Is Junior Hockey Free?

[Hradsky 1]

Well this upcoming year I'm most likely not going to be playing any high level of hockey since the cost is so high, but next year I feel like I could have a shot at a junior team (hopefully Junior A ) and I'm just wondering if it's free to play on those teams, or if you still have to pay a few grand each year...

If anybody knows that would be great, as I've searched all over the internet and can't find an answer.

Thanks!

PS: I'm talking about junior hockey in Ontario.

[tro 4]

I'm sure it ain't free, I know some JR teams in Calgary are around $1K

[Abbieshockey20 1]

You have to pay to play junior A hockey in Calgary?? I played in Ontario this year and it was free, in fact they used to pay their players until new rules were put in place this year.

[lampliter87 8]

CJHL and OPJHL in Ontario are generally free. Some teams may charge a small fee for league processing (usually <$500). Housing may be extra as well. This is far cheaper than some American teams/leagues that charge several thousand dollars tuition, not including housing.

[adam14 182]

my team this year paid half the billeting fee for players, and there was a league fee of 250 bucks. NOJHL btw.

[Fin19 1]

I played Jr.B in Calgary for 4 years and we had to pay hockey fees (I think it was around $400). However, we did fundraise (easy stuff, selling grey cup/super bowl and hockey pool tickets) and were given free gear like shells and mits. Now that I think about it I don't know why we even had to pay because 1 year we all got a $300 gift certificate to a sports store. All 4 years the team paid for our rookie and round up party which consisted of a double kegger and some 2'6s. My younger brother played Jr.A in the SJHL and never paid a cent. Free gear, and got paid a small amount of money every month to support boozin and chewin habits :D

[raganblink 82]

Totally depends on what team and league you are in. Its best to check out that specific league and team you are most interested in.

My buddy who was playing Jr A in Ontario (no idea what league) said everything was free and he said he was going to get 40 bucks a week. I know when I was going to play Jr B in Ontario that we had like a 500 dollar fee but we got free housing. However the original team I wanted to play for said everything was free (for Jr B), so it really is depending on what team/league.

However for a general guide if I had to guess; Major Junior (totally free everything, you get paid as well). Jr A (top leagues, free housing, some money possibly. Lower leagues, free). Jr B (widely varies, from free to probably 1K in fees, free housing typically). Jr C (widely varies, from free to several grand in fees, typically no housing or reduced rate housing). Jr D (does it still exist? If so I wouldn't guess anything is free)

[Hradsky 1]

Well I'm looking to play for the Brampton Capitals in the OJHL. (Jr. A) if anybody plays or knows anybody who played for them.

If it was free or a couple hundred bucks a year, that would be sweet. More inspiration to make it :D My parents would probably support me a lot more too ^.^

However if I can't make Jr A then I'd probably have to go for B or C, I'm pretty sure there is a D league but I have no idea what it's all about, no teams close to where I live so I didn't really try to research the league.

Thanks for the info guys!

[shooter27 117]

It all depends on the level you play at. Top Tier Junior A is generally free. When I say top tier I'm including Major Junior, USHL, and the high end Tier 2 provincial leagues in Canada (OPJHL, BCHL, etc.). Beyond those levels there is generally some fee to play but it varies from league to league. I know some of the Tier 3 Jr. A leagues in the US (EJHL, etc.) cost like $6k a year. I would imagine playing Junior B or C would cost less than that because you don't have as much practice time or travel to pay for.

[lampliter87 8]

What level did you play last year?

[Hradsky 1]

What level did you play last year?

Played "A" here in Ontario...I know what you're thinking...No chance at junior A, but we'll see. B)

Seriously though I plan on just playing in two cheaper leagues...Would actually get a lot more ice time this way... One of the leagues is ages 16-20 but is like a house league, but that would be good to getting used to older competition. The other league should be "meh" competition, but better than nothing.

I plan on training a lot over the course of next year and hitting the Capitals' camp May 2011.

Sort of a last chance to make something of my hockey career, since David Perron went from house league to Junior A in a year, I'll give it a go!

[Abbieshockey20 1]

The league I played in this year was the CCHL, formely the OPJHL then it split into the CCHL and the OJHL. So the leagues are very similar, and everything was covered in my league. No fee's, housing payed for and gear. So that's likely what you'd be looking at with Brampton.

[Slapshot9123 0]

It all depends on the level you play at. Top Tier Junior A is generally free. When I say top tier I'm including Major Junior, USHL, and the high end Tier 2 provincial leagues in Canada (OPJHL, BCHL, etc.). Beyond those levels there is generally some fee to play but it varies from league to league. I know some of the Tier 3 Jr. A leagues in the US (EJHL, etc.) cost like $6k a year. I would imagine playing Junior B or C would cost less than that because you don't have as much practice time or travel to pay for.

