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.