Happy Hockey Fan

PIHL should look at the number of kids in a program as a factor in classification. The difference between programs that can field full varsity and JV teams and those that can’t is usually a pretty good indication as to strength of program. And the number of seniors a team lost from previous season should also be a factor.

It ended great for the Montour organization. Now they have a coach that actually coaches all of the kids.

I have always said that this fee was ridiculous because USA hockey only uses the money to support their precious national development teams. They don’t do much for local programs. Just a money grab so top players can play for free.

It is developmental. That is what all JV sports are. Not all organizations have full rosters at the JV or even varsity levels. Therefore they have to…..wait for it……..develop players.

A few things. If a kid is doing stupid things or not giving effort that is a good reason to have them sit some shifts. But otherwise roll them. Hockey is different than all other high school sports in that it cost parents around $3000 a year, so comparing playing time at the JV levels in hockey and other sports is moot. Everyone that makes a team should be playing. JV is developmental in all sports. That is why they have it, to hopefully develop kids into varsity players. Any coach that ignores this shouldn’t be coaching kids at this level. Win and loss records in JV shouldn’t matter at all in the PIHL. All JV teams are eligible for playoffs, and PIHL tries to place each team in a playoff division in which they can compete. (Too bad they do a poor job of placing teams for the regular season. For example, placing a team with a U18AAA player in the lowest division so that kid can score 5 goals a game against true JV players. Which has happened at Highlands and Deer Lakes in the past 4 years.) And lastly, if you are a varsity coach and demean or ignore of the JV team as a way to develop future players you are doing your organization a serious disservice.

Absolutely correct sir!! The job of a JV coach is to develop ALL players.

If you want the kids to learn positioning, have them play deck hockey. Kids that have played or play deck hockey are always better at positioning.

Nothing comes from doing nothing.

I, as a parent that has worked hard to pay for my sons opportunity to play hockey, would be happy to pay more money not only for evaluations, but also another referee on the ice for games. Because I think it would make the game safer for all the kids playing. .

Something that your statement touched on was players not getting called for penalties that have great potential to hurt someone. That is definitely one of the problems I see at the JV and varsity level. And it isn’t because they are young referees that don’t know what they are doing. I feel that is the opposite, in that some older referees refuse to call the game according to the updated head contact and checking rules. And as I said previously, if there is no evaluation of how referees call games, there is no way it will improve.

There are good and bad. The problem I see is that there are no repercussions for the bad. The lack of discipline for the refs involved in the Mars game is a prime example. And I feel that there needs to be evaluations done on all referees throughout the year. The current system does not do enough evaluation in my opinion.

The referees absolutely should have been punished. If they can throw someone out for yelling at them, they can, and absolutely have the responsibility to throw out people that are abusing players. As a a matter of fact, I would suggest that referees fall under the mandatory reporter guidelines and should have reported this behavior to authorities themselves. This is also true of any USA Hockey and safesport mandatory reporter present. This abuse was not the “hey you suck” type of abuse. It was sexual in nature and therefore would fall as an event that requires mandatory reporting. The referees at the next Armstrong home game were excellent. They hustled and called penalties according to the rules. (Against both teams) They were not the same as the ones that did the Mars game.

Did you even read my original post? Once again, IT WAS NOT ABOUT PLAYING TIME AT ANY POINT. The board did not force him or any coaches to play seniors on varsity. Can be seen by the fact that there are 3 seniors still on the JV, even through they do not have enough kids to field a full roster ever. So please explain to me how this was about playing time? That is what the your coach friend told you. That is not what is the truth. As a matter of fact, during his first year as coach, there were a number of senior parents cOmplaining about playing time for their kids. Which was wrong, and I defended the coach on his stance. After all it is varsity and winning is important. But winning and caring about the development of all the players in your program can go hand in hand. It doesn’t have to be one or the other. And if you don’t want to develop everyone, you shouldn’t be coaching kids. I have many other examples of his vanity and attempts to run the organization without any input from the board. Examples of him fighting against the board. Examples of him spending parents money for his vanity projects. Unless you have any proof that this was about playing time, please remain quiet on the subject. Reporters are supposed to report facts, not what they here from a friend without fact checking. If you want to comment about it, be professional and interview some of the people on the board. Get both side of the story. Don’t blindly believe something without research. Once again, I appreciate all you do for Pittsburgh hockey, but maybe you should sit this one out since you have shown no impartiality.

