this all goes back to 1 simple point....if you are good enough they will find you. Save a ton of money, go play HS hockey with your friends and enjoy the entire HS experience.
There's something to be said for having a HS girlfriend, going to the Semi- formal, going to watch a football game under the lights. If after 2 years you are clearly faster, stronger, better, and dominating your HS then go to prep or Jr., stay back a year, and make a run at it....if you do it at 13/14/15 years old your just rolling the dice....

Nicely Stated. The majority of the kids from this area that end up in the USHL then D1 colleges played high school (mostly Catholic Conference) or at a good Prep (not all preps created equal) for at least 2-3 years before making the the jump to USHL and then College. The Teir II and Tier III junior programs have a smattering of DI commits and are heavy at the DIII level. Nothing wrong with DIII, just don't have to drop everything to get there.

High School has dropped off the cliff in the last few years. Give years ago if you want to a CD game you would see4-5 future D1 players and a handful of d3 players. Maybe a few future draft picks. Now? Not!

Previous posters all made some great points and obviously well informed but the landscape has changed

No need for name calling. MIAA hockey still is what it always has been. Solid hockey where kids compete with their lifelong friends, and where the best of the best that prove they can actually play, move on to bigger and better things. Granted the proving process for these truely elite few has been accelerated and taken on a new form, public/catholic kids jumping to a good prep after 2-3 years (and taking playing time away from all of the marginal prep players out there) instead of graduating and doing a PG year, or kids leaving high school and jumping to the USHL come draft age. But that is what hockey has become. Parents that have been indoctrinated into the MA pay to play select system over the past 10-15 years have to get over the fact that just because you pay, doesn't mean the kid can play. The CC studs you mentioned of days gone by are still there, but you're probably seeing them skate as freshman and sophomores, not as juniors and seniors. And because of the expansion of hockey in other regions around the country, as well as an influx of Canadian and European kids in the US college ranks, some of these players, who in years past were cant miss D1 prospects, may now be just good DIII players in today's hockey world. Things change. Doesn't mean they're better or worse, just different.

"The CC studs you mentioned of days gone by are still there, but you're probably seeing them skate as freshman and sophomores, not as juniors and seniors."

100% correct.

Not really! They are going prep right out of the gate. Look at every prep roster and you will see it is true. In the Boston area you have six very good prep programs that are day schools; Rivers, Thayer, St Sebs, Nobles, Bell Hill & Dexter. This year 5 of 6 have been ranked top 10 in New England and the other in the top 20. Every high end player ( from the area) ends up at these schools as Frosh or at the other boarding schools throughout New England.

And none of these schools could beat the Boston Advantage U16 team.

Is that a statement! or a question?

I Think the OP stated that if you watch a MA HS game you are seeing future Div 1 players as current Fr or So. I say not so much. Those kids are playing Prep already.

BA U16 team would probably beat most CC teams but not many preps outside of the bottom few. IMHO

It was a statement of fact. Maybe Avon, Salisbury, KUA would beat them but I'll say with high confidence that they would beat the rest. Against BA U18 none would stand a chance. Not saying that BA is great. Just that Prep's day is done.

BA u18 lost to Northwoods top team 7-1 and it wasn't even that close. BA's teams are good for sure but prep is stronger. Check out my hockey rankings and yi I can see how these teams have done against the preps.

CC and Mass hockey has dropped off considerbly for sure!!

Your getting all the kids that were not allowed to check in High School now. They shoot the puck up boards because they don't know how to take a check or give one. Count how many times each team gives the puck away!!!

This is such an absurd statement. BA U16 team would not stand a chance against many of the prep school teams. The U18 BA team got smoked 7-1 by Selects Academy, which is having a down year and Northwood Prep.

I agree but look at the games between some of the USPHL I 18 teams vs Northwood junior team and St Andrews at this weekends Beantown Classic. Pretty competitive!

Both teams would lose handily to top Preps like Thayer, Milton, Lawrence Academy etc. But, they also lose pretty handily to the top echelon T1EHL teams, who wouyld be very competitive against Top Prep. BA team are good, not great.

St Andrews and Northwood are every bit as good as any prep team in New England. They play many of them every year and win the vast majority of the games.

I think once again, we are seeing the effects of all levels being watered down !

USPHL better option. BA has become a non-factor at both levels. Idiot parents are just dream chasers.

USPHL is a lesser league, top to bottom. Local teams may fare better than BA does, but the competition isn't as strong.

