nemesis8679

2 hours ago, JohanHedberg1 said:

It wasn’t a placement game, just a random scrimmage so it won’t count, but if it’s any indication of the results, then it would make sense 

You're allowed to submit scrimmage results in an effort to move up or down. 

On 8/1/2023 at 2:25 PM, Saucey said:

I hear ya. Then don't have a AA designation. Isn't that what PAHL is moving to anyway? Force all the AA kids to play an independent schedule. 

Who's forcing them? 

7 hours ago, sadday4hockey said:

Correct me here if I'm mistaken but wasn't there a local team that won 16U AA Nationals 2 years ago? And not the little 1A or 2A, the Big Boy division.

I think 16u Renegades won tier 2?

10 hours ago, Saucey said:

Middle school hockey is just terrible in general. Don't forget the differenced in growth and age. And even AAA players don't match well against older players, even when the older player may play a lower level. And who knows, maybe you were looking at those faux AAA players too.

And don't forget that for every 20 "AAA" players in this area, you probably have one actual AAA player. 

Not to mention that there's a lot of really good kids that play at AA or A that financially or logistically can't do a AAA team schedule. Or they may have other interests and don't want that much commitment to something that they like just enough to have fun doing it. There's lots of reasons. Now what the higher level teams do have is quantity of good players where a lower team may have one or two or three. But individually a lot lot of kids aren't as far apart as the higher level parents like to think. 

For this to work:

1) an owner who is a knowledgeable hockey person, not a conman

2) play in an area that doesn't have one of the most successful NHL teams of this century, an ECHL team, a NCAA D1 team, and multiple ACHA teams within an hours drive from the city. 

6 hours ago, Saucey said:

Actually, I know that gentleman, if he is involved all I can say is, RUN AWAY and do it fast lol.

Yeah, I know him, too. So do the police and so does the D. A. 

You're advice is correct. 

3 hours ago, hockeyisgreat said:

Wow, Typical message board negativity coming from the same people!  You all must feel slighted somehow in you or your children's hockey careers.  It's like my kid couldn't make it so I'm going to criticize anything and everything about Western Pa Hockey and Hockey in general.  I feel bad for you all and your negative attitudes Why do you all care so much about how other people spend their money?

Because this is a grift of some sort. 

1 hour ago, Spear and Magic Helmet said:

https://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/leagues/seasons/teams/0073322015.html
 

Just to further your point - 2014-15.

How/why so many players in one season? 

Why not just go to a Pitt/RMU/Nailers game if you want to watch competitive non-pro or semi-pro hockey? 

If they're getting paid $150/week, that doesn't even cover the travel... or does this simpleton think he's going to cover those costs, too? 

This makes no sense. 

Or is this a scam to get sponsorships, close up when there's no money to continue, and keep the change? 

1 hour ago, Pucks11 said:

Same Jaison Kelly. Definitely something sketchy when he is involved.

Whats his connection to high level hockey? 

THIS Jaison Kelly?! 😂

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.wpxi.com/news/local/ag-shapiro-files-lawsuit-against-pittsburgh-area-car-dealership/PLXFYP4PD5BSNANDBY33FYFA6E/%3foutputType=amp

Would almost have to be, I can't see there being many Jaison Kelly's around here with that name spelling. 

If it is, the guys a stooge and a conman. If I was a player, I'd make sure to get my money upfront. 

On 6/18/2023 at 11:13 AM, zam said:

In the Pittsburgh area there are at MOST about 10 good hockey players per birth year.  I mean players that have even the SLIGHTEST chance of playing for free in college/juniors let alone earning a professional pay check.  Everybody else is just playing for fun. If you have fun playing AAA, AA, A, school, rec, then so be it. It makes very little difference what team or organization you play for.  As long as you put in the work the cream is generally going to rise to the top. 

10 at each birth year? You're being very generous. 

And it's not only about how much hockey skill someone has. It's as much about commitment, money, and what other interests/opportunities are you okay with giving up for what amounts to basically buying a lottery ticket. Unless you're a Crosby, McDavid, or another player able to blow the doors off everybody including 18-20 year-olds when you're 15. Now think about the AAA, AA, and A Major teams and how-with exceptions for the very best among them, and the teams that are truly at the top- how many of those players are interchangeable at each level and birth year. For anybody else that's a really, really good hockey player, you're not unique. There's a lot of really, really good hockey players and the competition is worldwide. Best to be realistic and prioritize having a good time. 

Found the Icemen parent. 

14 hours ago, kid310050 said:

Aviators just steal kids from Renegades instead of having their own ADM program. 

A large portion of the poached players over the years obviously left Renegades to go to Aviators, but then end up only sticking there for a season or two before moving on to various places, and neither team ends with with those players. 

