Ron Shock

I agree with the Teir one rule.

I disagree with the double rostering on two girls teams. Some organizations would not be able to field some teams if they could not have girls on two teams. 

2 hours ago, Loves Puck said:

Print scape as a hole is a dump. Locker room smell like piss. No effort to clean the facilities.  Not as bad as Alpha complex but close. 

Note: Not to say they staff doesnt care.

Rink Two is thin and experienced holes that needed patched between cuts. Shoody board and No score board.  

Take notice. Baierl for being one of the oldest puts in the most improvements. UPMC is well,  Penguinsn sponsered. 

Alpha - mice / rodent issues- dirty as hell. drainage problems ect.

PIA nough said.

Ice castle - cold and dirty

RMU is also a dump but decent ice and lighting.

Mt lebonon - decent

Show cases in western pa should be kept to:

Bairel and UMPC exclusivly. Need more sheet RMU.

 

 

 

How is RMU a dump? What are you basing this on?

12 hours ago, GrumpyOldPucker said:

Yup and before that, they played out of the Golden Hole as Eastern......

Eastern started at the Alpine gardens near WTAE studio. Then moved to Monroeville mall.

On 12/5/2022 at 7:39 AM, LGP13 said:

None?

I see these comments on here all the time about Esmark and BB and rink rumors. I may not be correct in this, but I'm under the impression that there isn't any_ and Esmark operates under its own set of rules like its own entity. I heard awhile back that the only reason Esmark is at New Ken and with NHAHA is because they use NHAHAs licenses and insurances. Pair that with the fact they are at New Ken where (at the time) the ice was cheaper. It's a win/win for NHAHA and Esmark as unknowing parents might enroll their kids into the program thinking that the Vipers feed into Esmark. NHAHA definitely gains revenue from being paired with Esmark and in turn Esmark uses them. 

So Esmark is only tied to New Ken to generate the most money (cheap ice, tied to NHAHA, MAYBE grab a kid east of the city). So while BB buys all these rinks they are only trying to get the organizations to have a monopoly. You think BB really wanted Rostraver? gtfoh. They wanted to snatch up any organizations that could possibly run out of rinks that they don't own. They are going to throw some paint on the walls and keep their rink grabbing moving. The more organization logos you can throw on your posters for your league_ the better it looks and once you own most of the rinks in the area no one will have anywhere to go and you dictate the ice cost.

That being said, I don't believe that Esmark is locked in to being with NHAHA. As soon as BB makes it non-profitable for Esmark or cuts into their profits too much I wouldn't be shocked if Esmark cuts from NHAHA and aligns with someone else. NHAHA on the other hand is pretty much stuck at New Ken and a BB rink where they will control everything now.

I think everyone looks at NHAHA and Esmark like a tier system because that's how they sell it. Vipers > Viper stars > Esmark. I look at it like Vipers and NHAHA are the organization at New Ken. Stars were fabricated to be a bridge between Vipers and Esmark but are really just a way to get more money out of the better players there, and Esmark is a AAA organization that pretty much does what they want at the top. With everyone using each other along the way. At the end of the day these are all businesses trying to make money. I would be shocked if anyone could name 1 kid that went from Vipers to Esmark in the last 10 years.

I'm not saying that the level of hockey being played, coached isn't worth the money_ and it's everyone choice on how to spend theirs. I'm simply saying that these are businesses, and they are here to make money. If BB makes it so Esmark can't make their money then they will try to find another way/place to do it. Do you think Esmark cares where the home rink location is? Unless it has an effect on the kids (money) they can pull in_ they don't care.  Esmark is in a unique situation being tied in with NHAHA and I think there is a balancing of pros and cons probably happening to find out if it is worth it to separate and move to another place/organization. Honestly this probably happens consistently with ever changing variables, but I think you guys need to realize that the determining factor is always the money. Not the kids, not the hockey, not the rink location, not the organizations, not the rink owners. The sooner you figure that out the easier it is to understand everything that happens/is happening.

 

Esmark skates under NHAHA USA number

On 11/29/2022 at 8:08 AM, RJUSHL said:

Black Bear did offer to buy RMU a few years ago. The the managing partner of Black Bear (Murry Gunty) even tweeted about it.

