West Seneca: Youth Hockey & Rink

[Spirit of Ebenezer]

Spirit of Ebenezer thinks it would have been a great idea!!! Maybe he knows something we don't??!! Or maybe he has close ties to .......... hmmmm?????? Or maybe he was promised a job there?????

I know these issues you mentioned are not what bugged you the most about my post.

[Pumpkinhead]

All I can say is that project with a 5,000 seat ice arena plus 4 rinks, all on the public dole, really opened MY eyes to what was going on in this Town. There were only 3 people in West Seneca who were in favor of the project - Tim Greenan, Paul Clark, and Tim Wroblewski - which one are you Spirit????

[Psycho1]

Tim Greenan, Paul Clark, and Tim Wroblewski

The Three Stooges! I would venture a guess in saying Ralph Lorigi would be in the mix as well.

[Spirit of Ebenezer]

I would venture a guess in saying Ralph Lorigi would be in the mix as well.

I'm guessing it's a typo (?) regarding "Lorigi" ? I saw "him" recently very early one morning. It was sort of odd, since I hadn't expected to see him where I did. I hadn't seen him up close since the days of his parents old realtor office at the corner of Center Rd. and Seneca at Kelsey. Looked like life has treated him well...............Oh Well ?

[wnyfuture]

West Seneca travel hockey is a very competitive and very respected youth hockey program. With residency restrictions in place, WS would not be able to produce a team that could compete with the current list of AAA clubs in the EWAHL which they are part of. They compete against teams from Hershey, Pittsburgh, Rochester, Syracuse, Cleveland, as well as the Buffalo Regals and frequently compete in tournaments in Canada.

You likely could not pull 12 kids out of West Seneca in any given birth year good enough to play against any of these teams.

These teams are self funded and run with budgets of $15,000 to $25,000 per year. All costs are picked up by the families of the players on each team as well as sponsors.

If a residency restriction was put in place, West Seneca would have to leave he EWAHL and join the WNYAHL where they would likely downgrade to a AA status.

If the WS rink were to close permanently, the WS teams could continue to operate under the allotted budgets at any number of local rinks.

These teams are not designed to be feeder teams for JV or Varsity teams. In fact, any player serious about a future in hockey understands that High School hockey is a distraction. Split midget seasons are the result of trying to play both AAA and high school hockey. This is what causes our local teams to struggle against full season teams that strictly prohibit playing high school hockey while on those teams.

For the elite talented few, WNY doesn't even offer viable options to play at a level needed for scouting by Division 1 schools. It will not happen playing high school hockey. Many players need to leave the area to play for teams like Little Caesars, Honeybaked, Compuware, Detroit Belle Tire, and prep schools

how come Amherst can do it? only 4 non-residents on their aaa teams but ws can't?

[WSWings98]

3 Amherst residents to every one West Seneca resident is the first thing that jumps out at me.

More money? = more backyard rinks? = more ice time? = better players?

I would suggest that you attend tryouts for West Seneca Travel teams next March. You will then see that there will only be 12 to 15 players that are good enough for the team. In travel hockey, rosters will go short before signing players who would not be able to play at the particular level.

If you want guaranteed placement on a team for residents only then your option is House League. You can get your hockey experience there regardless of talent level. If you are good enough to make the travel team, then you are invited to participate if you wish to foot the bill.

(Net costs per player - not including equipment)
Travel Hockey: approx $3,000-$5,000
House League:$300 to $450

[Niagara]

(Net costs per player - not including equipment)
Travel Hockey: approx $3,000-$5,000
House League:$300 to $450

Hockey is a business. This has gone beyond simple town recreation. Leave the businesses to the businessmen.

[be true to yourself]

I emailed both of the female board members and got no response. Two days and no reply?

From what I heard at the board meeting tonight....parents have been asking questions on the hockey rink for 10 years without response.

Many parents left quite angry, as once again the board is doing nothing.

Talk about respect, none was given to the parents.

Graber stated the town did not want to spend the money on the rink that is why the rink is having issues.....not that he did not know about it.....he chose to do NOTHING ! funny, if his son was still playing, I wonder if his answer would have been the same . Have to love the dog and pony show Graber put on for the town to see... it was sad.

