Overreaction Monday

[Guest]

Now that EJ and AHF showcases are in the books, any surprising results?

[Guest]

Surprised how low level overall play is. AA (besides top teams) is basically A and last weeks A showcase looked like B. Best talent is in AYHL and 2nd best talent os in THF. Just surprised how watered down AA is due to too many Tier 1 teams.

[Guest]

Gotta be honest here... this has been said for 20+ years. Every year "well back in my day hockey was much better"
Its boring get new material. The letter means nothing at all.

What matters is the competition. Was the competition evenly matched?

[Guest]

Competition was not evenly matched. Top 1-2 players on top teams dominated. Top teams crushed teams. Lopsided scores at all levels. This happens at Tier 1 too. Problem is not that hockey was better in my day, but there were less Tier 1 teams. Less Tier 1 teams means lower level teams are better and players are playing at the appropriate level. The top kids at AA now would be mid-tier if all the crappy Tier 1 teams played AA. There is just not enough talent to have the THF and AHF Pure Age AA teams. It does not work. You have AA Pure kids who should be playing low A, but because BB needs to make money, they put in Pure Age teams. It is just ridiculous. You are correct the letter means nothing at all, but it used to. I am not saying this to say it was better back in my day. I am saying this because AAA, AA, A, B should mean something. Kids should play against other kids that are the same level. That is what the letters are for. But having so many teams now, 3/4 of kids at AA are really A level and the tope 25% at AA dominate. That is good for no one, except the rinks making bank!

[Guest]

Competition was not evenly matched. Top 1-2 players on top teams dominated. Top teams crushed teams. Lopsided scores at all levels. This happens at Tier 1 too. Problem is not that hockey was better in my day, but there were less Tier 1 teams. Less Tier 1 teams means lower level teams are better and players are playing at the appropriate level. The top kids at AA now would be mid-tier if all the crappy Tier 1 teams played AA. There is just not enough talent to have the THF and AHF Pure Age AA teams. It does not work. You have AA Pure kids who should be playing low A, but because BB needs to make money, they put in Pure Age teams. It is just ridiculous. You are correct the letter means nothing at all, but it used to. I am not saying this to say it was better back in my day. I am saying this because AAA, AA, A, B should mean something. Kids should play against other kids that are the same level. That is what the letters are for. But having so many teams now, 3/4 of kids at AA are really A level and the tope 25% at AA dominate. That is good for no one, except the rinks making bank!

I agree with the other poster, this is a recycled comment that is said over and over.  Instead of complaining about it, how about we all accept that youth hockey has evolved (in some ways better and many ways worse) and this is the new normal.  We have to adapt, its not changing.

I personally prefer single birth year for AA and at the older levels felt most games were competitive - didn't see many blow outs, majority of games were 1 to 3 goals between winning and losing team.  Yes, there's outliers but in general thought games were competitive.

As for the younger levels, there are always more lopsided games.... that also not new.  Goalies and defenses at those ages just can't keep up with top players, as they progress to Bantam and older the number of blow outs always goes down.

[Guest]

Ice Hockey is an absolute joke compared to other sports. Lacrosse & Soccer match teams up way better at all levels. Blowouts happen, but then teams move up to higher levels the next season. ICe Hockey is all about money now. I will continue to complain. No one wants to see a 13-3 game at any level. AHF is a joke, THF is a joke and so is EJ. Too many leagues + too many teams= lopsided games. At the older levels it is diminished because all the really good players have moved on to Juniors or Prep School. At Bantam and below hockey is crap! I witnessed a kid who had no business playing AAA in the THF last season dominate at AA. I witnessed a former 2013 AAA goalie get lit up in the EJ showcase.  The kids are A players. AA is A at best. The product is watered down at all levels except the AYHL. If you don't want an honest answer, don't ask the question!

[Guest]

Too many AAA teams. Too many organizations fielding AAA teams that would struggle at AA. Impact is felt at each level.

