what can you tell me about the MN JR "A" League?

justhavefun · Post by **justhavefun** » Tue Apr 07, 2009 3:22 pm

What can you tell me about the MN JR "A" League? I know its considered a tier 3 JR Program. are the teams competitive? or is it just a Hack league? is it a respected well run league ?? what else ?

DubCHAGuy · Post by **DubCHAGuy** » Tue Apr 07, 2009 5:21 pm

It's ok. Pretty unbalanced from top to bottom. The Ice Hawks (Rochester) are always pretty good. The top teams might have a few players get picked up by the NAHL or D3 colleges each year. Teams typically get kids who would be solid 2nd or 3rd liners on quality AA HS teams. Not sure about the "hack" or fighting component but my guess would be there is more of it than you would see in the NAHL or USHL.

justhavefun · Post by **justhavefun** » Wed Apr 08, 2009 3:32 pm

not much response? alot of views. My guess many do not know much about it. Thanks anyway..

GR3343 · Post by **GR3343** » Wed Apr 08, 2009 3:34 pm

justhavefun wrote:not much response? alot of views. My guess many do not know much about it. Thanks anyway..

Maybe try the junior hockey portion of the board located a few steps below the high school hockey. You may get more of a response.

nipe 6 · Post by **nipe 6** » Wed Apr 08, 2009 5:29 pm

The MJ is not a good league. The only D1 recruits they get are when high schoolers play their Sophomore or Junior when the high school season isnt going on (Turnbull and Benik). Maybe only a handful of players are good enough to play D3. Not many people will continue playing once they are to old to play in the league. The league embarrasses the Junior A name.

Goldy Gopher · Post by **Goldy Gopher** » Thu Apr 09, 2009 11:08 am

nipe 6 wrote:The MJ is not a good league. The only D1 recruits they get are when high schoolers play their Sophomore or Junior when the high school season isnt going on (Turnbull and Benik). Maybe only a handful of players are good enough to play D3. Not many people will continue playing once they are to old to play in the league. The league embarrasses the Junior A name.

It's not the best league, after all it is Tier III. But embarrassing the Junior A name? Are you serious?

RLStars · Post by **RLStars** » Thu Apr 09, 2009 3:13 pm

Goldy Gopher wrote:
nipe 6 wrote:The MJ is not a good league. The only D1 recruits they get are when high schoolers play their Sophomore or Junior when the high school season isnt going on (Turnbull and Benik). Maybe only a handful of players are good enough to play D3. Not many people will continue playing once they are to old to play in the league. The league embarrasses the Junior A name.
It's not the best league, after all it is Tier III. But embarrassing the Junior A name? Are you serious?

Maybe nipe6 got cut from an MJ team? He seems a little bitter.

northwoods oldtimer · Post by **northwoods oldtimer** » Thu Apr 09, 2009 3:55 pm

justhavefun,
If you still have a desire to play I would say go for it. The league manages to churn out some kids who move on to D3 play. Do not let a handful of arrogant comments detract you from playing....best wishes.

LetsPlayHockey22 · Post by **LetsPlayHockey22** » Fri Apr 10, 2009 2:28 am

Its better than nothing to continue your career. It has gotten a lot better than how it used to be really a goon league. Some skilled players come out of it and overall its fairly decent hockey

nipe 6 · Post by **nipe 6** » Fri Apr 10, 2009 11:29 am

If I got cut I would most likely say its a good league then eh? It should not be considered Junior A. It's very misleading. I think junior A leagues should be able to produce a number of division one talent.

Daulton911 · Post by **Daulton911** » Fri Apr 10, 2009 1:21 pm

I think its fairly new - Longest history is the MN Owls (i believe) which is 10 - 12 years ??. top end teams are pretty good, top end teams will give lower to middle of the road NAHL team a run for there money. Bottom team was really poor except for a couple of players. Fun to watch though. some teams have really quality people giving kids another option or chance. and that's never a bad thing.

Lakeviewing · Post by **Lakeviewing** » Mon Apr 13, 2009 1:25 am

nipe 6 wrote:If I got cut I would most likely say its a good league then eh? It should not be considered Junior A. It's very misleading. I think junior A leagues should be able to produce a number of division one talent.

PLEASE MOVE ON, a good league, but if one is seeking a scholorship to a D1 team needs to be realistic. Skating one to two years on a NAHL team or a Minnesota Junior team might get you a D-3 opportunity only. There propobaly are a small number of kids to make the jump to a USHAL team their second year. Unless you are on the radar of the Developmental team in Ann Arbor as a U-15 or are recuited as a junior in high school for a USHAL team, you need to be realistic and steer your kid to go to college. They will probably have more fun playing club or intermial hockey. I have no problem with these type of team's existing and offering opportunities to kids, but the parents need to inform their kids to levels of opportunity. These kids are 18-19 year old skaters and need to be guided by their parents as too reality. Bottom line is go to college.

Blue&Gold · Post by **Blue&Gold** » Mon Apr 13, 2009 9:19 am

Lakeviewing wrote:
nipe 6 wrote:If I got cut I would most likely say its a good league then eh? It should not be considered Junior A. It's very misleading. I think junior A leagues should be able to produce a number of division one talent.
PLEASE MOVE ON, a good league, but if one is seeking a scholorship to a D1 team needs to be realistic. Skating one to two years on a NAHL team or a Minnesota Junior team might get you a D-3 opportunity only. There propobaly are a small number of kids to make the jump to a USHAL team their second year. Unless you are on the radar of the Developmental team in Ann Arbor as a U-15 or are recuited as a junior in high school for a USHAL team, you need to be realistic and steer your kid to go to college. They will probably have more fun playing club or intermial hockey. I have no problem with these type of team's existing and offering opportunities to kids, but the parents need to inform their kids to levels of opportunity. These kids are 18-19 year old skaters and need to be guided by their parents as too reality. Bottom line is go to college.

I'm not going to get into a long discussion on this, but I can name quite a few NAHL guys getting D1 opportunities, and/or USHL opps as well. Not as many as USHL, but enough to make Tier II viable and one that should be aimed for.

The point I do want to make is that you talk about parents education the players... I think that it's more of a point that someone needs to bring the parents back to reality. As soon as the league got it's "A" status the impact on the parents was a sudden "my Johnny is going to make D1" syndrome. Kids want to play, and if Mom and Dad will pay, who is going to say no? I agree that the best many of the Tier III guys will make is a D3 gig somewhere, probably WI or the lesser MIAC teams. What people don't realize is just how competative the D3 landscape is, and that many of the MIAC teams have good NAHL and even some USHL players on their roster. If you can't make an NAHL team, what makes you think you can compete with the better NAHL players for a spot?

HighSchoolHockeyForums.com

what can you tell me about the MN JR "A" League?

what can you tell me about the MN JR "A" League?

MN J league