Eddie Shore

So true. It reminds me of something that happened to me years ago. My kid started playing roller hockey. I was asked to help out, but I know nothing about hockey (never played), I do know how to manage things (i.e. its what I do for a living), so I agreed to be league commissioner. It was just a local house league in the middle of nowhere with an 8U, 10U and 14U divisions. The league was in financial trouble and people didn't want to pay a lot to play. I think it was $100 a season. At the end of each season there was a pizza party, open skate and trophy's. Division MVP, Defenseman and top goalie plus team trophies for all teams. Well, the 8U I can actually see that, and I even conceded on the 10u. But come on, a 6th place house league roller hockey trophy for a 14 year old? I spoke with some of the kids, and none of them wanted trophies. Even the 1st place team didn't care. So, I thought, I'll keep costs down and just do 1st and 2nd place. The parental uproar was UNBELIEVABLE! I agree, amateur sports is dead and the parents killed it.

Actually that is a good question. My son never played youth hockey in PA . When he first started playing we were in a very small market in the south and later we moved to a bigger market. In both places at an early age he learned how to get cut. He played both roller and ice but dropper roller when he turned 14, so he experienced it in both sports. Sometimes he made teams that I thought he shouldn't have made and made teams that I thought he should have. Sometimes he got cut from teams that I thought he should have made and sometimes he got cut from teams that I knew he had no business making. So, I guess we figured it all evened itself out in the end. I only remember tears once, and it was more my wife than him. Although he is grown now and no longer plays the next time I have a beer with him, I may bring it up to see how he feels, but I would guess both he and I (and even the wife) probably would agree that everyone needs to experience being cut. It is what you learn from and it makes you stronger in the end. I couldn't imagine him going through his whole playing career and never getting cut. I remember when he was older and got called or emailed by a coach and told to come to the last day or tryouts and he'll get a spot. Skated for 30-min and bumped some kid who had been with that same group for the past year. The kids mom pitching a fit with the coach bring in "outsiders" and giving them preference over her kid. Did it suck for that kid? Yeah, but I could tell, they had never experienced failure before. By that time he knew to appreciate what he worked for, and could empathize for the other kid, but in the end in midgets they were there to win. And for the most part when he got cut, he just went and tried out for a different team, and in all instances I can say he was better off with the 2nd team. Looking back on the whole thing, there are only 2 instances where I think we made mistakes and both were where he was actually offered a spot and he turned it down. Both you and I are on here for others with younger players to learn from our mistakes. My advice to all is have them try out for teams and if they get cut, it's ok. As an adult he handles set backs so much better and is very appreciative when things do work out for him. Hope this answers your question.

Agree, I had a kid that never wanted to play other sports so hockey was all he did. Compound that with the fact that he was never a great player (sorry, truth hurts), he was average or maybe slightly above. I just know he always complained when he was off for a while. I will agree with the zero intentions of coaches developing players.

Not trying to pick a fight with you, but I am confused. Tons of people were on other posts saying how great the time off is, and it wouldn't really hurt the kids (unless they are just sitting around playing video games). I was one of the ones (and maybe you were too, I don't remember), that said when my kid was playing he always looked real rusty when not on the ice for several months. I said it was going to really hurt some kids at tryouts. Others here are correct the "chosen" kids have been on the ice the whole time. It's the ones who were "left out" that will look terrible at tryouts. So, I do agree with you, farce...……...

Sorry, I am terrible at code. Are you saying that there are a bunch of women (and some men), who are gathering in the parking lot? If so, what is the issue (sorry I do not live in PA and don't know the rules for being outdoors)?

You don't post here much then do you? We don't actually solve anything, or have any meaningful discussions here, that must be done on a different board.

I wouldn’t worry if I were you. I’m sure the coaches, organizations and rinks are taking the necessary precautions and following the rules. But if this is weighing that heavily on you, just keep your kid outa little longer until you feel more comfortable. It’s up to you.

So, what you are saying is the rinks in question are not allowed legally to be open? Or are the rinks allowed to be open, but the teams are legally allowed to practice? You quoted “disobeying public Heath orders”, can you elaborate a little bit what specific orders these are? I would think if the rinks aren’t allowed to be open, someone would stop by and let them know. It’s not like they are hiding anything

Never thought of that. He was always voted most popular, top teammate, or person who everyone wanted to play with on the teams, and I thought it was just because he was easy going and never complained. Maybe it was more about the way he played than his personality in general.

Yeah Nemesis! Here is a topic we can agree on. My kid was never a "goal scorer", but did have a fairly successful career as a d-man with a great +/-, perfect tape-to-tape passes and rarely lost a battle on the boards. Always towards the bottom of the stats list after Peewee's (that when he realized he had a role to play on the team, which was skating it coast-to-coast and shooting). A lot of times when people came calling on him I was always surprised because of his lack of goals, but every coach pointed out (just like you did), there is more to this game than scoring goals. Great post, thanks

Although you may disagree with his tone and "in your face" form of communication, that fact still remains that the majority of the time he is still right. A lot of people here dislike the way the message is delivered, but the message itself is still factually correct. As for why he does this with no stake in youth hockey anymore, maybe he is just trying to see if others can learn from his experiences and maybe even his mistakes. My kid is long gone from youth, junior and college (club) hockey, but I still come on here to try to help others and of course, get a laugh or two. If you still have kids playing hockey right now, my advice is to listen to those who have gone before you. It may just save you some heartache and maybe even a little $$$.

I stand corrected. Also, I did say the CDC website took down the testing data, it's actually the Johns Hopkins Website. I don't think CDC ever had it.

I will respect your opinion, and agree with you that the truth is probably somewhere between the 2 extremes that you pointed out. As far as testing goes, yes maybe. For all I know I could have had the Corona virus and never known it. But then again, I am sure there are lot of things I have had that I never knew I had either. Not sure how many people in PA have been tested as the CDC stopped reporting that sometime last week, so I guess we will never know. I'm guessing that we are only testing people that don't feel well, which is why I have never gotten tested. Thanks for your input. The two facts that stuck out to me was no one under the age of 42 in Allegheny, and no one under the age of 25 in North Carolina

Ok, I am curious about this statement, and I am not trying to pick a fight with you (really, I am not), but what risk to kids health is there? Are you saying that if we open these rinks up, and let kids practice together that some of them are going to catch the virus? You do know that the last I time checked no one under the age of 42 had contracted it in Allegheny County right? Please don't tell me that is because of the stay at home orders. You do know that kids (those under the age of 19 are pretty much going to each others houses all along right? I just saw a group of like 6 or 7 riding bikes down my street on Sunday and at least 5 playing basketball in the next cul-de-sac. Sorry, I'm just not buying it. I can't see any correlation (let allow causation) between states like PA, NY, CA etc... that put all these rules in place versus cases in other states that didn't. Again, not trying to argue, I guess each person has their own opinion. Sorry

I offered no opinion other than to say get in line. Just read what he said and draw your own conclusions. He said if you go against his will you could lose your funding, licenses and occupancy permits. It is what it is.