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Dear
Hockey Friends,
As
the annual craziness begins to
descend upon some of our 15 and
16 year old players and their
families, and tough decisions
need to be made, or so it seems,
I thought that I would send out a
quick newsletter that involves
some information regarding some
of the information that is
floating out there.
For
families of younger players and
for those older players I think
that you will also find the
information
interesting.
if
you ever think that we can help
you, in working your way through
the minefields, or if you wish to
include your name on our
HockeyResumes
service, please do not hesitate
to contact me at your
convenience.
Sincerely,
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A
Scout's Life: Junior vs.
College
Rory
Boylen
"A
fifth round pick who's got holes
in his game and something to work
on - maybe his size, strength, or
whatever - he has to the age of
23 in the NCAA and that can make
all the difference in the
world." - Philadelphia Flyers
scout.
Aside
from all the off- ice pros and
cons when choosing either the
major junior or NCAA route for
your career, there's an on- ice
component that makes you set out
your career goals and tests your
realism on how soon you'll reach
them.
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Teddy
Purcell signed with the
Kings as a free agent
after spending two years
in the USHL and one year
at Maine in NCAA Hockey
East. (Photo by Robert
Laberge/Getty
Images)
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Certain
players would be wise to choose the major
junior programs in Canada, while others
would look like geniuses down the road for
deciding on the United States League
and/or NCAA. So how do you know which is
more astute?
"High-end
guys probably benefit more from major
junior because it's more of a pro- like
atmosphere," said one scout, who
focuses on the United States before
crossing over to Canada in the second half
of the season. "Any kid will benefit
more from the junior program as far as his
personal development. That being said, if
you go to junior, you're done by age
20."
And that's
the main drawback of the Canadian League.
Once you play your over-age - or
20-year-old-season, you're done. If the
NHL team that drafted you isn't
comfortable enough with your development
to invest in your future, you'll become a
free agent, while your counterparts in the
NCAA, who may not have developed as
quickly, are still playing and
improving.
"A 20-
year- old may not have put on all his
weight yet; there could be some more
development coming," the scout said.
"And you don't know that, so you're
forced to make a decision."
That
decision is a binding professional
contract, which a pro team only has a
limited (50) supply of. While a junior
player will finish his tenure at an age
where he could still be developing, an
NCAA player can still play a few more
years until he is done school, which makes
college players much safer wild card picks
in the late rounds of the
draft.
"If you
go to college, there's a better chance
someone will take a chance on you,"
the scout said. "If I see a kid who is
5-foot-10 and he has decent skills and
smarts, but is only 175 pounds, that's
just not big enough. That's the kind of
kid that I would say would need an extra
year to develop. If he was in the CHL, I
wouldn't want to draft him because I don't
think he's going to be ready at age 20 for
me to throw a contract at
him."
Of course,
the playing styles of the two circuits are
very different and certain players are
much more suited for one over the other.
In college, players play against
competition that could be as much as seven
years older than them, so it's the closest
non- professional thing to playing against
mature men. On the other hand, the
Canadian leagues have a longer schedule
that resembles a pro season and a much
more in- your- face attitude that will
better prepare a player for professional
life.
"In
high school, college and even the U.S.
under-18 program it's tough to tell who's
tough and who's not because you can knock
people around and run the goalie and
you're not going to get what's coming to
you because there's no fighting," the
scout said. "In the Canadian juniors
and even the USHL, if you're going to play
like that you're going to have to face the
music."
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For
the NCAA prospects, the
increasingly popular and purely
amateur USHL - the red, white and
blue answer to the CHL - provides
a sip of the other half and a
taste of the realities they'll
face down the road, while keeping
NCAA eligibility. In that league,
unlike the NCAA, fighting is
accepted, the schedules are 60
games long, and once a player
turns 18 the masks are replaced
with visors.
When
comparing players from the
USHL/NCAA to the Canadian juniors
for scouting purposes, it's not
easy. The games are much
different in style and substance
and there is no formula to bring
equilibrium to the
stats.
For
a player having to decide which
career path to take it's
convoluted enough without
worrying about any education
consequences. For aspiring
NHLers, it's time to be
completely objective in self-
evaluation and seek counseling
from those who understand what
both options will
provide.
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The
Endless Debate: Major Juniors or
NCAA?
By: Ryan
Ballard
Big
decisions loom for 16 year old elite
hockey players. I'm not talking about the
typical issues for teenagers like "what
should I wear to the homecoming dance,"
"how am I going to pass my driving test,"
or "what should I do this weekend?"
Instead, many elite hockey players at that
age have to decide whether they should
play hockey in one of Canada's major
junior leagues- the Ontario Hockey League,
Western Hockey League, or Quebec Major
Junior Hockey League- or retain their
eligibility to play for an NCAA
institution.
For family
advisors of hockey players, this decision
presents a balancing of factors: quality
of hockey, education, proximity to home,
coaching, development physically and
mentally, exposure to NHL scouts, etc. Cut
and dry, the major junior leagues develop
more National Hockey League players than
the NCAA. The table below, taken from this
article, is a little outdated but gives
you the idea…
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NCAA vs.
Major Junior: 1990-
2001
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League
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Picks
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Made
NHL
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Rate
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3
Years
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Rate
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OHL
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583
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269
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46.1%
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106
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18.2%
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WHL
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570
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266
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46.7%
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111
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19.5%
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QMJHL
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305
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140
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45.9%
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58
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19.0%
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NCAA
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291
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124
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42.6%
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52
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17.9%
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Many times
the main concern for the player's family
is education. This is where the NCAA has
the upper hand. The major junior leagues,
realizing they are competing for talented
players and needing to fill the seats,
offer their own scholarship program in
which they pay for players to attend
Canadian universities. The three leagues
will provide around $2.6M in scholarships
this year. That seems like a lot, but not
when you consider that only 32% of players
take advantage of the scholarship program
and the money is cut off after 18 months
of the player leaving major
juniors.
