I think Advantage need to be mentioned in the top 3, we played against them and they are very good. Advantage beat the Eagles last year and the Eagles cut a few kids and recruited a couple of very good Advantage players and a Patriots player. This is why these arguments are so stupid. Plus it is 06 and kids are growing at different rates. kids are getting ready for the next step and it looks like they will go to where the perceived best is and will travel 75 miles for practice if they have to.
I think Advantage need to be mentioned in the top 3, we played against them and they are very good. Advantage beat the Eagles last year and the Eagles cut a few kids and recruited a couple of very good Advantage players and a Patriots player. This is why these arguments are so stupid. Plus it is 06 and kids are growing at different rates. kids are getting ready for the next step and it looks like they will go to where the perceived best is and will travel 75 miles for practice if they have to.
Let me edit that for you. "Loco parents will take them where the perceived best is". No kid wants to spend over an hour each way to practice in the car. The only case where I don't see it this way is if a family lives remotely and where there isn't competitive hockey close by. Let's be serious here that isn't the case in eastern MA.
Eagles added best goalie around plus a few big D men, they will still be second to the Isles, I would put Assabet over Warriors for sleeper team
Everybody just save it...red rider BB gun goalie or big Dmen aren't gonna do anything more or less than the kids that were there last season...standings will be the same as they have been since 3 years ago...teams will separate next year as kids play half season and play HS or prep....pretty simple to figure out...
Bantam Minor parents are priceless. The whole landscape is changing right under their noses and most don't see it coming. For many, it's their kid's last year. Others will hang on but clearly are wasting their time and their parent's money. Way less than half will move forward in the sport
Youth hockey is just about over. Bantam is more what comes before Midgets than what comes after PeeWees. You should be thinking now about next year and getting your kid ready for that. This year doesn't matter.
Bantam Minor parents are priceless. The whole landscape is changing right under their noses and most don't see it coming. For many, it's their kid's last year. Others will hang on but clearly are wasting their time and their parent's money. Way less than half will move forward in the sport
Youth hockey is just about over. Bantam is more what comes before Midgets than what comes after PeeWees. You should be thinking now about next year and getting your kid ready for that. This year doesn't matter.
I concur. It's also a year were not all but a good portion of the "Elite" players fall back to the pack and a few players progress to take their place.
Agree bantam's are all over the place. Kids growing at different rates, seeing more skating ability evening out. kids with size early puberty starting to differentiate themselves. We did 2 tourney's this year at the o6 level and saw it first hand.
Yup. I'd say the biggest difference from one year to the next is Peewee Major to Bantam Minor. Mites to Squirts to Peewees really happens seamlessly. Peewee to Bantam and Bam! Everything feels different. And, a lot of players just move right up to U14.
Bantam Minor to U14 is probably the second biggest change in a single year. You have a few teams assembled for Nattys, and everything else is a ****show. Nobody cares about the games, it's more about getting ready for HS/Prep tryouts. Those team jacket-wearing-parents are left grasping for straws. "Wait, Johnny missed a GAME for no reason at all? What's WRONG with him? And why is Tyler wearing a red helmet and missing practices?"
To those parents posting in this thread with what you see as "legit" responses, wait. You'll see.
Wish we could see a little more crossover, but last year we saw more games than ever between the EHF and the E9 hopefully we get more this year.
Group 1 Islanders and Eagles. To start the year nobody is in the same breath. Not to say they won’t lose a game but they’ll be heavy favorites every weekend.
The next grouping would include in no particular order
Wish we could see a little more crossover, but last year we saw more games than ever between the EHF and the E9 hopefully we get more this year.
Group 1 Islanders and Eagles. To start the year nobody is in the same breath. Not to say they won’t lose a game but they’ll be heavy favorites every weekend.
The next grouping would include in no particular order