twoboys

Larger organizations usually have a AA team every year. And they make up probably 75 percent of the AA teams. Every so often you have smaller organization with a AA team. Huskies at 07 and Aviators have a strong 10 team. I don't think you realize how hard it is to get AAA, or even high level AA (talking top 10) teams, to come to Pittsburgh. Even the Pens have less than 10 home games is my guess. EVen the Vengeance at the younger birth years (08 and 09) which are strong teams play in Cleveland cause teams don't want to come all the way to Pittsburgh. Home games are a treat for AAA teams even if they are terrible. Sure you complain, but you also take it cause you saved a good amount of money.

PPE overall is on a different level but at some ages that is not the case. U18 Esmark is usually close enough to the PPE that they should play each other. Same goes for the Vengeance at some of the younger birth years (2008 and 2009). I disagree with the AA issue you raise. PAHL usually places teams in divisions based on previous years. So, if you were AA one year you will likely be AA the next. Even if you are lousy it is very hard to move down. Better chance of moving up than down. Everyone knows that the AA advertisement during tryouts is just a goal not a guarantee. If you don't you haven't done your homework and you deserve what you get. And you have to schedule games early. Everyone does it so it involves a certain amount of guess work. If you play an away game, for the most part home team doesn't care if you are good or bad cause they have a HOME game.

I think most of people complaining miss the point of playing AAA hockey. Kids play AAA hockey cause they want to play Junior hockey. Without junior hockey, you have a hard time making some ACHA club teams. Most of non traditional AAA teams or AA/AAA exist due to a heavily involved Dad who wants to be involved or have control.

The 06 Vengeance went 3-0 in Buffalo. 06 Preds went 1-2. 07 Shaha beat 07 Vengeance twice.

I think for the most part parents stay with their local rink for Mites and Squirts. By the time kids get to Peewee, parents are willing to drive their kids to a different rink. By the time you kids is a peewee, you know if a coach is any good, the team is ok, or whether or not you are getting the short end of the stick at tryouts. We live in the North Hills and we know countless people who go to the South Hills and vice versa.

It depends on your kids ability. If they are AA players, then you are team shopping and probably know which organization has the better core of kids and coach. If not then it is personal preference. And by personal preference, I mean cost, time to get there, how many slots a week, and whether or not there is a set practice time or not, friends, etc. The worst thing is having a practice with 5 kids there. So, we like teams that kids show up and take it seriously. Our kids every other year or so play at different organizations, which means we accept that they could be on the ice the same time at two different rinks. Our kids like hockey and don't do it casually so we are willing to arrange schedules to make it work.

Midgets is tough especially for a goalie. Fewer teams and your son is a 06 and not an 05. I am not even sure if you can get placed on some of the school teams around here at this point. I think the Icemen have 2 goalies already on their 06 team. One way to approach this is to have your son take a lesson or two from Shane Clifford and have him make suggestions. He may know who is still looking for a goalie.

I would probably just email some organizations. I doubt a AA team will have an opening.

Might have been poorly worded. But, if they want to join the Icemen, great. Everyone has to pick a team that they will be happy playing for. Hockey is a long season. Kind of tough if you aren't happy with the team, coach, etc.

Agree. These are kids and parents who do not want to be on a regular PAHL team and a willing to spend the money. Good for them.

Doesn't the South Hills have AAA teams already? Lebo 08 is AAA. 06 SHAHA is AAA. Can't get a straight answer about 07 SHAHA. Some say it is independent? Is that AAA? Preds have plenty of AAA teams. No way the parents in control of those teams move to Southpointe.

I don't think many kids can do it unless the top birth year is weak. At best one or two kids can do it in an organization. SHAHA 07 played up. They had a more competitive year than 07 Badgers who ran the table and won both banners. People that I know that went the Icemen route have been pretty happy with the coaching. I do agree at some point they get disillusioned with the team's performance.

