheny team, what is going on North East of the city and is there now that much talent in that area. Add Crawford and Erie to the mix. Looks like 12u is hogging all the talent in the area. I think last year, there was 3 to 4 good team, 1 or 2 middle and the bottom was the 06 BY teams. Even if they split this in half, it has to be a major difference in talent from team to team.