Erie Lakers JR Hockey try outs

[cmvondran 0]

UPDATE:

The Erie Lakers tryouts have been rescheduled do to affiliate scheduling conflicts. Our camp will now run from June 13th-15th. Friday and Saturday Ice times are 2:30-7:00 and Sunday is 1:30-6:00.

The price is still $200 for skaters and $160 for goalies.

We are limiting registrations to only 84 participants, so serious entries only.

If there are any questions please feel free to contact me at 734=242-1300 x208 or at gpaddison@icesports.com

[ronnychencharik 0]

so you think the motor city chiefs or grand rapids owls could go up to the BCHL and compete? i thinks notta, just like this erie lakers team could not compete in the Western Ontario Jr B league, its just a fact USA hockey is going to have to face, hows does it go, you can put lipstick on a pig, but its still a pig?

Thats not what i'm saying, i was just pointing out that the league has Jr. A status. I dont know if they could compete or not, so i'm not going to try and bullshit you into thinking that I do.

[cmvondran 0]

From Head Coach Greg Paddison;

The Erie Lakers are a Tier III Junior B/C team located in Monroe between Detroit and Toledo . Our organization was conceived with a single concept in mind; player development. We are looking for two separate types of players; either the 88-89 birth year who’ve been passed over by other programs because of Injuries, size, or a number of other reasons and have a chip on their shoulders with something to prove. Or the 90-92 birth years who are looking to develop as more than just hockey players, but as young adults as well.

With regards to the 88-89 birth years. If by this time you are still playing Tier III junior hockey than an NCAA D1 scholarship or Major Junior offer has passed you by, that’s the harsh reality. But that does not mean that your career has to end. Our goal for you is to get you the exposure so that you may have the opportunity to play NCAA D3, ACHA D1, or CIAU Hockey. Outside of our own league play, we are making extensive efforts to schedule scouting games with ACHA programs and getting representatives from Midwest NCAA programs in attendance. Say what you will, but top level ACHA programs have developed quickly into a legitimate and quality brand of hockey.

For our 90-92 prospects our philosophy is simple; if you play for us for more than 1 season than we have not done our job as an organization. As far as I am concerned anything short of USHL, NAHL, or legitimate Canadian Junior A, should be about player development. At the previously mentioned levels, you will naturally get exposure and the teams need to play to win. Below that, the objective should only be about getting our players to those levels. Personally I would much rather my team go 10-40 this season if I’m able to send a large number of players up mid season, than keep my entire roster and win a National Championship. Now when I say move players up I mean to NAHL, USHL, Major Junior, or College programs.

There is the rumor out that the GLJHL is a feeder program to help the CSHL reach the level of competition of the other Tier III A programs out east. In some, in fact in most cases this is true. However, it is not our situation. While our owner does have interests in the CSHL he has made it clear that this team is to be run independently of that ideal. If a player has the opportunity to skate for a ‘free-to-play’ organization then by all means do it. Besides that I have to ask, what is better for the 90-92 birth year; pay between $5,000 and $8,000 to be a 3rd or 4th liner on a Tier III A team or pay $4,500 and skate as a first or second liner on our Tier III B/C team? Where will you really get more out of? Furthermore, I have the humility to say that for kids from this area who are not skating in the NAHL or USHL, the MWEHL Midget AAA is probably the premier league to get noticed. The only problem that stateside, particularly in Michigan $10,000-$12,000 plus travel is an expense that several families simply cannot afford. We offer a comparable alternative at a fraction of the cost.

The whole Tier III B/C attachment. According to USA Hockey any newly sanctioned league must start out as Junior C. However, based on the level of talent in the metro Detroit and Chicago areas, we will be competing nationally at the Junior B level. So call it what you will.

Finally, there is one fact that I think several Junior problems neglect. Junior participants are still only 16-20 years old and have their whole lives ahead of them. The likely hood of any junior participant playing hockey for a living is minimal. Even the prospect of a Division 1 scholarship or the chance to player Major Juniors is a longshot. As hard as our team will work to be successful there are still many other things that take priority; Faith, Family, School / Work, and perhaps most importantly with regards to this program, having fun. The most talented hockey player I ever knew was a second liner in the USHL at only 18 years old, he had D1 NCAA programs standing in line to offer him a scholarship, when he just up and quit. It wasn’t that he didn’t have the heart or the desire, but simply that the game wasn’t fun anymore. Our practices will be fast, they will be hard, but they will also be fun. I never understood the point of bag skating kids while spending $200 per hour on ice when such conditioning could be just as easily done off the ice. If the kids need to be skated for disciplinary reasons than fine, but ultimately what separates the kids who make it from those who don’t isn’t what team or league they’re in, who their coach is, and sometimes it’s not even about how much talent they have. What separates kids at the Junior level is who is willing to spend the extra hours in the gym, who’ll pass on a night out to study game tape, and who will push themselves harder than the coach ever can. Talent or no talent, those are the kids the Erie Lakers are looking for.

[QandA 0]

Does this guy honestly think "CIAU," programs which has been CIS for a few years now, are even going to consider his program?