Carl Racki

His resume? Where did he play?

Isn't PPE no profit?????

Excuses excuses. I have seen it for years. I am just saying if that kid can put up that type of production as a freshman in PIHL he is probably as good or better than most of the AAA local kids. I guess they only TRY in their AAA games???? Yes PIHL AAA isn't the same and if it is such a lower level then the AAA players they should really light the lamp there. Maybe they should have tried. Typically competitors always do.

Of course PIHL AAA is not like Minnesota highschool hockey but I will say Pens Elite players and other AAA players that did/do play PIHL AAA before Excel started typically only averaged about 2 points per game max. So is the league that bad or were those players that over rated? I believe the 9th grader from Peters averaged more than that in his freshmen year. He has potential to play wing at a higher level I believe.

But can't/don't they develop kids or do they have to recruit kids others developed? If they just have to recruit and not develop players it would make me question paying so much to play there.

By ridiculous I mean screaming and yelling at their own mite players/refs, using poor language and being thrown out of mite games for it. I didn't really want to go there with specifics. Like I said hopefully it didn't happen often and doesn't any more. It was a while ago but I had seen it a few times. I didn't even have kids playing in those games. Mine were playing in a separate game but it was so bad it caught my attention. I saw it a few times. To crazy for me at the mite level and hopefully it doesn't happen anymore. It was a bad look for the organization.

How it should be but they take the forth liners to pay the bills and people are dumb enough to do it thinking their player will develop better riding the pine and practicing with that team.

I would say depends where you live. Crazy to drive past 5 rinks to play at another. Foxes and North Pitt are a nice place to start at the mite level as they have a lot of kids and your child should play with/against similar talent. I believe RMU got 350 kids at mite a year back in the day. Guessing similar now. The problem with the smaller organizations is they do not draw the numbers so there can be a huge gap between players. Some people like birth year so they can play with similar groups of kids. Some do not because they feel they need to play up a birth year to have good competition. The problem with mites at UPMC is once you move to squirt you may be starting over and looking for a new rink to play at. Allegheny is probably a pretty good place at the younger ages as well. The teams at PIA (Vipers/Viperstars) not sure I would do. Never had a personal bad experience but it seems like they do not keep players/teams. Ice renegades are also hit or miss at the young ages. I have seen some ridiculous coaches there at the mite age back in the day. I guess it just depends who the coaches are and who is running it now.

They look like a bunch of AA teams pretending to be AAA that won't play each other and travel all over

It already was. Too many teams going independent ruins PAHL AA. That is what they all should be playing but it's ego city for some and no other choice for others as that is all that will be left. Stupid but this is where things are because so many teams have decided to go independent. Again, the 2007 mid am group minus North Pittsburgh and add Vengeance would have been a great competitive PAHL AA league for that birth year. That is what all those teams are with some AAA kids sprinkled in on those teams.

He is just trying to give you some realistic insight. I would never tell a kid not to try but I sadly see parents chasing an "A" wasting money and have no idea where it will end. Not saying don't try but be smart about it. Is it what the kid really wants? Are they really willing to put in the time and effort? It is not just time at the rinks, it is additional workouts, eating properly, ..... When you are putting up 4 or more points a game at AA then go for it. Even most of the legit AAA players average less than 2 pts per game at the AA and AAA Varsity highschool level. Danner is just trying to give some insight I believe. There is nothing wrong playing with the fake AAA teams (teams that claim to be AAA but are not in the top 40). Just take into account the money you may be wasting traveling all over to play PAHL talent and it will not take you to the next level most likely.

All I have seen black bear do is come into town and buy as many rinks as they can to create a monopoly. They seem to raise the cost of ice time as soon as they buy the rinks. Once they control most of the ice rinks in the Pittsburgh market they will have a monopoly on ice time/rinks and continue to name there price. That is never good for the consumer. Most of what they do does not seem good for the sport including a league that requires more travel for a similar level of competition. They seem a lot like our local mlb baseball teams owner. Squeeze as much profit out of the consumer as possible. Good business but not good for the sport locally as high costs pushes athletes out of the sport.