You would be surprised about that, my local Jr B/C team had fees roughly $4k higher than the Jr A tier 3 team I played for this year. And as for the EJ some of the teams fees in that league are even higher than $6k a year.

[raganblink 82]

http://ushl.com/news/story.cfm?id=3197

I don't know how I feel about this.

Anyone here doing one of these? (there are three). That means we're they are looking at almost every kid who is going to play junior a hockey in america, what if you aren't invited, do you quit? How do you get noticed? Not sure if like...

[Slapshot9123 0]

The combine is at my home rink right now, 5 mins away from my house. Its not bad hockey for it being all 95 birth years. Good exposure for them but it sounds like a lot of the kids are gonna be a long shot after talking to some of the scouts.

[hockeyfreak7 0]

I know a couple of the kids listed there from the Virginia area...gotta say they are some long....long....long shots to ever be in the USHL. Not sure if they scouted every player on that list (doubt it), but I'd say they opened applications up for people to sign themselves up.

[raganblink 82]

That's what I was thinking, cuz it would be monumental to scout THAT many 15s, and it seemed kinda fishy how really bad teams had 6-7 players there, but I didn't see anything or hear anything about this so I was guessing it was an invite. So basically then its a glorified camp to try to get kids to become better to play EJ NA or US.

[Slapshot9123 0]

Out of the local Chicago guys, id say only 1-2 of them has a chance at playing in the EJ NA or US, most of them wont even attempt a career in juniors. I asked around, it seems that about 10-20 kids were actually invited to this and everyone else signed up.

[#44wannabe 4]

When i played jr B in Manitoba we got housing, equipment and $200 a month in cash.

[Martin88 0]

Played a half-season Junior B (AAA) in Granby. Got equipment and travel expenses.

[BarDownGinos 3]

Unless you get a formal letter, and don't have to pay, any Junior/Prospects/Combine thing in the United States is a money maker. There's a few camps out there that are actually worth the time, but all of these USHL showcases are a complete joke.

[Hradsky 1]

Ok new question, didn't feel like making a new topic so here it goes.

I recently contacted the GM of a local Jr. C hockey team, asking about what level of hockey guys played before playing for the team, to get a general idea of where I would need to be to play Jr. C.

Anyways, I told him I'm an average "A" player, as in A, AA, AAA, etc. and he responded with some info about some guys from some leagues that I never heard of...

Here is the response basically:

We have guys that have played in A and BB centers all their lives playing

for us. We have AAA and AA players as well. It seems every year our team is

made up of players that have all played different levels, not just AAA.

I've seen guys play at the Jr. A level right out of Hub, A and BB centers.

I don't want to ask him what he's talking about, because that would look bad for me :P

So what exactly is "Hub"? I tried googling it and only came up with some league in Hamilton, and not much other info.

Is the "A center" that he speaks of the same "A" level hockey I'm playing?

And the "BB", I thought only girls had "BB"? So I really have absolutely no idea what that is.

Maybe this is a dumb question, but it's only been a few months since I joined all these boards and actually started learning about hockey and the various leagues, so I'm not sure what these are all about.

So if anybody could shed some light on these, perhaps tell me how good of hockey it is, etc. Then that would be great.

Also for guys that play Jr. A/B/C if you know what minor midget/midget hockey you played prior to joining those clubs that would be great as well, since I can't really find out anywhere :S

(I'm thinking:

Jr. A = Top AAA guys who want college

Jr. B = AAA guys, top AA guys

Jr. C = Whoever wants to keep playing, AA guys & A guys.)

Thanks!

[kovyperron5727 0]

I know a couple of the kids listed there from the Virginia area...gotta say they are some long....long....long shots to ever be in the USHL. Not sure if they scouted every player on that list (doubt it), but I'd say they opened applications up for people to sign themselves up.

Same here. I know one of those kids on there. First off, he's not 155 pounds. He's nowhere ready for the USHL, but for his age group(95) I'm assuming he is very good

Unless you get a formal letter, and don't have to pay, any Junior/Prospects/Combine thing in the United States is a money maker. There's a few camps out there that are actually worth the time, but all of these USHL showcases are a complete joke.

I thought so. One of my good friends is at one down here in Dallas right here, apparently they have scouts and coaches from the NAHL, EJHL, BCHL, and some other leagues there. I would be shocked if anyone gets picked up considering pretty much every good Jr league recruits its players.

