Minor Leagues

[JR Boucicaut 3803]

you're dead to hockey. I'm 20 and cant get anywhere! I'm an '86 and Last year was my last to play juniors and I missed it because I didn't have enough cash to drop at season's beginning.

No offense, but if you have to pay to play juniors you're not going anywhere.

[Hockeyman9621 0]

you're dead to hockey. I'm 20 and cant get anywhere! I'm an '86 and Last year was my last to play juniors and I missed it because I didn't have enough cash to drop at season's beginning.

No offense, but if you have to pay to play juniors you're not going anywhere.

That's true, you don't even have to pay to play Jr.C around here.

[Razr 2]

Every Jr. A and Jr. B team I have heard of in Michigan money is involved. My best friend just got drafted to the NA... it costs his dad 7000$... so yeah maybe it doesn't cost YOU personally, but someone pays.

Jr. C shouldn't cost anything. It's Junior C.

you're dead to hockey. I'm 20 and cant get anywhere! I'm an '86 and Last year was my last to play juniors and I missed it because I didn't have enough cash to drop at season's beginning.

No offense, but if you have to pay to play juniors you're not going anywhere.

AAA cost me 6 grand.

[flymonty3 0]

Hey figured I would throw in my .02

I played 4 years after school, ECHL, UHL, CHL. Stopped playing in 99-00. A few observations, not sure how many are still valid...

Some teams at the UHL or CHL level will go through guys like crazy. An agent might be able to find a team that is looking to bring in a guy to pay the bare minimum for a few games and see if they work out. You would have to wait until the season started and then try to find a team. If you try the agent route, they should be able to tell you right off the bat 4-5 options they have for getting you into a camp somewhere at any level. I have not looked at this stuff since I was finishing school, but are there still "free agent" camps? I went to one in Niagra Falls for a few days and made contacts with Dan Belisle who was with a Colonial team (Dayton Ice Bandits I think) at the time and the assistant coach in Johnstown at the time Scott Allen. If you can find a reputable camp where they have scrimmages and a few minor leagues coaches attend, that is worth a shot.

Getting a legitimate try-out with a real chance of making a team in these leagues is pretty hit or miss. Many teams have a very good idea of who is coming back and a few guys jumping leagues that there are really only a handful of slots available. In the ECHL, there is very, very little chance of just catching on somewhere and sticking.

I had an "agent" for the first couple of years. They really did not do too much for me. He suggested that I walk out on the first contract I was offered and wait a few weeks to see what teams in the Coast needed and then go from there. I promptly walked back into the coach and GM and signed. Figured it was better to play than not play and went against the advice of my agent.

Not to discourage anyone from pursuing a dream, but the U/C/SPHL level of life is not easy. If you are one of those guys who find their way into the last couple of spots on a team, you are going to be making little $ and always wondering when the team wants to let you go. Those contracts were and still are I believe binding for 24 hours at a time. You get a notoriously cheap owner and they will constantly be looking for ways to cut payroll and expenses from the bottom third of a team.

Again, just my .02

I agree 100%....Especially now with nearly every ECHL club having affiliates in the NHL/AHL, you can automatically eliminate 1-10 roster spots that are taken up by parent clubs, and you know these spots are going to guys that will eat up ice time just because they are contracted to higher leagues...

It is much easier to benifit from the high turnover of weaker UHL/SPHL clubs if you are a U.S. citizen. The fees assosciated with bringing an unknown European to a team, especially if he isnt obviously going to be a superstar.

Minor league hockey is a business for players, owners, coaches, and agents. like you said, there is no loyalty to a fringe player (I think Jacksonville in the SPHL rostered over 100 players in 05-06) So if you get a legit tryout, make sure you prove yourself. And if you stick, be ready to do whatever it takes (Score, fight, play defensively, etc.) to stay on the team...

I have seen fairly good swedish players with good numbers for top swedish Allsvenkan teams, or Germans who have good bundesliga or even average DEL experience struggle to compete in the ECHL or UHL, they are just lost on the smaller ice, different systems, etc...)

That´s a thing which has etablished in hockey. Points do not always tell the whole story! Everyone is trying (me included) to aestimate a league´s level by comparing the production of points made by some players who played in both leagues. Thats not possible!

