Tryout Thread

[Happy Hockey Fan]

2 minutes ago, HockeyHockey said:

I struggle with this because I think everyone's experience is their own story.  What I will say about mine is, the squeaky wheel gets the grease and if you're willing to invest in private lessons with their coaching staff, your player will get more ice time.  Not because it's earned, because you are padding their pockets.  They will tell you what they think you want to hear and will sell the same story to others on the team.  Folks will argue the same about other organizations, but I can't speak to that so my comments are specific to this coach and org. Good luck with your decision- I know it's tough! 

Do the Preds coaches have access to ice to even do private lessons? It seems to be a big assumption considering that only certain people are approved to offer private lessons at the Ice Castle. I definitely could be wrong, but I have known of a number of kids that have played at the Preds AAA level and they haven’t taken any lessons from coaches at all. I will find out though as I have a friend whose son played for them last year at the 2010 BY.

[HockeyHockey]

45 minutes ago, Happy Hockey Fan said:

Do the Preds coaches have access to ice to even do private lessons? It seems to be a big assumption considering that only certain people are approved to offer private lessons at the Ice Castle. I definitely could be wrong, but I have known of a number of kids that have played at the Preds AAA level and they haven’t taken any lessons from coaches at all. I will find out though as I have a friend whose son played for them last year at the 2010 BY.

 

[forbin]

9 hours ago, Happy Hockey Fan said:

Do the Preds coaches have access to ice to even do private lessons? It seems to be a big assumption considering that only certain people are approved to offer private lessons at the Ice Castle. I definitely could be wrong, but I have known of a number of kids that have played at the Preds AAA level and they haven’t taken any lessons from coaches at all. I will find out though as I have a friend whose son played for them last year at the 2010 BY.

They offer small group or private lessons every day from like 3-5pm with their AAA coaches. 
www.ichockey.net

[Happy Hockey Fan]

2 hours ago, forbin said:

They offer small group or private lessons every day from like 3-5pm with their AAA coaches. 
www.ichockey.net

Not all of the AAA coaches are listed as instructors there. So I am pretty sure you are incorrect that all the coaches offer private lessons. The U14 and u13 coaches were not listed there. And I didn’t see the U18 coach there either. I think your statements are false. 

[Happy Hockey Fan]

6 minutes ago, Happy Hockey Fan said:

Not all of the AAA coaches are listed as instructors there. So I am pretty sure you are incorrect that all the coaches offer private lessons. The U14 and u13 coaches were not listed there. And I didn’t see the U18 coach there either. I think your statements are false. 

Sorry, I guess the U13 coach does offer private lessons. But only half of their AAA coaches do. 

[Hky05]

12 hours ago, HockeyHockey said:

I struggle with this because I think everyone's experience is their own story.  What I will say about mine is, the squeaky wheel gets the grease and if you're willing to invest in private lessons with their coaching staff, your player will get more ice time.  Not because it's earned, because you are padding their pockets.  They will tell you what they think you want to hear and will sell the same story to others on the team.  Folks will argue the same about other organizations, but I can't speak to that so my comments are specific to this coach and org. Good luck with your decision- I know it's tough! 

similar to some of allegheny’s BY teams too with the private lessons=more playing time 

[Spear and Magic Helmet]

24 minutes ago, Happy Hockey Fan said:

Sorry, I guess the U13 coach does offer private lessons. But only half of their AAA coaches do. 

The U16 coach is the only head coach who doesn't do private lessons, and I'm not sure if he is going to be back next year. A lot of the head coaches are assistants on other teams as well. Not all of them are part of IC Hockey. Klapper does both on and off ice training:
https://aehockey.com/

I can't say for a fact that you don't need to do the private lessons, but the videos they post on IG and YouTube seem to have a whole lot of yellow Preds helmets. I do think they get a bit of a discount on the private lessons and I also do think that they are great skill coaches.

[Happy Hockey Fan]

55 minutes ago, Spear and Magic Helmet said:

The U16 coach is the only head coach who doesn't do private lessons, and I'm not sure if he is going to be back next year. A lot of the head coaches are assistants on other teams as well. Not all of them are part of IC Hockey. Klapper does both on and off ice training:
https://aehockey.com/

I can't say for a fact that you don't need to do the private lessons, but the videos they post on IG and YouTube seem to have a whole lot of yellow Preds helmets. I do think they get a bit of a discount on the private lessons and I also do think that they are great skill coaches.

14U coach does lessons at RMU. Don’t think he makes kids take his lessons though. 

[forbin]

2 hours ago, Happy Hockey Fan said:

Not all of the AAA coaches are listed as instructors there. So I am pretty sure you are incorrect that all the coaches offer private lessons. The U14 and u13 coaches were not listed there. And I didn’t see the U18 coach there either. I think your statements are false. 

How are my statements false? lol I didn’t say ALL their coaches do lessons and I provided a link to their site. 

[Spear and Magic Helmet]

3 hours ago, Happy Hockey Fan said:

14U coach does lessons at RMU. Don’t think he makes kids take his lessons though. 

