aaaahockey

The bright side of just turning 50 is that I won't have to worry about this crap much longer as it descends into chaos 😁

What age group?

To be fair the Chicago metro area has a population of 9 million or so. Pittsburgh has like 1.2 million. Take that either direction you want.

Don't mean that and I hate the letters but I do mean (in Pittsburgh) there is really only one legit high level team. The rest would be better in a league with each other. The Pens can fly around the country and play whoever they want. The rest of the teams should be playing each other. Would be way more interesting.

Sometimes I wonder if PAHL would just get out of the stone age if it would fix half the problems around here. I also think having three tiers of hockey - Tier 1 being pens only, Tier 2 being all the other AAA and maybe a couple AA teams, and Tier 3 being the rest would help USA hockey. There is a big difference between roughly 1-10 and 11-60 not to mention everyone below them every year.

Problem is figuring out how to do this. Throw out some suggestions. I love the idea of "relegation" like soccer has but don't think it can work unless kids are restricted by geography.

Rumor has it it was unintentional.

Keep drinking the Kool aid boys it's good for you!

I think someone is having buyers remorse. Just to be clear Dowiak played 2 years at pens elite. Congrats on whoever developed him in his younger years and got him there. Pens picked up a developed stud. DiMarsico you might have more of an argument for I think he played 3 years but left and went to the Buffalo regals. Neither of them had to play elite mites or squirts to get to this point in their careers and I'm pretty sure neither of them went to North Catholic 😁

What's +?

Yeah that doesn't make it smart or right 😂 also flies in the face of "hockey is for everyone" bull crap they spew.

As I said - never cut. If you want to pour your money down the sewer enjoy yourself. I think it's borderline criminal what they do. Sorry your little Johnny is giving up his life to go to play hockey so someday he can play club hockey in college at IUP.

Way to miss the forest for the trees. Unless I am mistaken (and I might be) - you don't have to change high schools to play for #6. Wonder what their model does differently that their kids are still so prepared?

Totally agree with you on this and it's really sad. PAHL needs a complete remake. Could make it a reality show.

I'll Add on to this - the truth hurts sometimes. Pens are the only legit AAA team in Pittsburgh and they have put themselves in a position where they aren't better than Ohio teams. Stinks that people are paying 30k plus to lose to OBJ and Barons. Waters down the rest of the talent in Pittsburgh and leads to all the faux crap we see these days.

Actually I have no hatred for the pens. My oldest kids tried out multiple times, made it every time they did (gold team) and played for them. That was years ago before excel and North Catholic and I can recognize the money grab for what it is.

It's been around for years. Spread the word maybe more people will do it. Or, maybe they are already full? I don't know but it is a great thing RMU does.

https://www.rmuislandsports.com/page/show/3559276-island-colonials-2023-24- Centrally located to most of the region. I would be curious what their numbers are like at the older levels - if they are maxing out the number of participants there is a bigger need. If not, people I guess would rather travel in a B league.

If by the "ends of the Earth" you mean Ohio I guess you are right -Midams showed they are no better. Would be interesting if they actually played all the local teams more often but not a great showing if you mean they need to travel to bump their MHR rankings we should be talking about the formula a little more.

Agreed. There are a lot of AA options it's just a matter of what age group. Varies wildly from age to age.

So 1st in 2 out of 5 divisions? I guess Ohio is a hockey haven now.

Out of curiosity (I don't know the answer to this seriously) how did Pens do across the board at Midams?

Go ahead and tell us where you play and how to find these great coaches then. Also how much the fees are and what the hidden amounts that go a long them are. I'm personally not cutting on programs but if you truly have an "elite" player, your choices are pens, pens, and pens. They have made themselves unaffordable and it is about to become more so. Id also argue there are two issues here. One is where truly elite players can go and get scouted seriously. That's maybe two to three organizations that all have money grabs of one sort of another. They have both good coaches and bad coaches. The second issue is local hockey for kids that want to have fun. On that I agree with you there are some great teams and coaches. PAHL is unfortunately a complete mess as an organization.

Unfortunately that's true unless you happen to have an elite athlete AND a bottomless wallet. Hockey has turned to trash around here and it's reflected in the kids who have actually made it somewhere all leaving.

They already got that with 66ers elite now they are just avoiding child support.