First of all, I apologize to AJ for even being falsely associated with this random hijacking of his attempt at being productive on this board.

This is the second time I have been told that my name has been brought into this bizarre online argument. I chose to hold my tongue the last time my name was brought into this but I feel the record should be set straight at least once.

I have a player at the Bandits and now I have a pretty significant amount of family and friends at the Bandits. In fact, my nephew is playing at the 05 level you claim I am bashing and my brother and good friends are coaching (the Tier 1 team that is, not AJ's) and two of my close friends are coaching the 06 team you are accusing me of bashing (and ironically of being a part of as well). I also have a player at the 06 LK that is definitely staying at the LK if given the opportunity. Yes, my 06 was at the Bandits briefly and it wasn't a good fit but it lead us to a situation that has been as good an experience as we have had in youth hockey.

As for the meeting you referred to - I never made any announcement and I don't have a new team. I am not the coach of the 06 LK, I don't hold parent meetings and I have nothing to do with selecting or running that team. Because I was asked, after some unforeseen complications arose with the 06LK team, I helped out as much as I could this year when my commitments at the Bandits with my older daughter would allow - and by helped out I mean opened a door.

I felt the meeting was a commitment from a coach to continue developing players that have made a significant commitment to the LK; if that isn't how you interpreted it that is fine. The LK has been perfect for me and my younger daughter and I very much appreciated hearing that commitment from the coach; it may not be perfect for you, you may not agree with that philosophy and that is absolutely fine also. I made it clear - as a fellow parent - to every family that decided to leave this year (and those that chose to stay for that matter) that I didn't want them to go, I felt they were better off staying and I would miss them and their kids if they left. I still feel that way, I didn't want them to leave and I will miss having them around. There wasn't a bad kid or parent on that team and I wish everyone who stayed and left all the best.

As for the person/people who are beating up the Bandits anonymously please don't hide behind me - at least have the decency to anonymously correct the false assumption that I am responsible for your comments or better yet put your name to your complaint.

Just like the LK has been a great home for my younger daughter the Bandits has been perfect for my older daughter. I have family and very good friends at the 05 level, good friends at the 06 level and a daughter and friends on the girls U14 team that I help to coach. If you genuinely believe that I am behind all these posts bashing the Bandits you don't know as much about me as you think and I urge you to give me a call instead of just throwing my name around the internet. Let's talk about it. If my suspicions are correct, based on your comments about our team meeting, you were at the LK and you have my number, if not, half the people in Bridgewater and Raynham have my number. I am not looking to get into an argument or a fight, but I am pretty sure if you show me the courtesy of having a conversation with me you will realize that you are mistaken. You are doing me a great disservice by smearing my name across your fight and I am certain that I have never paid you any similar disservice.

I wish you all the best and hope you take me up on my offer to conduct yourself with civility - Rory

Great job RK...My bet is that you will not get a response from the spineless jellyfish. Its easy to sit behind a computer and type away...

@jmnf9lsr54g.;asdikgnl2DSDDDDDjd>>>

you're right!

That post is dboard gold. I don't have an 06 nor do I live south of Boston, but I wish you and your kids the best of luck next year.

That post was directed to the poster who thinks they don't have a goalie, bashed programs and coaches from the BHL/E9 and EHF. Who posts like they have personal experience or knowledge of the history of the 06 team... I can keep going. If you don't have an 06 and aren't involved or never were involved in the BSB, BB, LK or all the other worthless not worth drawing from South shore/area programs you mention, than you, sir, need to to get a life

You know, there are not so many threads on here that it's unrealistic for someone to read through all of them. I love when someone calls out another poster on an anonymous message board, within a discussion about 10 year old hockey players, and tells them to get a life. If anything buddy, we both need a life, so keep your comments to yourself.

I guess we all need a life or non of us would be posting on the dboard about 10 year olds but telling someone to keep their comments to themselves on the dboard usually doesn't float well. And I'm not a fan of at least one of the programs listed above due to our experience, but if someone trashes every program in one general area they are bound to ruffle some feathers. Kids move around, coaches move around and programs fluctuate based on that but to generalize that you have to move north to get good hockey will stimulate a healthy backlash to that response. FYI. I believe they do have a goalie

I understand your point, this board is built for comments, but the comment was that I need to get a life. Not really on topic or constructive. And certainly ironic coming from someone who seems not to be able to maintain good relations with a coach of his 10 year old son.

What made you think there wasn't a good relationship with the parent and coach? It appeared to me he was defending both coaches and orgs from someone who was trashing Breakers, Bandits , LKs etc. Maybe a bit defensive because they seem to be involved or were at some time with these orgs but I took away nothing more than defending their territory and nothing about a bad relationship.
Probably where the problem arises. Lots of shifting around in a small hockey area and I too know parents and coaches at all of those organizations and found the bashing a bit obsessive.
And I'm still not sure, if I followed along correctly how the same poster who did trash them also appears to be the same poster who responded that he didn't even have an 06 involved in any of these programs and recommended going to programs up north? But maybe I interpreted it wrong as well

Great job Rory.

