AAHA Tier 1

[Guest]

I hope somebody from the AAHA reads this and considers stripping tier 1 status for some organizations within its jurisdiction and reexamines its criteria for tier 1 designation.  As discussed multiple times here, there are too many tier 1 teams, which has negatively impacted tier 2 teams.  Tier 1 should be reserved for elite status.  Being a AA player does not entitle one to be a AAA player.  Teams across AAHA have few real AAA players with most of teams having AA players to round out rosters and pay for costs.  And in some cases, they have A players.  As a result, tier 2 teams have some AA level players on AA teams with A players rounding out those teams and so on.  In recent years, two new “Tier 1” teams popped up in Central PA with Palmyra and York Skipjacks and Philly Revolution in eastern PA.  Who knew there were so many elite players in PA???  The USPHL is really a tier 2 league that calls itself tier 1.  Also, there are some downright awful teams in the AYHL - Little Flyers for one.  Instead of making parents proud that they’re kid is a AAA player, if the AAHA really cared about the players and hockey overall, both tier 1 and 2, it needs to look at tier 1 designation.  Or just make every organization AAA.

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[Guest]

problem has been around for years and has gotten worse, if you are willing to pay the fee, entry is no issue - why the need to have 5 AAA teams in Philly area is beyond me

#showmethemoney!

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[Guest]

There are so many "problems" with youth hockey, this is just one of them.

From paying to "play up", clinics @ 100-150 a pop, cost of ice time, cost of insurance, cost to play, usa hockey costs, tournaments, hotels, paying coaches, deals, reduced fees...

Who knew that so much "industry" could be built around the love of playing a game. 

And that is what the issue is.  Money.  Enjoy the ride.

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[Guest]

Don't forget PHC (Hollydell) as well. Going to be more AAA teams than AA shortly!

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[Guest]

problem has been around for years and has gotten worse, if you are willing to pay the fee, entry is no issue - why the need to have 5 AAA teams in Philly area is beyond me

#showmethemoney!

This is it. Parents are convinced their kid is the next NHL player because a tier 1 team took their money. Watch when your kid is 4th line and plays 1 shift a game. But hey they get to post all over facebook and twitter johnny is aaa

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[Guest]

I agree way too many tier 1 teams in the local area.   I am not sure that I  would lump the Skipjacks in with the other teams.  If you look at their rosters most of their players are from out of the area.  They also seem to move a decent amount of players onto higher levels. 

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[Guest]

Good point about Skipjacks, but it appears the moves are mainly within the USPHL rather than to reputable junior teams or D1 colleges.  I agree with the initial post about USPHL being a tier 2 league that calls itself tier 1.  The teams went to USPHL because they couldn’t get into other tier 1 leagues.  I’m just going to start my own league and call it AAAA.  Letters have no meaning anymore.

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[Guest]

Not true. The usphl was created for the competitive tier 1 teams who want to compete at a true tier 1 level to escape the ejepl. Ej will accept anybody willing to pay their unrealistic fees to play in a second very weak league to make themselves feel like they accomplish something because they're unable to compete in their regular season leagues. The ej is trash its filled with independent teams that call themselves tier 1 but aren not.

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[Guest]

So EJ and USPHL are both trash.

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[Guest]

Tier 2 jr teams are not reputable??

Good point about Skipjacks, but it appears the moves are mainly within the USPHL rather than to reputable junior teams or D1 colleges.  I agree with the initial post about USPHL being a tier 2 league that calls itself tier 1.  The teams went to USPHL because they couldn’t get into other tier 1 leagues.  I’m just going to start my own league and call it AAAA.  Letters have no meaning anymore.

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