Any experience with the HSL - Hockey Super League (minor hockey in AB / BC)?

[sunlitspots]

Hi Everyone, hoping this thread is still alive! I've been trying hard to get more informed about HPL. My daughter is entering U13 and has just been offered a spot on an HPL team (she's a D). Her minor association has both an A1 and A2 and the A1 team would place in Flight 2 so I would say this is more comparable to being AA and A. We really like the security of having a spot and not having to go through tryouts and we really like the coach who owns the team as well as his coaching school. Our daughter has also made the PCAHA development team for girls (which she can do in conjunction with being with her minor association). Because of the rules of BC hockey, she will have to forfeit that spot if she were to accept the HPL offer. Really feeling in over my head with the decision. She is VERY eager to do HPL but to be honest, worried about not being in good graces with Hockey Canada and potential consequences down the road.

 

[Yukon Joe]

Hi Everyone, hoping this thread is still alive! I've been trying hard to get more informed about HPL. My daughter is entering U13 and has just been offered a spot on an HPL team (she's a D). Her minor association has both an A1 and A2 and the A1 team would place in Flight 2 so I would say this is more comparable to being AA and A. We really like the security of having a spot and not having to go through tryouts and we really like the coach who owns the team as well as his coaching school. Our daughter has also made the PCAHA development team for girls (which she can do in conjunction with being with her minor association). Because of the rules of BC hockey, she will have to forfeit that spot if she were to accept the HPL offer. Really feeling in over my head with the decision. She is VERY eager to do HPL but to be honest, worried about not being in good graces with Hockey Canada and potential consequences down the road.

Hey there @sunlitspots

So I take it you're from BC. I live in Alberta (Edmonton specifically). As such some of the lingo you mentioned goes over my head. But to the extent I can relate I'll give you what little wisdom I have. So from this thread you can see I have a now U15 kid who declined going to HSL last year in favour of trying out for his Hockey Alberta affiliated club. He made his U 13 AA team, had a great year. So he is trying out for U15 AA/AAA this year. My younger son is in turn hitting U13 and trying out for AA this year (I'd be shocked if he made it, but he won't embarrass himself trying out).

So the HUGE disclaimer here is I don't have daughters. I love that you have your daughter playing hockey, I have friends whose daughters play hockey, but that's an enormous blind spot in what I know.

So on the one hand I get it - tryouts suck. A whole lot of anxiety and uncertainty all riding on just a couple of hours on the ice. With my own kids I've seen it go both ways - one bad hour saw them plummet down the tiers, one good hour saw them shoot up. But in the end my kids have generally found pretty solid teams to play on.

The key thing for me though is that your daughter knows the coach, and you love the coach. That's huge. My kids have mostly had really great coaches, but that's the thing about minor hockey - you don't know what coach you're going to get.

So look - I have my doubts about HSL/HPL. I don't like that it's a for-profit model. But there are good people in that world. If you are happy and comfortable with the coach and team I wouldn't worry about it not being Hockey Canada affiliated. If you don't like the result this year in my experience you can return to the affiliated Hockey Canada world without any regrets.

Now I have no experience wit the PCAHA development team. I have no idea how good an opportunity that might be. My own son has had some experience with some Hockey Alberta camps - they've been pretty good, but not jaw dropping amazing. He's been to plenty of private camps that are worse, but some that are definitely better.

So look - I've going off of 9 lines of text you wrote. I think you'll do fine no matter what route you choose. But if you love the coach and feel comfortable with him I would tend to lean in that direction. Hockey Canada will always be there next year if you don't like that approach.

See you at the rink!

 

[Mr Jiggyfly]

Hi Everyone, hoping this thread is still alive! I've been trying hard to get more informed about HPL. My daughter is entering U13 and has just been offered a spot on an HPL team (she's a D). Her minor association has both an A1 and A2 and the A1 team would place in Flight 2 so I would say this is more comparable to being AA and A. We really like the security of having a spot and not having to go through tryouts and we really like the coach who owns the team as well as his coaching school. Our daughter has also made the PCAHA development team for girls (which she can do in conjunction with being with her minor association). Because of the rules of BC hockey, she will have to forfeit that spot if she were to accept the HPL offer. Really feeling in over my head with the decision. She is VERY eager to do HPL but to be honest, worried about not being in good graces with Hockey Canada and potential consequences down the road.

