Any experience with the HSL - Hockey Super League (minor hockey in AB / BC)?

[brots]

"Tryout" for a rogue league so you get the "honour" of playing (paying) there, way too much while being pitched a whole pile of garbage while you spend to try to get your kid to the next level.

1. Tryout for club hockey. (KC, MLAC, CAC, SSAC) The level is excellent and once you get to the junior tryouts, there is no difference between club and academy players. The clubs are all non profits and the coaching is just as good and the guys who run the programs don't make $75-100K a year.

2. If you don't make club, play federation. It is about the experience along the way.

Dont agree with your statement there is no difference between academy and club. I just finished watching the Macs Cup in Calgary whereby the SAHA out of medicine hat throttled the Calgary Buffaloes 6-0 in the A Final. the Buffs are the run away leaders of the ALberta Midget U18 AAAs. The SAHA group is run owned by Med Hat TIgers and loaded with their own picks. By the way I know of no coach getting paid 75-100k to coach in the HSL Try 50 bucks and expenses paid travel, meals hotel rooms

lastly over 75 per cent of those taken in the whl bantam draft came out of academies Im still a skeptic on the whole concept of over elite hockey. the game itself is damn expensive look at the price of gear, the sticks and skates etc. then add in a 25 000 price tag for a academy and its out of reach for the average parent unless you are mortgaging the future to further junior or yours passion to play junior. Even that aint guaranteed. My son put his boy in the HSL this year, mostly because i think both of them got tired of the same old nepotism and old boys network of every year the same coaches and their kids move along in the association and unless you are a biz parnter, drinking buddy or golfin pal yer ont he outside. He got tired of that dynamic. SO hid dad applied paid the tryout fee, wasnt guaranteed a spot and latched on as the 6th dman. There we more people lining up to try out and at least a dozen didnt make the cut. Most of these kids on this team are all former AAA out of the city quadrant system all cut for a variety of reasons that year. But what ive see today, i cannot knock the value he's received, they get private powerskating lessons, private positional tutoring, education goals setting, dryland training weekly, boxing more of a team event, nutrition seminars, practice, practice and practice. Will any of them make it to any level past this? Its possible. The league itself is officiated pretty tight the director of officiating is Mike Civic former NHL referee. And subsequent suspensions for tomfoolery can be harsh. ALso you have to remember these different hsl teams are basically franchises set up to follow the mission statement of the league and of course to recoup money on the investment these men have made. SO when yu factor in year fee with no cash calls, no bingos, no bottle drives and lets say each franchise takes in 6500 per player and you've got 17 kids we can safely assume nobody is making a retirement gig out of it thats just over 110K per year not counting ice time, uniforms, coaches expenses. Pretty skinny return. But for my son's position on it hey its been worth it. Not sure how the franchisees do it, but iwth multiple income streams from U18 17 16 15 maybe that's how they make it back. He probably is the most improved player on the team as he had so far to climb and catch up to the kids ahead of him who had 3-4 years of elite association hockey behind them. They've peaked now, he's by passing them. So for him its been good

 

[brots]

I hate to call it a "racket". The teams tell you what you're paying for and seem to deliver on it. The one parent on an HSL team my wife talks to doesn't regret their decision.

It's just that one of things your hockey fees are paying for is a mortgage on a new rink. Even if they fully disclose that - is that really a good use of money?

o think the league owners paid cash for the old rink and morinville and then poured more into the renos to upgrade it. They also own the whl seattle team the spruce grove team and sold their personal company for over 850 million dollars so iheard they paid 200 k for the rink bascically due to its run down shape and then brought it back up to code, I ve been in it and they did a great job of the renos

 

[brots]

JFC - I hadn't heard of this before.

Looking at their website - while I appreciate they are upfront about their price, I can not imagine for a cost of $12,500 per year can be seen as "attainable".

