At its highest level, junior hockey is the best it has ever been. The
United States Hockey League, a Tier I league, is continuously
progressing countless players to Division I colleges among other
opportunities of higher play. Specifically, 95 percent of USHL players
receive some sort of Division I hockey opportunity.
The same can be said for the North American Hockey League, the United
States’ only Tier II league. Over the past year alone, the majority of
teams in the NAHL have had at least five Division I commits, if not
more.
In the end, that should always be the primary goal of junior hockey
leagues and organizations – to develop, grow and progress players to
higher levels while providing the utmost opportunity for success both on
and off the ice. However, despite the developmental success that is
clearly apparent in both Tier I and Tier II, the same cannot necessarily
be said when looking at the Tier III Junior hockey landscape.
The state of Tier III junior hockey can be summed up in one word:
oversaturation. Currently, Tier III junior hockey in the United States
faces the increasingly alarming problem of having too many teams and too
few players. Excluding independent teams, there are 18 teams in the
United States Tier I landscape and another 22 teams playing in Tier II.
For comparison, the Tier III junior hockey landscape has 167 teams and
about 4,175 roster spots. These numbers only include sanctioned leagues
and teams by USA Hockey, but it does leave out independent teams that
are still sanctioned. This also excludes unsanctioned and rouge leagues,
such as the Western States Hockey League.
The repercussions of this oversaturation can be seen on an almost
day-to-day basis with teams and leagues collapsing left and right.
Recruiting practices are becoming increasingly slimy and front offices
are far more concerned with bank account balances than player
development. As a result, front office staffs across several leagues in
the United States are starting to come out and address the state of
junior hockey on the Tier III level.
Flint Doungchak has been the General Manager of the Eugene Generals
since the team’s inception in 2005 and also serves as the President of
the Northern Pacific Hockey League (NPHL). Doungchak confirms the
oversaturation on the Tier III level by saying, “we are seeing
significant overcapacity on the Tier III level in the sense that there
are way more teams than players. Junior hockey is supposed to be a
development opportunity for the very best players that are between 16
and 20 years old. This provides talented young players with the
opportunity to develop their game while also staying close to home. That
was the original vision for Tier III hockey, but that clearly that isn’t
the case today.”
When oversaturation occurs, it leaves teams with the position of filling
rosters or folding as an organization. If a team goes under and cannot
continue operations, that leaves a number of players stuck in limbo and
wondering what their hockey future will be; thereby ultimately hindering
the player’s growth and development during this small window of time.
These desperate times for teams can lead to desperate measures where,
“teams are not operating within the values that have been established,”
Doungchak says.
The values that Doungchak speaks of are simple, yet should serve as the
foundation of every junior hockey team: being honest and transparent
with players and families alike while ensuring that players are provided
with a structure and support system that allows them to grow both as a
hockey player and as a person.
As a result of the growing problem mentioned above, teams move away from
those aforementioned values and soon become focused on filling a roster
rather than developing players. This acts as a temporary bandage that
only exacerbates the growing problem in Tier III.
Sure, that could help with the next season or two, but not much longer
than that. A team’s reputation can stay with the organization throughout
its tenure in a league, which can have a negative consequence when it
comes to recruiting and obtaining players.
However, not every team in the Tier III landscape is going under. In
fact, some teams are quite successful moving players to higher levels of
hockey. Even leagues as a whole can be successful despite the
oversaturated market on junior Tier III hockey teams. The NPHL has moved
over 44 players over the past three years, most of which where after the
2014 – 2015 season.
Due to the oversaturation and teams collapsing just as fast as the
organization appeared, most people judge the success and power of a
league simply by the number of teams within it. The most important
benchmark leagues need meet in order to define success is if the league
is developing and moving players to the next level.
If a league cannot move players to the next level, then is the league
truly developing players or just collecting paychecks? Yes, teams have
come and gone from the NPHL, including the Cheney Icehawks this past
offseason, but the league is still developing and moving players to the
next level.
