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USHL Players in World Juniors?

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ozzie

Registered User
Aug 3, 2005
1,870
702
Australia
Not sure if this question is in the right place or not, but here we go anyways.

Are players in the USHL eligible to participate in the World Juniors U20 tournaments?

I know players who play for the US NDP (Which competes in the USHL) participate frequently in the tournament and are usually highly regarded players.

What about players in the USHL who play for the normal/core USHL teams (Green bay, Waterloo, Des Moines etc?).

Is it a question of quality of players or do the teams of the USHL not allow/release players? Players not good enough or just not scouted in the league for the tournament? Compared to CHL, NCAA and whats available?

If a Superstar Standout player was playing in the USHL and dominating the league and if US Hockey wanted that player, would the USHL or the Team be free to release the player?

I would imagine the player in the USHL would have to be exceptionally gifted to come on the radar.
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ozzie said:
Not sure if this question is in the right place or not, but here we go anyways.

Are players in the USHL eligible to participate in the World Juniors U20 tournaments?

I know players who play for the US NDP (Which competes in the USHL) participate frequently in the tournament and are usually highly regarded players.

What about players in the USHL who play for the normal/core USHL teams (Green bay, Waterloo, Des Moines etc?).

Is it a question of quality of players or do the teams of the USHL not allow/release players? Players not good enough or just not scouted in the league for the tournament? Compared to CHL, NCAA and whats available?

If a Superstar Standout player was playing in the USHL and dominating the league and if US Hockey wanted that player, would the USHL or the Team be free to release the player?

I would imagine the player in the USHL would have to be exceptionally gifted to come on the radar.
Click to expand...


Any good USHL player is going to be in college by the time he reaches the prime age range for a U20 squad.
 
Canada has the occasional 16/17 year old player in the CHL that makes the team. I assume its possible there could be a great 16/17 year old playing in the USHL before going to College?

Might not be common, but it could happen. Question is could he play in the U20 if on a normal USHL team.
 
ozzie said:
Canada has the occasional 16/17 year old player in the CHL that makes the team. I assume its possible there could be a great 16/17 year old playing in the USHL before going to College?

Might not be common, but it could happen. Question is could he play in the U20 if on a normal USHL team.
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YES. But 99% of the USA top 16/17 yr. olds are on the NTDP. Jack Eichel played this past year as a 17 yr. old in the World U20's. The NTDP plays a few games in the USHL so he would be considered from the NTDP/USHL league. Every 16/17 year old on the NTDP could have tendered at 15/16 on a USHL team if they chose to. A projected top 6 forward on the NTDP is not going to chose the USHL over NTDP a bottom 6 may chose the USHL because they feel they will be more successful surrounded by older players on a USHL team. NTDP is a team of 15/16 yr olds. their first year in the USHL league.
 
ozzie said:
Are players in the USHL eligible to participate in the World Juniors U20 tournaments?
Click to expand...
Only restricitions the IIHF place on a player are that they must be nationals of the country they wish to represent (save for dual citizens, who can of course only pick one and should stick with it) and be latest on their living year they turn 19 and earliest when they turn 15.

So yes, USHL players would be eligible. From a purely technical standpoint at least. It is, of course, a different story whether a national association would consider such a player for U20 team.
 
Sweden had Rasmus Bengtsson the other year, playing for Muskegon. But he was on the radar long before he went to the USHL(for whatever reason he did it).
 
Eligible, yes, but not commonplace. I can't speak for other countries but the last American player from the USHL (excluding the NTDP) to make a WJC team was Danny Kristo (Omaha Lancers) in 2009.
 
Interesting about Kristo. Seems he played for the NDP previous few seasons, so they knew him well to select him.

Surprised how many Europeans have played in the USHL and represented their countries.

Well that question is answered now. Thank you!
 
For Team USA only, I've often wondered do players from any of the other US Junior leagues (NAHL etc.) get looks or is the level of play in those leagues not high enough?

I would assume USHL players that aren't from the NTDP are like the Canadians who come out of the CJHL. Very, very few make it, the last one I remember come from Junior A was Kyle Turris in 2008 (or so I forget exactly).
 
Shootmaster_44 said:
For Team USA only, I've often wondered do players from any of the other US Junior leagues (NAHL etc.) get looks or is the level of play in those leagues not high enough?

I would assume USHL players that aren't from the NTDP are like the Canadians who come out of the CJHL. Very, very few make it, the last one I remember come from Junior A was Kyle Turris in 2008 (or so I forget exactly).
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You have to realize how the USHL works. It's basically a junior league for kids who want to play in the NCAA. It allows kids to get a higher level of competition than their local high school leagues might provide. Obviously the USNDTP is going to take the top kids and the US brass are going to favor their alumni because they are more familiar with them. However the truth of the matter is that the majority of kids at the U20s are 18 and 19. The best 18 and 19 year olds in the U20s are playing college hockey.

This is just off the top of my head but the US roster for 2014 had Ian McCoshen (Waterloo), Jon Gillies (Indiana), Riley Barber (Dubuque but also USNDTP), Hinostroza (Waterloo), Jacbo Salvin (Chicago), Zach Stepan (waterloo), all played for non USNDTP teams. So I would say that your assumption that compares non NDTP USHL players ot CJHL players is kind of off because a large number of US players go to the USHL to keep their NCAA eligibility.
 
Shootmaster_44 said:
I would assume USHL players that aren't from the NTDP are like the Canadians who come out of the CJHL. Very, very few make it, the last one I remember come from Junior A was Kyle Turris in 2008 (or so I forget exactly).
Click to expand...

Yeah buddy, you are off big time. USHL is very close to the CHL. Zemgus Girgensons played for Dubuque, was drafted #14 and was sign to the ELC right away. One year in the AHL and he's a legit NHL player now. In 2012 alone his teammate Mike Matheson was also drafted at #23, Jordan Schmaltz from Green Bay #25. That's more first round picks than QMJHL had that year.

Furthermore, Girgensons was a 1st round pick of a CHL import draft, which is maybe not that important considering the circumstances but Matheson himself is a Canadian and was drafted in the 1st round of the QMJHL entry draft and has simple chosen USHL over the QMJHL. James Oleksiak is another example of this although he was already in college when he was drafted. Jaden Schwartz chose USHL over the WHL and was drafted out of Tri-City Storm and obviously will be a top-6 NHL forward for many many years. So yeah, I think I proved my point.

CJHL and USHS comparison would be pretty close though.
 
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