What really gets me is there's no possible need for kids to need to regularly travel out of town to play hockey. Playing a single tournament out of town just for the experience of it is one thing, but there's no end of talented kids locally to play against.

part of that problem of playing kids locally its boring for the kids most associations, *parents and kids go to two out of town tournaments just for the experience and drinking (lol) and a lot of these tournaments are set up by private go getters who get you to come to canal flats, drumheller, brooks only to play in some little town arena 50 kms out of town. the problem with that is you end up playing the same teams year in and year out from your own local leagues which is boring kids like to see how they stack up against other players from other towns. But there is an end of locally talented kids to play against, your just not in that mix. If you are playing AA or AAA there is travel involved every other weekend usually by bus and that's another expense for bus, driver food and room. and if there is no room on the bus you're driving

 

[Slats432]

Dont agree with your statement there is no difference between academy and club. I just finished watching the Macs Cup in Calgary whereby the SAHA out of medicine hat throttled the Calgary Buffaloes 6-0 in the A Final. the Buffs are the run away leaders of the ALberta Midget U18 AAAs. The SAHA group is run owned by Med Hat TIgers and loaded with their own picks. By the way I know of no coach getting paid 75-100k to coach in the HSL Try 50 bucks and expenses paid travel, meals hotel rooms

lastly over 75 per cent of those taken in the whl bantam draft came out of academies Im still a skeptic on the whole concept of over elite hockey. the game itself is damn expensive look at the price of gear, the sticks and skates etc. then add in a 25 000 price tag for a academy and its out of reach for the average parent unless you are mortgaging the future to further junior or yours passion to play junior. Even that aint guaranteed. My son put his boy in the HSL this year, mostly because i think both of them got tired of the same old nepotism and old boys network of every year the same coaches and their kids move along in the association and unless you are a biz parnter, drinking buddy or golfin pal yer ont he outside. He got tired of that dynamic. SO hid dad applied paid the tryout fee, wasnt guaranteed a spot and latched on as the 6th dman. There we more people lining up to try out and at least a dozen didnt make the cut. Most of these kids on this team are all former AAA out of the city quadrant system all cut for a variety of reasons that year. But what ive see today, i cannot knock the value he's received, they get private powerskating lessons, private positional tutoring, education goals setting, dryland training weekly, boxing more of a team event, nutrition seminars, practice, practice and practice. Will any of them make it to any level past this? Its possible. The league itself is officiated pretty tight the director of officiating is Mike Civic former NHL referee. And subsequent suspensions for tomfoolery can be harsh. ALso you have to remember these different hsl teams are basically franchises set up to follow the mission statement of the league and of course to recoup money on the investment these men have made. SO when yu factor in year fee with no cash calls, no bingos, no bottle drives and lets say each franchise takes in 6500 per player and you've got 17 kids we can safely assume nobody is making a retirement gig out of it thats just over 110K per year not counting ice time, uniforms, coaches expenses. Pretty skinny return. But for my son's position on it hey its been worth it. Not sure how the franchisees do it, but iwth multiple income streams from U18 17 16 15 maybe that's how they make it back. He probably is the most improved player on the team as he had so far to climb and catch up to the kids ahead of him who had 3-4 years of elite association hockey behind them. They've peaked now, he's by passing them. So for him its been good

I can't tell you what is done in Calgary, but I know Edmonton well. I am going back about 4-5 years ago when going to AJHL camps and seeing the competition. The academy kids and club kids were similar in quality.

The journey of each player is different. If they choose to go HSL or Academy, it is all about what you make of it. I know when my boy tried out for U16AAA in Edmonton, I said that if it was a shitshow, He was going to Academy....lol

 

[Yukon Joe]

o think the league owners paid cash for the old rink and morinville and then poured more into the renos to upgrade it. They also own the whl seattle team the spruce grove team and sold their personal company for over 850 million dollars so iheard they paid 200 k for the rink bascically due to its run down shape and then brought it back up to code, I ve been in it and they did a great job of the renos

I've heard about the Morinville Arena, but they've also broken ground on a brand new twin arena in Nisku. Even if the owners have money they're not doing this as a charity and expect at a minimum to break even, so your HSL fees are still going towards the cost of that new twin arena.

