Minor Hockey Talks - Hockey Forum

Guest wrote: ↑Mon Feb 10, 2025 3:27 pm

Guest wrote: ↑Mon Feb 10, 2025 2:53 pm If we think we can make a move from A to AA in the west, what team should we target? Kid is a D (R). Would the top teams laugh at us? Like VP or NS or FT? I dont see much of a point in going from good A to Jets or Teriers.

A good coach will never laugh at you and will want to see the kid first. If someone actually does, just thank him for showing early that he is an idiot.
Personally I wouldn't recommend you to reach out to FT and VP. These are strange teams with strange objectives and weirdo coaches. Instead try VR, TW, MB, MNS or even ST it the west or NYK, EE and WH(this one has arguably the best development coach in AA) in east. These are good teams with good often young open minded coaches.

Guest wrote: ↑Mon Feb 10, 2025 2:53 pm If we think we can make a move from A to AA in the west, what team should we target? Kid is a D (R). Would the top teams laugh at us? Like VP or NS or FT? I dont see much of a point in going from good A to Jets or Teriers.

Guest wrote: ↑Mon Feb 10, 2025 3:27 pm

Guest wrote: ↑Mon Feb 10, 2025 2:53 pm If we think we can make a move from A to AA in the west, what team should we target? Kid is a D (R). Would the top teams laugh at us? Like VP or NS or FT? I dont see much of a point in going from good A to Jets or Teriers.

A good coach will never laugh at you and will want to see the kid first. If someone actually does, just thank him for showing early that he is an idiot.
Personally I wouldn't recommend you to reach out to FT and VP. These are strange teams with strange objectives and weirdo coaches. Instead try VR, TW, MB, MNS or even ST it the west or NYK, EE and WH(this one has arguably the best development coach in AA) in east. These are good teams with good often young open minded coaches.

Guest wrote: ↑Mon Feb 10, 2025 12:48 pm

Guest wrote: ↑Mon Feb 10, 2025 12:22 pm

Guest wrote: ↑Mon Feb 10, 2025 9:57 am

Guest wrote: ↑Sun Feb 09, 2025 9:19 pm

Guest wrote: ↑Sun Feb 09, 2025 8:58 pm

Guest wrote: ↑Sun Feb 09, 2025 8:50 pm Thinking about next year - my kid may not be ready for AAA so thinking of staying AA and trying to move up a year. Any insightful thoughts on playing up as a way to progress?

From actual experience doing this when I was younger ... you're just playing against bigger kids that are just as well not skilled. AAA your kids age, in my opinion, is better than a year up AA.

All you will accomplish at this age is getting bumped off the puck from sheer force... not really learning the game much.

Second this. It's rare the underage kid is an impact player. They are good, but just not as fast and get knocked around. If the kid is comparable in size, then maybe it works. But I think it gets harder to break into AAA every year you go up, so it's better to get him now than next year.

Obviously it's hard to break a higher ranked AAA team. Do you think it's still beneficial to be on a lower ranked AAA then a mid to top AA ?

It depends. Look at coaches and general team atmosphere. Generally top AA are better than lower AAA, but not always. Another red flag is when a team is notorious for changing 10-15 kids after every season.

This guy clearly doesn't know what he is talking about. Other than 2015 TRW AAA team, every AAA team would smash every AA team. Not because the best AA kid couldn't play AAA, but because the best AAA players are much better than the best AA players and the bottom end of a AAA roster is significantly better than the bottom end of a AA roster.

If you are thinking of moving up to AAA you should be looking at what makes sense geographically for your family, and what sort of opportunity you think your kid will get playing at Sens, MM, Titans, Rebels etc. If you think you will be able to get decent second line minutes it is 100% worth it, if not, really think hard.

Guest wrote: ↑Mon Feb 10, 2025 12:48 pm

Guest wrote: ↑Mon Feb 10, 2025 12:22 pm

Guest wrote: ↑Mon Feb 10, 2025 9:57 am

Guest wrote: ↑Sun Feb 09, 2025 9:19 pm

Guest wrote: ↑Sun Feb 09, 2025 8:58 pm

Guest wrote: ↑Sun Feb 09, 2025 8:50 pm Thinking about next year - my kid may not be ready for AAA so thinking of staying AA and trying to move up a year. Any insightful thoughts on playing up as a way to progress?

From actual experience doing this when I was younger ... you're just playing against bigger kids that are just as well not skilled. AAA your kids age, in my opinion, is better than a year up AA.

All you will accomplish at this age is getting bumped off the puck from sheer force... not really learning the game much.

Second this. It's rare the underage kid is an impact player. They are good, but just not as fast and get knocked around. If the kid is comparable in size, then maybe it works. But I think it gets harder to break into AAA every year you go up, so it's better to get him now than next year.

Obviously it's hard to break a higher ranked AAA team. Do you think it's still beneficial to be on a lower ranked AAA then a mid to top AA ?

It depends. Look at coaches and general team atmosphere. Generally top AA are better than lower AAA, but not always. Another red flag is when a team is notorious for changing 10-15 kids after every season.

This guy clearly doesn't know what he is talking about. Other than 2015 TRW AAA team, every AAA team would smash every AA team. Not because the best AA kid couldn't play AAA, but because the best AAA players are much better than the best AA players and the bottom end of a AAA roster is significantly better than the bottom end of a AA roster.

