Ushl
- Thread starter McManked
- Start date
Tier 1 Junior league in the U.S. - They play games against the U.S. U-17 and U-18 teams as part of their schedule I believe.
Have never seen a game live, but from what I hear it's considerably better than tier 2 in Ontario, and not quite as good as the CHL.
Have never seen a game live, but from what I hear it's considerably better than tier 2 in Ontario, and not quite as good as the CHL.
leoleo3535
Registered User
The USHL is like the QMJHL, OHL, WHL but the American version......
In my opinion it is slightly lower quality than the Q, O, W......but good hockey.
This video gives you a good introduction to the league- http://www.ushl.com/video/ThisIsTheUSHL.cfm
Obviously it is a pr video so it has a bias.....ie the reference to players from the Q, O, W not being eligible to NCAA.....this is the NCAA's dinosaur self serving rule restricting the young players options vs the actions of the Q, O, W.
The US Dev. Team joined the USHL....explained here- http://www.ushl.com/news/story.cfm?id=2236
In my opinion it is slightly lower quality than the Q, O, W......but good hockey.
This video gives you a good introduction to the league- http://www.ushl.com/video/ThisIsTheUSHL.cfm
Obviously it is a pr video so it has a bias.....ie the reference to players from the Q, O, W not being eligible to NCAA.....this is the NCAA's dinosaur self serving rule restricting the young players options vs the actions of the Q, O, W.
The US Dev. Team joined the USHL....explained here- http://www.ushl.com/news/story.cfm?id=2236
sigx15
Registered User
- Jan 31, 2010
- 840
- 831
figured the next question is how do both the U17 and U18 teams play in the same league when only one team is listed in the standings.
The U17 team plays about 35 games of the USHL league games and play the rest of their schedule in international play.
The U18 team plays about 30 USHL games then plays about 15 games against division 1 college teams in exhibitions throughout the season and fills the rest of the schedule out with international games.
The U17 team plays about 35 games of the USHL league games and play the rest of their schedule in international play.
The U18 team plays about 30 USHL games then plays about 15 games against division 1 college teams in exhibitions throughout the season and fills the rest of the schedule out with international games.
sigx15
Registered User
- Jan 31, 2010
- 840
- 831
the U18 and U17 "teams" both play, in a way. based on other commitments each team has, sometimes there's conflicts with the USHL schedule, so the USA "team" just fills in the USHL games with those kids not in the tournaments. say for instance the U18 is in an international event, the U17 kids other kids from the USNTDP will play the USHL games. sometimes as well the USA USHL team will play 2 games in one day requiring them to field two teams. it's mixed though I believe, it's not strictly the U18's on one team and U17's on another (in the USHL).
Pick Six
@Lafortune_FC
This.
It's a great league, more and more kids are getting drafted and playing in the there.
Bjorn Le
Hobocop
I'd say probably the same. It has quite a few people who get drafted, more than an individual Junior A league in Canada but the bottom end guys probably would be Junior B or maybe even Junior C players in Canada.
William H Bonney
Registered User
Not correct. The U17 and U18 teams are kept separate for the most part. Occasionally you'll have guys from outside the program fill in due to injuries and what not and sometimes guys from the U17 team get moved up to the U18 team as well but they don't mix and match to come up with the best possible lineup when playing USHL games. The U17 and U18 teams are separate teams but due to each team's commitments outside of their USHL season (NCAA games, International Tournaments) they both most compete as one Team entity in the USHL standings. Combined, they play 60 games under the "Team USA" umbrella.
STL fan in MN
Registered User
- Aug 16, 2007
- 7,119
- 3,975
The USHL seems to consistently get disrespected but it's a good level of hockey. Basically, it's the main feeding system for NCAA hockey and a good number of current NHLers have played a season or two in the USHL. I would say that it's definitely below the 3 CHL leagues but above Canadian Jr. A.
I've played in both leagues and I can say the USHL has much more talent while majority of the talented players in Canada go to the CHL, even as 4th liners. It was also much harder for me to make the USHL team than the Canadian team.
It's definitely getting better, but if I was a highly skilled American I would still head for the CHL root. The last 5 years more players are getting drafted on other teams than NTDP which was the only team pumping out draft picks.
KingLB
Registered User
- Oct 29, 2008
- 9,035
- 1,160
This is soooo wrong...USHL is a clear step above BC/AJ. Those leagues are much closer on bar with the NAHL/EJ.
Bjorn Le
Hobocop
No it's not. None of these leagues have a massive amount of players taken from them, and if your not a top guy in the USHL you're not getting drafted. It's the exact same in Junior A. They're closer than people think and since it's the NCAA feeder league it won't ever cone close to being signifcantly better. I said in my post the top end guys are better, but geneal talent level is probably the same.
DaveG
Noted Jerk
I'd say the USHL is better but I'm also a bit of a US Hockey homer. There are some teams from the BCHL and AJHL that would be very competitive in the USHL, but overall the talent pool just isn't as deep as the USHL. The USHL isn't on par with the CHL teams either, though the overall talent level is improving greatly over the past decade.
BCHL is a definite step above the NAHL or EJHL.
The Exiled One
Registered User
The USHL is an NCAA feeder league. Therefore, the 19 and 20 year-olds who would be top end are already in college or in the CHL. The bottom end guys are usually still good enough to play NCAA, so the league overall is pretty balanced and the lineups are pretty deep. The top rated goaltenders often stick around until they age out, so scoring in the league is kept down. They're definately better than junior A in Canada (as S E P H can attest to). Most 16, 17, or 18 year-olds would develop just fine in the USHL without harming their draft stock.
yanokovich
Registered User
edgevolution
GO USA!
That's because most of the top end guys that are going to get drafted head to the NCAA at 18 and therefore aren't drafted out of the USHL.
Best way to view the USHL is as a "tweener" league. Above the various Junior A leagues in both Canada and the U.S. but below that of the CHL. As Exile already poited out, the top end 18 to 20 year old talent is either in the CHL or the NCAA, making it very unlikely that the USHL will ever improve enough to rival the CHL....unless the NCAA is forced to change its "amature" rules, but that is a different topic in itself.
The Exiled One
Registered User
True, take Dubuque for example. They have some good high end draft eligible talent, that wont come close to aging out in the USHL like they would in the CHL.
Gaudreau, Ryan, Morris, Girgensons, Barber, Butcher, etc will all either be in the NCAA or CHL before they are 19-20, so itll be tough to ever compare to the CHL in that respect.
leoleo3535
Registered User
I scout the USHL, CHL and CJHL.
The CHL is head and shoulders the highest quality.
Keep in mind when trying to compare the USHL vs CJHL the USHL only has 16 teams....the CJHL is made up of over 140 teams.
Obviously when players are spread across 140 teams the talent per team is watered down.
The CHL is head and shoulders the highest quality.
Keep in mind when trying to compare the USHL vs CJHL the USHL only has 16 teams....the CJHL is made up of over 140 teams.
Obviously when players are spread across 140 teams the talent per team is watered down.
We must also factor in that majority of players in each CJHL league plays in their Province while Americans either play USHL, NAHL, or EJHL. So I agree on what you said, but I would compare each Province league to the USHL, IMO.
leoleo3535
Registered User
Fair points.....also keep in mind the "import" rule is not very restrictive:
teams can have 8 import players on their roster at any one time
maximum of 12 during a season
after 1 season an import is no longer deemed an import
