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im a goalie from minnesota and just finished my senior year and am probably headed to juniors...with offers from every 4 letter combination in the book i thought id ask someone who new more than me....everybody! what leagues are the best and wich to stay away from...any input helps...except bad input...thats bad...

ushl seems to be one of the top notch junior leagues from the sounds of it and where alot of the better players in minnesota spend there time playing....nahl isnt that bad either...being a goalie seems like youll wanna go somewhere where you will play and not be a back up...picking a place to play is more along the lines of whats best for YOU and YOUR FAMILY whats more suitable for your development...whichever way you decide to go wish nothing but the best of luck...

i get what your sayin...i knew ushl was up there thats almost a no brainer but there all pretty much just as convienient...its just all these AJHL IJHL EJHL leagues that got me mixed up.

1. USHL is the best. basically everyone in the league goes D1 and there is no costs involved.

2. NAHL and EJHL are very similar and which is better for you is different for everyone. EJHL costs money, NAHL does not.

3. AJHL is very new and costs money as well. It's trying to be like the EJHL. They have lots of talent on the East Coast but only one established league to play for. The AJHL is a thing where I would be cautious and research each team individually. Ask questions to see what is covered in the price they give you. IE, travel, food, sticks... also ask about housing. Are kids with billet families or in apartments?

4. MJHL and CSHL are similar Junior B leagues with CSHL being younger and sending more kids to Junior A. CSHL has beaten the MJHL by a close margin in the last five years in most games when they meet head-to-head. MJHL is older and sends more to DIII. Most have graduated from High School already. Both leagues cost money, but less then the EJHL and AJHL.

5. MetJHL and IJHL have struggled mightly against MJHL and CSHL in interleague games and National Competetion. Both costs about the same but are higher then in the midwest.

You really need to do a lot of research on your own to find out specifics. Also, everyone will have a different opinion.

good insight..thanks..

USHL = Has about 250 players and about 50% of the players get signed to D-1 contracts.

NAHL = I don't have the exact numbers but the nahl has about 10% to 20% that get signed to D-1 contracts. They are getting more and more every year.

NAHL does very well getting guys on DIII teams.

If you look at teh USHL draft results this year it looks like many of those teams are taking a lot of players who played a year in the NAHL, EJHL etc rather than right from high school -

Where would you place AJHL (Albert Junior League) against the NAHL?, competition wise because I see a lot more 89's and a few 90's on the AJHL teams compared to the NAHL.

IMHO, the Alberta JHL is probably stronger and deeper top to bottom than the NAHL. Same goes for the BCHL.

The Canadian Jr System is far better than that of the United States. Granted, the USHL could probably play with and beat most Canadian Junior teams (non-Major Jr, although I would wager that the average USHL would finish middle (top 40-60%) of the road in Mrj Jr). However, the amateur ranks are far superior - just look at the numbers in the NHL!

Is the league more finesse players or is it i'm not going to say a gongshow because I know it isn't but is it more "hockey" than the NAHL or what makes it better?

One more question where would you rank the OPJHL (Ontario Provincial Junior Hockey League) against the AJHL, BCJHL, and NAHL. Which is best competition and which is least. I ask this because I saw a plalyer from the Hamilton Red Wings out of the OPJHL at a NAHL tryout camp and was curious why he wanted to play here in the US in a Tier II Junior leauge. Just curious what the competition is like out of those leagues.

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So your saying EJHL is a little worse than the NAHL or other way around?

with all do respect to texas "rolling over" the opjhl team texas played the bottom half teams from the opjhl. the opjhl is widely spread out with 36 or 37 teams. overall talent and sigings obviously go to opjhl who has more than double the amount of players.
1. Ushl
2. Opjhl
2. Bchl
4. Nahl
5. Nojhl

I would put the Ejhl close to 5th but in comparison to the CHL leagues tehy compare the Ejhl to JR. C in canada which up here is better than Jr. B but in my opinion the Ejhl is better, but you have to play to pay. If you dont make the Ushl or Texas in the Nahl i would recommend going to the Bchl or the Opjhl.

Personally, I think the western Canadian Jr A leagues (read BCHL, AJHL) are stronger than the OPJHL. But that is one man's opinion. Proof is in the pudding though - take a glance at NCAA D-I rosters - those numbers dont lie.

