Danner27

1 hour ago, ANKLEBENDER said:

More than a couple...

https://www.ohiobobcathockey.com/team/roster

I missed two ? two players I don’t recall from back In the youth days. One of the guys doesn’t appear to play much as a senior. Great link!  better than the acha website. 

4 hours ago, whatever said:

Quit a few area kids play for Ohio U. I'm going to tune in.  Thanks! 

Two that I know of - 1 at ppe most of his youth, the other from esmark. Both I think are seniors at Ohio U. 
 

It was a good game, liberty won in ot. 

Liberty plays Ohio U on espn plus tonight if anyone wants to see what the high end club hockey looks like. 
 

I’ve been following the acha the past few years - mainly the end of the seasons & nationals at all 3 levels. I’ve helped a few families and players make informed decesions about college and it was very simple - don’t pick a school because of hockey. Pretty simple. 
 

I think club hockey is a great thing, I don’t understand why some think I’m putting it down. If you read my posts above I mention how it helps with the adjustment  for a lot of kids, gives them new friends instantly etc. 

Sorry when I call out the BS it offends, like I said youth hockey parents & poltics have worked their way into the local college club hockey. The ones that are offended are usually the offenders. 

38 minutes ago, forbin said:

Personally, I don’t see Mon Valley even fielding teams this year if BB raises their season fees. 

How is BB treating the HS & College teams that play out of there so far ? 

13 minutes ago, Happy Hockey Fan said:

Should have mentioned that he lives with a teammate at Esmark. So it is very convenient.

That makes sense. Esmark gets their kid here, montour gets a goalie. Kid plays on both teams with his billet brother - easy to get to practice, easier adjustment for the Dayton kid moving away at 15. Looks like he’s 9-1 in the 10 games he played. Definitely helping that varsity team. 
 

did pihl ever put that visa rule in ? Covid hit, I never followed it again. It was specifically target towards bishop mcort. That coach would cry up a storm every meeting back in the day that they can’t compete with out the euro esmark kids. They would smash everyone in A. Pihl was suppose to make it so you had to play up if you had a kid here under a visa or something.

edit - It appears mcort is in AA this year, looks like they have two visa’s ? Guess pihl finally went through with that rule. 

32 minutes ago, Icebucket said:

They also have strong ties to Canevin so I'd assume all imports will now go there.  I don't have any proof of this, but seems the most likely based on their history.

That relationship was severed years and years ago. I don’t see it being repaired but strange things happen & money talks. 
 

I was told esmark placed their U15 goalie from Dayton, OH (tri state) into montour school district this year. Was told Montour did not have a capable goalie going into the season. Someone fact check it, see if it’s true. I haven’t followed much pihl this year. Just a few local teams in aaa. 

edit - checked EP, looks true. Don’t know the circumstances but the kid is playing for montour. 
 

28 minutes ago, fafa fohi said:

What you will get from me is insight on my own experiences while not claiming I know everything based on those experiences.  Circumstances are different for each kid - I had two that played at a high level and each was a completely different set of circumstances, and it is up to them to find the best fit based on their needs and not from some loudmouth know-it-all on a hockey forum claiming to know everything about everything.

 

Again, your assumptions are incorrect and your reading comprehension needs work - I never mentioned SHAHA until after you brought it up so for you to say I am always championing that team is a load of crap.  You are moving the goalposts and combining comments from other threads onto this one to try and make some kind of point.  Thud. 

Nor do I have a kid that plays there nor am I involved there, but I find it interesting to see teams of all local kids beat a team that recruits heavily out of state that is labeled "elite."

Backhanded insults?  I cannot speak for @Law but he may like a word, as all you did was hurl insults and opinions not based on fact towards him.

Adios.

Talk about reading comprehension smh. I never stated you brought shaha into this thread, I clearly stated why I did. 
 

My pitt comments are facts. Regular season best record doesn’t mean anything, the playoff winner from the confrence gets the auto bid. That hasn’t been pitt. 

Just now, fafa fohi said:

Sorry bro, you are wrong so much of the time it's laughable.  I have no skin in the SHAHA game nor did I mention it here, yet you said so yourself this is a thread about "College club hockey" yet you bring up Printscape, SHAHA and the team falling apart on said "College club hockey" thread.  

