Beer League divisions -- are they uniform?

[akravetz 29]

Hi there, I have been reading and wondering about the rec or beer league divisions. are they are standardized Yes, I know you can't really do that as well, it's a rec league and some cities are better than others. Here in Peoria, Ill. we have three levels A, B and C. A is obviously the highest and C is the lowest. Some areas have a D League. If I play in a C League here, would I be D League some place else?

Our basic rankings are:

A -- pretty darn good, former college players, people who really care a lot.

B -- wide range, a catch all, if you will. Some good players. Others who just want to play more competitive. Our league will only let A & B teams roster up so there are a few not so good teams that just want to play together in this division.

C -- Old farts, newbies, people who really aren't that good but just want to come out and exercise These teams are drafted though the league does try to put people together if they can. There are always a few people who have no business in this division but for the past part, it's pretty fair.

It's a silly question but my Rivermen are losing again and I am at work, trying to avoid a deadline. So here ya go. Thanks

Andy in Peoria

[team50 20]

Here is ours:

Skill Levels

To ensure divisional parity, the ASHL rates every Player—from pros to first-timers and everyone in between—into five basic skill levels:

A -- Pro, Semi-Pro or Minor Pro (NHL, AHL, Europe, ECHL, UHL, CHL, WPHL, etc), NCAA Division I, Major Junior (QMJHL, OHL, WHL, USHL); Women's (or Girls) AAA, AA

B -- University (NCAA Division II or III, CIAU) or Senior Hockey, Junior A, Quebec Junior AAA; Women's (or Girls) A, BB or B

C -- Canadian College (OCAA, MCAC, ACAC, etc), Junior B or C, Quebec Junior AA or A, High School, Rep AAA, AA or A; Women's (or Girls) C

D -- Select League, House League

E -- No experience with an organized League, started playing hockey as an adult

[Chadd 916]

Any time you have divisions, you have some number of guys that will try to sandbag and play below their level. Our rink uses names for divisions instead of letters. With the rink also using point streak for the last handful of years, they can get a good idea of where players should be playing when a roster is turned in. The only people that can't be accounted for are new players that haven't played high school hockey in the last couple years. We just finished second over the regular season, after finishing first in the regular season last season, so we are moving up a division. We won 17 of 23, so it's only fair.

[akravetz 29]

Okay, and we have the same thing as well. We have a few players on each team who have no business in the lower level C league which I inhabit. I was just curious as well, I see postings for people who are in C or D league and I wondered if it compared. My squad is solidly in the C division. But of the five teams in C, four are within two or three points, so that's pretty even.

[XveritasX 13]

I find it varies a fair bit depending on the league. One of the biggest leagues around has a Div 1 that in order to be competitive a person would have to of played Jr B at a minimum. The league I am in right now that same player would be pretty strong in their Div 1.

[Sort of Irish 1]

Here's what we've got. I filled in once for an Elite team and was way out of my skill level. I played Division 3 for a year in college and thought I could keep up but things happened just a little too quick for me. Learned my lesson that day for sure. Dropped to an A team and a B2 team full time and feel a lot more comfortable.

Chad, you brought up an interesting point about guys playing below there level. I'm playing on a mixed team with my mom and the level of play is technically a beginners league. The league director cleared me to play since it was sort of a mom and son thing and basically said don't be an ass. So far there haven't been any issues until this last weekend but that was probably an isolated incident.

Elite - There are a ton of guys that played Div1, Major Juniors, AHL, CHL, a handful of NHLer's, and a couple of KHL guys. It's quality hockey for sure and most of them are only a couple years out of those leagues.

A - Basically the same group of guys from the Elite league except they're older and a bunch of guys that played Div3, ACHA, Junior B.

B - There's a ton of ex-ACHA guys at B mixed with some talented older guys that obviously played a high level of hockey in their youth.

B2 - B2 honestly feels like overflow for the B league, a lot of guys play for teams at both levels.

C - Mostly guys that played AA, AAA, or Varsity High School in their youth. The C level has a lot more guys that are 35+ in it so it's a little slower but overall the level of play is pretty good. There's usually one or two guys per team that are playing below their level but for every one of them there's a guy that should clearly be playing C2 or C3.

C2 - Guys that played in their youth and then took 10+ years before they got back into the game.

C3 - Mostly guys that started playing hockey later in life, I believe it's also a mixed league with males and females.

Federal - this is the beginners league and I believe they have on ice instruction as well during the games themselves. Basically the refs also act as coaches and help players with different hockey principles.

[Apes44 7]

Sadly the league I play in is, whatever you want to sign up for. We've had former NHLer's in our leauge (supposed to be a D league) and also guys just starting out. They dont regulate it all

[hunt3rsean 44]

My league breaks it down this way mostly......

Gold-A - Would probably best compare to others elite leagues. Ex-Jr players, ex/current Div1 players, ex/current amateur players (ECHL, SEHL, etc.).

Gold-B - Less skilled players from Gold-A and higher skilled guys from Silver-AA. Mixed up of ex-amateur guys and ex-college club hockey guys.

Silver-AA - Mix of Gold-B guys and people who have played college hockey at some point or have been very well coached..But not quite good enough to play confidently in the Gold leagues.

Silver-A - Guys who played high school hockey or grew up playing hockey as a youth. Know fundamentals and can skate well, but not everyone is the most skilled. Not as fast as the higher leagues, but noticeably faster than the lower leagues. Biggest mix of players in this league I think. You get some guys dropping down from AA, but also some guys who probably should be in the B/BB leagues. (Found out this league was my most liked. Was a nice mix of guys at my level and some that were above. I could compete but it made me play hard every night to keep up. Really liked it.)

