fafa fohi

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.  

4 hours ago, nemesis8679 said:

I just received a message this morning stating the North Pittsburgh 07-08 registration is closed. 

I am not surprised - NP typically gets 100+ registered per age group and could field up to six teams per division.  22 teams total from Squirt to Midget last year.

https://myhockeyrankings.com/association_info.php?a=295

5 hours ago, sample39 said:

The top guys move on while some guys decide to play AA and/or HS instead.  It happens, it's nothing out of the ordinary, and it shouldn't diminish the good runs those team's had.

Agreed.  Sometimes mom and dad are the ones that cannot face reality and cannot handle the blow to "their" ego with their star player not pursuing AAA hockey and only playing HS or at the AA level.  

Going off topic, but there were lots of top local kids drafted by NCDC teams yesterday - nice feel good moment but what will come of that if anything?  And when does reality finally set in for those "rock stars" that did not get drafted by NCDC teams or any others as a HS kid?  
I learned the hard way  

https://www.usphlncdc.com/ncdc-draft-results

https://goaliecoaches.com/understanding-junior-hockey-path-nhl/

14 hours ago, nemesis8679 said:

Definitely not just you. It's frustrating seeing this happen, all the kids spreading out and leaving each teah with 3-5 players that belong at the level they're at, and filling the team with whoever is left. 

Agreed, and if you have a kid that is true AA level I would stay away from any organization that is having a supplemental tryout to fill their AA teams.  NP, Allegheny and SCIR would be safe bets to field teams with true AA level players.

Word is players that got cut by Esmark / Vengeance are finding homes at these orgs AA teams.  

I hope the parents of "former" AAA teams that bought all of the AAA swag are OK with their kids playing at the AA level.  My guess is most of the kids are good with it, mom and dad not so much.  Hopefully they will realize playing at the AA level with a chance to go to Nationals is better than having their kid play for a diluted AAA team that wins ten games in a season and is out of the running for MidAms qualification by November.  Look no further than Preds or Icemen teams from last season.

11 hours ago, Hattrick Swayze said:

Yes, they did. Unfortunately for a lot of the kids they did it late enough that they couldn't try out Tier 1 anymore. Tier 2 will be very good in Western Pa this year. I also heard they are not refunding  any of their tryout fee's even though they folded the team. Not a great look on their part!

Esmark pulled this shit two seasons ago when they folded the 06 BY team right after tryouts.  It is a bush move to cash the tryout checks and not return those fees to the kids that made the team and committed to the team prior to them folding.  Garbage move by Esmark but I am not surprised.

“I'm assuming they are doing what it appears the Rebellion are doing: playing PAHL but then also playing a partial season or showcase season in the AHF.”

I’m not so sure about that as that same coach and group of players that will make up the U18 AA team played as an independent last season as a U16 AA team.  They turned their noses up at PAHL before so It would not surprise me if they did the same thing this year.

One of the better schools in the PA state system for academics and also an opportunity for your kid to play hockey is West Chester University.  The campus is beautiful, not too large and has a nice downtown area for the restaurants and bars.  It gets overlooked by those living in western PA but gets a heavy draw from kids in the tri-state area along with Philly.  It is pretty affordable too at around $25K all-in for tuition / room / board per year before academic scholarships.

17 minutes ago, hockeyisgreat said:

What I mean is that they stayed together without much movement from year to year. Only a few kids were added or subtracted!  How much pressure do you think they had to make the team?  Taibi was loyal to them and they were loyal to him!  That was a great situation for those kids unlike Pens that are always looking to replace anyone and everyone.

Fair enough. 

43 minutes ago, hockeyisgreat said:

I bet going to a real tryout for some of those 06 SHAHA kids was a real shocker.  Will be interesting to see how many make the Vengenace team and where the rest end up!

"Real tryout?"  That team was ranked 20th in the country at the end of the season and beat numerous top 10 teams along with beating PPE twice.

This is great stuff and what a way to win a natty.  And Pecknold's wife is ??.  Two W's for him.

Teams have "folded" prior to tryouts before, as did the 06 Vengeance for the 2022-23 season.  Evidently they did not like the list of names that were registered for tryouts and did not think they could field a competitive team.  At least they did it before the tryouts began so players could explore other options.  

Unlike the same birth year - Esmark 06 two seasons ago that folded AFTER tryouts and did nothing to return tryout fees to those that attended and made the team.

Update - Briere booted off of Mercyhurst hockey team.  

https://www.si.com/.amp/college/2023/04/03/carson-briere-wheelchair-stairwell-mercyhurst

It is good to see the parents of players mentioned in this thread are propping up their own kids for the attention and kudos they rightfully deserve.

Delmont?  

I am sure those flying in will love that drive and the Lamplighter will be the hot spot for libations and stories about the mob meetings that occurred there in the 60's and 70's..

