Esmark 07 coach

[Birddog]

I saw Esmark named their 07 coach Chris “Sluggo” Stern.

https://www.esmarkstars.com/news_article/show/1218529

I thought he was tied into Pens heavily

Seems to be an interesting move for Esmark, are they going to now have a parent coach?

If so, that’s a pretty strong  statement about what’s going on at Pens.

 

Why isn’t Yuri going to do it?

They do not really have a 16U team.

[Danner27]

Yuri has never been the head coach of U15. He will do skill development & practices with the team. He will always serve as the defensive assistant for games when it works out. He does the same for U18
 

Yuri’s team is always U16. I can’t imagine they wouldn’t have a U16 team but I get further out of the loop as time passes. 

[hockeyisgreat]

Yuri has been recruiting for his U16 team. I will be shocked if they don't have a few Russians and maybe a few from Ukraine.  Thigs being what they are it might take a while for them to get here. I bet he has a few spots open for alternates after tryouts.

[mrfreeze]

Ha, I called this one. Just watch what happens to the 07 ppe next week at tryouts. 

[dazedandconfused]

21 hours ago, Birddog said:

I thought he was tied into Pens heavily

"Tied in" is a great way to phrase it. He was tied in at 25K per year for selling out the Hornets (fact, just look up their 990 report) so what I'm guessing is the 10 years and 250K threshold has been reached so no more tie in. Pure speculation here, but the signs are everywhere.

[nemesis8679]

14 hours ago, dazedandconfused said:

"Tied in" is a great way to phrase it. He was tied in at 25K per year for selling out the Hornets (fact, just look up their 990 report) so what I'm guessing is the 10 years and 250K threshold has been reached so no more tie in. Pure speculation here, but the signs are everywhere.

There's a cap on what they're paid? 

[Duster19]

So the trickle effect is possibly back?  Some PPE follow the Coach to Esmark, which bumps some kids out who then go the next step down to Vengeance, which quite frankly with that 07 team last season could use better talent.  They added a couple A Major kids after the tryouts to fill out the roster after their mass exodus to the Esmark program.  You gotta love youth sports (and the parents’ egos, eh?).

 

 

 

 

 

[RJUSHL]

1 hour ago, Duster19 said:

So the trickle effect is possibly back?  Some PPE follow the Coach to Esmark, which bumps some kids out who then go the next step down to Vengeance, which quite frankly with that 07 team last season could use better talent.  They added a couple A Major kids after the tryouts to fill out the roster after their mass exodus to the Esmark program.  You gotta love youth sports (and the parents’ egos, eh?).

At the younger birth years it seems as though Esmark and Vengeance are reversed. Vengeance has the better teams. Kids that lose their spot on Vengeance, step down to Esmark.

[Carl Racki]

39 minutes ago, RJUSHL said:

At the younger birth years it seems as though Esmark and Vengeance are reversed. Vengeance has the better teams. Kids that lose their spot on Vengeance, step down to Esmark.

It just depends where the top talent goes.  There is nothing magical about it.  They all recruit kids and where ever the deeper talent goes is typically the top team.  The reason the 2008,2009,... Vengeance teams are better than Esmark is because parents started building that program as an option for their kids other than Pens.  

The reason you see Esmark with the older kids is that was often the best or next best option back in the day.  Then, when Pens decided to do away with their black teams, Esmark went in to try to recruit those young kids out to Esmark.

 

 

[Hockey00]

1 hour ago, RJUSHL said:

At the younger birth years it seems as though Esmark and Vengeance are reversed. Vengeance has the better teams. Kids that lose their spot on Vengeance, step down to Esmark.

But those that were cut from 16u esmark then went to 16u Vengeance 

[mrfreeze]

The guy in charge of the Vengeance does not have his finger on the pulse and often lacks communication. The u16 and U18 teams last year where new and the result of a parent that left years ago coming back with his kids after he wrecked all the other organizations he was at, the u15 had a coaching change and that team basicly split up and some went to shaha either by choice or cut, the goalie left for Cleveland. The u14 pretty much went to esmark because they also had a coaching change and did not get their way. Vengeance had a chance to really become a better program, but missed the boat. They still have good teams at the 08 and lower levels, but my guess is that will continue to fall apart as Esmark recruits those kids pretty heavy along with pens cuts and adds some imports to the mix. In the end you just swap players and sometimes you get slightly better, but these teams still fill their rosters and certain people profit heavily while selling the dream. Tryouts suck, people jumping all around, lying and playing games as well as coaches and organizations. Good luck, do what is best for your kid and family and make informed decisions. I always feel bad watching some of these kids go through 2-5 tryouts trying to get a spot, wish there was a better way.

[hockey57410]

11 minutes ago, mrfreeze said:

The guy in charge of the Vengeance does not have his finger on the pulse and often lacks communication. The u16 and U18 teams last year where new and the result of a parent that left years ago coming back with his kids after he wrecked all the other organizations he was at, the u15 had a coaching change and that team basicly split up and some went to shaha either by choice or cut, the goalie left for Cleveland. The u14 pretty much went to esmark because they also had a coaching change and did not get their way. Vengeance had a chance to really become a better program, but missed the boat. They still have good teams at the 08 and lower levels, but my guess is that will continue to fall apart as Esmark recruits those kids pretty heavy along with pens cuts and adds some imports to the mix. In the end you just swap players and sometimes you get slightly better, but these teams still fill their rosters and certain people profit heavily while selling the dream. Tryouts suck, people jumping all around, lying and playing games as well as coaches and organizations. Good luck, do what is best for your kid and family and make informed decisions. I always feel bad watching some of these kids go through 2-5 tryouts trying to get a spot, wish there was a better way.

Has that trio of dads who went to the Vengance aged out yet?  Hopefully they move on.  I'm not sure where they can go that they haven't already burned.  Sadly, their kids will end up the same as all the rest.  I don't think Yuri will let the dads coach U18 so I'd be surprised if they went their

[forbin]

19 minutes ago, mrfreeze said:

The guy in charge of the Vengeance does not have his finger on the pulse and often lacks communication. 

This is the understatement of the year. The problems start from the top down.

Good luck to those younger teams this season, they may have some talented kids, but it's my understanding that some of those teams don't even have coaches yet....

[3 Boys]

On 4/2/2022 at 12:58 PM, Birddog said:

I saw Esmark named their 07 coach Chris “Sluggo” Stern.

https://www.esmarkstars.com/news_article/show/1218529

I thought he was tied into Pens heavily

Seems to be an interesting move for Esmark, are they going to now have a parent coach?

If so, that’s a pretty strong  statement about what’s going on at Pens.

 

Why isn’t Yuri going to do it?

They do not really have a 16U team.

Apparently Sterns son is still going to tryout at PPE.  If he doesn't make it then he will play at Esmark.

[mrfreeze]

22 hours ago, 3 Boys said:

Apparently Sterns son is still going to tryout at PPE.  If he doesn't make it then he will play at Esmark.

Maybe all the bad press lately has the higher ups rethinking what they are pushing. I wonder if a change in ownership with the big club will have any effects or change in directions that they put on the local youth club. I guess time will tell and we will see if these imported players and skill instructors stay in town in the future. I'm sure u14 -u18 tryouts will be interesting this week at UPMC.