If you are thinking of moving up to AAA you should be looking at what makes sense geographically for your family, and what sort of opportunity you think your kid will get playing at Sens, MM, Titans, Rebels etc. If you think you will be able to get decent second line minutes it is 100% worth it, if not, really think hard.

Guest wrote: ↑Mon Feb 10, 2025 12:48 pm

Guest wrote: ↑Mon Feb 10, 2025 12:22 pm

Guest wrote: ↑Mon Feb 10, 2025 9:57 am

Guest wrote: ↑Sun Feb 09, 2025 9:19 pm

Guest wrote: ↑Sun Feb 09, 2025 8:58 pm

Guest wrote: ↑Sun Feb 09, 2025 8:50 pm Thinking about next year - my kid may not be ready for AAA so thinking of staying AA and trying to move up a year. Any insightful thoughts on playing up as a way to progress?

From actual experience doing this when I was younger ... you're just playing against bigger kids that are just as well not skilled. AAA your kids age, in my opinion, is better than a year up AA.

All you will accomplish at this age is getting bumped off the puck from sheer force... not really learning the game much.

Second this. It's rare the underage kid is an impact player. They are good, but just not as fast and get knocked around. If the kid is comparable in size, then maybe it works. But I think it gets harder to break into AAA every year you go up, so it's better to get him now than next year.

Obviously it's hard to break a higher ranked AAA team. Do you think it's still beneficial to be on a lower ranked AAA then a mid to top AA ?

It depends. Look at coaches and general team atmosphere. Generally top AA are better than lower AAA, but not always. Another red flag is when a team is notorious for changing 10-15 kids after every season.

This guy clearly doesn't know what he is talking about. Other than 2015 TRW AAA team, every AAA team would smash every AA team. Not because the best AA kid couldn't play AAA, but because the best AAA players are much better than the best AA players and the bottom end of a AAA roster is significantly better than the bottom end of a AA roster.

If you are thinking of moving up to AAA you should be looking at what makes sense geographically for your family, and what sort of opportunity you think your kid will get playing at Sens, MM, Titans, Rebels etc. If you think you will be able to get decent second line minutes it is 100% worth it, if not, really think hard.

Guest wrote: ↑Mon Feb 10, 2025 5:05 pm

Guest wrote: ↑Mon Feb 10, 2025 12:48 pm

Guest wrote: ↑Mon Feb 10, 2025 12:22 pm

Guest wrote: ↑Mon Feb 10, 2025 9:57 am

Guest wrote: ↑Sun Feb 09, 2025 9:19 pm

Guest wrote: ↑Sun Feb 09, 2025 8:58 pm

From actual experience doing this when I was younger ... you're just playing against bigger kids that are just as well not skilled. AAA your kids age, in my opinion, is better than a year up AA.

All you will accomplish at this age is getting bumped off the puck from sheer force... not really learning the game much.

Second this. It's rare the underage kid is an impact player. They are good, but just not as fast and get knocked around. If the kid is comparable in size, then maybe it works. But I think it gets harder to break into AAA every year you go up, so it's better to get him now than next year.

Obviously it's hard to break a higher ranked AAA team. Do you think it's still beneficial to be on a lower ranked AAA then a mid to top AA ?

It depends. Look at coaches and general team atmosphere. Generally top AA are better than lower AAA, but not always. Another red flag is when a team is notorious for changing 10-15 kids after every season.

This guy clearly doesn't know what he is talking about. Other than 2015 TRW AAA team, every AAA team would smash every AA team. Not because the best AA kid couldn't play AAA, but because the best AAA players are much better than the best AA players and the bottom end of a AAA roster is significantly better than the bottom end of a AA roster.

If you are thinking of moving up to AAA you should be looking at what makes sense geographically for your family, and what sort of opportunity you think your kid will get playing at Sens, MM, Titans, Rebels etc. If you think you will be able to get decent second line minutes it is 100% worth it, if not, really think hard.

There are at least 15 kids in AA who, if combined together with any of top AA coaches, could beat any TRW, TT, Sens, Rebels, or MM in their current form. Not all players and parents are chasing an extra “A” on the jersey—some prioritize other activities, while others prefer to stay closer to home or there could be other reasons like lack of financial transparency in some AAA teams. For example, we turned down an offer from a AAA team (now ranked above these five) because our kid loves skiing and wasn’t willing to give up time in the mountains for hockey. In AA, as a top player, he can afford to occasionally miss games and practices, whereas in AAA, the coach made it clear that he wasn’t comfortable with players taking time off mid-season. That doesn’t mean he won’t go AAA next year—it just wasn’t the right fit this time.

Guest wrote: ↑Mon Feb 10, 2025 7:16 pm Thats very common - we have two kids who miss every other saturday practice for soccer.

Guest wrote: ↑Tue Feb 11, 2025 7:35 am

Guest wrote: ↑Mon Feb 10, 2025 7:16 pm Thats very common - we have two kids who miss every other saturday practice for soccer.

There is the issue with kids sports nowadays. They all want to train year round. Hockey, soccer and baseball rep teams train most if not all off season. It used to be you played other sports to work other muscle groups and not get tired of playing a sport all year long. But coaches from the different sports want to go all year in the sport they coach.