Hasbeen15 feels that the Canadian Major Jrs are stronger than the USHL and he maybe correct , but John Murray (Lancaster, PA), who split time with Alex Kangas at the USHL Sioux Falls team last year is playing with the Kitchner Rangers as thier #1 goalie this year. The team is made up of Ontario residents, two European players and two Americans.
He ranks second on the team in being one of the Stars of the Game and has played in three times as many games as the two Canadian goalies. His record is 13-3 and one shootout loss. GAA 2.60.
Canadians have long discriminated against American hockey players and this could be one reason there haven't been as many American players given an opportunity in the NHL. That seems to be changing with the advent of more US teams and successful ones at that.

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Until recent years, the CHL was considered the fastest route to the NHL ( the OHL placing more than the "W" and the "Q"). However, that tide is starting to change - this year's draft shows that.

The one thing Canadian Jr Hockey offers that the US can't is consistency. With the addition of Tier III this year, I personally feel that the USA Hockey has stooped to a new low.

The recent rise of Jr hockey - or should I say explosion - has done nothing more than decimate Midget and HS school hockey across the board. Canada has instituted age limits (minimum) for Jr hockey thus allowing players to continue to develop at the Midget leve against players of a similar age - not 15 yrs old v 20 yrs old.

Regardless, I think US Hockey - especially the Jr system - needs an overhaul if we are going to keep up with our northern neighbors.

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Do you feel that the players that are being produced in the USA Hockey systems are not heading in the right direction? I think last couple Drafts and International Tournaments are prime examples that we are developing players better then we were ten, even five years ago.

It is my believe that the above is so. Because of this, I think USA Hockey should continue to do what it is doing.

I can't stand some of the things that USA Hockey is doing but they seem to be working.

USA Hockey is developing the 50 or so players on the two National Teams based in Ann Arbor (U-17, U-18 ). Without looking at the draft summary (I cant remember the specifics), I am going to assume that a majority (>50%) of those players came from this program. Of course, there are some exceptions.

While the recent "interest" in and "success" of US players is great, top to bottom the US is still way behind the Canadian system. As I said before, look at the rosters of professional teams here in the US - be it NHL, AHL, etc. Those numbers speak for themselves.

Furthermore, and perhaps a better yard stick, look at the rosters of the the top 15 NCAA D-I Ice Hockey teams - what is the proportion of Canadian players to American players? Then look at D-III rosters, whats that ratio? Get my drift.....

Why not look at the roster of the top D1 school to see what the ratio is? or even the top five?

Class of 2006 DI Recruits:

From USA:
AAA - 7
USNTDP - 20
NAHL - 56
EJHL - 50
USHL - 111
HS - 44
CSHL - 1
Empire - 1

From Canada:
BCHL: 53
AJHL: 28
SJHL: 11
Other Canadian Leagues: 95

Total Players: 477

Total Percentage of 2006 Recruiting Class that is Canadian: ~ 40%

(some of the above were taken from another site and were not compiled by me personally - others were compiled by me)

wnyhshockey wrote:

shooter812 wrote:So your saying EJHL is a little worse than the NAHL or other way around?

I would say EJHL is a little stronger than NAHL.

Ferguson22 wrote:with all do respect to texas "rolling over" the opjhl team texas played the bottom half teams from the opjhl. the opjhl is widely spread out with 36 or 37 teams. overall talent and sigings obviously go to opjhl who has more than double the amount of players.
1. Ushl
2. Opjhl
2. Bchl
4. Nahl
5. Nojhl

I would put the Ejhl close to 5th but in comparison to the CHL leagues tehy compare the Ejhl to JR. C in canada which up here is better than Jr. B but in my opinion the Ejhl is better, but you have to play to pay. If you dont make the Ushl or Texas in the Nahl i would recommend going to the Bchl or the Opjhl.

Texas has in the past played the stronger OPJHL teams and won.

1. CHL (3 leagues)
2. USHL
3. BCHL
4-6. OPJHL, EJHL, NAHL (In no particular order)

Rumor has it, NAHL will go to tution based league within 2 years and Texas would join USHL

The CHL is not jrs its semi-pro so it should not be considerd in this topic