At least with the SCAHA teams, yes you play them in SCAHA games that are essentially exhibitions. I have my doubts about the powers that be who scheduled those games as well. What you have to understand is that there are people that on the face of it, from a factual standpoint have a conflict of interest in many of the decisions that are made. None of us know what influence they have, but many people know of these conflicts. The Vacaville decision for example, is one that lots of people questioned. In 12u and 14u there is not a single Norcal team in flight 2, yet they forced all the socal teams to play a CAHA weekend in Vacaville. You can find those discussions here if you search for em.
As for the Bears, it is a choice they made. They could have played AAA, and there was a core of that team that played a AAA minor schedule previously. They just didn't want to deal with the red tape or the limitations of AAA. What the CAHA system shows is that they really don't care that the Bears should have been promoted to AAA, nor do they have any interest in doing so.
The Bears could not easily qualify for AAA franchise in any sustainable fashion once they dropped the midget program, and would likely over time come to the same place the Titans have, but they could probably find a way to have 2 AA teams to satisfy the basic requirements if they wanted to.
The CAHA system is dumb. It limits AAA play to a select few who can afford it. When you are playing 2 other teams spread across the entire state 3x and that's your season, you then have to travel to far away tournaments just to flesh out your season. Why would the Bears want to do that, when they can play a lot more teams in AA, and travel and play in AAA tournaments whenever they want. What would the benefit for them to be restricted to just playing 3 other teams?
CAHA's system is meant to discourage AAA participation, and the AA stuff is a reflection of that thinking. Too much concern about the complaints of parents who had to watch their team occasionally beat down another team they had to drive a long way to play, boohoo. They live in some imaginary world where there is ultimate parity and every game comes down to a shootout, and yet in reality, most years there is a clear favorite that dominates the other teams. I've seen the villagers assemble the pitchforks for the Gulls for having sub-standard teams, and now the Titans won't have their AAA Midgets. It's all about shrinking and limiting options for people to have their kids play the sport in a way that is sustainable and possible for them, with all the emphasis on winning and losing games, and at the expense of development and growth.
The Ducks, Kings and Sharks are the beneficiaries of this system and everyone else loses. Throughout most of the country there is a far greater percentage of kids playing AAA hockey than there is in Cali, again as has been discussed on these boards previously so I won't rehash. Somehow, CAHA knows how to do kids hockey better than everywhere else in the country.
Meanwhile, Minnesota produces tons of NHL players with a fraction of the population and different age groupings
Sure they have lakes and everything but it's damn cold there too.
