Danner27

He still has a house in Chicagoland along with Florida.

I think I know the story of this coach you are talking about if the time frame was before mueller or his first year - hard to recall. I honestly don’t recall any of the black teams beating the elite teams in districts but I do remember at one of the BY under my kids there was a lot of animosity between the black team & elite team, maybe the 03’s or 04’s.

I’m guessing it had to be an 03, my youngest is an 02. 99-03 are the BY i am most familiar with locally. I’m not doubting the stray kid here and there was retained at 15u, I do know of one 03 but then they dumped him at 16u. Kid is at Gilmour now. The point being many kids from the black team got pushed through the mid am camp by ppe over better players in the district, then dumped by ppe at midget. I could pm you 15 names alone from the 02 & 03 BY.

Not for the birth years I know, the black teams could not compete with the “elite” teams. I’m taking 99 down to 03. I’m pretty confident all the kids on those black bantam teams were all dumped by ppe going into U15, yet they pushed a good amount of them through the district camp. The Ohio Blue Jackets, along with Culver had a fallen out with mid am over this about 3-4 years ago.

You realize PPE has by far the most “evaluators” at the district camp ? A few years back kids from the PPE black teams were getting pushed through over players from other legitimate AAA programs in the district.

I’m not bothering to argue with you, my days of caring are over. My kids are all aged out. People that have been around know the guys that are making money off the parents and players who want that fake extra A.

Sorry - the post didn’t quote properly. The question was asked, who’s really making money on hockey - my reply was “plenty”.

Plenty

I just took a quick look at elite prospects. Esmark shows nobody that has made it to the echl, ahl or nhl. PPE has a handful that made it to the echl. The Hornets lead in this category 😂

There is also a heck of a lot of players that played in the NAHL and never moved onto NCAA D1. Last I saw, it averages out to the top two players per team each season that earn the opportunity or get the shot.

I stand by that statement, especially the way the system has changed over the past 5-6 years. The predators had nothing to do with with this player getting to Johnston, if you know the family you would know the story along with the work this player put in as a “late bloomer” starting at the bottom of the GOJHL with another Pittsburgh kid. Mario’s kid played at the predators when he didn’t make the hornets. Are you going to say the predators got him into Arizona State NCAA D1 ? Sorry to rain on your parade, keep the money train rolling’ over there.

The player your are speaking about went or the GOJHL to cut his teeth, that is were Johnstown picked him up from. It had nothing to do with the predators. We know the other player that went with him to Canada.

Unfortunately, the only real AAA in western pa is PPE followed by esmark midget. As stated above, you can see how far the gap is between these two clubs. I have nothing against any kid or extra A status parent. Spend your money however you like - It’s just the truth. My biggest problem with PPE is how they are using youth hockey not just to fund the pro practice rink but also make a profit after the pro bills are paid from youth hockey! The penguins along with upmc are also using this business model as a tax shelter. PPE makes more money off import players.

I suspect covid had something to to do with the mid am district getting all 3 at large bids. traditionally our district is considered “middle of the pack”. It looks like a few districts may not be represented. For better or worse, politics & imports (it pains me to say it) - we can all agree PPE is the best tier 1 program in western pa. 90% of the time PPE wins the district at 14,15,16 & 18. Locally, Esmark is the only other real “AAA” option. You folks can see how far that gap truly is now with esmark sneaking into nationals due to covid. 9-2 loss to the NJ Avs (who were rol

Nothing, he’s a career politician. He got the job to secure the pens a new arena. He was Bill Clinton’s campaign manager, this is how he met Ron Burkle who is one of the biggest donators to the Democratic Party. Ron brought him back to his “hometown” to get the arena done. Give the guy credit, he knows how to make money and that’s what he’s doing for the pens with youth hockey. They are the only team in the nhl with ZERO overhead for their practice facility. He created the excel program to make even more money for the pens off youth hockey. All the while surrounding his mediocre son