I'd agree and disagree with you on your assessments:
#1: Ducks with Eugene K: Coach is a screamer and focused on his own son who he also screams at and humiliates in public. When he actually does communicate he tells parents one thing and then does another. He prefers to have a team with kids who are already far along the skill path to make his job easier as a coach. If he has kids with less skill who need some extra coaching he ignores them and short-benches them in games. Parents see through him and eventually bail after one season to look to invest in their kids elsewhere.
100% spot on, I would personally not trust this guy if he were the last guy around coaching and no my kids never tried out for any of his teams so can't claim sour grapes on this one.
#2 Ice Dogs with Riley:. Good Dad coach who's real job is working for Bauer Roller and seems to favor kids who also play roller. Had a great finish last season and dumped kids who worked hard for him to win a championship. He wants to build a team around his son and a few favs at a club that not only has taken a dive, but one that shows very little interest to players and parents for future. One only A team here now for Squirt as the other BB team broke up.
Certainly some truths here, but from what I have seen and heard he is pretty fair and not a yeller and they have a training coach working with this team that is fantastic (former D1 player out of CC).
I would disagree regarding the club itself how it sits today. The club has cleaned house and they have a whole new stock of coaches of which many are accomplished hockey players with excellent pedigree. I think the Ice Dogs as a club is def on the right track and if you look at the new coaching staff for their teams its pretty impressive. Time will tell of ownership and management of the club can jive over the long run.
#3 Wave: Two A teams in Artesia, one with a coach financed and biased with a specific family who's wild child is on the team and a second A squad who's coach has a bad rep with some parents. Either way, not sure these choices at this club are for all families.
Coaching for the A team out of Artesia is very good and the club seems to have their act together. I know nothing about the coach or squirt A team out of Ontario.
Aside from these three teams....one would have to love driving to consider Kings in LA or Wildcats (no thanks!) in Carlsbad or Riverside. OCHC has no Squirt A team unless they bump up their BB team which could possibly happen depending on their early success. Same goes for other BB teams at Ducks, Ice Dogs and other clubs. BB is a fun division regardless and there are great players in BB that could or should be in Squirt A. However, a parent should be fine with BB as long as the kid is having fun and the coach is delivering the goods...making BB a far better choice than the options above.
I agree with you here. Kings are a great choice if you are close enough and the Wildcats (no thanks). I thought OCHC would certainly have a Squirt A team, but I think enough kids bolted preferring not to play for 'Bud Kilmer' in Yorba Linda.