I’m in the states but my daughter plays hockey and while I can’t specifically answer questions about the HPL, we had to make some tough decisions this past spring that may have future consequences as well, so I feel you, trust me.

My daughter took major leaps last year and wanted to tryout out for a few boys 12u AA teams this past spring.

On the other hand we have one of the best girls AAA teams in the country right in our backyard.

Even better, the coach from this AAA girls team knows my daughter from ADM and has been trying to recruit her for a couple yrs.

Our daughter hates playing girls hockey, and my wife kind of leaned on her to finally try out for this AAA girls team and my daughter finally agreed.

However, the first AA team my daughter tried out for sent us an offer and she wanted to accept.

We knew the AAA girls coach would see this as a slight when we had to tell him she changed her mind about trying out for his team.

It wasn’t a good look after telling him no no no, finally yes, oh sorry it’s a no again.

He may hold this against her if she ever wants to come play for that org now, and eventually she has to go through this org if she wants to play high level girls hockey one day.

In the end my wife and I decided to stop having a say in where our daughter played, and we explained the blow back and future consequences if she accepted the boys AA offer.

Ultimately, it just felt like it was time to let our daughter control her own fate and let her deal with the good and bad that comes from her decisions.

 

[Yukon Joe]

Ultimately, it just felt like it was time to let our daughter control her own fate and let her deal with the good and bad that comes from her decisions.

That's one of the hardest things about being a parent - having to let go and let your kid make their own decisions, even when we perceive them to be mistakes.

So I have three kids. Oldest boy plays at a high level. Youngest boy doesn't play at all (and that's fine!). Middle guy though plays hockey. Really enjoys hockey. Plays at an above-average level, but no superstar. He sometimes gets frustrated that he isn't better. But several times we've offered to put him in different camps or clinics or whatever and he's like "nah, I don't think so". He does say yes to some others, but I'm always privately thinking "buddy if you don't put in the work you won't get better". In particular I know he'd like to play with one particular friend of his who he goes to school with, but, well, that buddy is a better player than he is and always tiers higher than my son.

But he's old enough I'm not going to force him.

 

[krown]

Hi Everyone, hoping this thread is still alive! I've been trying hard to get more informed about HPL. My daughter is entering U13 and has just been offered a spot on an HPL team (she's a D). Her minor association has both an A1 and A2 and the A1 team would place in Flight 2 so I would say this is more comparable to being AA and A. We really like the security of having a spot and not having to go through tryouts and we really like the coach who owns the team as well as his coaching school. Our daughter has also made the PCAHA development team for girls (which she can do in conjunction with being with her minor association). Because of the rules of BC hockey, she will have to forfeit that spot if she were to accept the HPL offer. Really feeling in over my head with the decision. She is VERY eager to do HPL but to be honest, worried about not being in good graces with Hockey Canada and potential consequences down the road.

@sunlitspots my son (going into U15 now) played both HPL and minor hockey (NSWC), so I have firsthand experience.

1. The whole no tryouts aspect is huge (especially for my wife) as September is often the most stressful part of the season. If your daughter lands where she wanted to, then all is good! If not, then there are challenges on how she feels about where she landed. With HPL, the team just hits the ground running after the team is picked.

2. HPL only plays out of Planet Ice Coquitlam and Planet Ice Delta. So all your kid's games will be there. Part of the fun of PCAHA is going to different rinks, and you have your own "home" rink. Driving to Chilliwack in January on a Saturday night for a game sometimes sucks.

3. My experience with HPL coaches are they are very good. Unless your daughter plays on an A1 or A2 club, the quality of coaching could vary.

