Does anyone know the line up of coaches?

Let me guess. McGriddle I, McGriddle II, and a couple of McGriddle's buddies.

That would be fine. Then we know our kids would be learning but I imagine the naysayers and people against those boys would blame everything wrong in the hockey world on them.

Learning what? Drinking and cussing?

Midgets- Mermis
Bantams- Mermis
Pee Wees- Mermis
Squirts- Mermis

It doesnt matter who is coaching the Affton Elite teams. Hands down the best spring program in STL.

12:08 & 7:40 - Thanks McGriddle!

7:25- it is posts like yours that ruin these sites, everyone knows they don't have any kids at those age levels and would never coach those teams without a player on the team!

The name has changed from Affton Elite to Mermis 101

Have had a kid playing Affton Spring Elite since it started and he has NEVER been coached by a McGriddle or one of his buddies....

Then your kid was on one of the Affton Elite fundraiser for the real Elite teams. Sorry but they don't consider your son elite. Those spots are reserved for little McGriddles and their buddies.

Spring Elite started long before there was ever a McGriddle involved....

McGriddle has moved on from Affton Elite. He's a Cougar now.

...and that has worked out well..

Its who you know at Affton elite. If your not known they will just suck your money up and put you on a second team that plays no one and gives you crappy times. The Kevin Mcglynn is the worst thing that can happen to a good kid. Once they rid themselves of him the better it will be for Affton and all youth hockey.

FYI Affton elite is an open tryout and has been able to keep kids on the ice at a reasonable price, provide training and instruction, and in the past either play practice games or some tournaments. Nothing more. A third team was installed at PeeWee minor last year due to the overwhelming response and the elite director (McGlynn) took an open ice slot on Fridays for the kids who wanted work on skills and skating. Two practice games were included and a couple participated in the tournament with the 97 elite group. Where's the problem. How does this harm youth hockey. My kid jumped at the chance and made the move this year from house to travel at PeeWee's. Most summer travel programs would have closed the door on my son. How bout yours'?

Coaches?

Tryouts begin the week of March 23rd. Please get your act together down on Gravois and announce the coaches? Too many other choices to wait.

What don't you understand about McGriddle I, McGriddle II, and a couple of McGriddle's buddies?

Times are posted but no coaches yet.

sorry, but I have seen his (McGlynn) distruction....He helps only that help him or his friends...It's not about the kidsor the talent.

Where are the examples of destruction. Man has helped many a team in his day, coaching at every level without a son involved for over 20 years. Now he has a couple of kids in play and everyone rips him, but so many instances of him reaching out to help kids participate in hockey your comments are nothing but crazy talk. Must be a bitter parent in the Valley.

I agree with the last post. Why in the world would McGlynn be accused of being self-serving and doing favors for his croanies? That is nonsense talk!

Coaches will most likely be the CS coaches from this year

Most likely coaches: Hazelton, Mermis, Flaugher, O'cello, Pinkowski, Gardner,
Anderson, and ??? for the Squirt level. Pretty nice line-up. All very experienced, and quality coaches.

What about the treasured MILFs?

at afton? you must be kidding.

Probably Hawkins at Squirt? The other coaches you listed are for Midget down through Pee-Wee.

Hawk won't be Squirt he will be PW-minor (98) his current team
He's also coaching 98 Delta; recruiting KW Stars and Rockets to Affton CS

Hawkins wants to stay with 98s but rumor has it all CS coaches are returning. PW minor coach has been the same for a while. He doesn't like the squirt age level. It should be interesting.

hope I'm not speaking out of turn.
wasn't told to me in confidence, but kind of accidental

Rumor:
PW Minor Coach Anderson is moving up to Bantam Minor with the 96's

That would make sense. Have O'cello move to Bantam Major, have
Anderson do Bantam Minor, and Pinkowski continue with Bantam AA.
You know Mermis will move along with his kid, no chance he does
Bantam again next season. Now we have to find a PW Minor coach.

O'cello???????????????

O'cello is a complete joke. Does anybody know why he is allowed to coach at affton. CF did not want him. He is definitely not a top level coach. Whatever level he is named at will have a problem getting the right kids out.

I've heard good things about him. Do tell!

To Mr. 5:35 you have your PW Minor coach it's Hawkins

All coaches, every single coach is a human being.
They all come with flaws.

