PA Tier 1 Teams

[Guest]

There are 7 AAA teams in central and eastern PA:

Philly Jr Flyers
Philly Little Flyers
Valley Forge Minutemen
Philly Revolution
Palmyra Black Knights
York Skipjacks
Wilkes Barre Knights

Some field teams at all levels and some field teams at only a few levels.  Who is/are the best overall organization at age level considering player development, structure, coaching, value, politics/problems, and etc.?

[Guest]

this is powder keg question, but really your choices are VFMM and JRF depending on age levels, the rest are essentially AA at best

if you are spending AAA cash, stick with those 2, buyer beware with others

option is to look at high end AA programs in the area if child below 14U

NJ seems to have better AAA options as a whole

[Guest]

I agree with the poster ahead of me but would lean to the Jr Flyers. The rink puts a lot into their programs and offers more than the basics. VFMM seem to have lost their way and don't seem very invested in developing their hockey programs anymore. Revolution isn't in the AYHL and aren't really AAA. Most of the AAA programs are money grabs for rinks. I'd bet that most AA teams in the DVHL could beat the same birth year AAA teams.

[Guest]

You're never going to find a perfect club. No one has strong teams across the board. Sure, the JRF has some great ones, but them their 18s are one of the worst in the country and some of the younger ones are pretty bad. Try to find a decent coach and hope he doesn't leave.
Also, some clubs are only sanctioned by the District to field teams at certain ages so that's why they only have a few teams. And that can change year to year. The district will take away approval for certain birth years from clubs if they don't perform well enough. This seems to happen to the LF from time to time, I'm sure others as well.
Along those same lines. Can anyone explain why WB Knights still have a tier 1 charter? They only get approval for SQ and PW and sometimes field at most 2 teams a season. I can't recall the last time they had Bantam or Midget teams. Maybe when Provorov was there?

[Guest]

they are the Central Penn Panthers of this era.........

[Guest]

CPP had a tier 1 program??  How?   Ice surface is not regulation?  It is smaller than your typical rink. 

[Guest]

brings back memories of Gladiator Legion or Flyers Alumni.....

District has many skeletons in who they let play AAA, if you have cash and connections, you are good