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Guest wrote: ↑Tue Mar 18, 2025 1:27 pm
The great thing about Niagara Falls is the change at the Board level. They are young, progressive, diverse board with plenty of professional and high level hockey background. More importantly, they know how to navigate through the Open Borders changes. Expect Flyers to move from bottom performers to mid pack performance next year. The goal is compete for OHF A/AA championships within two years. Fantastic outlook, join the Flyers next year.
Wonder which board member wrote this.............................
Everyone wants to win and you can set out whatever goals you want but you still need the horses to run the race.
Not sure if a new board and coaches will be enough to attract talent, even with open borders. Recruiting in Niagara is hard because there aren't a lot of other centres close by so travel will still be an issue.
Guest wrote: ↑Tue Mar 18, 2025 1:27 pm
The great thing about Niagara Falls is the change at the Board level. They are young, progressive, diverse board with plenty of professional and high level hockey background. More importantly, they know how to navigate through the Open Borders changes. Expect Flyers to move from bottom performers to mid pack performance next year. The goal is compete for OHF A/AA championships within two years. Fantastic outlook, join the Flyers next year.
Wonder which board member wrote this.............................
Everyone wants to win and you can set out whatever goals you want but you still need the horses to run the race.
Not sure if a new board and coaches will be enough to attract talent, even with open borders. Recruiting in Niagara is hard because there aren't a lot of other centres close by so travel will still be an issue.
I will be the first to admit that I have not seen a single NF rep game this year beyond the fact I know their u11 A team lost twice to Pelham B earlier in the year.(by a wide margin both times) That said, the Pelham team is very strong and has a lot of kids that should be playing at a higher level but have not been able to yet. I hope the NF board has given next years coaches carte blanche to take on as many imports as they want. There probably are one or two kids that are playing at the correct level of play but I think its pretty obvious some kids are playing at a level they should not be right now.
Guest wrote: ↑Tue Mar 18, 2025 1:27 pm
The great thing about Niagara Falls is the change at the Board level. They are young, progressive, diverse board with plenty of professional and high level hockey background. More importantly, they know how to navigate through the Open Borders changes. Expect Flyers to move from bottom performers to mid pack performance next year. The goal is compete for OHF A/AA championships within two years. Fantastic outlook, join the Flyers next year.
Wonder which board member wrote this.............................
Everyone wants to win and you can set out whatever goals you want but you still need the horses to run the race.
Not sure if a new board and coaches will be enough to attract talent, even with open borders. Recruiting in Niagara is hard because there aren't a lot of other centres close by so travel will still be an issue.
I hope its not a board member because that's scary if they are still referring to them as the Flyers...
I can hear the pitch now, from the coach to the potential A/AA recruit! "come to our bottom feeder team, we are going to be better with you on our team!"
I can tell you first hand that there are kids in the 2014 and 2015 birth year outside of NF that are definitely A/AA caliber players but have been stuck in their B centre. With open border next season, those birth years in NF could have much better teams if the coaches do the right thing and take players from outside the association. Weeding out cusp players and taking on kids that should be playing AA/A already
I dont know if the 2015s will improve. The new head coach is a lacrosse guy -- there is no way he's cutting some of the extremely weak houseleague calibre lacrosse boys that will come to tryout. He'll probably let their Dads help coach!
In younger age groups, if a good coach takes the best 12 skaters and zero "friend's kids who cant skate/arent aggressive" - he could turn it into a winning team. Time will tell.
Do we know anything about the 2014's AA team coach? Again, looking at this years results, I would think there is definitely room to improve that team with players from outside NF
That 2014 team played well and competed in the playoffs. Came close to advancing.
3-8-1 isn't close to advancing
For a team that won 4 of 26 games in the regular season winning 3 before they were mathematically eliminated was competing. They had a chance until some upsets happened in other games.
Guest wrote: ↑Tue Mar 18, 2025 1:27 pm
The great thing about Niagara Falls is the change at the Board level. They are young, progressive, diverse board with plenty of professional and high level hockey background. More importantly, they know how to navigate through the Open Borders changes. Expect Flyers to move from bottom performers to mid pack performance next year. The goal is compete for OHF A/AA championships within two years. Fantastic outlook, join the Flyers next year.
