Recently a friend make me aware of several website message boards where people are making their opinion on which Tier 3 leagues in the United States are best. On some of these same sites, people are seeking help from people they don’t know when looking at making a Tier 3 choice!
Would you seek advice on your retirement account from a stranger on a message board? Why would anyone seek opinion from a league when the person has not seen the league play?
Are you willing to risk your future decision on someone reading a “box score”?
I will not try to tell you which Tier 3 league is the best. The bottom line is that Tier 3 hockey is Tier 3 hockey. There is no Tier 3 league or team that is going to place a player in a better position than any NAHL team or other quality Tier 2 program in Canada.
If one Tier 3 team or league was so much better than the others then that team or league would win national championships every year. No league or team has repeated lately that I am aware of.
More NCAA players come from Tier 2 Junior Hockey every year than come from Tier 3 without exception. Any team that says they can do just as good or are better than Tier 2 at placement is a liar.
Tier 3 should only be used as a path to Tier 2 for players with at least two or three years of eligibility remaining, or for a player in his last year looking to play D-3 hockey.
To be sure some team and some league may have a better fan base or nicer facility than other. That is the same at every level up to the NHL. Player and family can not allow themselves to be influenced by “things” when making a choice. The choice can only be made on the people in the organization that will work for you.
Fans at a game will not get you moved up or to college. Facilities do not get you moved up or to NCAA. The league initials do not get you moved up or to NCAA.
What gets you moved up is your play and the people in your organization working together to make it happen.
No longer to be a fool and seek advice from people who have never seen a league play or have not seen you play. Those type of people usually do more harm than good.
Coach