part of that problem of playing kids locally its boring for the kids most associations, *parents and kids go to two out of town tournaments just for the experience and drinking (lol) and a lot of these tournaments are set up by private go getters who get you to come to canal flats, drumheller, brooks only to play in some little town arena 50 kms out of town. the problem with that is you end up playing the same teams year in and year out from your own local leagues which is boring kids like to see how they stack up against other players from other towns. But there is an end of locally talented kids to play against, your just not in that mix. If you are playing AA or AAA there is travel involved every other weekend usually by bus and that's another expense for bus, driver food and room. and if there is no room on the bus you're driving

With respect though that's not my experience at all. My kid playing U13AA has twice gone out of town, once on a bus, but those were extra tournaments. In terms of league play the furthest they've gone out of town is about an hour. There's 7 other teams in our division, 5 more teams in the next division that are all pretty close, so there's no real shortage of opponents.

I even went and checked out the U15AAA schedule - there's a few less teams but still 11 teams in their division, and I could see a couple games early in the season about 2 hours out of town, but everything else pretty close to home.

 

[Lipschitz]

Something that’s lost in this conversation is the community vibe that’s missing from HSL/Academy hockey. My kid is now out of hockey (just finished his U18AA playoffs).
He never was interested in leaving his club team, even if it meant he could play higher. When he was cut from the Bantam AAA, then the midget AAA team years later he went down & played AA. He didn’t ever want to tryout at other AAA teams, as they weren’t his club. He grew up wanting to play for the St. Albert Raiders….so that’s what he did. He even said playing AAA for Ft. Saskatchewan, or Leduc…of wherever, wouldn’t have felt right, ….plus he wanted to play with his St. Albert friends.

 

[jetsmooseice]

There is an old carny saying about if how if you can't find the sucker in the room, then it's probably you. That's my thinking on pricy elite programs.

i.e., unless your kid is the one being subsidized by other players as is known to happen, or being offered a spot in some prestigious and recognized tournament team (and not just some made-up thing), etc., then what really is the point?

My kid is 9 playing AA in his first year of U11, and I know he won't be a pro. But he loves the game, he loves to play, he loves the cameraderie. My goal right now is to make it as fun as possible to keep him playing as long as possible. Luckily in Winnipeg the "minor hockey as a business" elite development culture isn't as pronounced here as it is in BC/AB, although it's certainly there, there is no shortage of people willing to take your money.

 

[Yukon Joe]

There is an old carny saying about if how if you can't find the sucker in the room, then it's probably you. That's my thinking on pricy elite programs.

i.e., unless your kid is the one being subsidized by other players as is known to happen, or being offered a spot in some prestigious and recognized tournament team (and not just some made-up thing), etc., then what really is the point?

My kid is 9 playing AA in his first year of U11, and I know he won't be a pro. But he loves the game, he loves to play, he loves the cameraderie. My goal right now is to make it as fun as possible to keep him playing as long as possible. Luckily in Winnipeg the "minor hockey as a business" elite development culture isn't as pronounced here as it is in BC/AB, although it's certainly there, there is no shortage of people willing to take your money.

I dunno man - a quick google suggests there are several hockey academies in Manitoba.

If your kid is playing U11 AA you can't actually say "he won't be a pro". I mean obviously the odds are highly stack against it, but kits can grow and change so much between U11 and U15. I certainly do agree that the first priority has to be making it fun so he keeps playing.

What makes it so tough is it is like an arms race. The more camps and programs and extra training your kid does do help (though I think there's a point of diminishing returns). And part of making hockey fun is to be good at hockey.

There's no right or wrong answer to any of this. My wife and I try to navigate, send him to some programs, but not others. We're willing to spend some money on his hockey, but not without limit.

As for camaraderie - my son made his U13AA team this last year, but almost all of his buddies didn't. But for my son there was no way he was going to go down to Tier 1 instead of playing AA. But that's just one kid. I know one of his buddies for example refused to even try out for AA, even though I'm quite confident he would have made it.