My dealings with Foxes and Renegades have been positive for the most part, with the exception of a nut job or two along the way.  Each org typically has a pre-season parent meeting where the coaches discuss proper behavior along with them acknowledging a code of conduct.  Foxes was very firm on this when my oldest played there and in the four years he played for them I cannot recall a single situation where a parent got the shoe for bad behavior.  

It is pretty sad to think these types of meetings with parents have to happen but they do.

Could you provide the links to stream each of the games?  Thanks.

Does anyone here really believe paying for the PPE PR machine and money game for their 9-10 year old squirt actually thinks "if my 9 year old kid gets into their system he has a great shot to make all of their future teams?"  Even after countless comments from those on this forum countering this?

Or is it about the dad being able to tell all of his friends that his kid plays for PPE while buying all of the hoodies and car stickers that let everyone know where his kid plays.  When checking comes into play everything changes for these kids.

It is pathetic and sad as there are so many solid youth ( yes, youth ) programs out there where you can get plenty of ice time and solid coaching at a fraction of the cost. 

17 minutes ago, BeaverFalls said:

Just stay away from Mon Valley, Cambria, Johnstown, Altoona and State College. Usually the biggest clownshows come from there. Inter-city within Pittsburgh you should be alright. 

This^^^^^^

And if you are traveling towards Connellsville you will begin to hear the sound of banjos.  That will be your warning to stay away from there at all costs.

As if the hockey community needed any more bad press, along comes this genius who is on the Mercyhurst hockey team that thought pushing a double amputee's wheelchair down a flight of stairs was a good idea.  Note the family bloodlines of this clown.

https://www.tmz.com/2023/03/17/bar-bans-college-hockey-player-carson-briere-wheelchair-push/

Does anyone have the inside scoop on who was awarded at-large berths for Nationals?

Peters looked pretty dominant against NA last night and neither of their top scorers had a single point.  It shows the depth this team has and I would not be surprised if they repeat as state champs.  

3 hours ago, Chinstrap said:

I suppose the story wasn’t good enough to tell.

Actually it is quite a story, but I am not shocked anyone from McDowell entered this thread to tell the real story or to own up to it.  

39 minutes ago, Danner27 said:

PSU is such a bad example, they have so many applications they don’t give out much. PITT is starting to get to that level from what I’m told. looking at niche you can see schools like iup, sru, cal, etc are all around 15k a year after aid. Ohio U is showing 33k for out of state after aid, Miami is 35k, Kent state is 25k. (These are averages)

local private schools in pa are all over the place. Mercyhurst is showing 35k after aid, rmu 25k.  
 

Wvu shows an average out of state price of 35k. 

These prices do not take into consideration the students federal loans as more “aid”. 

@fafa fohi what did it cost on average a year for your kid at OU ? friend in Ohio who’s kid is graduating this year pays 24k a year in state. 

Paid roughly $25K a year which included room, meal plans and tuition.  Low interest government loans cap out at $5,500 per year, $22K tops over four years. 
 

The better the grades the more money that’s available in scholarships.  Penn State all in is around $38K per year and I knew a kid that had a 4.4 GPA out of high school and didn’t get a dime from them in merit money.  He also applied to Bowling Green and said his out of pocket cost would have been around $22K a year.  His dad was a Penn State grad so I don’t have to tell you where he ended up. 

26 minutes ago, Danner27 said:

It is. 
 

yes, pa schools & college in general are at an all time high but the Ohio (or any out of state) schools don’t give up enough money to leave the state and have a similar cost comparison. It’s much more expensive to leave PA for college, this is due to PA passing a law in 2020. PA also doesn’t fund its own state schools enough imo. 

You are 100% incorrect. As I mentioned before, OH schools are extremely generous with numerous scholarship opportunities to lure out of state kids to their schools. My oldest graduated from OU last year and we paid considerably less that what it would have cost for him to go to PItt or Penn State.
 

The only schools that were cheaper were SRU, IUP and West Chester and not by much. On top of that he played intramural hockey there for three years just to keep himself in the game.

Sorry, but you’re wrong. 

It is a known fact Ohio schools are very aggressive in getting PA kids to enroll at their schools and there is tons of money available out there in the form of merit and other types of scholarships.  If your kid has good grades they can be an out of state student at some schools for less than it costs to go in-state to PItt or PSU.  Penn State?  Don’t get me started on them as everyone pays sticker price regardless of GPA and unless your kid is a 5* athlete, the school doesn’t give out merit scholarships to get students to enroll there “because they can.”  Private schools are higher in tuition yet they offer more in the form of scholarships due to the endowments.  Kent, BGU, Miami, OU, Dayton and Akron all have hockey programs at different levels for kids wanting to move away from home to get the “college experience” while still having the opportunity to play hockey at various levels.