Anonymous
02/10/2025 13:28
Subject: Ice hockey experience
We were with CHA for many years. We found Brad to far better than his predecessor Dan, and have found him to be reasonable. The CHA families have also been wonderful. St James is fine, but honestly players who have left CHA to go to St James make a higher team, but that team usually is far less competitive. Take a look at the current rankings. At least at the AA and Upper A level, St James teams are not faring particularly well this year.
Anonymous
02/10/2025 12:29
Subject: Ice hockey experience
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Even at NESCAC schools, a lot of the players spend a year playing junior hockey before enrolling in college. Prep school is just one step on the path to NCAA hockey. Are there some that make the jump directly from prep to NCAA D3? Sure, there's always a handful. But the more common route is prep--->Juniors--->NCAA
What is the route to D1 (Ivy league)?
The same as any D1 program. Elite AAA club hockey. Time playing junior hockey. Quite possibly drafted by an NHL team. Enter college at 20 years old.
Ivy league hockey is not "smart kids who like to play." Ivy league hockey is "guys who will go pro even if it's 'just' in the minors or a Euro league." Your kid is either on that path from a young age (and you're uprooting your family out of the DC area to chase that dream), or they're not. And 99.5% of youth hockey players in this country are not on that path.
NP here: what about walk-ons? For kids that were strong in HS, maybe not AAA, but top ranked AA or HS in DMV area and admitted to the college based on academic merit ? And for a kid who does not mind sitting on the bench a lot of the time? Are these schools open to walk-ons in those situations?
And assuming that the PPs were describing boy’s hockey, is the situation generally the same for girls? (ie no real chance of being recruited directly from HS?). I’ve seen a lot of strong girl players in the area, and wondering whether they will have paths open to them to play in college without taking a detour from HS to junior leagues first
The best path forward for smart kids who are good AA players from the DMV is to play ACHA (club hockey). They might be able to walk onto an ACHA D2 or D3 team without having any junior experience, but they won't be able to walk onto an ACHA D1 team without playing juniors or Prep first. ACHA hockey is still very competitive, with kids going from the USHL to a D1 team and D2 or D3 teams coming from AAA youth teams, prep schools, Canada, and Tier 1 or 2 Juniors.
Anonymous
02/09/2025 14:11
Subject: Ice hockey experience
Dream on . Ice hockey and tennis are next to impossible
Anonymous
02/09/2025 13:42
Subject: Ice hockey experience
No, your AA kid from the DMV that gets into an Ivy is not walking on to the NCAA team. Full stop, not going to happen.
For girls, it is a little easier, but still not easy. There aren't junior leagues for girls like there are for boys. But there's a lot of international players recruited to to NCAA teams. The top US and Canadian recruits have been part of their respective country's development programs. Like the boys, they were identified at a young age and put on the elite development track. They leave home to go to places like Shattuck St. Mary's.
For girls, it is a little easier, but still not easy. There aren't junior leagues for girls like there are for boys. But there's a lot of international players recruited to to NCAA teams. The top US and Canadian recruits have been part of their respective country's development programs. Like the boys, they were identified at a young age and put on the elite development track. They leave home to go to places like Shattuck St. Mary's.
Anonymous
02/09/2025 01:07
Subject: Ice hockey experience
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Even at NESCAC schools, a lot of the players spend a year playing junior hockey before enrolling in college. Prep school is just one step on the path to NCAA hockey. Are there some that make the jump directly from prep to NCAA D3? Sure, there's always a handful. But the more common route is prep--->Juniors--->NCAA
What is the route to D1 (Ivy league)?
The same as any D1 program. Elite AAA club hockey. Time playing junior hockey. Quite possibly drafted by an NHL team. Enter college at 20 years old.
Ivy league hockey is not "smart kids who like to play." Ivy league hockey is "guys who will go pro even if it's 'just' in the minors or a Euro league." Your kid is either on that path from a young age (and you're uprooting your family out of the DC area to chase that dream), or they're not. And 99.5% of youth hockey players in this country are not on that path.
NP here: what about walk-ons? For kids that were strong in HS, maybe not AAA, but top ranked AA or HS in DMV area and admitted to the college based on academic merit ? And for a kid who does not mind sitting on the bench a lot of the time? Are these schools open to walk-ons in those situations?
And assuming that the PPs were describing boy’s hockey, is the situation generally the same for girls? (ie no real chance of being recruited directly from HS?). I’ve seen a lot of strong girl players in the area, and wondering whether they will have paths open to them to play in college without taking a detour from HS to junior leagues first
Anonymous
02/07/2025 18:26
Subject: Ice hockey experience
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Even at NESCAC schools, a lot of the players spend a year playing junior hockey before enrolling in college. Prep school is just one step on the path to NCAA hockey. Are there some that make the jump directly from prep to NCAA D3? Sure, there's always a handful. But the more common route is prep--->Juniors--->NCAA
What is the route to D1 (Ivy league)?
The same as any D1 program. Elite AAA club hockey. Time playing junior hockey. Quite possibly drafted by an NHL team. Enter college at 20 years old.
Ivy league hockey is not "smart kids who like to play." Ivy league hockey is "guys who will go pro even if it's 'just' in the minors or a Euro league." Your kid is either on that path from a young age (and you're uprooting your family out of the DC area to chase that dream), or they're not. And 99.5% of youth hockey players in this country are not on that path.
Anonymous
02/07/2025 15:02
Subject: Ice hockey experience
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Even at NESCAC schools, a lot of the players spend a year playing junior hockey before enrolling in college. Prep school is just one step on the path to NCAA hockey. Are there some that make the jump directly from prep to NCAA D3? Sure, there's always a handful. But the more common route is prep--->Juniors--->NCAA
What is the route to D1 (Ivy league)?
