[icebaby]

I am Finnish. I know organisation of Finnish junior team, but it is interesting for me to understand, what is organisation in America. As I understood it a little bit different. help me to sift a question to the bottom!

For example, there is some hockey club, and it is presented in some league.
Am I right? And team of this hockey club play with teams of clubs, which consist this league of?

 

[Rids]

North American junior hockey is a different set up from the European model. While most European junior clubs have a parent senior team, junior teams here are a stand alone club. They are formed into leagues generally based on geography and then those leagues are ranked for estimated level of competition. While not an exact science the ranking level generally states the level of play to be expected by that team or league.

Here we have Major Junior (WHL, OHL and QJMHL), Jr. A (ie. BCHL, AJHL, SJHL, and quite a few more), Jr. B (usually smaller geographical areas are covered in a Jr. B league), and Jr. C (most Jr. C leagues are restricted to a major city and maybe it's outlying suburbs).

 

[panoo]

As far as the NHL teams go, their affiliations are in the "American Hockey League" "AHL".

If you look in here, AHL Team Affiliations (NHL) you will see which AHL team is associated with which NHL team.

 

[icebaby]

?

As far as the NHL teams go, their affiliations are in the "American Hockey League" "AHL".

If you look in here, AHL Team Affiliations (NHL) you will see which AHL team is associated with which NHL team.

What does it really mean, that NHL teams has affiliations in AHL? As I understood, club, which team play in NHL, has another one team, which play in AHL? Is it right?

 

[icebaby]

North American junior hockey is a different set up from the European model. While most European junior clubs have a parent senior team, junior teams here are a stand alone club. They are formed into leagues generally based on geography and then those leagues are ranked for estimated level of competition. While not an exact science the ranking level generally states the level of play to be expected by that team or league.

Here we have Major Junior (WHL, OHL and QJMHL), Jr. A (ie. BCHL, AJHL, SJHL, and quite a few more), Jr. B (usually smaller geographical areas are covered in a Jr. B league), and Jr. C (most Jr. C leagues are restricted to a major city and maybe it's outlying suburbs).

You explained me very good the system of junior clubs and cought the difference between Europe and America. I cant understand, for what was created this difference? Hockey is common kind of sport and we should have the same rules and the same organisation! It would be really better!

 

[panoo]

What does it really mean, that NHL teams has affiliations in AHL? As I understood, club, which team play in NHL, has another one team, which play in AHL? Is it right?

NHL = parent team

AHL = baby team

The 2 teams are related to each other.

If a player gets injured in the parent team "NHL", and is unable to play for a long period of time, they go to the baby team "AHL" for a player.

Does this help?

 

[icebaby]

another one guestion

I have so many questions, that I dont know which is more important!

the first:

It is very bid difference between junior hockey club/s sites. For example, in Finland if you found some site of hockey club, you can find a list of junior teams and inks to their own sites. And from the site of team you can read such information, as:
1. players (with photo and number and place on ice, and so)
2. information about coaches and administrators (each finnish junior hockey team has a very big staff, 6-12 men)with contacts
3. played matches (and a story about each match, where, with whom, score)
4. matches in future
5. tournaments
6. stats for teams and stats for each player

But I visited many sites of American junior Teams and I couldnt find such information!
Yhe organisation of American site is of course a little bit different, but you mast have such type of information, am I right.
May be I only couldnt find it?

the second:
When do the season of hockey for juniors began?
I mean matches in league? Where I can find for example the calendar of theese matches?

the fird:
How Americans divide teams?
As I understood, you have several teams:
Midget, Bantam, PeeWee, Squirt and Mite.
But in each team play players of 2 years? I am right?
When I see the name of team for example "Colorado Thunderbirds PeeWee AAA" I cant understand what the age of players 13 or 14 or may be other!

It is a little bit strange for me, because in Europe we have teams of one year:
Foe example in Finland you can find the team "Le-Ki D94"
And I know that in this teams there are players of 1994 year of birth.

 

[icebaby]

NHL = parent team

AHL = baby team

The 2 teams are related to each other.

If a player gets injured in the parent team "NHL", and is unable to play for a long period of time, they go to the baby team "AHL" for a player.

Does this help?

What about the skills of theese players?
"Best" players play in NHL, and "bad" in AHL?

 

[panoo]

What about the skills of theese players?
"Best" players play in NHL, and "bad" in AHL?

Best players play in the NHL, yes.

The players that play in the AHL aren't bad, just not enough skill yet for the NHL, that's why they are the baby team, they have to learn more about the game, and develop their skills better.

 

[panoo]

There are so many, it's impossible to list them all. But here's a few for you to check out.

