Eddie Shore

I think you misunderstood my post. I don't need to look at it. My kid plays in ACHA. We pay just about the same price as we did when he played travel. He does it because he loves his school and the sport. Don't get me wrong, the schools treat these players very well, with uniforms, equipment, swag, buses, hotel rooms and meals. NCAA is great, if you want your kid to go billet in Ontario until they are 21.

Looks like this is the 2nd thread stated where parents are the issue. I never volunteered for anything when my kid was playing for this very reason. I can say in all honesty that though all my kids years of playing travel and High School, I can count on one hand the number of parent board members and/or volunteers that were good. The balance were just in it to cause controversy and try to get their kid a leg-up. I loved in the "On another note" thread where one person stated that there were a handful of parents who thought the coach could get their kid into College Hockey. This just shows you how delusional these people are. If there are referring to NCAA D1, there is no High School Coach in this area who can help with that. If your kid is a Sophmore and you have not been contacted yet, your coaches reccomendation isn't going to help. If you are talking about NCAA D3, there is no scholorship money for that. And Club is just that, Club. I actually had one parent tell me a few years back that there kid was getting a college scholorship to for roller hockey. I'll say it one more time, the parents are the problem.

I guess I don't understand why most people would want to see them, - Because some parents are crazy, that's why. but I also don't understand why it is an issue to let people see them. - See answer above..........

Ah the good ole days of being a parent scorekeeper. Nothing better than a shot ringing off the pipe and goalie mom screaming because I didn't count the shot. Good times

Actually, most people here would agree with that. As I said in another thread just a few days ago, it is the parents that ruin everything.

Yea, but the example I was giving was from 5 years ago. They won't be happy until they turn it into Roller Hockey

Here's another one. A player was skating down with the puck on his stick. The defenseman bodied him up and rubbed him into the boards (not a hit just a rub, and neither player went down). The Ref blew his whistle and called interference on the defenseman. When the coach asked for an explaination, the ref replied it was because the defenseman played the body and not the puck. Isn't that what defenseman are taught to do? Play the body? ?

Oh, so like a Ryan Reeves hit?

Oh good, we are telling bad Ref stories! Ok here's one. My son was playing in a High School game years ago, and the goalie froze the puck under his glove. The Ref blew the whistle and everyone stopped. The goalie raised his glove off the ice and the puck was 3/4 of the way across the goal line. The ref blew his whistle, pointed and said goal. All the players said but the puck is not all the way across the line. He replied it didn't have to fully cross the line all it had to was break the plane. Of course, he was wrong (and was using the rules from the wrong sport). No amount of arguing from anyone was going to change his mind. The goal stayed.

Obviously, you are referring to tier 2. Peewee Tier 1, AAA, Elite hockey is a different story. ?

Agreed, it's not all of them. But just like everything else, a few bad ones spoil it for all the good ref's out there

It's because the ref's think it is all about them and what they think the rules should be, so there is no consistancy. USA Hockey needs to step in and tell them to enforce the rules as written. You see it everywhere, not just hockey. Was watching the MNF game last night and they kicked OBJ off the field on a 3rd and goal, becuase they said he didn't have the correct type of face shield. 2nd game of the season, and they now decide it's not the correct face shield? Sounds like payback for the wristwatch incident last week. https://larrybrownsports.com/football/odell-beckham-jr-miss-play-helmet-shield-visor-tint/514352

My Hockey Rankings is fine because it is team based, not individual stats. Parents just can stand to see their little Johnny not at the top of the stats sheets. One time we had a dad who kept volunteering to keep score and we found out later that he kept adding assists to his kid on the scoresheet. Also had a team mom gather the scoresheet after every game and do the same thing.

I had the misfortune a long time ago to be a house league commisioner for a squirt and peewee division. I took the job because my kid was older and no longer played house league and a friend of mine ran the league and needed the help. I thought it would be a good idea to update the website to contain all kinds of stats (individual, team and game stats). This was a huge mistake! I spent 80% of my time handling emails and phones call from hockey parents telling me that little johnny had 2 assists in a game and did not get credit for it, or little Bobby had more than 15 shots on goal against him and his save percentage was wrong. I tried to tell the parents that the stats on the website came from the game scoresheets, and that was what the refs had called. I also had gotten the mic working at the rink and had people who would announce the goals and assists. So, then the parents started walking around the ice to bother the scorekeepers after a goal to tell them that little johnny had that goal and not the other kid. The scorekeepers told them they announced what the refs called, then the parents started to try to get the refs to make the changes during game stoppages! Myself, the scorekeepers, announcer and refs were all getting stopped after the game while the parents were trying to get us to add stuff to the scoresheets. I even had parents wanting copies of the sheets, so they could compare it to what was on the website. I finally had to pull the plug on the announcer and take the stats off the website because it just became too big of a hassel. Do yourselves a favor, don't put stats on the websites. The parents will ruin it.