Somewhat true but there a handful of good teams that are becoming stronger. With the new (free) junior division should draw more players,at Midget age who see at as a viable path. Also the local teams play a pretty extensive schedule outside of league play

Agreed. USPHL is a far better option than T1EHL, but you're still getting far too many kids on these full season U rosters whose parents think they're too good for public, get cut or buried at Catholics or whose parents won't foot the bill for a Prep. If you're considering it, go check it out. It may work for you. But If your kid can legitimately play at a Catholic or Prep, or be a standout at a good Public for a few years before making a jump to a Prep or Juniors, you're probably far better off staying with one of those options.

U18 USPHL much better than T1

Locally yes. Nationally, probably not. Although it is trending up.

Look at the head to heads.

"Foot the bill for a prep"?? $50k for high school is a little more than footing the bill. So if it came down to playing whatever kind of full season U and staying at your local school or affording to pay $50k for a prep, I guess I would be guilty of not "footing the bill".

Struggling to follow your logic. If, top to bottom, T1EHL is a higher level of competition, why would a kid be better off in USPHL?

We played a USPHL U16 team last year when my kid was on a half season EHF team, and I wasn't impressed. Seemed they should have been a lot better, given the extra ice, games and coaching their significantly higher tuition pays for.

I also don't follow the logic stated a few times of how a tuition free Junior team is going to bring more talent to a U15, U16 or even a U18 team. Kids are going to billet for several years for a hope of a better shot at making the free Juniors team?

And, a quick look at the T1EHL page shows that BA and the Monarchs have both played a little over half their games in league, so pretty much the same as USPHL.

If USPHL is improving, then maybe the gap is closing, but from everything I've read and heard, T1EHL offers superior competition and, therefore, player development.

USPHL will improve because players will have a definitive path to juniors. Look at all the kids who jump around trying to find the best for as they outgrow their current situation. Most Prep players are paying $20k to play and also experiencevprep school. Some more, some less. I'm any case a good chunk of change.

Tier 1 is the best top to bottom for sure especially at u16 where the better players will be in Juniors the following year and the others will spread out across prep, u18, jr, etc.

I think the gap will close because many will decide that paying $10k and living at home and going to school locally will be a better option and in time may become the best option ( save USHL). It has been said before that the college's would rather have their recruits stay local until they enroll. Within the next few years, this may be the case

The family that decides to stay home and pay $10 large is the current profile for the USPHL U16/U18 player.

Let's get real. We have Tier I U16/U18 teams here, plus Prep, plus CC. W're going to have to agree to disagree that kids are going to choose to play U16/U18 USPHL strictly on the off chance it'll improve their odds of playing free Juniors. Coaches don't think that way.

I

BA and NH Monarchs are in the tier 1 but that isn' t nearly as good as BJB USPHL. NOt even close! Most Tier 1 will cost over 10k with all of the travel.

These recent changes will improve the level of play in the USPHL.

Way coaches think? Not quite following you there

Really? Looks like a toss up between BA and BJB in U16/U18 MHR to me.

From a development perspective, it doesn't matter how good YOUR team is, it matters how good the teams you play are. This isn't youth hockey. Wins and losses against outmatched opponents don't matter. You develop by playing at a higher pace of play. First place teams in U18 USPHL are 31st and 73rd. U16 are 19th and 71st. Top two U18 teams in T1EHL are 1st and 4th, U16 are 6th and 8th.

What I meant by how coaches think, a kid that has played U18 USPHL isn't going to get the nod over a better player that didn't.

It isn't really that debatable.

Agreed with your competition will dictate your development but do think that the BJB schedule outside of league play is,strong and beneficial to development. I believe that the USPHL as a whole will be getting better, top to bottom. While the national rankings are good predicator, the USPHL teams will surely be ranked higher as they improve and thus the league head to head will improve.

I hear what you are saying about the coaches but I think we are talking about development not college placement. Obviously, kids are commiting younger and younger but in any case that will be decided at 18 if not 15.

I got to watch a bunch of Tier 1 games over the weekend in Hingham. This was the second time I got to watch a game at that level and I was amazed how cheap and chippy the games are. Half the players are cross checking everything in sight, scrums all over the place and fights. Its U16 and U18. The hockey is decent but its a goon fest in my opinion. Kids have no recourse for being cheap. The last time I saw a Tier 1 U18 game it was a brawl with BA and some other team and yesterday wasnt much different. I even witnessed fights between kids in the hallways. Honestly I wouldnt even let my kid play in that mess - I much rather him in prep hockey or high school hockey where players actually have some restraint and they know they cant take liberties without punishment as they represent a school. Its about development and not being a goon. This setup of putting raging 16-18 year old kids on buses and in hotel rooms and shipping them all over is a joke. Missing school and playing in goon filled games - all set with that. I am all for tough hockey but conduct yourself like a pro and not some punk.

Don't know what games you were watching but I saw nothing of what you just described. Yes, the games are physical but there was nothing remotely dirty or cheap about them and there certainly were no fights in the hallways.

