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Ranking these leagues

canucks4ever

Registered User
Mar 4, 2008
3,997
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How would you rank these leagues from highest level of play to lowest?

SPHL
LNAH
Allan Cup Hockey
FHL
NCAA DIVISION 3
ACHA
NAHL
USPORTS
 
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Fortunate to have seen all the leagues mentioned in person (all but the SPHL at multiple venues and multiple games)

Ranking on skill level:

LNAH
Allan Cup Hockey League
USports
SPHL
D3
NAHL
FHL
ACHA

In a head to head game however I would rank it like this:

USports
LNAH
Allan Cup Hockey League
SPHL
D3
NAHL
FHL
ACHA

USports is way under-rated. 90% of the guys are recent grads of major junior, and some have ECHL or similar experience.

USports teams have played close games with and occasionally beaten AHL teams in preseason games. The fact that they practice every day would bump them up from a team standpoint over the LNAH and Allan Cup League as those semi-pro leagues only practice 1 to 2 times a week and the players mostly have outside jobs as well. Allan Cup and LNAH seem pretty even to me talent-wise from what I have seen, although the styles of play are different. The players also tend to be older in the semi-pro leagues, with some in their mid-30's.

That being said I still think teams in those 2 leagues would beat the SPHL teams despite the SPHL practicing regularly.
 
JackalsKnuckles said:
Fortunate to have seen all the leagues mentioned in person (all but the SPHL at multiple venues and multiple games)

Ranking on skill level:

LNAH
Allan Cup Hockey League
USports
SPHL
D3
NAHL
FHL
ACHA

In a head to head game however I would rank it like this:

USports
LNAH
Allan Cup Hockey League
SPHL
D3
NAHL
FHL
ACHA

USports is way under-rated. 90% of the guys are recent grads of major junior, and some have ECHL or similar experience.

USports teams have played close games with and occasionally beaten AHL teams in preseason games. The fact that they practice every day would bump them up from a team standpoint over the LNAH and Allan Cup League as those semi-pro leagues only practice 1 to 2 times a week and the players mostly have outside jobs as well. Allan Cup and LNAH seem pretty even to me talent-wise from what I have seen, although the styles of play are different. The players also tend to be older in the semi-pro leagues, with some in their mid-30's.

That being said I still think teams in those 2 leagues would beat the SPHL teams despite the SPHL practicing regularly.
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How do you think an ohl, whl, qmjhl or ushl team would do against these leagues in head to head terms? Do you think they would be at a disadvantage due to age?
 
D3 better than NAHL? Guys get drafted straight out of the NAHL occasionally. I can't remember a guy getting drafted out of D3.
 
You could argue the skill level is higher in the NAHL, that may be a valid point, although head to head a D3 team would likely beat a NAHL team. D3 players are older, and most of the rosters are filled with NAHL, OJHL, even BCHL guys with a handful of tier 3 guys as well.

Oswego usually plays a CCHL all star team in preseason and usually beats them. Level of play in the CCHL is a bit below the NAHL though.
 
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canucks4ever said:
How do you think an ohl, whl, qmjhl or ushl team would do against these leagues in head to head terms? Do you think they would be at a disadvantage due to age?
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The CHL is great to watch and all are very professionally run organizations. The skill level is about as high as it gets if you ask me.

However if you talk to fans in cities that have access to both major junior and University hockey many think the USports teams would win head to head due to the age and maturity factor. Many USports guys play junior until they are 20, play pro for a couple seasons and then play U. hockey.

In speaking with fans in Moncton and Halifax and even Kingston which all have both major junior and U. Sports many seem to think the U. teams would win head to head.

Interesting discussion though.
 
JackalsKnuckles said:
You could argue the skill level is higher in the NAHL, that may be a valid point, although head to head a D3 team would likely beat a NAHL team. D3 players are older, and most of the rosters are filled with NAHL, OJHL, even BCHL guys with a handful of tier 3 guys as well.

Oswego usually plays a CCHL all star team in preseason and usually beats them. Level of play in the CCHL is a bit below the NAHL though.
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Would you say the difference is similar to that between the AHL and OHL (AHL would likely win head-to-head due to maturity/experience but the OHL is a better place to see big-time prospects)?
 
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