Lucky17

3 minutes ago, zam said:

It's interesting how there doesn't seem to be a hierarchy of organizations in this area anymore. You basically just have Pens followed by a number of vultures picking at the scraps. Esmark used to have second place locked down but judging by the lateral movement from one "AAA" team to another everybody is just unhappy. Must be the grass is greener theory. Shaha going to Vengeance, Vengeance going to Esmark, Esmark going to Preds, Preds going to Vengeance. Hornets going to Shaha. I assume Icemen are in this mix somewhere also, unless going there is the point of no return. 

You never seem to hear of kids from these teams going to PPE. Players just move around amongst these other 4 or 5 teams getting a taste of the flavor of the month. The kids that do emerge and are able to compete at a true AAA level have to go play for someone like the Barons or (if these rumors are true) Long Island. 

Are there just too many options, and none of them good?

I think if one of these 5 organizations is able to have sustained success at multiple birth years and advance some kids to higher levels it would separate itself from the rest. Until then I guess the merry go round will continue.

Or maybe as suggested on another post, just maybe, players will start to come back to AA (gasp)

1 hour ago, sadday4hockey said:

Who the hell is Happy Gilmore?

Dunno, but he has a good last name

1 hour ago, nemesis8679 said:

Nevermind that. Doesn't matter. 

Let me ask another way, is there not a team or does the team above your kid’s team not have room?

31 minutes ago, nemesis8679 said:

The sad thing is I would have my kid try out for Vipers, no problem. It's close, current org really offers no opportunities to move higher.... it could be a great thing to have Vipers as an option. 

But it sounds like it's going to be a damn mess. 

Curious who the current org is that you cannot move higher

1 hour ago, Godzilla said:

Just looking for advice...son injured two weeks before tryouts and won't be able to get on the ice until at least the end of May.  I know there are supplemental skates at some point.  Nobody will "hold" a spot and I don't expect anyone to.  Is my best bet to reach out to the coaches where we were going to tryout?  Pay the tryout fees?  Just looking for some direction.  Thanks in advance. 

 

We’re you planning on trying out for the same organization?  I know organizations will place kids based on past seasons if they came up through the organization in these cases.  If not, is the new coach/team familiar with your player?

1 hour ago, champeen said:

piggy-backing on my own post.... i notice both SCIR and Aviators play out of Alpha Ice.  Any notable differences between the two programs?  Better run, better coaching?  Different target demographic?  

 

 

SCIR is the primary tenant at Alpha and gets the preferential ice in terms of time and volume.  

3 minutes ago, pickle said:

Apparently at-large bids just go to highest ranking teams left?  

Also they keep their rankings for seeding purposes? At 14U Mission and PPE kept #2 and #3 seeds respectively despite losing districts and have much easier path to winning their respective divisions. 

I was curious about that as well looking at seedling differences between ‘08 Pens and Vengeance 

6 hours ago, BeaverFalls said:

Shouldn’t PIHL have already vetted playoff rosters before they even started?

Verified means checking scoresheets, they put kids on the scoresheets who did not play so that effort would not catch this.  Would need to be caught on game day.

3 minutes ago, forbin said:

Interesting, looking at this are they not doing 2009 AAA next season?  It is listed differently than everything else.

3 minutes ago, RJUSHL said:

Just talked to a buddy who plays out of Printscape. Still no sign of construction. I'm skeptical of the second sheet.

The person I talked to said construction starting in April.  He is a Rebellion coach.

RIP Tim, he was a good man and friend of hockey in Pittsburgh.  Thoughts go out to his family.
 

https://www.gofundme.com/f/in-honor-of-tim-tex-texter

12 minutes ago, Ihearthockey said:

I'll echo what others have said on here and what I've heard is that they don't develop the talent, that practices are very unorganized...whatever that means.  I guess, in general, those that I've talked to are very unhappy with the practice structure.  

I’ve also heard the amount of practice ice and amount of full ice practice leaves something to be desired.  This was second-hand though, so take it for what it is worth.

15 minutes ago, forbin said:

Haven’t tried the Glice brand but have heard good things. We have a 18x24 area in the basement of Snipers Edge tiles and they are great for stickhandling and shooting.
Synthetic ice is definitely an investment. Our setup with the panels and shooting tarp cost around $5k.

Skating on them (and all synthetic ice) takes some getting used to, but once you get the hang of it, it can be a very useful training aid. We purchased during the beginning of Covid lockdown and my boys have skated and/or shot on them pretty much every day so it’s second nature to them now. When teammates come over to use them for the first time is can be a bit of a struggle to adjust.

The “cheaper brands” like snipers edge, hockeyshot, skate anytime, poly glide all produce a lot of shavings so be aware of that. Can Ice (the pro series not the new smaller panels) is the only one marketed that says it doesn’t produce shavings.

They also dull the blades very quickly (less than 2hrs of use) so investing in a Sparx machine is almost necessary to get the most of out the panels.

I appreciate the response.  

Has anyone used Glice for anything more than a small area for stick handling and shooting?  How does it feel actually skating with a full stride?  Is it useful from a training perspective?

For those who have/had kids that play for a AA/AAA club team as well as one of the big varsity programs, how do/did you handle situations like this where the varsity team traveled on a weekend and it conflicted with your club schedule?  I’m sure if you ask each coach, their team takes priority.  It works out when PIHL teams stay to the weekdays and club plays on weekends.  

