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Author Topic: AAA versus AA hockey in the age of Covid  (Read 9621 times)

notTHATdad

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AAA versus AA hockey in the age of Covid
« on: July 03, 2020, 12:36:42 PM »



An observation that surprisingly a few hockey dads I've spoken to looking at AA versus AAA have not made.


There is obviously a lot of concern about hockey in general, but for tier 1, the risks from CAHA decisions seem to be less than critical.


Most tier 1 teams play about 6 official games per year against California competition (plus MAYBE a few exhibitions). Even if CAHA was shut down, that impacts 6 out of 40+ games for those teams. The advantage tier 1 has going for it over tier 2 is the Tier 1 Elite league (at least for the 'big 3' tier 1 clubs in California).


There is little chance that season will be impacted. The schedule is already set, with the first tournament (October) being optional. My guess is if one of the tournament host states were to close down, they would just move it. Jr camps are happening all over the country this summer, and that's probably the closest parallel.


Yes, it involves travel. It will require precautions. But that season will very likely go on.
« Last Edit: July 03, 2020, 03:05:01 PM by notTHATdad »

area51

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Re: AAA versus AA hockey in the age of Covid
« Reply #1 on: July 03, 2020, 04:57:20 PM »
but what happens if Newsom closes the Ice Rinks? how will the AAA teams practice?

notTHATdad

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Re: AAA versus AA hockey in the age of Covid
« Reply #2 on: July 03, 2020, 05:13:24 PM »
There are no guarantees. Just need to maximize your chances of playing. Every Norcal rink is operating right now.

lcadad

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Re: AAA versus AA hockey in the age of Covid
« Reply #3 on: July 03, 2020, 07:12:02 PM »
There is obviously a lot of concern about hockey in general, but for tier 1, the risks from CAHA decisions seem to be less than critical.

Most tier 1 teams play about 6 official games per year against California competition (plus MAYBE a few exhibitions). Even if CAHA was shut down, that impacts 6 out of 40+ games for those teams. The advantage tier 1 has going for it over tier 2 is the Tier 1 Elite league (at least for the 'big 3' tier 1 clubs in California).

Yes, it involves travel. It will require precautions. But that season will very likely go on.


A number of Tier1 clubs are pulling out of Tier1 elite this season, probably because they do not think there will be significant air travel.  That includes at least one of the JK teams from what I heard.  I think that where it is geographically feasible, many Tier1 teams are relying on regional play, where they can play against other teams that can be reached via automobile.


This is going to be much worse for CAHA tier 1 teams than in other places, where there are more Tier1 clubs and Prep school teams to play against.   

notTHATdad

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Re: AAA versus AA hockey in the age of Covid
« Reply #4 on: July 03, 2020, 07:49:34 PM »
Source? I've seen or heard nothing to that effect.


A number of teams DID pull out last year to form an east coast league.


There is a lot of FUD being circulated right now.


lcadad

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Re: AAA versus AA hockey in the age of Covid
« Reply #5 on: July 03, 2020, 09:48:07 PM »
Source? I've seen or heard nothing to that effect.

There is a lot of FUD being circulated right now.


Teams in the Atlantic region for example are already signed since the 1st week of June.  One long time participant club told parents that they were not going to play in Tier1 elite this season.  It's one club but I doubt that decision was made without some discussion with the other regional Tier1 elite clubs they play against frequently.  Those clubs already play a lot of games and don't need the 13 Tier1 elite games to flesh out their season.  The JK drop is a 2nd hand thing, and I honestly don't remember exactly where I heard that.  I found it surprising, but then there is a lot going on with the midget level of JK. 


