Funny reading the other posts. Clearly not a single detective or professional strategist on the board these days.

Anyone ever consider that RG has conceded to USA Hockey and submitted to the fact that NCDC is, and will only ever be Tier 3 Jr hockey status?

That is what is happening. Mergers don’t mean having to operate under same functional model. They can be different.

As much as I think it’s all overrated plenty of good will come out of this.

1) RG realizes he should’ve never broken away from USA hockey, they make amends, he realizes his junior league is simply tier 3. Has an identity moving forward and falls under the umbrella of USA hockey again and all is good. To massage his ego, they grant the NCDC Tier 3 “elite” status. (See the theme here?) It’s a path to better junior leagues vs tries to compete. NAHL and USHL expanding so he is in a real pinch for quality players.e expands his tier 2 youth team base, calls it a new league and make some money. Nothing changes at youth level except more colors!

2.). Independent EHF teams are scared and bolt. They need to be under the umbrella and can’t trust the founding members of EHF as the non-elite programs are 2nd class citizens, have no say and simply can’t afford to be at the mercy of the big Fed owners egos. They bolt and the e9 and or the PHL grows locally.

2.) EHF breaks away from USA Hockey. Big deal. USA hockey has 560,000 players registered. EHF accounts for less than 1%. Thats $200k out of $22M in fees. USA Hockey doesn’t care. EHF adds checking back to Pee Wee level. Other leagues potentially follow suit and force dialog with USA Hockey and maybe they smarten up and revert back to previous better rules.

Option 1 is likely happening from what I’m told. Option 2 maybe good however in the grande scheme of things USA Hockey wields little influence over the hockey world outside of Mass. Unlike us, the Midwest leagues, programs, coaches, parents and players are pro USA hockey so they aren’t going anywhere. Same for the AYHL.

When all said and done, no real impact. USPHL has more impact based on % of players and that split already happened so USA Hockey could care less.

Hitting back in peewee would be great to see. Imagine how many more wait til the hittin starts posts we would get?

EHF dead. All about $$$ now. Already talks of elite division splitting up and select clubs from E9, EHF and AYHL talking. Eagles are one of them, same with Terriers, MFF, BA and NH Avs, NJ Colonials just to name a few. Congrats, RG and Gilly successfully blew up their own worlds!

Glad we have someone to tell us "what is really happening." Should we call you Deep Throat? Probably apropos.

Time will tell, but "from what I'm told" it's USA Hockey that wants NCDC / USPHL back, not the other way around. RG likes the revenue stream from the practically useless secondary insurance. USA Hockey sees it as a ***** in the armor, something oligopolists are prone to, that other leagues might choose to pursue.

We'll see.

Thank you chief strategist for your insight. Let's play devil's advocate for a few moments.

Your opinion "split has already happened and USA Hockey doesn't care." USA Hockey cares more than you realize. They want to control everything, akin to the NCAA. If you have ever spoken to anyone at the national level, they desperately want to figure out a way to reel in New England Hockey that won't result in lawsuits. They view the current structure here as both bad for development and bad for their wallets.

They want to make nice with USA Hockey. Hah, they want to make money. There wasn't any mass exodus from the youth programs charging a few extra bucks to support the NCDC. The financial model makes sense if it brings in more players for U16 & U18 and keeps parents writing checks at the youth level in the belief the youth programs are a feeder to NCDC.

Time will certainly tell & maybe I'm just old and cynical but my guess, this is about money and ego's and is more likely a middle finger to USA hockey than anything else.

You are spot on about the local area. It’s ripe for a change and I believe it’s coming. Too many teams,levels and watered down talent. A real super league has to make its way back to the area if kids want to develop.

You have many truly elite players that are spread out being forced to play with and against hockey wannabe and image seeking families.. seems like the path of most resistance now

Rumor at rinks this weekend we’re the founding member programs without junior teams not in favor of this and may not stic around...

RG put in his place and scrambling. The empire is falling.

3 orgs leaving. Kaboom!

E9 and AYHL

The current Elite EHF/E-9 split creates too many watered down teams. There should be an Elite north/south league with 6 teams from the Boston area and 6 from NY/NJ area (don't really care what you call it). Play within your respective division most weekends. One weekend per month you are either traveling or hosting a super series type weekend and only playing games against the other division. Everyone starts fresh with no player transfer rules in year 1. After that player transfer rules should be somewhat limiting but not as restrictive as it is now. This should be for Squirt ages and older.

The mite level should strictly be cross-ice in year 1 with no travel to the other division. Second year mite should still be mostly cross-ice with a few weekend tournaments to introduce them to full-ice. This is better for development. No one benefits from seeing the little benders skate end to end with little resistance.

God willing the owners from the top EHF/E-9/AYHL organizations will get together to figure this out.

E9 league applications....that seems like fact