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SIJHL '96 Draft Results

SUPERIOR INTERNATIONAL JUNIOR HOCKEY LEAGUE
MEDIA UPDATE
Release Date: Monday, June 18, 2012
THUNDER BAY, Ont. –
TEAM, PLAYER, POSITION, LAST TEAM

Duluth, Nick Thompson, D, Duluth Denfeld High School
Wisconsin, Bryton Lutzka, F, Duluth East High School
Wisconsin, Kyle Jones, D, Duluth Marshall H.S.
Fort Frances, Justin Caneron, D, Crookston H.S.
Wisconsin, Zac Kramer, D, Hermantown H.S.
Wisconsin, Hunter Roberts, F, Cloquet H.S.
Fort Frances, Luke Spilde, F, International Falls Broncos H.S.
Wisconsin, Jack Dodd, F, Duluth Marshall H.S.

Never heard of this league. What is it, a step up from Jr Gold ?

I heard spooner was looking to relocate. Why does USA hockey counsel [whoever that is] keep saying no??? Only to be appealed.

what is this league

It's a Canadian Tier II league and I say that with real skepticism. Most of the teams charge players money to play so it's essentially a tier III league that calls itself tier II. For the most part, it is on par with the NA3HL or MNJHL and if you look at their advancement lists, they are pretty unremarkable.

There is only two teams that charge the players for everything and one that just has one small fee. With the exception of maybe one team this is a lot better league than the na3hl or the mnjhl. The league website is very bad at updating where the players advance to as their are a lot more that do move on to college programs.

I counted 8 players on MIAC and NCHA teams from the SIJHL. So unless USCHO.com is slow to update their rosters too, this league does not send many kids to college hockey.

BTW I'm not bad mouthing the league, Spooner has had some good teams in the past 2 years but I'm just calling it as I see it. These teams take kids that get cut from NAHL teams just the same as tier III teams. It's not tier II hockey no matter what they tell you it is.

huville wrote:I counted 8 players on MIAC and NCHA teams from the SIJHL. So unless USCHO.com is slow to update their rosters too, this league does not send many kids to college hockey.

BTW I'm not bad mouthing the league, Spooner has had some good teams in the past 2 years but I'm just calling it as I see it. These teams take kids that get cut from NAHL teams just the same as tier III teams. It's not tier II hockey no matter what they tell you it is.

Everyone's entitled to their opinions. The SIJHL has produced far more college players than you give them credit for. The top 3 teams in the league(Wisc, Ft. Frances, Thunder Bay)routinely field teams that are on par with many NAHL teams. The Canadien Jr Hockey system doesn't have tiers. There's Junior A, anything else is Jr. B. I will grant you that there are varying talent levels throughout their leagues, but each league contends for the same National Championship - the RBC Cup. Each league has an entrant including the SIJHL. Wisc has gone the last two years and while they didn't win the Cup, they were very competitive with the likes of the Penticton Vees, Soo Thunder Birds and all the rest. The Duluth Clydesdales are sending 6 or 7 kids on to play DIII this past season alone. I believe the teams were St. John's, Bethel & Northland College. Ft. Frances sent Joe Basaraba to UMD. Ft. also had a player drafted into the USHL this past spring. I believe BSU has also taken players from the SIJHL & I'm sure there will be more. There are 133 or so Canadien teams in the CHL Jr A system. 2 of those teams are tuition based - Duluth & Iron Range. The NA3HL & MNJHL charge anywhere from $5000-$8000 and that doesn't include billet. It's a good opportunity for kids that don't have a lot of recognition in high school or are late bloomers that don't want to pay for the opportunity to play on & it will continue to get better. And for those that want to say it's a hatchet or goon league with no skill - the league has a one fight and you're tossed policy & they police the players pretty well in terms of cheap play. I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss this league as low quality.

GR, thanks for the nice explanation.

Sounds like another oppertunity for kids to continue playing. Why do people need to bad mounth???

It being the lowest junior A in canada, do you think it keeps up with the lower end of the nahl?

GR3343 wrote:
Everyone's entitled to their opinions. The SIJHL has produced far more college players than you give them credit for. The top 3 teams in the league(Wisc, Ft. Frances, Thunder Bay)routinely field teams that are on par with many NAHL teams. The Canadien Jr Hockey system doesn't have tiers. There's Junior A, anything else is Jr. B. I will grant you that there are varying talent levels throughout their leagues, but each league contends for the same National Championship - the RBC Cup. Each league has an entrant including the SIJHL. Wisc has gone the last two years and while they didn't win the Cup, they were very competitive with the likes of the Penticton Vees, Soo Thunder Birds and all the rest. The Duluth Clydesdales are sending 6 or 7 kids on to play DIII this past season alone. I believe the teams were St. John's, Bethel & Northland College. Ft. Frances sent Joe Basaraba to UMD. Ft. also had a player drafted into the USHL this past spring. I believe BSU has also taken players from the SIJHL & I'm sure there will be more. There are 133 or so Canadien teams in the CHL Jr A system. 2 of those teams are tuition based - Duluth & Iron Range. The NA3HL & MNJHL charge anywhere from $5000-$8000 and that doesn't include billet. It's a good opportunity for kids that don't have a lot of recognition in high school or are late bloomers that don't want to pay for the opportunity to play on & it will continue to get better. And for those that want to say it's a hatchet or goon league with no skill - the league has a one fight and you're tossed policy & they police the players pretty well in terms of cheap play. I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss this league as low quality.