I'm shocked,
Shocked I say that someone would complain about O'cello.
Never met the guy, never heard of the guy.
But, I'm shocked someone would come on here and complain about a coach.

7:17am So what is your prediction then for coaches? If Anderson moves up to do the Bantam Minor, who is going to do Bantam Major? I don't see Mermis staying since his kid moves up to Midget. I don't see Pinkowski taking it, he has experience as a long time coach at Affton, but only at AA never at CS, at least I don't think. As long as Affton doesn't go back to the useless Chase whatever his last name was, that was fired from Bantam Minor 2 years ago. You talk about a tool!

Midgets
Hazelton-Major
Flaugher-Minor
Bantams
Mermis-Major
Minor-Ocello
Pee Wees
McGlyn-Majors
Anderson or Hawkins-Minors
Squirts
TBD

That is what the lineup is going to look like

who cares?

Thats pretty much the lineup from this year. No way in hell Mermis stays with the Bantams. He's only in it for his kid, he'll go to Midgets or he won't coach. If DM wasn't his kid, or wasn't playing hockey, no way he coaches.

Cyberstalker back AGAIN. Idiot

Whatever that means? The previous post is correct. Mermis will not coach Bantams next year. Why would he?

Bantam Major

Bantam Major= this current season.

No kid on the team next year= not coaching

Without his boy, he has no reason to coach a Bantam team.

8:53pm wouldn't it make you a stalker as well following around the guy you are referring to as the "cyberstalker"?

Does anyone have the STL Elite Rosters? Not posted this year.

Did you ever think he might coach simply because he loves hockey and loves to
coach? If not, you are sadly mistaken. He will coach a team that his son does
not play on.

No chance. Its all about DM and getting him exposed to the proper people to advance his hockey "career".

DM best 94 in St Louis, will be playing higher level than CSDHL next year, BM is fantastic coach with two all world sons.

Every kid who tried out is getting a call before the STL rosters are posted.

Call already, the try outs ended last Thursday. 5 phone calls a day and it would take just 5 days.

12:13 no way, Berger is a better all-around player. And this "fantastic" coach is only in it for DM, without him, he doesn't have half the success.

4:01.....DM is one of the best 94s in the country. To say otherwise is to know nothing about the real youth hockey landscape. Why should dad fritter away a relatively short life coaching a team without one of his kids? Those who disagree need to get a grip.

Time will tell. Mermis will be a coach next season without having a kid on the team. He's already done it in the past and will do it again. Dakota doesn't need his daddy to make a team - already proven that. Check back at the end of May.

Thank you, Jolene. Spoken like a proud momma and loyal wife.

You're correct, DM doesn't need daddy to make a team, but daddy is nothing without DM.

Which team will he coach if his son isn't playing?

did mermis play hockey and if he did whaere?

He will coach Bantam Major again

11:24 Your jealousy makes you sound like a total ass. Get over the hate,you hater.

guy wins national title, has a good shot at winning another one this year, has one son in the USHL and another headed there soon, every kid that has played for him has learned the game, and people bitch about him.
DM made National District camp last year CB did not, that is a pretty objective evaluation, CB good player but DM real deal.

Jealousy. How many teams has that guy coached who is bitching? Or how many years has he taught kids and educated them? The only thing I can figure out is that he is either upset that his kid was cut or he is concerned about the upcoming year. I mean really, who cares anyway? He makes it sound like Mermis is the only dad coaching his kid - hmmm, McCrae, McKinnis, Zuke, Brown, etc. etc. etc. etc.

Hopefully Coach Mermis and family do not let this bother them. It is all borne out of
jealousy and simply idiots just complaining to complain. The people who know and have
had the fortune of their kids playing on one of his teams, know the real story. Their
kids' talents stand alone. Bottom line.

To make things clear, the "guy" hasn't won anything, the players on the team have. And the players the "guy" is getting are of the highest skill level, he's not teaching them anything, they already know what they are doing. Maybe have him coach a .500 HighSchool team to a State Tilte, or a regular Missouri Hockey Team to a State Title without the Allstars, then he will have done something. To be the coach of a team that anyone could coach, and that everyone already knows is going to win, means nothing.

Again, jealousy. Bottom line, his kids are rock solid people and hockey players. Whatever!

12:40 - LOL!! You are starting to get funny as well as stupid. So then, all CSDHL, AAA teams,NHL teams, USHL and NAHL teams really don't need coaches according to your comments. So what have you done for youth hockey? Just curious.