1 hour ago, fafa fohi said:

DW is part of the ownership group that bought the shithole that was Ice Connection and poured a ton of money into major improvements.  People that have issues with Frozen Pond today either have a very short memory of what the place used to be like or had never been there prior to it being sold.

It absolutely is 100x better than when I was a kid. 

2 hours ago, sample39 said:

That 07 squad was THE ONLY Huskies team before the takeover, so it's not surprising that team specifically is full.  The question is all of the other age levels.  

I've heard it's made up of a good portion of Burrell Varsity?

44 minutes ago, fafa fohi said:

Agreed - in times when its hot during late summer the ice at Frozen Pond always held up.  IMO one of the best ice surfaces in western PA. 

If you can stay away from the holes. 

1 hour ago, ice is cold said:

Really? My son would say otherwise. And most kids (and I mean over 15) say it's the best ice.  But I assume you skate on it often to make that assessment, I guess you like it soft. To each his own.  

You're right. The ice is awesome there. 😂

I honestly thought they'd have some success initially, purely for being another option. Tired of the same organization year after year, or been through a couple different ones and haven't found a good fit, no opportunity at your current org, or you want a better organized org? I figured they'd have quite a few people ready for a change. I guess not. I don't know anything about who's running it, coaching there, or whatever. I just thought a new org with money to market it and start from scratch would be an easier operation than it seems to have been. 

Did they really just have nobody show up, or did they gamble too long not taking the kids that did show up, waiting to see what cast-offs from other places they could get? 

I heard the tryouts were pretty light, right from the start. 

Listen up, orgs! I have the next big moneymaker— Elite Learn-To-Skate. 

It's a gold mine waiting to happen. 

4 hours ago, surecat069 said:

18 U across all divisons had 24 total teams last year. It really sounds like that number is going to be cut in 1/2, if not more this year. Where did everyone go? Is the 2005 BY just that weak on numbers ?  Are the incoming 2006 BY numbers not enough to take the place of the 2004 BY thats graduating? 

I'm going to take a guess that at the upper ages, especially 18u, that kids are deciding to play for school only. And why not? 

I think it's hard for a lot of kids to do both, or have little enough interest in anything else to have the time to do both. Now if these club teams just played PAHL and a few tournaments, that's one thing. You can do 20 games, maybe 4 tournament weekends, 20 school games, and the practices to go with it if you wanted to. But add another 35-45 independent games to that, and now you're playing more than an NHL'er. And going to school, and trying to have a life in there on top of it. Makes it not very easy. 

They come to the realization that chasing PAHL/Independant isn't worth what they might have to give up. Hockey is supposed to be a fun thing, maybe there are other things they enjoy, too. Whether it's spending time with friends, a part time job, spending a lot of time looking at colleges, wanting a few nights to play video games, or whatever else they could be doing instead of being at the rink 6 nights a week. Friends going out to the movies this weekend? Girlfriend wants to go to the school dance? Too bad, you have to drive to Philadelphia or Columbus to play a handful of games to count towards your My Hockey Rankings. 

It's stressful, it consumes a big chunk of free time, you might get split up from your friends you like playing with, higher costs, etc. And it becomes increasingly apparent for just about everybody that there is no scholarship to Notre Dame or getting drafted to the OHL coming any time soon. 

Or alternatively, you can play for school. Still be part of a team, still play good hockey, and actually get a crowd engaged in the game, other than half a dozen dads yelling over the glass at you. And unlike the independant teams, you're actually playing for something. You're at school half of your day, 5 days a week with your peers. It's more likely some of those kids you go to school with care more about talking about and cheering for their school team than the Pittsburgh Icemen, or the Allegheny Badgers did over the weekend. 

I don't know if I'm right, but my guess is that is contributing to where these players have gone. 

Tryout season has been made way more difficult than it needs to be. 

Instead of folding a team, what's wrong with just still having it, and placing them in PAHL in the division they belong in? 

7 minutes ago, fafa fohi said:

The nonsense of having organizations placing two teams in PAHL AA has to stop.  It is less about PAHL having an influence of where the teams are placed and more about anabolic parents and ambitious coaches placing teams in a division where they don't belong.   Historically when the lower or second team is added with predominatly younger BY players, they get destroyed by teams carrying mostly players of the older age group.  

Take for example, South Pittsburgh with two 16U AA teams last season, Preds 18U AA in 2021-22, and SHAHA U14 AA in 2020-21.  PAHL needs to grow a pair and just say "no" and only allow one AA team per division per organization.  

I think it's fine, but should be a AA Major or AA Minor situation. And not all orgs do it. For instance North Pittsburgh could probably do this every season at the majority of age groups.