Danner27

It seems to be changing to spring more & more for varsity tryouts (what I see posted around).

Still hanging out at the rinks watching my niece play from time to time. so yes, I get to catch other forms of youth hockey. instead of flooding this board with a new topic, I brought up tryouts this spring on a thread already related to the battle of the suck. Western Pa’s bottom of the bottom faux tier 1 hockey. I think I found a dreaming predator’s mom.

I Call it like it is. Sorry if it hurts someone’s feeling’s. That’s life!

Back the battle of the suck - did the icemen have enough at tryouts to field 16U & 18U “AAA” ? I’m told just about everyone that tried out for the predators 18U “AAA” made the team. The predators held a supplement last night hoping for cut esmark kids. None showed up. predators 16U AAA - the same boat & there is no 16U Vengeance ?? did parents & players finally wise up ? I know they still picked up 20 suckers @ 18U, but the pool to pick from was very, very shallow this year.

Tryouts still generate $

I don’t research much anymore - my kids are done but there are a good amount from the 01, 02 & 03 birth years. I imagine 04 is on its way to doing well.

Yes, that’s the kid. 3rd goalie - emergency use - no money given - will never play - will always be number 3 while other’s come and go. In zab’a case his father is connect in someway to the university, not the team.

Vengeance had one kid i believe go ncaa d1 - it’s the goalie you are talking about. Think it was Fairbanks. He stopped here for a year. No scholarship. mario took the am pens name along with the hornets. Back to youth - not sure why it would change, the top 15’s always play up at 16. The only thing that holds them back at 15 if they have the talent is political bs. I’m not talking about the top 25 in n/a (the real special kids) I am talking about the top half of the birth year.

Wouldn’t be surprised, how was the esmark turn out for 16’s & 18’s ?

Maybe folks are getting wise to that bottom of the barrel extra A.

That’s why kids are playing tier 1 - to move on. PPE has the best track record here.

Heard all ages @ predators “AAA” didn’t have enough players at tryouts.

You are completely missing the point. It’s not about cost or winning nationals. Let me know the day a kid from the vengeance youth programs goes to a real junior league.

Im Not moving any goal posts. The better 06’s would have been playing up at 16U. It’s just a fact. It’s been like this since 15u was created. looking at this years tournament results 15U vengeance did terrible, shaha did ok. Like I said, see if shaha makes it at 16U when more teams like culver & Gilmour enter into the standings. glad to see both teams made the 15u tournament. Years past it would only be PPE and Esmark locally. Just two years ago 15U had 12 teams. Why only 8 this year ? I see the icemen didn’t have a team.

15U this season there is only 8 tier 1 teams in the district. While I’m glad these teams made the district tourney see if it holds at 16U. Remember all the better 06’s would have been playing up on a 16U team. Only two teams didn’t qualify for the 15’s district tier 1 tournament. The predators being one of them - dead last ? How did shaha & vengeance do at the 15u tourney ?

I don’t disagree at the younger ages & lower levels of play - 16u tier 1 & 18u tier 1 ? Those kids need to learn how to kill penalties, use the boards & glass properly like a pool table etc. what’s the point at 18U ? This group is done for the most part or heading to the acha.

Did I read this correctly ? USAH just made it so ALL levels & ages (accept HS) can no longer ice the puck on the pp ?

Nah because 15 & 16 is when it matters. Nobody cares about PW. When the vengeance, predators or icemen start making the district tournament at 15,16 & 18 then I’ll take them serious. You only have to be in the top 6 for a district that has anywhere from 8-12 teams to make the tourney. These clubs sit at the very bottom every year at just about every age group. They are nice AA teams.

Please don’t take this guy serious. He was considered a joke back in the day. He bought a junior team in Rochester, NY to develop his own son (he put the kid on the team at 14 years old - surrounded him with the best NY talent he could find) his kid did eventually make it to nahl. Anyway, half the stuff he says BS the other half he steals from someone I won’t name that knows what they are talking about. He’s just a wealthy man trying to make money off hockey as a hobby.

I’ve been saying it for a few years around here - PPE>Esmark>everything else is the same it doesn’t matter. with esmark being number 2 locally, look how awful their track record is. 99% of their tenders to the nahl don’t work out. Whomever ask about scholarships - I don’t know the answer with the big NCAA D1 schools, but the smaller schools usually have 10 players on a full ride, the rest are splitting. The players not on a full ride are getting aced if scholarships to help. The 3rd goalie doesn’t get anything. Usually the 3rd goalie is there for 4 years as a practice player / emergency backup while other goalies come through to develop, take over the starting spot by their junior season. We personally know a goalie who played at a mid sized ncaa d1 school as the 3rd goalie. He never saw one game in 4 years. It’s was made clear from day 1 he would only play if it was an emergency situation. He received no athletic scholarship money. 5 other goalies who came from higher pedigree’s such as the ushl came through while he was there.

The ushl is the hardest junior league (including major juniors in Canada) to make it to.

It’s not a tag line - they still play the best teams, developed players etc. look I’m not a fan of what’s going on up there at all, but you want to tell me the predators & icemen develop players ? Have the proper personal, coaching, tools & channels ? They don’t. western pa - PPE>Esmark>everyone else from FAUX to AA.

Yes PPE might have failed at nationals but they still went. Our local faux programs such as predators, icemen etc sit at the bottom district standings. Season over by october.

Tryouts all over ? How did the 18’s for all the faux aaa teams turn out ? Any improvement or still the same train wrecks sitting at the bottom of the district, Season over before it started as usual ?

Actually, it’s furniture.