 

[jetsmooseice]

I dunno man - a quick google suggests there are several hockey academies in Manitoba.

If your kid is playing U11 AA you can't actually say "he won't be a pro". I mean obviously the odds are highly stack against it, but kits can grow and change so much between U11 and U15. I certainly do agree that the first priority has to be making it fun so he keeps playing.

What makes it so tough is it is like an arms race. The more camps and programs and extra training your kid does do help (though I think there's a point of diminishing returns). And part of making hockey fun is to be good at hockey.

There's no right or wrong answer to any of this. My wife and I try to navigate, send him to some programs, but not others. We're willing to spend some money on his hockey, but not without limit.

As for camaraderie - my son made his U13AA team this last year, but almost all of his buddies didn't. But for my son there was no way he was going to go down to Tier 1 instead of playing AA. But that's just one kid. I know one of his buddies for example refused to even try out for AA, even though I'm quite confident he would have made it.

I get what you're saying. I'm not trying to project a holier than thou image here. Pretty well since my son has started playing I've signed him up for "extracurriculars" in the form of weekly skills sessions (not 1 on 1), moderately priced summer camps and last year a AAA spring hockey program. I'm comfortable with the skills sessions as a bit of a supplement to regular hockey, but the AAA spring hockey program seemed pointless and very expensive unless your kid is at a level where they are dominant and needs to travel to find suitable competition. Which mine is not, and is probably like 1% of players, at most. I think it's easy to get carried away with this stuff, one guy I know makes his living in hockey and he deals with parents willing to pay large amounts for 1 on 1 sessions with moderately talented kids. There is always someone willing to take your money, and that's something I'm trying to be mindful of, especially as it relates to big ticket expenses.

When I say that hockey in Manitoba is not quite at the same point as BC/AB, well, I do realize that there are academies here too. But they do still seem to be the exception to some degree. I live in a reasonably affluent part of Winnipeg and there are parents around my son's cohort that I know who could definitely afford to send their kids to academies. But so far, only one I know has. I'm sure that will change, but at this point it's still a pretty small number. I'm sure in BC/AB there is more aggressive competition and therefore recruitment. Look at the Winnipeg ICE, Benson and Savoie (BC/AB) came up through academies, Geekie (MB) came up through Yellowhead Chiefs AAA.

 

[Yukon Joe]

I get what you're saying. I'm not trying to project a holier than thou image here. Pretty well since my son has started playing I've signed him up for "extracurriculars" in the form of weekly skills sessions (not 1 on 1), moderately priced summer camps and last year a AAA spring hockey program. I'm comfortable with the skills sessions as a bit of a supplement to regular hockey, but the AAA spring hockey program seemed pointless and very expensive unless your kid is at a level where they are dominant and needs to travel to find suitable competition. Which mine is not, and is probably like 1% of players, at most. I think it's easy to get carried away with this stuff, one guy I know makes his living in hockey and he deals with parents willing to pay large amounts for 1 on 1 sessions with moderately talented kids. There is always someone willing to take your money, and that's something I'm trying to be mindful of, especially as it relates to big ticket expenses.

When I say that hockey in Manitoba is not quite at the same point as BC/AB, well, I do realize that there are academies here too. But they do still seem to be the exception to some degree. I live in a reasonably affluent part of Winnipeg and there are parents around my son's cohort that I know who could definitely afford to send their kids to academies. But so far, only one I know has. I'm sure that will change, but at this point it's still a pretty small number. I'm sure in BC/AB there is more aggressive competition and therefore recruitment. Look at the Winnipeg ICE, Benson and Savoie (BC/AB) came up through academies, Geekie (MB) came up through Yellowhead Chiefs AAA.

So my kid tried out for a supposedly "AAA" spring hockey team. He made it. The team is going to include one hockey tournament to the US.