The self-own here is priceless.

Your always championing shaha’s “aaa” teams - the assumption is your kid plays there or you are involved. If I’m wrong I’m wrong. 
 

I only brought up shaha & youth hockey in this thread because you came storming on in trying to derail the topic,  adding backhanded insults.
 

you are free not to read or comment on this topic.  

@fafa fohi
Don’t you have to worry about your kids shaha youth team falling a part with all the printscape rumors & esmark ? We are talking about College club hockey here, hence the topic title.

1 hour ago, hockeyisgreat said:

Great info!  Doesn't Adrian have a D-3 NCAA team also?  The guy who started all that at Adrian was at Washington & Jefferson College in Washington,PA.  Jeff Docking was a VP at W&J. Talked a great deal about a D-3 Team at W&J and had some alumni investors for a rink in Washington.  President resigned!  He wanted the job and didn't get it. Went out to Adrian as President, started hockey program there and the rest is history.  I believe his kids played.  When he was at W&J the club team was good.  He left, no one cared and the rest is history at W&J. (No program now)

Yep. He wanted to build W&J into what he turned Adrian into. Ncaa d3 with a High end club team. I knew he had alumni investing etc but never knew they wanted to build a rink. I assumed in those days it would be at southpointe were the club team played. I’m sure that would have worked while they worked on their own rink project. I never knew the reason for him leaving, thank for that info. 

4 hours ago, aaaahockey said:

Out of curiosity what is the makeup of a typical ACHA program?  Do they recruit you before you apply to the college or.are there walk-ons for the team?  If it's mixed, what is the percentage who just walk on after they choose a college? 

It’s pretty much a mix, even locally. The big programs ? Adrain, etc they are recruited like a ncaa d1 team. A lot of 20-21 year old freshman. Nahl bottom kids, ncdc etc. A lot of kids that passed on ncaa d3 - they get treated better at these big time acha programs, they don’t have to follow ncaa rules, drug testing etc. since ncaa d3 does not give out sports scholarships for hockey, they go the acha route getting a little merit scholarships. A program like Adrian has a special dorm just for the hockey players due to their age. Generally the big programs don’t cost any money to play. Last I heard rmu was around $2500, iup was around 3k, john caroll who won the chma last year was like 2k (told this from a local player currently on the team). 

Lol we found the Pitt parent! Nice job trying to trash the board and this thread with 10k space bar presses. hopefully the mods can fix it. 
 

your spaz out proved my point further,  but I said rmu & duq have the biggest political bs & parent involment, not pitt, but yep it’s there to and obvious from you losing your mind here hoping this thread gets locked.
 

Pitt can only manage a 1 goal win vs a m1 program that is consistently at the bottom of the rankings, turn around the next day to lose to drexler a mid level m1 program. 
 

oh but you won a few regular season (best record) in the CHMA ? But you couldn’t win the CHMA playoffs to make it to nationals. Lost to JCU last year. A team that is mainly young Ohio HS players, not many at all with any junior experience. Time to leave the chma, pray your schedule gets you to nationals. Sorry buddy, that’s the way it is. Confrence playoff winners goto nationals then the last few spots get filled in based on teams national rankings. Don’t like it - blame the Michigan teams that run the acha our get your people from pitt down to the yearly acha meeting in Tampa to vote! I get it, you’re  trying to work the system to get to nationals, I don’t even blame you for trying. local d3 teams have it worse - it’s only based on rankings who makes nationals, leauge / confrence winners don’t matter. No western pa d3 team or eastern Ohio d3 will ever again make nationals. 1/2 of the top 20 are Michigan teams. 
 

please don’t smack your keyboard for 3hrs again if you do reply. Calm down. It’s club hockey, not ncaa hockey. 

2 hours ago, hockeyisgreat said:

Wow, next will be the grandkids!  Do you think your boys would encourage them to play?  

Hard to say, oldest is getting married this summer. Both my boys played for years at ppe & esmark. I’d imagine they will get their kids into hockey but be smart about it. Play for fun. 

6 hours ago, hockeyisgreat said:

Couldn't agree with you more!  Danner is always such a downer!  Starting to think that is just his personality.  I think he means well but just always comes off so negative!

