What gives??? It is creepy that people are trying to start businesses based on telling you where to place your child in youth hockey.

Just looking for input

Might be creepy but you see kids all of the time (at least starting when they get 13-14'ish) and you wonder "How did this kid ever make this team?" "what is this kid doing playing at this tournament?" or "How did that kid get drafted to the USHL or the Q" and you have to believe it is either the parent's P.R. machine that get all of the newsletter guys writing on a kid or family advisers.

Now granted sometimes these kids get exposed and they fall back to where they belong but really there are many examples of kids that ride the wave and land college deals based on 'reputation,' name recognition and the teams they played for as kids. And before the old timers chime-in with "that's B.S., no college coach would fall for that..." - believe me there are numerous, numerous kids we can all point to so save it.

You are not allowed to pay advisors…then they would become an agent. A legit advisor won't take any payment. The advisors goal is collect a clientele of players that hopefully will become professionals down the road and keep them as agents.

Where do you find these guys? Isn't the reason we pay all this tuition each year for some guidance from the organization with contacting these coaches and looking at upcoming options.

If your kid is good enough, hockey advisers find you.

I'll be your advisor. $3,000 please.

Unless the advisor can give your kid athleticism and desire, I wouldn't pay him. There is such a small number of kids that have any chance of drawing a single paycheck playing this game, it's not even worth discussing on this board.

This is fascinating. Seeing the info must be public, can anyone name a few of these Advisors in New England? How old are the kids they target, I assume Bantam Major and up?

So your just at the rink and a mysterious unnamed person is watching a Pee Wee hockey game and walks up to ask who owns that player. No one ever askes for a name they just have a burn phone they use to communicate with this unknown person and then
Bam! Your kid is on the road to Pro Hockey.
WTF is wrong with you people? Are we considering skill guys advisors? For all the people who are on this board,
Not 1 can drop a name

Thread opened 700 times. Not 1 name

It's pretty simple folks. Certified NHLPA agents are all listed here: http://www.nhlpa.com/inside-nhlpa/certified-player-agents. There are tons of them affiliated with small or big agencies, some national with regional offices or even international. These agents act as "advisors" for kids going the NCAA route. These certified NHL agents are really the only "true hockey advisors" and they forego any meaningful compensation from NCAA bound families/players until a pro contract is signed when they officially become the player's agent. The USHL and College Hockey INC websites probably have additional details. Prodigies (read potential 1st round NHL picks, 100% definite NCAA caliber top line players) are courted by these agents as young as 13-14 which, while wacky, is the way it is.

Any non certified NHLPA agent who claiming to be an "advisor" is probably no different than the basketball runners who funnel kids to colleges. There are likely some payout for them (cash under the table from boosters, kids participating at their camps, etc). If your kid needs help from these advisors who are not real agents, your kid is not really on any radar other than to get in the queue for some pay-to-play league. The real agents have a pulse on the prospect pipeline and have established businesses where they take on selected clientele that have a foreseeable payout at the NHL level where they get 3-5% of pro players as a commission for services - aka they are not in the business to make $1k or $2k from signing up a kid to play Tier I/II/III U16/U18 or junior hockey.

I believe that Bobby Orr was the family advisor for Noah Hanifin and he is now his agent.

Correct re Hanifin and Orr - numerous agencies/agents were courting the family to serve as Noah's advisor until he turned pro. One of the big reasons these prodigies get advisors is to navigate the ladder until they are in the NHL. The Canadian Hockey League (CHL) is a junior league comprised of three leagues (think conferences for NCAA) - the WHL, OHL, and QMJHL. Any player signing a contract and playing in the CHL - regardless of which of the 3 leagues (which each have specific territory rights in the US) is deemed ineligible for the NCAA. So it is a pretty big decision for 15/16 year old prodigies (even though they are still kids) to decide which route - CHL or NCAA - makes the most sense. Advisors can help with this process and should the family pick the NCAA route these advisors help the family sort out where they should play until they enroll in college. If the family chooses the CHL the advisor can immediately become the player's agent and sign a formal contract. Once the NHL draft rolls around, regardless if the player is in the CHL or in the NCAA (or committed to the NCAA) the agent/advisor deals with the NHL teams on the player's behalf.