Any and all questions about playing junior hockey

[bigdog16]

Junior A Tier #3 Thats a nice way of calling a league Junior C. Thats like me saying my beer league team is NHL tier 500.

Haha, definitely not Jr C. USPHL has most Div 1 commitments of any Jr league in North American behind USHL, NAHL, and BCHL

 

[player96]

College back to juniors

hey,
im wondering if you can go to college and then go back and still play juniors. i played in college but it was a club team.
any information would be appreciated.
Thanks!

 

[herbst20]

hey,
im wondering if you can go to college and then go back and still play juniors. i played in college but it was a club team.
any information would be appreciated.
Thanks!

Yes you can. It happens all the time. As long as you are a '96 or younger you are eligible for juniors

 

[player96]

Thank you!!

Thank you!!

 

[Bobr052672]

I have an 02 that has offers to play on a naphl u15 team and a usphl u16 futures team any advice

 

[kij]

I have an 02 that has offers to play on a naphl u15 team and a usphl u16 futures team any advice

If they are both close to home take the NAPHL. 16 futures is not very good.

 

[doncherrysgrill]

I have an 02 that has offers to play on a naphl u15 team and a usphl u16 futures team any advice

I'd lean 15U if he isn't getting offers to play full USPHL 16. Have him continue to develop in his own age group. 16U Futures is not good hockey

 

[Mr Sniper]

Hi I have a question. I know that USPHL players pay to play, but the teams can have up to two import players, does anyone know if they also need to pay or do many clubs let them play for free?
I mean most of the forgeins is top players so a couple of teams could think it´s worth it, and it would also be hard for a club to get forgein players intrested to play with them if they have to pay a expensive fee.

So does anyone know anything about that?

 

[kij]

Hi I have a question. I know that USPHL players pay to play, but the teams can have up to two import players, does anyone know if they also need to pay or do many clubs let them play for free?
I mean most of the forgeins is top players so a couple of teams could think it´s worth it, and it would also be hard for a club to get forgein players intrested to play with them if they have to pay a expensive fee.

So does anyone know anything about that?

If the league is pay to play all players are supposed to be on the same level in regards to finances. So all players should pay the same however many teams break that rule. Also USPHL got rid of import restrictions.

 

[Mr Sniper]

If the league is pay to play all players are supposed to be on the same level in regards to finances. So all players should pay the same however many teams break that rule. Also USPHL got rid of import restrictions.

Okey, thanks for your answer!

 

[Woody72]

Can any one provide any info on the USHL "Main Camp" try outs for invites and draft picks? How many players would be at one of these camps and what would the still level be? Thanks for any info you can provide.

 

[JMCx4]

Can any one provide any info on the USHL "Main Camp" try outs for invites and draft picks? How many players would be at one of these camps and what would the still level be? Thanks for any info you can provide.

To your "how many players" question, this post on a very active juniors chat board reports: "Some (camps) have up to 180, while others only have 80." Another poster adds: "A main camp may not actually be a main camp, teams can start with 6 or 8 teams in their June/July camp and then have the equivalent of two rosters for their main camp which usually begins in late August." I suggest you read the remaining posts in that thread (which was from a year ago) and poke around the related threads for more insight.

 

[Woody72]

To your "how many players" question, this post on a very active juniors chat board reports: "Some (camps) have up to 180, while others only have 80." Another poster adds: "A main camp may not actually be a main camp, teams can start with 6 or 8 teams in their June/July camp and then have the equivalent of two rosters for their main camp which usually begins in late August." I suggest you read the remaining posts in that thread (which was from a year ago) and poke around the related threads for more insight.

Thank you. That answered my questions.

 

[herbst20]

Just seeing this post and saw that JMCx4 referenced a post on the forum I Co-Run.

Like I posted in that thread, do your homework and decide what you are trying to get out of going to a USHL camp. IMO many of the USHL camps are a money grab. I have heard of teams having 8 teams at camp and the returning players are not participating. I am a Cedar Rapids fan so I know a little more about that camp. Usually there are 4 teams and 80 players total. The Riders have quite a history of having "Free Agents" make their team. Matter of fact, the top 2 scorers for the Riders were Free Agents at last year's camp.

I will try to check this board more often if you have any questions.

 

[MikeCT]

Hi can someone help me out please? Since the USPHL left USA Hockey is that just for the NCDC & Premier teams? Or is it the entire club so the junior teams like U18 & U16 as well?

