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anon
Anon
Anon
Goaliekid
Been in the hockey scene for a short time. But, I always wondered about FED and why no other teams have an opportunity to get into elite? To ensure consistent competitive balance I would think any league would want a Parity to decide. If a team can skate into a certain division then they belong.
I think it would be best for the kids to play other teams of like talent. Whether it be in E9/BHL/Fed Elite/T1 or any other color.
At the end of the day, it is about development. Plenty of slow starters who can now out skate the kiddo's that jumped out fast early. It is a proven fact that kids develop at all different ages.
I think it would be best for the kids to play other teams of like talent. Whether it be in E9/BHL/Fed Elite/T1 or any other color.
At the end of the day, it is about development. Plenty of slow starters who can now out skate the kiddo's that jumped out fast early. It is a proven fact that kids develop at all different ages.
Too much risk. Say for example you are in a bottom Fed Elite program. If you're a decent player you want to stay because you play against the best competition. If you're marginal, you stay because you hope that a few better players can get your team over the hump. If you're terrible, you're likely the coaches kid or have an affiliation with the coach so you're not going anywhere.
If you're a top E9 player, you're likely to get an offer from a top Fed team and you jump because of the competition and reputation of that league.
Why would a parent take a chance at leaving the Fed with the hope that their E9 team may be able to play-in to a spot only to have the same result - a team in the bottom 3? Why wouldn't the top E9 player jump to a "higher" league?
This may make sense at older ages but I wouldn't hang my hopes on how a 8-11 year old hockey team will do the next season to determine where my kid plays. This all makes sense on the Dboard but when you have parents trying to make decisions on where to send Jr for hockey, rational thought goes out the window.
As far as the other leagues around the country that NE can't compete with; look at Team Illinois. I'm an E9 parent that was out in Detroit for the tournament. We watched Team Illinois play the Islander's at the 06 level. Illinois is the good team. I stayed and spoke with one of the directors of their program. They run video sessions, have shot trackers, and make system adjustments for their games. A parent of a new player on the Illinois team said this was their first year and that the amount of time they spend on and off the ice was significant.
I can say that my son and I watched that game. He said that it was a much faster game than he plays and I noticed the same. Both teams looked very skilled but the Illinois team could control the puck much better.
The point is, for the most part, kids are where they belong. My kid belongs in the E9 and is developing. The top kids are on strong EHF teams and are competing. If you're interested in video review, shot tracking and systems - by all means, go move out to the Midwest and spend 6 days out of 7 in the rink when your kid is 11 - I know that's not for my family.
1st of all, there are only 4 AAAs in the state of Illinois, 1 AAA in Milwaukee sometimes gets a commuter from Chicago's northshore or Northern IL (but that's rare). In ILL the best players in the state are all limited to 4 total rosters. Their teams will have the most complete rosters because the top talent isn't watered down by multiple leagues and multiple teams within that league. In IL you don't choose to play AAA hockey, AAA hockey chooses you.
2nd, they aren't in the rink 6/7 days. They have 2 to 3 practices of which they try to lump skills, on ice activities and off ice activities on the same days as often as possible. So yes, they do spend more hours per day at a given rink but it isn't 6 days. Some Midwest kids downstate travel up to 3 hours to play AAA hockey, most travel 45 minutes to 1.5 hours to get to their rinks. Again... only 4 teams. 1 is in downtown chicago, 1 is in the Northshore, 1 is in the Southside burbs, and 1 is in the Western burbs. All of them have their logistic nightmare scenarios and are fairly far from each other. Which is why **** near EVERYONE spends copious amounts of time in the car to get to AAA hockey, and also why they combine skills, off-ice and on-ice to the same days and are okay with 3-3.5 hours at the rink at a time.
3rd, just like in Mass you have kids make the jump from T1 to Elite every year. So too do Illinois kids. They go from CSDHL to AAA every year. Kids drop down and go up every year. That parent you point out, Im sure is a parent of a former CSDHL player who was playing AA hockey last season. And to be quite frank, NIHL Elite and CSDHL are pretty similar and have interchangeable teams every year, meaning... CS it glorified AA hockey. That said, it's much slower and requires less investment in time, money, and preparation than AAA. Kids move up to AAA because they earned it.
4th, those kids on TI aren't better because of film, shot tracking, or skating 6/7 days of the week. They are better because they have 3 players that are legitimately amongst the best in the country. 2 D and 1 F who are legitimately top talents in the country, (who) if they stick with the sport and mature (as they hope) will be D1 players. Although they are being developed nicely by the TI staff, all 3 come from different AA programs and were recruited heavily. They played the same amount of hockey and practice as your kid from mini-Mite to Squirt Minor. TI has less to do with their success, they are physically talented kids with drive and supportive families.
Ever heard the term: "In AAA there are "PLAYERS" and "PAYERS". They're PLAYERS.
That's why they are so good. 3 kids that don't just play "elite" hockey, at their birth year they are truly Elite. And the rest of the roster is made up of the best in the state. Only 60 kids in IL get to say they play AAA hockey, the cream rises to the top. And TI doesn't have a daddy coach either, there aren't any coach's kids or owner's kids/grandkids watering down the bottom of the roster. The kids there belong.
In MA 33% of the kids don't belong in EHF Elite nor E9. In IL that number might be in the single digits.
In Mass it is more like 85 - 90 % really are not elite . Lets face it if Mass made a few real elite teams at any given birth year it would be three or four teams to compete nationally thats it three or four teams woth all of our watered down rubish . In Mass the dollar comes first development second .
That is why so many 08 parents will be sad in a couple of years , sure right now there are some good talented teams and players that could compete nationally however as the years go by the number dwindles as it usually does .
Parents here really could care less how their kids compare to other teams nationally. They just want to be able to say their kid plays elite hockey, to their neighbor, relatives, FB friends, little Johnny's friends parents, etc. That's it. Current going price for that is $3500. It all goes away by HS anyway.