We're going to go but we're looking at it as an excuse for a family trip. There is absolutely, 100% no reason why he needs to travel - he's good but there's plenty of good competition locally. I mean I find that's the case for even more local tournaments - they're fun and a great experience for the kid, but completely unnecessary when it comes to talking about hockey itself.

It's not exactly scientific, but I've looked at the WHL draft for kids coming from Edmonton. The majority are coming from hockey academies (NAX/OHA), although the affiliated AAA clubs place a few as well. I'm still not sending my kid to a hockey academy though.

 

[oldunclehue]

It's not exactly scientific, but I've looked at the WHL draft for kids coming from Edmonton. The majority are coming from hockey academies (NAX/OHA), although the affiliated AAA clubs place a few as well. I'm still not sending my kid to a hockey academy though.

I am involved in Junior hockey where I live, our team has drafted from the "Rink Academy" in Winnipeg a bunch of times and its very frustrating to see how entitled these kids are. Every Rink Academy kid that comes ends up trying their hardest to make a go of it in the USA (USHL, NAHL) or demanding different things from the coaching staff and organization. I can see the top elite of the academies being WHL bound and this not being an issue. But the rest of these academy kids come with lots of baggage in regards to entitlement, parents involvement, "advisors" and agents.

I agree Academy's will likely continue to produce higher level then minor hockey for on ice product. But the craziest of the crazy parents with money come along with those kids.....many don't make it any further than the good minor hockey kids.

 

[EdOil97]

I came here last year around this time looking for some insight on HSL. I thought I would share a few thoughts on the HSL experience while they are fresh in mind for anyone considering HSL, given that we were looking for this sort of information a year ago when we decided to take the plunge. Some of you with more experience might laugh at our naivete, but that's why I mention it here as we would have been better informed. Here are some of the pros and cons that we noted and interestingly, some things that we thought would be pros turned out to be cons as you will see below.

Pros

Full Ice for U9 - Pros and cons to this, but for us it was a pro. I think there should be a bridge year for U9 Major with Hockey Canada where the kids start playing full ice. It seemed that many parents chose HSL at this age due to the full ice factor.

Skill development Coaching - Skills coaching with highly qualified coaches helps to identify things that need additional work, but then they need to be worked on continuously.

Fixed Schedule - Initially was supposed to be a full year schedule in advance which was definitely a pro

Retiering - This sort of works, but also causes some issues as you can read below.

West Edmonton Mall - The kids really enjoy playing there.

Ice Time - You get at least twice as much ice time as you would playing with your local association team. Our team had 4 hours of practice ice a week at the same location which was nice, although some of this time was lost due to the retiering that I mentioned above.

Level - The level of hockey is quite high and when top teams in an age group are competing against each other the level is very high.



Cons

Fixed Schedule/Retiering - What was supposed to be a full year schedule provided in advance began to change in December due to the differences in ability of the teams in our division and the need for retiering. In some cases, the retiering just resulted in blowouts in the other direction. Given that our practices were scheduled for the most part on weekends, we began to lose practice time as games were now rescheduled and those practices were lost and unable to be rescheduled.

4 Game showcases - Initially seemed like a great idea, but they are not particularly beneficial when developing younger kids. Ideally it would be best to work on things after a game with a practice rather than playing another game, thereby learning in small bits, rather than having to cover so much after 4 games. Additionally from our observations the quality of the hockey (even with the stronger teams) seemed to deteriorate as the kids were fatigued from playing too many games in a short time.

Travel - Many showcases require travel to rural communities where ironically you often end up playing teams from around your home area.

Accommodation - These rural communities often have a limited amount of accommodation.

Too much disparity in the skill level of the teams - Travelling to a far off location when you know you are going to be blown out by double digits is hard to justify. Players aren't developing properly when they are playing opponents that are not around the same level especially if you are relying on the games to give them “playing experience”. Ultimately, it's a waste of ice time for both teams if there is such a difference in the ability of the teams.

