quote:

Originally posted by Len:
I believe ALL teams are technically House/Rec until the PeeWee age group. Since there is no State/District/National tournament until that age there is no reason to register Tier I or Tier II until then.

Thanks for the info. Apparently Michigan is struggling with the same thing at the 96 level according to MLive. The whole AAA vs. AA or A thing seems to only be a problem with squirts, but I couldn't find anything on USAHockey.com to clarify or explain any of it.

quote:

Originally posted by Len:
I believe ALL teams are technically House/Rec until the PeeWee age group. Since there is no State/District/National tournament until that age there is no reason to register Tier I or Tier II until then.

Why does the EEAHL have Squirt Major- 95's as Tier I then?????

quote:

Originally posted by WingsRule:

quote:

Originally posted by Len:
I believe ALL teams are technically House/Rec until the PeeWee age group. Since there is no State/District/National tournament until that age there is no reason to register Tier I or Tier II until then.

Why does the EEAHL have Squirt Major- 95's as Tier I then?????

Feed parents egos would be my guess...IMHO, there should be no AAA before PW anyways...

As a parent of a 95 who is playing AAA, trust me I am not feeding my ego nor do I believe most of the parents on our team feel that way. No one has ever said that the EEAHL is a true AAA league. Is it better competition than in the Buckeye League? Yes. Our team is registered as Tier II but is AA or AA+ at best. I would rather my son get beat at a higher level and learn something about the game, than beat teams 9-2 every weekend.

quote:

Originally posted by Cyclonemom:
As a parent of a 95 who is playing AAA, trust me I am not feeding my ego nor do I believe most of the parents on our team feel that way. No one has ever said that the EEAHL is a true AAA league. Is it better competition than in the Buckeye League? Yes. Our team is registered as Tier II but is AA or AA+ at best. I would rather my son get beat at a higher level and learn something about the game, than beat teams 9-2 every weekend.

ummm, the EEAHL, on it's own website, declares itself a Tier I AAA league. If you want to play in a Tier I AAA league, you should be made to declare your team at that level - especially at Peewee and above where it impacts nationals.

Below PW, all the designations are meaningless and I stand by my comment that there's alot of parent egos wanting to be able to claim their little one playing "AAA". Maybe not you personally, but if you think it's not happening in your organization you're pretty naive...

Now I am confused. Is there such a thing as AAA hockey at the squirt level, since there is no nationals?

As for Cincy's 95, they can call themselves AAA, AA+ or anything else for that matter, as they are always very good and will be able to compete with any of the teams listed above regardless of the level the opposing team is rostered. Everyone in the past has talked about the Barons being the best team in Ohio, I think it might be Cincy. All the rest seem to be pretty equal.

I find this confusing as well. My perceptions (not gospel - just an observation)

Cincy plays in a league that touts themselves as AAA - so, why shouldn't the teams that play there go w/ that designation - you are either in or out.

Barons play in a real AAA program with a proven track record of developing kids to compete at the higher levels - they go by AAA

Capitals have 3 teams - one goes by AA/AAA - afraid to committ to one but yet also afraid to upset parents egos if there is not another A attached to a AA team

The other 2 Capitals teams appear to be grounded and play in the right level. They still appear to looking for an identity however in terms of what their program is and what it stands for

Blue Jackets - looks like 4 (?) teams
One team says AA but only plays AAA games. They appear to play well at that level - should committ to one or the other.

The other Bluejackets teams seem to be well grounded, letting the Clev. league determine what they are in terms of level of play. They appear to be getting closer to defining themselves in terms of development and growth.

One thing I have noticed - most teams typically 'play down' a notch in terms of level of play when it comes to Silver Sticks (Columbus Capitals Mites and Squirts, Blue Jackets Mites and Squirts last year). The coaches know what the team really is...you can tell by where they slot them for Silver Sticks...this appears to be the real tell tale sign of 'what level they are'...unfortunately parental 'teen spirit' gets in the way.

quote:

Originally posted by TwoSkaters:
One thing I have noticed - most teams typically 'play down' a notch in terms of level of play when it comes to Silver Sticks (Columbus Capitals Mites and Squirts, Blue Jackets Mites and Squirts last year). The coaches know what the team really is...you can tell by where they slot them for Silver Sticks...this appears to be the real tell tale sign of 'what level they are'...unfortunately parental 'teen spirit' gets in the way.

I don't know that this is true, teams are pretty honest. Last year Capitals Mites and Cincy Mites played Mite AA in Dayton. Capital Squirts, CCYHA 94 Squirts, Cincy 94 Squirts and Dayton 94 Squirts all played Squirt AA in Dayton. Cincy 95 Squirts and CCYHA 95 Squirts played AA Minor in Cincy. Cardinal 93s and CCYHA 93s both played Peewee AA in Dayton. That all seems legitimate for their levels?