Why do the Pics not send any players to local colleges right in their backyard?
UMASS, AIC, Trinity, Wesleyan, Amherst, WNEU, Williams, Westfield State...Does the organization not promote their players or are the players that bad?

Ever watched them play? It ain’t the old Dineen Pics. Service Merchamdise, Ames, many Sears and Bobs stores usd to be good too. They left the scene when they reached bottom.
Time to move on Pics. Ship sailed

Really? Non of their players go to any of those schools? Do the parents realize this? So what’s the draw for local kids?

The orgs GM is UMASS Alum, PT who does skills for many of their players is an AIC alum and coach at WNEU, and still not 1 player gaining local interest. I guess the "local draw" is that High School hockey in that area is dreadful other than Pope Francis and that costs 10K per year plus the cost of Rifles 1/2 season which is now just Prep players from local schools. Not many options if you are from that part of the state, best option would be to travel to Jr Bruins. which comes with its own issues.

As with a majority of MA/CT Full Season Teams, these kids are going nowhere for hockey. These club organizers and skills guys have great resumes but rarely do anything for the kids on their teams. So pay your 7-9K tuition, 2K in skills, and enjoy the ride because this is as good as it is gonna get! Sad

Not accurate. The top 02 in New England is out there and will be a first or 2nd rounder next yr. can’t deny that

First thing college coach asked was "Why is he playing there" couldn't get him out of there fast enough.

PS..There are no good 02's in the Pics organization

Couldn’t be further from the truth. One tOP 02 and a top 03 in the system. Both will be playing d1 college plus

Not true. One 02 stud and one 03 stud from Mass

You're out of your mind..

Let's hear them. Initials. Roster is right on USPHL site with stats from last year.

If both 03’s were eligible , they would go late first round tonight. In 2 years they will be early first rounders

WTF is wrong with you people? Leave the kids alone.. hope u get cancer of the d I c k for talking crap about kids. Cowards, all of you.

OP here, not sure how this post got so derailed, maybe someone trying to deflect the fact that this organization can’t get kids to the next level? I guess we wait and see if they do anything productive this year for their players or just go through the motions. Parents, it’s ok to put some pressure on the coaches, owner, skills guy, and tell them your kids goal, if they can’t help make it happen, move on, there are many options out there. I hope the 2 kids that you parents are so intimidated by are successful this year and going forward.

A few D1 kids at the 03 level and a handful of good D3

Don’t forget Not all kids want to go the college route

1. The OP has a good point that parents should be asking themselves, Why no players moving on to local schools?
2. I don't know of any 02 players of significance from that area never mind the best in NE, wonder who they are talking about?
3.Let the 03's grow, who knows what they will be like in the next 2 years but I guess time will tell if the can put up good numbers this year, are they playing U16 or U18? Good luck to all.

If they were any good they would be invited to USA camps....nough said

Who?

Did he decline before they posted the list?

Sure he was dad...loser...go troll somewhere else.

Can someone give the initials of the best 02 in New England?

They wont even tell the players who is on the 16 or 18 team yet. Not enough players and the good ones will leave if they find out they are playing with town kids.

Won 2 games as an entire organization this weekend. U16 scores 2 goals in 3 games

Hearing the U16 team in trouble now that top 2 forwards leaving.. That team will not win 5 games all year.

shhhh..nobody knows this yet

My son is in the organization and the OP makes a good point, players are simply not moving on to any local colleges. Anyone know why that is? As for all the other stuff, the U16 team is going to be fine this year, they have some good 03's left over from last years U16 team, its the U18 team that is in trouble.

Well, Well, Well, if it isn't the old Pics suck post. For the area they are actually a very good option which can lead to NCDC opportunities or a good D3 school. They bring in European players by the bagful but cant put a team together of MA/CT/RI kids? If your willing to spend the 7K for U16 and 10K for U18/Premier in hopes of living the dream then this is the place for you. They do have a gym now though, its not included in tuition, but they have it. In all seriousness they do have some good players with potential in the org at all levels but those kids need solid, dependable coaching which is only at the higher levels, the U16 guys would rather shoot pucks and practice their toe drag then coach the game to the players.
In order to be successful at anything you need a successful businesslike environment. You need structure for practice, weekly team meetings, film sessions, one on one conversations, conversations with entire lines, discipline from the coach down, discipline in the locker room, set of goals for success. My sons Prep team has no stars on it, just like the Pics, but they have a structured environment that leads to success and opportunity.
I usually charge for that information but today its on the house!

eliteprospects shows the only player on the U16 Roster right now is a Slovakian...let the Euro's arrive!!!!

We were right, no more U18 team. U16 parents beware, there is no where to go next year with them. Get out now if you can!

Have been watching this post since the start and 99% of it is dead on. Just went on the Website and U18 option is gone. Western MA Hockey is officially dead. U18’s being put on Elite or Premier teams.. sad.

They wanted to move their U18 to Tier II and the Pics said no thanks. The kids on U18 went to Elite, Premier, or walked.
Some saw this coming at the end of last season. They will loose any good current U16 players at the end of the season and frankly they don't care so if you have a U16 Player now you better get on the phone and find a program that will take you next year or consider Prep, etc..

