twoboys

16 hours ago, No Politics said:

How did you pick those three?  The Arrows won it all last season.

Unless you know how many 16U AA players are returning, how many talented ‘09s are moving up, where these kids are, and how they all develop over the summer, no one has any real way of telling who is going to be the top team.

 

If you are an involved parent of a AA player chances are you know which teams are strong.

Guessing this is about midget teams.  

On 3/29/2024 at 3:59 PM, fafa fohi said:

I never said all kids do it, but a lot of them do it.  A lot of them.

Exactly.  

One thing is clear, Alex Thomas was correct choice for player of year.   The other 5 are debatable.  

I think less weight needs to be given to assists.  If you are at all familiar with high school hockey then I don't need to explain why. 

On 2/8/2024 at 3:15 PM, Icebucket said:

I don't understand why those top 09s wouldn't just look to make a good U16 AA team?  I believe most of the consistently AA teams are taking the top players whether they are major or minor year by U16.  For the individual players, there isn't really any benefit to sticking to a true U15 team if you are good enough to make a split U16AA team.

Because the vast majority of kids and parents don't want this.  It isn't about being on the best team.  It is all about having continuity, the kid having fun and being on a reasonable team.

On 3/7/2024 at 2:49 PM, Rewster said:

Did you go in after the game started? I know that some schools use parent volunteers to work the front gate and charge admission. So, as soon as the game starts (maybe even warmups), they close up shop quickly in order to watch their kids play.

The early rounds had two ticket takers.  One from each team.  They were supposed to charge the PIHL playoff ticket price.  And they had to stay for 10 minutes after the game started.  

14 hours ago, nemesis8679 said:

You and I both know that the teams around here, at least, aren't going to play each other unless tournament fate somewhere pits them against each other. We all know why. 

Wrong.  Pens and Esmark are playing each other at 15, 16 and 18 this year.  The games are in December.

At most organizations, the top teams are picked by the coach.  They can say it is by a committee, but it really is up to the coach.  And the coach always considers more things than just what the player did on the ice during the tryout.  So, having a great tryout isn't enough because the coach definitely knows if the parents are crazy or if player isn't coachable.  Most of the times the picks can be made quickly.     

4 hours ago, hockeyisgreat said:

I hope you are right!  Sure not what I have been told about previous camps!   And how about the new selection process for 17U.  Nominations were reviewed by Tier 1 Coaches. They decided who got invitations!   How many Tier 2 kids did they invite?  No idea what they used for criteria!  Such a joke but typical MidAm stuff!  Oh and if you were nominated once before and went to their camp you got an automatic invite!  Who cares if you got better or worse!

Yes there are quite a few coaches evaluating the kids.  And if you coach an 08 team, for example, you aren't going to be allowed to evaluate 08 kids. 

As for 16 and up, they had to reign in the invites.  Kids were there (at 08 and 09) that had no business being there.  The automatic invite is if you went to the national camp.   

With SHAHA, you need to take a step back and figure out why each team existed to begin with.  Once you understand that it is easy to figure out why the teams fell apart.  The 08 Vengeance is pretty much the same thing.  Although, that team didn't fall apart it just isn't as good.  

On 4/22/2023 at 2:55 PM, JohanHedberg1 said:

not saying youre wrong but there is 10 "AAA" teams in the Central Region and 9 in Mid AM. Agree that there shouldnt be more than 2 in Pittsburgh but there is 6-7

Pittsburgh has enough depth to have 3 AAA teams.  Especially, if the Pens are stacked with out of town kids.  Look at 16U last year with 3 top 40 teams.  I bet 16U will again have 3 good teams this year. 
 

On 4/8/2023 at 9:45 PM, Danner27 said:

This. At midget esmark has always gone after ppe. If it’s midget, it’s out of the norm. 

Things have changed.  Since the black team have been scaled back there isn't potential influx of kids at the 15O level like there was a few years ago.  Also, since the new regime took over a few years ago there just aren't as many local kids on the Midget teams.    

3 hours ago, Pa Hockey said:

https://www.post-gazette.com/sports/highschool/2023/03/12/phil-semifinal-preview-peters-township-north-allegheny-hockey-ryder-mertens/stories/202303120132

 

Since you are in the know, which team reported McCourt?  The article said it wasn’t McCourt or Latrobe.

59 minutes ago, forbin said:

Haha, no I wasn’t. Was more looking at like peewee age. PPE is like $6500? Vengeance is like $4000? Just wondering where Esmark falls in line. 

This isn’t easy to answer for any team.  It all depends on how much they ask for on top of the fees.  And teams within an organization can be different.  

10 hours ago, Rebel Panther said:

There are four rinks with four sizeable hockey programs in the South Hills.  And that is excluding South Park and Rostraver.  Between those four rinks, there are five sheets of ice (soon to be six), all of which are booked solid pretty much year round.  My count is that there are twenty-five mite teams between the four hockey programs.  SHAHA is bursting at its seams.  The Rebellion have seven of those mite teams and will soon be one of the biggest programs in PAHL.  You are underestimating the volume of hockey that is played in the South Hills.