Most of the Icemen kids probably had no chance for Vengeance or SHAHA. The NP 06 team from last year lost half their kids due to low 05 numbers and 2 kids made Vengeance, right? Esmark fell apart. So, you are left with the Renegades and the Preds. Preds haven't had much luck with their 06 team for a few years. Allegheny has a nice 06 team. Artic Foxes were a train wreck. But regardless, are those kids supposed to stay with a PAHL team that they don't want to be on? We all know that would be a train wreck. Most of the people that I know that have gone to the Icemen have had a positive experience. The blame really lies with some of the PAHL organizations for not getting their act together. If they had those kids wouldn't be heading to the Icemen.

Essentially, the non-birth year model helps the older birth year if they are short on kids. However, I think most of the kids that play up would be better off if they played with their birth year. The reason, they would have more success on the ice. Frankly, the younger kids just can't do as much against older kids. This doesn't help the players development. It is one thing if you are the star of the team but if you are on the bottom line and do not see power play or pk time then you are definitely better off playing with your birth year.

This is hard to find. They play a ton and are on the ice a ton. This isn't the case with all PAHL teams.

Yes. But this merely means that that many kids were unhappy with the team that they made.

I think the whole point was to get the kids on the lesser AAA teams, like Icemen and the Preds, to play PAHL. These kids are the kids that love hockey and want to play as much as possible. This means more practice and more games. They also want a non-Dad on the bench. They want the matching bags, etc. Basically, they want everything that PPE and Esmark offer and regular PAHL teams don't.

I would keep it to 5 teams. Have each team play the 4 other teams either 3 or 4 times. Frankly, what these parents/players want is to play less PAHL games and not more. By keeping it to 5 teams I think you make it so each team is competitive. The more teams you have the more likely you have some teams that aren't very good and this defeats the whole purpose. If 4 games this sets up nicely for two home games and two away for each team.

You are viewing it wrong. PAHL isn't travel hockey. PAHL is our local league. PPE and Esmark are travel. If you want the lesser AAA teams to go away, make sure that your organization has a AA team coached by a non-parent and play 60 games. Two weeknight touches a week. Run it like the PPE and Esmark. Don't have a vote about which tournament you want to do or whether you want an extra practice. And most importantly, demand/require attendance. And PAHL should require this to be AA at Peewee and above. Limit it to 5 organizations.

Frankly, the younger "coaches" that don't have kids should probably run skills sessions for an organization. That way they are kept away from the parents. And they can impact the most kids. A former college hockey player who has a kid is ideal provided he is able to coach. And even a Dad who hasn't played but can coach is okay when the kids are younger. At some point that isn't enough. The problem is that we are sometimes stuck with Dad coaches who haven't played hockey and can't coach. And because they want to help they get into an organization and end up coaching for a few years before they are asked not to help anymore. Once a Dad has a team for a year he is viewed as a "qualified" coach by the organization.

You can also look at it another way, that the development that many non-PPE kids receive is so poor that few have a chance to make the PPE down the road. There was one local 06 that made it and one local 07 that made it. I think 08 might have some influx from the Vengeance, right? Not sure where those kids where from. At one point, PPE had a billet rule. But I think that is sort of not enforced or they get around it due to the ability of some parents to actually move here and telecommute. All roads lead the beer league is poor way to look at it. Every sport has a few guys that make it as pros, But by playing in college, whether it be division 1 or club, means that down the road you have parents who have played the game and just might give something back to the game. This is a good thing and we are better off with these guys coaching our kids than some guy that never played hockey.

The bigger organizations will just about always have a AA team in each division. Especially in Squirts and Peewee.

Probably a tier 2 team and can't be U15 in Tier 2,

I would try and get you kid some lessons with one of the instructors at Alpha. I do think that would at least put you on the radar. Either Berky or Michalski.

Tier 2 Independent has the same fees as Tier 1. Fees are high for the most part because you have to pay for the coach. Only way you don’t is to have a parent coach or spread the cost out among every kid in the organization. Over the years the Icemen have fielded Tier 2 teams. I have a friend who had a kid on that team and last year was the first year that the 05 team was as Tier 1. My guess is that was because they joined a league and had to be Tier 1. Was it last year that U18 was Tier 2?