New THF Tier 1 league

[Guest]

My kid plays for an AYHL team, so I'm not shilling for BB, the AHF or the THF.  In fact, I think what they are doing is going to be horrible for the sport and drive up costs for parents even more in the long run.  But anyone with open eyes can see what's coming and it ultimately will lead to the end of the current setup of youth hockey in this area as we know it.

BB and the AHF are and will be the King of youth hockey. Bow down to their greatness for without them hockey in the area would be never changing and improving, rinks will close and people will cry I/E the Rink in Lehigh Valley. Ask them if they wished if the big bad bear would have bought that crap of a rink, improved it and kept it alive. I'd gladly pay more for a better product. It's like saying you'd rather pay $11 for ground steak(hamburger) at a steak house instead of $14 for a sirloin, a better cut of meat.
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[Guest]

Parts of your response you can clearly see the sarcasm in the post "BB and the AHF are and will be the King of youth hockey. Bow down to their greatness for without them hockey in the area would be never changing and improving" and the rest I believe you are serious. I'd agree about paying more for better quality. That has yet to be seen and will probably take another year or 2 to see if the quality is truly better, although I love the steak house analogy.

[Guest]

The problem is BB is pushing their rinks to all have AAA teams or affiliates. This is bad. The rinks including BB need to shrink AAA to maybe 8 teams in all of NJ, Central/Eastern PA. There are not enough AAA players to fill out the # of teams now. 50% teams have 1/3 AA & 2/3 A level players. Shrinking the # of teams will lead to better AAA, AA & A hockey and will help the younger ages (below bantam) by having most of them play competitive AA or A games rather than crappy AAA hockey for 60% of the games.

[Guest]

Shrinking the # of teams will lead to better AAA, AA & A hockey and will help the younger ages (below bantam) by having most of them play competitive AA or A games rather than crappy AAA hockey for 60% of the games.

This is a valid point but parents egos won't let that happen if if they're going to pay Tier 1 fees why wouldn't BB take their money.

[Guest]

Shrinking the # of teams will lead to better AAA, AA & A hockey and will help the younger ages (below bantam) by having most of them play competitive AA or A games rather than crappy AAA hockey for 60% of the games.

This is a valid point but parents egos won't let that happen if if they're going to pay Tier 1 fees why wouldn't BB take their money.

That could be said for all tier1 leagues

[Guest]

That could be said for all tier1 leagues

No doubt.  Tier 1 mite and squirt hockey prove the point. 

[Guest]

Why do y’all even care if some kids play AAA Sq or Mites? If some parents want to pay that much for more travel and an extra practice, let them do them and worry about your own kids.  Are there too many AAA teams in area that dilute the quality of AAA hockey? Absolutely. Does that mean there aren’t equally “crappy” sq and mite teams at A or AA? Sure there’s are. Playing Tier 2 doesn’t necessarily mean your kid is getting quality development or playing well matched games.

[Guest]

You make my point, frankly state AAA is diluted and I don't give a rats butt what people spend their money on, my point is orgs are NOT going to NOT offer AAA teams because people will pay for the AAA letters even if it's for ages that a tier 1 status are meaningless.

[Guest]

Shrink the number of teams.... Shrink... Shrink...
That word does not compute when applied to a balance sheet.

[Guest]

Not true.  Mercer was 2011 was good because they had two big forwards who could score and a fantastic little goalie.  The lost in the playoffs with their coach being on vacation.  They'll be missed in the AY.

Mercer 2011 is not very good. They finished in 8th place in THF parity event. THF is a weak league. No Flyers Elite, Valley Forge or Elite Hockey to beat up on anymore. Mercer 2011 very overrated!

The parity even was not a perfect predictor of a team's strength. My understanding is that Mercer 11s were missing a few players. And the Hitmen 11s played a deceptively soft schedule. One 2011 was down to 5 skaters for their last game. Other teams looked like they had signed and brought more than 15 skaters.