RoyalTraveller

This is the kind of thing that devalues this board. You make a statement like this as if you know it to be fact and it's 100% false. Tier 1 coaches are allowed to evaluate the kids they have just finished coaching, but not allowed to evaluate kids they will be coaching next season. They know the tier 1 kids better than anybody.

Lost to Esmark 4-2. After losing to the 5 and 6 seed I would say an at large is unlikely, but we'll see.

And this is the Moorehouse argument. How is my kids team going to compete with Shattuck, BK, Mount, etc... Im not judging that decision. People around here just need to understand they've clearly picked what side of that argument they stand on. So like I said they don't give 2 shits about your kids development. They only need the younger levels to fund the recruiting.

Hornets had a rule in place that allowed a max of 3 out of town kids on any team. PPE adopted that rule when the Hornets were taken over. Morehouse abolished that rule because he thought it more important for his son to win a national championship. At that moment the goal of the organization went from developing Pittsburgh kids to winning banners. Almost all the current coaches were brought in to recruit the areas they come from. They do a good job recruiting. Not one has a resume of developing hockey players. They don't give 2 shits about developing your child!! They only care about job security and the inflated paychecks they could never earn anywhere else. Why do you think they ran off the GOOD Pittsburgh coaches that have been there. Mooney, Zeiler, Taibi, etc... Wise up people!

What? That's just so false. OK, at least 4. Try 2. Fact

The one from Lebo is the son of the PPE coach that was brought in last season so his 06 son could play 15O. The 09's had already completed tryouts when he came so his 09 went to lebo. Everybody knew he would be on the team this year.

Absolutely wrong. Even more wrong. For God's sake do some research. Talk to some parents who have been all the way through the process before you come on here talking like you know something. There's a long list of kids that didn't play AAA until Bantam or Midget and went significantly further than those that did. The list of kids that played AAA at squirt and Peewee and couldn't make it at Bantam and Midget is much much longer. Then you say you know your kid is better than kids that don't play AAA because he scored tons of goals in a summer rec league, and you've actually taken the time to compute percentages. Wow!!

The "all roads lead to beer league" saying is misunderstood by many. I first read it from a former NHL player. If you take a look at top men's leagues across the country they are full of former junior, college, and pro players. The A league at Ice Castle has many. I get what you're saying though. Some kids will definitely surpass ACHA. It's also true that most will not.

I have been around for a long time and seen this conversation play out over and over. Mostly in rink lobbies and now on this message board. I have found it best to keep my mouth shut and let people experience the process and learn for themselves. Maybe I can share a couple things that will help with that process. 1. Non checking is not real hockey. Period. I can't tell you how many players I've seen that are top 5 AAA peewees and by 2nd year bantam are average AA players. Talking about a peewee team being top 5 is no different than talking about your kids roller hockey team being top 5. 2. There hasn't been a group of western PA kids being ranked top 5 in Bantam or Midget in a long time. Lets use the Pens u16 this year as an example. Really good team. 10 kids from PA, 3 from Canada, 3 from Illinois, 1 from Arizona, Indiana, Delaware, and Ohio. The top kids migrate to certain clubs for the exposure. New Jersey u16 has a similar situation. Its common amongst top 5 teams. So even if you are on one of these teams at peewee there's a 50/50 chance you wont be there when it matters. So u16 this year is 04's. Do you think the 04 parents that paid into that team since squirts and got cut when it mattered are still hanging out at the water cooler at work. No, they now realize they've made fools of themselves pounding their chests over the years about how great their kids were. Calm down a little and make sure your kid is having fun. That's all.

I'll be honest. I thought the same thing as nemesis when I read the comment "I don't give a crap what his background is, or what he did off the ice". Probably not the most well thought out comment. I happen to know this person for some time now and nothing he did is even in the same ballpark as this monster Chico.

Good coaches enter tournaments that have teams that are higher ranked than they are. Teams and players improve from playing stronger teams. They get an up close look at what things they need to do better. Their weaknesses are exposed and the coaches know what to work on. Other coaches only enter tournaments they think they're going to win. So what's the goal? To improve your team and players, or to get your picture on the organization website holding some banner that will get stuffed in a closet somewhere.