Spring Hockey

[Guest]

I doubt it hurt the AA kids playing against AAA kids.  If anything it allows for them to see where they stand in if they could play at that level. 

[Guest]

I doubt it hurt the AA kids playing against AAA kids.  If anything it allows for them to see where they stand in if they could play at that level. 

Well since a lot of kids playing AA are really A players because of pure age AA teams, it did hurt them. The kids playing AAA for years (including full ice mites) have a huge advantage on the A kid who moved up to AA this year. AAA kids should never play below AAA. It is worthless for them and mentally hurts the kids that are not as talented. It is mainly YK/Hollydell and that idiot from Dark Magic that do this. Most other rinks either play their level or play up if the kids want to. You should never play down!

[Guest]

Players/Parents leave and things improve. See them at Dunlops and realize kids are still brats, parents still a-holes and new organization parents badmouth them behind their backs. Good luck to new organizations when season starts. You will need it!

[Guest]

I doubt it hurt the AA kids playing against AAA kids.  If anything it allows for them to see where they stand in if they could play at that level. 

Well since a lot of kids playing AA are really A players because of pure age AA teams, it did hurt them. The kids playing AAA for years (including full ice mites) have a huge advantage on the A kid who moved up to AA this year. AAA kids should never play below AAA. It is worthless for them and mentally hurts the kids that are not as talented. It is mainly YK/Hollydell and that idiot from Dark Magic that do this. Most other rinks either play their level or play up if the kids want to. You should never play down!

The fact that their are way too many AAA teams with AA players on them hurts AA than the pure age AA teams

[Guest]

I doubt it hurt the AA kids playing against AAA kids.  If anything it allows for them to see where they stand in if they could play at that level. 

Well since a lot of kids playing AA are really A players because of pure age AA teams, it did hurt them. The kids playing AAA for years (including full ice mites) have a huge advantage on the A kid who moved up to AA this year. AAA kids should never play below AAA. It is worthless for them and mentally hurts the kids that are not as talented. It is mainly YK/Hollydell and that idiot from Dark Magic that do this. Most other rinks either play their level or play up if the kids want to. You should never play down!

The fact that their are way too many AAA teams with AA players on them hurts AA than the pure age AA teams

Agreed, Too many AA and even A players are playing AAA because mommy and daddy are willing to put out the money and not based on skill of the player. It's a trickle down effect to the tier2 teams.
There are 7 AAA teams in central and eastern PA:

Philly Jr Flyers
Philly Little Flyers
Valley Forge Minutemen
Philly Revolution
Palmyra Black Knights
York Skipjacks
Wilkes Barre Knights

that should be knocked down to 3 maybe 4 tops. I can see keeping York or Palmyra not both, Wilkes Barre and one of the flyers teams and possibly the Minutemen.

[Guest]

I agree about too many AAA teams. However, if you shrink the rinks offering AAA, what happens to a AAA player that now lives an hour+ from the closest AAA rink. They may not be able to drive that far and now has to play AA. AA does not offer the ice time, skills and off-ice that AAA does, but the cost is about 80% of AAA. To get what AAA teams offer that kid would now probably pay 50% more than the AAA player. I think the THF and AYHL have solved this issue by offering different levels of AAA with their division or scheduling. I have an idea. Who is the best state when it comes to players in D1 and NHL? Minnesota! They do not offer AAA or AA. They just play hockey until the kids hit national bound level. They must be doing something right compared to east coast hockey.

Now with that being said, the issue is every AAA team has AAA players. Some way more than others. What happens to those kids that are AAA that a coach may not want because he has kids that have been with him for years. What happens to girls that are good enough but most AYHL teams won't take girl, especially Jr. Flyers, Little Flyers and Hollydell? More AAA teams offer more opportunities for all players. Who cares if the team may not be the best at SQ, PQ or 1st yr Bantam. You will not know if a player is truly AAA or has a shot at college/draft until they are 15-17 yrs old. Puberty really changes things and the younger ages are about developing players not what team is the best.

[Guest]

I agree about too many AAA teams. However, if you shrink the rinks offering AAA, what happens to a AAA player that now lives an hour+ from the closest AAA rink. They may not be able to drive that far and now has to play AA. AA does not offer the ice time, skills and off-ice that AAA does, but the cost is about 80% of AAA. To get what AAA teams offer that kid would now probably pay 50% more than the AAA player. I think the THF and AYHL have solved this issue by offering different levels of AAA with their division or scheduling. I have an idea. Who is the best state when it comes to players in D1 and NHL? Minnesota! They do not offer AAA or AA. They just play hockey until the kids hit national bound level. They must be doing something right compared to east coast hockey.

Now with that being said, the issue is every AAA team has AAA players. Some way more than others. What happens to those kids that are AAA that a coach may not want because he has kids that have been with him for years. What happens to girls that are good enough but most AYHL teams won't take girl, especially Jr. Flyers, Little Flyers and Hollydell? More AAA teams offer more opportunities for all players. Who cares if the team may not be the best at SQ, PQ or 1st yr Bantam. You will not know if a player is truly AAA or has a shot at college/draft until they are 15-17 yrs old. Puberty really changes things and the younger ages are about developing players not what team is the best.