[raganblink 82]

Youre talking canadian juniors, right?

basically junior B/A is full of players who can't make major juniors, and most of these clubs are affiliated with a MJ team to send up their best players and take in injured or non-performing MJ players. Its pretty high up competition. Lets use numbers to justify these leagues. Major Junior is 100. USHL is 90. Canadian Jr A is 85. NAHL is 80. Rest of US Jr A is 75. Canadian Jr B is 70-75. US Jr B is 65-70. Jr C is 60. Jr D is 50.

The people who will play MJ is people who have legit chances at going pro, almost all will go semi-pro. USHL is for people who want to play in college. Some will go pro, most will play D1, rest will either quit hockey or play D3. Canadian Jr A is for college who wants to stay in canada. Few will go pro, some will play D1, rest will either quit hockey or play D3. Your still good enough to play D3 or D1 at this level. NAHL is for good americans who can't make it in the USHL. Almost none will go pro. A handful will go D1, few will go D3, most will have this as their highest level of play. Rest of american Jr A is almost none will go D1, a couple will go D3, most will have this as their highest level of play. For the rest of these leagues, a couple might go D1 or D3, 99% will have this as their highest level of play. JrB is for players who can't make it into Jr A who still want to play, most will come from either HS or programs who don't know what to do after this. Avg-below avg HS and AAA players. Quite a bit of AA players in this as well. Jr C there is almost no AAA players, some AA players, and then good house players who want to go Junior and basically A players. I tried and made a team at this level, its really easy. I suck and I made a team. If I made a AA team I'd be like 4th liner. There are some Jr C leagues where the level is really worse, basically glorified house. Jr D is glorified house, your true dusters will play here,

tl;dr version: MJ and Jr A are legit leagues, Jr B is borederline depending on where you play. Jr C is a gongshow. Jr D is full of dusters. To play MJ you need to be legit, pro potential. Jr A is a mix of this and kids who want to play D1. Jr B is full of kids who can't make it in Jr A who want to play juniors. Jr C is more or less A - bad AAA, high mix of skill, and Jr D is kids who just are horrible who still want to play juniors. If you can't make a Jr C team, honestly, you might as well not play Jr D.

Watch some youtube clips to see the skill level if your not sure. GLJHL is pretty cool for Jr C. Depends on where you want to play at for sure, but, I'd go there if you have a choice. Tryout for Essex. Basically youre going to need to email the crap out of a bunch of coaches. It takes a while because sometimes its hard to find them and they aren't pro-active in responding to email.

If you're an average A player, you'll probably be 2nd-3rd line in a Junior C league. I don't think I could make a AA team when I was playing and I was top 6 forward in Jr C... the team I was going to play for was average. Definitely depends on the team you're playing for, as there are some which are basically Jr B teams, and some which should be in Jr D. Jr C has a huge parity of skill level.

Ok new question, didn't feel like making a new topic so here it goes.

I recently contacted the GM of a local Jr. C hockey team, asking about what level of hockey guys played before playing for the team, to get a general idea of where I would need to be to play Jr. C.

Anyways, I told him I'm an average "A" player, as in A, AA, AAA, etc. and he responded with some info about some guys from some leagues that I never heard of...

Here is the response basically:

We have guys that have played in A and BB centers all their lives playing

for us. We have AAA and AA players as well. It seems every year our team is

made up of players that have all played different levels, not just AAA.

I've seen guys play at the Jr. A level right out of Hub, A and BB centers.

I don't want to ask him what he's talking about, because that would look bad for me :P

So what exactly is "Hub"? I tried googling it and only came up with some league in Hamilton, and not much other info.

Is the "A center" that he speaks of the same "A" level hockey I'm playing?

And the "BB", I thought only girls had "BB"? So I really have absolutely no idea what that is.

Maybe this is a dumb question, but it's only been a few months since I joined all these boards and actually started learning about hockey and the various leagues, so I'm not sure what these are all about.

So if anybody could shed some light on these, perhaps tell me how good of hockey it is, etc. Then that would be great.

Also for guys that play Jr. A/B/C if you know what minor midget/midget hockey you played prior to joining those clubs that would be great as well, since I can't really find out anywhere :S

(I'm thinking:

Jr. A = Top AAA guys who want college

Jr. B = AAA guys, top AA guys

Jr. C = Whoever wants to keep playing, AA guys & A guys.)

Thanks!

[bostonjuniorblackhawks 1]

great post,but I think your not giving the nahl and ejhl enough credit.