I’m old - it’s hard to sugar coat things. I just tell it like it is. Both of my boys played, I played & coached (never them). I’ve watched how much the game has changed since I was young, all the way up to my youngest aging out and being done. I’ve watched the sport turn into pure business at the youth level, now I’m watching the college level - both acha & ncaa turn into pure businesses. 

6 hours ago, Happy Hockey Fan said:

I think the information you give is good. But the way you talk about how bad teams are, and by association how bad the players are, could probably be better left out of your comments. I have watched a number of club games through the years, at different levels of both men and women, and I have seen good hockey at all levels. Bad hockey sometimes too. Just because a player or team isn’t at the top of whatever team or league they are on/in doesn’t mean that they are incapable of playing sound hockey and even making amazing plays sometime. By your reasoning the only hockey worth watching has to be NHL. 

I didn’t say anything about any players, I mentioned the politics that are starting to build in club hockey coming from the parents. If stating our wpa acha teams can’t compete with the big time acha programs somehow offends you like I’m talking about the players - sorry I’m just stating the facts.
 

I’ve seen some great acha games locally over the years in the m1 & m3 divisions around wpa & ohio. You are missing the point of my post. 

5 hours ago, dazedandconfused said:

Danner, why do you hate everything related to hockey? Better yet, since you do, why not retire from here and find a hobby you might enjoy a bit more?

Education. Tired of seeing kids and parents make bad choices they end up regretting. These kids only get so many years to play hockey. Sorry, someone has to tell it like it is. 

Club hockey has become a nightmare for kids & parents to navigate as you said. That’s why I put up this post.
 

Goto a college that is affordable or the one that will give you and your kid the least amount of debt. Compound interest on those deferred until the student graduates loans is a killer. When it comes to western PA there isn’t a huge difference from M1 to M3. You are not going to see a M1 team beat a M3 team locally putting up a shot margin of 80-10. Parents and kids need to remember it’s just a club sport. Having the ability to still play & be part of something makes the college transition easier for many. 
 

as you stated, many many kids quit playing after a year or two anyway - fall behind on school work, tired of injuries, find other intrests etc. 

I’m going to go on a small rant here for a second but this is also to inform parents. Western pa M1 “D1” teams. Pitt has to leave to CHMA that they could never win because they want “better competition”. Their fees to play are in the youth hockey AAA range now. The ACHA favors big name schools and known hockey schools  with their secret rankings. They won’t disclose thier formula. Their ACHA rankings were much better when they used my hockey rankings. Bias was harder to manipulate. Example - in the acha a OT loss counts straight up as a loss, you get zero points. A top 5 ranked team lost in OT last weekend, the acha put the game as a tie in the rankings formula and didn’t even try to hide it. In the standings it’s listed as a loss. 
 

Back to Pitt - the city game last weekend  was pitt vs duqesne. Duquesne is always at the bottom of the M1 rankings. Pitt won by one goal. I watched the live stream, I’m scratching my head trying to figure out how pitt is ranked as a top 20 team (well I know how but that’s another story) 
 

somehow duqense managed to get a series against Adrian this weekend, Adrian is always a top 10 team. I watched the feed for game one. Adrain just rolled lines and mainly played the 3rd & 4th lines. Here are the results of both games. 
 

80 shots a game! That’s like midget PPE or ESMARK playing a PAHL A major team.  this is what happens when western PA acha teams try to play with the real M1 teams. A lot of our western PA acha M1 teams (and Ohio) are run by local politics to a degree. Lots of Pahl & Pihl parent involvement, Elbow rubbing like the good old youth days. RMU & DUQ are the biggest offenders locally. RMU has kids on their top team that wouldn’t crack the top 10 on their second team. 

the point - don’t pick a college because you want the “D1”(M1) name. Pick a school that fits the education your child is looking for along with manageable debt / cost. It’s CLUB hockey - glorified BEER leauge. When a coach or “GM” tells you or your son they will put you on team 1 if you go there, tell them to put it in writting, they won’t. These guys get a bird dog for getting kids to enroll. 
 

/END RANT

If anyone wants to talk local acha club hockey, I guess do it here. 

Haven’t seen him since covid. very sad news. 

I’m old enough NOT to remember what this site was originally called 5-6-7-8 years ago or whatever changed about it.
 