Those 2 Euros were promised top forward minutes so if you are a returner you are already fighting for spots 3-6

U16 in the weakest USPHL Division with:

Boston Bandits 16U AAA
Connecticut Jr Rangers (Elite)
CP Dynamo 16U AAA
Middlesex Islanders (American)
Northern Cyclones (Elite)
South Shore Kings 16U AAA
Springfield Pics 16U AAA

Your wasting a very important year of your kids development..told you to come with us!

Glad to be gone from there. Heard they have a week of skates at Olympia next week for "pre-season" our boys are at Penn State for the week, which experience is better?

This post started out with a good question..why do kids not progress to local area colleges at the D1 or D3 level with so many options nearby. Still no answer other than the organization does not promote any of their players unless they are on Premier and still no local schools attended.

From the post it looks like the U16 might be ok but the coaches dont really coach and practice their toe drags and shooting just as much as the players do and they brought in more kids from Euro so the current players will not play as much. The U18s are gone? If so and they really did move the kids to Elite or Premier those teams may be ok.

Just looking at this on paper I would put my kid in the car and drive as far away from this organization as possible! USPHL lower division is not where you want your kid if he wants to develop and play at a higher level. Just my 2cents.:car:

Local colleges know that the Pics just don't develop players to that level. You have to go to Islanders or Jr. Bruins where they have the coaching, better players, better tournaments, and contacts. If your kid is a U16, get him there or to a prep as a repeat JR or if older do a PG year. If Prep isnt for your player, get to a program with NCDC option. Otherwise, write the check and know your player has a few years left and then done.

How many real good players do you have out there native in Western MA? 01, 02, 03...maybe 10-15 tops. Most of those would go Prep instead. Pics are a good Tier 2 program for all the others. Not many college players come out of a Tier 2 program. That answer your question?

Just lost another U16 to the Skipjacks

We get it! Pics aren't good and kids are leaving. You can stop now

^^ #6 can be #4 and #9 can be #7..wtf are you talking about. YOU PLAY FOR THE PICS! Just stop.
You sound jealous of a kid or you are a kid

There is peaceful easy feeling at the Olympia for the Pics Organization all of a sudden

11-1

U15 11-1 also

U16 7-0 Organization went 0-3 and out scored 29-2. Can we stop now

I don’t know, my son played his 2 U16 years there, team was a little under .500 and he moved on with no issues now playing college hockey.

We played the U16 last night and beat them 7-0. Goaltending is bad, defense is bad, they do have 1 or 2 really good forwards who can fly and are physical, the rest are JV public HS talent.

Don’t judge a team in September, judge them in Feb/March.
BTW: 2-2 on the weekend for 16s

The U16 Pics got kicked out of the Top Division this year! So those of you who decided to stay are playing more terrible hockey then the top division already had to offer. Should get exposure playing everyone's second teams full of 04's, or a highly scouted thriller against the Bandits :joy:

You lost to the Chiefs! Let that sink in

I bang in this org because of our experience there, but kudos to the U16 kids for being 9 and 3, I guess they do have some decent players.

Rankings:
U15- 105 (Last)
U16-82
U18-88

Bad. This is why local colleges have no interest, even if there are a few good ones in there, they will never get a look.

U16 Not invited to Jersey this weekend..or anywhere!

Rumors are a few of their top players leaving after not being told of division changes :sweat_smile: Did they think parents wouldn't find out?

Read your contract, says nothing about Divisions. You can leave, but don't expect any money back.

So bad that coaches aren’t showing up anymore

Can you just stop? The Pics is a Tier 2 organization with a few good U16/U18/Premier players that carry the teams. Those players will leave next year and their will be a few good players that come in to take their place. No more conversation needed. As for the local colleges, the few good players mentioned above have definitely had conversations with those coaches, but when was the last time a Pics player went to a D1 school. D3 is their sweet spot.

Again I ask, what tournament did the 16's get invited to? Jersey? No. NH? No. One of the biggest tournament weekends of hockey and I see NO Games scheduled anywhere for this team. Parents should wake up and realize you have been had. Nobody wants your team to be part of anything.

New to the program this year and my son is very happy with it. Good coaches and teammates, good practices, close games.

The Elite team has 36 kids on their roster, thats 1 shift per game per kid. Well worth the dream

Well you can only dress 20 a game so that’s back to 5-6 a period depending on special team play.

I hear the 16's have a big game against Central CT Youth Hockey this weekend. Great competition. SH and AP must be impressed with this years team and exposure.

Just heard they will not be fielding a U18 team again next year. Elite and Premier only. Kiss the program goodbye.
I also hear 16s only have 1 coach on the bench at all games now, not good. If you are a U16 on that team, start looking at Prep, get ready to go back to your public high school next year or you better be ready to leave home for a good U18 program.

Good Luck to them at states..........oh wait

Read entire thread and the OP has a good point. I would assume WNEU/ Westfield isn’t all that good so I’m surprised they are not recruiting PIcs kids. Amherst, Wesleyan have grade requirements so maybe that is an issue? AIC is a D1 program, they are not taking USPHL kids. Loosing the 18 program definitely hurts the program and area kids looking to advance through the process, USPHL Elite Division is not good but it’s nice to see some kids have success there but what are they going to do next year? I am surprised to hear about the U16 team being in the lower division, they have some good kids from that area who I assume will move on next year without the U18 option. I disagree with the shots taken at the coaching, those brothers relate to the kids and have always gotten the best out of their best players. I hope it all works out as I remember watching my nephew play against Dinnen/Flaggs Pics teams of years ago, they were some scary talented rough players.

There is a Lovell program that has same problem...