Silver-BB - Guys who have played hockey at some point during their life, but took extended time off. Again, understand fundamentals but don't have a strong skating foundation. You will get guys who creep into the zone, but end up having a decent release. I've heard from multiple goalies that it's the hardest league to read shots. This league is a little slower because not a lot of the guys can skate very strongly.

Silver-B - Graduated from C or just getting back into skating after 10+ years. (I started in this league after not playing hockey for 12 years.)

Silver-C - Graduated from Bronze. If you can take half confident strides you can beat every player in this league with a chip and chase. Not demeaning any of the players in this league. Just explaining the level of skating. It's very beginner.

Bronze - Just starting out with skating and hockey.

Edit: One thing to keep in mind as well is the region that the league is in. I wouldn't necessarily rank my league's divisions to be equal with say a Canada league or even a league in the Mid-west/East Coast region of the United States. Not a lot of people at my rink grew up playing hockey like those in Canada or the Eastern half of the United States. So a lot of players have never been truly coached or had hockey be a part of their life while developing motor skills. We found this out the hard way when playing a ice hockey tournament in Phoenix a few years back. Ouch.

[akravetz 29]

My league breaks it down this way mostly......

Silver-BB - Guys who have played hockey at some point during their life, but took extended time off. Again, understand fundamentals but don't have a strong skating foundation. You will get guys who creep into the zone, but end up having a decent release. I've heard from multiple goalies that it's the hardest league to read shots. This league is a little slower because not a lot of the guys can skate very strongly.

Silver-B - Graduated from C or just getting back into skating after 10+ years. (I started in this league after not playing hockey for 12 years.)

Silver-C - Graduated from Bronze. If you can take half confident strides you can beat every player in this league with a chip and chase. Not demeaning any of the players in this league. Just explaining the level of skating. It's very beginner.

Bronze - Just starting out with skating and hockey.

It seems our C League which is our lower level league incorporates all of those into one group. But our B League also has some of that as well. What is interesting is that B and A are allowed to roster a team whereas C League isn't. As such, you'll have two or three teams in B league who get crushed (one team didn't win for two years) simply because they want to play together. And in C League, you'll have a few guys who sandbag during evals and during the games until the final five minutes where they turn into Sid Crosby. It's okay, it balances out. I play in C as I am 43 and don't really want to move up. I learn late in life so I didn't grow up with it. We do have a few guys who were studs back in the day but now are in their upper 40s or 50s who are in my division. It balances for the most part.

Andy in Peoria

[strosedefence34 175]

we have two devisions where I play

A/B which is considered to a high level, former ACHA and high school, there may be a former DI or DIII not many though

Rec league just people who want to come skate and not get killed. Sometimes some of the A/B guys fill in when needed, but the guy who runs the league does a good job of picking which people he asks. This way they don't just give the puck to the A/B guy to score all the goals.

[evh5150 0]

My league in the Los Angeles area breaks it down like this:

Division I - Some pro or semi pro experience (currently no Division I teams)

Division II - High school/college experience, advanced rec players

Division III - Intermediate

Upper Novice - More competitive, more advanced than Novice

Novice - New to the game, developing skills

That being said, the division descriptions do not reflect the actual player skill levels. I am in the novice division, and there are VERY few guys who I would actually call "novice". In fact, there are guys who played in college, or also play in Division III who play in our division. Each team (besides mine) has at least a couple of ringers who can and do skate circles around everyone else. One entire team just came down from Division III, and they are currently undefeated in our division. That kind of stuff makes our novice recreational league not so fun sometimes. I imagine it is similar in other areas.

[Machinehead2k5 32]

Here in Atlanta, the league I play in uses:

Upper/Lower AAA

Upper/Middle/Lower AA

Upper/Middle/Lower A

The AAA is mostly guys who played D1 college/juniors/pro.

The Upper AA league is older d1/college/jrs/pro guys who have lost a step.

The Middle/Lower AA league are people who have excelled teamwise (as I have a friend who never played ice hockey 4 years ago started in LA) or played some HS/ACHA hockey or the college hockey women.

The Upper A league is the intermediates who are somewhat out of shape as they could be playing in a higher division if they were in shape and older guys and some of the college hockey women.

The Middle A divisoin is a mixture of UA and LA, with more intermediate skills, stopping, change of direction, pivoting, skating backwards are all there but not as fluid.

The Lower A division is pretty much a beginner league, you'll get a few people who shouldn't be in the league everyonce in awhile but they are moved up at season's end or halfway through the season if they are dominating the league.

[badger_14 601]

In general, where I am, the basic breakdown is:

A: Ex-college/pro/junior - very fast.

B: Similar to A, a little slower to moderately slower, ex high-level high school players, etc

C: Intermediate. Some less-skilled HS or youth players, some people who started playing as adults

D: Novice/recreational. Slower game speed, newbies, perpetual house-leaguers

Sometimes there's a "Novice" level depending on the league, or the league might have a C/D in-between level, or an A/B in-between.

There seems to be a greater overlap between A/B or B/C than C/D. D seems to be kind of a catchall, 'open' as long as you're not crazy fast or way too serious. I think who's in what level, across the board, depends on what the 'talent pool' (for lack of a better term) is like - if the league you're in draw from an area with a lot of people who grew up playing hockey, then the D level is going to be faster than in some other area where there's fewer people who've been on skates since they were in diapers.