Doungchak says it doesn’t make sense that people correlate league size
with league success because, “at the end of the day, if we are trying to
emphasize player development, we have to keep the kids on the ice and in
the classroom. Simply put, you can’t expect to develop players when
you’re taking ice and school time away to travel for games.”
Keeping players on the ice and in the classroom is exactly what the NPHL
stands for; operating in a small geographical footprint, the NPHL is
able to keep traveling times down while providing more than enough ice
time. This gives the league plenty of opportunities to comply with the
league’s minimum ice time of six hours per a week.
For players who are in school, they only miss one or two days a month
for traveling purposes. They also come home Saturday night, or early
Sunday morning, so they can rest and prepare for the following week of
school.
With teams and leagues spanning a large geographical footprint, the
first things sacrificed are school time and ice time, both of which
hinder the player’s development. For instance, the Western States Hockey
League spans 15 states, from Missouri to California and Montana to
Texas. How can a team or league make the argument that covering such a
vast area, which would give way to extensive traveling times, really be
beneficial to a player’s development?
Clearly, not every league shares the same priority focus in developing
players first. While some take ice and school time away from players,
others are more concerned about putting bodies on the ice and stuffing
its pockets with the money from players.
The junior hockey Tier III landscape is a cutthroat culture when it
comes to recruiting players. One player can make or break a team’s
season, or even the franchise’s well-being, leading to teams taking very
drastic measures to obtain players. If team’s priorities are not in
check, then why would a team or franchise play by the rules when it
comes to recruiting players?
In order to recruit players one must, “develop a relationship with the
player and their parents. To do that, you have to go out and be able to
identify a player for possible contention. You have to talk to their
coach and put eyes on the player and you have to talk to someone who
knows the player. This helps to understand if the player is capable at
playing at a higher level,” says Doungchak.
He continues to say, “the truth of the matter is that with there being
more teams than players, teams are picking up players to play in the
junior level who cannot play at the junior level just so they can meet
budgetary constraints, that’s wrong.”
Ethically, the only way to truly recruit a player is to build a
relationship with them, but that’s a long and difficult task for some
teams. Unfortunately, there are a growing number of teams (and leagues)
that simply do not have the desire and/or ability to be honest and
truthful throughout the recruiting process.
Teams are less concerned about finding the right fit for both the player
and the team. Instead, teams are solely focused on seeing the player put
pen-to-paper and fork over a big, fat check. So, these teams resort to
poaching contracted players from other teams in other leagues.
Doungchak notes it’s wrong for teams and franchises to poach other
teams’ players, stating, “once a player has committed to a team, either
verbally or in writing, all of us [junior hockey league franchises] need
to be able to honor that; if we don’t honor a commitment, then it’s
honor among thieves. Once a player makes a commitment we want to teach
them that those commitments are real and that they matter. From a
societal standpoint, we need to turn these young boys into respectful
men by installing and teaching them wholesome values. That ensures they
can become productive members of society after their hockey careers come
to an end. But, when teams poach a guy it teaches the player that their
commitment to another team doesn’t matter and that they don’t have to
follow up on it. That will just lead to worse junior hockey in our
country along.”
This happens more commonly than most people know. Just a few days ago,
Doungchak and the Generals had a team from the Western States Hockey
League approach one of his contracted players for the 2015 – 2016
season.
Apparently, when a franchise is operating without a governing body it
gives way for teams to pursue players by any means necessary. Also, when
a rogue league operates without any rules or guidelines it allows for
disingenuous proclamations, such as making the claim of being a Tier II
league. But, what is that relative to? There is no Tier I or Tier III
leagues in the WSHL or the Amateur Athletic Union.
Doungchak talks about the WSHL and how, “they couldn’t of known who the
player was. They somehow obtained contact information and sent him a
message saying that the league is Tier II. This is disingenuous because
the WSHL is not Tier II. They are a ubiquitous league. If you’re Tier II
it implies that there is Tier III or that there is at least Tier I, and
they are completely unrelated.”