Who is the 14U coach? Nick Kuqali is listed on the website, but the website may be wrong.

[Happy Hockey Fan]

1 hour ago, Spear and Magic Helmet said:

Who is the 14U coach? Nick Kuqali is listed on the website, but the website may be wrong.

Jake Coleman

[forbin]

14 minutes ago, Happy Hockey Fan said:

Jake Coleman

Reading comprehension must not be your thing.

Jake is the 09 coach this year (15O)

Nick has the 10’s (14u) and the 12’s (12u)

Ty has his favorites the 11’s (13u). He had the 09’s as well up until this year. 

[Happy Hockey Fan]

52 minutes ago, forbin said:

Reading comprehension must not be your thing.

Jake is the 09 coach this year (15O)

Nick has the 10’s (14u) and the 12’s (12u)

Ty has his favorites the 11’s (13u). He had the 09’s as well up until this year. 

I didn’t look at this year’s coaches. I was going on last years. I can read quite well, have a college degree from a good university and a very high IQ. How about you? I am sure with the way you turn to insults you are no match for my intelligence. 

[Elitedaddy]

Ok thanks everyone. 

Edited April 17 by Elitedaddy

[HockeyHockey]

8 minutes ago, Elitedaddy said:

Ok thanks everyone. I didn’t mean to start a thing. I am digging deeper on this and appreciate the feedback. 

Most don't mean to start a thing but some chose to do so, unfortunately.
if the kid is happy, that's the most important.  You can hopefully tune out the other BS!  There are lots of decent programs in Pittsburgh so it's really about finding the right fit for your kid.  Good luck to you!! 

[No Politics]

Just as an FYI, the Yetis are looking to field a 16U National Bound team and are having two free pre-tryout sessions to any '08 or '09 skaters.  Those dates are:

2:30p - 3:50p on Sunday 4/21

8:30p - 9:50p on Tuesday 4/23

The link to the Google form to sign up is HERE.

On a side note, there is no overlap because they have the last tryouts locally (4/26 to 4/28).

And I am just sharing this.  Not looking to debate the organization, location, dates, coaches, etc.  If you or someone you know can use it, great.  If not, great.

[IceMom]

On 3/18/2024 at 2:15 PM, Ihearthockey said:

So for 2010

PV - 4/15-17

Esmark - 4/15-17

Aviators - 4/17-19

NP - 4/13-17

Foxes - 4/15-17

Crazy...roll the dice this year.  

+ Icemen 4/10-13

[1976]

Armstrong Arrows National Bound Program

14U

4/10  6:10pm - Pretryout Clinic

4/14 4:15pm

4/15 6:00pm

4/16 6:00pm

16U

4/11 6:00pm - Pretryout Clinic

4/14 5:45pm

4/15 7:10pm

4/16 7:10pm

18U

4/11 7:10pm - Pretryout Clinic

4/14 7:15pm

4/15 8:20pm

4/16 8:20pm

19U Girls

4/10 7:20pm

4/11 8:30pm

4/12 6:50pm

[Huskies_Director]

Pittsburgh Huskies 16u and 18u tryouts coming up next week!! 

16u

4/16 - 7:30pm

4/18 - 7:30pm

4/20 - 4:30pm

18u

4/16 - 9:00pm

4/18 - 9:00pm

4/20 - 3:00pm

FREEEEE (if registered for tryouts) 16u + 18u open skate Sunday 4/14 @ 9:00am

https://bondsports.co/activity/programs/CO_ED-youth-HOCKEY/3634/season/Pittsburgh Huskies 16U Tryouts/29454

https://bondsports.co/activity/programs/CO_ED-youth-HOCKEY/3634/season/Pittsburgh Huskies 18U Tryouts/29455

 

Edited April 13 by Huskies_Director
Time update

[Rewster]

On 3/20/2024 at 5:53 PM, fafa fohi said:

This is not a dis to the players on the Preds U18 team, but do you really think a team that was ranked 105th out of 125 teams is “producing players” when they can’t sniff MidAms, get a game with a top 40 team while their U18 AA team was ranked higher?

https://myhockeyrankings.com/rank.php?y=2023&v=118

https://myhockeyrankings.com/association_info.php?a=55

The whole point about the Preds AA PAHL team being unquestionably better than their AAA team speaks volumes about their program as a whole. Not to mention that it indicates that the players and family’s “in the know” understand the price points and how the return on investment (or lack thereof) is a vacuum of spent money for nothing of significance in return.

When the 18U AA team is receiving consideration and attention from higher level scouts, but their AAA team is not…well, there’s that “situation” and whatever label we would want to call it.

[PUCKCOVID19]

23 minutes ago, Rewster said:

The whole point about the Preds AA PAHL team being unquestionably better than their AAA team speaks volumes about their program as a whole. Not to mention that it indicates that the players and family’s “in the know” understand the price points and how the return on investment (or lack thereof) is a vacuum of spent money for nothing of significance in return.

When the 18U AA team is receiving consideration and attention from higher level scouts, but their AAA team is not…well, there’s that “situation” and whatever label we would want to call it.

higher level scouts for u18aa team? lol this isn't Chicago.  highest level even looking would be a pay to play........

