nemesis8679

Shaler seems to have fell a bit. What's with Chartiers having such a good record but being on the bottom? 

2 hours ago, Happy Hockey Fan said:

Just curious why you brought me into it? Not sure why you would think that I would be ok with this. It is ridiculous people were scammed. I guess you think I would be ok with it because it is the parents choice? Not sure. Let me know. 

I have long said that anyone can call themselves AAA but that doesn’t make them AAA. Aviators used have a few teams that they claimed were AAA, called them the Stealth. Always a reach, and I said that those teams would have to play in to AA in PAHL. Couldn’t just say “we are AA” in PAHL. 
 

 

OK.

That should be criminal. 

And there's plenty of local teams that would love to have those kids on their rosters. 

But let's continue to just allow coaches and organizations to call their teams whatever they want to. 

The sad thing is parents with kids that age will think this is normal. And the kids will, too. 

I'm sure Happy Hockey Fan will be here soon to cheer everybody up and tell us that this is okay and good for local hockey.

4 hours ago, sadday4hockey said:

Is she the same person who did the whole story on Chico Adrahtas?

That story played out over decades and yet Jim Smith is still a part of USA hockey.

Good for the Ministry of Sport in Canada. Government so often f's things up but they knew how to hit Hockey Canada - right in the wallet. And what do you know, they reopened the investigation.

 

Yes, she did the Adrahtas story also. And covered the Blackhawks debacle as well. 

Too bad she wasn't around to expose Graham James back in the day. 

2 hours ago, fafa fohi said:

Katie Strang from The Athletic is as good as it gets for investigative reporting on the NHL.

Hands-down the best.

Interestingly, originally the victim accused 8 players. Does that mean she was mistaken, or 3 of the 8 were in and out of the room and not participating in the assault, or 3 of them were people not on the team? Maybe they felt for whatever reason they didn't have enough to charge the others with anything? If you look at the statements made prior by players or agents, some stopped short of saying they had no involvement and just saying they were cooperating. A couple gave information that they weren't even present in London at that time time. Some said they weren't involved, yet here they are on the hot seat to be charged. Formenton has said nothing at all to this day. 

It will be interesting to see how the NHL handles the players involved now that charges are being filed. To their credit, even though the league is an uninvolved 3rd party they launched their own investigation which they said will at some point be made public. Hopefully, if players are found guilty of sexual assault their NHL careers are finished (of course there's always the KHL, which apparently accepts anybody).And I hope those who were on that roster and had suspicions following them around the past several years will be publicly cleared of wrongdoing. 

To me, most disturbing is that it would only take one person to look at the situation as it's unfolding and say, "hey, I don't think we should be doing this", "this is not a good idea", etc. 

The Athletic has the deepest articles I've seen on this scandal, as they usually do. 

It'll be interesting to see what all comes out once the onion layers are pulled back.

4 hours ago, zam said:

Vengeance isn't really a legit organization it's just a team name.  They don't have the ability to submit USA Hockey rosters on their own so they paid renegades to roster their teams.  Rumour is renegades are rebranding as vengeance for all their teams A, AA,AAA.

My understanding is it will be a for-profit rebranding. Whether they're keeping all or some of the Renegades board members and coaches, I have no idea. I'd assume everything would be the same, with different jerseys and costing more money. I can't see the primary buyer of ice at the rink be forced to dissolve into nonexistence.

I've also heard just competing travel teams will be ousted, it won't affect the PIHL or college teams.  

3 hours ago, ANKLEBENDER said:

It is USAH Youth rule, so covers all "youth" aka "amature" 18U and below.  However, High-School is not USAH Youth, it is a different division like USAH Adult, USAH Sled, etc... and is exempt from those youth rule changes. All of this is actually stated in the USAH rule-book, but most parents and even coaches don't read it.....another example is an icing error face-off does NOT go to center ice. It is a "last play where the puck is located" situation (attacking zone of team that legally iced the puck, but the official mistakenly blew play dead). This rule was changed around 15 years ago, but every time it happens, some moron in the stands is yelling "center-ice" like they have a clue.

It's 14u and under, yet PAHL seems to do it at all levels. 

6 minutes ago, stickboy said:

Lots of teams and leagues don’t publish statistics.  Pens Elite doesn’t.  While I think it’s cool for the players and there should be stats posted for PAHL, some are putting too much stock in it regarding  promotion to the next level. No one is getting a look from a reputable scout because of their Tier 2 points published on a website. They get a look by word of mouth on their overall play and character.

