State Wars - Junior Pools

[InlineMBA]

I took a look at the State Wars schedule for the Junior Division.

There are 25 teams. After pool play, the 1st through 8th seeds advance to the AAA quarterfinals, while the 9th through the 16th seeds advance to the AA quarterfinals.

Here are the pools:

Arizona
Colorado I
Michigan II
Missouri II
Wisconsin II

California
Connecticut
New York I
Ohio I
Pennsylvania II

Colorado II
Missouri I
Ohio
Pennsylvania I
Wisconsin I

Maryland II
Michigan I
New Jersey II
New York II
Virginia

Illinois
Maryland I
New Jersey I
North Carolina
Virginia II

That is all,

Steve Inge

[growl89]

having more then one team in the division, to me, destroys the point of the tournament, even in the mens divisions, it's supposed to be the best from each state isn't it?

[Dave Garland]

The best two teams per state Billy, the best two haha! Go Missouri 1 Junior/Missouri 2 Men's!

[growl89]

it just seems to me that the politics that aren't supposed to be in this tournament are, in the older age groups now, making it mandatory for thier to be more then one team for the division in the junior and mens divisions. The franchises get scooped up as soon as they are allowed to be, and then all of that rinks players are put on the team. I know i have been trying to get a Mens team for NJ since statewars started and it's been impossible, both franchises have been taken the day they were released, i guess i called 2 hours too late, and then NOT the best guys in the state represent our division then they forfiet games, and lose to states that should be beaten. Imagine one true Junior and one true Adult team for this state, at least for this year would be incredible, and be able to rival NY for it's titles. Instead both teams are going to have a harder time, will they have a shot, yes because there are very good players on both teams, but it just makes no sense as to why the state would not want to send the true BEST players on one team in the division.

Would you rather have 2 teams go and take 2nd and 3rd? or one team go and win it...

enough with my ranting :)

[Drexel63]

Bill,

I completely agree with you, which is why when Tim Davis and I formed the two PA junior teams, we formed then in a tiered state so that the best players from all over PA were on Pennsylvania I, and then the rest filled in Pennsylvania II.

Even though we bled a lot of talent from the top of the list due to conflict with work and international play, the two PA teams will be very competitive, hopefully each playing for a gold medal in the two playoff tiers...

Good luck to everyone, I can't wait to get to Chicago again.

[blocparty]

who is on the pennsylvania 1 team?
im on the pa 2 team and wasnt aware their was a difference in the skill between the two teams

[InlineMBA]

I like the State Wars idea of not having tryouts for 1988's and older. Reason being, it's just about impossible for guys that are away at college to get back to their home state for tryout weekend. The idea of no tryouts just makes sense.

Now, as for Growl89's points - I have to agree with him too. I just don't know what he meant when he said "then they forfiet games". That said, I have no idea of the process that State Wars has in place to determine who gets franchises. I'm sure there are States that could field more than two teams in both Juniors and Seniors, and all you have to do is look at the list to see how many States didn't field one team in either division. Not a lot of balance.

Simply put, a complex problem takes a complex solution. States Wars, now in it's third year, tweeked the Junior and Senior franchise/selection process and I think it's a terrific improvement.

Make suggestions to Tim and Jason. These two guys are like sponges. They are constantly looking for input on every aspect of their business.

And, like I've said before, I don't think there's any better way to end the season than State Wars. It's just good old fashioned fun. Every year gets better and better, just give them time, and ideas, and they'll try to work all the kinks out to provide us with a top notch product.

Steve Inge

[Dave Garland]

I love State Wars. The process this year for being a rep was to contact them and they decide if you are a good fit for your state.

I look forward to hanging out with everyone this summer. I will be at TORHS and State Wars (I'm missing NARCh due to another planned trip).

[StateWarsDir]

Glad to see people are excited and talking about the Senior and Junior Divisions at State Wars. Like Mr.Inge mentions, since we changed our concept and added this Junior Division the division has really exploded. With players that age being off at college, working etc.. having a true tryout was impossible. Now here we are with 25 Jr teams the first year and there are definitely some impressive teams in thsi group, should be some awesome hockey!

As for Growl's comments, obviously we do want to see the best each State has to offer but allowing 2 teams in an entire State still allows that. If we kept it to only one team, we'd be keeping to many people from having the opportunity to play at this event. For example NY, this year there is a team from Long Island and one from Buffalo in the Senior Division. Most states are too big and have too many great players to limit it to only one team. One comment though isn't fact, I don't remember turning anyone away from NJ wanting to put in a Senior team. In fact last year NJ didn't even have one team in this division. Sometimes people ask us to put a team in and then we never here from them again, so not sure what happened in this case in NJ. Regardless we have 25 more teams in Senior, 16 teams in Masters, and 9 in Womens...so we are really excited and blessed this year!