Buffalo jr Sabres vs NH Monarchs was one of the games and hallway outside between period between what it seemed was players or members or organizations.Brawl I witnessed was U18 BA a while back. Maybe its just the games I caught but quality of hockey is fine but the goon stuff is out of hand. Pathetic.

I have NO idea what you are talking about. My kid is in the T1EHL and there are FAR fewer cheap shots than in any other midget game he's been in. Go see a Hub Cup or Beantown game some time.

I have seen one true goon all year that was only out there to be disruptive, and he doesn't belong in this league. Can't skate, pass or shoot.

I think you're probably mistaking higher end talent for cheap play. Elite players are bigger, faster, stronger, and more skilled. It's a lot harder to contain these players, so you have take away time and space. Yes, cross checking and slashing are rampant, but that's the game today. Go over to TD Garden and count the cross checks and slashes.

As for fights, the league has a zero tolerance policy, and it's strictly enforced. If you are ejected for fighting, you miss the rest of that game and the next game. And the team owner - not the coach - is going to get a call. Yes, it happens. It's hockey.

Sorry your duster got cut.

Absolutely not mistaking high end talent for cheap play. Go watch some high level prep hockey - they would beat these teams handily and none of the goon stuff. Cross checking and slashing are not rampant - its cheap. The tier 1 league around here seems to be full of the disgruntled parents whose kid didnt make the high school team so they went elsewhere.

Guy is clueless. What does league have to do with "local" players? It's a national league.
Locally, any one of the BA players would be first one on their HS teams. Why is a 20 game HS season against low end talent attractive?

This guy is right on, other than one or two good players on each of these teams, most of these kids/parents are disgruntled from either not making Prep or CC

spot on man-each and everyone of the players on the U16 and U18 advantage was cut by a Prep or a CC team. Parents are living in a fantasy world

I dont pretend to know all of the U16 and U18 advantage kids but the ones that I know the story of - kid didnt make varsity team or wasnt gettting enough playing time, or some other issue with their high school team and they left to play for BA. Just saying. Seems like a consistent story.

Wow, I thought you actually had to go to a Prep or CC school to get cut. Didn't realize the tryouts were open to kids that don't attend.

Sorry your kid is on the 3rd line at your D2 or D3 school. Complete joke. There are 8 graders who can't even play real club team hockey playing varsity for some of these crappy D3 HS teams. Most U14 teams could beat these teams!

Go watch either of these teams and the competition. None of those U18's were cut from their HS teams. Most are public HS kids that actually can play vs. the total public HS kids, even at the D1 level. Hingham, Marshfield, Braintree, Weymouth, Walpole, Norwood, and so on....The best player on those teams would struggle to keep up with the U18 competition on both BA and other T1 Elite league kids. Stick with the facts folks.

Fact. A few of the teams listed above had kids who played U16 in their 2nd year of U16 for BA...none of those kids made the U18 team, all heading back to their HS's. Good players, but not good enough to play at the U18 level of this league.

U16's are even better, usually because the kids can be smaller and faster, better for the good developing players to play with kids who get it vs. playing the garbage 18 year olds who can't catch a pass or stick handle.

Sorry your kid can't make a team in this league. Keep telling yourself it's not good hockey though and Hanover High is a better option for you :) (You know who you are buddy)

The hockey is fine. U18 is Catholic Conference level without the educational component. If it works for you, great. The problem is when your kids hockey "career" fizzles out as a 20 year old Jr who was getting a "serious" look at Fitchburg St. but "decided" he didn't want to play anymore, I bet he's going to be real happy that his father made him play his high school hockey at some money grubbing extension of a youth hockey program instead of with his buddies. Seriously, what's wrong with you people. The delusions of grandeur on this board never cease to amaze me.

Yeah, cuz everyone knows that you can't have buddies from other towns. Too far for your kid to get there on his Schwinn 10 Speed, and they may not be a local call on your rotary phone.

I'd rather my kid HAVE delusions of grandeur than to settle for town hockey so he can be a local hero and knock up a cheerleader. Did you buy him his Varsity Letterman's jacket yet?

High school hockey has jumped the shark. It's all who you know and not how hard you work. They dont have to skate hard Daddy got them there.

Just read a stat that out of 498 D1 college players - only 1 came directly from u18 Tier 1 hockey. 17 came directly from prep schools.

That's due to T1 feeding the USHL with younger players and preps turning out 19 year old / 20 year old freshmen players. A bit of an anomaly in the numbers. My guess is most T1 teams would kill most prep teams regardless of age.

Agree. Good players are everywhere and the PG factor makes prep an alternative to junior hockey. Go watch a game and you tell me if that is the breeding ground for the better players in the college game.