That's the other thing. Unless you're keeping stats for hits, blocks, pp/pk %, etc.... Goals, assists, and penalties really don't paint a good picture of the value of a player. 

PAHL can shove fair play points, icing on a penalty kill, and automatic offsides right up their @$$, too. 

Probably found that loophole they forgot to close and took it down.

2 hours ago, James Gatz said:

Comparing Minnesota high school hockey to other states is like comparing most states to Texas high school football or Kentucky basketball.  Culturally, some sports take priority in certain areas and attract depth and talent.  There is a mystique to being a high school athlete in those sports and those places.   It also doesn't hurt that in the land of 10,000 lakes and really cold winters, kids can skate for free from a young age for much of the year.  

That part about skating outdoors on the lakes is an understated part. There's something to be said about playing for fun with friends in a non-adult ruled competition just for the fun of it. It develops creativity without fear of mistakes  and a love for the game more than structured skills lessons and AAAA mite leagues. 

And I'm sure there are a multitude more of public rinks available which create more opportunities for those that otherwise might not have them.

23 minutes ago, Pa Hockey said:

Edina HS had 165 kids try out from a great source a few years ago

Where is that?

Obviously, they were doing something right in Meadville.

Fair play points is the stupidest thing in PAHL. And there's quite a few stupid things to choose from.

7 hours ago, hockeyisgreat said:

Hard to believe that was Puckcovid19!  Not his typical conversation!

Sounds like voice to text

6 hours ago, Wes said:

This would be surprising, given the state of the environment and that hockey is one of the most expensive sports...  but never underestimate the pens attempts to mess up youth hockey.

Surprising why? That's a bunch of people they can charge.

1 hour ago, Wes said:

The only org my son played on, and we felt the tryouts were fair and unbiased (for the most part LOL), was with Allegheny in the PRE-BlackBear days.  They would bring in outside evaluators and grade the players based on what they saw, not by how many years they played for Allegheny.

I know there's pros and cons to having outside evaluators, but I believe the pros far outweigh the cons. 

I wonder if any orgs still do it that way, and which ones? 

5 hours ago, sadday4hockey said:

Not sure I agree with this. They both definitely have the most participants but they also both do a lot of cattle-herding as they push the limits of too many players on the ice which can limit reps and stunt improvement.

Foxes in particular have really fallen off.

And if you want to get on a good team at North Pittsburgh, you better be on a team there from the beginning. 

At both orgs, it can be easy to get lost in the shuffle.

Hey, nothing to worry about. Yeah the season is rough but this is just the next step on the ladder to NCAA D1 or Major Junior. 

Hockey is without a doubt the most convoluted, backwards sport there is as far as structuring teams and leagues that make sense. 

Keep allowing orgs to call teams whatever they want, and this is what happens. 

1 hour ago, Danner27 said:

One of my boy’s was sent this 

Hopefully it was a firecracker or a car backfiring and everyone is safe. No way I'd send my kids there. 

1 hour ago, Rebel Panther said:

I have heard rumors that a new ice rink has been permitted just off of 576 near the airport.  Is there truth to this?

Nobody wants to drive out there. 

1 hour ago, Happy Hockey Fan said:

Who was the “big” signing?

Oh, nobody. He meant that in general. There's video of the signing (probably signing money over to the owner is what they signed lol) from the UPMC Center on their Facebook page. The owner looks like he's right out of central casting as a con man, cheap used-car salesman suit and all. I'm surprised he stopped short of blowing cigar smoke in the faces of the players while they signed their papers. 

4 hours ago, Jawzz20 said:

They now have 5 goalies, but are making Facebook posts needing more skaters. So now they are losing players. 

Somebody needs to close this team and it's owner down. 

1 hour ago, i am score said:

That’s all I came on here to say and Danner is already at my throat 😂 Again, I am no parent, I am a local (current) college player who has been following the River Monsters. I feel for the young players who just wanted to stay close to home and this is the option they chose for the time being, and they’re being attacked for it on here. I’ve been in that boat before too where I had to take one option because there wasn’t really much to choose from. It just makes me upset for them. This is who they’re stuck dealing with, a criminal.

I'm curious what oversight this actual "league" has in how owners handle the teams?