Now that we are seeing individual states threatening to quarantine people coming from "hotspot" states, it's probably not a bad idea to opt out of something that is going to be the first thing to fall apart if there are more Covid spikes. 

justanotherhockeydad

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Re: AAA versus AA hockey in the age of Covid
« Reply #6 on: July 03, 2020, 11:38:37 PM »
There's already a disturbing uptick of positive cases going on right now. Trust me, I see it daily at the hospital... Honestly, with all the pro teams from MLB, NBA and NHL reporting positive cases daily, I'm not so sure if pro sports will be able to resume... I'm waiting to see how NHL and USA Hockey respond but I really don't know how this season will pan out.


Again, I know many of you don't think this is a big deal and kids will somehow not be affected. But please take this seriously if you want to have a season at all and do your part to contain this virus and please ask your kids to wear masks and social distance and don't jump on top of each other in a pile up during practice... Take this seriously. It's not a joke.
« Last Edit: July 04, 2020, 12:36:49 AM by justanotherhockeydad »

notTHATdad

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Re: AAA versus AA hockey in the age of Covid
« Reply #7 on: July 04, 2020, 10:15:42 AM »



I wouldn't take anything that JK Midget is doing as any kind of pattern for what other teams will do. That team lost so many players due to the previous season's nonsense that they had to fill in with a 8-10 AA's, struggled all season, and completely fell apart at the end, finishing their last tournament with 9 or 10 skaters. We all felt badly for those that stuck it out.


Each team will obviously make their own decision, but one club leaving doesn't make for a 24 team league falling apart.


I look at it the other way. If you count on CAHA alone, all your eggs are in one (very leaky) basket.

Source? I've seen or heard nothing to that effect.

There is a lot of FUD being circulated right now.


Teams in the Atlantic region for example are already signed since the 1st week of June.  One long time participant club told parents that they were not going to play in Tier1 elite this season.  It's one club but I doubt that decision was made without some discussion with the other regional Tier1 elite clubs they play against frequently.  Those clubs already play a lot of games and don't need the 13 Tier1 elite games to flesh out their season.  The JK drop is a 2nd hand thing, and I honestly don't remember exactly where I heard that.  I found it surprising, but then there is a lot going on with the midget level of JK. 


Now that we are seeing individual states threatening to quarantine people coming from "hotspot" states, it's probably not a bad idea to opt out of something that is going to be the first thing to fall apart if there are more Covid spikes.

notTHATdad

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Re: AAA versus AA hockey in the age of Covid
« Reply #8 on: July 04, 2020, 10:22:54 AM »



I'd be curious to know what's going on in socal. In norcal...


- Masks at all times while not on the ice
- Limited groups. Camps have up to 12 kids per group and they are never mixed.
- Each coach gets one group only
- Two groups on the ice, but separated by a 15 foot 'no mans land' made with the soft barriers
- 6 kids per assigned locker room.
- temp checks, questions on entry. Wrist bands proving they have been checked.
- dryland is in the parking lot. Each kid gets a parking space.
- More cleaning, etc, of course.
- No scrimmages/games.


The above is the Jr Sharks facilities. Other rinks are doing very similar things. A lot of this is so that if one kid does inevitably get infected, they can contact trace and not shut down the whole thing.



There's already a disturbing uptick of positive cases going on right now. Trust me, I see it daily at the hospital... Honestly, with all the pro teams from MLB, NBA and NHL reporting positive cases daily, I'm not so sure if pro sports will be able to resume... I'm waiting to see how NHL and USA Hockey respond but I really don't know how this season will pan out.


Again, I know many of you don't think this is a big deal and kids will somehow not be affected. But please take this seriously if you want to have a season at all and do your part to contain this virus and please ask your kids to wear masks and social distance and don't jump on top of each other in a pile up during practice... Take this seriously. It's not a joke.

