CHL can now play NCAA - change everything !

[jtechkid]

You are making the NAHL to be some washed up old man league.

Just for clarity, the average ages of
NAHL - 18.90
USHL (without NTDP) - 18.13
BCHL - 18.53

Thats a 9 month difference in average age between the USHL and NAHL.

 

[Blue and Green]

This is not even remotely close to being accurate. Go look at some NCAA rosters, especially in the Atlantic and CCHA and there are a ton of kids who came to the school from NCAA. There are more than 100 alone in the Atlantic.

Also its extremely rare you see a kid go from D3 to D1. It may happen once or twice every couple of years.

Yes, thanks for the fact check. There are more than I thought who have gone straight from NAHL to D1.

 

[jtechkid]

ushl -20 old kids prob ard 40 kids
ntdp - zero
bchl guessing ard 90( they have limit of 6)
nahl 352 .
my view nahl to be relevent needs to get lot younger and be a feeder to ushl - juniors .
lot of rosters are really low end 20 year olds that should be playing club who are taking spots - development and ice time from a 2006-2007 kid that may have dramatic upside . coach at nahl trying win with 20 year old where their goal should be development to move kids tier one or now CHL . also my statistical view is average age of nahl is 19.4 years old . i have a good friend who kid in league and he broke down statistically how old nahl was and i see if he can send me numbers and will post it . my main view is nahl need age limits on 20 year old like every league does . common sense lol

 

[WarriorofTime]

The Junior Hockey pyramid in both USA and Canada is much larger than people seem aware.

All for 2024-25 to date

NAHL Weighted Average Age 19.667
BCHL Weighted Average Age 19.261
AJHL Weighted Average Age 19.193
QMJHL Weighted Average Age 18.848
USHL Weighted Average Age 18.824
OHL Weighted Average Age 18.733
WHL Weighted Average Age 18.687

and just comparison

NCAA Weighted Average Age 22.433


NAHL = no limits on number of 20 year olds that can play on a team
USHL and the 3 CHL leagues = Max of 20 year olds per game
NCDC = Max of 8 20 year old skaters per game

Also the EHL is the current leader in Division 3 NCAA commitments for what it's worth. That could shift to NAHL based on recent decision. EHLP often feeds into EHL.

The USPHL (which broke off from USA Hockey) is a league that moves players up quite a bit, often to NCDC, NAHL and Canadian Junior A. The USPHL-Premier is the top one of these two, and the USPHL-Elite often feeds into Premier.

In addition to the AJHL which is Canada's Best Junior A Hockey (with BCHL being an independent), there's the NOJHL, MJHL, SJHL, CCHL which are sending players to American and Canadian Universities presently.

The GOJHL is the one that functions most like a Minor League for the OHL. They were considering going independent, but may not with the recent decision as you may see more affiliations across all the Canadian Junior A Leagues.

NA3HL is the official third tier of the USA Hockey Pyramid but generally not as good as the independent ones mentioned above. A few NCAA D3 commits but mostly ACHA players from here, this one may not be around too much longer.

 

[Blue and Green]

Geography makes it difficult for the WHL to expand into the Minnesota region. It would be a minimum 8-hour bus ride from the Minneapolis region to the nearest WHL city in Brandon. Rochester would be even further. The WHL would have to grant Winnipeg another franchise (or relocation) but where would a Dub team play in that city? They could try and poach Sioux Falls and Fargo from the USHL (two franchises with the financial means and fan support to able to play in the WHL) and then place a team in Minnesota but again, we are still talking really long distances between cities. So I'm not really sure you will see, in the near future, much WHL expansion into the Midwest/plains region of the U.S.

The Q expansion into the New England region is very likely within the next couple of years, however, and I can see the OHL adding a team or two in the N.Y/Penn area.

I would wonder if the first move for the OHL would be to assimilate a couple of the well-heeled, well-supported USHL franchises. If some teams see the writing on the wall and have the wherewithal and desire to make the move, they might prefer to do it sooner rather than later to preserve player/coaching/management talent (and maybe fanbase interest) and also not to take the chance of getting beaten to the punch by other franchises. Are you hearing anything on that front?

 

[Bubbles]

Minnesota is in WHL's territory, not OHL's. And Minnesota is a long way from any current OHL city.

If the WHL decides that it has enough talent and there's ownership interest, it's possible that it might expand into that area. Fargo and Sioux Falls have USHL franchises; putting a team in the Twin Cities area might be viable. WHL would probably like to get back into Winnipeg. Between those four and Brandon, I don't see why the travel would be an issue. Prince George is about six hours from Kamloops, the nearest WHL city, and 7-8 hours from Kelowna and Edmonton which are the next closest two. The league is already spread across the western half of the country plus the northwest of the US.

Minnesota high school hockey doesn't seem particularly relevant to the issue. USHL stripped most of its talent decades ago.

Winnipeg refuses to build an arena so it's unlikely the WHL wants to go back.

Most likely and logically is that the WHL might expand into Oregon more and possibly California. Oregon could use an interstate rival for Portland, and California has been a growing source of players in the WHL and is a bit underserved in the minor hockey world.

 

[Corso]

I would wonder if the first move for the OHL would be to assimilate a couple of the well-heeled, well-supported USHL franchises. If some teams see the writing on the wall and have the wherewithal and desire to make the move, they might prefer to do it sooner rather than later to preserve player/coaching/management talent (and maybe fanbase interest) and also not to take the chance of getting beaten to the punch by other franchises. Are you hearing anything on that front?

The problem is that there are no real well supported USHL franchises in the OHL footprint. Muskegon is the obvious choice here, and its ownership has proven that it is willing to spend money on improving what is at best an average arena. Fan support needs to be better, however but there are some that feel a move to the OHL would boost attendance.

 

[SergeConstantin74]

Penticton's GM/head coach is salty... he's talking about Julien Wasmer.

Statement on the departure of Casey Brown and Julien Wasmer

www.pentictonvees.ca

We are a few weeks away from getting two 20-year-old defencemen back from injury, and coupled with the outstanding play of our two young defencemen, Julien understood his role was going to be reduced. He looked for an opportunity with another team, rather than compete for a more favourable spot on our roster. Though this places our team in a tough position in the short-term, once our team returns to full health, our blue line will be as strong as we had in recent seasons.

 

[bigdog16]

ushl -20 old kids prob ard 40 kids
ntdp - zero
bchl guessing ard 90( they have limit of 6)
nahl 352 .
my view nahl to be relevent needs to get lot younger and be a feeder to ushl - juniors .
lot of rosters are really low end 20 year olds that should be playing club who are taking spots - development and ice time from a 2006-2007 kid that may have dramatic upside . coach at nahl trying win with 20 year old where their goal should be development to move kids tier one or now CHL . also my statistical view is average age of nahl is 19.4 years old . i have a good friend who kid in league and he broke down statistically how old nahl was and i see if he can send me numbers and will post it . my main view is nahl need age limits on 20 year old like every league does . common sense lol

First off, I can't even comprehend what you are saying. The NAHL isn't a developmental league for 16-18 year olds. It never has been and it likely never will be. The NAHL also knows that it isn't a feeder for future NHL prospects. Their niche is the 19-20 year old kid who will end up being a middle six/bottom 6, bottom pairing, at the NCAA D1 level. The remainder are great D3 players. Without the NAHL these kids are healthy scratches at the USHL level or quit hockey at 18 years old because there is no where logical for them to play.

Your lack of knowledge of the junior hockey landscape is incredible.