E9 is not there yet.. will take a few years but the league has potential to overtake Eastern Hockey Federation as the top development league in New England. E9's gem is their Boston Hockey League and there 3 bids in each E9 division. These parody spots will enable new Boston Hockey League teams to recruit players that they would not be able to ger access to going forward in the Fed's "old boy club"... they set the rules and now the teams have options. For me I dont care.. both leagues are making big mistakes. The money is there but the talent and coaching is not.

Sad but true

Vipers are trying to make amends also and get back to the " league". It was wrong what happened to them last year. Everybody knows they are moving leagues

Fed Elite teams hold a monopoly over the rest of the Fed teams who have an "elite team" stuck in Tier 1. If I were one of these T1 clubs why would I accept the status quo? Im basically relegated as a feeder program to the "elite tier" programs in perpetuity. EHF rewards lazy programs like Top Gun, Capitals, and Bandits who do little to develop and cannot compete with the MMFs and IHCsin most birth years. The lower Elite teams simply rely on T1 players moving up to Elite from within but mostly from other programs that cannot get to elite tier. If I were the Vipers, Shamrocks, etc, why stay in a patently unfair league. At least in the E9/BHL there is an opportunity to play into 1/3 of available slots in the Elite tier. Does the E9 have its issues? Yes. Wizards boys don't belong, travel footprint is too wide, etc. But the league has showed that it's willing to make adjustments to get it right. See Assabet Valley moving up to permanent status, see Jr Rangers given opportunity to regroup and compete in the BHL level. See play-in tournament. I say good for Vipers, Man' Flames, Northstars, and Shamrocks. These are good programs that would otherwise never get a shot by the EHF to compete in the elite tier. Not even a chance to qualify... think about that absurdity. As for the Wolverines, it's a new program that plays in an area where town participation is high, it has its fairly affluent areas, AND they are too good to play EMHL. E9 may be too high a jump for them but BHL is right up their alley for now. And who knows in 10 years... maybe they will have enough skaters to be an elite program. At the least with the E9/BHL what the Wolverines do on the ice will determine where they play in a given birth year, as opposed to some fat guys in a boardroom protecting their investment telling them "you can't play with us".

None of the teams in question, save the NorthStars, have ever been able to demonstrate the ability to field Elite programs. How many times in the last three years have they even won Tier 1 in a birth year?

The Wolverines are being run by the Michaels boys, who have shown less of ability to develop competitive teams than they did in the extremely average college playing careers. The Price program fell on their faces as an "EMHL-Type" girls program.

We need meritocracy, not entitlements. Prove you belong, THEN say you want to come up onto the big porch.

T1 Entitled teams? Huh? Because TG, Bandits, and Caps aren't living high off the hog. They are the poster boys for not only mediocrity, but sub standard program management. Having to prove nothing other than "we're part of the good ole boys club" for the distinct opportunity to play in the league's top division. Now that's ENTITLEMENT.

Furthermore, how do you expect T1 teams to demonstrate consistency when they lose their top players to EHF "elite" programs every year.

Go to E9/BHL, have the chance to prove you belong in the top division at any given birth year. It's really a no brainer... if you're a T1 team with your "elite team" stuck in T1 you should run, not walk to the E9/BHL.

Using 06 as an example, Shamrocks, Flames, and Northstars are right where they belong in Tier 1 Black.

I'd say Northstars, Shamrocks, Vipers and Manchester flames could more than compete with the bottom 4-5 06 Elite teams

Those teams are right where they belong, in a competitively balanced division where none of them is dominating. They've got a number of losses and ties to the Tier I teams of elite-organization teams. The last thing the 06 elite division needs is some more automatic wins for the top five or six teams - a waste of everyone's time.

You must have a kid on those bottom few teams that are afraid to find out your team is really the equivalent of a tier 1 team :grinning:

Tier 1 Fed is actually Tier 2, Get your terminology straight Fed Bozo. Enjoy your AA team.

Teams should leave: Teams are bring in players every game play game to make the playoff. If the EHF will not enforce the roster freeze rules then move to a league that will. E9/BHL

WN you must have a lot of time on your hands. You are going to be on the board too much now.

Thank Christ.

Couple of those organizations were meant for the E9, hope they find a home where they can can turn off the scoreboard, play small area games and wait for the hittin to start.

#fedelite4lyfe

#fedBS4life

Haha

Red army USSR

What's a good number of games to know where the kids skill level is?12-14? Maybe have a weekend tourney with the bottom 2-3 elite vs the top 2-3 black tier 1, depending on what happens teams move up or down. Not to sure how difficult it is to change around the remaining games and parents egos might take a hit but I'd rather my son not be involved in blowouts winning or losing.

Fed tried this a few years ago. Anyone remember this? They pulled the plug in the middle of the process. They should reconsider if they truly have the goal of supporting a league with four tiers (and collecting all of that revenue). Having a top tier that is not accessible to the teams in the other three tiers is a business risk.

The threat to their business is teams leaving for another league where they perceive their opportunity to play in the top division is better (or even possible). The E9/BHL provides this opportunity, which has to be a huge selling point for these unaffiliated organizations. After everyone leaves and the Fed Tier 1 divisions are made up solely of second tier charter member teams, it'll be too late.

If their goal is exclusivity at the elite level, then they should be prepared to lose market share over time as teams flee for the BHL.

Nobody flees to the BHL, they flee from it.

If they do, it's like a horse running into a burning barn, they don't know any better.

You're talking about players, I'm talking about teams/organizations. Please keep up.

And if you are talking about EHF Elite to BHL, fine. But if you think there's a significant difference between EHF Tier 1 and BHL then you need to look harder. It's amazing how loyal people are to a league that treats them like second class citizens.

Every year about this time people talk about all the teams that are leaving EHF and every year they add another color coded division.... Why? Because all the teams and kids are where they should be .... also if the parents and kids want to play in the EHF Elite they go tryout for one of the teams... then when they can't make any of them they go to another team or league... some at this point complain that they can't play into the league because their kid looks good playing against weaker talent.... if you don't have a single kid that an make an EHF Elite team and you can't win the black or white Div how are you going to move up..... Oh and don't tell anyone but all the owners know this as well. they are not moving leagues so that 95% of their teams can play in the AAA div of a weaker league... sorry thems the facts

Northstars only one going to E9. Others are PHL candidates.

sadly this is what i heard as well. Meetings have nothing to do with E9 because of entry fee's. PHL willing to take them on for no additional charges and less team fees. Suddenly there is more money in the owners pockets. If you think these owners care about some mysterious "prestige" of the EHF you are mistaken. They lose their best players to "Elite" teams anyway. This way they can keep the current product and make more money and offer "Premier" or "elite" level hockey. None of this Tier 1 multi colored crap.

#fakenews. Try again.

Here is my 2 cents:

Fed Elite/E9 Create Division of 16 Teams
EHF Black, White BHL American Create Division of 16 Teams
EHF Silver, BHL National Create Division of 16 Teams

Make Hockey Great Again!

Revision:

Fed Elite stays as is.

Fed Black stays as is.

BHL, EMHL and E9 all merge with the Valley.

Moron, please stop.

^^Everything wrong with MA youth hockey, in one post.