Eddie Shore

Getting the train back on track. I predict rinks will be closed until mid-July. That will get teams scrambling. However, you cab bet that there are tons of teams that are already making backdoor deals with players right now, and tryouts if they happen will be just for show. Too bad for kids that move to new areas or are trying to change teams, they are out in the cold. I will agree with some here, not sure what authority USA Hockey has to tell teams what they can or can't do, just like I am not sure what the Governor just did was legal either.

WOW! Can't speak for the individual DM, but the Pens? Good for local youth hockey? You lost me there. That organization has destroyed the Pittsburgh area, not helped it (they are the reason we have such an issue at the AAA level, and why our AA teams can't compete anymore). You really don't get out much do you? I would suggest looking at what other pro teams have done for their communities to build the sport and get back to me on this. Sorry to say I am going to have to side with everyone else on this one. Your statements are ridiculous.

Pitt does have a D1 team already. An ACHA D1 Team. Do you mean and NCAA Team? Really? They just folded their D2 Team half way through the year based on not enough players and $$ and the D1 is a good team on the ice in CHMA, but is not considered "threat" at Nationals. The amount of players they had at tryouts this year is half of what it used to be. Plus they are always getting their hands slapped by the University (see uniform color and "Cathedral" jerseys. I will bookmark your post and we can revisit it in 10 years for my "I told you so". I hope I am wrong, but I am sorry to say, it ain't gonna happen.

Easy, all 9-year olds are AA

Agreed. I guess it's just too small a market to support both pro and college sports.

WOW! I am in a tough spot on this one! Cause I agree with both fafa and King. fafa is right in that it absolutely sucks for students to get to football games and to a certain extent hockey games. I agree with him there. But there is zero support from people in the community for Pitt, RMU, Duquesne, and Chatham. This wouldn't change no matter where the rink is located. However, King and I both dislike the "fans" in Pittsburgh so I can see where he is coming with the fake hockey town comment. I often argue with people from Pittsburgh and I am still astonished with the ranking of Pittsburgh as high up in news articles as having great fans or being a good hockey town (see some of the recent article written about this). Sorry guys I just don't see it. Pittsburgh is not a hockey town, it is a Penguins town, even more so , its a Sidney Crosby town. When Crosby retires they will need another mega-star to take his place in order to keep peoples interest. Is Athens a hockey town? No, but it is a Bobcat's hockey town. I know some of you have been to games there, it is just amazing to watch. Even if Pitt had a rink on campus (note the Amory is not on Pitt's campus), they would not fill it like Ohio, and there would still be zero support from the non-students.

So you agree that Pitt has no desire to field an NCAA team? Good then we agree. Like I said, the club team although does well on the ice, but it is not on good terms with the University. The board that governs club sports has gone after them several times and tried to give them the boot. I will disagree with you regarding support. I don't think the area would support them if they ever did decide to go to D1. Have you watched true NCAA D1 games on TV from real schools like Minn or Boston area? Look at how packed they are, then go to the small RMU facility for one of their games, or even a Chatham DIII game. It's pathetic the lack of support these programs get. Have you ever been to a PItt ACHA D1 game? No one there other than parents. Pittsburgh does a crappy job of supporting any teams that aren't named Steelers or Penguins.

Agreed. It's the pens rose colored glasses that parents have that has always baffled me. I'll look back through some of my old posts and try to find the one where some guy actually said that Mario can destroy youth hockey here is he wants, because he earned a "free pass" to do whatever he wants cause he kept the Penguins from leaving town. That response still sticks with me today, as just a "wow" moment of just how bat sh1t crazy some people are here.

