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AAA Tryout Log Jam


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1 hour ago, fafa fohi said:

Now that the 06 Vengeance is no longer, things just got a little more interesting for this BY.

This was probably a smart move. I do believe esmark and Yuri are much better card players than the guys at vengeance. This will defiantly strengthen esmark and give them the team they wanted, how ever that team is going to pretty much be the vengeance team of last year that now have increased fees, new uniforms and doing there part to help the local Ukrainian. Is he any better of a coach then they had, I really don't see much changing as for most of these kids hockey will be over sooner than they think or they will be streching the dream of playing tier 3 hockey some where if they choose so. I don't see this team qualifying for mid ams. 2 of them will eventually get nahl tenders in a another year or 2 that are required by the NAHL of all NAPHL teams and those kids will go to the NAHL camps and be cut. 

I think Allgheny, maybe SCIR may score a kid or 2 out of this group or kids that get pushed down and looks like Iceman may get some push down also and be able to field an ok Tier 2 team. Lots still in play.

I heard 07 ppe tryouts filled with esmark, vengeance and local kids, wonder if we will see an increase in Pittsburgh kids at PPE this season or not, I heard the 06 ppe was the opposite and they lost a couple Pittsburgh kids and some of the kids they brought in last year left.  Over under on the PPE 06 is 3 kids from Pittsburgh, feel free to put your money where you feel is right. I'll give 7 Pittsburgh kids as the line on the 07 ppe given what I heard tonight.

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On 4/7/2022 at 2:32 PM, hockeyisgreat said:

I agree but a few kids will try to move and some will tryout hoping to move up from a AA team.  If they haven't been asked to tryouts I think they are wasting their time and donating 150.00. Just my opinion of course.

What about the ones that donate a few thousand to play on the biggest fundraiser-Vengeance practice squad 

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On 4/7/2022 at 2:24 PM, hockeyisgreat said:

Or they just take them without tryouts!   I hear there is a lot of that going on around here.

Seems as if the new Shaha “AAA initiative” felt left out and now does the same thing-putting kids on the team without trying out or having “private tryouts.”  They just wanted to be like the others now 

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13 minutes ago, Hky05 said:

Seems as if the new Shaha “AAA initiative” felt left out and now does the same thing-putting kids on the team without trying out or having “private tryouts.”  They just wanted to be like the others now 

What do you expect a team to do if a good player suddenly becomes avaliable? This is the issue with all tryouts being at the same time. Good thing is, all these players are already known. What new can you learn about a player at a 2 day tryout, when you've seen the kid play many times over the last few years. Also, look for the "SHAHA AAA initiative" to battle for the district championship....... against last year's winner

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8 hours ago, hockey07 said:

What about the ones that donate a few thousand to play on the biggest fundraiser-Vengeance practice squad 

True. But I have seen players go from paid practice squad to a roster spot the following year. They certainly don't offer those "practice squad" spots to anyone and everyone, but it certainly does seem like a money grab.

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1 hour ago, Hky05 said:

Seems as if the new Shaha “AAA initiative” felt left out and now does the same thing-putting kids on the team without trying out or having “private tryouts.”  They just wanted to be like the others now 

Do not be so naive to think this does not happen at other levels ( and other sports ), as some of the top AA teams already have 75% or more of their roster locked in with returning players.  Do you honestly think a kid that was on said AA team the prior year, had a good season and did just OK at tryouts that his spot would be in jeopardy?  If a coach has coached a kid prior and has good history with that player, nothing earth-shattering will come from three one-hr tryout slots.

At the AAA level organizations get a preview of what is coming at tryouts with those "invite only" open skates, and if the coach likes what he sees he connects with that kid with an offer to commit.    Whether you like the process or not, that is the process.

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1 hour ago, fafa fohi said:

Do not be so naive to think this does not happen at other levels ( and other sports ), as some of the top AA teams already have 75% or more of their roster locked in with returning players.  Do you honestly think a kid that was on said AA team the prior year, had a good season and did just OK at tryouts that his spot would be in jeopardy?  If a coach has coached a kid prior and has good history with that player, nothing earth-shattering will come from three one-hr tryout slots.

At the AAA level organizations get a preview of what is coming at tryouts with those "invite only" open skates, and if the coach likes what he sees he connects with that kid with an offer to commit.    Whether you like the process or not, that is the process.

Also, this is not a new phenomenon, things like this have gone on with all higher level organizations in all sports for years.  99% of the time when a "new" player makes a AAA roster, they were on the coaches and other team officials radar for months before tryouts even occur.  Occasionally, you will see someone "off the street" make it, but they are truly facing an uphill battle for spots due to the factors mentioned above.  If this is the right way to do it or not is another question, but in reality this how it works across all amateur sports that are able to recruit and are not locked into specific geographic (school district) locations.

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4 hours ago, Whoosh said:

What do you expect a team to do if a good player suddenly becomes avaliable? This is the issue with all tryouts being at the same time. Good thing is, all these players are already known. What new can you learn about a player at a 2 day tryout, when you've seen the kid play many times over the last few years. Also, look for the "SHAHA AAA initiative" to battle for the district championship....... against last year's winner

07s SHAHA?