Respectfully disagree. The organizations are listening, which is why they are doing what they are doing with these faux AAA Teams. You are correct to stop blaming the players, although no one here has ever blamed them. It is the parents fault, always has been, always will be. They are just plain nuts. Sorry to be the one to break it to you.

My biggest concern will be an inconsistent application of the rule. Teams will play numerous games with certain refs ignoring the rule, then during some playoff or tournament championship game, the rule will rear it's ugly head at the worst possible time, and the refs will become the focus of the game, not the players.

I just came to this thread to post the exact same thing!

Yes. So, I want my son to play contact hockey. Well, he can't play single A cause it's no contact. So, he plays AA or AAA. Then a few years later in Midgets all of a sudden some kid doesn't make the team, and it's unfair cause he has been play 2-hand touch hockey all is life, and now we have to change! Like I said, kids can get hurt anywhere, and taking checking out does decrease the likely hood, but it will never be fully eliminated.

I have to disagree. If there are parents out there that are so concerned about an injury that "might" happen to their kid, then don't let them play. Or, create your own league with no checking, or have them play roller hockey, but don't make all of us follow your rules. But, that's not the way we do things anymore. Some people think that something is too dangerous, so the rest of the world has to follow their rules. My son was old enough and began checking as a PeeWee, I was fine with it and so was he. Could he have gotten hurt? Sure. Has he gotten hurt? Yes, but checking didn't have anything to do with it. Sorry to come across like a jerk, but I feel we are slowly destroying the sport. I never wanted to see anyone get hurt, but it happens. Sometimes it because of checking and sometimes it's not. So, once we taking checking out, what's next? Don't say nothing, because there will always be something else to take away from the game. Eventually, it will be something you disagree with. Then, you will know how some of the rest of us feel. Just glad my kid is done after this year.

Call me a cynic, but here is how I see it happening. They will take it out of the lower levels, then a few years later some spoiled Little Johnny is going to come along and get cut from a team and Loud Mouth Hockey Mom is going to pitch a fit that it is unfair because her kid is being unfairly discriminated against and is going to cause such a stink that they are going to do away with it for everyone. Sorry to be such a downer, it's just that parents ruin everything eventually.

WOW. I too have my opinion skewed by what I think logic dictates (older, faster, stronger = more, worse injuries). I will have to spend some more time researching this. I'll let you know if I find any studies that refute this study.

Thanks for the input. I appreciate your point of view. So, let me ask you a question. You say that injuries have decreased in PeeWee's once checking was removed, and this makes sense. However, since it was removed from PeeWee's, what effect did this have on Bantams? Did it go up? I would bet it has. And, if we take checking out of Bantam's, I am am sure injuries will go down there, but I would also assume it will go up in Midgets. My point is, the longer you delay the learning process, the worse the effect will be in the older age groups (you are just creating a snowball effect), it will go up and get worse due to larger, stronger players not knowing the correct way to play. Your plan would also create a barrier to development for any kid that wants to take up hockey after PeeWee's. A kid is going to play house league (or even single A under your plan) 1st year Bantam (which is non-checking), then says, "mom i want to tryout for PPE". What happens then? All I hear on this board is that, "my kid wanted to give PPE a shot, so I said yes". How bad are they going to do coming from a non-checking league, going up against players who have been playing at a high level, and have been checking! That's just a tryout nightmare waiting to happen. I do respect your opinion, and I am all for a non-checking house league (if that's what the kid wants to do). However, we all know that this discussion is not about what the kids want at all. Thanks for input though, appreciate the point of view.

Thank you sample, I couldn't have said it better myself. I think you are spot-on with your assessment. All you see is these panic stricken parents obsess over checking, and there is no need to. I actually heard several say that once little Johnny ages out of PeeWee's they were going to pull them out of ice and put them in roller hockey just because of the fear of checking! Yes, it was much better in PeeWee's because they were all small and really couldn't hit hard if they tried. And don't get me started on the roller hockey douches who are all big tough guys, cause they know they can't get hit! I agree, USA Hockey will once again go in the wrong direction and take it out of Bantams and put it in Midgets. That's a steep one-year learning curve for any kid who wants to play Juniors at age 16 for sure.

Here is a question for the group. Does it seem that in the last 5+ years or so, there has been this major fear of having kids check? My child is grown now, but 10 years ago I can tell you this was not the case (also checking started in PeeWee's then not Bantams). I mean kids play football before the age of 13 and there is tackling in that still right? So, why this huge concern? It seems that all you hear about from parents is this huge issue they have with checking. I have my own theories, but I would like to get input from others as well.

So, was it because of checking or % rule? Which is it?