Landshark

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Re: AAA versus AA hockey in the age of Covid
« Reply #9 on: July 05, 2020, 10:42:51 AM »
You really have to know your risk factors for sure. The world is a scary place.   

ohnonotagain

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Re: AAA versus AA hockey in the age of Covid
« Reply #10 on: July 06, 2020, 10:49:31 AM »
My advice for anyone considering AAA is to understand what plans B and C are.  We continue to see restrictions, including travel (people traveling from Florida are required to self-quarantine when traveling to Chicago, NY, NJ, and probably other locations).  We continue to see COVID flare up, even during warm temperature climates and regions.  We continue to see states restrict things based on us doing more testing and finding more infections despite a much lower rate of hospitalization and mortality. 


Anyone thinking everything will be just fine to travel east in 2 months is not confronting reality.  And it will get worse in the winter :(


rmackintosh

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Re: AAA versus AA hockey in the age of Covid
« Reply #11 on: July 06, 2020, 01:24:15 PM »
My advice for anyone considering AAA is to understand what plans B and C are.  We continue to see restrictions, including travel (people traveling from Florida are required to self-quarantine when traveling to Chicago, NY, NJ, and probably other locations).  We continue to see COVID flare up, even during warm temperature climates and regions.  We continue to see states restrict things based on us doing more testing and finding more infections despite a much lower rate of hospitalization and mortality. 


Anyone thinking everything will be just fine to travel east in 2 months is not confronting reality.  And it will get worse in the winter :(


This is a VERY REAL reality....it is gunna be a crap shoot at all levels...AAA could be fine...or it could be a disaster...especially from CA...very sketchy....

lcadad

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Re: AAA versus AA hockey in the age of Covid
« Reply #12 on: July 06, 2020, 06:01:13 PM »

Each team will obviously make their own decision, but one club leaving doesn't make for a 24 team league falling apart.



I misconstrued some information.  However, I do know for a fact that at least 2 teams are not playing in the T1EHL this season.  That could be a trend or just the 2, but it should be a concern if a team depends on those games to flesh out their season.  I have my suspicions that this is more of a trend for 2020 than it is an outlier.  If it ends up being 5 or 8 teams, that would take a pretty large bite out of what was a 13 or so game season last year.  I don't think people should be wringing their hands over it, but consider it "forewarned is forarmed."  People in CA might want to find out what the options are if it's greatly diminished this year. 

Strawman

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Re: AAA versus AA hockey in the age of Covid
« Reply #13 on: July 06, 2020, 07:32:16 PM »

Each team will obviously make their own decision, but one club leaving doesn't make for a 24 team league falling apart.



I misconstrued some information.  However, I do know for a fact that at least 2 teams are not playing in the T1EHL this season.  That could be a trend or just the 2, but it should be a concern if a team depends on those games to flesh out their season.  I have my suspicions that this is more of a trend for 2020 than it is an outlier.  If it ends up being 5 or 8 teams, that would take a pretty large bite out of what was a 13 or so game season last year.  I don't think people should be wringing their hands over it, but consider it "forewarned is forarmed."  People in CA might want to find out what the options are if it's greatly diminished this year.


I don't know the specifics this year but T1EHL has been contracting for years and has become pretty watered down.

notTHATdad

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Re: AAA versus AA hockey in the age of Covid
« Reply #14 on: July 07, 2020, 06:57:36 PM »



Unless they cancelled tournaments, I don't think it would have an impact at all. 4 tournaments, plus championships, 4 games per, that's 20 games or so. The reality with T1EHL is you never play every other team at a tournament.


The risk for travel is real I guess. But  nothing is east of Detroit.




Each team will obviously make their own decision, but one club leaving doesn't make for a 24 team league falling apart.



I misconstrued some information.  However, I do know for a fact that at least 2 teams are not playing in the T1EHL this season.  That could be a trend or just the 2, but it should be a concern if a team depends on those games to flesh out their season.  I have my suspicions that this is more of a trend for 2020 than it is an outlier.  If it ends up being 5 or 8 teams, that would take a pretty large bite out of what was a 13 or so game season last year.  I don't think people should be wringing their hands over it, but consider it "forewarned is forarmed."  People in CA might want to find out what the options are if it's greatly diminished this year.