I think it's great for any players that want to continue playing to have the opportunity to play so I am not bad mouthing the league however, using the Penticton Vees (which has many of the top Minnesota players and is getting recognition as a top team) is a little bit wrong. I don't believe Wisconsin played the Vee's in the last 2 years and they played the Soo team once in the playoffs and lost in OT.

They are a good team and it is a good league but I don't think it is fair to say they were 'competitive' with Penticton when they never played each other.

BSU has rostered a player or two from the SIJHL, but only after they spent some time in the NAHL or USHL. Mitch Cain is the most recent, who spent two seasons with the Fort Francis team before spending two years with Des Moines in the USHL.

seek & destroy wrote:

GR3343 wrote:
Everyone's entitled to their opinions. The SIJHL has produced far more college players than you give them credit for. The top 3 teams in the league(Wisc, Ft. Frances, Thunder Bay)routinely field teams that are on par with many NAHL teams. The Canadien Jr Hockey system doesn't have tiers. There's Junior A, anything else is Jr. B. I will grant you that there are varying talent levels throughout their leagues, but each league contends for the same National Championship - the RBC Cup. Each league has an entrant including the SIJHL. Wisc has gone the last two years and while they didn't win the Cup, they were very competitive with the likes of the Penticton Vees, Soo Thunder Birds and all the rest. The Duluth Clydesdales are sending 6 or 7 kids on to play DIII this past season alone. I believe the teams were St. John's, Bethel & Northland College. Ft. Frances sent Joe Basaraba to UMD. Ft. also had a player drafted into the USHL this past spring. I believe BSU has also taken players from the SIJHL & I'm sure there will be more. There are 133 or so Canadien teams in the CHL Jr A system. 2 of those teams are tuition based - Duluth & Iron Range. The NA3HL & MNJHL charge anywhere from $5000-$8000 and that doesn't include billet. It's a good opportunity for kids that don't have a lot of recognition in high school or are late bloomers that don't want to pay for the opportunity to play on & it will continue to get better. And for those that want to say it's a hatchet or goon league with no skill - the league has a one fight and you're tossed policy & they police the players pretty well in terms of cheap play. I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss this league as low quality.

I think it's great for any players that want to continue playing to have the opportunity to play so I am not bad mouthing the league however, using the Penticton Vees (which has many of the top Minnesota players and is getting recognition as a top team) is a little bit wrong. I don't believe Wisconsin played the Vee's in the last 2 years and they played the Soo team once in the playoffs and lost in OT.

They are a good team and it is a good league but I don't think it is fair to say they were 'competitive' with Penticton when they never played each other.

I said they were competitive with the likes of those teams. Losing in ot is pretty competitive with a team that I think knocked off the Vees in one game last year. The whole point was the league should not be dismissed so quickly.

hocktalk10 wrote:It being the lowest junior A in canada, do you think it keeps up with the lower end of the nahl?

If you look at player advancement, I'd say the BCHL is more competitive than the SIJHL and the NAHL. Although Penticton seemed to walk through the BCHL last season, the BCHL had more active commitments than the NAHL. The NAHL listed 94 Active players committed to D1 schools with 24 league teams in 2011-2012, 118 with alumni who played in previous seasons. The BCHL listed 104 active players committed D1 in 2011-2012, with 16 league teams. I'm unsure of advancements for the SIJHL, but I also am not very familiar with the league. The better two leagues are pretty comparable, with the NAHL being the more typical route by Minnesota boys. Both league's commitment list shows the majority of D1 commits going to eastern schools, with handfuls of WCHA and CCHA commits. Either league is a great option for players wanting to advance to college hockey.

Carter Hutton of the San Jose Sharks and Chicago Blackhawks is a recent example of a player that used the SIJHL as a springboard. He's played in the AHL, but he has dressed a lot in the NHL. (I assume he gets paid the NHL rate of his two-way contract whether he plays or not.)

Sure he's a goalie and there may have been some unusual circumstances - his team was probably out of place in the league and he got noticed at a Provincial Jr. A championship - but he is an example of someone that played in the SIJHL when there was no other option and became a guy that has "made it" by any definition.