Why did so many Junior teams leave USA Hockey?
Why do Leagues Form outside of the approval of USA Hockey?
What has USA Hockey done to make the landscape more confusing than ever?
This story could be an entire book, but today I will try to shed some light on the reasons why many Junior leagues in the United States have left to become their own self-defining entity and thrown off the shackles that their governing body has tried to restrain them with. I’ve seen many talking heads and advisors claim to know the real reasons, most of which are laughable. These advisors have made outrageous and ludicrous statements that they seemingly invented on their own about why and how leagues such as the USPHL and EHL have left USA Hockey in the last several years. Unless you are an operator of a franchise, you wouldn’t know the nuts and bolts of a standard Junior Hockey operation. Today we will reveal some of the truths and behind the scenes info that led to these landscape altering decisions in the world of Junior Hockey.
- Ability to Self- Define.– The Tier System is broken. Nothing in USA Hockey’s tiering of Junior hockey levels has to do with level of play or college hockey commitments. It predominantly is related to Tuition, Funding, and Housing. The EJHL was a Tier III (pay to play) league that operated between 1993 to 2013. This league dominated the East Coast and routinely put players into NCAA Division 1 Hockey, as well as saw young stars get drafted into the NHL including Jack Eichel, Chris Kreider, Charlie Coyle, and Bill Guerin. Yet, it was Tier III, below the USHL and NAHL. The EHL (up until departing from USA Hockey in 2022) had 172 NCAA commitments in 21-22 alone. Its USA Hockey competitor, the NA3HL, had a fraction of that total even with having roughly double the number of teams. Yet these leagues were tiered at the same level. The ability for your league to self-define played a gigantic role in the decision to leave USA Hockey.
- Use of NCAA Rules– The goal of Junior Hockey is to advance players onto NCAA Hockey. In fact, according to USA Hockey’s own definition of the level on their website, Junior Hockey is “The principal purpose of this development program is to prepare the athlete for career advancement either in a collegiate program or a professional opportunity.” Then why does USA Hockey not utilize the NCAA rule-book? Why does USA Hockey have its own set of Junior hockey rules? Wouldn’t playing NCAA rules help better prepare these athletes for the next level of play?
- Officiating- We’ve all heard of the last several years about the shrinking of the officiating pool on the East Coast of the United States. This shortage of officials is due to a wide variety of reasons and influences, but what can not be overlooked is the role that USA Hockey has played a part in this shortage. USA Hockey fees, continuing education, Safesport, and narrow windows to obtain training and licensing, has made becoming an official a difficult task for any newbie into the field. It has become much cheaper, and in many cases more lucrative, for officials to undergo an initial educational period and then work non- USA Hockey leagues. If you were a league operating within USA Hockey on the East Coast this created a very difficult situation, where you could be getting younger, less experienced officials to work your Junior Hockey leagues games, rather than the experienced and seasoned professionals who would be making more money and have less red-tape to go through to be certified to work non- USA Hockey games.
- Rostering and a Larger Player Pool– Post- COVID USA Hockey went through many lay-offs. Their ability to approve paperwork, players, approve rosters, and function timely was greatly diminished by a personel shortage due to these layoffs. Approval of a new player on your roster after completing USA hockey registration and safesport was taking longer and longer, and in many cases prevented some athletes from hitting the ice for games due to the lack of an approval for their roster. Additionally, within USA Hockey teams, there is a limitation on the number of international players (this includes Canadians) and an IIHF fee ($1500) for every player outside of the US and Canada who is going to be rostered on your team. Where this fee goes to… I don’t know, but it certainly does not get reimbursed to the respective organizations. Leaving USA Hockey allowed for leagues and organizations to increase and up the talent level for their teams, and create a more seamless rostering and approval process for all of their players.
- USA Hockey Deadlines and Regulations- USA Hockey has deadlines for league expansion, as well as for relocation of franchises. These are relatively arbitrary and put in place by USA Hockey, not program operators. Most do not align with a Junior Hockey operations business need. The USA Hockey Player Bill of Rights (applicable to USA Hockey Junior Programs/ Players only) creates a Risk of player departure where the team has no recourse and must forfeit games that could ultimately create the loss of the franchise by the operator. Furthermore, USA provides financial protections to youth hockey operators for 20 rosters spots per team as well as control over where players can play if they receive a release. By rule, Junior programs must provide way more in terms of ice time, locker rooms, travel and bussing than youth hockey organizations. Yet, they receive almost none of the same guarantees as youth organizations.
Avoid the hyperbole and anecdotal nonsense you’ve heard from many parents, players and advisors. The reason many Junior leagues left USA hockey (and now some are leaving Hockey Canada) is due to the rigid compliance to many of the above listed standards and practices.
Junior hockey leagues and operators are not perfect. The expansion between 2009-2014 created a watering down effect by both USA Hockey and its non-sanctioned competitors that inundated the market with weak operators. Leagues and teams are still working to sort this out.
I think in the future, we see a more League- driven (rather than Tier -driven) model that creates a high standard for the operators, and a better experience for the consumer. Players will be playing in certain leagues because they meet those players specific career goals, and parents will help their player chose which program with a greater emphasis on what that program provides to them. Information is readily available to the public to consume. It wasn’t like this in 2010. Bad operators and leagues that don’t routinely advance players cannot hide anymore… and that is a good thing for everyone involved.
By Andrew Trimble
Andrew’s new book- “The Hockey Planner: A Year-by-Year Plan to Assist You on Your Hockey Coaching Journey: From Learn to Play to Junior Hockey.” is available now.
This essential guide is designed to elevate the coaching experience for those involved in Amateur Hockey, providing invaluable insights and practical tools for coaches, parents, and players alike.
Click Here to Purchase- The Hockey Planner: A Year by Year Plan to Assist You on Your Hockey Coaching Journey: From Learn to Play to Junior Hockey: Trimble, Andrew: 9781963743388: Amazon.com: Books
