The #9 player on the Gems was properly rostered on the team before he began playing any games with the team. After the Gems beat the Cincy team they protested the loss, but after a review by the league and the Mid-Am district it was determined that he was correctly rostered on the team. The Buckeye league had establised the rules on double rostering of players before the season began. This came about due to a problem the league had with a couple of teams last year that double rostered too many players, and thus one of the teams was unable to play in the end of season tournament.

Having a AAA or AA player playing up one level to Bantam is a great credit to the player. If he is rostered on the Bantam team, he should be congratulated for his skills.
It is wrong at every level to also roster this player one level down at the A level. It is not fair to the other players on the A team, or their apponents who expect to play A hockey. This player is obviously capable of giving and receiving Bantam sized checks, which could be dangerous to a PEE-WEE A player, typically a first year checker.
I would congratulate the player for his skills, but shame on the coaches of the Dayton Gems for pulling this type of cheap move. What are you proving ? That your AAA Bantam skilled player can beat A PeeWees ? You just made a great name for Dayton Gem hockey in many other associations minds !

No need to worry about them again.
The Dayton Gems organization has folded.

quote:

---

Originally posted by Silver_Surfer:
No need to worry about them again.
The Dayton Gems organization has folded.

---

???? Where did you get this information?? Is this maybe a similar situation to the Columbus Stars UHL team that folded mid-season but did not affect the youth hockey program that had been around for years before the UHL team and will be around for years after.

I must admit that I just tried accessing the Gems website and I can't get it to load, but my internet service is notoriously bad. Anybody else have more information?

Is there another Dayton youth hockey organization? I am only familiar with the Gems and can't believe that the only youth hockey organization in the area would fold.

We also have the Dayton Bombers Youth Hockey League and the Dayton Blue Hawks. Merger talks are underway.

This situation has nothing to do with the ECHL Dayton Bombers. The Gems folded, however; the players will definitly have some place to play next season.

The thing that bothers me about the Fort Wayne deal is the Pee Wee commissioner gave them permission to add the players based on the fact that they did not have enough people to field a team. When they skated us Sat. night without the 2 ringers they had ten skaters. Not what I would consider an ideal team size but a team none the less. Injuries are unfortunate but a part of the game. The thing that burns my butt is we shook hands with the Fort Wayne folks on Sat. morning when they gauranteed us they would not use ANY late rostered players including the one that was a squirt. This boy had no business being on the ice with boys two years older than him. They picked him up out of the IP program. But they used him anyhow. The very sad part I learned from this as a team manager is trust NO ONE and verify, verify,verify who your opponent is at all times.

I do not know what is going on but I had heard about a month ago the the Gems and Bombers were joining together. Will keep in mind it is not the only team to ever do something like this. Team in the past have played B level and you look at there web site and find they lost to a AA team 4-3 or something.
This year you have coaches of a Squirt AA team telling there kids to hurt the other teams players. When conforted about it say you are *** right I told them to hurt them.

Someday maybe the coaches and parents will figure out this is youth hockey.

"Youth Hockey a great sport and even better if you take the parents out of it"

It is yet to be seen what happens in Dayton as far as reorganizing the various clubs. As far as #9 is concerned he is a very good player, and a real joy to watch play. Their family moved to the area during the summer with the intent of playing on a younger team, for which his dad was to be the coach, but there wasn't enough kids at that age group. The Gems are a small orginization, and for the Peewee team they basically took anybody that showed up for tryouts. The player in concern is a very late 91 player and has helped to elevate the play of the other kids. He initially started playing on the team because the team was short of players, and the kids enjoyed having him on the team. The way the Buckeye league is set up it favors the large orginizions. On some teams you can find 9-10 2nd year players on a A team. Now they may say they are the 3rd or 4th team, but they are still selecting from a much larger pool of players. Clubs such as the Gems, Bombers, Athens etc. struggle to put even one team together. Maybe we should do as Michigan does and play strictly by year groups. No 2nd year players on a A team. But, we play with the rules as establised, and if there needs to be a change then petition to have the rules changed. I was very dissapointed to hear that parents of opposing teams were booing, and using profanity towards this player when he was playing during the tournament. Are we now to have a judge to determine if a player is too good to play, even though he is complying with all the rules? The only way to improve is to play with and against good players. The kids will for the most part play to the level of competition. If you look at the tournament scores in the Peewee A division you are looking at a lot of close games. The Peewee A division this year was for the most part fairly even. The one team that stood out above the rest was the team that won their division, and the tournament. A well coached team, and disciplined players.