dropthepuck

The problem is you go 5 hours away and end up playing those local teams away from home. Good AAA teams never want to come to Pittsburgh because they have quality opponents in their area.

I have said it before and I will say it again. Ever since Pens took over Pittsburgh Hornets AAA is the new AA in western PA

Seems like PAHL people are hating on an Independent team

Waste of time and money is in the eye of the beholder. If a player has the desire to compete at the highest level possible for their skill level and family members enjoy the experience it is definitely worth it.

I stated several years ago on the old forum site that western PA AAA hockey was the new AA hockey. This is the result of the onset of the gold and black PPE teams. There was always only enough talent to ice one legit AAA team in Pittsburgh. With the politics and nepotism involved at PPE the result was other programs taking advantage of the desire for AAA. And now this is what we have, a bunch of AA teams playing AAA

Just be ready. If your non PPE player is invited to Mid-am team USA camp tryouts, the non partisan evaluators will most likely be PPE employees. Good luck

That's why PPE 16U created their own league last year so they could pick what teams they play. Never a chance of dropping in the rankings

PPE has always refrained from playing local teams. Can't take the chance of even winning a game by less than 7 goals to local "faux" AAA teams. God forbid if they were to lose. MidAm tournament is the closest thing you'll get at higher ages, Determines who goes to nationals. This is why MyHockey rankings hurt local hockey. Rankings do serve a purpose for scheduling competitive games but it also causes a lot of problems. Local programs want your $$$ and they need a selling point. "look at us, we were in the top whatever the last few years". Top competition is what matters most for your players. Pick a team that plays against good teams. A highly skilled player on an average team will get noticed when they play against top teams. Better that than a fourth liner on "elite" AAA teams. That is what I have witnessed over the years.

I wasn't directing it toward your post just the direction this thread has gone. Bottom line: TRIPLE A HOCKEY IS EXPENSIVE!!!!

FYI. Anyone can submit scores to My Hockey as long as there is a website to confirm scores. Comparing 08's to the former Pittsburgh Hornets program is asinine. 16u and above is all that matters,

It was after the game was over

It happened on USA rink around 11;30am. Renegades vs Montgomery. Not sure of age. maybe 14's. You can check it out on live barn. Refs were separating players and behind the group you can see player fall down. Someone claimed he was assaulted and called the police.

Yesterday at Alpha Ice after a 16U AA game a couple of players started mixing it up. One of the refs skated in to separate the two and one player fell over. Parent called the police. The police came to the rink and after the first period of the next game they opened up the doors behind the goal and had a lengthy discussion with the ref. This is what the world of youth hockey is today. They ref was clearly shaken after this. It took him a few minutes to get back up to speed. Total bullshit. No win situations anymore for refs.

This all goes to show that Pittsburgh is a AA hockey town as it should be. AAA lost in transition from Hornets to PPE and the addition of gold and black teams. A lot of parents felt their kids were better than some of the players on the black teams and hence the never ending pursuit of the third A.

It was the Prep team