Good morning boys and girls, and welcome to another friendly edition of The Death Pool. Where you will read things that other writers wish they had the balls to say, and I just plain don’t care who gets pissed off at me for saying it.
So how many of you out there are “Hockey Crack Heads”? Yeahhhhhh, you know who you are. So does every coach at the higher levels too. Now not every coach is a “Pusher” but a lot of them are just the face of the “Organization” selling the “crack”.
So what’s the “crack” you ask?
Its the dream baby. The dream of the next level of play that nearly everyone wants to get to, but only a handful are actually good enough to get to.
The dream or the “crack” is the camp invite. Yep, those beautiful mass emails that make so many of you actually think a team is interested in you.
So lets look at Tier II in the United States and Canada, as well as the USHL. Those are the leagues that so many are trying to play in these days.
You don’t have to look to hard to find where players in those leagues are coming from. The great majority of players going to those top level leagues are coming from Midget AAA programs.
Moral of that fact, and its published on their own websites in their own draft results, is a simple one. Higher level programs are scouting midget AAA.
Now that’s not to say no Tier III players make those leagues because a lot of them do. Some even get drafted. Some Tier III teams are really good at moving kids up and work real hard to do it.
But if you think that any Tier III team or league is a direct path to any of those leagues you need to put the pipe down and get some treatment! Yeah, affiliations mean nothing. Its all marketing.
So, let that be a lesson for you parents and players, check the player promotions of each and every team at each and every level before you do anything. Wins and losses mean nothing when it comes to moving up. If you got a thousand fans in the stands and none of them are scouts for the next levels up, then who cares who is watching.
Oh and while you’re checking their stats, how about you check your own! If you weren’t a dominating player on your last team, you probably don’t have a chance. Its called being honest with yourself. Its called not believing what all your friends say, or your parents tell you, or what your pee wee coach told you four years ago. Then again most crack heads chasing their next high cant admit their chasing it either.
Oh, yeah, and I got a few emails from some pissed off coaches last week who said I was telling players not to sign at Tier III. That’s bullshit boys. How about a reading comprehension refresher class?! I said, kids shouldn’t sign at Tier III unless its in writing that if they make a higher level they get a full refund and release. Don’t want to put a full refend and release in writing, then that’s on you.
Stay tuned for some special reports kids, we may have a few early casualties as some teams are already finding out they cant recruit players to save their lives! Get it ….. save their lives! Ha Ha Ha
David Wagner – The Angel Of Death – For Those Who Live Stupidly I salute You
*The Death Pool is a mix of comedy, and satire in connection with recent events. It is not an official report of current events although it may look as though the news is so accurate that it could one day happen or may be happening.