A lot of claims that “the top teams left the EHL” and “the best teams left”, demonstrate the short-term memory of Jr hockey fans and observers. A simple google search shows that the historically strong Boston Jr Rangers left, yes, but within recent memory the Seacoast Spartans Jr team and the Railers Hockey Club really struggled since joining the EHL in the 2019-20 season.
When the league moved to divisions in 2020-21 due to COVID, the Spartans routinely found themselves struggling to get north of .500 and out of the basement in their division.
Additionally, their departure from the EHL to the NCDC is due to Black Bear Sports Group purchasing their home rink, the Rinks at Exeter. See below image from the homepage of the Rinks website- The Rinks at Exeter – Home
The Rangers and Railers both operate out of the same rink, the Worcester Ice Center, and have overlapping management of the operations. It was never two teams deciding to leave, it was a package deal that both teams would go. See Rangers website- Boston Jr Rangers | Est. 2008 and Railers website- Worcester Railers Junior Hockey – Official Site of the Railers Jr Hockey Club
Both teams, operating out of the Worcester Ice Center routinely violated EHL league rules when it comes to roster sizes. Take a look at the 23-24 EHL rosters for the Boston Jr Rangers and the Worcester or Railers Jr Hockey Club:
Boston Jr Rangers- Game Center (easternhockeyleague.org)
Worcester Railers- Game Center (easternhockeyleague.org)
With numbers between 43 or 44 players, each club carried additional players exceeding the 30 man threshold for all or at least portions of the season. Some players (many with 1 to 5 game appearances) were EHL Premier players who earned a call up to the EHL roster or were promised EHL games, then relegated back to the EHL Premier, but not all. At some point or some time during the season, each of these teams (and others with similar numbers) exceeded the roster limit. This trend has continued in the NCDC, where roster sizes are even more bloated, and the Rangers have continued this philosophy at the Tier II Pay to Play level.- Boston Jr. Rangers Roster NCDC 2024-2025 | NCDC
Did the Rangers and Railers leave for financial reasons? So that they could recruit more Pay to Play Jr hockey players and take advantage of the USPHL’s expanded rosters and protected lists?
The Boston Jr Rangers in their time in the EHL consistently won, no question, but how many players did it have to go through (at the Pay to Play Jr level) and promises or rules did it have to break to get there? How many players were signed to EHL player contracts then quickly put on their EHLP team? Look at last years EHLP roster, its one of the oldest and largest in the league- Game Center
Many of these teams are greatly helped by compensated Advisors, who steer kids in the direction of these teams based on personal relationships with the coaches or owners, rather than the best interests of the players. See this below post from an Advisor with a large social media following. Since the departure of the Rangers from the EHL, this same Advisor has been outwardly critical of the league, even claiming its demise…even though the EHL and NCDC are neck and neck in 2024-25 current season college commitments. Click on links- EHL has 35 (NCAA Commitments ) and NCDC has 35 (not including Alumni from previous seasons)- NCDC COMMITMENTS BY YEAR | NCDC
What does a league really lose when the historically weak teams leave? What does a league lose when the operators who routinely break the rules the league set in place to protect their greatest asset, the players, jumps ship to another league? Only the future will tell, but if its any indication of what the future holds for the NCDC, the Pay to Play Tier II league will take any and all operators for their product going forward, announcing even more expansion just a few days ago. Its become obvious, they weren’t strategically trying to strengthen their league by poaching the Rangers and the Railers… they were just continuing the trend of taking ANY TEAM into their league.
For more in depth analysis of these moves and others within the Jr hockey landscape tune in this week to the newest episode of the Hockey Toolkit podcast (available on all major podcast platforms)- The Hockey Toolkit | RSS.com . The Toolkit interviews EHL commissioner Neil Ravin. Here is a brief snapshot.
BY Andrew Trimble
To Purchase Andrew’s new book, The Hockey Planner, follow this link here- 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: 9781963743395: Amazon.com: Books
