According to CSB scouts Major Junior is deteriorating.
 
Take a look at THN this month. As usual every first rounder, not counting
Europe is from where?....MAJOR JUNIOR! Tim Connolly is the only American
exception who might crack the top 20, and throw in one IHL player.
 
The fact is: 16 year old players are given tons of ice in MAJOR JUNIOR and
that's the only way players really develop. Major Junior has more games and
higher caliber competition than the USHL. Even though they've been chided as
being the "slug em" league they're still "cracking" the NHL "top ten" list!
Granted not every kid that skates MAJOR JUNIOR makes it either.
 
I knew a MN high school grad who was ranked in the third round out of high
school and wound up sitting on a USHL bench for three years. His college
career was over before it ever started. No one wanted him! He could play, but
his coach didn't like his attitude, so he didn't play him. Alex Kim of Miami
and Justin Morrison of CC, both had a great USHL experience, right off a
California bench. This is certainly not the scenario for all!
 
The question of DEVELOPING players is the most important one! The irony about
the USHL is that they lure high school players away from their home high
schools to play hundreds of miles away from parents and friends all for the
attainment of a college education on skates. These kids wind up going to
schools where they're not rooted, taking classes where credits/requirements
differ, all for the price of a scholarship! Many don't get one!
 
Take Pankratz of Bloomington Jefferson. He was another MN high school phenom
who left high school for the USHL. He moved his life around for the quest of
hockey success. After switching to several (3 I think) USHL teams he wound up
playing for the Vulcans at home. Finally Woog picked him up. He lasted there
two seasons, I think, leaving for a minor pro team! Bowling Green's Ratchuk,
first rounder, wasn't he?  He did the same thing! He bounced around till he
got on a USHL team where he played, where coach player chemistry didn't leave
him burnt on the bench! In short, they all jockey for the best possible
recruiting and or draft position.
 
So what's happening to player development USA style! USA hockey is  on the
band wagon, making sure that those few "elite" players get siphoned off to USA
training facilities, away from their homes, schools and friends. Thus, the
dissolution of high school talent pools. So the crunch is on to grab the best
and develop them for ultimately, the pros and the USA Olympic team. Those who
don't make this classification right off the get go, go the other routes and
then to D1 if they're lucky! Then eventually, all who continue to play, as
most do, get siphoned through a maize of professional leagues.
 
As to American player development, seems we are more fragmented
developmentally then the Russians! Or maybe we're trying to emulate them and
just haven't gotten that 'take the kid away from his or her parents early'
tactic down. So, developmentally as a nation have we got it down yet? (-:
 
THN said Gionta was the "best player on a bad team," and, that player
chemistry still plagues the Americans. So what gives!? (-:
Are the few "elites" being given the answers, only to fail the test, while the
rest of the American pool must either:
 
Leave high school, friends and family (cause skating is your life) and join up
with a junior A team
Have your parents pay $20,000.00 a year for prep
 
For both, this doesn't even include tourneys and car trips, practices,
equipment, and parental pocketbook angst!
 
 
To the question of scholarships; one way or another those scholarships wind up
being paid for... and some! The other question is the motivations of all of
these guys, it isn't always all about SCHOOL! Ultimately these guys are
players. They all want to play in the BIGS! School is just another way to get
there for many of them and, or the only way your parents will abide by! (-:
The DREAM for many is still bigger than the diploma! When you have a dream
like that and a passion for playing you GO WITH IT WHERE EVER IT TAKES YOU
TILL THE RIDE ENDS!
 
Vicki Price
alias Ms. Hockey Mom
violentcontact.net
Concussion Free Zone
 
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