Wonder which board member wrote this.............................
Everyone wants to win and you can set out whatever goals you want but you still need the horses to run the race.
Not sure if a new board and coaches will be enough to attract talent, even with open borders. Recruiting in Niagara is hard because there aren't a lot of other centres close by so travel will still be an issue.
I hope its not a board member because that's scary if they are still referring to them as the Flyers...
Canucks are on the rise and that is what is important. With open borders, expect upper quartile AA teams next season across most age groups
Guest wrote: ↑Tue Mar 18, 2025 1:27 pm
The great thing about Niagara Falls is the change at the Board level. They are young, progressive, diverse board with plenty of professional and high level hockey background. More importantly, they know how to navigate through the Open Borders changes. Expect Flyers to move from bottom performers to mid pack performance next year. The goal is compete for OHF A/AA championships within two years. Fantastic outlook, join the Flyers next year.
Wonder which board member wrote this.............................
Everyone wants to win and you can set out whatever goals you want but you still need the horses to run the race.
Not sure if a new board and coaches will be enough to attract talent, even with open borders. Recruiting in Niagara is hard because there aren't a lot of other centres close by so travel will still be an issue.
I hope its not a board member because that's scary if they are still referring to them as the Flyers...
Canucks are on the rise and that is what is important. With open borders, expect upper quartile AA teams next season across most age groups
Guest wrote: ↑Tue Mar 18, 2025 1:27 pm
The great thing about Niagara Falls is the change at the Board level. They are young, progressive, diverse board with plenty of professional and high level hockey background. More importantly, they know how to navigate through the Open Borders changes. Expect Flyers to move from bottom performers to mid pack performance next year. The goal is compete for OHF A/AA championships within two years. Fantastic outlook, join the Flyers next year.
Wonder which board member wrote this.............................
Everyone wants to win and you can set out whatever goals you want but you still need the horses to run the race.
Not sure if a new board and coaches will be enough to attract talent, even with open borders. Recruiting in Niagara is hard because there aren't a lot of other centres close by so travel will still be an issue.
I hope its not a board member because that's scary if they are still referring to them as the Flyers...
Canucks are on the rise and that is what is important. With open borders, expect upper quartile AA teams next season across most age groups
What makes you so sure that people will be willing to travel? What makes NF a better landing spot?
The drive from Pelham to NF is 30+ km. You think people will do that 3-4 times a week just to play up 1 level?
Everyone thinks open borders is going to see completely new rosters in every centre but in reality, you may see a 10-15% shift with the majority being in the GTHA with so many centres close together. The rural areas will pretty much be the same due to the travel.
Guest wrote: ↑Tue Mar 18, 2025 1:27 pm
The great thing about Niagara Falls is the change at the Board level. They are young, progressive, diverse board with plenty of professional and high level hockey background. More importantly, they know how to navigate through the Open Borders changes. Expect Flyers to move from bottom performers to mid pack performance next year. The goal is compete for OHF A/AA championships within two years. Fantastic outlook, join the Flyers next year.
Wonder which board member wrote this.............................
Everyone wants to win and you can set out whatever goals you want but you still need the horses to run the race.
Not sure if a new board and coaches will be enough to attract talent, even with open borders. Recruiting in Niagara is hard because there aren't a lot of other centres close by so travel will still be an issue.
I hope its not a board member because that's scary if they are still referring to them as the Flyers...
Canucks are on the rise and that is what is important. With open borders, expect upper quartile AA teams next season across most age groups
What makes you so sure that people will be willing to travel? What makes NF a better landing spot?
The drive from Pelham to NF is 30+ km. You think people will do that 3-4 times a week just to play up 1 level?
Everyone thinks open borders is going to see completely new rosters in every centre but in reality, you may see a 10-15% shift with the majority being in the GTHA with so many centres close together. The rural areas will pretty much be the same due to the travel.
