RegDunlop7

As an American citizen, the government's response to COVID-19 -- forced closures of private businesses/institutions, stay-at-home orders, etc. -- has been pretty concerning for individual freedoms moving forward. Dangerous precedents are being established with little to no resistance.

Not sure why you're using "boomer" in that context or what you mean by "lady admirers" lol. Honestly, your entire post was a pretty weak/confusing response to my joke.

@The King: *constantly denounces people who say they have no horse in the race* @The King five minutes later: "I have no horse in this race"

Relax. It's COVID-19, not the Plague.

Lol if we're gonna question grammar on this forum, we might as well start removing everyone's posts now. What I should've said was "there have been plenty of high level PAHL AA teams over the last 15-20 years that have consisted of players developed within their respective organizations." I do agree that more associations operated this way several years ago, but I'll counter with the argument that faux-AAA and independent AA teams have enabled the deterioration of organizational development. @twoboys mentioned that Armstrong's recent National-bound teams have been "home grown", but I don't have enough details to know if that's true or not. Regardless of player development for this specific case, I will defend how Armstrong is successfully managing/preparing its National-bound teams while keeping PAHL AA hockey strong and not succumbing to the faux-AAA or independent AA nonsense.

Armstrong's National-bound teams are great recent examples of how PAHL organizations used to manage their AA teams -- with Allegheny, Altoona, and the Preds enjoying the most success. The increasing amount of faux-AAA and independent AA teams has, unfortunately, shifted the focus from organizational development to jersey collecting.

I said that, over the last 15-20+ years (which includes now), there have been a significant amount of "home grown" high level AA teams.

Agreed, I would say most players move on to AAA during Bantam. Junior and College hockey would obviously come after Midget. This is part of the argument. I'm saying that all of the faux-AAA and independent AA teams are ruining AAA and AA hockey in Western PA. Agreed, which is why most high level PAHL AA teams practice 4-5+ hours per week and play 20-30 tournament/independent games in addition to the 20-game PAHL schedule. I wouldn't consider any AA teams that only practice 1-2 hours per week and play 20 games as high level.

Imagine if all of the faux-AAA and independent AA teams played in PAHL. Then you'd have 5+ high level teams per age group.

Over the last 15-20+ years, a significant amount of AA teams from Allegheny, Altoona, Armstrong, North Pittsburgh, Preds, Vipers, SHAHA, Southpointe, Steel City, etc. have consisted of players developed within their respective organizations -- many of these players moved on to play AAA, Junior, and/or College (NCAA and ACHA) hockey. Recently, the increased number of faux-AAA and independent AA teams have, unfortunately, caused players/parents to be more concerned with collecting jerseys than organizational development.

@Danner27 do you know every player in Western PA?

All of these factors -- coach's expectations, ice slots/times, cost for parents -- should be laid out during tryouts. If players/parents don't want to play a 20-game PAHL schedule plus an additional 20-30 tournament/independent games to prepare for a run at Nationals, those players/parents can always consider trying out for A or B teams. This is absolutely not true. There are plenty of high level PAHL AA teams that consist of players developed within their respective organizations.

There's nothing stopping AA teams from playing a 20-game PAHL schedule on top of 30-40 additional tournament/independent games -- countless PAHL AA teams have played this type of schedule over the last 15-20 years. All of the faux-AAA and independent AA teams (Icemen, Viper Stars, Mt. Lebo, Vengeance, etc.) would make PAHL a much stronger league.

The 16U and 15U faux-AAA Icemen teams were both ranked dead last in the Mid-Am region, so they didn't qualify for Districts. The organization appropriately placed its 18U team at the AA level but determined that playing in PAHL was beneath them -- ironic that the Icemen 18s lost to a PAHL team in the State Championship. Doubtful. The Icemen/Yetis rebrand is simply a facade for the Butler Valley Dawgs' mess of an organization.

That's funny, I thought you said my posts were from a parent's point of view? Glad you remember my playing experience, though!