Looking forward to seeing everyone in Chicago and good luck to anyone else at TORHS and NARCh!

[InlineMBA]

PA I: http://www.pointstreak.com/framed/players/players-team-roster.html?teamid=83016 (http://www.pointstreak.com/framed/players/players-team-roster.html?teamid=83016)

Jake Cole - PIHA Bandits
Scott Gartzke - PIHA Lunatics
Shane Davis - PIHA Inferno
Dustin Roux - PIHA Bandits
Joel Peretic - PIHA Inferno
Chrlie Scrillo - PIHA Fury
Jason Allen - PIHA Lunatics
Brock Wilson - PIHA Bandits
Shawn Powell - PIHA Lunatics
RJ Casey - PIHA Gladiators
(G) Justin Brennan - PIHA Gladiators
(G) Ben Dahms - PIHA Fury

PA II: http://www.pointstreak.com/framed/players/players-team-roster.html?teamid=85913 (http://www.pointstreak.com/framed/players/players-team-roster.html?teamid=85913)

Zach Rosario - PIHA Typhoon
Eric Schoedler - NCRHA West Chester
Kevin Christmann - NCRHA Drexel
Rob Basquill - PIHA Gladiators
Eric Balthaser - PIHA Typhoon
Chris Santoro
Christian Mueller
Colt Solliday - PIHA Express
(G) Craig Markovits

Want to view another team's roster? Just use the pull-down menu in the top right section of the screen.

Just curious - no Dane Houser or Eric Keane?

Steve Inge

[dan sangiorgio]

keene might of had a scheduling conflict. i know we lost him for narch because of an aau event in germany or something to that effect.
also keys players missing from the pa teams
steve klenk
jon donahue
tim sarceni

[hockkid13]

For the pa team, I noticed 4 other PIHA players not on there... Asterito, Altomare, Sobieski, and Merrigan. Any idea what happened with them?

[Drexel63]

Like I said, we bled a lot of talent from the top.

Eric Keene is going to Germany, Dane Houser had work conflicts, Tim Saraceni was uninterested, and Jon Donohue broke his collarbone. All were out of consideration from the onset, even though they all showed a lot of interest, and were among the group who sparked my own interest in heading up the teams back in February.

Ryan Sobieski, Ben Dahms, Chris Altomare, Nick Asterito, and Anthony Merrigan all committed to playing, but then had to back out for various reasons. Dahms backed out so late that his name still appears on the roster, but he had good reason. Also, I had no idea Klenk was from PA. I had assumed he was from NJ as most of the Neumann kids are. He is definitely of this caliber player...

This has been the hardest set of rosters I've ever had to put together, and I must say publicly, that without Tim Davis' help, it never would have happened. I can't wait to get to Chicago and finally get SW3 underway...

[kicksave60]

how can you leave out Zack Rohrbach? 50 pts in minors last year? I demand a recount!

[InlineMBA]

Also missing from PA is Matt Swingle. The lucky dog is doing an internship in China this summer. His gain, our loss - he was going to play with the ISCA Grizzlies Midgets at NARCh.

I sure hope he's having a good time - we'll miss him.

Steve Inge

[TheSnake22]

just curious, when did brock wilson take up residence in PA?

[InlineMBA]

Hey Jake - Interesting Pickup.

I Googled his name and found a few things.

The PIHA web site: http://www.thepiha.com/profile.php?player_id=68110 shows Brock Wilson's profile with his hometown listed as Findlay, Ohio.

Same on this page from USARS: http://www.usarollersports.org/vnews/display.v/ART/2004/03/11/4050ca04c1337 you need to scroll down to the bottom of the page.

I even found his Pointstreak.Com Ice Hockey profile http://www.pointstreak.com/players/playerpage.html?playerid=558810&seasonid=1135 showing the same hometown.

Could it be as simple as Findlay, Ohio, is his hometown, but he has since taken up residence in PA? A little help here?

Steve Inge

[blocparty]

brock has lived here in pittsburgh off and on since piha started this past season.
it is however a moot point because he wont be going to statewars, so it really doesnt matter

wish he was though, he would be one of the top 5 defensemen there and would definately help our team..brock wasnt given much credit during the piha season but i think jake can agree that he is one of the best dmen in the pro league.

[TheSnake22]

no doubt, brock is pretty nasty. one of those guys you hate to play against. i kinda figured he might have an address here for hockey purposes. sorry to hear he's not going but i think you guys will be okay with that lineup...

[Drexel63]

It is unfortunate how things worked out with Zach Rohrbach, but he declined a spot on the PA II team, and I completely agree with him that he belongs at the top level. At the time the rosters were formed, several other players had yet to drop out. I had Zach listed as a first alternate to play on the second team, and he declined the spot.

The unfortunate thing is Zach would have been playing on the top team as things stand now...