[Guest]

Ice Hockey is an absolute joke compared to other sports. Lacrosse & Soccer match teams up way better at all levels. Blowouts happen, but then teams move up to higher levels the next season. ICe Hockey is all about money now. I will continue to complain. No one wants to see a 13-3 game at any level. AHF is a joke, THF is a joke and so is EJ. Too many leagues + too many teams= lopsided games. At the older levels it is diminished because all the really good players have moved on to Juniors or Prep School. At Bantam and below hockey is crap! I witnessed a kid who had no business playing AAA in the THF last season dominate at AA. I witnessed a former 2013 AAA goalie get lit up in the EJ showcase.  The kids are A players. AA is A at best. The product is watered down at all levels except the AYHL. If you don't want an honest answer, don't ask the question!

didn’t the ayhl 2015 phc team just get steamrolled in Ohio this past weekend? Maybe that team isn’t a true AAA team? Time to throw on a hurricanes jersey

[Guest]

Ice Hockey is an absolute joke compared to other sports. Lacrosse & Soccer match teams up way better at all levels. Blowouts happen, but then teams move up to higher levels the next season. ICe Hockey is all about money now. I will continue to complain. No one wants to see a 13-3 game at any level. AHF is a joke, THF is a joke and so is EJ. Too many leagues + too many teams= lopsided games. At the older levels it is diminished because all the really good players have moved on to Juniors or Prep School. At Bantam and below hockey is crap! I witnessed a kid who had no business playing AAA in the THF last season dominate at AA. I witnessed a former 2013 AAA goalie get lit up in the EJ showcase.  The kids are A players. AA is A at best. The product is watered down at all levels except the AYHL. If you don't want an honest answer, don't ask the question!

Don't fool yourself, the AYHL is as watered down as any other AAA league, including the THF.  Top 1/2 of each age group destroys the bottom 1/2 every year, but teams are still forced to play uncompetitive games because rink/team owners are delusional and demand it knowing the games will be blow outs.  It is just better run, more organized league than the THF, but the AYHL suffers from the same watered down product.  There is no reason that the Atlantic District should give out over 20 AAA charters when places like Illinois and Michigan have less than 1/2 of that number.  There is not enough talent to support that many teams and everything across the board (AYHL,THF, NJYHL, DVHL, and AHF) suffers because of it.  But the demand (parents chasing dreams through their kids) is there, so the District caters to the money and that will not be changing anytime soon.

[Guest]

I don't think parents demand it. I just think AAA is a better bang for the buck now. More ice time, video, skills & off ice for the about a 20% higher price than AA. Now that AA is pure ages and the AHF exists, the travel for AAA is about the same as AA AHF. So when you compare what you get for AAA to AA the 20% is cheaper. If you take the AAA offering: extra practice, double the amount of skills, weekly trainer, off season free ice, 4 tournaments/showcases and price that out if you had to pay ala carte along with AA offering, the price is actually cheaper at AAA. The competition is better in the THF than AHF too. THF is basically a AA league and AHF AA is basically A, with the exception of the top 3-4 teams in each league. I saw AA AHF teams try to play in AAA tournaments with THF teams last season and they got smoked! There should be 4 AAA teams in the SEPA/ SNJ area. No more than that. If the AAHA just lowers the # of charters then AA and below will have much better teams. Remember there are only so many AA players too, so by having so many AAA teams, it trickles down to every other level. The problem with Pure Age teams at AA is there are not enough AA players to fill the slots. It used to be a AA team had 85% top age and then 15% lower age kids that could play at that high level. Now it is maybe 5 AA players and the rest A for all AA Pure Teams. If the # of AAA teams is lowered, but AA starts offering the same structure as AAA, most parents will pay that cost. The extra letter has nothing to do with it!

As far at 2015 PHC, they had 1 win, 1 1 goal loss and 3 3-4 goal loses. I would not call that steamrolled. This team is probably the best 2015 AAA team in PA & NJ but most of the kids on that team are not used to playing that high a level yet. It will take them time. The real issue with that team is how the so called "superstar" kids jell. Most of the tope kids on that team hate to pass which is a must at AAA. No matter how talented a kid is, they will not be able to skate and stickhandle thru 5 players at the AAA level.