[OldTymeRevival]

From what I heard at the board meeting tonight....parents have been asking questions on the hockey rink for 10 years without response.

Many parents left quite angry, as once again the board is doing nothing.

Talk about respect, none was given to the parents.

Graber stated the town did not want to spend the money on the rink that is why the rink is having issues.....not that he did not know about it.....he chose to do NOTHING ! funny, if his son was still playing, I wonder if his answer would have been the same . Have to love the dog and pony show Graber put on for the town to see... it was sad.

++++

Just remember: He's a small and insignificant man. He may huff, and he may puff, but the house he blows down is his own house of cards! Someday he'll implode and everything will come crashing down around him- like he deserves. He's as nasty a man inside as you see on the outside and folks like that come up short (every pun intended!) in the end!

[Protect West Seneca]

++++

Just remember: He's a small and insignificant man. He may huff, and he may puff, but the house he blows down is his own house of cards! Someday he'll implode and everything will come crashing down around him- like he deserves. He's as nasty a man inside as you see on the outside and folks like that come up short (every pun intended!) in the end!

Hope I am present when it happens. His poor wife sat in the audience, I'm certain she wanted to crawl under her chair !

[OldTymeRevival]

Hope I am present when it happens. His poor wife sat in the audience, I'm certain she wanted to crawl under her chair !

Someone once told me she's Joel Giambra's cousin- does that give you a clue as to her history with Napoleonic men?!

[dtwarren]

From what I heard at the board meeting tonight....parents have been asking questions on the hockey rink for 10 years without response.

Many parents left quite angry, as once again the board is doing nothing.

Talk about respect, none was given to the parents.

Graber stated the town did not want to spend the money on the rink that is why the rink is having issues.....not that he did not know about it.....he chose to do NOTHING ! funny, if his son was still playing, I wonder if his answer would have been the same . Have to love the dog and pony show Graber put on for the town to see... it was sad.

I believe a reason for this was the failed plan for the hockey facility on Clinton that was hatched in 1997.

[WNYresident]

From what I heard at the board meeting tonight....parents have been asking questions on the hockey rink for 10 years without response.

Many parents left quite angry, as once again the board is doing nothing.

Talk about respect, none was given to the parents.

Graber stated the town did not want to spend the money on the rink that is why the rink is having issues.....not that he did not know about it.....he chose to do NOTHING ! funny, if his son was still playing, I wonder if his answer would have been the same . Have to love the dog and pony show Graber put on for the town to see... it was sad.

As far as I know there are commercial rinks the parents can take thier kids to. What is stopping them?

[wnyfuture]

As far as I know there are commercial rinks the parents can take thier kids to. What is stopping them?

There are 7 sheets of ice within 8 miles of the West Seneca Ice Rink. East Aurora is adding another and Holiday Twin Rinks said they would add a 3rd rink if any of the town rinks would close.

[wsresident33]

There is NO ice available at any local facility. It would only take a couple phone calls to figure that out. WS has over 50 hockey teams!! Graber was incorrect in his statement that the hockey assocation has secured ice elsewhere. They haven't. There is no ice available to secure. Teams were picked in March and April. Those teams are full, there really isn't anywhere else to take the 1000 kids that West Seneca has registered for hockey. Maybe that's what's stopping the parents.

The real issue here is opening the town ice rink for this season. If you don't want to have a new facility, great, then tell everyone before they commit to WS for next season. And, there are other groups that use the rink besides the hockey association. There is a sold out Friday public skate for the youth in the community, there are weekend public skates loaded with families and kids. There is a Learn to Skate program, figure skating and a senior skate.

The TOWN owns the ice rink, they sell the ice to those groups, including the town sponsored hockey association. The TOWN should be responsible for the clean up, but according to WP at the meeting, the hockey association has offered to assist in the cost of the clean up. I wonder what the cost would be to refund everyone's deposits if they make the foolish decision to not open the rink.

The town should take care of this season and honor the commitment they made to the kids and their families by opening that rink and then start talking about the future immediately. There is a way to make that rink, or a new rink (think community center) at least a break even, maybe if the Board members could start acting like responsible adults instead of bickering children we could get something done.