Equipment Package - Had to purchase specific team items. If a specific helmet and glove color is required, allow players the option to purchase their own. Even NHL players wear whatever brand they endorse. Jersey and pant shells weren't available in small enough sizes. Smaller players wearing oversized jerseys and shells that they paid for looks silly and doesn't make sense.

West Edmonton Mall - As much fun as it is for the kids to play there, the ice becomes quite sludgy after a period of play tiring younger smaller kids significantly. I realize this is good advertising for the league, as it is where we became aware of it initially.

 

[Slats432]

I came here last year around this time looking for some insight on HSL. I thought I would share a few thoughts on the HSL experience while they are fresh in mind for anyone considering HSL, given that we were looking for this sort of information a year ago when we decided to take the plunge. Some of you with more experience might laugh at our naivete, but that's why I mention it here as we would have been better informed. Here are some of the pros and cons that we noted and interestingly, some things that we thought would be pros turned out to be cons as you will see below.

Pros

Full Ice for U9 - Pros and cons to this, but for us it was a pro. I think there should be a bridge year for U9 Major with Hockey Canada where the kids start playing full ice. It seemed that many parents chose HSL at this age do to the full ice factor.

Skill development Coaching - Skills coaching with highly qualified coaches helps to identify things that need additional work, but then they need to be worked on continuously.

Fixed Schedule - Initially was supposed to be a full year schedule in advance which was definitely a pro

Retiering - This sort of works, but also causes some issues as you can read below.

West Edmonton Mall - The kids really enjoy playing there.

Ice Time - You get at least twice as much ice time as you would playing with your local association team. Our team had 4 hours of practice ice a week at the same location which was nice, although some of this time was lost due to the retiering that I mentioned above.

Level - The level of hockey is quite high and when top teams in an age group are competing against each other the level is very high.



Cons

Fixed Schedule/Retiering - What was supposed to be a full year schedule provided in advance began to change in December due to the differences in ability of the teams in our division and the need for retiering. In some cases, the retiering just resulted in blowouts in the other direction. Given that our practices were scheduled for the most part on weekends, we began to lose practice time as games were now rescheduled and those practices were lost and unable to be rescheduled.

4 Game showcases - Initially seemed like a great idea, but they are not particularly beneficial when developing younger kids. Ideally it would be best to work on things after a game with a practice rather than playing another game, thereby learning in small bits, rather than having to cover so much after 4 games. Additionally from our observations the quality of the hockey (even with the stronger teams) seemed to deteriorate as the kids were fatigued from playing too many games in a short time.

Travel - Many showcases require travel to rural communities where ironically you often end up playing teams from around your home area.

Accommodation - These rural communities often have a limited amount of accommodation.

Too much disparity in the skill level of the teams - Travelling to a far off location when you know you are going to be blown out by double digits is hard to justify. Players aren't developing properly when they are playing opponents that are not around the same level especially if you are relying on the games to give them “playing experience”. Ultimately, it's a waste of ice time for both teams if there is such a difference in the ability of the teams.

Equipment Package - Had to purchase specific team items. If a specific helmet and glove color is required, allow players the option to purchase their own. Even NHL players wear whatever brand they endorse. Jersey and pant shells weren't available in small enough sizes. Smaller players wearing oversized jerseys and shells that they paid for looks silly and doesn't make sense.

West Edmonton Mall - As much fun as it is for the kids to play there, the ice becomes quite sludgy after a period of play tiring younger smaller kids significantly. I realize this is good advertising for the league, as it is where we became aware of it initially.

Very good breakdown.

 

[Yukon Joe]

@EdOil97 thanks for the breakdown of your experiences.

We haven't done HSL but know people who have. I know that another "Pro" at the U13 level is that at that level they allow "modified hitting", when that isn't introduced in minor hockey until U15.

But I've also heard that several families then move their kid from HSL U13 to minor hockey U15. My oldest is movng up to U15 next year so interesting to see if that is the case.

 

[ChuckLefley]

@EdOil97 thanks for the breakdown of your experiences.

