Tomorrow TJHN will begin a four part series rating the junior hockey leagues in North America based upon the levels of competition and talent within each league. This series is a follow up to last months series based upon development and player promotion.
For purposes of the series beginning tomorrow, we asked scouts to rate the leagues based upon what they saw during the 2013-2014 season. This is not a historical account of each league as some have been around much longer than others. This is not a projection of where a league may be seen for the 2014-2015 season.
This new series will also only rate the top five leagues when examining Canadian Junior A and the NAHL, Canadian Junior B, and Tier III in the United States. The Major Junior and USHL ratings will obviously include all four leagues.
These two sets of ratings will be an annual event for TJHN. Statistics, and opinions will be archived for the next five years, and over that course of time, players and parents should be able to educate themselves to assist in the team selection process.
Please keep in mind though, there are good organizations and not so good organizations in every league at every level. Individual organizations are what should be compared, not leagues. In the end a league does not make the player, an organization, coaching, and the players own hard work, and skill determine where the player ends up.
Having had a preview of these survey results, I can say that they are not the same as the previous series, and some people will once again be very surprised. Once again, we hope you enjoy the series beginning tomorrow, and that it leads to a healthy discussion and debate.
Joseph Kolodziej – Publisher