4. HPL costs more $$ than PCAHA. Money is always a factor.

Hope this helps

 

[sunlitspots]

@krown thank you very much for your reply - it's very helpful! I think she's decided to do HPL. You're very right that it is a relief for her not to have to go through the month long tryout process and the set schedules for practices and games are really great. While she would be trying out for A1 or A2, I don't feel the association is strong so comparably, I think this would be more like NSWC A2/3/4. Thank you very much!

 

[sunlitspots]

Hi @Yukon Joe and @mrjiggyfly , so sorry I didn't scroll up to see your replies - just saw them now! I think you make a really good point about the coach and he's one of the best coaches in the area as well. That's definitely a big factor in her decision. @mrjiggyfly , I think it's really great that your daughter felt it was in her control. With us, it's also so hard to NOT direct her decisions but at the end of the day, their instinct and feelings are always fully factored in their decision when they make it. We have the opposite problem here, our daughter actually loves playing with the girls and does so during the spring season but the girls association that we're in the catchement of is abysmal, to the point where 3 of their top players are leaving for boys hockey I hope all of your children have an amazing hockey season!

 

[Mr Jiggyfly]

That's one of the hardest things about being a parent - having to let go and let your kid make their own decisions, even when we perceive them to be mistakes.

So I have three kids. Oldest boy plays at a high level. Youngest boy doesn't play at all (and that's fine!). Middle guy though plays hockey. Really enjoys hockey. Plays at an above-average level, but no superstar. He sometimes gets frustrated that he isn't better. But several times we've offered to put him in different camps or clinics or whatever and he's like "nah, I don't think so". He does say yes to some others, but I'm always privately thinking "buddy if you don't put in the work you won't get better". In particular I know he'd like to play with one particular friend of his who he goes to school with, but, well, that buddy is a better player than he is and always tiers higher than my son.

But he's old enough I'm not going to force him.

Ya motivation isn’t an issue with my daughter. She works her ass off and deserves her success.

Getting her to focus on having fun is the problem because she’s so intense.

My wife signed her up for some girls hockey camp for a few days a couple weeks ago - it was various skill levels and just a camp for girls to skate together and have fun.

My daughter had to write down her goals for what she wanted to accomplish in the camp and how she wanted to use the extra ice time.

I was like ,”dude, it’s just for fun! Fun! Go mess around and try some cool moves and meet some new kids.”

And she got mad I suggested she wasn’t going to have fun.

Then of course, the first day after camp she gets in the truck and bitched all the girls were “like single A level” and wouldn’t push her.

I reminded her about the fun part and she snapped “I did have fun, ok!”

I wanted to throw back “if you say so Krazytown” but held my tongue.

So finding a balance can be frustrating as hell with her, but I feel like it’s my job as her father to make sure she never loses sight of why you play this game.

 

[Mr Jiggyfly]

Hi @Yukon Joe and @mrjiggyfly , so sorry I didn't scroll up to see your replies - just saw them now! I think you make a really good point about the coach and he's one of the best coaches in the area as well. That's definitely a big factor in her decision. @mrjiggyfly , I think it's really great that your daughter felt it was in her control. With us, it's also so hard to NOT direct her decisions but at the end of the day, their instinct and feelings are always fully factored in their decision when they make it. We have the opposite problem here, our daughter actually loves playing with the girls and does so during the spring season but the girls association that we're in the catchement of is abysmal, to the point where 3 of their top players are leaving for boys hockey I hope all of your children have an amazing hockey season!

My wife and I “guided” her the first three seasons of travel and basically picked my daughter’s teams for her.

The first year was awesome, but we made some bad decisions the last two years that didn’t really work out and decided this past spring to just let her chose her own path.

It was hard to let go, especially because she picked three boys AA teams to try out for that had fierce competition.

I kind of wanted to protect her from being told she wasn’t good enough for them, but held my tongue and she ended up making the first team she tried out for.

So it was a great lesson that humbled me and proved to me that my fears of her being disappointed and hurt, could hold her back.

