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I both love and hate the “play where you live”model. It does already pretty much happen at the PAHL level anyway. Most Foxes kids live in Moon area, most NP kids are from Cranberry area. Where it gets wishy washy is in the south hills. Preds, Lebo , shaha, southpointe all seem to cross with each other.  I like the idea because kids get to play with their classmates and most likely play with each other the whole way up from mites to midgets, BUT I personally live less than 10 minutes from one organizations rink and drive the 30 minutes to my kids team rink for the simple fact that it offers more of what we want. I think the locations of the rinks in the area naturally segregate the players enough. You don’t see many kids who live in Plum playing for Southpointe simply because of logistics. 
At the AAA level the only way it would make sense to segregate is if there was one organization in each of the locations surrounding the city. North(PPE), South(Preds), East(Esmark), West(?). The problem with that idea is demographically it would struggle to field strong teams at each location. 
It only works perfectly in MN because everyone plays hockey. Every small town has a rink and organization where kids can grow. Even then the powerhouse teams always produce better talent. So then you have people moving their entire lives to get into one of those good districts. 

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2 hours ago, Jack Handey said:

This model is used in Minnesota for high school and the Chicago amateur league kind of works this way.  If you don't like your club, you get 1 free hop to another club then that's it.  There is no hopping from team to team each year like some west PA families do.  

Also of note about Minnesota, the best kids do not play amateur hockey ( AAA, AA, etc ) - they play for their high school.  So it is completely different than how it is here, where for some top level kids play HS hockey they play as a supplement to their amateur hockey, whereas in MN it is all about HS hockey.  Hell, they televise their HS games on local TV channels.

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It's just simply not feasible in this day and age due to one word. Lawsuits. If MidAm or USA hockey implemented something like this, they would be sued by the families and organizations as well as the rinks. The difference between Little League and Hockey is that the ball fields are far more prevalent and are managed by the community 95% of the time or more. Rinks are private businesses and limiting their available clients would seem to be some sort of infringement on them, doesn't it? This is even more true when you compare a 3 sheet facility like Center Ice vs Kirk Nevin. Is CI provided with 3x as many players available to them as KN? It's a sh$% show now. Just imagine it with geographical specs.

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14 hours ago, whatever said:

I was thinking Esmark got a bid because their 18 team won districts last year and Nationals were cancelled.    just a side note:  the Johnstown Tomahawks of the NAHL drafted a kid last year from western PA that played his 18U year as a Predator.  I believe he was cut at tryouts from the Pens and Esmark.  Bet he's glad his parents didn't read you comments about how FAUX his team was and a waste of money.  

The player your are speaking about went or the GOJHL to cut his teeth, that is were Johnstown picked him up from. It had nothing to do with the predators. We know the other player that went with him to Canada. 

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1 hour ago, Danner27 said:

The player your are speaking about went or the GOJHL to cut his teeth, that is were Johnstown picked him up from. It had nothing to do with the predators. We know the other player that went with him to Canada. 

So what's your point?  Did the player in question play for the Predators?  You give me the impression that only PPE and maybe Esmark is worth playing!  Maybe everyone else should just give up the sport!  Why do you care if there are 6 or 2 AAA programs in Western Pa. People can spend their money any way they want.  

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The point is that Danner is blowhard who lies about his kid's playing history and achievements. Yet despite being fact-checked and proven to be lying, he continues to pontificate on here as a PPE and Esmark lapdog.

 

1 hour ago, hockeyisgreat said:

Why do you care if there are 6 or 2 AAA programs in Western Pa.

One can only speculate that it's because he wasn't even able to live out his dreams vicariously through his kids.

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i think there is a clear difference in being able to field x amount of AAA teams vs the Pittsburgh area having the talent to field x amount of players.

Theoretically Pittsburgh could field 100 AAA teams. But the number of kids in any give age group that are legit AAA talent from the Greater Pitt area are probably closer to 20-40 at most.  Some would argue far less.  Not 100+ that would be indicative by having 5-8 AAA programs. 

Hey, people have the right to do whatever they want with their money. They just need to make sure they aren’t being bamboozled and flattered into something that isn’t reality. 

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The problem with only being able to play at a geographic rink closest to you is: What happens when some programs put effort into finding good coaches or more ice/practice or scheduling?  You are just stuck with whatever crappy coach the organization throws out there?   Some organizations are run atrociously and unprofessionally as well. I, for one, am happy to have choices where my kids play. 

