lv phantoms going back to tier 1?

[Guest]

What do you mean? I think this in reference to all the comments saying they wouldn't be competitive in the league or at the Tier 1 level?

Also you would need to clarify your statement on the AY not being competitive. How so? Typically at all levels they have teams ranked very high nationally. What other leagues on the East Coast are better? At what levels? It all depends. Regardless there are many options for teams to play a competitive schedule. A blanket statement that the AY isnt competitive shows little knowledge of the hockey landscape.

[Guest]

well said... all leagues have some good, some bad -- this is kids, not NHL

their 2011's rocked it, let them celebrate

[Guest]

Great they'll move to tier 1, triple their fee thereby making it unaffordable or unattractive for 2/3 of the current players then get stomped in the AY when they take anyone who's willing to pay and then get kicked out of the league for not being competitive. Rinse and repeat. Every 5-7 years in NE PA.

[Guest]

I was going to start a separate thread about this, but just as easy to do here. Nothing I'm going to say is new. There are just way too many AAA options in the area and not enough AAA kids to make competitive teams. It was already bloated to begin with and in the last few years the district added Palmyra, PHC and Revolution. Next year Woodbridge and I assume the following year LVP. That makes 19 clubs in the District. I'm sure there are a few other clubs who are offering "AAA" without being sanctioned as well.
Where is all of this talent coming from? I know a lot of the people that run these clubs/rinks are just trying to make money, but the ultimate blame goes to the parents. As long as they keep chasing letters, clubs will keep cashing checks. And then it’s a trickledown effect that impacts AA and so forth down the line.
A friend is mine has a 2nd year Peewee age kid who played AAA this year. If he had stayed with his tier 2 club, he wouldn't have made their AA team. What kind of world is this where this is acceptable?

[Guest]

I agree 100%. That being said I think a majority of this thread is geared towards all the armchair QBs who dont know what they are talking about as it relates to LVPY 2011s. They flat out can play at an elite level and are legit. The point always is some people need to stop making assumptions about things they know nothing about. Organizations get pressure from the district and they realize they are getting held to the fire if they put in bad teams. LVPY 2011s are a unicorn in their org though and I dont think your going to see that program put out AY teams that cant compete. They did it before and it destroys the integrity of everything else all the way down.

Now to your point. Correct. You can call it whatever letter you want to give it but there truly are too many Tier "1" options in the AAHA. The fact that you have the league breaking out into National and American, Premier and Elite, etc just shows there truly is only a handful of teams in the district at each level who can play at the highest competition. Its not really org specific either. Most orgs have one or two good birth years and the rest are average to below average. Most of this comes down to there are just lots of clubs. If you want to look out west Pens Elite and pretty much Pitt Vengeance are the only Tier 1 options you have. Imagine if we paired down to 2 or 3 in NJ and 3 or 4 in Pa. Competition would rise and you could pair kids where its best for them to develop. Thats on the district though. How they go down that road or if they ever do who knows. Money talks. End of the day in your program you need to manage to the top of what you have. It challenges the whole team and that's how they get better. Truly there is elite level hockey, then I guess what you would call Tier 1, AA, A, B, etc. None of the truly elite programs really even want to play the weaker part of their schedule anyways. I think the bigger issue is the district allowing Tier 1 status to orgs who are USPHL. Still confuses me to this day. Incentive always drives the bus. Do the people at the top care about the almighty dollar or what's best for the kids?

[Guest]

Population wise, you could probably up those numbers a little more. In PA there could be 5 teams. I think there should be one in the Harrisburg area, then 4 in the surrounding Philly area. Jersey could be 5 as well, 3 in the north, 1 central, 1 south. No more National/American splits. This is still probably too many, but it's a start.

[Guest]

Not sure if the numbers are perfect but thats a start. I think the hard part is unwinding what's already done. If you take away top status from some orgs how do you do that and still ask for the same money and keep the good ol boys happy? Thats probably the right thing to do and would help hockey in the district from a development perspective but the reality is there is people who run orgs who make money and lots of it. You are starting to see more teams take runs at going independent which will likely happen in the future if this isnt addressed. I frankly think they should get rid of all recruiting rules and let the best man win. The elite programs at certain levels would rise to the top and put hockey in a better situation. Would be cool to see 10 tier one teams in the district battle it out though. You wouldnt really see any weak teams. I have seen some teams who are "Tier One" where the quality of hockey is awful.

[Guest]

how are Phantoms looking?  what is the latest jam?

[Guest]

hearing Phantoms getting lot of looks from people out of area, few coming across from NJ