QuestionQUESTION: My grandson is 16, and has been asked to play for one of the EJHL teams they said he was good enough to play on the JRA team however based on his age they would like him to play on the JR/B team. He also has a number of opportunities to play U18 AAA tier 1 hockey here at home. one team in particular has an excellent coach that I believe may be a good benefit in furthering his skill set. I believe, and he feels that he is read to make a move. I would like to get a comparison between U18 / JR/A-B. This is his last year of High School, he feels that play Junior Hockey in the East these teams tend to be scouted more then they do within Texas, and possibly more opportunities and doors will open. We focused on his development and academics, and interested in understanding how much focus is placed on player development and academics within the JR A/B. Being educated on Junior Hockey will help.
My grandson play's forward left wing/Center he has played in over 300 Games has 291 points and has a great personality. It has been said by a number of his coaches that he see's the whole ice and has the skills to play college hockey
ANSWER: Congratulations with your grandson's accomplishments, it's not easy to get to this level. Here's my two cents on this matter. Most NHL scouts and NCAA scouts (AKA: coaches)will not even look at a kid unless he is playing Major Juniors. Now in order for this to happen, he needs to fast track to the Major Juniors by the age of 16.
Now, they asked him to come and play Jr A. But they feel because of his age, they want him to play Jr. B. This is probably due to his size. How tall is he? A lot of these junior A players are over 6 feet tall. And at this level, every player is trying to get to the NHL. So they are going to do what ever it take to be noticed. It can be rough some time with the checking. But if he can see the ice all the time, he won't get cold cocked with a blind check unless he gets a crazy pass from a line mate
I guess what I am saying is that he should go. But, it's important to do your research and homework to make sure that's going on within the league and within this team. Make sure that this so call Jr. A team falls within the proper tier rating. Is it Junior A Tier I, Tier II or Tier III. This is important.
Currently there is only one major junior league that falls in the Junior A tier I and that's the USHL. His team that has asked him to come and play is probably a Junior A Tier III team. However, they want him to play on their lower level team which is a "B".
I just talked to a friend that owns a Junior A Tier III team and he says that the best thing for him is to go Juniors...now. If he plays on the "B" it will be a waste of his talent. "B" teams are used to that if a player get hurt on the "A" team, then they have a pool to select from.
However, My contact said that they would be more then happy to give him a look. They moved 3 kids into college and 4 kids into major Juniors for his team last year. So he will be looked at. Let me know if he is interested. He can contact me via email:
[email protected]
Head coach
www.passthepuck.net
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QUESTION: Mr. Lopez thank you for the quick response. Yes I do believe the issue is his size he is 5'8 138lbs, the team is the Bay State Breakers Tier III. I spent a number of hours researching this team and found what I could. I will be holding a conference call with the coach today, and my grandson as I have a number of questions to ask. Can you provide any incite on this team? Johnny plays bigger then he is, has great speed and hands. It has been said he has great instincts for the game, and yes he has been hammered a number of times and has gotten up and played on. I work on his weight every day. He is looking to get as much exposure as possible next year is his last year of high school he will be 17 in August.
ANSWER: One of the question you should ask the coach is how many players on the team last year advanced to the next level? How many went to College and how many went to Major Juniors? He's going to have to really stand out with his skating!
As for insight to the team. I belong to several forums around the world in which I could ask for more information. But you can do this as well by going to this web site: http://hfboards.com/showthread.php?p=25800279#post25800279
You might have to sign-up, but it's free and I write coaching tips there under the name of Head Coach. I asked the members to get me feed back on this team. The link above is that thread on the forum.
Hope this helps.
Rob Lopez - CEO
Pass the Puck, Inc.
www.passthepuck.net
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QUESTION: Mr. Lopez thank you for your assistance here are some of the questions I have other parents/grand parents may be wondering what to ask. Other then these questions may their be something I missing that should also be asked? 1.How long have you been coaching for the breakers? 2.What is your coaching philosophy for the team? 3.I understand you have 25 players and 18 will only play ....How much time is Johnny going to spend On the bench?
4.3Can he be traded? 5.Do you have a medical team and trainer on board?
6.How does Boston breakers compare to U18 triple A tier 1? 7. Do you know Chris kostopoulos? 8.What are Johnny's advantages to come play for you?
9.What did you see as Johnny's strong and weak skills? 10.If he plays for you what are your plans to develop him? 11.What are his opportunity for advancement to the A team? 12.Why did you decide it would be best for him to play for B VS A team? 13. How many kids advanced to the A team from the B team? 14. How many Kids from the B team had committed to College and were scouted by colleges? how many players on the team last year advanced to the next level? How many went to College and how many went to Major Juniors? 15.Where do you see him going next year? And how will you help him? 16.Do you have an academic adviser for the players on the team? 17.What were the strong points of the team last year? 18. What were the weak points of the team last year?
He can really skate that is what has been notice at this try outs lots of speed and can score if he can get a Junior A team to look past his size and wait they will find a gem in the rough. We sent you an e-mail
AnswerI think that these are good questions to ask. You might want to find out if he's from Canada or from the US. This will also give you a clue as to what direction the coach is thinking. If he's from Canada, will there be more kids on the team from Canada? If so, how will this effect his playing time!
Head coach
www.passthepuck.net
