2010 PAHL season

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Hank
Posts: 3
Joined: Wed Jul 01, 2009 1:52 pm

2010 PAHL season

Post by Hank » Mon Oct 19, 2009 5:01 pm

It's still a little too early to figure out the top teams this year. Like most years, I'm sure there will be some teams that pull it all together at the end of the season, and beat the favorites for the championship. What a great time of year for sports - College Football, Pro Football, High School Football, Pro Baseball playoffs, Pro Hockey and of course Youth Hockey (High School and Travel).

Wish it was possible to play both High School and Travel, but it's just too much money.

I'm sure there are folks with kids that do play both. So how do you handle these things?

Which team takes priority?

How do the coaches and other players feel about your kid missing practices and games in favor of the team that is 1st priority?

Does it affect thier ice time on the 2nd team - even if they are one of the stronger players?

Really considering doing both and wanted a little feedback from those who have been there. Thanks.

dve239
Posts: 2
Joined: Fri Feb 27, 2009 1:59 pm

Re: 2010 PAHL season

Post by dve239 » Tue Oct 20, 2009 8:07 am

Hank wrote:It's still a little too early to figure out the top teams this year. Like most years, I'm sure there will be some teams that pull it all together at the end of the season, and beat the favorites for the championship. What a great time of year for sports - College Football, Pro Football, High School Football, Pro Baseball playoffs, Pro Hockey and of course Youth Hockey (High School and Travel).

Wish it was possible to play both High School and Travel, but it's just too much money.

I'm sure there are folks with kids that do play both. So how do you handle these things?

Which team takes priority?

How do the coaches and other players feel about your kid missing practices and games in favor of the team that is 1st priority?

Does it affect thier ice time on the 2nd team - even if they are one of the stronger players?

Really considering doing both and wanted a little feedback from those who have been there. Thanks.

I have alot of experience with this, so Ill tell you my view. Back in 99 to around 2005 everyone played high school hockey. Andrew Dealy, Gary Klapkowski, Matt Puntureri, Grant Lewis etc etc all played high school along with their traveling teams. These are all players who went on to the OHL or beyond with the exceptiong of Dealy I believe. But these were the top players in the area, and they all found time to do both. Now kids are forced to basically pick one or the other, and when there is a conflict it is Amateur without question. The coach for the Viper-Stars AAA u-16 team is more strict than the u-18 coach. He will bench his players for missing a practice for a high school game. I think that is a total joke. These kids are playing AAA hockey. While it is competitive hockey, it is more than likely not going to get them where Yuri acts like it will. The Hornets are the same way and have been forever. Players like Fitzgerald, Federoff, Kearney, etc all had short stints in junior but ended up in the acha like most aaa players from this area do, and thats fine.

Basically my point is, High school hockey used to mean something and kids used to be passionate about it. I look at my son's team now and there is minimal effort and they are nearly uncoachable by the high school coach. Its as if since its high school the coach must not know as much as the aaa coach. Plus, almost every decent player can make one of the what, 15 aaa teams in the area now? That is another major problem, before there weren't nearly as many teams, so they didn't run into these problems with a-hole aaa coaches who think they are coaching in the WHL and their players are all going to the show.

dve239
Posts: 2
Joined: Fri Feb 27, 2009 1:59 pm

Re: 2010 PAHL season

Post by dve239 » Tue Oct 20, 2009 8:10 am

Hank wrote:It's still a little too early to figure out the top teams this year. Like most years, I'm sure there will be some teams that pull it all together at the end of the season, and beat the favorites for the championship. What a great time of year for sports - College Football, Pro Football, High School Football, Pro Baseball playoffs, Pro Hockey and of course Youth Hockey (High School and Travel).

Wish it was possible to play both High School and Travel, but it's just too much money.

I'm sure there are folks with kids that do play both. So how do you handle these things?

Which team takes priority?

How do the coaches and other players feel about your kid missing practices and games in favor of the team that is 1st priority?

Does it affect thier ice time on the 2nd team - even if they are one of the stronger players?

Really considering doing both and wanted a little feedback from those who have been there. Thanks.

I have alot of experience with this, so Ill tell you my view. Back in 99 to around 2005 everyone played high school hockey. Andrew Dealy, Gary Klapkowski, Matt Puntureri, Grant Lewis etc etc all played high school along with their traveling teams. These are all players who went on to the OHL or beyond with the exceptiong of Dealy I believe. But these were the top players in the area, and they all found time to do both. Now kids are forced to basically pick one or the other, and when there is a conflict it is Amateur without question. The coach for the Viper-Stars AAA u-16 team is more strict than the u-18 coach. He will bench his players for missing a practice for a high school game. I think that is a total joke. These kids are playing AAA hockey. While it is competitive hockey, it is more than likely not going to get them where Yuri acts like it will. The Hornets are the same way and have been forever. Players like Fitzgerald, Federoff, Kearney, etc all had short stints in junior but ended up in the acha like most aaa players from this area do, and thats fine.

