Can anyone give some more information about the level of hockey in this league? I know its not sanctioned by Hockey Canada.
Has it improved at all? They have been expanding...
Is it worth it for all the money you pay? Do any players get scouted to college/university hockey?
I got an offer from a team there and as a 20 year old it doesn't matter if I leave a Hockey Canada sanctioned league because I am too old to play in most after this year anyway.
just like any of the fledgeling tier II Jr A leagues in the states and canada, the gmhl has good players and bad ones. the good ones get scouted and the bad ones don't. the good ones have gone on to NCAA div I and III, professional leagues CHL SPHL FHL and european leagues, tier I Jr A USHL OHL QMJHL MHL, and the best players have been scouted by NHL clubs. is it worth the money? unless you are 'cream of the crop' and destined for the NHL since the age of 10, nothing is free anymore. how much does it cost to run a Jr A hockey club? it easily costs well over $100,000 per season. with everything going on in the world economy these days, hockey clubs certainly don't have any significant sponsorship dollars coming their way. most teams that are in the tier II category find themselves barely managing to pull in a few thousand dollars per season, if they are lucky. without player fees, the teams would go under before they even started. GMHL teams charge between 6,000 and 10,000 depending on the program. what do you get for it? 2 - 4 hours of on ice practice per day, 4 or 5 days a week, off-ice training and video analysis, 42 game season + playoffs. some teams provide more effort into promoting their players with contacts and highlight tapes. after all of that, the GMHL is entering it's 6th season and keeps getting bigger. i am more and more impressed with this league each year. i hope that helps in your decision process and best of luck where ever you end up.
If you are paying that kind of money in my opinion it is too much. Food junior A teams don't charge anything in fact supply almost everything sticks included. Some will charge room and board but I would not pay more than that.
Quote:
Originally Posted by hockeyman333
just like any of the fledgeling tier II Jr A leagues in the states and canada, the gmhl has good players and bad ones. the good ones get scouted and the bad ones don't. the good ones have gone on to NCAA div I and III, professional leagues CHL SPHL FHL and european leagues, tier I Jr A USHL OHL QMJHL MHL, and the best players have been scouted by NHL clubs. is it worth the money? unless you are 'cream of the crop' and destined for the NHL since the age of 10, nothing is free anymore. how much does it cost to run a Jr A hockey club? it easily costs well over $100,000 per season. with everything going on in the world economy these days, hockey clubs certainly don't have any significant sponsorship dollars coming their way. most teams that are in the tier II category find themselves barely managing to pull in a few thousand dollars per season, if they are lucky. without player fees, the teams would go under before they even started. GMHL teams charge between 6,000 and 10,000 depending on the program. what do you get for it? 2 - 4 hours of on ice practice per day, 4 or 5 days a week, off-ice training and video analysis, 42 game season + playoffs. some teams provide more effort into promoting their players with contacts and highlight tapes. after all of that, the GMHL is entering it's 6th season and keeps getting bigger. i am more and more impressed with this league each year. i hope that helps in your decision process and best of luck where ever you end up.
If you are paying that kind of money in my opinion it is too much. Food junior A teams don't charge anything in fact supply almost everything sticks included. Some will charge room and board but I would not pay more than that.
Please tell me which tier II Jr 'A' teams you are referring to. I would really like to know which ones only charge room & board.
hey guys, i was a gmhl draft pick this past year.. so hopefully I can give some insight.
This is a good development league for those who have the money to play. It's filled with a lot of euro's with lots of cash.. and looking for the "canadian experience." While that may seem shaddy, it does offer generous amount of ice times and a real focus on development. See the Orangeville Americans for a team focused on development.
The down side.. it shouldn't be compared to the OJHL or other CJHL leagues. The hockey isn't the same, the exposure isn't the same, and it's just not the same as other junior hockey teams. The commissioner seems to own a few different teams, and really promote his training center.
With that said.. weigh the options.. is it worth playing for a team that's going to take your money, or would you rather look at Ontario Junior B or even C?
My linemate from last year is leading his team in points in that league. He played OMHA Juvenile last year, which isn't that great of a level. It's the same thing as u21 AAA for the GTHL and American teams.
After playing in the NOJHL, I was released and sent to a team in the GMHL, the cost was $4000 but the hockey was awful. I was on a lower level team but we played one of the top teams and even they were not very good. If you plan on developing, do not play in this league, you are better off to try and play Junior B and move up from there. Leagues like the PIJHL, VIJHL and KIJHL are all better than this league. I speak from experience.