Anyway, back then yuri did read this place but never had an account or posted. I don’t even remember my old account!  Yuri and I talked about this site a few times back in the day. 
 

Though I haven’t spoken to yuri in about 5 years, I highly doubt that’s him posting. I’d be really shocked if it was. If you’ve ever exchanged emails with yuri, you would know he writes a bit different than he talks in person. 

7 hours ago, fafa fohi said:

True.

Preds AAA Tier 1 teams are currently ranked nationally as follows:  

U18 - 107th out of 127 teams.  

U16 - 107th out of 123 teams.

U15 - 103rd out of 115 teams.

2008 - 79th out of 113 teams

2009 - 77th.

I would love to hear from those that have kids on any of these teams and provide some insight as to their level of satisfaction.

 

It looks even worse when you select “all” not just tier 1, Espically U18. Lowly Pahl teams ranked higher. 

7 hours ago, whatever said:

What percentage of kids moving to Div.1 would seem like an acceptable amount ?  Do you all realize how hard it is to continue to move up the ladder?  Is there an amount an organization should have to be considered successful?   I'm struggling with following the logic of where this thread has gone.  Is the only bar for claiming success reaching the pros?, Div. 1 commitments, Juniors?  

Sending kids into real junior hockey is how I personally measure the success, along with not putting a team together that has a mix of mid level AA & A major players - calling it “AAA”. 

5 hours ago, RJUSHL said:

You have to look at each team in every organization on a case-by-case basis, instead of making sweeping generalizations about every team in an organization. There are a decent number of Preds AAA teams ranked higher than their Esmark counterparts. Are those Esmark teams examples of parents doing nothing but chasing that extra A?

U15, U16 & U18 are all that matters.  15 & 16 being the most important. That place has & always will be a dumpster fire at midget. When 3 Pahl AA teams who HAVE to play some weak teams on their schedule are ranked higher than a tier 1 “AAA” team, that my friend is a complete joke. I’m sure some ego’s were hit hard. I heard Gary canceled the second game against Lebo for the 18’s after they got stomped in game 1. It’s bad for business. 
 

15 hours ago, RJUSHL said:

Location is still a major issue with Vengeance. It will never be what it could sitting way up 28 north and east of the city.

People don't like to admit this, but there is more hockey talent in the south hills than north of the city. Mt. Lebanon, Upper St. Clair, Peters Township, Bethel Park, etc. This is the sole reason why there are quite a few SHAHA and Preds teams ranked higher than Vengeance and Esmark. It's certainly not because of the "prestige" of SHAHA and Preds. It's because there is more talent in the south hills, and some families would never dream of driving to Alpha or New Ken.

Cranberry is doable, Harmarville is bad, and New Ken is atrocious for anyone coming from the south hills. Vengeance will never be what it could be, because of that location. You need something on the 79 corridor.

The predators  U18 “AAA” lost 8-1 to the Lebo AA Pahl team. They currently have 3 Pahl teams ranked higher than them in the district! That program needs blown up, get Gary out and start over or just go away and be a Pahl / indie aa program. The Columbus chill have a higher rating ffs! Those predators teams are a  great example of parents wanting the extra A. These kids are not even mid level AA players, they are bottom line AA players. 

25 minutes ago, ChiefKeef said:

Interesting, wasn’t that in line with the time Cranberry’s current grifter was there?  Before he was brought in to town.  Though he wasn’t the only problem in that space either.  Surely he sharpened his grifting skills there though. 
 

Unfortunately when things go awry in Cranberry,  as they so often do.  The kid leaves,  a group of kids leave and resort to acceptance that that program can’t be changed.  A lot of people focus on a personal solution,  or resort to these one off scenarios or resolutions where it doesn’t help the people coming after them,  who or are going to be prone to the same experience. It’s really time for people to start speaking up and looking to help the community as a whole.  A lot of us care about the families and kids who are coming up and don’t want to see them get caught in the same traps others have. 

Some left while he was still at the mission, others when they knew he was leaving the program for dead.  Two western pa kids went to team Illinois after they had enough of the him & You know who at ppe. One of these kids ended up in the ushl, the other in the nahl. If they make it to ncaa d1 I’m sure ppe will put up signs about them.