I can see what you are both saying and neither is wrong. From the time I lived and played in Michigan I can tell you they care a whole heck of a lot more about Scholastic Hockey then they do travel. I believe Minn., Wis. and Illinois are pretty much the same. In 10th grade my oldest went out for JV and the coach cut 9 players and told us to keep playing club hockey, which he did. When we moved to PA, because of a job transfer, he went to his High School tryout, 3 schools were there at the same time and boy what a difference. We asked the coach about the players there being the best in the area and he told us no that's what travel is for. Being new, he had no ties with the school and only played his senior yr for them, when it seemed a lot more travel kids from the school decided to play. Back home scholastic games are where scouts go not travel games. In the 2yrs he played AA and 1yr of scholastic in Pa we never saw a scout. His younger brother played 3yrs of AA  and 1 yr of AAA hockey here in PA and will no longer play travel. He is going into his sophomore yr at prep school and will just play for the school, where they have had various scouts show up to watch. On his travel teams he was always on the top 2 lines, going into his sophomore yr his coach said he is a 3rd line player with hopes to push for some playing time on the 2nd line by the end of the season.

Between the AAA teams in the greater Philly area you can easily eliminate some and still not have a far drive to another. The yr my kid AAA we drove 2hrs and past a couple other AAA clubs in PA to the one in NJ he played for. With fewer AAA clubs it will be harder for coaches to play their games and it will trickle down to Tier2 making AA and lower more competitive. I don't have a daughter but I know they have multiple tier2 girls leagues, do they not have a girls tier1 league?

[Guest]

Girls have AAA and AA teams but at the lower levels they are not as good as boys teams. The AAA level is about as good as high A/low AA boys and AA as good as mid level A.  Most of the really good girls play AA boys or AAA boys- if you find a AAA team to take them. As far as eliminating teams that is tough. There are way more AAA players now than there were 10 years ago, but only a handful of teams are really AAA. Most AAA teams are AA, but have multiple AAA players. Even AA teams have AAA players. The elimination would have to be strategic. I think Mercer and Revolution would have to go. Flyers Elite would take the closer AAA players. Northern PA & NJ players from these 2 rinks would go to RHU, Wood Bridge or Titans. In PA you would keep Minutemen & JR Flyers and eliminate Revolution, Lehigh Valley and Little Flyers. Jr. Flyers would take some LV and LF, Minutemen would take some Rev and LV and PHC/JR F would take LF kids. With this plan you are adding probably 30-40 minutes to peoples drive and some kids would just drop down. I think a better way to do this would be for the AAHA District to force players to tryout for AAA teams in a geographical radius to a rink. If you got cut then you would be allowed to tryout out for another rink. I mean PHC gets kids from NY, CT, VA, MD. It is ridiculous. I think if you did it this way you would have less drama at the rinks, rinks would be more profitable, teams better matched and less rink hopping would happen. You would also get better coaching at the rinks because coaches would not hop rinks themselves. This plan would also cut down on costs by having a pathway for kids to move up the ranks in their own rinks and not looking for the next best thing. Right now, how many kids actually get promoted from Hollydell Hurricanes to PHC? Very few. Little Flyers really does not develop players, they just poach them from other rinks. Flyers Elite and Mercer are a mess at the lower levels. Minutemen are a joke. Jr. Flyers depending on the age is a mess. Revolution is hit or miss depending on the age.  Even PHC is going to struggle at 2011 & 2012 ages. Right now it is chaos. There has to be a better way.

I have no idea what plan the District will have coming out of the moratorium period. I do know that whatever they do, if they eliminate teams, lawsuits will happen, especially if BB teams get eliminated. This will get worse before it gets better!

[Guest]

Girls on boys teams at a younger age is fine but at a certain age girls have no business in boys hockey at any level. I saw it first hand with my daughter. She was one of the top 4 girls on her AAA team, her and her mom talked me into letting her play Bantam AA with the boys because it will "help" her game. Guess what, the boys didn't care she was girl and put a clean hit on her dislocating her shoulder. After she came back from injury not even two full games later she got her 1st concussion of her life ending her year, she played a total of 5 games that season. The following season against my protest she played a year at 16u with the boys. That year she played a total of 11 games due to injury. That was pretty much 2 years and $5000(not including doctor/hospital bills) lost. She went back to girls last year but because of her concussion issues played AA. She went the year uninjured and made a AAA team again this year. She is not the only girl I know that had similar things happen playing against the boys at the older checking age levels.

[justahockeydad]

 "I think a better way to do this would be for the AAHA District to force players to tryout for AAA teams in a geographical radius to a rink. If you got cut then you would be allowed to tryout out for another rink. I mean PHC gets kids from NY, CT, VA, MD. It is ridiculous."

So you want the districts to force players to only play for teams in a certain radius to their home? So you are against clubs having competition for players? Clubs will raise fees because they will know players are trapped and locked to them. Why limit it to AAA , why not make that for tier2 as well? That sounds kind of like you are in favor of living in a dictatorship. So your saying if you have a job making $85k a year and you could leave that job for another outside your "radius" making 95k you shouldn't be allowed to take it.

Are there more AAA players now or more parents willing to pay for AAA? I really don't there are more. I think because you have mid grade AA players playing AAA and mid to high A players playing AA to fill a team it just makes it look like there are more actual AAA quality players. AAA used to be for the best, not anymore.