Actually the PG or kids that are 19 or 20 still in prep arent the ones playing D1.

Seriously, most PGs are nothing special. And sorry to burst the other guy's bubble--prep hockey is really bad compared to even low-quality Juniors. PGing at a prep is nothing like Junior hockey. It would be more like playing in a medium level summer tournament against mediocre competition. Of course it would still be eons above public HS or CC.

You would guess mostly wrong as most players on these T1 teams are mediocre at best, there is only a couple of good players on each team. You people are ridiculous, all because there is an alternative league for players to come from, it doesn't mean there is a whole new crop of D1 players out there. There is only so many players from New England that will make D1, all these many pathways just dilute the product.

Yeah those 4 D1 commits on the Avalanche are mediocre at best. Come on man.

Sorry your kid got cut. 25% of this year's USHL draft picks played T1EHL. Don't be so parochial, Massachusetts is not the center of the universe.

The league is national, and most of the country doesn't have Prep (although more and more players from out of the area are being recruited into Preps). They play in this league (or in the HPHL) before they play USHL, where they play before D1, and before being drafted.

The good news for Townies like you is, you can hate on this league as well as the Preps and the Catholics.

If you only knew

Don't flatter yourself. I don't give a rat's ass. " "

USHL rosters and where the players come from. As always, It's up to you to make your own choices and decide what works for your son, if you truely believe your son can play at this level. The data seems to show that while Tier1 is a solid contributor to the USHL ranks, most of those Tier 1 players tend to hail from other parts of the country, not New England. New England is still heavy on Preps with a few Tier 1's and even a few high school players thrown into the mix. Who knew?

http://assets.ngin.com/attachments/document/0106/7389/USHL_Team_List_9-21-16__Sheet1.pdf

High school is all political. It's all who you know and how much you donate or if daddies coaching.

1:19am? Really? Did you wake up hung over or are you still in bed? U16 BA tryouts should be coming up soon. I hear the owners son is in the mix, so jump on board if you can. I'm sure you'll get plenty of exposure and he'll leave no stone unturned to bring in all the talent he can find. Funny, kind of sounds a little like the high school you describe above.

Wait, so MH, currently playing for the Omaha Lancers, WASN'T cut by Needham High?

I don't have a player on BA. I do know a lot of the parents with boys on the teams. I make it a point to see the games in Hingham. It's good hockey. Physical, not cheap (there are always exception - at prep, too). The speed of the game compared to local HS is night and day.

Total joke that people think T1EHL is a washout league. I don't disagree that top prep programs like Milton, Thayer, Lawrence, Nobles are probably better than U16 or U18 BA. They probably AREN'T better than NJ Avs or others in the top 10, that BA has to compete against.

Add in that the league schedule is twice as many games as the typical HS schedule - against top competition every time out, no cupcakes - plus another 30 games outside the league, and these teams offer a much better development option and more exposure than any area team - Prep or CC.

Its from lack of real skill/talent. Players hit and fight for the clapping that goes with it. If they don't have skill and finesse to draw a big oooh and aww from the crowd they do it with goon tactics instead! You definitely don't see it as much in prep school. It's not allowed and kids are smart enough not to risk an injury. Same in Europe, who also rely more on skill than cavemen mentality.

Pppppppp*****y!!!!!!!!

You'll have to give him a break. He's feeling guilty about making his kid play for BA instead of playing high school/prep. (Really stinks when your kid doesn't make varsity at a public as a freshman after spending all of that money. Coaches suck! ) I bet he's having a blast. His choice of course. Spends every waking moment stick handling and shooting picks at mom's washer and dryer in the basement. Never had an interest in playing any other sport other than hockey. You know the type. Dad thinks he's hit on the secret to success because two of the U18's have tentative commitments two years down the line. If only Dom Savio was still open! No offense, but those U16's wouldn't stand a chance against most D1 or D2 publics, never mind Catholics or preps. Could probably make a run at the D3 title though. If you're talking Public, U18's is equivalent a team full of public school seniors that get to play year round. If they couldn't compete with the better High School teams, that would be pretty sad.

Not really sure why you think looking at current New England Prep School rosters and rankings prove your point. There are only 60 or so Prep schools that play hockey in New England, and some are god awful, so I would hope 6 MA teams could crack the top 20. Look at the current New England college rosters. What you see is what you have always seen. There is about a 50/50 split amoung the few MA kids that actually make it that far, of kids that started out at an MIAA school as opposed to straight prep. The South Shore has always trended towards Prep, and the North Shore has always trended towards Catholics, with a few publics thrown in on both sides of the border. Nothing new here. T1EHL has seen a slight up tick in current college recruits, but most of those kids are from other parts of the country not MA.