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11 minutes ago, aaaahockey said:

The problem with only being able to play at a geographic rink closest to you is: What happens when some programs put effort into finding good coaches or more ice/practice or scheduling?  You are just stuck with whatever crappy coach the organization throws out there?   Some organizations are run atrociously and unprofessionally as well. I, for one, am happy to have choices where my kids play. 

Well, the conservative free market line of thinking would be that as people complained and no longer wanted to play there, they'd have to bring in better coaches. All orgs fighting for the best coaching would bring every org up, right? 

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2 hours ago, nemesis8679 said:

Well, the conservative free market line of thinking would be that as people complained and no longer wanted to play there, they'd have to bring in better coaches. All orgs fighting for the best coaching would bring every org up, right? 

Not if you were required to play geographically as suggested above. Then everyone would either have to play there or quit playing hockey.  That's not a good choice. 

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On 5/2/2021 at 8:13 PM, Wes said:

Show me where their hometowns are listed.  They aren't and there's a reason for that.  My feelings aren't hurt.  My daughter got the same opportunities in college as most of her former PPE teammates, so I am not shedding any tears, smarty-pants.

Your original post said that the rosters are hard to find.  You weren’t clear about the hometown being connected to the rosters. 
 

I also never said anything about your daughter, just pointed out that you are wrong about automatic PPE spots for SSA players. 

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18 hours ago, BeaverFalls said:

i think there is a clear difference in being able to field x amount of AAA teams vs the Pittsburgh area having the talent to field x amount of players.

Theoretically Pittsburgh could field 100 AAA teams. But the number of kids in any give age group that are legit AAA talent from the Greater Pitt area are probably closer to 20-40 at most.  Some would argue far less.  Not 100+ that would be indicative by having 5-8 AAA programs. 

Hey, people have the right to do whatever they want with their money. They just need to make sure they aren’t being bamboozled and flattered into something that isn’t reality. 

How is clear AAA talent measured? Would teams that are in the top half of AAA be considered legit? If that's the case then 9 of the 14 teams in AAA  14,15 and 16U are legit and only 5 are in the lower half of their tiers. There are over 100 teams in each level and to have 3 above half in each level, I consider pretty good.  To make a long story short I think the talent in Western PA is on par with most other areas of the country except for maybe Minnesota, Michigan & New York. Just my opinion.

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23 hours ago, Danner27 said:

The player your are speaking about went or the GOJHL to cut his teeth, that is were Johnstown picked him up from. It had nothing to do with the predators. We know the other player that went with him to Canada. 

Yes,  He went from the Predators to the GOJHL. ~ Then to Johnstown. You cannot say his time at the predators had nothing to do with it.  He was cut from both Esmark and Pens.  There is a heck of a lot of players that played at both Esmark and Pens that never moved to juniors at any level.  I bet he's glad his parents didn't read this board and see your comments.  You are misleading people. I do recall this remark from you: If someone thinks playing midget  “AAA” at the predators or icemen is going to get their kid somewhere, I’ve got a bridge to nowhere they can buy and I’ll sell it much cheaper than what the faux AAA club will charge for a season.    

 

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3 hours ago, whatever said:

Yes,  He went from the Predators to the GOJHL. ~ Then to Johnstown. You cannot say his time at the predators had nothing to do with it.  He was cut from both Esmark and Pens.  There is a heck of a lot of players that played at both Esmark and Pens that never moved to juniors at any level.  I bet he's glad his parents didn't read this board and see your comments.  You are misleading people. I do recall this remark from you: If someone thinks playing midget  “AAA” at the predators or icemen is going to get their kid somewhere, I’ve got a bridge to nowhere they can buy and I’ll sell it much cheaper than what the faux AAA club will charge for a season.    

 

 I stand by that statement, especially the way the system has changed over the past 5-6 years. 
 

The predators had nothing to do with with this player getting to Johnston, if you know the family you would know the story along with the work this player put in as a “late bloomer” starting at the bottom of the GOJHL with another Pittsburgh kid. Mario’s kid played at the predators when he didn’t make the hornets. Are you going to say the predators got him into Arizona State NCAA D1 ? 
 

Sorry to rain on your parade, keep the money train rolling’ over there. 

