play junior in Sweden or USA ?

[nikitadreivier]

Hello guys,
I am sorry if this it’s the wrong board, but I am new here and I only made up this account to ask you this questions and it’s very important for me:
I play hockey in Germany but for the next season I want to play outside of it. I am thinking of Sweden, USA or Canada.
I had some contact with a few j20 elit teams and I will have some try-out camps. But I also am in contact with one team of the NAHL in the USA (both saw videos of me), where I also have the opportunity to make a try-out. It’s going to be really expensive to fly to the try-out to America, so I really want to make sure that it is the right option for me.
So I have got some questions to you and it would be really great if someone could help me with them (applying to the comparison between Swedens J20 elit and USAs NAHL :
-Does anybody know where the level of hockey is higher?
-Where does a player, who is willing to work extremely hard, have the best chances to develop?
-Where are the higher qualified coaches? (In general)
-Is there any league in Europa that’s maybe on the same or even at a bit higher level than the j20 elit? I know there are the for example the j20 super elit but I think I wouldn’t make the team in one of Europe’s top leagues.
-If the NAHL has a higher level of hockey, which European junior league you could compare it to?
-To which European league you could compare the BCHL ?

It would be really great if someone could answer some questions.
Thank you !

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[wings5]

I think before you make your choice you should really know what your weeknesses are. It's hard to say which level of play is higher as I'm not too familiar with the two leagues. I would say if you want to develop your skills and have more practise time, the European option is ideal so if you have the physical element down and want to work on more finesse they will stress this more in the Swedish league ( big ice )as well your skating should improve. With a good NAHL showing you have the chance with an NCAA scholarship or getting contacted by USHL teams. It really depends on you, both are pretty good leagues.

 

[nikitadreivier]

Hello, thank you a lot for the answer.

Could you tell me what benefits the NAHL has over the j20 elit, applieng to the skill? Is there maybe a faster style of play or a more physical style than in Sweden?
If I understood you right it would maybe the best oppurtunity for me to spend a year in Sweden, working a lot on my skill and than the next season in the NAHL or maybe a higher league? Or do you think I am to old with 18 years?

Thank you for your answer, regards, Nikita

 

[wings5]

Hello, thank you a lot for the answer.

Could you tell me what benefits the NAHL has over the j20 elit, applieng to the skill? Is there maybe a faster style of play or a more physical style than in Sweden?
If I understood you right it would maybe the best oppurtunity for me to spend a year in Sweden, working a lot on my skill and than the next season in the NAHL or maybe a higher league? Or do you think I am to old with 18 years?

Thank you for your answer, regards, Nikita

I'd say the NAHL is faster in terms of the rink size being smaller but definitely more physical. If it was the J20 superelit league than it is defiantely higher than the NAHL. With the j20 elit though you may have a chance to get called up to a higher league if your team is affiliated with another club plus there's always a chance your team wins promotion to a higher division. This may seem exciting to you it depends on you, the NAHL is likely a stronger league overall however and many of its top players move straight to NCAA players the next season.

 

[joe89]

There's a quality difference between teams and players in J20 Elit, but overall I'd say you have to be a pretty developed hockey player to play there. It's divided into North, South, East, West divisions where I'd rank them in order East(pretty much the greater Stockholm area), South, West, North. If any other junior league in Europe is better than J20 Elit other than SuperElit, that would probably be Finnish Jr. A.

A benefit with J20 Elit would be the smooth stepping stone into men's hockey, those clubs usually have teams in division 1 or 2, in some cases even Allsvenskan. You'll be spotted by bigger clubs if you do well.

In the end it's all about how good you are, you will probably get a very good grasp of that when you attend your try-outs. Good luck!

 

[nikitadreivier]

Hey guys, thank you a lot for your help and for the good wishes.
I think for the next season I will consider to play in Sweden next season to make sure my skills get good enough to play in Canada or USA, because I hear that the really practice a lot in Sweden. Of curse it would be nice tooif I could play in the seniors somewhen.

Could you say me what you mean with the finish junior A? Do you mean the finish u20 to top league(like the j20 super elit)or the finish u20 second league like the j20 elit?

Yes I think the only oppurtunity to get to know what the hockey is like in Sweden is to attent the try-out camps.

Could you tell me something about the comparison between the german u18 league, the DNL and the swedish u18 top league the j18 elit? A german team ( eisbären berlin juniors ) attended the swedish hockey trophy including 4 swedish j18 elit league and finished the second place. I just cant believe that a german team is on the same level as some teams from the swedish top u18 league.You know something about that?

thank you for your answers !

 

[VictorLustig]

Hey guys, thank you a lot for your help and for the good wishes.
I think for the next season I will consider to play in Sweden next season to make sure my skills get good enough to play in Canada or USA, because I hear that the really practice a lot in Sweden. Of curse it would be nice tooif I could play in the seniors somewhen.

Could you say me what you mean with the finish junior A? Do you mean the finish u20 to top league(like the j20 super elit)or the finish u20 second league like the j20 elit?

Yes I think the only oppurtunity to get to know what the hockey is like in Sweden is to attent the try-out camps.

Could you tell me something about the comparison between the german u18 league, the DNL and the swedish u18 top league the j18 elit? A german team ( eisbären berlin juniors ) attended the swedish hockey trophy including 4 swedish j18 elit league and finished the second place. I just cant believe that a german team is on the same level as some teams from the swedish top u18 league.You know something about that?

thank you for your answers !

The Finnish Jr. A league is the highest level junior league in Finland.

 

[joe89]

Hey guys, thank you a lot for your help and for the good wishes.
I think for the next season I will consider to play in Sweden next season to make sure my skills get good enough to play in Canada or USA, because I hear that the really practice a lot in Sweden. Of curse it would be nice tooif I could play in the seniors somewhen.

Could you say me what you mean with the finish junior A? Do you mean the finish u20 to top league(like the j20 super elit)or the finish u20 second league like the j20 elit?

Yes I think the only oppurtunity to get to know what the hockey is like in Sweden is to attent the try-out camps.

Could you tell me something about the comparison between the german u18 league, the DNL and the swedish u18 top league the j18 elit? A german team ( eisbären berlin juniors ) attended the swedish hockey trophy including 4 swedish j18 elit league and finished the second place. I just cant believe that a german team is on the same level as some teams from the swedish top u18 league.You know something about that?

thank you for your answers !

J18 Elit is technically the highest U18 level, but after New Year's the league is divided. The 20 top teams go to what's called J18 Allsvenskan(South & North divisions) and the other ~30 teams play a continuation series(North/South/East/West divisions) mainly to avoid relegation. To start the season you have juniors from division 2(tier 4) clubs playing against juniors from SEL clubs. As an example Brynäs had a +103 goal differential in their J18 Elit division, and in J18 Allsvenskan they only had +14. There's two very different levels of competition before New Year's and after.

The best U18 players are also almost strictly playing in J20, making the J18 teams weaker. It's really only in the J18 playoffs you get to see stacked teams with top prospects.

 

[Pominville Knows]

I believe the level of competition is high enough in both places. Both should give a great opportunity to develop.

 

[nikitadreivier]

Hello guys,

thank you a lot for your help, I will consider the swedish route with a lot of practice.
You really helped me.

 

[malin75baryard]

Hello guys,

thank you a lot for your help, I will consider the swedish route with a lot of practice.
You really helped me.

Have you signed a contract with a team yet? Would be fun to follow your career.

 

[nikitadreivier]

Hey, sorry, I didnt look on the board for a while, but I will have a try-out in august and will post some updates from this time. Thanks again for your help