AHF Gretzky & Lemieux Divisions

[Guest]

How is he THF, AHF AA Pure, Gretzky and Lemieux format working this year? My opinion is bad hockey all around. Not enough AA players to fill out Pure AA teams. This trickles down to lower divisions as talent at Gretzky is lacking and Lemieux is basically B level. McDavid division is like house league. THF is basically 80% AA to A teams with other 20% legit AAA teams. AAA players on every THF team but some teams have at best 5 legit AAA players. Skating at all levels is also just bad. Have kids regressed this much since BB took over rinks and top skills/skating coaches were fired? BB ruined hockey on the east coast!

Guess its time to move your kid(s) somewhere where they can get the elite competition you crave before the scouts miss out on them and their (i.e. your) dreams are ruined.

Are your kid(s) having fun and want to go the rink for practices/games?  Are they getting better?  If the answer to those is yes... who cares, enjoy while you can!!!!

Hopefully you have more going on in your life than watching "good" youth hockey.

[Guest]

How is he THF, AHF AA Pure, Gretzky and Lemieux format working this year? My opinion is bad hockey all around. Not enough AA players to fill out Pure AA teams. This trickles down to lower divisions as talent at Gretzky is lacking and Lemieux is basically B level. McDavid division is like house league. THF is basically 80% AA to A teams with other 20% legit AAA teams. AAA players on every THF team but some teams have at best 5 legit AAA players. Skating at all levels is also just bad. Have kids regressed this much since BB took over rinks and top skills/skating coaches were fired? BB ruined hockey on the east coast!

Yes because the DVHL / NJYHL and others are so competitive and awesome, not. Guess that's BB's fault also. The reason hockey in the tri state is getting watered down is because we have too many AAA parent wannabees that will pay the $ for the can pound their chest and say my kid is AAA. It's a trickle down effect that starts at AAA. Less AAA clubs means stronger AAA, AA, A and B teams. This was an issue before BB, you must be new to the area.

[Guest]

I think you are mistaken. My kid plays AAA in THF. I went this route because the pure AA in AHF is a joke. You have about 3 teams at each level that are legit high AA teams and some low to mid AAA (at current AAA level). The competition is just too low top to bottom at AA. My kid, while not a superstar at AAA, is a superstar at AA. And why are there so many AAA teams now? Because BB took over rinks and added AAA teams where there were none! This is a new phenomena and BB is ruining it. Did BB need to start the THF to compete against the AYHL? No. Did BB need to have pure AA teams this year? No. They did it because of money. They need to get parents to pay $4500 for pure AA and $4200 for A. While AAA is $5k+, BB AAA teams are higher than non-BB rinks. Who is at fault for this? BB is!

Also, 90% of parents (and kids) on our team would be happy to back to AA. We are not "AAA parent wannabees" as you say. We just want our kids to play good competition and get good coaching. Most Tier 2 rinks have below par coaching. AAA coaching is far better and you get more for your money. With that being said, I would take 2 day a weeks practice and supplement with privates if the competition was good. It is not and this is all BB fault!

[Guest]

I think you are mistaken. My kid plays AAA in THF. I went this route because the pure AA in AHF is a joke. You have about 3 teams at each level that are legit high AA teams and some low to mid AAA (at current AAA level). The competition is just too low top to bottom at AA. My kid, while not a superstar at AAA, is a superstar at AA. And why are there so many AAA teams now? Because BB took over rinks and added AAA teams where there were none! This is a new phenomena and BB is ruining it. Did BB need to start the THF to compete against the AYHL? No. Did BB need to have pure AA teams this year? No. They did it because of money. They need to get parents to pay $4500 for pure AA and $4200 for A. While AAA is $5k+, BB AAA teams are higher than non-BB rinks. Who is at fault for this? BB is!

Also, 90% of parents (and kids) on our team would be happy to back to AA. We are not "AAA parent wannabees" as you say. We just want our kids to play good competition and get good coaching. Most Tier 2 rinks have below par coaching. AAA coaching is far better and you get more for your money. With that being said, I would take 2 day a weeks practice and supplement with privates if the competition was good. It is not and this is all BB fault!

The poster of "AAA wannabees" wasnt talking about everyone, but there are enough that have ruined the other levels

I am not sure what team your child is on, but consider 2011 AAA in NJ:

12 teams

The 10th and 11th teams, per my hockey rankings, have played teams ranked in the top 5. Scores of some of those games? 15-3, 14-1, 14-1, 16-0 and 12-0. Those teams have no business being AAA

So how many AAA teams do you need at an age group within an area, when you also consider teams in NY, PA and DE also have NJ kids going there

So out of the 12 teams, maybe there should be 3-5 in NJ. Then we are talking 100+ kids that would beef up AA, and then kids playing AA (who are really A), are then sloted appropriately...

[Guest]

Is BB the only league that has pure AA birth years, no. Was watered down hockey talked about 3-4 yrs ago when we were part of the DVHL, yes. The fact is before BB & AHF/THF the area had too many AAA clubs, that took anyone willing to pay, period. Other than the mite full ice AAA how many AAA clubs did BB force to be made that weren't already at the rink when it was purchased?