BIG ANNOUNCEMENT! Black Bear Sports Group To Start New League

[Guest]

Correct.  So, what they will do, if they want to be loyal to the existing leagues, is they will make the teams from the new league go through the independent playoff bracket.  That satisfies the USAH requirement and gives the legacy leagues a little bit of a leg up.

[Guest]

Alot of the teams that are supposed to be 501c3 are for profit and evading the taxes. They keep everything inhouse with shell companies making swag and team official gear. They still do fundraising on top and for profit has always been youth hockey t2. AHF makes clear they are a business to make money period.

Maybe. Like I said, I don't know anything. But, I did peruse the rules. The AAHA rules Article VII(A)(1) state: "Only leagues that are sanctioned by the Affiliate pursuant to its Bylaws and these Rules and Regulations shall be entitled to the rights and benefits of the Affiliate and be eligible for National Tournament Play. "

It seems like they would have to change their rules to make the AHF teams eligible.

[Guest]

If the AHF does indeed have a path to Nationals, the decision for remaining DVHL & NJYHL clubs is whether they want to play in a smaller, less competitive league or move to the AHF and hope that the league delivers on their promises.

In my opinion, if the DVHL wasn't so hidebound, maybe non-Black Bear clubs like Valley Forge or Wissahickon wouldn't have left. But I also don't think having an entire region's youth hockey controlled by one guy and his investment fund is a net positive.

[Guest]

They have given independent tier 2 and tier 1 teams a path to nationals. So they probably will not recognize the league but they have an obligation to the teams they sanction as tier 2 to provide a path no matter what league they are in.

[Guest]

Maybe. Like I said, I don't know anything. But, I did peruse the rules. The AAHA rules Article VII(A)(1) state: "Only leagues that are sanctioned by the Affiliate pursuant to its Bylaws and these Rules and Regulations shall be entitled to the rights and benefits of the Affiliate and be eligible for National Tournament Play. "

It seems like they would have to change their rules to make the AHF teams eligible.

Will be interesting to see what happens if DV and NJ have to merge so they actually have enough teams to run a full season worth of games. 

[Guest]

The individual clubs are sanctioned by AAHA for districts and nationals regardless of league.  Sounds like AHF may not become a sanctioned league due to the non-profit rule, so AAHA is saying that teams in the AHF need to play enough in-state teams and games to qualify for districts and nationals.  Remains to be seen how… either AHF and DVHL teams will have to play each other during the season or in some tournament format at the end of the season.   

[Guest]

read the letter the affiliate just sent out.  It is crystal clear.  the path will be defined eventually, but AHF teams will follow an independent path to nationals like Team Philadelphia did before they joined the DVHL

[Guest]

one guy couldn't set up the AHF.  If that were the case why are Team Philly, Rockets, Wiss, Bandits, Hollydell, etc. all joining?  How is that different that the EJ?

[Guest]

either AHF and DVHL teams will have to play each other during the season or in some tournament format at the end of the season.   

After all the clubs move to the AHF there will be so few left in the DVHL to exist by itself, they will have to merge with the NJ league to have enough clubs to play a season, unless Quakers and Delco want to play each other a dozen times and call it as season. 

[Guest]

They have given independent tier 2 and tier 1 teams a path to nationals. So they probably will not recognize the league but they have an obligation to the teams they sanction as tier 2 to provide a path no matter what league they are in.

Genuine question: Where in the AAHA rules is there a path for independent Tier II teams to Nationals? Page 25 (Article VI(B)(2)(d) of the AAHA Rules and Regulations provides for a Tier 1 qualifier for independent teams. I don't see anything about a Tier II qualifier...