The area around Printscape has grown considerably in population in the last 20 years, and the need for a second sheet is evident.  The Rebellion rent out ice in Wheeling.  On top of that, plans have been developed to build a massive complex in Ringgold.  And that is not a rumor.  The gentleman behind the complex already owns hockey assets in the region.

North has Alpha, the Frozen Pond Lemieux, Baeirl and Shadyside.  That is 9 sheets.  Also, there is also PIA and the Belmont if you consider them North.

Depends on who you believe.   Some say it is easy to get the second sheet up and running.  Other say it is tough due to the Zamboni.  

They don’t need another AAA in the South.  They already have SHAHA and the Preds.  And Southpointe is an easy drive to Cramberry.  

5 hours ago, Carl Racki said:

Yes they would develop the same maybe even better.  That is my favorite excuse.  Again, because a few jump ship because they are all the sudden AAA it ruins PAHL AA forcing more to jump ship.  Look at 09  SHAHA last year.   They played several close games with the top few teams.  Then figure that league was missing the Preds 09 AAA (HA), and the 09 Esmark team.   Put those two in with the 09 independent Icemen and you would have a solid AA PAHL division.  That is also what those teams are.  Now the AA division has numerous A level teams because of all the bogus AAA teams that have left.  

   Development???  For what??  Beer league??  So drive all over the country to play the same types of teams when you could have 20 solid home games.  The money would be better spent on skills and skating for development.  

  As for any of the PAHL teams getting ranked higher than those guys it is doubtful because they don't play high enough ranked teams enough.  If you just hang in with highly ranked teams and don't compete your ranking will still be higher.  That is why Pens do not like to play local. Everyone is worried about their stupid ranking.

If you play PAHL, you get 10 home games and 10 away games.  The away games are local.  So, that is essentially what you gain by playing PAHL.  The AAA teams each get there 10 home games but lose their 10 away local games. 

On 8/20/2022 at 9:32 AM, Danner27 said:

I’m not putting local guys names on here, I know of 3 here.  Google hockey advisors if you really want one. You’ll see the bigger known guys and companies. Stay away from the Facebook advisor and the guy that runs the junior hockey news. If your kid is playing AAA (even for the faux teams) chances are high at your next Michigan tournament you’ll be approached by one. probably more advisors than there are youth coaches these days. Some are good, most are con artists. 

This is the type of information that some parents would like to have.   Why don't you name some advisors.   A local one for many is better than an out of state one. 

The Viper Stars has helped and hurt the organization.  Just like the birth year teams at other organizations.  And at the same time, non-birth year teams has hurt and helped North Pittsburgh.  Basically some parents and kids want more ice and games (at a higher cost) and a birth year team, while others want a cheaper team, less of a time commitment, but still  with the same quality of kids.  Some times you can have it both ways, most of the times you can't .  

I do think if you want to play AA hockey you should be expected to pay more than a single A team.  The problem is that if you have most of the kids that want to play AA hockey (pay more money) but you don't have the talent to field a full team.

Looking only at my one son's birth year, the kid who was best player entering squirts is still now the best player in midgets.  Frankly, most of the kids who made the PPE gold team out of squirts are still very good players.  Some are still at PPE, some at Esmark and some at Vengeance.  It is really hard for an unathletic 9 year old to make the PPE Gold team.  For the most part, it is the kids who were on the black team that have become PAHL players.   

I don't think you realize just how many of the younger AAA kids are actually doing the work.  Maybe some AA kids don't do anything extra but most of the AAA kids are definitely doing something extra.  Walk into any rink and you will be amazed how many AAA kids are doing lessons.  Sometimes, a couple of times a week.  If the younger kids drop to AA from AAA it usually isn't because they don't have a work ethic.  

The Pens, Esmark and Vengeance do it differently.  Esmark gives you a price and that is it.  Vengeance gives you a lower price (at least at 08 and lower) but keeps asking for more money throughout the year.  Pens gives you a price and then adds a team fee.  Plus, excel and North Catholic?   For midgets, my somewhat educated guess is all in for the Pens is probably close to 30.  Esmark maybe 18?  Vengeance is the wild card and would vary by the team.   Remember this is "travel hockey" which is nothing like travel soccer or baseball.    

Hockey is expensive.  It is the constant travel that adds up.   Gas, hotels, tolls, food, etc.  Even the better AA teams are expensive.  The fees are less but if you are on a decent team, I am guessing you are out of town at least 4-5 tournaments plus a handful of day trips to play independent games. 

What really drives the price up is the length of the season.   And cost goes up as the kids get older.  Longer games, ice cuts and more refs.  

8 hours ago, HereWithPopcorn said:

Its still technically Tier 3 junior hockey.  They tried to go to Tier 2 and USA Hockey said no because of the NAHL, so they basically gave themselves the extra A to call themselves Tier 2 and be unsanctioned hockey.

Yeah but it is free.  Isn't that the knock that many of you have with the Vengeance and other Tier 3 Junior teams?  That they are a waste of money?

I don't think this is the answer.  If they really want to keep the rankings from the parents, they should have different tiers.  Have blocks of 20 and don't have a ratings for specific team in the 20.  Maybe just an average rating for the group.

Pretty sure most of the time the size listed for a kid is an exaggeration. 

The other interesting thing is that another kid on SHAHA put up almost identical stats.