Basically, dad doesn’t know best perhaps.

Obviously your instincts may be different from mine, but don’t be afraid to trust your daughter’s intuition, even when it goes directly against your fears for her.

 

[biturbo19]

My main takeaway from this is that...holy heck, hockey development has become even more convoluted and money-centric than i even realized.

 

[Yukon Joe]

My main takeaway from this is that...holy heck, hockey development has become even more convoluted and money-centric than i even realized.

I mean - you're not necessarily wrong.

But what makes it tough is that I haven't found anyone out there who is purely, cynically only out there to make a buck. The HSL, JPHL, CSSHL, and everyone else seem to genuinely believe they have something valuable to offer. And yes, they might also be making a buck out of it too, but in my experience they all seem pretty genuine.

So yeah - it's just tough for parents (and players) to navigate.

 

[biturbo19]

I mean - you're not necessarily wrong.

But what makes it tough is that I haven't found anyone out there who is purely, cynically only out there to make a buck. The HSL, JPHL, CSSHL, and everyone else seem to genuinely believe they have something valuable to offer. And yes, they might also be making a buck out of it too, but in my experience they all seem pretty genuine.

So yeah - it's just tough for parents (and players) to navigate.

I'd wager that someone somewhere is cynically profiting from this. But the people you actually interface with...well, they're probably just people who are truly, genuinely grateful to have a job in the sport that they love. Honestly doing their best.


Even when i was a kid though, it wasn't necessarily some cynical "money making" machine. But so much of it was just...financial barriers to higher levels of play.


Seems like it's just become progressively more insane and expensive to get involved with. Combined with the head injury stuff...i guess it's not surprising that registration is down. It kind of feels like money is going to eventually eat hockey to death. Turn it into a "niche sport" like equestrian stuff.

 

[Yukon Joe]

I'd wager that someone somewhere is cynically profiting from this. But the people you actually interface with...well, they're probably just people who are truly, genuinely grateful to have a job in the sport that they love. Honestly doing their best.


Even when i was a kid though, it wasn't necessarily some cynical "money making" machine. But so much of it was just...financial barriers to higher levels of play.


Seems like it's just become progressively more insane and expensive to get involved with. Combined with the head injury stuff...i guess it's not surprising that registration is down. It kind of feels like money is going to eventually eat hockey to death. Turn it into a "niche sport" like equestrian stuff.

So I can by fairly cynical about minor hockey, but I want to be fair.

Other than the nice lady who is the registrar of our local club (who is a mere employee), nobody I know is making their living from minor hockey. Nobody is getting rich off of our minor hockey fees, or our camps, or whatever. Even on our AA/AAA teams coaches are getting a stipend plus travel costs, nothing more.

So no, I don't think anyone is cynically profiting from hockey (or if they are I haven't hit that level yet).

I've said this before - if all you want to do is play hockey for fun, it's not ridiculously expensive,

But if you want your kids to play at a high level - even if you have no pro ambitions - yes it absolutely is an arms race. The coaches are not making a fortune, but they're certainly take your money. And yes the 'concussion stuff' is certainly not helping either.

 

[oldunclehue]

I

Hi Everyone, hoping this thread is still alive! I've been trying hard to get more informed about HPL. My daughter is entering U13 and has just been offered a spot on an HPL team (she's a D). Her minor association has both an A1 and A2 and the A1 team would place in Flight 2 so I would say this is more comparable to being AA and A. We really like the security of having a spot and not having to go through tryouts and we really like the coach who owns the team as well as his coaching school. Our daughter has also made the PCAHA development team for girls (which she can do in conjunction with being with her minor association). Because of the rules of BC hockey, she will have to forfeit that spot if she were to accept the HPL offer. Really feeling in over my head with the decision. She is VERY eager to do HPL but to be honest, worried about not being in good graces with Hockey Canada and potential consequences down the road.

