Like going to Prep is the way to go. Please, Prep schools are nothing but low lifers trying to make a living off of peoples kid’s college funds. Last time I checked, your astronomical tuition fees are ridiculous. Repeat after me, PREP SCHOOLS ARE FOR BOOK WORMS AND TIN FOIL LIBERAL RETARDS.
There is a massive bottleneck at the top and not enough programs to support the number of talented hockey players the USA is producing. NCAA hockey simply hasn't grown enough in the last 20-30 years. The level of play in NCAA hockey has grown exponentially in the last several decades with NCAA players now making up a third of the NHL. That never used to be the case as the NCAA is where you went if you had no ***ure in pro hockey.
The top of Junior hockey in the USA, the USHL, has settled at 16 teams.
The NAHL has expanded to 29 teams and the NCDC has 13 teams for Tier 2 options.
The lack of growth in NCAA hockey has resulted in the rat race to go into overdrive at the youth hockey levels in order to put players in the best possible position to get the inside track on one of those coveted spots at the top, the USHL to NCAA path. Until that issue is resolved, if ever, you will see the proliferation of acadamies and other hockey programs that come with ridiculous price tags. It's simple supply and demand. This will end up hurting the sport in the end.
That said, there is truth that if a kid can play they will be found. The path is going to be much more difficult with lots of twists and turns and a much greater chance of getting derailed along the way. Theoretically, a player could go from HS, to Tier 3 juniors, to NAHL/NCDC, to USHL or NCAA. It's just the odds of doing so become very long.
It doesn’t matter how many junior teams there are. The problem Is orgs and coach’s jobs at the junior level are not predicated/based on winning here in New England. Until that changes, it will continue to be the player that has parents with the biggest pocket is the winner. Everyone at the junior level are crooks. It needs to be cleaned up.
It's embarrassing really. AP was outed, and now AD/coaches/parents are scrambling. Nothing good happens when you get in bed with RG. And the two coaches mentioned in the article? They're really good at cashing private skills and tournament team checks, but developing young boys? Hold your breath... see what happens.
But hey... if you're willing to cut a $25K check for a subpar private school education, you are very likely to cut a $25K check for subpar 'academy' hockey.
So plan has been in place for a while. And now with J McLean as the u18 coach rhe islanders an funnel more kids into ap and eentually the academy program