 

[Barclay Donaldson]

Just their junior teams have left USA Hockey, midgets are staying under the USA Hockey umbrella for now

 

[VaughnGHockey]

Forgive this Noob, as this is my first message, but is there a reason a player or parent would be against the NCDC model?

 

[Barclay Donaldson]

Forgive this Noob, as this is my first message, but is there a reason a player or parent would be against the NCDC model?

A lot of players and parents get the old "bait and switch." They're told to come play for free, but at the end of the day there's only 20some roster spots and players put within the organization on one of the pay-to-play lower teams. For teams within the USPHL but don't have a NCDC team, there's a league tax on each player within the organization to help fund the NCDC. A lot of people view that paying for other kids to play for free isn't fair, made even more so when it's not even kids within the organization. There's the value-argument in that it's a lot cheaper and more ethical than the revenue-generating NAHL camps, where they have 3-4 camps that bring in a couple hundred kids each and the team is only looking for like a depth center and a goalie, the rest of the roster is set.

The NCDC model screws players and parents but so does the USA Hockey-protected model. There's always going to be more players than free-to-play roster spots available and less revenue to fund it. Most of the Canadian junior leagues charge tuition now, I think one of the only ones that don't is the BC. The days of $20 wooden sticks, cheap bus trips, essentially free ice time, and readily available community support are over.

 

[VaughnGHockey]

Thanks, that helps a bit. So, the spots are already taken? On a tangent, I read that the OJHL, for example, had a cap of $5k that the team could charge on top of the league fee. Is that still so? Or maybe that's old info

 

[Barclay Donaldson]

Thanks, that helps a bit. So, the spots are already taken? On a tangent, I read that the OJHL, for example, had a cap of $5k that the team could charge on top of the league fee. Is that still so? Or maybe that's old info

For open spots, it varies by team, but usually there’s only 5 or so that the teams save to see who impresses them, whether it be in camps or summer tournaments or wherever they get spotted. The NCDC rosters are heavy on New England prep and tier 1 midget AAA alumni and cemented roster spots are planned up to a year in advance like other leagues. They do heavily publicize advancements made within the organization and the affiliate teams, but it’s not a regular occurrence.

For the OJ, I’m unsure if there’s an official cap but I think the league had a gentleman’s agreement not to charge more than 4-5k. Not clear if that includes billet fees or if it’s all-inclusive. Some OJ teams were against the pay-to-play model and don’t charge their players much, if anything at all.

 

[VaughnGHockey]

Very interesting, thanks!

 

[Barclay Donaldson]

Very interesting, thanks!

No problem. If you want anything more in depth, drop me a PM. I’d be glad to help you out with anything else.

 

[VaughnGHockey]

That's very kind of you to offer, thanks. My son Vaughn, yes the profile name Hockey Dad was taken , is an '02 birthyear and we're trying to make sense of the whole NAHL vs USPHL vs EHL landscape. USPHL U18 seems to be pretty good hockey, NAHL doesn't look like an option at this point, but I am intrigued by the EHL & EHPL which was the old league, but is now the new league? Do I have that right? Thanks.

 

[Barclay Donaldson]

That's very kind of you to offer, thanks. My son Vaughn, yes the profile name Hockey Dad was taken , is an '02 birthyear and we're trying to make sense of the whole NAHL vs USPHL vs EHL landscape. USPHL U18 seems to be pretty good hockey, NAHL doesn't look like an option at this point, but I am intrigued by the EHL & EHPL which was the old league, but is now the new league? Do I have that right? Thanks.

The whole landscape of junior hockey has been tossed all over the place over the past 6-7 years, it's not exactly NAHL vs USPHL vs EHL but more of an ideological difference over how to fund free-to-play hockey, and the two opposing views that USA Hockey and the USPHL have. I would steer clear of USPHL U18, there aren't many very good teams and the good players leave to play in the USHL, BCHL, etc., not to stay in the league and play in the NCDC. I would highly suggest prep school, if the finances are there. I'm in Western Mass and there's a high enough concentration around here that if your son is good enough they'll make a competitive offer.

And the EHL and EJHL were different leagues. The base of the USPHL is made up of the old EJHL teams and the EHL is made up of the old AtJHL and the EJHL organizations that were ideologically against the NCDC. The old EJ was comparable to the NAHL for mostly D1/some highend D3 commits, the EHL is almost exclusively D3 commits. The EHLP is the "junior B" team for the lack of a better term, since we've moved onto Tier I, II, and III.

 

[VaughnGHockey]

Good stuff, I appreciate the info. I'm not sure where that leaves us, but it helps as we try to navigate forward, thanks