I will have to agree with the other folks here. Pitt, NCAA hockey?? You have not been paying attention to what is going on this year have you? Their D2 team folded half way through the year, and were playing games with only 10 skaters. Their D1 team is doing very well, but really doesn't play anyone good I think their record is something like 28-2 and they are ranked 15th?), and they are having trouble keeping players too. It looks like they had to pull a few kids from the D2 team in Jan to play D1 cause they had players leave (or just never pay their $$$), and some of the D2 players declined the invites and just left the program because of all the issues. This is a program that used to have close to 100 kids at tryouts and this year had about 40? I see nothing but trouble ahead for Pitt hockey and wouldn't be surprised when they still only have 1 team next year and they fold their club program in a couple of years. WVU? NCAA? That is an even bigger joke. Their club D1 and D2 teams pretty much got crushed every game the last 3 years by Pitt!

Great question and some very good advice listed above. The Parent's Cods of Conduct is a great start, and I will echo the other advice that depending what transpired, it could be a safesport violation. If it was in the locker room area, that most likely would be a rink issue as those areas are for players and coaches only. Finally, as most have stated that sadly these is where we have gotten to nowadays. The good news is that since your son is 12 now, it will only be a few short years until they 16-17 years old and there is nothing better than seeing a dad who thinks he is a bad-ass get whooped by a teenager ? I had it happen to my son years ago. He and another kid got ejected from a High School Game (actually the other kid was fine with it and they joked going back to the locker room). Dad decided to go back into the locker room and confront my son (physically). Needless to say my kid came out without a scratch. Dad was in there a while and still sitting on the bench a little dazed when the game ended and the rest of the team came in. Nothing better than being a little groggy from getting beat up by a 16 year old, then have 19 more players and 3 coaches come in.

Correct, Major Junior = Can't play. Regular Juniors = Can play. But, that second rule looks like you can play in Major Juniors, file an appeal, sit out the first year, then play. That is very interesting......

Not sure I understand your statement. If you are saying that if you play Juniors anywhere in Canada, you would be NCAA ineligible, you incorrect. You can play in some Canadian Junior Leagues such as the CCHL and be NCAA eligible. Ben Brunette is playing for Carleton Place this year and is a commit to UMass Lowell, and Jack Agnew is playing is playing in the BCHL and is going to Boston College this fall. If you are saying that if you play in the three you listed, you would be ineligible, then I agree. It can get confusing. The real confusing part is if you play in the OHL you are ineligible, but if you are in the OJHL you are ok.

Actually that is incorrect. It is up to the coach. While most choose to spread it out, some do offer full rides, while others on the roster could get nothing. I know this for a 100% fact as I know of two players my kid played with that did get full offers (one did not accept it and went pro). I will state that I do not have first hand knowledge regarding the player in question, so it was wrong of me to assume that in his instance. However, I will not concede on my original point that the pro team in question does not do anything to advance youth hockey in the area from what I have seen and no argument from the "kool aid" drinkers is going to sway my opinion in this regard.

Wow. So he saved a pro team and can do whatever he wants with youth hockey? I guess I just don't see it that way.

Perfectly said!

You and twoleftfeet are spot on. Anyone who is confused by your posts or who thinks this isn't the root cause of 99% of the problems hasn't been paying attention. Not too many players who could get a full NCAA D1 ride, and tryouts each year with a pro team while averaging less than a half a point a game as a forward. Doesn't really affect me, I just hate it when the favoritism exists and people try to tell you it doesn't. Most pro teams really don't support local youth hockey (not talking about money, they all give that). This is one of the few that has actually damaged it.

Without a doubt the best thing I have read here in a long time! As a spectator who just sits quietly and watches a game (in 15 years I think I may have yelled at the refs twice). I am literally the person who gets up and moves from the loud mouth hockey moms. I am one of those guys who stands down at the end by the boards with the other quiet dads, all of which hate the yelling from the stands.

Not sure, but i think you are right. I know BCHL, CCHL, OJHL and a few others are ok, but I am not sure how all the other ones are.

Yes, this is something that almost all parents of younger kids really don't understand. When my kid was younger and playing we would see some older kids get NCAA D1 offers and thought they would actually go there and play (like you see with football). I can tell you out of 10 kids who were "signed" to D1 schools, only 1 actually played D1 and he was not on a scholarship. A true NCAA D1 ride is very rare. Most of the time they commit, then are asked to go play Juniors in Canada either after High School or during it. They bump around on a few teams and maybe even a few leagues. Then when they turn 21 they either stop playing or go to college and play ACHA. Most people don't understand that hockey is different than football and basketball.