12:40 - an Affton Bantam AA parent???? Get over it and go back to Meramec.

No jealousy needed. Facts are facts. It doesn't take much to coach a team of the best players in the area. I would hope you could win with those players. But try winning with a HS team that has average players or AA team with full districting, and then you have accomplished something.

You are correct, facts are facts and the fact is you are an idiot.

Thanks Bill. It takes one to know one

My kid played for Bil this past spring. He was a good coach. He's not the great coach some of you are making him out to be, and he's also not the bad coach others are saying. I've seen better, and I've seen worse.

3:08 wasn't Bill but your answer is so predictable and stupid.

I think if you were to explain why you had such dislike for Coach Mermis, I'm sure it would be
told that your son was cut from one of his teams or never even tried out for one. No one should be this preoccupied with someone they have no contact with or don't know, and if you or your kid
played on his team, there wouldn't be such jealousy. Hours and hours of time developing kids. All
coaches can't please all people, obviously. To have such a chip on your shoulder, or something in some other body part, it has to do with your kid not making the cut.

Guess what, every coach spends hours and hours working with their players. He isn't any different, or more deserving of praise than the next coach. All coaches that spend their free time trying to help our kids deserve our Thanks.

I hate to do it, but I agree with one point the Bil hater made, you don't have to be a good coach to have a winning team of great players. IMHO, we had one this year. Coach lost the players respect early in the season, but talent carried the team to a sucessful season. However, I wouldn't put Bil in this catagory. Bil is always teaching the game. All you have to do is watch his practices. He not only runs the drills and works on situational hockey, he also explains why these things work, what the player may see as a response to a created situation and actually teaches individual skills as well. To the hater, I've given you examples of just a couple of things that my son has eperienced, you should absolutly clue us into what your experiences were to give you such a sour feel in your fingers.

See 4:16 post for answer.

Guess what, you're not on here talking and bashing every other coach or I would defend them, too.

Thanks.

I would not defend any coach just because he coaches. Yes,they take their own time to help the kids. Thats great,but you have to take into account the development of the WHOLE team and the forward movement (or lack of)during the whole season. Not to mention the game itself. The one thing great coaches do is TEACH the game and EXPLAIN why.

But when you have a team of all star caliber players, what is the coach really teaching, or doing to move the team forward? The team is going to be great from day one, without the coach doing a thing. The true measure of a coach is taking a team of average, or average to good players and making them better. The example a few posts above was dead on. Take an average highschool team, and win the state title. Or take a Mohockey districted AA team(not undistricted so you can pick the best from all clubs) and win the state championship, then you have done something as a coach: you have taken a team of good players, and made them great, you haven't taken a team of great players and done what everyone would expect you to do-win.

Your "all star" theme is stupid. How about a coach taking a group of all stars, playing in an all star league and still winning??? So basically what you are saying is that there shouldn't be any coaches at any high levels. That there should only be coaching at average teams which are trying to win a championship amongst other average teams and then if the coach wins that championship THEN he is a real coach. Botton line I think you are just mad at MOAM for making the Bantam AA team play against the CSDHL team for a bid to Regionals. Call MoAm and complain and maybe they will change the rules for you.

Not mad at all, in fact, I think everyone knew what the outcome was going to be when a non-districted all-star team plays a districted team. This is true at any level. You refer to Bantams, but we're not just talking about that level, we're talking Pee Wee thru Midget. The whole point is, give every coach credit and thanks for spending their time working with our kids, and its obvious you have some brown nosing to do, as you put certain coaches on a pedestal, when you know yourself you could coach these all-star teams and win, even if you have never been behind a bench before. You apparently will never get the point, so I give up trying to help you understand.

Thank you for giving up helping us understand.

10:59 and other like-minded idiots......There's a reason its consistantly competitive in the upper tier of youth hockey teams and there's a reason the better players migrate to his team. Would you like to surmise why this is the case?

The reason players go to "his" team is because he is the coach of the team. If Fred Flinstone was coaching they would still go to play on the team because they will win because of the talent on the team. They are not going there because of the coach, they are going because they know they have the best chance to win if they play on that particular team. It doesn't matter who the coach is.

I thought you were going to quit trying to make us understand.

