Tier 1 Elite Hockey League 19U Girls Showcase in New Hampshire

[Hux]

Re: Tier 1 Elite Hockey League 19U Girls Showcase in New Hampshire

Two days after the tournament is over, still nearly half of the game results not entered.

Sometimes high-tech ain't all its cracked up to be. Probably would be better off to just have a web site link to a PDF, Word document, or spreadsheet that is easily updated.

 

[granddaddyscout]

Re: Tier 1 Elite Hockey League 19U Girls Showcase in New Hampshire

Funny, because I didn't get that sense at all. While some did say that there were some weak teams, there were also comments that they were seeing players that they hadn't seen before and liked what they saw from a number of players. I also noticed that the coaches stayed and watched all the games on Sunday, so it wasn't about LC or Mission.

Hux,
Define coaches, my understanding is that were 75% D3 coaches and they probably did see a few players they hadn't seen. The D1s I talked to were at St Anselm and they were pretty disappointed that they made the trip, so I am curious what is meant by calling it a success.

I also think the league made a questionable impression by having a 16U team go 5-0 including a 12-0 win. Hard to call yourself "Elite" when that happens.

 

[spike]

Re: Tier 1 Elite Hockey League 19U Girls Showcase in New Hampshire

As I have said previously, the problem with any "league" in women's hockey is that while the organizations are the same from year to year, the quality of the team playing for those organizations fluctuates wildly. I recall a few years ago being at a MWEHL showcase that featured NAHA, SSM, Colorado, TI (before Mission), and Honeybaked (when they were stronger than LC). Great hockey all weekend. The next year SSM and NAHA were gone and you could park an ice rink between the top half and bottom half of the league. We are seeing the same thing with Tier I and quite frankly we see the same thing with JWHL. Given the number of girls playing hockey, this is the inevitable result of having leagues.

IMHO a perfect world would have tournaments only, and as teams progress from September through October, tournament directors could seed the participating teams into upper and lower divisions to insure that every game features the best possible competitive balance. Unfortunately, that perfect world is in some other galaxy, so we have what we have.

 

[DC78-82]

Re: Tier 1 Elite Hockey League 19U Girls Showcase in New Hampshire

Hux,
Define coaches, my understanding is that were 75% D3 coaches and they probably did see a few players they hadn't seen. The D1s I talked to were at St Anselm and they were pretty disappointed that they made the trip, so I am curious what is meant by calling it a success.

I also think the league made a questionable impression by having a 16U team go 5-0 including a 12-0 win. Hard to call yourself "Elite" when that happens.

I was at the Whitt from start to finish on Sunday and saw coaches from UNH, BU, BC, Vermont, Maine, Colgate, Cornell, Brown, Dartmouth, and UMass Boston, and I didn't get to wander much

Sure, some of the games were snooze fests, but there were girls from some of the weaker teams that were getting some interest from coaches. That the coaches are aware of the Packer and Coyne caliber player goes without saying, but seeing some of the unknown or lesser knowns with college potential has to be a win - win. The way a player responds to a loss is an important part of the evaluation.

 

[BozIce99]

Re: Tier 1 Elite Hockey League 19U Girls Showcase in New Hampshire

Got me thinking....how many truly Tier 1 Elite teams are there in the US to begin with? Maybe 6 or 8? Fact is that there really aren't that many. Please don't start posting team names--that only upsets people due to inclusion or exclusion.

So, this league only has a couple of them, not all of them. It is what it is. Things usually weed themselves out by mid-season. Invite challenges/tourneys have always been the best venue to view consistent top-level girls hockey.

DC---good luck in the AM.

 

[pakidnyc]

Re: Tier 1 Elite Hockey League 19U Girls Showcase in New Hampshire

While maybe it wasn't a success for every D-1 school that attended, it certainly was an opportunity for some to see girls they don't normally get to. And more importantly it was a huge success for the players that attended. Just because a player isn't on LC, Mission or NAHA, doesn't mean she isn't D-1 calibre, and this was an opportunity for those players to get seen. All the colleges are aware of the Coynes and Packers of the world, but there are some girls who don't get to National Camp (there may only be 2-4 total slots from her district), their team doesn't make it to Nationals, but she could still be a D-1 calibre player.

Also, please don't discount the opportunity for these girls to be seen by D-3 schools. There have been many discussions on here about the limited number of scholarship opportunities at the D-1 level. Those D-3 schools do not have the recruiting budgets as D-1 schools do and the girls don't have a chance to be seen by them. If you look at the D-3 schools in the Midwest, they are populated by girls from the Midwest; NE by girls from NE -- so this gives the schools and the players an opportunity to expand their horizons.

I commend the TOEHL for taking this step and only hope it can be continued in the future.

 

[DC78-82]

Re: Tier 1 Elite Hockey League 19U Girls Showcase in New Hampshire

DC---good luck in the AM.

Thanks Boz - went pretty well. Off the pain killers, but not going to be raking leaves anytime soon! glad to have the college hockey season on the horizon for distraction!