Is there high school hockey in Canada?

[Snipuh21 0]

I hope this question isn't so dumb that it's insulting, but being from the U.S. all I hear about is Canadian junior hockey. Never heard anything about Canadian high school hockey and was wondering if it even existed and, if so, how competitive is it? I live in Massachusetts and we do have hockey in high school though its quality is significantly diminished by most of the better players leaving to play club or prep.

[althoma1 574]

Yes, there is high school hockey in Canada. How competitive it is likely depends on the city/area, but I know where I grew up, in London, ON, it was quite competitive. Several of the players on my high school's team played Junior B, C and D, a few went on to play in the OHL and one went on to play in the NHL.

[Snipuh21 0]

Thanks. So do high school freshmen and sophomores who are good but not good enough for Major Junior generally play Junior A or B? Or might they still play high school?

[althoma1 574]

High school freshmen in Canada are too young for Major Junior. Major Junior players are 16 and above (with some exceptions for phenoms like Tavares ect.). Very good players that are freshmen or sophmores in Ontario are usually playing AA or AAA hockey as well as high school hockey. When they reach 16 if they aren't drafted to a Major Junior team they may be invited to try out for a Junior team under the level of major junior or continue playing AA or AAA hockey. I believe some exceptional players under 16 may play Junior B, but that's the exception rather than the rule - most of the very good players under 16 will still be playing AA/AAA.

[Snipuh21 0]

Thanks. That's very helpful.

[oldman 1]

To my knowledge there is no High School hockey west of Ontario. There is one school league out here but that is for private hockey factories not regular High Schools.

Kids play on the AAA/AA programs or for their community teams if they are not already moved on to Whl/Jr A and in some rural areas Jr B.

[greyraven8 9]

Played a little high school hockey back in 1987 (Thunder Bay, Northwestern Ontario). Was a very low level of competitiveness back then and don't think high school hockey has been around for quite a while now in the region (sport is not listed on the SSSAA site). Wife graduated in the late 1990s and she doesn't remember any high school hockey being mentioned or played then. I could ask some former teachers approximately when high school hockey ended for my region but I doubt anyone cares.

Better hockey players of high school age were involved in the higher levels of CAHA hockey (bantam/midget/junior leagues) and not high school. [Note: think CAHA hasn't existed under that name for quite a while - merged into Hockey Canada in the mid 1990s]

Most of the high schools in the city had a team back when I played but I don't think all of them did. Even I could get on a team (in what was admittedly a weak high school team with room for several more players) in my final year of high school and I hadn't played in a league for 3 or 4 years. Even being a player of below average ability out there, my even being there gives you the idea that the vast majority of the players playing weren't going anywhere other than beer league later in their adult life.

Back when I was in high school high school hockey was far behind football and even other high school sports teams (volleyball, basketball, etc.) in popularity/competitiveness/student awareness.

[smcgreg 81]

Played a little high school hockey back in 1987 (Thunder Bay, Northwestern Ontario). Was a very low level of competitiveness back then and don't think high school hockey has been around for quite a while now in the region (sport is not listed on the SSSAA site). Wife graduated in the late 1990s and she doesn't remember any high school hockey being mentioned or played then. I could ask some former teachers approximately when high school hockey ended for my region but I doubt anyone cares.

Back when I was in high school high school hockey was far behind football and even other high school sports teams (volleyball, basketball, etc.) in popularity/competitiveness/student awareness.

As I was reading this thread, I was thinking the same thing. I graduated in '86 (grade 14, I'm sure you understand that) and high school hockey was about house level. Most guys didn't play if they were even junior C or D level. It's been a long time, but there weren't many games and the season was really short if I recall correctly. Of course, that was 25 years ago, so, times may have changed. since you contributed and referenced the same time period, thought I'd chime in.

[bisons06 1]

There's no high school hockey here in western Canada. High school aged players either play Major Junior(WHL), Junior A, or Midget AAA/AA hockey. Of coarse there are a few prep schools( Edge, POE, OHA) that could count as high school hockey but they don't really play in a league.

[IPv6Freely 2092]

There was high school hockey in southern ontario where I was, but it (as well as all the other highschool sports like football, rugby, basketball and volleyball) was not even remotely close to what you'd find in the US. From what I've seen living in the US, high school sports is actually important and people actually go to games? Kind of like how US college sports are important but they aren't really in Canada (Ontario at least).

Typically the high school hockey teams were just guys who already played AAA/AA or whatever and just wanted some extra ice time. Nobody ever paid any attention to it. They played other schools in the city only, unless they moved on to bigger tournaments.

[Zjack38 46]

There's no high school hockey here in western Canada. High school aged players either play Major Junior(WHL), Junior A, or Midget AAA/AA hockey. Of coarse there are a few prep schools( Edge, POE, OHA) that could count as high school hockey but they don't really play in a league.

I know that POE"s u16 and u18 teams play in the NAPHL, a AAA league linked to the NAHL, so maybe the other prep schools are in leagues, just not in the same one.

[bisons06 1]

Oh okay. Yeah I just knew that they're bantam teams just played like 10 tournaments a year when I was that age instead of being in a league. Tournaments are'nt as big when you get up to midget age so I guess they would have to join a league.

[mickz 107]

Thanks. So do high school freshmen and sophomores who are good but not good enough for Major Junior generally play Junior A or B? Or might they still play high school?

I wouldn't consider all Major Junior players to be better than the ones in Jr A. Some Jr A players are good enough to play Major Junior but they do not want to give up their college eligibility.

[boo10 323]

The competition level of Canadian HS hockey varies widely from region to region and year to year. In the late 80's I played in the GTA and my team won the OFSAA title (Provincial Championship). My team lost only one game (out of 65 or so) and we beat a Canadian private school that I know beat several US Prep schools. A couple of future NHLers on opposing teams.....Chris Pronger (Dryden), Brett Lindros (St.Mike's), I also later played some junior and that HS team would have been equivalent to a good Junior B team at the time. Some HS teams allowed AAA players to play on the team, while others only allowed House League players. OFSAA rules prevented a player from playing HS once they had played a regular season game of Junior B or higher.

[thejackal 46]

The level of HS hockey in quebec is somewhat weaker. There were a few AA level players in our league but it's rare that anyone with a pro future would play HS hockey. Angelo Esposito and Mathieu Darche played for school in the league I was in. One of my teammates later played as a bottom pairing D in the qmjhl and a top pairing guy in ontatio jr A afterwards

[S'land9.16.7 6]

I know there is "club" high school hockey in some schools in B.C. (mainly the lower mainland) because the BC School Sports organization doesn't recognize hockey as an official school sport. The still play games though. There is also the Hockey Canada Skills Academy which is like Phys. Ed. but you go to the rink and practice instead. And like bisons said there is the CSSHL which is a bunch of prep schools.

[tvguy 5]

There is HS hockey in Winnipeg. 3 divisions . 34 schools with boys teams some have more than one team, in different divisions. There is also a girls HS league - 2 divisions with about 22 schools involved. It's pretty big there