Duster19

Icemen charge about $4400 for the season. Does not include coach fee or team fees. Also does not include jerseys, socks, shell, jackets, etc. The AHF is a low level “AA” league at best and traveling 5+ hours to Philly and NJ? Not great value for the competition.

I am seeing the Icemen 18U “AAA” team ranked 32nd in Tier 2….below all of the AA teams and just above the A teams. 1-7 record. 14 GF. 51 GA. I feel bad for the kids. Billed as AAA but really A Major. Paying a lot of money to lose and be so lopsided in games. But if they are happy and it’s their money, so have at it. the icemen are known for saying they “AAA” when in reality AA at best but mostly A level hockey. The facts speak for themselves.

PR upsets SV again. PR upset both SV varsity and jv1 in PIHL playoffs last spring. SV has the material, so you have to blame the coaching for all.

Legitimate AAA, yes. The only true and consistently legitimate AAA is PPE across all of the birth years. Depending on which birth year, maybe esmark or vengeance. The rest are just posers and money grabbers. For 16U (2007 by) in western PA: PPE - AAA, Esmark - AAA/AA, Vengenace - AA, preds - AA/A Major and Icemen - AA/ A Major/ A Minor

Once you mentioned an Icemen team all credibility was lost, haha

If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?

The same Icemen 18 team (16U last season) that got crushed in Mid AMs by the Lowly Tier 2 PAHL 16UAA teams? That is the definition of MONEY GRAB. Masquerading as AA but really A Major. But, if those kids and parents are happy, then that is all that matters I guess. Except for that 09 Icemen team, the rest are just pretenders and everyone knows it.

Didn’t they shut down last summer too? What’s going on? I don’t see other rinks like Baierl, Alpha or Harmar closing like this on an annual basis. #SmallTime

Yes, yes…Look no further than Preds or Icemen teams from last season. Truer words have never been spoken. however, I would say both Icemen and Preds are both diluted AA teams supplemented w actual A Major types trying to get that extra A. lose a lot of games, pay twice as much and travel a lot more for nothing to play for at the end of the season. But, there is a customer base for that so kudos to Icemen and Preds for providing the ego based money grabs.

Yeah the Icemen and the Preds battle for the final stop. But give credit to the 09 Icemen. They are pretty good. Let’s see how they do on midams though. The 06 Icemen were awful in midams against the PAHL teams. NP beat them 10-1 or something like that. The 08 Icemen team didn’t do well in midams either. The 07 icemen were not good. Money grab.

This past season’s 2008 and 2010 teams were like B teams! The luster of the Esmark is gone. But I think you can say that for every “AAA” team except for PPE. It’s all watered down now with so many “AAA” teams in WPA. Everyone can be AAA!

Winning is all that matters for some. And winning means new opportunities. That Aviators 12UAA team 1 is going independent next season.

How much do Icemen, Preds and SHAHA cost? I think that covers the “AAA” teams.

For 2010, that South Pgh Rebellion is playing Tier 2 PAHL AA and ranked higher than 2010 Esmark? Would be interesting to see that Esmark 10 team play some PAHL AA teams and see how they match up. Something tells me that the South Pgh, Aviators 10 team 1, NP and some others in the AA division could beat the Esmark 10 team. Or be a very close game.

I have the solution….need to creat a new level….AAAA? Perhaps, but how about 6AAAAAA. Make a big divide between that AAA. Just make all B, A Minor, A Major = AA and AA = AAA. All of the kids and parents will be happy and egos satisfied. On a serious note, let them be and play whatever they can. Whether it’s PAHL AA, Indep AA, Faux AAA, AAA, etc. Let them enjoy the ride. 99.99% will be beer leaguers in a few years.