Minnesota junior hockey league

[natureshooter]

I have worked as an off ice official in the Minnesota Junior Hockey League for a few years now and have seen great improvement. My question is how do we elevate it to a tier I, A league. Sicerely. Natureshooter

[O-townClown]

Tier I?! Not happening any time soon. USA Hockey has only one Tier I league (USHL) and I believe one Tier II league (NAHL).

The USHL grew two teams and the NAHL has grown something like eleven teams since last year. USA Hockey has certainly elevated a lot of players to Tier I or Tier II without adding any leagues.

[hammer99]

[Mr Hockey]

There are many solid players in the league. The top three teams in the league would beat most if not all high school teams in the state. The bottom teams in the league are not as strong but could beat most A schools in the state.

The leagues top teams have beaten some teams in the NAHL in the preseason in either Owatonna or Albert Lea. Albert Lea would not have won the MJHL last year. Rumors also have the NAHL as a pay to play league like the MJHL. If that happens no players from the state would leave for Alaska and Wichita Falls.

The level although vastly improved and the fighting going down drastically the past few years is good to watch but not even close to the level in the USHL. The difference between the USHL and the NAHL is dramatic. The difference between the NAHL and the MJHL is not as dramatic but the NAHL is stronger.

The MJHL will never be Tier I A level. It is what it is and if there is a team in your area I recommend you come out and watch a game.

[JSR]

There are many solid players in the league. The top three teams in the league would beat most if not all high school teams in the state. The bottom teams in the league are not as strong but could beat most A schools in the state.

The leagues top teams have beaten some teams in the NAHL in the preseason in either Owatonna or Albert Lea. Albert Lea would not have won the MJHL last year. Rumors also have the NAHL as a pay to play league like the MJHL. If that happens no players from the state would leave for Alaska and Wichita Falls.

The level although vastly improved and the fighting going down drastically the past few years is good to watch but not even close to the level in the USHL. The difference between the USHL and the NAHL is dramatic. The difference between the NAHL and the MJHL is not as dramatic but the NAHL is stronger.

The MJHL will never be Tier I A level. It is what it is and if there is a team in your area I recommend you come out and watch a game.

One team in the NAHL has unfortunately sullied the NAHL's good name regarding pay for play. The rest of the league is not like that, it's a straight up league trying it's best to grow the right way and is sending many players to D1 schools (roughly 80 last year had D1 scholarship offers) not as many as the USHL of course and many other kids are D1 capable with most all of them certainly D3 capable. I agree the USHL is superior but IMHO the difference between the USHL and NAHL is about the same gap as the NAHL and MJHL, again JMHO. That is not a knock on MJHL and not elevating NAHL above what it is but it's been my personal observation from the games I've seen.

[natureshooter]

Thanks for your input. With the growing base of talent, expansion of the ushl or the nahl is certainly the most likely. However with a great deal of effort nothing is impossible.The kids in MJHL love the game and have big hearts. If we are really proud of our midwest hockey , someone with a lot of resources needs to step forward and guide the ship. Thanks again.
Natureshooter

[seek & destroy]

I have worked as an off ice official in the Minnesota Junior Hockey League for a few years now and have seen great improvement. My question is how do we elevate it to a tier I, A league. Sicerely. Natureshooter

I could see adding teams to the USHL or NAHL as a mechanism to add roster spots and expand oppertunities but the MJHL is what it is, a place for a bunch of nice kids to play hockey and have one last shot at the big time before they go onto what ever it is they are gonna turn pro in, which is not (more than likely) gonna be hockey.

This year alone the USHL added 2 teams and I believe the NAHL added 10 teams! That's a lot of expanded opportunities and will probably effect the level of play for several years. More expansion is not the answer at least not for several years.

[seek & destroy]

I could see adding teams to the USHL or NAHL as a mechanism to add roster spots and expand oppertunities but the MJHL is what it is, a place for a bunch of nice kids to play hockey and have one last shot at the big time before they go onto what ever it is they are gonna turn pro in, which is not (more than likely) gonna be hockey.

This year alone the USHL added 2 teams and I believe the NAHL added 10 teams! That's a lot of expanded opportunities and will probably effect the level of play for several years. More expansion is not the answer at least not for several years.

Totally true statement in all aspects. My statement though it is a better option than sending the MJHL to a tier 1 level even if it was possible even if they add teams in the coming years if at all.

Totally agree the MJ is what it is and just because someone says a league is now "tier 1" doesn't mean it would be tier 1...and you're right it won't happen.

My point is that the current 2 top US leagues, USHL and NAHL, are adding teams at an astounding rate. It increases the opportunities for players to make one of these teams but, being honest, it is also likely to lessen the quality of play a little. Especially in the NAHL which was rapidly closing in on the USHL with their talent pool. Now, they nearly doubled in size in one year which is a lot! The very best of the NAHL will now have a chance to make the USHL (with 2 new teams) and the best of all the rest (MJ, tier III teams) will have a chance to make the NAHL (with a bunch of new teams) but overall, I think that was too much expansion for one year and shows more greed then a well run league as far as growth plans into the future.

[O-townClown]

I have no problem with the USHL adding a couple teams. The NAHL added (I think) 11, and I agree with your assessment that it is way too much.

With that said, the truth is they didn't expand the core of the NAHL much at all. Almost all these teams are going to play within one of the two West or Far West leagues. About four games at the beginning of the year in Blaine, but past that these divisions within the NAHL will keep themselves.

