'AAA' Hockey

[snipecity 0]

I play hockey and was just wondering if aaa was worth the price. Should you miss the mess and just play aa hockey or what?

Thanks for any answers!

[thejackal 46]

Where do you live?

Keep in mind that every 60 minutes, you're on the ice for 15-25 (game) or 45-50 (practice) minutes. The you'll find yourself handling the puck will be a small fraction of that.

AAA will allow you to play against the best/richest competition (depending on the league) and the exposure could be a plus, but if you really want to go places in hockey (or most other mainstream sports), plan at least two hours of skills/physical training on your own for every hour of organized time.

[Stewie 721]

All depends on your financial situation and what level you want to be at. If I were more like the person I am now when I was younger I'd have played at the highest level they'd let me

[Hooah4 12]

aaa=$$$

[ibeck 38]

If you can afford it, play AAA. AAA doesnt even compare to AA from what ive experienced

[Krev 86]

Played AAA hockey my whole life. If you can afford it, and you have the dedication and the work ethic, go for it. Hard work breeds success.

[215BroadStBullies610 434]

It depends where you are from and, as others have mentioned, if you have the money. My dad never had the money for all 3 of us boys to play AAA hockey so I never had the chance. I'm sure I would have developed into a better player. Oh well, we all end up playing adult league sooner or later haha.

[shooter27 116]

It's a matter of what your goals are and how hard you're willing to work. If you just want to have fun playing and don't want to put in extra work with off-ice training, then stick with AA - you'll save money, travel time, and intensity. If you want to play the game in college/pros and are willing to put in the work the go with AAA. You'll play better competition, get better coaching, and likely develop more but it's a much bigger commitment.

[Law Goalie 147]

Looking at the replies so far, I'd say they reflect the advantages of AAA pretty well.

If you're looking to move up the hockey ladder, it can be an effective promotional tool. However, I'd suggest that it's only a really strong promoter in Bantam and Midget. It's not that Peewees don't get noticed, but that there are so many years between that notice and any chance of actual higher-level success that it's basically irrelevant.

If your friends (or, from a different perspective, your kid's friends) all make the jump to AAA simultaneously, that can be a good reason as well, provided it's not a financial or temporal hardship.

If you want to do it for fun and cool tracksuits, and money's no problem, that's fine as well. My only caution beyond money would be time: how much time are you going to fritter away in transit and in lobbies (of airports, arenas, hotels, whatever) that could have been better spent elsewhere?

The irony is that you'd probably have *more* time (and money) for skills coaching if you stayed local and played AA through Peewee, even though the institutional emphasis on it would be higher in AAA.

As others have said, some of it has to do with geography. Playing AAA in a major metropolitan centre is a lot less taxing on your time than playing in a geographically distributed league.

Slipping into my red outfit for a moment, I played AAA from Atom up as a starting goalie, and it was by and large a gigantic waste of time. Now, I was probably among the last goalies to go through the system with A) no goalie coach, and B) absolutely no consideration from the coaches, but even had they gone out and hired Mitch Korn away from Miami, I doubt it would have changed the situation. The focus on 'performance' and 'competition' was simply too high too early. Because I had no difficulty being a dominant goalie in those early years, and because I was told, over and over, that all I had to do was give my team a chance to win, I became the most lazy, complacent little shit you can imagine, and I wasn't the only one. I would have been far, far better off *in hockey* (let alone in life) keeping my time and investing it elsewhere: goalie and skating coaching, other sports for a broader athletic base, more study both of the game and the moonbeams from the larger lunacies, etc., etc.

The great lie of AAA is that competition is development. It's not. *Some* competition is helpful and even necessary for *some* kinds of development, or rather development in some respects. That said, I have yet to see anyone advance a plausible reason for the existence of AAA hockey in Atom and Peewee as a development tool, or any evidence that it works, or is even less harmful on the whole; conversely, I've seen a good deal to suggest that starting AAA in Bantam would be enormously positive on the whole.