In Europe i.e players often start joining (playing maybe 20 gams) a senior team aged 17, 18 so the stats say in season 96/97 this player was dressed 20 times and notched maybe 3 Assists and 4 penalty minutes, his stats probably won´t improve that much until he is 21,22 when he has finished his basic shooling ==> this is a bad player because his numbers are not the greatest ;) :lol:

I talked with a cech coach some weeks ago. He told me about Havlat (earning 6 000000$ now) His father was coach of his junior team. Another player (I forgot his name) was always much better than Havlat (skills,points, everything). Havlats father as coach had more connections. The end of that story Havlat (Nr. 3 or 4 in that team) became draftet and became a NHL superstar. The other one´s playing in Germany´s lowest division as import player earning maybe 250$ a week

I thought scouting to be more important in North America than in Europe. I thought if you perform well on the ice during tryouts you get your chance (no matter what happened before) but according to you it doesn´t seem to be that way over there, either !!

Minor league hockey teams come and go every year... Most loose enough money as it is each year so they dont have nearly enough money to spend on scouting... As someone else said, most rosters are more or less set, so if you get a legit shot, take it! But I wouldnt waste any money on a camp unless you knew there were going to be legit coaches there...

[B Neal 0]

Don't you have to pay to play in the EJHL? Alot of those kids go D1 so I wouldn't say "you aren't going anywhere if you have to pay."

[JR Boucicaut 3803]

Don't you have to pay to play in the EJHL? Alot of those kids go D1 so I wouldn't say "you aren't going anywhere if you have to pay."

Right after I posted that, I thought about that.

But those kids are younger than 20.

[Project824 0]

The $7k to play in the NAHL is for the billet family to feed and house the kid. By its Tier II definition, the NAHL does not take fees from players for anything hockey related. There are also circumstances where the right player in a certain situation (the team wants the player but his family truly can't afford it - there is a difference between not being able to afford and not wanting to pay) will get a sponsored billet, a business will donate the costs to the team. Obviously you have to be talented and heading places for this to happen.

Kids in the EJ are paying anywhere from $8k-15k per season - the difference between the EJ and the NAHL is that team fee, the EJ is considered Tier III, which is all expense out of pocket. On top of that, you can add another $5-7k for a billet if you need it; or if the kid is over 18 and lives on his own plan on approximately about the same and usually more for an apartment and food. Potentially there are kids in the EJ whose parents are paying $25k+ (if the kid needs a car, car insurance, health insurance, etc., PLUS the cost of sticks, skates, equipment needs...). Playing in the EJ for 3 years might cost you $75k. All for the chance at a D1 scholarship, which for most players, especially those coming out of the EJ, is a partial, if any. The EJ has a lot of players go to D1 schools, but 95% of them as walkons who get no money.

I digress, but it reinforces the argument - if you're paying to play, it only gets you so far. They may move on to a D1 team, but they're paying $30-40k in private school tuition to watch the kids who didn't pay to play junior out of the USHL or BCHL from the stands.

[chippa13 1844]

I just saw a new league, it's semi pro but may be worth checking out. NEHL. North Eastern Hockey League. google it if interested.

I know nothing about this league. However, it can't be that good since neither of the top two scorers are listed in the internet hockey database. I think there's better talent in my no-check men's league--two ex NHLers, one ex DI All American, a few AHL vets, many DI vets, and a number of ECHL and Europe vets.

One of the guys I play with has played a couple of games in that league. Glorified beer league on its best day.

[Sven 1]

Rocket check this out: http://hockeyweb.de/artikel.php?a=29306

[Louie 28]

louie, is the mid-atlantic roller hockey?

Nope, it's ice.

http://www.mahlhockey.com/

[bheidepr 0]

I just saw a new league, it's semi pro but may be worth checking out. NEHL. North Eastern Hockey League. google it if interested.

The Findlay Freedom from that League had about ~10 players called up to ECHL (6 to the Toledo Storm) last year. Some stayed for a weekend, some were there a few weeks....

[Chadd 916]

I just saw a new league, it's semi pro but may be worth checking out. NEHL. North Eastern Hockey League. google it if interested.

The Findlay Freedom from that League had about ~10 players called up to ECHL (6 to the Toledo Storm) last year. Some stayed for a weekend, some were there a few weeks....

I remember the commissioner recruiting guys at open hockey in York during their first season.

[bheidepr 0]

I just saw a new league, it's semi pro but may be worth checking out. NEHL. North Eastern Hockey League. google it if interested.

The Findlay Freedom from that League had about ~10 players called up to ECHL (6 to the Toledo Storm) last year. Some stayed for a weekend, some were there a few weeks....

I remember the commissioner recruiting guys at open hockey in York during their first season.

I bet....They still only have 4 teams in the league.

[Project824 0]

I bet....They still only have 4 teams in the league.

Make that 3... from what I hear, Findlay's done.