In my view, the issue isn't and never should have been the number of AAA teams at 16U and 18U. The issue is the lack of more AAA teams at the Squirt and Peewee levels. When California hockey was at its best, there were more teams developing AAA 1st line forwards, defensemen and goalies. More teams develops a larger pool of elite players. Those player ultimately will look to join teams with Tier1 Elite membership for the exposure. The consolidation which eliminated LA Hockey Club eliminated one of those elite programs, the Wildcats, OCHC and the Gulls consistently developed players who would ultimately join the Kings/Ducks teams to create nationally competitive teams. It is elite game speed development at the younger levels where California is missing the boat. In my opinion.