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Middle School hockey IMO is a decent supplement for additional skating and ice time but not much more than that. The talent level is quite different as most teams have a much wider disparity between the best players and lower skill players on a team. I’ve seen some teams with kids where playing MS was their first year of ice hockey. And some MS programs do not cut players. Both of my kids played MS but enjoyed PAHL much more as the talent was more equal across the board.

Season fees for A,AA hockey will vary however most will range from $1,700 to $2,500. Additional fees include a "team fund" that covers tournament costs which are around $300 which usually covers around four tournaments. Roughly three ice slots per week, which includes games and practices. Half / full ice depends on the organization - do your research on this as there are some organizations operating out of one / two sheet rinks that primarily have shared ice practices with sporadic full ice practices, hence the lower cost for the season. Hotel costs for away tournaments obviously add to the total cost. There are a multitude of tournaments within a five hour drive from Pittsburgh so plenty of variety of competition to suit your players needs - Niagara Falls, Detroit, South Bend, Buffalo, DC, Columbus and Cleveland are popular destinations. AAA hockey is an entirely different ballgame from a cost and travel standpoint. Because of the amount of travel is considerably more than A and AA levels, expect to pay in excess of $10K per year. Do your research as there is plenty of options to choose from. Good luck in your search.

Games within the PAHL usually are in full swing in October and there are 10+ organizations you could visit to watch games within an hour apart. So plenty of hockey at varying talent levels for you to see. As far as AAA level hockey, in my opinion PPE Gold is the true AAA organization with Esmark at some age levels. Most organizations within PAHL will field a AA team at most age levels. For your visit I would recommend coming during a weekend PPE is hosting some games, and knock out some AA games all in the same weekend.