[nemesis8679]

1 hour ago, PUCKCOVID19 said:

higher level scouts for u18aa team? lol this isn't Chicago.  highest level even looking would be a pay to play........

Or leagues that draft a ton of kids as a marketing ploy, where teams have no intentions of signing most of them and most of the kids have no intention of showing up to the camps. 

[Rewster]

9 hours ago, PUCKCOVID19 said:

higher level scouts for u18aa team? lol this isn't Chicago.  highest level even looking would be a pay to play........

I think that you’re glossing over my point.

My point is that when the usual and customary hierarchy of (*almost) every organization’s competitive ranking of their teams ranges progressively from “B” to “AAA” and there’s an obvious misrepresentation of the organization’s competitive hierarchy…then this is obviously a glaring problem. The Preds can be grouped into this category as evidenced by their “AA” PAHL team demonstrating unquestionably superior peer rankings (or by any measurable metrics / analytics / or comparison of competition through common opponents); when compared with the same organization’s “AAA” Independent team…this is what I am highlighting as my point. Not what level of advanced scouting that is in attendance for their team’s PAHL “AA” games. That doesn’t matter here.
 

The fact that the AA team garnered outside interest at all in the first place (and the AAA team did not) is what is glaring about the whole situation to me. It further illustrates the perceived talent gap between the organization’s same age composition of their top teams. When we look at the price difference involved between the AAA team and the AA team and then look at who’s really benefiting…this should become clear…which is my whole point.

Edited April 13 by Rewster

[No Politics]

 

Most '08 tryouts start this week.  Here are some.  I'm not leaving anyone off intentionally -- these are just the ones I have -- and feel free to make corrections if anything is incorrect.

Predators (AAA) start today (4/13).  Sorry, but I have no information on the Predators.

Arrows AA NB and Esmark AAA start tomorrow (4/14).  Arrows had their free skate/clinic Thursday and had a great turnout (There is no doubt Lee Grafton runs a great program there).  

Someone else posted that there wasn't a good turnout for Esmark's free skate, but I am not able to confirm that personally.  

Vengeance AAA tryouts start Monday the 15th.  I know families there, and it is a solid team with a lot of returning players.  I know of quite a few other players who are trying to crack that lineup, though.  This team seems to be a target of a lot of talented players.

Huskies (no level designation, so assume A/possibly AA) start Tuesday the 16th.  Huskies are a question mark because last year's tryouts went from "AA," to "let's try to cobble together an A team," to scrapping the whole thing.  To be fair, that was last year, it was the first year of a major expansion, and they may have ironed out the kinks.

Predators (AA/A) start 4/18.  Again, no disrespect to the Predators organization... I simply don't know anyone there to share information.

 

So lots of overlap there the first weekend.  Families are going to have to choose one (or start one and switch to possibly one other if things don't look good).

Next weekend North Pittsburgh (A through AA) start tryouts on 4/20.  This is NP's normal tryout process.  It is just earlier this year.  Not much to share that we all don't already know (nothing good, nothing bad... they're just probably the largest program in the area, so everyone knows them).

The Vengeance 16U NB (AA) team tryouts start 4/21.  Being that this is the Renegades conversion, I don't have much information on this one (or the regular Vengeance/Renegades tryouts below).  All I know is what others post here, and what I know from returning families (whose players ARE returning).  There seems to be a big flap about the cost this season, though.

Iceman (AA/AAA independent) and Aviators '08 BY start 4/22.  The Icemen were a pretty solid team last year, and families I know there are planning on returning.  They may pick up kids who were squeezed by the overlapping tryouts, but they are solid on their own.  The knock on this -- and other similar programs -- is the independent schedule.  You either like it or you don't.  

The Aviators are puzzling to me -- no disrespect meant -- because they played A Major Gold last year as a mixed-year team, and they lost 100% of their '08s from the previous season, so I don't know how they will have the numbers to form an '08 BY team (which are usually higher-level... you don't usually see an A-level BY team).  At any rate, they are an option for families looking to play elsewhere, and they are now playing at McKnight Arena.

Regular Vengeance 16U (A) start 4/25.  As stated above, I have heard very little regarding the Vengeance.  A-level Renegades players from last season -- and some others -- have told me they plan on trying out there, but I am not much help past that.

Yetis (A/AA) start 4/26.  I know multiple families from last year's team, and they were a higher-performing A Major Black team, but were (impressively) almost all '08s.  So the Yetis have them advertised as National Bound/AA this upcoming season, depending on who comes back and who joins the mix.  Any AA-level talent that got squeezed by the tryout jumble could land here if they want to stick with a PAHL schedule.  They're the last tryout of the season, so any higher-level players who don't yet have a home will still have a strong option.

 

I hope this helps folks!

[aaaahockey]

Couple more 08s:

Hornets AA is today 4/13 with callbacks tomorrow and Wednesday.  

SHAHA AAA is tomorrow 4/14 with I believe callbacks on 4/15 and their AA team will have tryouts later in the week.