But what
do NHL scouts think? Here's another
excerpt from the article linked
above:
So, is
there a difference on draft
day?
"No," said
Calgary Flames director of scouting Todd
Button with a laugh. "How's that for a
simple answer? There's good players in
both leagues, and where you choose to hone
your craft it doesn't really
matter."
And here's
what Nashville Predators chief amateur
scout, Jeff Kealty, had to say:
"From a
strength and physical maturity standpoint,
yes, the college players can be physically
stronger," said Kealty. "They're older and
they don't play as many games, so they
have more time to workout and develop
physically."
"But, on
the flip side, the junior kids are playing
more games, there's more travel, there's a
longer training camp and preseason, the
playoffs are different and each round is
seven games. So there's benefits to both
sides of it. The college kids can be a
little bit older coming out, but there's
certainly elements on both sides of the
ledger that can benefit players and
prepare them in different
ways."
So while
major junior teams produce more NHL
players (and more elite NHL players), NHL
teams don't let the league a kid is
playing in determine whether or not they
will draft him. My opinion, and one that
is not often pointed out in blogs and
newspapers, is that major juniors is
really for kids who develop physically at
an earlier age.
College
hockey is usually a better route for
players who need a couple more years to
develop.
As a
family advisor, my approach is similar to
that of the informed consent standard for
doctors- lay out all the information the
family could possibly need to make the
decision, and let them make the call.Some
agents/advisors favor one road or the
other. I favor whatever path that the
player will put the most effort and
passion into.
Hockey
Agents, Family Advisors and NCAA
promotion
Through
HockeyFamilyAdvisor.com, David MacDonald
and his associates offer a personal
advisory service focused on guiding elite
hockey players at the Bantam and Midget
AAA, Junior and Pro levels towards their
athletic and educational goals .
Whether
you are looking for a family advisor to
help you obtain a Prep School or an NCAA
scholarship, or if you need a
knowledgeable agent to represent you at
the Major Junior or Pro level, we work
side-by-side with each of our athletes and
parents to develop a customized action
plan which identifies every step you must
take, every hurdle you must overcome and
every pitfall you must be aware of along
the often difficult path towards your
dream.
Are you
aware of the fact that only the top tier
of elite hockey players receive
unsolicited offers without marketing
themselves in some fashion? The vast
majority - more than 95% of several
thousand candidates vying for a few
coveted roster spots on each team - need a
plan to promote their name, skills and
character to the key decision maker who is
in the right place at the right time to
watch you play. Be proactive and avoid
becoming yet another highly capable
athlete who gets overlooked because you
didn't know the system. Contact us today
and we'll set up an initial free
consultation. Send
an e-mail.
Sport
Psychology - How to Help Kids Follow
Through on Their Goals
Too often,
sports parents set goals for their kids
that are different than the kids' goals,
says Dony Wilcher, a popular basketball
coachand program director for Showtime
Athletics, a youth sportsorganization in
Portland, Ore. It's important to help
sports kids identify their own goals, then
help them follow through on them, he
says.
"I had one
parent who wanted the world for his child.
He went out of his way to get him the
right shoes and send him to the best
camps. At the end of it all, he was
perplexed that the kid was not a
superstar. In some cases, kids will veer
away from the sport altogether if the
parents' goals are different than theirs,"
says Wilcher, a former Division I
basketball player.
At first,
most kids generally want to play sports to
have fun and be with friends. At that
point, that's their goal, and it's not
necessary to set goals with them. When
they begin to be competitive- - when they
play in tournaments or join competitive
teams- - it's time to begin talking about
their goals. For some children, this might
be as young as 7 or 8- - if they display
unusual talent and motivation. For
example, we worked with one 8- year- old
motocross racer who spent four hours a day
training. It would be appropriate to talk
about goals with a child like
this.
When
you're talking with your young athlete,
begin with a broad, open- ended
question.
"What I
would do is sit down with a child and say,
'What is it that you want to do?' Then ask
your child to sit down with a coach or
trainer to figure out what the child needs
to do to achieve his or her goal," Wilcher
says. "Start with a larger goal and work
your way down."
If, for
example. your child's goal is to try out
for and make his or her high school
basketball team, that's the long- term
goal. Ask the child what he or she needs
to do to make the team. Evaluate his or
her skills in dribbling, free- throw
shooting, and defense, for
example.
Try to de-
emphasize the long- term goal of making
the team. When young athletes are too
preoccupied with making the team, they may
impose too many expectations on themselves
and undermine their confidence.Instead,
parents should help young athletes
identify smaller, shorter- term goals,
such as improving their free- throw
shooting.
Once
you've helped your young athletes identify
their goals, it's your job to help them
aim toward them. The parents, coaches and
athletes need to work as a team. Parents
should support their kids by driving them
to practices, cheering them on, and
finding ways to ensure they are able to
follow through on their
commitments.
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However,
it's critical to be flexible.
Parents should help kids modify
their goals on a weekly or
monthly basis.
Parents
should be sure to separate their
goals and dreams from their
child's. As Wilcher says, "If
you're pushing them to get a
scholarship to pay for college,
they'll feel it. That's pressure-
- not goal- setting."
Dr.
Patrick Cohn and Lisa Cohn are
founders of The Ultimate Sports
Parent. Listen to their radio
show, download their free ebook
and tearn about their
workbook/audio program by
visiting www.youthsportspsychology.com.
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