It's just another money grab but by black bear to make them more money and will and a lot more travel/expense. They are in it to pad their pockets.

This is what all the FAKE AAA teams sell. I have heard it for years yet I would say I typically see the opposite. Usually the fake AAA teams have players playing above their level dumping and chasing, rimming pucks and firing pucks off the glass and out. The kids don't develop well and become puck chuckers not play makers. That is what they sell, yet I have seen almost as many or more kids move up to AAA levels from AA while a lot of the kids on the wanna be AAA (40 or above) end up getting cut, play AA, and are below average there.

Not appealing to me. Just more travel/money to play the exact same caliber of competition.

Amen! It will never happen though. The number one reason why is parent /player ego. Also, a lot of the parents / players are just uneducated or unintelligent and buy the bs that these wanna be AAA teams will develop your player better or are the next step to greatness. Think about it, what are they developing for??? I guess men's league. Even a lot of the wanna be AAA players in men's league are average to below average as they think they are all stars try to dangle and turn the puck over left and right. Seen it a million times. Sadly, I only see things getting worse rather than better as people need the ego boost and want to say my kid plays AAA. It almost forces players on the AA teams to join the wanna be AAA teams because there are next to no AA teams left. All this is doing is increasing the cost to play. Again if the team is in the top 40 I will let you claim AAA until then they are just AA. If you really want to play at a higher level you need to be a top 6 on a team in the top 30 or Play at one of the better prep schools to get looks in my opinion. Play, develop, and have fun. It will end soon and if they are lucky they might be a good men's league player.

Personally, I love it for the younger ages. Definitely teaches them how to possess the puck and make plays. Any ding dong can ice the puck, dump the puck, or off the glass and out. I DO believe it is silly to keep it in 16u and above especially AA and AAA. If players haven't learned how to regroup and possess the puck by that age at those levels they never will. Not having delayed offsides at those ages just slows the game down. Again, it is absolutely great for 14u and below to help develop puck possession and play making but at least the automatic offsides has to go at the 16u AA and AAA Levels and above.

Does PPE actually develop the players? With so many new imports each year you have to ask that question. Recruiting is easier than developing. They definitely have good qualified coaches there but how far can they develop these kids and at what expense?? You really have to ask does it make financial sense? I guess you could ask that about a lot of hockey teams though. Pens are crazy expensive these days though.

100% correct. I have seen it for years. It doesn't mean if you would be in the top half of the team and from outside the organization you wouldn't make it, you can. It just means most AA and AAA teams do have the top 1/2 to 3/4 picked or selected with players they like. I can tell you from personal experience almost EVERY AA and AAA team in the area does it. At the very least they reach out to the players outside their organization that they would like to have. Right or wrong almost every team at those levels do that.

It is a money grab. Trust me if you are good enough they will take you either way. If not do/would you want to play there anyway??????

Exactly two teams 40 or better. Not going to be four. Plus if you mostly play high ranked teams it is easier to look better than you really are. That is the game many teams try to play.

Four AAA teams in the area is laughable. We do have great hockey but I consider AAA to be in the top 40 or better. As you see listed before this post it is typically is just two teams. The rest are good tier 2 teams. Sure they may have some middle of the road AAA players on those teams but not enough to be AAA. Typically it is Pens and one other organization are AAA locally IF they get all the top local kids to come. Get over having an ego and trying to say your kid is on an AAA team when their team can't crack the top 40. They may even be a AAA player but not enough depth on the team to be AAA. I will say hockey has been getting better in western Pa though.

Has anyone seen the new USA Hockey player / coaching fees? They are definitely exploiting hockey in general for money. The fees for players, coaches, and refs are out of control. I was actually going to start a topic about it.

ACHA is fun to play and good hockey but I would not spend a lot of money playing tier 3 juniors to do it. What is the end game really?

Amen. It will never happen but would have made sense.