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If you had the opp would you play in the whl or stay in your high school and possible not get the expousure you were hoping for?

hockeypuck91 wrote:If you had the opp would you play in the whl or stay in your high school and possible not get the expousure you were hoping for?

If you think you're going to get more exposure as an American playing in the WHL, you may be in for a surprise.

By my count, in the last three NHL drafts only 4 Americans playing in the WHL have been drafted in Rounds 1-3 of the draft. By contrast, 13 kids who played HS hockey in Minnesota were selected in rounds 1-3, including five first-round picks. This does not include several Minnesotans that were drafted while playing for the USA national team.

If you're good enough, you'll be found right here at home. If you're not good enough it really doesn't matter, does it?

One very very big reason why you should stay in HS instead of going to the W is that you will not be allowed eligibility in college. If you can make a WHL team that is great but you should probably talk to the colleges that are scouting you as well. Kids that go to the W usually end up going back to college after but have to pay the tuition and room and bored as opposed to schooling for free.

Does the WHL have a championship game in an NHL arena, sold out, and on statewide TV? If not I think the choice is obvious.

rapidsrapids wrote:Does the WHL have a championship game in an NHL arena, sold out, and on statewide TV? If not I think the choice is obvious.

The Calgary Hitmen play in the Saddledome where the flames play, so to answer your question the boy's in the "W" are exposed to NHL arenas. The sold out part I'm not sure of, but TSN does a pretty good job of covering the "W", which is much better than statewide TV.

newsguy35 wrote:One very very big reason why you should stay in HS instead of going to the W is that you will not be allowed eligibility in college. If you can make a WHL team that is great but you should probably talk to the colleges that are scouting you as well. Kids that go to the W usually end up going back to college after but have to pay the tuition and room and bored as opposed to schooling for free.

I agree. Why skip a chance to play college hockey.

suntzu wrote:If you're good enough, you'll be found right here at home. If you're not good enough it really doesn't matter, does it?

Well said! In today's age of information, if you are good enough, the scouts WILL find you! The issue is more of the player's development in HS vs. a different level of competition. In my opinion, HS hockey in MN is plenty sufficient for that. You can never get that year or two of high school back, but you can still move on to the next level if you are good enough after HS graduation. I think that colleges actually prefer the older, more mature player anyway.

PuckRanger wrote:

suntzu wrote:If you're good enough, you'll be found right here at home. If you're not good enough it really doesn't matter, does it?

Well said! In today's age of information, if you are good enough, the scouts WILL find you! The issue is more of the player's development in HS vs. a different level of competition. In my opinion, HS hockey in MN is plenty sufficient for that. You can never get that year or two of high school back, but you can still move on to the next level if you are good enough after HS graduation. I think that colleges actually prefer the older, more mature player anyway.

I guess it depends on what you are looking for and what college you would like to play for. BSU (Bemidji State) will not take a kid right out of HS because Serratore feels they need the maturation and the fact that its such a small school, it wont get the publicity that Aaron Marvin is getting at SCSU. U of M is a perfect example of a team that doesnt really need kids to go to juniors because they get so much publicity that they get the top calibre players from MN out of hs.

suntzu wrote:

hockeypuck91 wrote:If you had the opp would you play in the whl or stay in your high school and possible not get the expousure you were hoping for?

If you think you're going to get more exposure as an American playing in the WHL, you may be in for a surprise.

By my count, in the last three NHL drafts only 4 Americans playing in the WHL have been drafted in Rounds 1-3 of the draft. By contrast, 13 kids who played HS hockey in Minnesota were selected in rounds 1-3, including five first-round picks. This does not include several Minnesotans that were drafted while playing for the USA national team.

If you're good enough, you'll be found right here at home. If you're not good enough it really doesn't matter, does it?

I agree that if you are good enough it doesn't matter where you play, you will get exposure. THe difference is that players in the "W" play with and against other high draft picks more so than MN high school. I would look at it as accelerated development to bigger and better places. For some it works out great and for others it doesn't.