We haven't done HSL but know people who have. I know that another "Pro" at the U13 level is that at that level they allow "modified hitting", when that isn't introduced in minor hockey until U15.

But I've also heard that several families then move their kid from HSL U13 to minor hockey U15. My oldest is movng up to U15 next year so interesting to see if that is the case.

Hockey Canada doesn’t allow hitting until 15u?

 

[Yukon Joe]

Hockey Canada doesn’t allow hitting until 15u?

Yes.

And even then only at higher tiers.

(Well, should be clear - I don't know if it's Hockey Canada or Hockey Alberta. But in recognized minor hockey - no hitting until U15 in our neck of the woods).

 

[patnyrnyg]

Yes.

And even then only at higher tiers.

(Well, should be clear - I don't know if it's Hockey Canada or Hockey Alberta. But in recognized minor hockey - no hitting until U15 in our neck of the woods).

To be clear, U15 and 14U are both the same thing, ala the old "Bantam"?

 

[oldunclehue]

To be clean, U15 and 14U are both the same thing, ala the old "Bantam"?

In Manitoba yes, 15U is 14-15 year olds. Used to be called Bantam.

There used to be a separation in "major Bantam and minor Bantam" for AAA in the city when I was younger. But I don't think thats the case anymore.

Sask has it right. They allow for minor body contact in U13, rub outs and such. The kids are more in the same size range un U13 from my experience.

U15 you start to see a huge GAP between 14 and 15 year olds for size.

 

[Yukon Joe]

In Manitoba yes, 15U is 14-15 year olds. Used to be called Bantam.

There used to be a separation in "major Bantam and minor Bantam" for AAA in the city when I was younger. But I don't think thats the case anymore.

Sask has it right. They allow for minor body contact in U13, rub outs and such. The kids are more in the same size range un U13 from my experience.

U15 you start to see a huge GAP between 14 and 15 year olds for size.

So yes - U15 is the former bantam, U13 is the former peewee.

And yes, in U13 a rubout along the boards is allowed, as is "incidental" body contact, but straight-out hitting is a penalty.

Curious about the "huge GAP" you describe in U15, because having gone through U13 there was a huge gap in some kids who had hit puberty, and those who hadn't, in terms of size. I had thought it might start to even out in U15, but obviously my kid hasn't hit that age level yet.

 

[oldunclehue]

So yes - U15 is the former bantam, U13 is the former peewee.

And yes, in U13 a rubout along the boards is allowed, as is "incidental" body contact, but straight-out hitting is a penalty.

Curious about the "huge GAP" you describe in U15, because having gone through U13 there was a huge gap in some kids who had hit puberty, and those who hadn't, in terms of size. I had thought it might start to even out in U15, but obviously my kid hasn't hit that age level yet.

My son is U13, I watched a fair bit of U15 when any kids from my team would be called up, as well as I know a few kids on the U15 AAA, U15 Gold and U15 Silver.

Size difference was very noticeable at the U15 level. Some kids were well over 6 feet at 200 lbs, meanwhile some kids are 5'5 and 135 lbs. Lots of disparity.

We did 8 tournaments and a fair bit of exhibition games in U13 and there wasn't really much for difference in average sizes at u13. A few outliers but no where near the difference I saw at u15.

 

[Yukon Joe]

My son is U13, I watched a fair bit of U15 when any kids from my team would be called up, as well as I know a few kids on the U15 AAA, U15 Gold and U15 Silver.

Size difference was very noticeable at the U15 level. Some kids were well over 6 feet at 200 lbs, meanwhile some kids are 5'5 and 135 lbs. Lots of disparity.

We did 8 tournaments and a fair bit of exhibition games in U13 and there wasn't really much for difference in average sizes at u13. A few outliers but no where near the difference I saw at u15.

I dunno - looking at my own kid's U13 AA team, you have kids who are like 5'5, but some who are like 4'8.

Curious to see how the introduction of hitting will change the game. This last year I could certainly see some highly skilled kids making moves (with their heads down) that would get them nearly killed if the defenders were allowed to hit...

