This post is getting a bit ridiculous. It's May and no sane person should be making prediction basing on results from Carmen Starr (none of the rosters are set, for just about all teams) AND before tryouts even begin!? Crazy.
Lets discuss Carmen Starr...Wada Wave went 3-2 at Carmen Starr and lost to Kamloops (finalist) and AT Hockey Academy, pretty much a AAA team with an incredible kid (#65) that can take over at will. Bay Area Blazers are a mix bag so hard to use as a measuring stick. OC Smerud should be playing Bantam A. Saints' roster seems almost set and it's almost guaranteed that any time Wave play Saints, it will be a dogfight. Saints will be top 5 in Bantam AA.OC Shand went 1-4 and didn't appear to have a good showing, but were they really terrible? I'm not so sure. Let's look at the teams they lost to. Sparticist destroyed everyone, so no shame in losing to those guys. Kings had 2 of the better AAA kids on the roster and beat OC Shand and GSE so they were obviously tough to handle. But are those two AAA kids playing Bantam AA next year. I'm guessing no. Czech Jets beat the Kings, GSE and lost to the eventual finalists Kamloops and Sparticist, so they were another tough team. Gulls should be playing Bantam A.[/font]
No way to really compare the Wave and OC Shand basing on their results at CS. If they had played the same teams, then that's a different story. IMHO, OC Shand seem to have faced slightly tougher comp at CS...[/size]
Regarding coaches, I've had experience with Wada, Shand and Hamacher. I love Hamacher and I do think he's one of the best coaches around. While I can't speak about his Empire Bantam AA team and why his players were 'stolen' from him, I can only say that Brad always prepare his kids well for the next level, on and off the ice. I have known Shand for a bit but my kid has never played for him. However, I know kids who are now in D1, Prep Schools who tells me they would ONLY play for Shand. I think development-wise, Shand is also one of the best around and his resume speaks for itself. He teaches kids different systems and how and when to apply once patterns are recognized. Wada is younger and perhaps less experienced than Hamacher and Shand, but has always proved to have very competitive teams. His teams are always resilient and often time has the top end talent needed to finish games.
All 3 coaches above have had plenty of success. But also remember that success depends on what kids you have on the roster. A super talented kid can carry a so-so team far and sometimes even all the way. Or you could roll four 2nd lines Vegas style and have success. A coach can only do so much, it's up to the kids to want it and work hard. Wins and losses are not as important than player development. Your goal should be focused on making sure your kid will be prepared for the next level.
Lastly, nobody is 'stolen' by another team or coach. C'mon, players and families leave for various reason and really, all coaches poach players to a certain degree. Some coaches are more persistent than others. The ones that don't make phone calls are usually 5he ones that cry foul when their players leave. Happens every year and will continue to happen.[/font]