If she is as good as you say I'd stick to minor hockey and go from there. Hockey Canada has some great opportunities for female hockey players as well as provincial programs. If you do HPL, you get no guarantees of its future as well as you potentially blacklist her from plenty of extra programs with HockeyBC and Hockey Canada. But if those aren't as important to her, then HPL sounds pretty good.

So I can by fairly cynical about minor hockey, but I want to be fair.

Other than the nice lady who is the registrar of our local club (who is a mere employee), nobody I know is making their living from minor hockey. Nobody is getting rich off of our minor hockey fees, or our camps, or whatever. Even on our AA/AAA teams coaches are getting a stipend plus travel costs, nothing more.

So no, I don't think anyone is cynically profiting from hockey (or if they are I haven't hit that level yet).

I've said this before - if all you want to do is play hockey for fun, it's not ridiculously expensive,

But if you want your kids to play at a high level - even if you have no pro ambitions - yes it absolutely is an arms race. The coaches are not making a fortune, but they're certainly take your money. And yes the 'concussion stuff' is certainly not helping either.

Minor hockey is a program offered through provincial hockey body tied to Hockey Canada. Plenty of folks in management positions etc making money of Minor hockey. Hell they even took our fees to start a sexual assault payout fund. I don't think anyone in your regional hockey bodies are making money off of it, but up the line plenty of people using the money to cover off things that regular Joe hockey parent will never see or hear about.

As far as the private arms race folks....be careful here, for every Connor Bedard out there, there is 5000 kids that pay for these programs and end up going nowhere or doing anything high level with their careers. Plenty of employees in those programs are used car salesmen. Average players with rich parents, or parents willing to risk their financial future are there to prop up the 1 of every 5000 player.

 

[Yukon Joe]

Minor hockey is a program offered through provincial hockey body tied to Hockey Canada. Plenty of folks in management positions etc making money of Minor hockey. Hell they even took our fees to start a sexual assault payout fund. I don't think anyone in your regional hockey bodies are making money off of it, but up the line plenty of people using the money to cover off things that regular Joe hockey parent will never see or hear about.

As far as the private arms race folks....be careful here, for every Connor Bedard out there, there is 5000 kids that pay for these programs and end up going nowhere or doing anything high level with their careers. Plenty of employees in those programs are used car salesmen. Average players with rich parents, or parents willing to risk their financial future are there to prop up the 1 of every 5000 player.

OK I have to give you this one. When I said "no one is getting rich off of minor hockey" I definitely forgot about the higher-ups in Hockey Canada. The stories coming out of there are just brutal.

Beyond that though... all those guys doing hockey programs for kids - they're making a few bucks, but not getting rich. Almost invariably they all have day jobs and do hockey as a side hustle.

 

[jetsmooseice]

OK I have to give you this one. When I said "no one is getting rich off of minor hockey" I definitely forgot about the higher-ups in Hockey Canada. The stories coming out of there are just brutal.

Beyond that though... all those guys doing hockey programs for kids - they're making a few bucks, but not getting rich. Almost invariably they all have day jobs and do hockey as a side hustle.

Spring hockey is notoriously lucrative. If you hold your region's rights for the big events like Brick Tournament, etc. then you can command some big dollars. The Winnipeg Free Press ran an article about this 10 years ago that damn near every hockey parent on my kid's teams seems to have read, even today.

It's paywalled, I'm not sure if it's kosher to cut and paste an entire article here? Feb 2013: Opinion: Parents who can afford it scramble to get kids into elite hockey programs

The article very much speaks to OldUncleHue's point that in elite spring hockey, you are either the one getting the free ride, or you are paying for someone else's free ride.

 

[Yukon Joe]

Spring hockey is notoriously lucrative. If you hold your region's rights for the big events like Brick Tournament, etc. then you can command some big dollars. The Winnipeg Free Press ran an article about this 10 years ago that damn near every hockey parent on my kid's teams seems to have read, even today.

It's paywalled, I'm not sure if it's kosher to cut and paste an entire article here? Feb 2013: Opinion: Parents who can afford it scramble to get kids into elite hockey programs

The article very much speaks to OldUncleHue's point that in elite spring hockey, you are either the one getting the free ride, or you are paying for someone else's free ride.