I will also say that the general atmosphere of AAA hockey was, at that time in my life, rather poisonous. As a parent, I would think long and hard about putting my kid into that circus before his/her character was well-formed, and be sure it was well-suited to that environment. Now, having said that, I have seen some evidence at younger ages of Toronto's AAA scene becoming almost civilised (with the exception of the N54 message boards, which is where the spleens get vented), though that may be coming from a privileged perspective.

[ibeck 38]

If you aren't going to be committed to taking care of yourself on and off the ice, working on becoming better and just want to live the chuck slick life style, do not play AAA. Other guys will come to hate you because you're making a mockery of the level.

[chk hrd 164]

In my experience higher levels in midgets is watered down from what it used. What used to be AAA is more what AA was. This is due to all of the "junior" leagues that have been started. Now a many kids who played in AAA at 16-18 are moving to a junior team because they think they will get more exposure. The U-18 & U-16 midget leagues are no where near as competitive as they used to be. Many of the junior leagues are pay to play and nothing more than player grinders taking your money.

In USA hockey there is no AAA in mites or squirts (or maybe even PeeWee, I would have to check that). At these levels it's orginizations and parents that create that level, mostly out of arrogance. If you are a truly great player the scouts will find you. AAA and even AA are financially taxing for parents. It is something that should be thought long and hard on if you are going to commit to it. Many parents are blind to their kids abilities and think their kids have a shot in the NHL and refuse to face the fact that they have a beer league future. Many of them would be better off taking the thousands (easily 10-15k + a season) and putting it away for college instead of thinking they will get signed or a D1 scholarship. As a player be honest to yourself about your skill level. Do you know you are one of the top 5% on the ice at anytime, any game, anywhere?

All that negative stuff said, I would not trade the time my kid spent in high level hockey. Yes it got expensive but it is cheaper than having to get an attorney if they do something stupid. Now that my son is in the Air Force I can see how all the team work, ethics, responsibility, leadership and other things he learned from hockey was worth every penny.

[CB1 8]

I think it would depend on where you live and which age group you belong (PW, Bantam, & etc), and what you want to get out of it. We live in a smaller market and my son plays AAA. Sometimes, I think the number of A's just helps the league distinguish their local talent pool. We have a few different leagues, but only one has a Tier I USA Hockey AAA classification.

From what I've seen in our area, the travel can almost be the same between AA and AAA. The AA's have a few more local playing options as opposed to the AAA teams. But then again, this is probably because of the area we live in. Cost wise the difference in AA and AAA is the the AAA teams practice 3 times a week, instead of 2 for the AA players. As others have pointed out, the competition level is a little higher, but I really think it depends on your market and where you travel.

The AAA experience has been good for my son and for the family as a whole and I will do whatever I can do to keep him playing at this level, if he still has the desire. Plus he has to train and work hard to even make the AAA team. He was already somewhat mature for his age, but he has learned so much about discipline, team work, traveling, and etc. The other positive is that he has to make good grades in school to continue earning this privilege! So far it has all been rewarding and he is still very motivated. All I can hope for is that these experiences help him in other aspects of life when he gets older.

Anyway, if you go for it, don't go in half way, give it 110% and make it a rewarding experience for yourself!

[quinton1 4]

Depends on the finacncial situation and how much time you want to dedicate to the sport, In AAA you are going to be practicing more and more off ice and training. You are also going to probably be traveling more

AA is still going to be competitive but less compared to AAA

[Nealoc187 10]

I played AAA for a year and then went back to AA then dropped travel all together for high school hockey. A lot of different factors, the biggest of which was that my dedication and desire wasn't there at that age, and my dad could tell so spending that kind of coin got old quickly for him. I didn't have the dedication (not to mention the size @ like 5'6" and 110lbs entering high school) to go anywhere, so what was the point? It was really hard on my parents to have me traveling all over the place when they both worked full time, etc.

Sadly I am a lot more interested in playing hockey and improving now at 33 than I was at 14 - I wish I'd had the desire then that I do now. I kind of just went through the motions at that age. Probably why people I played with as a youngin are playing NHL, AHL, UHL, IHL, etc and I play beer league lol

[MThockeydad 469]

Sadly I am a lot more interested in playing hockey and improving now at 33 than I was at 14 - I wish I'd had the desire then that I do now. I kind of just went through the motions at that age.