As someone who has been alongside him at times on this youth hockey journey I can vouch for everything he says. I haven't met a more standup guy in the game.

This thread is a perfect example of the flaws inherent to electronic communication and anonymous posting. It wasn't until half way through RK's response that I realized I know who he is. I was fortunate to have my boys play with his daughter on a couple of teams over the years, town, summer, and TC. You will not find a more honest, dedicated, and stand up father who has a tremendous chemistry with the kids and great focus on their overall development. Reading the original poster's rant clearly shows he has never met RK. If he had, he would truly appreciate how shameful and inaccurate his post is. For the record, my kids do not play for the BBs or LKs but I too know the players for the 05 and 06 teams. The Bandits have improved greatly with these additions regardless of scores. Jim

Isn't this what every tryout is about? Only difference is he took it to the dboard instead of the club's website or a series of private conversations.

The evaluation skates are free. There is no hidden agenda here. We are looking to increase the competition for the remaining available spots on the roster. There are a number of solid players already in the mix and I believe that it is healthy to have as much competition as possible.

No, I don't believe for one second there have been 16 signed contracts yet. That does for the 05 and 06 teams. Why is that? Not one tier 1 player on either team is a legitimate Elite player and the Elite players are marginal at best. Both of those teams need high end elite players to move up anywhere from the bottom. So it's enticing to ono their might already be a fairly full fairly competitive team and unhappy Elite could move to. It's not enticing to know they are partially filled with mostly high end tier 1 players. So anyone who doesn't have a contract signed is at risk for being replaced by a better player st tryouts and if any of you don't believe it works that way you are foolish. You've seen one coach come on here and ask about skaters not every division. How could $50 from a few players at best be a money grab?

why is that thread not locked like all other tryout announcements posts?

Thanks for the info. Your team will still s@ck!

Would you consider a top 06 elite player?

Interesting question being there is an elite 06 team for next year. Not interested in that team?

I have two 2006 forwards and a 2006 goalie committed. I will consider any player strong enough to make he team. Please contact on the email address that is posted above to arrange a shadow skate if interested. Thank you.

I find it interesting that there is an 06 Elite team this year and these players are playing 05 instead of 06.

Why?

I'm not. Bandits had 06 "Elite" ( I use that term loosely) on the 05 tier 1 team last year. However, having an 06 Elite player and knowing the caliber of players at that age group I highly doubt any 06 will be a standout on an 05 Elite team. Tier 1? Sure they could hold their own...... or possibly a lower end Elite. But you are correct, for development, probably better staying in the 06 division where they could be a major contributor. But maybe the Cape has a couple of hidden power house players st the 06 that didn't feel like playing in the EHF until l this year

Interesting maybe but definitely not surprising at all, everyone should see by now that the 06 team is a typical 06 Bandits sham. Do they have a goalie yet? Half the roster is made up of EHF elite washouts that either aren't good enough or have parent problems, tier 1 players and players from a second rate BHL/E9 team and the other half will be town kids that can barely skate. Where can this program pull from? They have no player development, their Tier1 white team is meh - LK bottom of E9, Giants not even in E9, Caps suck, BSB suck and they are limited by player movement rules in the EHF. Coaches are from BSB so they probably suck. This team will be the worst Bandits 06 experiment yet. I would say I feel bad for all the families moving over there but this has been happening in Bridgewater long enough now that everyone should clearly know what they are signing up for so good luck. The only thing BB have going for them is that all the other programs in that area seem to be getting just as bad as they are. Sorry to break it to you but if you want a good hockey program you are going to have to drive north.

So, I'm not expecting a lot from this 06 team either but to say they will be the worst experiment. You either didn't have a kid who played for WN or your kid was on the 06 team before WN and can't admit that almost every kid from on the original Elite team is playing tier 1 now or barely staying afloat in the Elite world. And playing tier 1 is OK. It's thinking your kid is Elite when they are not that causes the damage. As far as the BSB coaches, it appears they have certainly done a good job coaching the tier 1 black black team so why make judgement on coaches you clearly don't know because they are from the Breakers?

So you live south of the city and drive your kid to the north? 10-11 year old kids? And you're calling them washed up Elite players at this age? You've bashed every single program possible in this post. I feel very sorry for your kid. Especially since I'm 99% sure he isn't going to live up to your expectations. You are a pompous fool.

They just took 1st place in Tier 1 Black.

Won T1 White championship last year.

Must be doing something right.

Did you read the post you responded too? Doesn't appear they were bashing the coach but as far as the the BSB tier 1, you can't even come close to equating tier 1 white to elite. As far as this years black team team... doesn't look like they were bashed in this post either but does the fact that they are in first place make you think that they would be competitive in Elite?

They would have beat 06 bsb elite no problem.

LOL, not sure that is proving the point you want to make.

OK COACH.

Best of luck, AJ! Glad to see you with the Bandits organization!