I don't have experience with The Brick Tournament - it's very much one of a kind. My kids weren't anywhere remotely on the radar for elite hockey at that age.

But we've done spring hockey. We even went to friggin Las Vegas for a tournament in the spring. But I've gotten to know the guy who ran that tournament - my kid has played with his kid on a few different teams. And as I have said - the guy is definitely doing it to make money, and there is a profit motive to it. I just push back against the notion that people are getting "rich" off of it. For this guy, and pretty much all the people I've gotten to know, hockey is a side business, not their primary source of income.

 

[jetsmooseice]

I don't have experience with The Brick Tournament - it's very much one of a kind. My kids weren't anywhere remotely on the radar for elite hockey at that age.

But we've done spring hockey. We even went to friggin Las Vegas for a tournament in the spring. But I've gotten to know the guy who ran that tournament - my kid has played with his kid on a few different teams. And as I have said - the guy is definitely doing it to make money, and there is a profit motive to it. I just push back against the notion that people are getting "rich" off of it. For this guy, and pretty much all the people I've gotten to know, hockey is a side business, not their primary source of income.

Yeah, that's fair. I mean, I doubt anyone is getting fabulously wealthy off spring hockey. But if someone is making six figures running those programs, which that article I linked to basically implied, then I think it's more than just a side hustle someone runs for the love of the game and to maybe make a little beer money.

I say this as someone enrolling his kid in spring hockey again against his better judgment. My kid is reasonably good but he is not elite tier, no one is scouting him out for the top teams. But there is definitely an element of FOMO at play combined with the desire to extend the season a bit. It's a bit easier to overlook your reservations when the total cost is a couple thousand dollars as it is for spring hockey around here, but it's a totally different ballgame for us when you're talking five-figure expenses like academies, one on one training, etc. That gets a hard no.

 

[oldunclehue]

The o

I don't have experience with The Brick Tournament - it's very much one of a kind. My kids weren't anywhere remotely on the radar for elite hockey at that age.

But we've done spring hockey. We even went to friggin Las Vegas for a tournament in the spring. But I've gotten to know the guy who ran that tournament - my kid has played with his kid on a few different teams. And as I have said - the guy is definitely doing it to make money, and there is a profit motive to it. I just push back against the notion that people are getting "rich" off of it. For this guy, and pretty much all the people I've gotten to know, hockey is a side business, not their primary source of income.

The one guy from the Article...Brian FRYKAS sold the rights to the Winnipeg spring tournament to a large corporation from the States for....roughly $1,500,000. So not only was he making likely 6 figures while running it, he sold the rights to it for well over a million bucks. If that doesn't show you that spring hockey is a service provided to those willing to do it, but that it is all for profit as well well I've got ocean front property in Sask for sale.

Looking up some of the names in that article:

1. Gardner = NCAA Div 1 starting this year (Depending on scholarship amount, could be worth it)
2. Joshua KAGEN = NCAA Division 3 (imagine spending what that dad spent for a Div 3 outcome...yikes)

Spring tournaments have gone from "Elite" programs in 2013 to for anyone willing to spend in 2023. My wife runs a local Spring hockey program which is not for profit in any way (trust me) but is for our local families and kids to play on without having to drive 3 hours to the nearest centre. I've seen some of these tournaments and they are DEFINITLY for profit and money makers.

 

[Yukon Joe]

The o

The one guy from the Article...Brian FRYKAS sold the rights to the Winnipeg spring tournament to a large corporation from the States for....roughly $1,500,000. So not only was he making likely 6 figures while running it, he sold the rights to it for well over a million bucks. If that doesn't show you that spring hockey is a service provided to those willing to do it, but that it is all for profit as well well I've got ocean front property in Sask for sale.

