Being a Hockey Parent

[Eleven]

Originally Posted by mikethegoalie32

2-5 record is def much better than a 0-7 record! AAA tourneys vary all over the place with skill level...

Without a doubt! (BTW did I say 2-5? sorry it was 2-3. 5 games total, must have had a brain fart while typing!)

They beat Carolina Hurricanes AAA and Affton Americans AA, and lost to Blue Jackets AAA, St Louis Selects AAA and Hurricanes (consolation game).

In 2009 our boys went to the Nike/Bauer Invitational in Chicago (we missed the deadline for 2010!). They had 2 divisions, AAA and Elite. We were in the AAA and the competition was solid. We went 2-2 that weekend but did not move past the pool play. The 2 teams we beat were evenly paired with us and the 2 teams we lost too were VERY good. Sun County Panthers 98's were impressive.

This tournament in Nashville only has 1 division, but again the teams varied. My son's team is listed as AA, and one of our wins was against another AA team, the Affton Americans. I think TPH Thunder (the tourney hosts) are teir 1 AAA.

So at least as far as this Nashville tournament, the teams were not exactly evenly matched, but our boys knew what they were getting into. Same with the Affton Americans, they are striving to take that next step up to Teir 1 as well.

Our boys' coach tries to get the boys into games and tournaments with higer skilled teams as often as possible. They have a very short bench, only 11 skaters and 2 goalies, so our boys are pushed to the limit every game. And they can still hang with teams like the Ohio Blue Jackets, they only beat us 4-3 I think. It was a close game.

The problem is that Tier 1 teams don't like to play Tier 2 teams very often. So we look for tournaments like Nashville to test our boys.

My son has said he would be just as happy being ranked 45th in Tier 1 hockey as he is being ranked 17th in Tier 2. He is considering trying out for the Ohio Blue Jackets next year, at the very least to see where he stands against that type of program.