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6 hours ago, RJUSHL said:

True. But I have seen players go from paid practice squad to a roster spot the following year. They certainly don't offer those "practice squad" spots to anyone and everyone, but it certainly does seem like a money grab.

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??????

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5 hours ago, fafa fohi said:

Do not be so naive to think this does not happen at other levels ( and other sports ), as some of the top AA teams already have 75% or more of their roster locked in with returning players.  Do you honestly think a kid that was on said AA team the prior year, had a good season and did just OK at tryouts that his spot would be in jeopardy?  If a coach has coached a kid prior and has good history with that player, nothing earth-shattering will come from three one-hr tryout slots.

At the AAA level organizations get a preview of what is coming at tryouts with those "invite only" open skates, and if the coach likes what he sees he connects with that kid with an offer to commit.    Whether you like the process or not, that is the process.

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.

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Can 100% confirm this happens even at the younger age groups (10U). We were approached about my son and asked to come to team practices starting in Feb and talk with the coaches. We really liked what we saw and my son felt super comfortable. Coaches said he a great tryout and made the team. I don't see a problem with this, because we are on the "winning" side of the situation this time. Now the kid who had his spot taken because of my son, I'm sure his parents hate me.

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6 hours ago, mrfreeze said:

I heard 2 more Pittsburgh kids left PPE 06 and went to Cleveland Barons. 

Which would leave only 2-3 from Pittsburgh remaining on that team ( not counting the 07 if he plays up ) ....... ( edited from my original post indicating there was only one local kid remaining on 06 PPP )

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4 hours ago, mrfreeze said:

I heard 2 more Pittsburgh kids left PPE 06 and went to Cleveland Barons. 

Are these people seriously driving the 4hr plus round trip from Pittsburgh to Cleveland 2-3 times a week for Barons practices? That seems insane to me

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12 minutes ago, forbin said:

Are these people seriously driving the 4hr plus round trip from Pittsburgh to Cleveland 2-3 times a week for Barons practices? That seems insane to me

I know most of them..... What would you do if your kid was a very high level player (USHL, NAHL,D1 level prospect) and couldn't play in Pittsburgh because you're not friends with the guys from Canada and Chicago who run the program?........ serious question. What would YOU do?

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Is it more insane to commute 2 hours each way or to move your entire family or rent an apartment and live in a City for the season while your kid plays hockey. Another question is it crazy to play for a team that requires you to attend a school and additional program that will easily put your fees at $25 - $30,000 dollars before any travel fees, or living fees are worked into the mix. Look at PPE roster and it is filled with kids from Canada, California, New York, Michigan. They are not the only ones doing it, pretty much all the top teams are like this and you even have it with mid to lower level teams. I heard 3 of the vengeance players are going to play in Columbus next season, I think they already had 1 Pittsburgh kid. How many kids is Yuri going to bring in this season, and what does it cost them. You would have to ask those kids and family's that left if it was worth it, sounded like it worked out for them and they all returned and added a few more. I would also ask the Pens and Esmark players the same. Are they staying or going. I would not be so quick to judge unless you new all the facts and faced with the same decision to make for you and your kid. That being said, we still have lots of tryouts to go, hope you got a lot of popcorn. 

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1 hour ago, sadday4hockey said:

I count 5 (1 goalie) on last season's team and one that lives here now that daddy works there.

Well the line for the over under is 3, looks like 2 moved on and 1 moved up from 07. So that leaves 2 players and a goalie in question. Any bets?

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1 hour ago, Whoosh said:

I know most of them..... What would you do if your kid was a very high level player (USHL, NAHL,D1 level prospect) and couldn't play in Pittsburgh because you're not friends with the guys from Canada and Chicago who run the program?........ serious question. What would YOU do?

How many of these kids who've upended their own lives and their families lives actually end up playing in any of the leagues you've mentioned? And I mean stepped on the ice at all in those leagues, let alone making anything else out of it. 

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1 hour ago, mrfreeze said:

Is it more insane to commute 2 hours each way or to move your entire family or rent an apartment and live in a City for the season while your kid plays hockey. Another question is it crazy to play for a team that requires you to attend a school and additional program that will easily put your fees at $25 - $30,000 dollars before any travel fees, or living fees are worked into the mix. Look at PPE roster and it is filled with kids from Canada, California, New York, Michigan. They are not the only ones doing it, pretty much all the top teams are like this and you even have it with mid to lower level teams. I heard 3 of the vengeance players are going to play in Columbus next season, I think they already had 1 Pittsburgh kid. How many kids is Yuri going to bring in this season, and what does it cost them. You would have to ask those kids and family's that left if it was worth it, sounded like it worked out for them and they all returned and added a few more. I would also ask the Pens and Esmark players the same. Are they staying or going. I would not be so quick to judge unless you new all the facts and faced with the same decision to make for you and your kid. That being said, we still have lots of tryouts to go, hope you got a lot of popcorn. 

Both options are crazy. Unless that kid clearly looks like Crosby or Makar out on the ice. 

I would have to think that if a kid from Michigan or Canada is good enough to make PPE they're definitely good enough to make a high-level team where they live. 

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