Basically my point is, High school hockey used to mean something and kids used to be passionate about it. I look at my son's team now and there is minimal effort and they are nearly uncoachable by the high school coach. Its as if since its high school the coach must not know as much as the aaa coach. Plus, almost every decent player can make one of the what, 15 aaa teams in the area now? That is another major problem, before there weren't nearly as many teams, so they didn't run into these problems with a-hole aaa coaches who think they are coaching in the WHL and their players are all going to the show.

Hank
Posts: 3
Joined: Wed Jul 01, 2009 1:52 pm

Post by Hank » Wed Oct 21, 2009 10:19 am

Thanks DVE for the input. Have to agree with you - if a parent has to make a choice between High School and Amateurs - most parents are going to pick Amateurs. We did, for these reasons:

1. The skill level is higher in Amateurs (AA and above) for the most part. I watched a JV game the other night and many of the kids could hardly stay on their feet. I don't want to be critical of them - they are playing their hearts out - but the fact is, the skill level is much lower in HS.

2. The cost is about the same for either, but you will get more games and practice ice in Amateurs, making it a better value for your money.

3. Playing with kids of a higher skill level will make your kid a better player. No, I don't think my kid is going to the NHL, but I do want him to play at the highest level that he is reasonably ready for and I can't afford to spend money on a program that doesn't afford that to him.

In the end it all comes down to money and time. It's a shame, but I don't see anything changing soon. Until HS hockey becomes significantly less in cost or it attracts more skilled players than Amateur, most parents will choose Amateur over HS.

I would bet, that if HS were to cost no more than $500.00 per season - miraculously, kids and parents would find the time to play both and the skill level for HS would increase dramatically.

ludiculous
Posts: 1
Joined: Fri Mar 07, 2008 10:49 am

Post by ludiculous » Wed Oct 21, 2009 10:50 am

Hank wrote: I would bet, that if HS were to cost no more than $500.00 per season - miraculously, kids and parents would find the time to play both and the skill level for HS would increase dramatically.
Strangely enough, in Buffalo this is not the case. HS hockey, especially Federation, is little to no cost to the players and many of the best players do not play. The split-season midget teams up there are largely a joke and the only thing that happened up there with forcing midgets into a split season was the explosion of junior teams - they aren't bound by the split season stuff.

I agree with most of what you wrote. However, keep in mind the other problem with HS hockey is you are (open division nonwithstanding) bound by an artifical border - kids have to go to your school. There are only a handful of schools where there are a lot of hockey players. The vast majority are just scraping by. Amateur teams just pick the best kids at their tryouts. In addition, amateur affords kids a choice of what skill level they want to play. High school can't offer this - so if your high school is in single A and you're not interested in playing that level of hockey - then you just don't play.

Hank
Posts: 3
Joined: Wed Jul 01, 2009 1:52 pm

Post by Hank » Wed Oct 21, 2009 4:45 pm

Strangely enough, in Buffalo this is not the case. HS hockey, especially Federation, is little to no cost to the players and many of the best players do not play. The split-season midget teams up there are largely a joke and the only thing that happened up there with forcing midgets into a split season was the explosion of junior teams - they aren't bound by the split season stuff.
That's pretty interesting, I would have never thought that. How long have they had that system in place? I would think that, at first anyway, the numbers here would climb drastically for kids playing HS (Freshman, JV, and Varsity), but I could certainly be wrong. I'd like to give it a try though.


I agree with most of what you wrote. However, keep in mind the other problem with HS hockey is you are (open division nonwithstanding) bound by an artifical border - kids have to go to your school. There are only a handful of schools where there are a lot of hockey players. The vast majority are just scraping by. Amateur teams just pick the best kids at their tryouts. In addition, amateur affords kids a choice of what skill level they want to play. High school can't offer this - so if your high school is in single A and you're not interested in playing that level of hockey - then you just don't play.
Very true - but I do think you would get more skilled Amateur players to play HS, if the cost was significantly less. Granted, that may mean only an additional 1-2 skilled players on some teams, but it would still be an improvement. I know of 4 kids from our school district playing Amateurs, that would most likely play HS too, if they could afford it.

I thought the A, AA, AAA rating was soley based on the student population for that school district - not the skill level (like in Amateurs). I'm sure there are some A teams that could compete with some AA and AAA teams in HS. Of course the larger the talent pool you have to choose from - the better your chances are of fielding a good team, but there are always exceptions.

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