nemesis8679

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

Who's forcing them?

I think 16u Renegades won tier 2?

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.

Yeah, I know him, too. So do the police and so does the D. A. You're advice is correct.

Because this is a grift of some sort.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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

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

If you can stay away from the holes.

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.

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?

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.