play junior in USA or Sweden ?

[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 ?

Thank you for the answer !

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[JB51Hockey]

I don't know much about most of that but if you would like to go to American college to play ice hockey you need to play in the United States or one of Canada's Tier 2 leagues. The best players who play junior in Scandanavia come the the United States when they are about 18 or 19 but usually after they've been drafted in the NHL. Perhaps you know of Huba Sekesi who played for Jamestown of the NAHL. He was born in Germany. You can see his hockey profile here: http://www.eliteprospects.com/player.php?player=43391 hope this helped. Good luck!

 

[alko]

I would say, take the Swedish route.

They have one of the best junior system. And you can slowly progress to senior level. Sure, to jump to Elitserien is not your case (at least for now), but every junior team has also a senior team. And you are close to home. And maybe, if you make progress, you can play for your country in some tournaments or WJC... And that's a big step forward. From NAHL you will don't have this opportunity .
NAHL is good league, but IMO not better as Junior league in Sweden. I spoked with some Slovak guys, the played in Sweden U18 and U20 leagues and all of them say, its very good.

btw. What does it mean "a player, who is willing to work extremely hard"?

 

[nikitadreivier]

Hello guys, thanks a lot for your help!
I think I will consider the swedish route to make sure my skills get good enough to play in Candada or the USA. Since I have heared that theyl practice a lot with the hockey-gymnasiet system. After year I think moving to North America could be the next step.

With a guy who is willing to work extremely hard I wanted to know in which countries these kind of players are maybe promoted in a special way. In the past I made the experience that in Germany no one wanted to help these kind of players. I thought that in Sweden or in the USA it maybe would be different.

 

[tornadowarning]

If you decide to make the trip to the US I would suggest taking a look at the NAHL website listing of all the tryout camps http://nahl.com/play-in-the-nahl/tryouts/ and try to attend multiple camps during your visit.

As to Alko's comment that you would not have the chance to play for your national team if you are playing in the NAHL that is not the case.

The Texas Tornado over the past few seasons have had several players who played for their national teams in world juniors competition. I know other teams in the league have as well.

For instance just a few I can recall from the Texas Tornado Jack Prince (UK), Stephane DaCosta (France), Ralfs Freibergs (Latvia), Thomas Tragust (Italy)

A few from other teams that I could think of include Fairbanks Icedogs - Pavlo Padakin (Ukraine), Janesville Jets - Pijus Rulevicius (Lithuania), Wichita Falls Wildcats - Miha Stebih (Slovenia), Aberdeen Wings - Nils Semjonovs (Latvia), Bismarck Bobcats - Nikolaj Rosenthal (Denmark), Motor City Machine - Loan Florea (Romania)

Also the NAHL announced earlier this season that the Import Rule had increased from two players per team to four. That means that each team in now allowed to roster four foreign (non-US citizen) players. That means your chance of making the roster is much better now than in the past.

 

[QuietContrarian]

Hello Niki,

I would say it depends on what you want to better in your game.
As you, youself state, they practice a lot more in Sweden, and they focus a lot on the tactical aspects of the game aswell as defence. Not as much in NA.

What you will get in NA, is exposure to the smaller rinks, and a more physical offense minded game.

There have been a few Danes who went to NAHL, but most succesfull Danish Hockey players, have gone thru Sweden and they all credit the Swedish system for their Succes.

Lars Eller (Montreal Canadiens) - Jr. Team: Frölunda
Mikkel Boedker (Phoenix Coyotes)- Jr. Team: Frölunda
Peter Regin (Ottawa Senators) - Jr. Team: Timrå
Frans Nielsen (NYI) - Jr. Team: Malmö
Jannik Hansen (Vancouver) - Jr. Team: Malmö
Philip Larsen (Dallas Stars) - Jr. Team: Rögle - Frölunda
Oliver Lauridsen (Philedelphia Flyers) - Jr. Team: Rögle - Linköping

All went thru Sweden before going to NA.

Only NHL player that did not go thru Sweden before NA is Nicklas Jensen (Vancouver) However he did play in Sweden (SEL) during the Lockout(AIK).

Oliver Björkstrand, 2013 draft eligable also went straight to NA, WHL.

So I would also say Choose Sweden, and get a feel of your own level before you move to NA

Good luck.