Ok, I have read the Next Level roster controversy and would love to hear from someone who knows the specifics. In the meantime, here are some general facts and educated guesses:

(1) a player definitely cannot be rostered on two different HoCo teams, especially the A and B team within the same program; happens all the time in tournaments, but not HoCo; no team would be dense enough to submit rosters with duplicate names, so if Next Level actually did try to cheat with blue players in a red playoff game, they would have slipped them in without being rostered at all;

(2) that is not Next Level's style and I would be very surprised if they did so - but if someone from ProStart or Predators knows the facts, prove me wrong!

(3) it is probably a case of circumstantial evidence - Next Level red over-performed in the playoffs, and Next Level Blue surprisingly missed the playoffs so their players were available, and somebody probably jumped to conclusions;

(4) it is unlikely that someone from a Baltimore team like Predators or Pro Start would recognize Next Level Blue players; those teams never play Next Level Blue, and they are from different geographic regions; the BLC, MadLax, and NL families all know each other, but Predators and Pro Start walk in different circles;

(5) it is also unlikely that Next Level parents would admit to illegal players if there were any chance NL was guilty; usually parents play dense and run for the hills in that situation; but often if they know their roster is 100% legit, then they will feed opposing parents bad information to egg them on to embarrass themselves with an unsuccessful challenge;

(6) if Next Level did use illegal players, then they deserve to get caught, and DQ'd and all the shame; there is precedent - HoCo has actually re-played a game a couple of years ago when a team brought down a goalie from an older division;

(7) it is suspicious that someone started the thread with "go easy on me, I am new to the BOTC" - sounds like a pot stirrer to me.

But let's hear some facts!