Junior League advice

[vladdy16]

Hey, any help I can get here would be greatly appreciated if anyone has good knowledge of Junior hockey as a whole.

I just finished my last year of high school hockey, and our team was not nearly good enough to draw scouts of any kind, so I was hoping you guys might be able to give me some advice on leagues/teams to try out for that more or less are accepting of "walk on" players and such. Also any info on the type of hockey that's played in these leagues(I'd prefer not to waste 1 or 2 years of my life playing in games where it's more important to the players to beat the crap out of each other rather than put the puck in the net) or any other info you think would be useful(coach info, amount of exposure you get, etc.)

Thanks so much to anyone that can help me out here, I'm kinda lost as to what I should do at this point.

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[Headcoach]

First, let me ask. Why not college? What grade point avg did you have in HS? Second, what level of play are you at? Example: A, AA, AAA. When I ask this question, I mean you personally, not the team level. Third, what state is your high school located in. I know that this doesn't matter very much because I just sent info to a college about a kid that plays in Phoenix. If you feel that some of these questions are to personal, you can PM me.

Head coach
www.passthepuck.net

 

[vladdy16]

First, let me ask. Why not college? What grade point avg did you have in HS? Second, what level of play are you at? Example: A, AA, AAA. When I ask this question, I mean you personally, not the team level. Third, what state is your high school located in. I know that this doesn't matter very much because I just sent info to a college about a kid that plays in Phoenix. If you feel that some of these questions are to personal, you can PM me.

Head coach
www.passthepuck.net

Thanks a lot for your time... The biggest problem with college(D-1) is that they won't even look at you until you've played a couple years of juniors. With that said, I was chronically ill for 4 years and wasn't able to complete high school, so it doesn't really matter either way.

As far as what level I play at... Last year(my first year back) I played AA(although most of the kids on our team could have easily made a AAA team). The team kinda picked me up out of courtesy(the coach is involved with the Red Wings organization and a family friend who's also involved put in a word for me), but by the end of the year I was our no. 1 d-man. This year I was supposed to play in a new Junior league here in Michigan, but that league ended up folding, and unfortunatley it folded after all the travel try-outs were over. So, I ended up going back to school for a semester to be eligible and I played for our terrible high school team. So as far as what level I play it, it's hard to say. I feel confident that I could find a niche on any team at any level, but with that said, I'm not the type of player that is going to catch everyone's eye, and as I found out this year, I need some higher end players around me to make myself better.

Thanks again for your time, feel free to ask any more questions you may have.

 

[Sabes]

here are some links for you to check out for Canadian Junior A Leagues

http://www.sjhl.sk.ca/
http://www.ajhl.ca/
http://www.bchl.bc.ca/
http://www.mjhlhockey.ca/

I'm sure if you look around and contact some teams you can find some try-outs. I know there is Americans playing in the SJHL forsure.

 

[JaskulaR]

Or you could try any number of American Junior leagues. I know there's a new NAHL (Tier 2 Junior A) team sprouting up in Marquette that is having open tryouts, including on in Detroit. I know the Santa Fe Roadrunners do as well. The USHL (Tier I Junior A) team I work for, the Chicago Steel, has open tryouts (but no dates announced) and we had a pair of kids that played Michigan high school hockey at some point in their careers. Other USHL teams might have open camps as well.

http://www.nahl.com
www.ushl.com

http://www.marquetterangers.com http://www.santaferoadrunners.com
http://www.chicagosteelhockeyteam.com

There's some links to get you started. Good luck!

 

[Headcoach]

The biggest problem with college(D-1) is that they won't even look at you until you've played a couple years of juniors.

This is not totally correct. We just had a player on my HS team submit packets to all the Div 1 teams and he is being looked at by three. The reaon why I know this is, his parents told me that he got three return letters from all three welcoming him to the college. Two of the three want to give him a full ride.

The main thing before you sibmit to a Div 1 school is that you have a high grade point avg. He has a 4.0 and he is at a AAA level. You have to make the school first before you make the team.

I think that you are very smart going the Junior way. Some members of the forum have already given you links to various junior leagues.

Here's what I would do if I were you and if you can. Do you have any record of you playing...videos? Find someone locally in your town that could make you a little promotional tape. It doesn't cost that much. Maybe you might have a friend that takes videos. Chances are they have a program already that splices different games together.

Then, make a cover letter introducing yourself and why you want to play for them. Place a resume of all the teams you have played for, awards you have won and contact information. Then place three letters of recommendations in the packet, one from your current coach, teacher and businessman. Last, place the made up DVD you had made from your friend.

Make as many packets as you need to send to these teams you want to apply for. Wait pproximately two weeks and then do a follow up. Call all the teams to see if they got the packet and ask them..."what's the next step!" They will tell you when the try-out dates will be, or they will say...thanks for thinking about us, good bye!

Trust me when I say, if you send out packets to various team, One, you will save yourself a sh*t load of time and money...Airfares now a days are ridiculous. Two, personally, I like getting pre-tapes from players. It gives me the chance to see what they are like. Yes it doesn't really show me the true picture. EI: attitude, hockey sense, whether the player is coachable or not. But I could see if he has the skills, all's I need to do is just watch the tape.

It's the skills that are important. All the rest, tactic, attitude...etc, we can teach. Don't get me wrong, we can teach skill, but why? At this level you need to come with them, my job is to teach tactical systems to get the team to put the puck in the net, not worry if you can cross over both ways.

I wish you lots of luck. It can be done, don't let anyone tell you it can't be done, I have seen it!

Head coach
www.passthepuck.net

 

[GoBoltz56]

You're in Michigan? Try the Central States league..i played in it a few years ago..it's the best Junior B league in the country. Good hockey, and gives you an opportunity to be scouted by colleges and Junior A teams. There are a bunch of CSHL teams in the Detroit area, Flint, Toledo, and Grand Rapids that you could try out for.

http://cshlhockey.net/ Go to the site and check out all the team pages, they should all have "tryouts" listed on the site, most of the teams have tryouts in June, so you should decide soon!

 

[MiZZZike*]

You're in Michigan? Try the Central States league..i played in it a few years ago..it's the best Junior B league in the country. Good hockey, and gives you an opportunity to be scouted by colleges and Junior A teams. There are a bunch of CSHL teams in the Detroit area, Flint, Toledo, and Grand Rapids that you could try out for.

http://cshlhockey.net/ Go to the site and check out all the team pages, they should all have "tryouts" listed on the site, most of the teams have tryouts in June, so you should decide soon!

Yeah, that's what I'm doing.