[MelBridgeman]

As someone who played at all levels of minor hockey in Calgary, including AA and AAA level and as someone who has coached at the AA level in Calgary BUT as someone with no kids...yet.. - my thought is "just typical"..the battle between what parents want for their kids and what the coach wants for the team..is always the biggest battle of the year. For coaches not only do you need to have the kids on board, but you also need the parents on board...

In this case we are dealing with a coach who also has his son on the team who happens to be the goalie battling it out with the other goalies father, quite a unique set of circumstances...

Honestly and i may be biased i think the coach tried to avoid this situation by suggesting he take one goalie, which in my experience at the top level in atom, novice and peewee is not unusual...and it's my opinion that your son (hindsight maybe) was better off on the B team anyway, where if he was good enough to play A he could of dominated and filled in at the A level where needed..

The reality is that players dont necessarily require playing at the highest level to progress especially at your sons age, i know plenty of kids who have played midget AA at 17 and still managed to make it to Junoir A, one of those kids is starting for the Junior A Royals...I played midget AA with a guy who made it to the NHL..albiet for a short career, but still plays professionally to this day.

Making it in hockey is all mental..of course you need the skill and talent to go with it...but there are going to be many times where you feel your kid gets the short end. As a coach and not as a parent, by advice is to deal with your son and not the coach..battles between coaches and parents are never good, and most times its just a matter of the parents looking our for this kids and the coach the team (although in this case he might be looking out for his son)..anyways - help you son through the adversity..encourage him to work harder in practice,be his biggest fan, remind him that not playing will build character that he will need down the road, point to backups in the NHL and how important they are and with practice and time they always get their shining moment....

I have never seen anything good come out of parents vs coaches...even if as a parent you feel you have justifications...remeber you want the kids to have fun, so why dont you have fun and try and turn this into something positive, because your son will face adversity in life and hockey when things dont seem fair and its a good time to set an example for him....

that's my 2 cents, it might change when i have a son in hockey...you never know...Top level teams always have politics and usually the mandate is to play the hot hand...especially when it comes to goaltenders...and its part of the learning experience of hockey and life

I have faced these situations as well, in my playing career, i played Novice C, scored 50 in 30 games and played on A teams up until i went to college...
I have cut a better goaltender for another goaltender with more experience..sent him back to midget B - when the AAA team lost their goaltender - i glady sent them one of my goaltenders, invited the goalie we cut back to AA and he went on to make AAA next year and Junior A the year after...why? ..mental toughness, that kid had incredible character, always got back up and worked at it when he was cut, or disapointed.... and was the reason we went on a roll at the end of the season..

good luck!

Edit: Also i should note...in the organization i coached in we kept detailed scouting reports on all players...including reports on parents..and yes when it came to picking players we had to choose between, we did sometimes refer to the information we had about the parents in making these decisions...so if this organization does the same thing...i am not sure what your sons coach will report about you (rightly or wrongly) and if it will be used against your son in the future..just a heads up