Great post Icadad. Let me quote part of it:
"ALL hockey leads to Beer league if you play the game long enough. For some people the Beer league includes ex-NHL and former D1, Jr. and euro, swedish and finnish pros. Meaningless defeatist slogan truth be told. There is nothing wrong with kids having a dream, and goals that might exceed their grasp when all is said and done. And yet there are kids who grew up playing youth hockey in Cali who have been in the NHL recently, will eventually be in the NHL, or are in the NHL currently. I'm not going to list them, and it's also besides the point. Many kids play AAA in states around the country, and California is the only state I know of that artificially restricts and depresses the number of teams. The ratio of AAA players to total players is far below that of the more established hockey leagues and systems and the guidelines set out by USA Hockey. Once again, CAHA is run by people who think they know something that nobody else around the country does."
Our son, a Bantam '05 had the good fortune to play in the SCAHA and CAHA selects. Both experiences were the best and most fun he has had in 7 years of hockey. He would not be sad to see more of that kind of hockey experience for players who do not fit the AAA profile.
At the SCAHA selects there were 4 teams of about 22-24 players including goal keepers. There were some A players and a good sample of AA and AAA players. The quality of play seemed to me to be definitely better skill than either flight 1 or 2 in terms of passing, skating, and shooting albeit not as physical as the top 4 or 5 of flight 1 CAHA teams. Some of that is just physical maturity. The AAA players probably pulled the AA closer to their quality and style of play. If correct, that may be the key.
At least 4 AAA '05 teams could be created in SCAHA and since there were a number of very good players who did not tryout, there is probably enough talent for a 5th and maybe a 6th team.
We have attended summer camps in Minnesota and Canada and our better AA players can hold their own with their AAA cohort outside of California.
If the big clubs feel threatened by this expansion of AAA hockey, let them field two teams in each birth year if they can attract the talent. The Saints, OC, Wave, Ice Dogs, Gold Rush and maybe others could, in time, field competitive AAA teams for each age group.
At the CAHA selects, the play was slightly but not necessarily dramatically better. There was a goal keeper from a remote part of Northern Cal hockey-wise who plays Bantam B. There are hidden gems out there and one of the goals of the associations should be to create a ways to recognize and nurture that talent. The current system may recognize talent through selects but is not nurturing it effectively.
Six AAA '05 AAA teams would go a long ways toward upgrading the quality of play and the development of individual talent. It would allow current AAA parents to save money on travel and keep their sons at home for a few more years before juniors or university. If there is fear about dilution of play, the best teams travel still travel as much as they do now. My guess is that there would be fewer blowouts than with the existing system of tier play.