I have heard of a kid who was going to play in this league but at the last minute he needed to pony up more cash for education I believe and he didnt end up going.
The league is Terrible!!. Wasnt too bad a few years ago but do to negative feedback. The league has gone down hill... if it could go any further. Owners ripping people off and making all kinds of false promisses. Like the former post said.. DO NOT go to this league as a last option. Beer leagues are better hockey. Coaches dont have a clue what theyre doing either. Most of them if they played at all.. played roller hockey.Thats no lie either!
this league is awful many of my buddies play there and they dominate it. not taking anything away from them because they are good but they never got d1 schollys or anything just rip this league and do so so in the nojhl i say stay away if you can. Its reallllly bad hockey.
I manage a Jr. C team that's in a market close to a GMHL team. Some of the high-end players would be at the high-end in our league, also, but I don't believe they'd have the points they do there. There have been some players there who probably would have been decent Tier Two players in sanctioned leagues.
I'm not sure there's the the same quality in the depth players as there are in Jr. C, at least from the players who have come our way to try out. I find few are there, and maybe that's why some of them are paying the money to play. I don't know many Jr. C teams that are charging players to play, and few are doing room and board. To me that's a difference. I'm not sure what kind of sanctioning process they have for coaches to complete either.
I will say, however, that a determined player can do well there. There was a player who played on one of teams at ages 15 and 16, skated and practiced every day, and then came to Jr. C for a year. He was a better player because of the quantity of ice. He had a good Jr. C year and is now among the leading scorers on an NOJHL team. It is possible to develop and most teams offer more ice than our level does.
As far as being scouted, I haven't run into a lot of people who watch the league, but I will say that they do have their contacts and they do seem to promote the kids very well to them.
I manage a Jr. C team that's in a market close to a GMHL team. Some of the high-end players would be at the high-end in our league, also, but I don't believe they'd have the points they do there. There have been some players there who probably would have been decent Tier Two players in sanctioned leagues.
I'm not sure there's the the same quality in the depth players as there are in Jr. C, at least from the players who have come our way to try out. I find few are there, and maybe that's why some of them are paying the money to play. I don't know many Jr. C teams that are charging players to play, and few are doing room and board. To me that's a difference. I'm not sure what kind of sanctioning process they have for coaches to complete either.
I will say, however, that a determined player can do well there. There was a player who played on one of teams at ages 15 and 16, skated and practiced every day, and then came to Jr. C for a year. He was a better player because of the quantity of ice. He had a good Jr. C year and is now among the leading scorers on an NOJHL team. It is possible to develop and most teams offer more ice than our level does.
As far as being scouted, I haven't run into a lot of people who watch the league, but I will say that they do have their contacts and they do seem to promote the kids very well to them.
I know somebody that played for The Red Wings, as a 15 year old, I have never seen him play but if most players are at a Jr.C or Jr.B level the scouts are not going to be there. As far as I know at least OHL scouts are not looking at young players in this league. <- then again that could also be do to hockey Canada's hatred of this league.
Hmm. My local NAHL team, the Springfield Jr. Blues, just picked a guy from Bobcaygeon's team yesterday in their league draft. Now I'm wondering about the pick a little more.
I just got a press release saying this league had members (must be alumni) on the NHL CSB list this season and had players move on to DI schools...I have a hard time believing this
Nevermind did my own research...Clint Windsor and Nikita Jevpolovs (who was the player in question, the press release stated he was a Bruins, Blues prospect. Hes not a Bruins prospect hasn't been invited to their development camp and unsure if hes been invited to the Blues development camp.) were on CSB list but saw no one one who played DI.
I coached in the GMHL last season. I would say that 3 or 4 out of the 13 teams would have been able to compete with the top tier 2 teams in the NOJHL. No more than that.
That being said, the GMHL has no restrictions on the amount of imports being carded, nor do they restrict where they can come from i.e. Euro's are allowed. Also, each team was allowed to carry five 21 year-olds.
It's a different animal altogether. The rules allow you to be able to assemble a pretty good team, if you know what you're doing. Fundamentally, it's a great idea. Allowing the free movement of players.
The problem with the GMHL is that most ownership groups don't know what they're doing and the league keeps expanding with the mindset of quantity over quality.
As a result, the top teams seem to be getting stronger each year, but the weak teams are no better then midget house league IMO.
Overall this is the worst Canadian "Junior A" league I have seen. IMO