Looking up some of the names in that article:

1. Gardner = NCAA Div 1 starting this year (Depending on scholarship amount, could be worth it)
2. Joshua KAGEN = NCAA Division 3 (imagine spending what that dad spent for a Div 3 outcome...yikes)

Spring tournaments have gone from "Elite" programs in 2013 to for anyone willing to spend in 2023. My wife runs a local Spring hockey program which is not for profit in any way (trust me) but is for our local families and kids to play on without having to drive 3 hours to the nearest centre. I've seen some of these tournaments and they are DEFINITLY for profit and money makers.

Of course people are making money off of hockey. I've said so numerous times.

I just questioned the scale.. If Frykas can sell for $1.5 million I mean that's pretty good - but consider that's after building the business for 20 years, so even then it's not that amazing a return on investment. The Wpg Free Press article does have Frykas making good points about all of the expenses involved that come out of your entry fee for a spring tournament.

And very, very few tournaments are on the scale of Frykas's (or The Brick in Edmonton).

For tournaments, they mostly seem to be like this: hey, we want to play in a tournament at this time, but none are available. Lets get some ice time and put on a tournament.

 

[oldunclehue]

Of course people are making money off of hockey. I've said so numerous times.

I just questioned the scale.. If Frykas can sell for $1.5 million I mean that's pretty good - but consider that's after building the business for 20 years, so even then it's not that amazing a return on investment. The Wpg Free Press article does have Frykas making good points about all of the expenses involved that come out of your entry fee for a spring tournament.

And very, very few tournaments are on the scale of Frykas's (or The Brick in Edmonton).

For tournaments, they mostly seem to be like this: hey, we want to play in a tournament at this time, but none are available. Lets get some ice time and put on a tournament.

At the end of the day....the commercialization of minor hockey is leading people to believe they can spend enough money to get their kid to the NHL or WHL or NCAA. Statistically this is a lie but its not stopping those who can pay for it from trying. And then ruining the sport for the rest as it creates a huge divide amongst parents and kids. Unless Hockey Canada and the provincial bodies start to come up with solutions, the private hockey leagues will take all the best players with promises of better scouting, better development and more competition and the rich or those willing to risk their financial well being are the ones who will benefit.

All for the 0.05% chance their child ever suits up for ONE (1) game in the NHL, or the 5% chance they will make a major junior team. Or the less that 3% chance they get a division 1 scholarship.

I see it everyday at the rink...the willing to spend crowd of parents all sit in the same area, watching their 12 year olds with $400 Bauer Agent sticks, Custom mad True skates, the countless amount of private session and skills coaches they have paid. While the rest sit in another area and their kids feel left behind because their parents don't spend or have the money to put into the game.

It's all changed....for the better? I don't think so. But nothing we can do to change it.

 

[Yukon Joe]

At the end of the day....the commercialization of minor hockey is leading people to believe they can spend enough money to get their kid to the NHL or WHL or NCAA. Statistically this is a lie but its not stopping those who can pay for it from trying. And then ruining the sport for the rest as it creates a huge divide amongst parents and kids. Unless Hockey Canada and the provincial bodies start to come up with solutions, the private hockey leagues will take all the best players with promises of better scouting, better development and more competition and the rich or those willing to risk their financial well being are the ones who will benefit.

All for the 0.05% chance their child ever suits up for ONE (1) game in the NHL, or the 5% chance they will make a major junior team. Or the less that 3% chance they get a division 1 scholarship.

I see it everyday at the rink...the willing to spend crowd of parents all sit in the same area, watching their 12 year olds with $400 Bauer Agent sticks, Custom mad True skates, the countless amount of private session and skills coaches they have paid. While the rest sit in another area and their kids feel left behind because their parents don't spend or have the money to put into the game.

It's all changed....for the better? I don't think so. But nothing we can do to change it.

We keep going round and around on this.

I see the same stuff you see. I'm one of those parents. I mean my now-13 year old "only" has a $300 stick (that he partially paid for) and I think his skates were $600 (bought on sale for something less) but the point still stands.

