crusader,

Just wanted to give an example I saw this weekend. We played a Junior B team in Boston, the team had a 91 player from our area playing Junior B for the Glades up north. So they pay Junior B price plus billeting costs. I don't know the reasons or the situation, but the kid could have probably been playing on TriState. We won the game also.

I think a big part of it is by the time kids are U16-U18 age, parents and player are tired of all the poor product they get from most orgs and politics within the district and want to look at trying other options.

I also know of a few Central Penn kids playing at Apple Core Junior B who have Central Penn Panthers Junior B in there back yards. Why else would they leave the area but for a better league, coaching, get away from district politics? I know this was our reasons and also fixed price.

The one player was a favorite high school player on here last year.

http://www.empirehockey.com/apple.html

http://www.empirehockey.com/greenmountain.html

I hope this area gets a EJ team closer to it, closest one is NJ Hitmen. It would be a great option for us, much more affordable than sending my son away. Finances are the reason we didn't explore EJ this year.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: trimback,

Kudos to Bud for having his kids at the Boston juniors Bruins showcase this weekend loaded with scouts. Where were the other U18 teams from the Atlantic District/League?

no doubt the ejhl has developed into a feeder for college programs . having never seen a ushl contest i am only echoing what i hear other " in theknow " say.
the cost for prep i know to vary from 10,000 to 40,000 depending upon personal finances, bud's team can be around 10,000 after all expenses added. what are the costs for the empire, met , ajhl and in particular the ejhl and the canadian provinsial jr. A programs?

Just like certain teams in the USHL prepare certain kids for certain schools. The EJHL also prepares kids for certain schools, different styles of hockey between the hockey leagues.
Lots of kids leave EJHL for USHL, but most of them are motivated by free hockey versus pay hockey. It's definitely a step up but both prepare kids for schools.

Here is one school I grabbed and looked at roster, notice how many EJHL players. Each team is different and varies.

http://goterriers.cstv.com/sports/m-hockey/mtt/bost-m-hockey-mtt.html

You can see Western Hockey is completely different. Doesn't look like any east kids made this team.
http://msuspartans.cstv.com/sports/m-hockey/mtt/msu-m-hockey-mtt.html


I'm not sure what the exact cost of the MET/AJ are but USA hockey puts a cap on what Juniors can charge for the hockey. And with Juniors your not locked into paying the full amount if you don't finish the year or move on. They have a formula about this, which is very unlike youth hockey where you pay full amount and can still be stuck not playing until end of the year if you try to advance.

http://www.usahockey.com/uploadedFiles/USAHockey/Menu_P...Responsibilities.doc

Our price is $6800 for year including summer program, 98% travel and all the other things I mentioned above like equipment, dryland and 3 practices a week are included.
Nothing more not even fund raising.

I know a family who sent there son away for an EJ team and I believe its costing them $9500 for team and billeting for the season.

I know the cost for the Buffalo jr Sabres in the OP is the following, my son was asked to come play for Buffalo last year by Grant Ledyard at end of the season for like two weeks but because of school we couldn't do it. I think the Canadian OP teams are free, except billeting and the teams are limited to imports.

Jr Sabres- A financial commitment of $1500.00 plus $25 for each game you dress during the Pre-Season and Regular Season and $30.00 for each game you dress in post season. $100 a week for billeting.

With the Prep schools remember most of these parents will be throwing down an extra $10-40K when the kid PG's. The Juniors who left this year will be Juniors again next year at prep school.. so paying a 2nd time for Junior year.
You can see some of the kids make it to colleges without doing Juniors, but how many of them are from our area?

Tristate has a two huge games this weekend against the Pittsburgh Jr Penguins who is normally one of the top Empire teams. Anyone interested in just seeing the team first hand should come watch them this weekend, and ask to see the locker room and talk to the coaches if you have any questions.

Here is a great site to find the latest college recruits---
http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pq-RP3oulY40QD4LEtZ3kFg&gid=0

Great Link LHA.. I noticed some Empire kids along with the EJHL kids in the Northeast section of your list.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: trimback,

Orzetti - Delbarton.

Pretty impressive when a local high school team already has 2 D-1 recruits on their roster.

Makes the "Which league is better" debate kinda silly doesn't it? They're all good just depends on what the coach/school is looking for and what kind of student/player they think you'll become.

LHA I agree.

But there are trends to certain teams feeding certain schools, but nothing definite. Comes down to the player fitting the school/team in the end. And sometimes things change as players progress or regress or staffs change.

Nice to see so many routes to making it happen..

Sometimes it even comes down to the player choosing a place to attend with multiple offers..

This message has been edited. Last edited by: trimback,

most canadian tier II jr A teams are tuition free with the exception of a league fee. most pay for all or half of billeting expenses plus outside equipment(not skates) and sticks. ajhl and ejhl teams tuitions are around 6000 plus billeting but if your a stud and they want you you wont pay that much

The canadian teams have good draws for attendence, they also have lots of sponsorships.. because of that they can do the tuition free and huge stick (equipment) budgets etc...

Is the overall consensus that junior b in most cases, is not as good as majorAA? When you look at the money committment to junior B, are the kids better off playing one more year of major aa and then go to junior A somewhere?

Again, I think the Juniors is worth it, atleast with my sons team.

My son will log more practice ice time thru the year than a kid playing AA for the money. Practice is where kids improve the most.
He also works off ice twice a week as part of the fee.

He will also play older kids, wider variety of kids and mostly the talent level is better than AA. While also playing majority of his games up north in front of many Junior A coaches to see. You have a better chance of moving to EJ if playing Junior B already.

Really comes down to you and your son thinking its worth it and what your trying to achieve.

most programs fielding AA at the midget levels for the most part only have one practice slot per week. The idea seems to be that at that age most kids play varsity for their school so that in turn would be a second practice slot. That's what I've been told anyway but it does hold some truth if you ask around. Junior programs, no matter what their records might indicate are very disciplined and do offer alot for the player. Both on and off ice. That is where your hard earned money is going towards. Most practices rum between 1 1/2 to 2 hours on the ice with a dryland before. A film session another hour and it adds up. But this is good preparation for any advanced level.
These teams also play college teams. It;s all about advancing and getting looked at in game situations. It's not about Johnny making the NHL. I'm so sick and tired of hearing that. Just narrow minded people I guess.If your kid wants to play college or advanced junior hockey then it is worth it. If not play AA.

they are some excellent points. There is more practice time and they do force the off ice workouts. My son had the benefit of playing for a coach in AA that taught him alot and we also had two good ice times per week and played two games each weekend. He played junior a after a year at aa and it helped him alot. He was prepared for most of the things he got at Junior a. I guess one of the points that i was making is that alot of the junior b teams i have seen play are very into the fighting part of the game and really, as it goes further along, that is such a small part. Its a lot of money to pay out. If the kids are good enough, the teams will find you. They watched my kid at the AA level and invited him for a tryout.