Through a pipe and a dream
Anonymous
02/07/2025 13:23
Subject: Ice hockey experience
Anonymous wrote:Even at NESCAC schools, a lot of the players spend a year playing junior hockey before enrolling in college. Prep school is just one step on the path to NCAA hockey. Are there some that make the jump directly from prep to NCAA D3? Sure, there's always a handful. But the more common route is prep--->Juniors--->NCAA
What is the route to D1 (Ivy league)?
Anonymous
02/07/2025 11:40
Subject: Ice hockey experience
Even at NESCAC schools, a lot of the players spend a year playing junior hockey before enrolling in college. Prep school is just one step on the path to NCAA hockey. Are there some that make the jump directly from prep to NCAA D3? Sure, there's always a handful. But the more common route is prep--->Juniors--->NCAA
Anonymous
02/07/2025 10:36
Subject: Ice hockey experience
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:How has youth hockey experience been for those who started young. Started club/travel at the age of 9/10. Did your DC burnout? Competition increases at each level, travel increases etc.. did they get to play in college? Did it help them get into top 20 colleges? Any input is appreciated.
There are plenty of top 20 schools which have hockey teams (Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Dartmouth, Cornell, Brown, Michigan, Army plus a bunch of other Big10 Flagship schools all play D1 hockey, and Williams, amHerst, Middlebury, Tufts, and other NESCAC schools play D3 hockey). The problem is that the level of play at the D1 schools is so high, that it is very, very unlikely that you kid will be good enough so that it helps them get in there. But not impossible. On the boys/mens side right now, we have local kids playing at Cornell, Brown, and one going to Army next year. But all except the kid going to Army had to leave the area as 13-15 years old to be able to continue to develop the point of being good enough for the level. Even the D3 teams are insanely competitive, drawing most of their players from New England prep schools.
From what I've observed, if my kid wanted a chance at playing college hockey, I would send them to a NE prep school. Browse through the rosters of any of the NESCAC schools, and you'll understand. I would not send them to some random junior team to billet with a random family and hope they get a good education. None of these kids are going to make a living in the NHL. We remain friendly with a first-round draft pick, now retired, and he and his wife still have to work for a living.
Anonymous
02/06/2025 15:59
Subject: Ice hockey experience
Even Division 3 is tough to get into. Northland College is the worst team in D3; I went to Northland. It's a weird little school in financial trouble in a remote location. Even Northland players leave home to play junior hockey somewhere else in high school and/or spend at least one year after graduating playing junior hockey before going to college.
Northland! A school that used to take pretty much anyone who had laced up skates on the team, straight out of high school. Now you have to move away from home for at least a year and billet with some random family in a random town just to have a chance to play on the worst team in D3 hockey, at a college that nearly shut down last spring because of financial mismanagement.
Northland! A school that used to take pretty much anyone who had laced up skates on the team, straight out of high school. Now you have to move away from home for at least a year and billet with some random family in a random town just to have a chance to play on the worst team in D3 hockey, at a college that nearly shut down last spring because of financial mismanagement.
Anonymous
02/06/2025 15:13
Subject: Ice hockey experience
Anonymous wrote:How has youth hockey experience been for those who started young. Started club/travel at the age of 9/10. Did your DC burnout? Competition increases at each level, travel increases etc.. did they get to play in college? Did it help them get into top 20 colleges? Any input is appreciated.
There are plenty of top 20 schools which have hockey teams (Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Dartmouth, Cornell, Brown, Michigan, Army plus a bunch of other Big10 Flagship schools all play D1 hockey, and Williams, amHerst, Middlebury, Tufts, and other NESCAC schools play D3 hockey). The problem is that the level of play at the D1 schools is so high, that it is very, very unlikely that you kid will be good enough so that it helps them get in there. But not impossible. On the boys/mens side right now, we have local kids playing at Cornell, Brown, and one going to Army next year. But all except the kid going to Army had to leave the area as 13-15 years old to be able to continue to develop the point of being good enough for the level. Even the D3 teams are insanely competitive, drawing most of their players from New England prep schools.
Anonymous
02/06/2025 10:25
Subject: Ice hockey experience
Anonymous wrote:First - are we talking girls or boys?
Like any sport, if you play at a high enough level, it can help with admission.
About 12% of male high school hockey players play in college. Its about 21% for girls.
Some of the best colleges (HPY) also have strong hockey teams. So yes, it can help with that.
Beware, that you will be competing with international students who are also competing for those spots as hockey is filled with lots of high level players from outside the US.
12% of male HS players do not play NCAA.
Anonymous
02/06/2025 10:24
Subject: Ice hockey experience
Anonymous wrote:I may be in a minority, but I believe Canadian juniors being eligible for the NCAA will actually be good for hockey in the US. The number of schools offering D1 and D3 programs will increase substantially. It won’t be overnight, but it will happen in the next few years.
The money for D1 is just too high. Smaller programs failing and gap between haves and have nots is growing. D3 could grow because you can play in a local rink so investment minimal. But a lot of D3 colleges aren't good schools (Hood College? Neumann?), thus you see the rise in club popularity at large power 4 colleges. If they went back to old way where a D1 school could have D3 hockey, that could really grow. That went away in the '90s because of Title IX but the professionalization of football and basketball may cause things to change back. Regarding the original post, hockey is fine and the kids love playing it, but the Tier 1 programs here are terrible and toxic. I think their stances on HS hockey (which is the most fun for the kids) is hurting the local scene for sure.
Anonymous
02/04/2025 17:59
Subject: Ice hockey experience
I may be in a minority, but I believe Canadian juniors being eligible for the NCAA will actually be good for hockey in the US. The number of schools offering D1 and D3 programs will increase substantially. It won’t be overnight, but it will happen in the next few years.