twoboys

I think you proved my point if you have to go back 15-20 years to come up with some high level home grown AA teams. Let's make it easy. Why don't we just talk about this years teams.

I also think you have to define high level. Not every AA team is high level. I would bet that at most 2 teams per age group could be considered high level.

I think this thread is proof that a lot of people really only care about the cost. They don't care if they get the extra ice or not.

The only thing stopping the PAHL teams from doing it are the PAHL teams. For starters, if the coach doesn't want to do it then it won't happen. The organization also has to give them extra ice slots for practice and independent games. That may not be possible. If it is possible then you got to pay more. Does everyone want to pay more? Not always the case. Sometimes, parents are happy to play AA and a couple of tournaments. And lastly, they need prime practice slots since kids are likely traveling some distance to get there. If you are having a high level AA team your team probably isn't home grown. All of this makes the other teams in the organization mad and jealous.

I don't get people complaining abut the Icemen. A friend's son has played there for a couple of years and has nothing but positive things to say about the coach. Then again it is only one coach. You do realize that kids flock to the the faux AAA organizations as you call it because they don't want to play PAHL. The issue is with PAHL and PAHL organizations not giving the consumers what they want. Give the AA teams more ice and a qualified coach and people will stay. We all know certain rinks have 7 am games. Getting rid of those will go a long way. An early game in Morgantown or Erie to me is less desirable than a night in Cleveland or Buffalo. The away tournaments are a draw for families of the faux AAA teams. Usually the kids and and parents like them. But what really makes parents mad is if the coaches kid plays way more than the other kids. Of if he is a terror and is always in the box and there is no attempt to stop the behavior.

You guys crack me up. I just glanced at the ranking. 105 teams in AAA 2005, 45 teams below them. They’d be 5th (ish) in tier 2. Not great, not bad. As for the Preds as a whole, I’m not sure if I’d go back or not. They are the same as every other club. Some good things, some bad, some very bad. Question is, do the pros out weigh the cons? Not to be outdone, the 14U Preds just took it on the chin 12-0 thanks to Pens Elite as well. OrrWhat you may want to look at this I think being the 5 team in AA is awesome. Can't fault them for playing AAA.

If you are playing PPE you are already paying 15,000 a year. Shadyside does give aid. I heard it is a nice amount.

Makes no sense. Why wouldn't they just try out for the Preds? I bet Esmark will have an U15 team. At midgets is when Esmark really starts to form teams. They had an exception, the 03 group, who left the Renegades while they were Bantams, right? Esmark tried with the 05 or 06 a couple of years ago and it didn't work. The interesting thing with 05 will be what will the Icemen do? Become a Yeti, play Tier 2 Independent or become AAA. Same goes for the 05 Viper Stars. Will they stay Tier 2 Independent or will they become the Esmark Stars U15 team.

My kids have done it both ways when they started Squirts. In my opinion, if your child is one of the top two players in his birth year in large organization then he or she probably should play against older kids on a mixed team. The rest of the kids are fine to stay together. The problem if the top players stay together with their birth year they will single handedly raise the level at which a Minor team plays.

So, what does a national bound team actually mean? I have no clue. Isn't every team potentially nationally bound?

I quickly looked at their schedule and 10 away tournaments seems high. I think they played 50 games. I didn’t count the home games but they had a decent amount. You have to pay attention to the times of games and the opponents. My quick guess is 12-13 nights in a hotel. The manager of this team and others like it will try and schedule the first game late enough so that you can leave in the morning. Also, try to do up and backs if possible. Most of the time it looks like they did. So, 13 x 150 is 1950. Plus gas and tolls. And the stay to play ones are the worst cause cause you are almost always spending 3 nights. So, the average PAHL team playing 3 away Hockey Time tournaments or whatever may have 9 nights in a hotel. Hockey is expensive regardless where you play.

Clearly, the Black teams served a purpose. They needed to fill ice slots. It wouldn't surprise me if they originally thought that the Black teams were going to serve as a feeder team only to learn that it didn't really work out as intended. However, the reason why parents chose to write the checks to the PPE is different. Generally speaking, they wrote the checks because they liked that option better.

I am not sure if PAHL will benefit that much. We have to wait and see what new teams will pop up in response to this. The Black teams existed because "consumers" weren't happy with the offerings of PAHL organizations.

Finding the right coach is the hard part. As for cost, the Vengeance fees are reasonable but they do travel a lot. So, keep that in mind. Zieler does a very nice job with the kids. So, if I was on the fence without a clear option I may see if my 09 could make the team.

Yuri is good skills instructor. My kids have never taken a lesson from him. However, I have watched him give lessons plenty of times. I think part of the reason that he mainly gives lessons to older kids is that the older kids want to get in good with him. Last year he did a weekly clinic with Posey and it was well attended. Broken down into two sessions, one maybe 06 and up and one younger.

The Vengeance tryouts are usually early. The 08 and 09 teams turned out to be better than the 10 team. Essentially, most of the top 10 mites stayed with the Pens. However, they are still a very good 10 team in comparison to other PAHL 10 teams. Just not as good as the older two teams. Too early to tell how the 11 team will turn out.

I am not a Vengeance parent but I have watched parts of their practices over the years. The 08 coach does a real nice job. And Zeiler is very enthusiastic. Kids seem to have fun.

For the most part, your mite coaches will be the same coaches for squirt. So, if you are happy then no need to look around. Usually, there are only a couple of kids that evaluate higher than the rest of a mite team. If this is your kid then he will probably have one of the existing squirt coaches as your coach next year. So, you should have a clue who the coach could be at your organization.

You statement was more than facts. It included an assumption that you made.

My kids have played in this. Never thought it was a big deal. It is just more hockey. I think the reason why it isn't more popular is because Pittsburgh to Philly is a brutal drive. The 14U championship ends at 4:50. That drive home is going to suck even if you win. And saving half of a tournament fee is not much of an incentive. Especially, if you are the team traveling.

I don't get it either. It is almost like they are forming the team for the benefit of North Catholic. Trying to give those attending NC/Excel a reason to stay at North Catholic after U16. Or maybe if they get pushed off the team after U15 they can stay at North Catholic and play prep.

Most of the organizations are pretty similar. Generally speaking the better the team the more away tournaments you will likely do. But, I would say most peewee teams are going away for tournaments 3 times. The localized travel is hit or miss. Sometimes you have Erie in your division, for example, and other years you don’t. I would pick the same rink that your middle school team plays out of. Less chance of conflicts.

Prep is high school hockey. So, yes the kids will play high school hockey.

I agree. The kids at Excel and on the Prep team will only be students at North Catholic due to their arrangement with the PPE. These kids never had any intention of playing on a PIHL team. There are other kids who attend North Catholic who want to play hockey. Thus, North Catholic has PIHL teams.

The Michigan way has its flaws too. It requires an organization to field AAA teams at all age classifications even if the teams aren't worthy of being AAA. For example, at U15 there are 3 teams ranked below Esmark. And at the 06 level, Meijer 06 AAA is 0-24 and ranked last at 97. They have scored 12 goals and given up 245. By comparison, the faux AAA Shaha team is ranked 42.