Wasn't aimed at you Twins, but apparently I struck a nerve.
The pre season tournament was created as an attempt to rectify the the problems with balance and parity. Yes, this could be at the expense of geography. If you would prefer, we could go back to geographic placement and risk lopsisded scores.
Pick you poison.

The placement tournament allows teams that are unsure about their level to get a measurement on their level of play. What the biggest problem that affects this is kids playing other sports during this tourney. Coming from a smaller program this allows our teams a chance to play at a competitive level. I also feel that it stops some sandbagging from some organizations. I know it may be a hassle but in the long run it serves it purpose.

One final thought on geograghy. Lopsided scores has nothing to do with geography,because both divisions (bluegrass,hoosier) were pretty equal team for team with the exception of the last place cincinnati team (should have been switched with bowling green in A1). The breakdown came with butler co. and springboro being placed in southern division and Nky. in the northern division,causing extra travel time on Nky part. Enough said about geography. Maybe one way to make the tourney worthwhile is to charge each team an extra 50$ and the winner gets entry fee money for a future tourney of their choice. This could take away the sandbagging and ensure everyone brings their best players. I'm all for the tourney because the more hockey the merrier lets just make it mean something in the end.

IMHO, it doesn't work well, it may be better than what was done previously, but there is certainly room for improvement. Looking at this last years outcomes across the different levels and divisions it is obvious that the divisions that were put together did not have any semblence of parity from top to bottom. From my perspective, there seems to be some sandbagging going each year, but, more importantly, the outcomes of the placement tournament don't seem to match what was observed in the games. It seems that teams at a given level that played fairly evenly with one another during the placement tournament are put in different divisions, while a team that smoked either of these same teams are placed in the same division as at least one of them. Also, the persons reviewing the games for placement purposes need to weigh other factors more heavily relative to the final score, teams can be evenly matched, but one team may lose by several goals due to any of a number of circumstances, not the least of which is playing with a short bench during the preseason tournament. As Puckie mentioned, kids playing other sports and not being able to attend the preseason tournament hamstrings the whole seeding process and may enhance the perception of sandbagging as well. The preseason-tournament, computer-generated RPI outcomes which rank the different teams should be posted on the Buckeye site when available and prior to the divisions being finalized. Cleveland suburban posts their preseason outcomes and the Buckeye league should be equally transparent. Perhaps a short preseason of a few games is needed after the divisions are intially formed to balance any inequities. Geography also needs to play a role. For example, placing Athens and Owensboro or Evansville in the same division at an A level is absurd, these locations are over 6 hours drive from each other. For a AAA or AA level this may not be a big deal as extensive travel is part of the deal, but it doesn't make much sense for the A levels within a fairly large league (i.e., Buckeye) when there are plenty of other division combinations possible that would just as likely result in a the same level of competivness. This would elimiate the need to drive 12 to 13 hours in a weekend for 2 hours worth of games. Finally, I am glad that this league exists as it gives many of the teams in our region an organized and structured hockey opprotunity and I am sure that those involved are doing their best to provide the kids with a good hockey experience. However, there are options that can be implemented to improve this experience. That being said, I thank all involved for their hard work and the time committment required to put this league together, keep it running, and to continue its positive evolutionary trajectory.