I've been reading these comments, and up till now just laughed and never posted, but now I have to. The thing is, BM is a good coach, not a great coach or a terrible coach, but a good coach. There are many good coaches in the area. What the BM hater or haters need to realize is, that he can pretty much get away with anything because the kids/parents that have been on his team will defend him to their grave. Why? Because they win games, and unfortunately winning takes the place of anything else in their eyes. Thats why he gets away with the yelling, and the put downs towards his players. His constant degrading of the players is worth it to a parent that wants to win. So you see, in the parents eyes, he is God, Ghandi, Scotty Bowman and the President all rolled into one. They may realize that it doesn't matter who the coach is, they just want to be on the team that gets them the best chance to win. If it was someone else coaching, the parents would defend that coach the same way.

does anyone know when central states usually has tryouts

Central States tryouts begin in early June. I think Hockey Stop will list try out times soon.

I agree that no matter who you put behind the bench of these central states teams with the talent they have you will get wins. However, there is a huge diffence between having a winning record and winning a national championship. Considering this has only happend, what twice, since central states started? If coaching isn't the diffence why doesn't Affton or CHA win a national championsip every year at every level?

AAA tryouts start in May

I agree with the consensus here, it doesn't matter what kind of coach one is, if he wins all sins are forgiven. If they lose, they look for his head on a platter. Bil is a good coach. The fact that he teaches situational positioning and hows and whys are unparalleled in STL. Now the key to how effective he is as a coach, go back to the last team he coached that wasn't with Affton. He was the coach for Chesterfield CS.

How was that team?

That is a good indicator on how good his coaching skills are.

Actually the question is: If coaching IS the difference, why doesn't BM's team win Nationals every year? Answer: Because its about the talent level of the players, not the coach. Obviously other teams throughout the country have had better talent, except for a few seasons. The local CS teams are almost guaranteed to be the Mo. rep at Regionals every year, thats because they have the best players from the Region on their team, thats not coaching thats simply having the best players on your team. Now, when you get to Districts and Nationals, other teams usually have better players, so they usually end up winning. Its so easy to understand, some of you must really be drinking some BM koolaid if you don't get it.

3:35pm so how was that CF CS team he coached? Where did they finish?

Finished first. And, the Mite AA CF team finished first also the year before that. Hey mister, "I'm not going to explain it anymore" - if it's so easy you should get a coaching card and win nationals every year with an all star team. I wish you actually would do what you say you are going to do and quit trying to explain it to us dumb hockey people.

3:40 - so let me see - BM went to Nationals for the FIRST time eligible (at the Pee Wee level and WINS it). Then, goes again the following year and makes it to SEMI's. Hmmm, I see your point - and what are you drinking???? Jealousy juice??

Finished first with a Mite AA team? Big deal. CS does not exist at Mites, so you are still getting the best players to "coach". Your players win you a National Championship, and all of a sudden you are the best coach in the world. Do it without the best players in the State, then your doing something impressive.

he sucks, afton sucks and you suck for replying endlessly to his old lady.

ok, what about at the NHL level. So the team that wins the stanley cup every year simply just has the best players?

405 sorry not the old lady just tired of stupid comments from a jealous idiot

4:05 no, they have the worst players. what kind of stupid question is that?

Having one of the best 94s in the country on your AA team every year doesn't hurt.

3-19 12:39
Constantly degrading his players? I think not. He does have,on a consistant basis,the largest turnout for tryouts for any team he coaches. Like him or not,he has the hockey sense and work ethic to advance his teams to Nationals. Yes,the kids are placed on the team by the coach. So..if you want to call them all stars go ahead.Comraderie and hard work are a major part of his team. Our son has played for the most foul mouthed,degrading,embarrassing,trainwreck of a good coach. Believe me,Bil is NOTHING like that clown.

4:39 the point was when your talking about the NHL, the top 4 or 5 teams in each conference are all deep with talent. So coaching doesn't have anything to do with it? I understand if you can't quite grasp that though.

No one has answered the original question. Have the coaches been officially announced yet?And if not, why?

4:39 was being sarcastic. Actually, according to the hockey guru, all NHL teams do not need coaches.

If you are being paid millions of dollars a year to play hockey, and you don't know what you are doing, and need a coach to tell you, there is something wrong! Coaches may make lines, call for line changes, implement their systems, but the players are the ones that play. From Mini-Mites all the way to the pros.

12:35 sorry my sarcasim glasses are a little foggy today

OK Now that everyone had a tryout who are the coaches?

Only a few days before tryouts, and no coaches are listed anywhere. When are the coaches ging to be posted?