2 hours ago, Wes said:

Not sure what levels you had problems with Homer Refs at Center Ice.  My son played there and I pretty much felt we always got reverse homered in our own rink. (this was at 14aa, 16aa and 18aa)...  By far the worst rinks in terms of homering were Indiana and Armstrong from ~2014-2020.

Don’t leave out Altoona 

2 hours ago, forbin said:

Ironically enough - that seems to be exactly what the AHF does for the mandatory showcase weekends that are included in their season....

Isn’t that just their AAA league though?

8 minutes ago, forbin said:

The geographical locations of the teams does come into play though you're right. We have been in a PAHL division with Erie/Altoona/State College. Sucks making those drives for one game.

One solution for that would be to bring multiple teams together in one rink and have each team play 2 games.  Example, Altoona hosts 1 week and draws in Erie, Preds, Morgantown, Badgers and Youngstown.  Each team plays 2 games at Altoona that count toward the PAHL schedule.  The following week, the Preds could host 5 other teams from the division.  In divisions where there are teams from all over, it could significantly cut down on travel.  Would require some serious planning from PAHL, but I’ve seen it done elsewhere with big geographical separation between clubs.

32 minutes ago, Danner27 said:

Can’t say in my 20+ years of being around youth hockey I’ve ever heard of team pa. There was a team pittsburgh - one year they did real well, maybe won the tournement in the Midwest somewhere. 

Chicago Showcase?

1 minute ago, fafa fohi said:

Little League Baseball has adopted the USA Hockey model of stations where players are completing different tasks at different stations, then rotating every 5-10 minutes.  Fungos in one area, grounders in another, BP, fly balls, running bases.......

If kids are standing around at a Mite practice that is a major problem and is on the coaches on the ice - kids that age have the attention span of a gnat.  Keep the kids engaged and moving around should fix that problem. 

USA Soccer has done the same.  Their development model reads very similarly to USAH.

Boy this pretty constructive conversation broke down quickly

4 minutes ago, AMR24 said:

You are correct, what’s good for 1 isn’t good for all. I do believe that. And maybe I will be proven wrong and this will be a good thing. That is all yet to be seen.

I did not sit in on the earlier meetings when they 1st took over so I can’t speak to how that went. The most recent meetings were hostile on both sides at times. There were several of us that were able to minimize that on both sides. So we believed the meetings were going in a better direction. Even a couple of the Black Bear employees thought it was going well. It came down to control, neither wanted the other to have full control but for very different reasons.

And, yes, some of it did sting when we were repeatedly told “you don’t know what you’re doing, you’re just a volunteer “. Speaking for myself, I take pride in what I do. Whether it’s working at my 40 hour a week job or the 10 plus hours a week I donate to the organization. To be told I’m of no value because I don’t do this full time is demoralizing. I have been on this board and helped build a successful dek organization on another. I have value and skills that are of use. So, yeah, ego definitely pops up and emotions get riled up.

In the long run, I just don’t see the value in having what they are creating…cookie cutter rinks at every turn. Yes the Rebellion are growing BUT Black Bear does not own Rebellion. They are still in negotiations and have pretty much left them to their own. Rebellion did that all on volunteer run hours and effort. I cannot speak for Phantoms as I do not follow them as much. 

There is value in both aspects…volunteer and paid professionals…so why can there not be a middleman ground? Which was our last proposal to Black Bear and is similar to what they do with Badgers but the did not even counter offer, just kicked 2/3rds of the organization out. That is just something I do not understand. 

If they have partnered with Allegheny and left S. Pitt. alone, both of who are growing, perhaps BB saw the need to take over the NHAHA org due to the recent numbers decline?  Protecting their interests.

4 minutes ago, rock said:

that may be possible, but as of know the only one they control is esmark.  all the others are still privately owned rinks.. never control The pens elite, so they are out.. i heard they are 2 mil off from purchasing ice castle, so press could be in control soon, alpha not for sale yet, but who know with the pending divorce of owners, SHAHA and or mt lebo are municipal rinks? can't see them buying those anytime soon if at all. 

 

Yes, you’ll notice I said “some”.  I don’t kid myself that PPE would stoop to that level.  If BB can offer their AAA league giving those AAA programs that play independent a league option with competition from the East and maybe draw in some OH teams then it could have a West division of that league.  Some teams may choose to play there even though they are not controlled by BB because it gives them a league instead of just playing for MHR ranking.

1 minute ago, RJUSHL said:

I think your comparison of travel between Black Bear and PAHL may actually be reversed. I think the takeover is going to happen so fast and furious that there will be more local AFH teams than local PAHL teams.

A few dominoes will fall and then even organizations at non-Black Bear rinks will join the AHF. I think next season it's going to be 50/50, the season after that 75/25 local AHF teams to PAHL teams. The PAHL teams will need to travel more to find competitive teams unless they want to play the same three teams a half dozen times per season.

That is what happened in Philly.  I have a few friends that are in organizations out East that decided to join the Black Bear league because there was less travel.  Their rinks were not BB owned rinks.  Will be interesting to watch.  I’m curious to see if they can pull some of the “AAA” teams back in and get them to play each other

9 minutes ago, Saucey said:

I have zero issues with this, so long as you know. It is becoming pretty common to take a "gap"year or two before going to school. If you don't know what you want to study, have the money and maybe you need to see what life is like, go play more hockey, why not.

Take some JuCo or Community College classes instead of a freshman year and you might come out even