I can say I am honestly a little confused by your post. Your first paragraph does nothing but reinforce my statement that Pittsburgh is far from a hockey town. You stated: "When a team is doing well banners go up and such. no one is even aware of who the PPE is playing or that they won a National Championship a few years ago. there is no sense of community around hockey in our area." You then go on in your 2nd paragraph to try to argue against this. You state: "as an outsider though, i think you may be surprised by how many people in the area are actually "true" hockey fans." Not sure I am following your logic. However, I am sure there are lots of people in Pittsburgh who know a ton about hockey and come from very long lines of hockey families. My statement was not meant to put everyone in this category. However, even you have to admit that Pittsburgh cannot compare to true hockey markets like Minnesota, Detroit, Boston and Buffalo. From your post I think I can assume you have a kid that is playing, and you too may have played as a child. Well, if this is true then you have in fact traveled to these areas and seen the difference. Pittsburgh just isn't there yet. Maybe in some time, just not now. I hope this clarifies my position.

Depends on your definition of "not far off". As an outsider I once spoke to person from Pittsburgh about whether it was a "hockey town" or not. I told them it wasn't, it was a Penguins town. They said no, it is actually a "Sidney Crosby" town. It's where their support ends. When Crosby is done and if the Pens don't replace him with another superstar, and they start to miss the playoffs, they will be right back to and empty arena. Most of you I am sure see it at work, you run into a guy wearing a Penguins shirt and you say hey are you a hockey fan? And they say oh yea huge fan watch it all the time, and inside of 60 seconds you realize they really aren't. They can't name more than 3 players from any team other than the Pens, they have no idea that Pittsburgh has a Men's and Women's NCAA D1 and D3 program, and don't know the name of the Junior Team. Never been to a Nailers Game, and really don't understand what they are watching on AT&T Sportsnet when the game is on. If you go to an area like Minnesota you will see a much more wider scope and depth of knowledge that the majority of people here don't have. I agree it will come in time.

With all due respect, you cannot compare Pittsburgh to Minnesota. It's apples and oranges and adding a slit-season isn't going to change that. Minnesota is just a a different level than everyone else, with other areas like, Buffalo, Detroit and Boston a little further behind. Pittsburgh just doesn't have the fan support to pull this off yet. You need kids who have fathers, grandfathers and great-grandfathers who all played and understand the sport. This area is just not there yet. That being said, it is nice to a see kid or two here and there make it to the NHL. This at least shows some progress.

Well, I don't think anyone here is suggesting to force a kid to play a sport they don't want to. Also, as you can see from some of the responses, most are stating that at a younger age they should play more than one. Most of the links I posted say you should specialize starting around 14 (so right as you are getting ready to go into High School). So, yes at a High School level, you should commit 100% to one sport. At the risk of triggering a few people here, most kids (at a young age) are open to trying anything. It is usually is the nut-job parents (I am excluding you from this generalization of course), who are so hyper-focused on getting some Squirt aged player into special clinics with former pro instructors, dietitians, off ice workout programs and all the other nonsense that most pro athletes do, that they cause more damage than good. To reiterate, most research now shows kids should play multiple sports until the age of 14, then begin focusing on one. But, each parent is of course entitled to make their own choices. The OP is the one who came on here and asked for the advice.

https://www.competitivedge.com/when-should-my-child-specialize-just-one-sport https://www.healthline.com/health-news/children-should-play-more-than-one-sport https://www.menshealth.com/trending-news/a19538336/kids-focus-on-one-sport/

Preparing for PeeWee tryouts next year? Yea, I would focus on Baseball, Lacrosse or possibly Soccer. I'm not kidding. If a child is less than 14 years old, they need to play more than 1 sport. Do not keep them on the ice year round, they will not develop all their muscle groups (no matter how much you work out). They need multiple sports for muscle and coordination.