I've heard rumors about Black Bear and Alpha, but I know zero about the ownership situation at Alpha.

IMO BB’s “offer” to buy RMU was a publicity stunt. They wanted people to think that they cared about college hockey.

2 hours ago, Corsi said:

Yes, Badgers have had pretty much the same branding since they played out of the old Airport Ice Arena across from Scally's.  I'm pretty sure that SHAHA, and Preds have begun to go with different jerseys for their "AAA" BY teams, but I'm not 100% sure of that.  

Which Badgers played out of the Airport? Beaver has always played out of Brady’s run. And I assume that Allegheny started in Delmont.

The Foxes started at the Airport before moving to RMU

That place should be designated a historical landmark. I don’t know of any older rink in Pittsburgh area.

I could agree that it is a money grab if the teams were set up by  Joe Schmoe from Schmoe's Elite Select Hockey Academy and the players were paying over 1k to be on the team. From what I have seen advertised they are not paying a lot to play. 

13 hours ago, Duster19 said:

Money Grab.

Money grab for who? This is an outlet for kids to play some hockey in the summer.

On 2/8/2022 at 11:19 AM, twoboys said:

So, high school hockey is developmental?  Hockey parents are crazy to expect equal playing time.  Playing time for other high school sports is not equal.   If you want to play you better be able to contribute.

We are talking JV hockey Not Varsity. JV should be developmental.

I have watched many JV games over the years and it baffles me when I see a JV coach not run lines. Why? As a JV coach your job should be to develop players to move up to Varsity, not win games. If your organization is judging you on how many wins your team has instead of on how many players you can move up to Varsity skill level, That program is a gong show.

I have never heard a good reason to not run lines evenly. 
If you are a JV coach that doesn’t run lines, please defend your decision to not play kids. Change my mind. 

p.s. Parents of JV players, if you are ok with your team not running lines, then your kid is obviously on one of the top lines.

3 hours ago, PUCKCOVID19 said:

RMU use to host it back in early 2000's. and it was filled to the gills( more fans then an actual RMU D1 hockey game)... it outgrew that venue and they moved it.  But they did an amazing job for the fan experience and the players as well 

RMU and UPMC are the same size, RMU might be a bit bigger 

3 hours ago, forbin said:

Maybe if Pittsburgh had a NAHL or USHL team with their own barn it would make for a perfectly sized venue to host High School state finals..... 

There was a NAHL https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pittsburgh_Forge

they were sold when RMU bought the rink.

If Pittsburgh was truly a hockey town we would not have lost our only NCAA D1 program.

There is no way you can compare pittsburgh to Minnesota or even Chicago. Pittsburgh is a small town that doesn't know that it is a small town.

We will NEVER be a hotbed for hockey when over half of the population still doesn't know what hockey is or doesn't care what hockey is.

On 9/23/2021 at 2:38 PM, Jack Handey said:

Well, found tier II on the PAHL page.  https://www.pahockey.com/game-schedules 

The answer is March 3-6.  Now is this the same date for girls playoffs and and tier I ?

Yes the girls are the same weekend

The Aviators continue to be disgruntled parents.... their 19u girls team is mostly former Foxes players who were not happy with the coach last season. 

But My kid is too good to play in PAHL,,,,,,,,

On 7/22/2021 at 7:21 AM, aaaahockey said:

I mean this also begs the question if they could keep their program and sell the ice rink at the same time.   Im assuming a lot of this has to do with the rink itself not being profitable.  

On 7/22/2021 at 7:56 AM, Lifelongbender said:

Yeah, these two questions are why I think you'd have to be nuts to play there at this point.

Who said the rink wasn't profitable? They said the NCAA teams cost too much.

I've heard it said on other sites, If everyone who says that they play for independent teams because PAHL is not competitive enough would play in PAHL,  That would be a much stronger league.

I guess I missed the comma between MidAm and NY

15 hours ago, hockey55 said:

Out of curiosity, why does Erie play in PAHL and not against teams in NY like Jamestown, Lakewood area which is much closer? We have teams from Wheeling and Morgantown and Youngstown in our divisions that are out of state. 

Erie is in MidAm NY is it’s own district