The text message read:
“We have a guaranteed contract waiting for you. You will have a roster
spot on our team for the 50+ games we will be playing in Tier II. Our
conference includes Las Vegas, San Diego, Long Beach and Ontario,
California. ALL our games are broadcast live on the internet by Arizona
State University. You will be scouted by dozens of college coaches and
scouts before Christmas at our league annual tournament in Las Vegas
(you’ll be playing 4 games and staying at the Stratosphere Hotel and
Casino). Our coaches are both former pros and our coaching consultant
is the Director of Player Personnel for the New York Rangers. Our
assistant coach has 2 Stanley Cup rings. Our total package cost is
$8,500 which includes team fee, billet and brand new equipment. That
fee can be paid on an installment plan and we will work with you and
your parents to make sure it can be affordable. This is your chance to
play Tier II with a GUARANTEED CONTRACT. No try-out, no cuts, just
bring your gear and hop a plane to Phoenix. We will have everything
covered for you.”
As it can be seen, the team offers the player a guaranteed contract, but
as Doungchak notes, the team in question, “has no idea that the player
they are contacting is in school right here in Eugene. They don’t know
he played for the Generals last year and is happy where he is at. Tell
me that somehow moving to a team in Arizona, away from his family, home
and something he knew worked and was doing well in, from a development
perspective, is actually better for him. There is no way that person is
recruiting that kid could tell anybody that a lateral move, if we could
even call it that because it’s probably not lateral, is better for the
kid. What’s really going on there? Is it genuine recruiting that’s
going on there or are they just trying to find a guy to fill a roster
spot so that they are 8,500 dollars richer? I would say it’s the later
of the two.”
As previously stated, the Western States Hockey League is not a
sanctioned team by USA Hockey. So, how does the WSHL reserve the right
to call its league a Tier II junior hockey league? They can only do that
because the WSHL is a rouge and unsanctioned league.
If a league is contacting Tier III teams for cut lists, as the WSHL did
with the Eugene Generals in the NPHL, then are they really Tier II? If
you have to take kids who aren’t talented enough to make it on a Tier
III roster, then your level of play isn’t that of a Tier II league or
even a Tier III league. It seems to be a marketing ploy to recruit more
kids to help line everyone’s pockets with more cash.
This is just an unfortunate repercussion of an oversaturated market
where teams are capitalizing on players’ hopes and dreams. It appears
that players, and their parents, need to take on a more buyer beware
model when it comes to selecting a team. If the offer seems too good to
be true, then it is most likely is too good to be true.
As the landscape of Tier III junior hockey becomes less ethical because
franchises are beginning to realize the market is oversaturated with
teams and undersupplied with players. But, there are still a few good
teams and leagues out there that look out for the player and his best
interests.
The NPHL’s founding values have always been player development and
moving players to higher levels of hockey and the league will continue
to do so. With the Wenatchee Wolves heading into its second season with
the league, the franchise has already proved to be an irreplaceable
segment of the league.
The Wolves have a British Columbia Hockey League program, the Wenatchee
Wild, operating under the same ownership, and in the same building. This
provides the NPHL players countless opportunities to be scouted by BCHL
scouts and move forward to the next level. In fact, there already have
been six players moved to the BCHL level since the franchise joined the
league last year.
As one of the oldest Tier III junior hockey leagues in the nation, the
NPHL wanted to bring a new transparency to junior hockey, specifically
on the Tier III level. As more teams move to a model of swindling
players away from other leagues and teams, players and their parents
have to be aware of how these teams, and leagues, operate. If the Tier
III landscape can collectively open its doors to the public and become
transparent about its operations, then the integrity of the game can be
kept intact.
Best regards,
Garrett Fabris
NPHL Public Relations Officer