NHL (National Hockey League) Site: NHL.com - The National Hockey League Web Site

AHL (American Hockey League) Site: theahl.com: Home

CHL (Canadian Hockey League) Site: Welcome to the CHL.ca

ECHL (East Coast Hockey League) "AA" Site: ECHL - Premier 'AA' Hockey League

UHL (United Hockey League) "AA" Site: Home

I have so many questions, that I dont know which is more important!

the first:

It is very bid difference between junior hockey club/s sites. For example, in Finland if you found some site of hockey club, you can find a list of junior teams and inks to their own sites. And from the site of team you can read such information, as:
1. players (with photo and number and place on ice, and so)
2. information about coaches and administrators (each finnish junior hockey team has a very big staff, 6-12 men)with contacts
3. played matches (and a story about each match, where, with whom, score)
4. matches in future
5. tournaments
6. stats for teams and stats for each player

But I visited many sites of American junior Teams and I couldnt find such information!
Yhe organisation of American site is of course a little bit different, but you mast have such type of information, am I right.
May be I only couldnt find it?

the second:
When do the season of hockey for juniors began?
I mean matches in league? Where I can find for example the calendar of theese matches?

the fird:
How Americans divide teams?
As I understood, you have several teams:
Midget, Bantam, PeeWee, Squirt and Mite.
But in each team play players of 2 years? I am right?
When I see the name of team for example "Colorado Thunderbirds PeeWee AAA" I cant understand what the age of players 13 or 14 or may be other!

It is a little bit strange for me, because in Europe we have teams of one year:
Foe example in Finland you can find the team "Le-Ki D94"
And I know that in this teams there are players of 1994 year of birth.

 

[Rids]

I have so many questions, that I dont know which is more important!
the fird:
How Americans divide teams?
As I understood, you have several teams:
Midget, Bantam, PeeWee, Squirt and Mite.
But in each team play players of 2 years? I am right?
When I see the name of team for example "Colorado Thunderbirds PeeWee AAA" I cant understand what the age of players 13 or 14 or may be other!

Let's tackle this one first. Sports associations (or club associations) handle what we call minor hockey. This association takes care of teams from the smallest little ones (Mighty Mites) to Midget. At each level you have two years to play except Midget which has a third year available to them. On rare occassions you can be moved up into a division and get a third year that way (ex. a 14 year old Sidney Crosby played Midget when he should have been in Bantam - I saw him play and if he was in bantam he would've scored 300 goals that year)

Inside each level they break it down even farther to rank each team. Teams will then play other teams in their same level. This is done by letter designations. PeeWee A is higher than PeeWee B, PeeWee C, PeeWee D. Here's the next twist AAA is the top level available. So when you see a PeeWee AAA, Bantam AAA or Midget AAA those are the best players in that age category.

Calgary is home to the Mac's Midget Tournament that is for Midget AAA and has seen Finland U-16 teams come over to play before.

 

[Rids]

the first:

It is very bid difference between junior hockey club/s sites. For example, in Finland if you found some site of hockey club, you can find a list of junior teams and inks to their own sites. And from the site of team you can read such information, as:
1. players (with photo and number and place on ice, and so)
2. information about coaches and administrators (each finnish junior hockey team has a very big staff, 6-12 men)with contacts
3. played matches (and a story about each match, where, with whom, score)
4. matches in future
5. tournaments
6. stats for teams and stats for each player

Each Major Junior team carries a roster around 25 players. They also have affliates with midget AAA teams and even some of the Jr. A and Jr. B teams around. These affliates can be brought up in case of injury or as a short term replacement.

Each Major Junior team has a coaching staff ranging from 2-5 people. A head coach, assistant or two then specialized coaches for goaltenders and a skating coach.

Then above them was a general manager usually with at least one assistant. Then a director of operations that oversees the entire project.

On the other half of the GM's desk is the scouting. Teams will have at least 3 or 4 scouts to view not only their upcoming opponents but preview the upcoming bantam players for the annual bantam draft. Lots of staff.

 

[BE-LEAF-ABLE]

What does it really mean, that NHL teams has affiliations in AHL?

Yes. AHL teams are affiliates of NHL teams.

Players that are drafted or signed by NHL teams are sent to their NHL team's affiliate in the AHL if the Coach of the NHL team doesn't think that they are ready to play in the NHL yet, or if they are not considered good enough for a full time spot on the team. The AHL is the minor league of the NHL, and the players that are sent or playing there can be called up to play for the NHL team whenever the Coach (or sometimes GM) of the NHL team thinks that they are playing well enough in the AHL to get another chance to stay on the NHL team ahead of a player that isn't performing well, or if an injury occurs and they need a replacement.

When the Coach of the NHL team (or General Manager[GM]) doesn't want to have the player on his team yet, but doesn't want to trade them because they still see some value or potential in them, they send them down incase they might still want to call them up later on in the season. For the younger players, it's also to see if their play has improved enough in the AHL to join the NHL team.

For example:

The Toronto Maple Leafs' AHL affiliate is the Toronto Marlies.