Once again, this was absolutely NOT about playing time. Never was about playing time. It was about not caring about how the JV team was treated. If you are the varsity head coach of a program and don’t care about your JV program developing players, you shouldn’t be a coach. This is high school. Not juniors or college. and I’ll bash anyone that treats any kid like a second class citizen. That is what he did to every kid on the JV team for 5 years. Along with some of his less talented players on varsity. If you want to defend someone, get your facts straight. why no mention of his bashing the current team and administrators on twitter? Do you think that is ok? Do you think that is professional? What do you think about resigning over a bus ride from RMU to PPG paints arena? It was childish and they should have sent him on his way then. What about telling a young JV coach that he stinks instead of helping him become a better practice coach? Why not do what they parents and BOARD ALask and give guidance to a young coach to help his future players? I appreciate all you do for Pittsburgh hockey, but you need to step away from this subject because you only want to know what the coach says because he is your friend. Listen to all the facts, not just his whiny explanation. if you are going to try and defend someone, address the issues with how you feel. Don’t just show blind support. Just because he is your friend doesn’t mean he is right.

Only the president left, his son graduated. The decision did not affect this years team. They are better off with the new coaches that actually coach all the kids and not just their top players. And what is happening with this years team is not unexpected, because they lost a lot of talent, not because they lost the coaches. The new coaches have more and better experience than the previous staff. The coaches resigned because they told the board that they didn’t care about the JV team. And the board fought back on the issue. Which is what is right for the organization. The problem started with the varsity coaches not allowing JV/varsity call ups play in a JV playoff game because they didn’t want them to get hurt. Even though they couldn’t stop those same kids from playing for their Amateur teams, or playing any other sport that they could get hurt playing. The JV played their first playoff game with ten skaters. They did win and advance, all the way to the championship. But the call ups did get to play after the first game, which was the right thing to do. The head varsity coach was also asked in at least 2 board meetings over a couple of years to help the Jv coaches improve their practices. Both times the coach said he would do it, both times he did nothing. The parents just wanted their children to have the opportunity to have better practices. It wasn’t about playing time, it was about improving practices so their kids could get better. And after the varsity coach’s resignation was accepted this time(third time they resigned), the varsity coach went to the JV coach and told him he sucked as a coach. So instead of trying to help improve a young coach, he ignored the parents request for help even though he obviously thought the coach could use improvement. All of this doesn’t make sense for the simple fact that the JV teams players, or at least some of them, would eventually be playing varsity. So why wouldn’t you want the kids that will eventually play varsity to have the opportunity to improve? Makes no sense. This had nothing to do with playing time for kids just because they were seniors. That can be seen with the team this year. There are 3 seniors that are still playing Jv this year. Because the board did not force the coaches to put seniors on the varsity just because they were seniors. This was the third time those coaches resigned. The first time was when they won the Pens Cup and the board wouldn’t spend extra money for a Coach bus to take the kids to the Penguins game where they were being honored. The school bus wasn’t good enough for the coaches. What a joke. They resigned because the board, the people responsible for the spending of ALL of the organizations parents money, wouldn’t spend the extra money for a bus ride from RMU to PPG arena. This was all about the coaches vanity. And that has no place in high school sports. The team this year would have been the same team if those coaches returned, because the kids available are the kids available. Last years team graduated 7-8seniors. 5 of them played AAA amateur sometime during their high school career. They lost their top two scorers that accounted for more than 50% of their scoring. The team this year doesn’t even have enough kids to field a full roster for a game, without calling up kids that are not varsity ready. They have not played a game with 18 skaters once. They played their last game with 11 skaters. They usually only have three lines and 5 defensemen. Tough to compete at the AA level with a roster that small. Yet they have competed, won a few games so far, and kept a couple close with the top teams. And to top it all off, the previous coach has taken to twitter to mock this years team. Even though they have already won almost as many games as Montour won the first year they played AA. 3 wins so far this year as opposed to 4 wins for the whole year, when the previous coach was in charge. The first year in AA the team was loaded with talent too. Much more than this years team. And he disparages a board member that does more work than all the coaches combined because he stood up for what is right for the program and all the kids. Very petty. And lastly, I know of not one parent who was upset that the coaches left. And I am at all games and some practices talking to other parents. Haven’t heard one complaint.