But we don't think he'll make the NHL. None of the other parents do. We spend the money because we love our kids, our kids love hockey, and they want to compete at the highest level they can. Right now my kid really wants to make his U15AA team - he'd be crushed if he gets cut. So we spend what we can, mostly within our means, to help out.

It also doesn't help that my kid is buddies with a bunch of kids on that team, and just like adults he wants to "keep up with the Joneses" and be able to say he also plays at that same level.

My 11 year old didn't make his U13AA team. He was disappointed, really wants to try and make it next year. So yeah, we're looking into putting him into some extra training over the year.

 

[oldunclehue]

We keep going round and around on this.

I see the same stuff you see. I'm one of those parents. I mean my now-13 year old "only" has a $300 stick (that he partially paid for) and I think his skates were $600 (bought on sale for something less) but the point still stands.

But we don't think he'll make the NHL. None of the other parents do. We spend the money because we love our kids, our kids love hockey, and they want to compete at the highest level they can. Right now my kid really wants to make his U15AA team - he'd be crushed if he gets cut. So we spend what we can, mostly within our means, to help out.

It also doesn't help that my kid is buddies with a bunch of kids on that team, and just like adults he wants to "keep up with the Joneses" and be able to say he also plays at that same level.

My 11 year old didn't make his U13AA team. He was disappointed, really wants to try and make it next year. So yeah, we're looking into putting him into some extra training over the year.

Well I wish you kids all the success in regards to their hockey dreams.

I for one don't spend that, my son made the u13AA last year and this year but my youngest won't have those chances (disability).

I played high level hockey and had chances at Pro (chose career first). I saw MANY MANY kids who had been pushed by parents thinking they were doing what little Timmy wanted, by putting them in camps, skills sessions nd playing hockey year round. EVERYONE of those kids ended up out of hockey at 16-17 years old. They were burnt out and realized that just because they were good at 13-14 and drafted into the WHL, other kids were catching up, growing and bypassing them.

The amount of guys I grew up playing with that were going to be the next big thing in hockey was wild, only to amount to quitting the sport at 17 year old or just going to play for fun is amazing. All due to burn out and parents pushing kids (because its what Timmy wants).

Good luck to your kids and I am sure you will navigate this. Check in with us in a couple years on it and I hope to hear your kids are goin places!

 

[Yukon Joe]

Good luck to your kids and I am sure you will navigate this. Check in with us in a couple years on it and I hope to hear your kids are goin places!

Dude - the only place (in hockey!) I expect either to go to is beer league. I just hope they have fun and can go as far as they want to along the way.

 

[jetsmooseice]

At the end of the day....the commercialization of minor hockey is leading people to believe they can spend enough money to get their kid to the NHL or WHL or NCAA. Statistically this is a lie but its not stopping those who can pay for it from trying. And then ruining the sport for the rest as it creates a huge divide amongst parents and kids. Unless Hockey Canada and the provincial bodies start to come up with solutions, the private hockey leagues will take all the best players with promises of better scouting, better development and more competition and the rich or those willing to risk their financial well being are the ones who will benefit.

All for the 0.05% chance their child ever suits up for ONE (1) game in the NHL, or the 5% chance they will make a major junior team. Or the less that 3% chance they get a division 1 scholarship.

I see it everyday at the rink...the willing to spend crowd of parents all sit in the same area, watching their 12 year olds with $400 Bauer Agent sticks, Custom mad True skates, the countless amount of private session and skills coaches they have paid. While the rest sit in another area and their kids feel left behind because their parents don't spend or have the money to put into the game.

It's all changed....for the better? I don't think so. But nothing we can do to change it.

What in your view should Hockey Canada and the provincial bodies do to fix this situation?

Thinking about it further, does anything actually "need" to be fixed? If people want to shell out big bucks for spring hockey/elite tutors and coaches at the younger ages and the CSSHL at the older ages, do they need to be discouraged/prevented? After all, modestly priced youth hockey as we knew it 20, 30, 40 years ago still exists. It has just been supplemented by extra options, some of them being very expensive. But people do have a choice.