MJHL Adds Franchise For 2013-2014 Season
Release Date: 3/26/13
HAWTHORNE, NJ – The Metropolitan Junior Hockey League is pleased to announce the addition of the North Jersey Avalanche to the league and that the franchise will begin regular season play with the 2013-2014 season. The longstanding member of the AMHL was approved as a member at the Mid-Winter Meeting and received unanimous approval from USA Hockey’s Junior Council. General Manager Glenn Hefferan will head the organizationand his first act was to put together a coaching staff that would be able to develop players and provide quality instruction, a trademark of the Avalanche youth organization.
Hefferan reached out to his many contacts and landed Head Coach Bill McCreary.McCreary, a Mendham, New Jersey resident, has experience paying for the NAHL, Providence University (Hockey East) and seven years of professional experience. In addition to his playing career, McCreary has coached in the SPHL along with the East Coasts Selects program. Assistant Coaches Corey Deak, Stephen Ritter and Glenn Carlough along with Goaltending Coach Dan Meyers will join McCreary on the bench for the inaugural season.
“For nearly fifty years, the MJHL and its member teams, continues to do the best job at providing elite players with an avenue to develop their skills in order to advance to higher levels of hockey,” said Hefferan. “With league alumni on the rosters of the Major Junior, the NAHL, the USHL, all across the NCAA and onto the NHL, that doesn’t happen by accident.”
“The North Jersey Avalanche are proud to be competing in the MJHL,” added McCreary. “The longest operating junior hockey league in the country, the MJHL is a necessary stepping stone for today’s athletes, and is designed to truly prepare athletes for the next level.”
In addition to the coaching staff being put in place for the 2013-2014 season, the Avalanche also announced their first open Junior tryout, which will be held at the Ice House in Hackensack, New Jersey on April 9th, 10th and 11th from 7:30 – 9:00pm.
“When you stay focused on the important issues like quality of coaching, a high amount of on and off ice training, you can’t go wrong,” said Hefferan. “The Avalanche plan to provide this and more to those players that our part of our franchise year in and year out. What’s important for players that are serious about Junior hockey is that the MJHL, and all of its member teams, represent stability and both the league, and the Avalanche organization, are in lockstep as to what is truly important and that is the development and advancement of our players.”
The current plan is for the Ice House facility to undergo a few renovations, and the Junior players will have full access to the building’s state-of-the-art workout facility in addition to a modern, private locker room, dedicated to just the junior program.
“The Avalanche name has a reputation around the country for developing top players in a top facility,” shared McCreary. “We are receiving interest from players all over the United States from players who want to be a part of our program because they are serious about pursuing a hockey career.”
With much uncertainty surrounding the Tier III Junior Hockey landscape, specifically in the Northeast, Hefferan hopes that the Avalanche, and the MJHL, can be a part of the solution and not part of the still-evolving drama. “Thankfully, the Avalanche, and the MJHL, aren’t necessarily caught up in the politicking we currently see unfolding in Junior hockey,” he said. “There seems to be too much focus on power, money, lawyers and countless other things that have nothing to good player development and promotion, which at the end of the day, is what we are here for.”
For more information on the North Jersey Junior Avalanche, including their tryout forms and application, you may log onto their website, www.junioravalanche.com.
Founded by former New York Rangers General Manager Emile Francis and now celebrating its 46th year of existence, making it the oldest USA Hockey-sanctioned Junior hockey league in the United States, the Metropolitan Junior Hockey League (MET League or MJHL) has a membership of 18 teams across 9 state and prides itself on player development for athletes ages 16-20 who aspire to reach higher levels of junior, collegiate and professional hockey.
