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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Wondering… do the hockey players at top schools (like Yale, Dartmouth, Cornell, Amherst) usually go to juniors first? Or do they tend to have an easier route because they have a 1500+ SAT or whatever and there aren’t as many of those?[/quote]

Almost all go to juniors first (or sometimes a PG year at a prep school).  I know two kids who are freshman at Amherst this year.  One did a year at an NCDC team, and another did a PG year at a NE prep school.  Neither is really playing much this season.  There isn't really an easier route.  I was at an event with the Dartmouth coach, and a parent asked "If my kid has really high grades and scores, does that mean he can be a little worse at hockey and play for you?" (I'm paraphrasing here).  The answer was:  "We want the best possible hockey players we can get in.  So if the choice is between a kid with a 1590 SAT and 4.0 unweighted GPA and a kid with a 1420 and 3.5 GPA and the second kid is better, we want that kid" (again, I'm paraphrasing).[/quote]

Total noob here. What is a PG year at a NE prep school? Post-graduate (like after finishing HS)? And which NE prep schools do this sort of thing for kids who didn’t graduate from that particular prep school (if any)? Or not an option for kids who graduate from local public HS?

Given maturity levels, I could see some potential benefit in a gap year playing in juniors or maybe doing this PG thing, realizing the kid may or may not land on anything more than a spirited intramural team in college if it doesn’t pan out. [/quote]

Most of the NE prep schools have PGs.  However, they will not take a PG from a local high school who has only played Tier 1 hockey, most likely.  They're looking for a higher caliber of player who is moving on to juniors and is probably already committed to a school or at least stands a chance of going D3/D1.  There is a limited number they can have, and they also have them for other sports.

There are also levels in Juniors, and there are more and more Juniors programs, some of which aren't that great except to make money.  You have to look closely at how many of them move their players up and get them into schools.  Also, there is a huge difference between a great hockey college and a great college.

My DS played NE Prep, was recruited to play higher level juniors because of a couple of colleges that wanted him, but at the end of the day he did not want to be a 21/22 yr old freshman at a mediocre school (but good hockey) since he didn't need the potential $$ from the school.  (We are fortunate in that we can pay for it regardless of where he goes).  He chose to go play ACHA at his choice of University, and his ACHA team has several kids like him, including a couple of D1 recruits who just wanted to get on with life rather than spending a couple of years playng juniors.

Several college coaches I spoke with lamented that they don't care for the juniors thing, but once some do it, all sort of have to follow as it's pretty hard to be competitive when your playrers are 18-22 and the other teams players are 21-25.  It does make a huge difference.[/quote]

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