 

[ChuckLefley]

Yes.

And even then only at higher tiers.

(Well, should be clear - I don't know if it's Hockey Canada or Hockey Alberta. But in recognized minor hockey - no hitting until U15 in our neck of the woods).

Wow. In the USA we have “competitive contact“ at most ages and hitting starts at 14u (bantam).

 

[patnyrnyg]

Wow. In the USA we have “competitive contact“ at most ages and hitting starts at 14u (bantam).

Yeah, my daughter is a 10U, but played a few games with one of our 12U teams. One thing I felt was that in the 10U games, if the player appears to be trying to play the puck but misses the puck and hits the player, it is ignored. In 12U, if you miss the puck and make contact, they were calling it. Could have been the small sample size of 12U games, could have been just the particular refs, could be how they are told to call for our leagues at each level. Or, I could just be completely off base entirely.

My son is U13, I watched a fair bit of U15 when any kids from my team would be called up, as well as I know a few kids on the U15 AAA, U15 Gold and U15 Silver.

Size difference was very noticeable at the U15 level. Some kids were well over 6 feet at 200 lbs, meanwhile some kids are 5'5 and 135 lbs. Lots of disparity.

We did 8 tournaments and a fair bit of exhibition games in U13 and there wasn't really much for difference in average sizes at u13. A few outliers but no where near the difference I saw at u15.

I know a kid who was a 1st year bantam. said this year was tough as he is REALLY skinny. Not short, but very skinny. Said he got lit up a few times.

 

[Yukon Joe]

So yes - U15 is the former bantam, U13 is the former peewee.

And yes, in U13 a rubout along the boards is allowed, as is "incidental" body contact, but straight-out hitting is a penalty.

Curious about the "huge GAP" you describe in U15, because having gone through U13 there was a huge gap in some kids who had hit puberty, and those who hadn't, in terms of size. I had thought it might start to even out in U15, but obviously my kid hasn't hit that age level yet.

So back to hitting...

My oldest boy moves into U15/Bantam next season, which introduces hitting. But before then he's playing spring hockey - and this is the first year any of these kids have played with hitting.

They played their first meaningful game yesterday and it was... interesting. You could tell these were kids with a shiny new toy they wanted to try out for the first time, because those kids were looking to take someone out every chance they could. It was actually kind of a mess to be honest. I hope it kind of balances out over the course of the spring season.

I know some people don't like spring hockey, which is fine, but this is the first year I'm really kind of glad he's doing it as trying to introduce hitting for the first time when he's out there for U15 tryouts would be all kinds of awful.

 

[patnyrnyg]

So back to hitting...

My oldest boy moves into U15/Bantam next season, which introduces hitting. But before then he's playing spring hockey - and this is the first year any of these kids have played with hitting.

They played their first meaningful game yesterday and it was... interesting. You could tell these were kids with a shiny new toy they wanted to try out for the first time, because those kids were looking to take someone out every chance they could. It was actually kind of a mess to be honest. I hope it kind of balances out over the course of the spring season.

I know some people don't like spring hockey, which is fine, but this is the first year I'm really kind of glad he's doing it as trying to introduce hitting for the first time when he's out there for U15 tryouts would be all kinds of awful.

Like you said it is spring hockey, so likely be taken a lot less seriously and intense when it comes to W's and L's. Sounds like the first few days of hitting in HS football after the conditioning practices. When I played, we could put pads on Day 3, but not hit until day 6 (not practice #6 as we still did 2-a-days). Well, day 6 and maybe even day 7 were borderline disaster. Was more about hitting than anything else. Day 6, it was a mix of conditioning and just various hitting drills. Day 7 was conditioning, hitting drills, and then some live scrimmaging. As we continued, hitting drills faded out for almost all live scrimmaging which was actually football. Don't get me wrong, days 6 and 7 were fun, especially after 5 days of conditioning where we had to wear full gear but not hit for 3 of them.