Agreed!! the only way Niagara Falls will start to attract better players is by haveing actual winning records (MORE wins than losses). They cant do that with their current talent pool. A simple change for 1-2 years would be to cut costs and to run smaller rosters. This would allow teams to only take the best players - so only legit AA kids would be on the ice. Ive seen firsthand that this works very well in tiny rural centres. (AP call ups solves illness/injury issues)
Guest wrote: ↑Tue Mar 18, 2025 1:27 pm
The great thing about Niagara Falls is the change at the Board level. They are young, progressive, diverse board with plenty of professional and high level hockey background. More importantly, they know how to navigate through the Open Borders changes. Expect Flyers to move from bottom performers to mid pack performance next year. The goal is compete for OHF A/AA championships within two years. Fantastic outlook, join the Flyers next year.
Wonder which board member wrote this.............................
Everyone wants to win and you can set out whatever goals you want but you still need the horses to run the race.
Not sure if a new board and coaches will be enough to attract talent, even with open borders. Recruiting in Niagara is hard because there aren't a lot of other centres close by so travel will still be an issue.
I hope its not a board member because that's scary if they are still referring to them as the Flyers...
Canucks are on the rise and that is what is important. With open borders, expect upper quartile AA teams next season across most age groups
What makes you so sure that people will be willing to travel? What makes NF a better landing spot?
The drive from Pelham to NF is 30+ km. You think people will do that 3-4 times a week just to play up 1 level?
Everyone thinks open borders is going to see completely new rosters in every centre but in reality, you may see a 10-15% shift with the majority being in the GTHA with so many centres close together. The rural areas will pretty much be the same due to the travel.
Agreed!! the only way Niagara Falls will start to attract better players is by haveing actual winning records (MORE wins than losses). They cant do that with their current talent pool. A simple change for 1-2 years would be to cut costs and to run smaller rosters. This would allow teams to only take the best players - so only legit AA kids would be on the ice. Ive seen firsthand that this works very well in tiny rural centres. (AP call ups solves illness/injury issues)
Smaller roster sizes does make sense in smaller rural areas like the teams in the current WOAA. That said, a city the size of Niagara Falls shouldn't have to do this being the second most populated city in the region,. Its about developing kids from all age groups, it seems like NF has failed to that so far. This would be the year when all teams should take the best kids that come out even if that means only a handful are actually residents of NF.
Wonder which board member wrote this.............................
Everyone wants to win and you can set out whatever goals you want but you still need the horses to run the race.
Not sure if a new board and coaches will be enough to attract talent, even with open borders. Recruiting in Niagara is hard because there aren't a lot of other centres close by so travel will still be an issue.
I hope its not a board member because that's scary if they are still referring to them as the Flyers...
Canucks are on the rise and that is what is important. With open borders, expect upper quartile AA teams next season across most age groups
What makes you so sure that people will be willing to travel? What makes NF a better landing spot?
The drive from Pelham to NF is 30+ km. You think people will do that 3-4 times a week just to play up 1 level?
Everyone thinks open borders is going to see completely new rosters in every centre but in reality, you may see a 10-15% shift with the majority being in the GTHA with so many centres close together. The rural areas will pretty much be the same due to the travel.
Agreed!! the only way Niagara Falls will start to attract better players is by haveing actual winning records (MORE wins than losses). They cant do that with their current talent pool. A simple change for 1-2 years would be to cut costs and to run smaller rosters. This would allow teams to only take the best players - so only legit AA kids would be on the ice. Ive seen firsthand that this works very well in tiny rural centres. (AP call ups solves illness/injury issues)
Smaller roster sizes does make sense in smaller rural areas like the teams in the current WOAA. That said, a city the size of Niagara Falls shouldn't have to do this being the second most populated city in the region,. Its about developing kids from all age groups, it seems like NF has failed to that so far. This would be the year when all teams should take the best kids that come out even if that means only a handful are actually residents of NF.
Im not saying smaller rosters forever. But 90% of the kids on the current 2015/14/13 AA teams are single A or lower. And many of the Single A kids would be invisible in a houseleague. Winning is essential right now to get the Niagara Falls program off the ground. And it can only be done by cutting any kid that isnt the quality of an AA player in a club like West Niagara. Plenty of kids will still develop - but where they belong.
Evaluators need to pick 3-4 current kids that are legit AA - anyone weaker than them gets cut to A. Serioud Parents want their kids playing with competitive teams of similar skilled players - a family WILL drive from pelham or port colborne or Ft Erie if it means their son gets to play with all higher level kids than their home centre.