 

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57 minutes ago, whatever said:

Yes,  He went from the Predators to the GOJHL. ~ Then to Johnstown. You cannot say his time at the predators had nothing to do with it.  He was cut from both Esmark and Pens.  There is a heck of a lot of players that played at both Esmark and Pens that never moved to juniors at any level.  I bet he's glad his parents didn't read this board and see your comments.  You are misleading people. I do recall this remark from you: If someone thinks playing midget  “AAA” at the predators or icemen is going to get their kid somewhere, I’ve got a bridge to nowhere they can buy and I’ll sell it much cheaper than what the faux AAA club will charge for a season.    

 

There is also a heck of a lot of players that played in the NAHL and never moved onto NCAA D1. Last I saw, it averages out to the top two players per team each season that earn the opportunity or get the shot. 

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4 hours ago, hockeyisgreat said:

How is clear AAA talent measured? Would teams that are in the top half of AAA be considered legit? If that's the case then 9 of the 14 teams in AAA  14,15 and 16U are legit and only 5 are in the lower half of their tiers. There are over 100 teams in each level and to have 3 above half in each level, I consider pretty good.  To make a long story short I think the talent in Western PA is on par with most other areas of the country except for maybe Minnesota, Michigan & New York. Just my opinion.

A AAA team that plays a mostly AA schedule and goes .500 against them is not a good investment  

 

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10 minutes ago, BeaverFalls said:

A AAA team that plays a mostly AA schedule and goes .500 against them is not a good investment  

 

How do you know that going into tryouts?  Very tough decisions to make when your kid really wants to play AAA. How do you know which team is a good investment. I guess maybe limit tryout to the top 3 and if you don't make it move on to a good AA team?

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11 minutes ago, hockeyisgreat said:

How do you know that going into tryouts?  Very tough decisions to make when your kid really wants to play AAA. How do you know which team is a good investment. I guess maybe limit tryout to the top 3 and if you don't make it move on to a good AA team?

my point is caveat emptor

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3 hours ago, Danner27 said:

There is also a heck of a lot of players that played in the NAHL and never moved onto NCAA D1. Last I saw, it averages out to the top two players per team each season that earn the opportunity or get the shot. 

What does that have to do with any of what you are saying?   And you haven’t checked the NAHL in quit a while . http://nahl.com/player-advancement/college/

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30 minutes ago, hockeyisgreat said:

How do you know that going into tryouts?  Very tough decisions to make when your kid really wants to play AAA. How do you know which team is a good investment. I guess maybe limit tryout to the top 3 and if you don't make it move on to a good AA team?

Do some research. Look back at prior seasons on MyHockey. Talk to people. Look at team ratings. If they are the same as Tier II team ratings, it’s really not a AAA team. 

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3 hours ago, hockeyisgreat said:

How do you know that going into tryouts?  Very tough decisions to make when your kid really wants to play AAA. How do you know which team is a good investment. I guess maybe limit tryout to the top 3 and if you don't make it move on to a good AA team?

 

Ask the players.  As much as the parents like to think they know who the really good players are, they usually look at the players and teams through a colored lens.  The players know who belongs on various teams and who does not.

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On 5/1/2021 at 9:11 PM, Theroadtobeerleague said:

Looks like across the board, both boys and girls and Tier 1 and Tier 2, Pittsburgh teams arent exactly having great results at Nationals. Exceptions being PPE U16 and U18 boys

Depends on whether you gauged success ONLY by winning the national championship:

Steel City Selects Girls 2021: 

14U - Lost in Semi Finals

19U - Lost in Semi Finals 

16U - Lost in Championship game

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1 hour ago, GrumpyOldPucker said:

Depends on whether you gauged success ONLY by winning the national championship:

Steel City Selects Girls 2021: 

14U - Lost in Semi Finals

19U - Lost in Semi Finals 

16U - Lost in Championship game

I was really pulling for the 19s but they lost to a team they had beat in the round Robins…

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15 hours ago, GrumpyOldPucker said:

and U18 boys

Losing 6-3 in the QF's is a success? For The Chosen team? With all those years of Excel Academy training? The best facility. The best coaching. All the other hoopla and kool-aid.

That's not a very high standard.

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54 minutes ago, sadday4hockey said:

Losing 6-3 in the QF's is a success? For The Chosen team? With all those years of Excel Academy training? The best facility. The best coaching. All the other hoopla and kool-aid.

That's not a very high standard.

I figure making it to Nationals Quarterfinals is a success in and of itself. We all know how fashionable it is to hate PE, but that's still doing pretty well.

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