There are three teams in Alaska and another in Dawson Creek (somewhere in Canada). A bunch are in Texas. Their footprint isn't like the NHL where you have all teams playing all the others eventually. Most of their play is intra-area.

[brandy38]

The MJHL couldn't move to Tier I for a variety of reasons, the biggest in my opinion being the fact that they couldn't get the economic support from small towns and ticket sales to move away from pay-to-play.

[seek & destroy]

I have no problem with the USHL adding a couple teams. The NAHL added (I think) 11, and I agree with your assessment that it is way too much.

With that said, the truth is they didn't expand the core of the NAHL much at all. Almost all these teams are going to play within one of the two West or Far West leagues. About four games at the beginning of the year in Blaine, but past that these divisions within the NAHL will keep themselves.

There are three teams in Alaska and another in Dawson Creek (somewhere in Canada). A bunch are in Texas. Their footprint isn't like the NHL where you have all teams playing all the others eventually. Most of their play is intra-area.

I agree that the USHL expansion was a good move and made sense. The NAHL was way too much and even though the league is spread over a wide area if you look at the make up of the teams it is still drawing from the same areas. Many tryouts were held in the midwest and players would go to numerous ones just looking to make a team. It inevitably means that you are stretching the talent pool thinner. I think some expansion was a good idea but no more than 3-4 teams a year and then wait a few years before adding more. My understanding is that they limited the teams to a couple less players per roster to help keep the quality good but, in the end, they weakened the league for the next few years.

[mnhockey1708]

[quote="seek & destroy"][quote="No Political Connections"][quote="natureshooter"]I have worked as an off ice official in the Minnesota Junior Hockey League for a few years now and have seen great improvement. My question is how do we elevate it to a tier I, A league. Sicerely. Natureshooter[/quote]

[b]I could see adding teams to the USHL or NAHL as a mechanism to add roster spots and expand oppertunities [/b]but the MJHL is what it is, a place for a bunch of nice kids to play hockey and have one last shot at the big time before they go onto what ever it is they are gonna turn pro in, which is not (more than likely) gonna be hockey.[/quote]

This year alone the USHL added 2 teams and I believe the NAHL added 10 teams! That's a lot of expanded opportunities and will probably effect the level of play for several years. More expansion is not the answer at least not for several years.[/quote]

The Nahl did not add 10 teams. They do have 10 new teams, but many of those teams are former teams that moved, and have vets from the old location still on the team.

[seek & destroy]

I could see adding teams to the USHL or NAHL as a mechanism to add roster spots and expand oppertunities but the MJHL is what it is, a place for a bunch of nice kids to play hockey and have one last shot at the big time before they go onto what ever it is they are gonna turn pro in, which is not (more than likely) gonna be hockey.

This year alone the USHL added 2 teams and I believe the NAHL added 10 teams! That's a lot of expanded opportunities and will probably effect the level of play for several years. More expansion is not the answer at least not for several years.

The Nahl did not add 10 teams. They do have 10 new teams, but many of those teams are former teams that moved, and have vets from the old location still on the team.

You are right...the actual increase in number of teams is 7 which is still more than a league should allow in one year. In 2009-10 they had 19 teams and this year they have 26. The other teams moved from one location to another.

The point is still the same. Between the two leagues, there were 9 new teams plus a lot of kids who moved on due to age etc.. That is a lot of open spots to fill and the likelyhood is that the talent pool was spread pretty thin this year.

[Fluery]

To be honest and actually going through it this year. There is no doubt that the pool will be thinner, yet the clubs need to make better decisions on who gets the opportunity to play. I saw many picks with political backing versus who played well at tryouts. These pools are not only thinned they are very clouded. If the NAHL wants to be successful, they really need to put some effort into scouting the proper kids for who they are and their talent. Not where they played.

[youngblood08]

Coulee, Amarillo, Corpus Cristi all are teams that moved.

Aberdeen, Austin, Hitmen, Warriors, Port Huron, New Mexico are new.

Fresno had and has a team in the WSHL, they invited a ton of players only to tell a few they were playing WSHL instead of NAHL.

Dawson Creek is new but what I was told is they will only carry 2 US born players.

Texas Tornados took a year off 2 yrs ago from the NAHL and started again last season.


Some of these cities had CSHL (minor Pro league) teams. They folded and bought into the NAHL which has less of a financial burden attached to it. Which also fules the rumors of the NAHL going to a tuition based system like Tier III teams are. that way the owners of these teams would make more money from the arena revenues, players fees ect.....

MNJHL is getting better Rochester has done very well placing players in D3 colleges. Northern Lights have done well. The rest are catching up the Lakers will have one of the best setups as far as arena and office training facilities in all of Junior hockey. now I must go eat my crow!

[huville]

The MNJHL is getting better at developing and moving players on to higher levels. Granite City moves guys on to the NAHL and D-III. Hudson moves many players to D-III and Tier II Canadian teams. The Lights and Rochester also do a good job of moving players up. The teams like Edina, Maple Grove, Little Falls and the Owls all need to find a development system that will allow them to move guys on too. Practices and games aren't enough.

I know Hudson players do Total Hockey, the Lights did Total Hockey (not sure if they do anymore), Rochester has a training center they work with. These other teams need to get on the same page as the others so that the league can start to be taken more seriously by Minnesota HS players. I know this year many of the players in the league will be from out of state.