Nothing wrong with that. Made you (and me) pretty typical kids.

I had the build (but not the desire) to go a long way in basketball.

In hindsight, it is more important that I was a well-rounded kid, on my way to becoming a well-rounded adult, than to be really great at a single activity.

[Hordie Gowe 17]

Had the opportunity to play AAA (Bantam and Midget). Playing against the best made me a better player and opened some doors for D2 and D3 schools for me had I chosen that route for my education. I think I turned out OK, despite what my employees and girlfriend think of me at times.

[goblue9280 33]

I think another thing to consider is where you fit in with the specific teams. Will you be a top 6 forward/top 4 dman on the AAA team? With the amount of time and money I put up for my kids hockey, I'd rather he be a top line AA/A player than getting only a few shifts a game as a 3rd/4th liner. Luckily my kid is only 10, and our local area only has AA and A teams, so it's a rather easy choice for me, lol. My goal is simply for my kid to be the best he can be while developing a life long love of the game... if it stops being fun, it stops being worth it.

[chk hrd 164]

IMO a top line AA player who gets more ice and has a good coach will be a better player than a 4th or sometimes 3rd line AAA who only sees a few minutes of ice. You don't fully learn the game unless you are playing in it and not watching it. There is not a lot of difference between a "star" AA player and an average "AAA" player. Sometimes it is just a matter of who can afford it.

[boo10 323]

It's a shame that hockey has become a rich man's game. I grew up playing AAA and had a legitimate chance to make a living playing the game. If I had grown up in the current environment, there is no way my parents could have afforded for me to play AAA. How many great talents is the game losing because of the economics of minor hockey?

[zebra_steve 11]

A little old, but an interesting read.....

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/fyi/spring-fever-189487451.html

[CB1 8]

Great article. I would be hard pressed to say no if someone wanted my son's hockey services and offered to foot the bill!

Funny that the article mentions a Colorado dad, as a few weeks ago, we had a gentleman from Colorado fly in his "squirt" team (yes, his son is on the team) into our area to play some of the local squirt teams. Not sure what really brought them here or why, but they flew here nonetheless. Anyway my son and I went to watch one of the games because there was so much "buzz" around the rinks about this person and that team. They were good and beat our locals. Anyway, not taking anything away from them, but it seems a perfect example of what the article was talking about, as they had players from all over a large geographical area (Aspen, Detroit, & etc.) and really deep pockets to fund the team.

[goblue9280 33]

There is no level playing field anymore. If you have the funds, you can afford the private coaches, the extra ice sessions, and can pay your way onto just about any team. But money can only take you as far as your potential. I imagine it has become increasingly more difficult on the coaches/scouts of junior/college/pro teams as they really have to be able to see past the kids that have maxed out due to deep pockets and those that still haven't hit their ceiling.

[donkers 31]

Great article. I would be hard pressed to say no if someone wanted my son's hockey services and offered to foot the bill!

Funny that the article mentions a Colorado dad, as a few weeks ago, we had a gentleman from Colorado fly in his "squirt" team (yes, his son is on the team) into our area to play some of the local squirt teams. Not sure what really brought them here or why, but they flew here nonetheless. Anyway my son and I went to watch one of the games because there was so much "buzz" around the rinks about this person and that team. They were good and beat our locals. Anyway, not taking anything away from them, but it seems a perfect example of what the article was talking about, as they had players from all over a large geographical area (Aspen, Detroit, & etc.) and really deep pockets to fund the team.

Which Colorado team? Was it the Rampage?

[CB1 8]

Which Colorado team? Was it the Rampage?

Snow Kings. Not sure if they refer to themselves as Colorado or Rockey Mountain Snow Kings.

[donkers 31]

Snow Kings. Not sure if they refer to themselves as Colorado or Rockey Mountain Snow Kings.

Ah okay never played against them but the T-Birds and Rampage are plenty douchy with deep pockets from my experience.