The teams that had been together for many years showed. I know that many of the CA teams mentioned above have been together since at least PW maybe longer. A newly formed team is at a greater disadvantage because they can not play and determine who fits where, this has to be done on the fly.
Yes it does matter that a newly formed team may lack chemistry and familiarity with each other. But like I said, some teams belong and some teams don't, no matter how long they've been together. Our team lost 1/3 of kids from last yr and went to 2 tournaments with 5-6 new kids.
At our first tournament of the year, we went 0-5. At the second tournament, we went 5-0. Granted some of the kids at the 2nd tournament were not at the 1st and vice versa, our kids are acclimating to a new team/coach/environment/covid etc, just like your team. BTW, at our latest tourney, three of our kids have been together since PW and of those three, two of them are goalies and the rest have been together maybe 2-3 seasons.
BTW, nice of some of you to read this as an excuse for losing a tournament. I could care less about losing or winning tournaments (Junior scouts do not care). At the older higher levels it is about individual scouting and wins and losses do not matter. I understand many of you believe you must win at all cost.
I don't believe in winning at all cost, but at the same time, you won't hear me cry about what a disadvantage CA kids have if we lose a tournament. Covid restrictions have been affecting all youth hockey teams one way or another... It is what it is.
Like you said, at this level, it's about individual scouting, right? So don't worry about your team and how they perform, just worry about your kid, otherwise it may be a long season judging by your club's past history...