A player from the minors, Ben Ondrus, was given a chance to play with the Leafs this year. However, he struggled a lot on the ice when he got a chance to play for them, and eventually he was sent back down to the Toronto Marlies, because the Coach (Paul Maurice) didn't think that he was good enough to play on his team.

He can be called up later in the season if the Leafs' Coach wishes, but the Leafs currently have no use for him in the NHL.

Anyway, that's mostly the case for the American Hockey League (AHL).

I haven't gone into the lower ranks, but Panoo has posted them down already. There are a few twists and turns here and there, but for the most part that is pretty much the order they go in.

Anyway, if you have anymore questions on the matter, there are many members here that are sure to answer your questions.

 

[Rids]

Yes. AHL teams are affiliates of NHL teams.

Players that are drafted or signed by NHL teams are sent to their NHL team's affiliate in the AHL if the Coach of the NHL team doesn't think that they are ready to play in the NHL yet, or if they are not considered good enough for a full time spot on the team. The AHL is the minor league of the NHL, and the players that are sent or playing there can be called up to play for the NHL team whenever the Coach (or sometimes GM) of the NHL team thinks that they are playing well enough in the AHL to get another chance to stay on the NHL team ahead of a player that isn't performing well, or if an injury occurs and they need a replacement.

When the Coach of the NHL team (or General Manager[GM]) doesn't want to have the player on his team yet, but doesn't want to trade them because they still see some value or potential in them, they send them down incase they might still want to call them up later on in the season. For the younger players, it's also to see if their play has improved enough in the AHL to join the NHL team.

Now the AHL also brings another factor into it. Not every player can be simply sent down to the minors. Everything depends on their contract situation. If you are a player on a two way deal then the parent club (NHL team) can basically yo-yo you between the NHL and AHL if they wanted to. A regular NHL contract is a one way deal which means that for a player to go from the parent club to the AHL team they must clear NHL waivers first.

Being placed on waivers means that any of the other NHL teams have the chance to pick you up instead of you going to the AHL. Trick is that the new NHL team must keep you up on the big club for at least 30 (? - think it's 30...it used to be 30) days. This happened with the Philly Flyers following that ugly loss to Buffalo. Petr Nedved, Nolan Baumgartner and another player that I can't remember had to be placed on waivers before they could be assigned to the Philly Phantoms (Flyers AHL team).

Also the NHL teams are on a contract basis with their AHL affliates. Edmonton for example has been without a dedicated AHL team for a few years and needs to work out deals with other NHL teams that allows for their players to play on their AHL teams. This can hamper your prospects development as you have no control on ice time and things like that but it is cheaper to "rent" 6 spots on someone else's AHL team than maintain a full roster of 25 of your own players plus coaching staff.

 

[icebaby]

So as I understood, in the team for example Bantam play children of 13 and 14 years old?
So I cant say that bantam teams year of birth is 1992, but 1992 and 1993?
So in one team olay juniors 1. 1993 year of birth, first year in Bantam
and 2. 1994 year of birth, second year in Bantam.
But isnt it offending for children 1992, they play second year in this Bantam and are more skilled than 1993?

 

[icebaby]

another question

Is stats important for children?
Where can I find stats of junior teams in common and junior players?
or stats are important only for adults, not for children?

 

[Rids]

So as I understood, in the team for example Bantam play children of 13 and 14 years old?
So I cant say that bantam teams year of birth is 1992, but 1992 and 1993?
So in one team olay juniors 1. 1993 year of birth, first year in Bantam
and 2. 1994 year of birth, second year in Bantam.
But isnt it offending for children 1992, they play second year in this Bantam and are more skilled than 1993?

Most bantam teams are made up of a mix of first and second year bantam players. Player ability is how the teams get picked and determines their ranking once the season starts.

For example take a smaller town like mine. All of the kids bantam age get asked if they would like to try out for the top A team. Those that do not want to play that level of competition get grouped together and play in the bottom level. Those that want to try out for the top team will go through a series of try outs. Following those 4 or 5 tryouts the A level coaches will select the best players for the A team. The next 20 players will become the B team and so on. This year I believe Airdrie has 5 or 6 bantam teams so the A team is the top 20 players out of this group of 120 regardless of age within this group.

 

[Rids]

Is stats important for children?
Where can I find stats of junior teams in common and junior players?
or stats are important only for adults, not for children?

Stats for juniors are available on their league websites, usually a main link on their front page. For stats of players who are out of hockey you can find them on the Hockey Database (The Internet Hockey Database -- Hockey Statistics, Logos, and Trading Cards)

 

[icebaby]

So, for example, in one team Bantam A coaches can chose the best players, which year of birth can be 92 and 93?
a mix of 2 or 3 years?
Interesting...

It is impossible for Europe! We name our junior teams for exaple Sport-D94, and all players of this team are 1994 year of birth!

Most bantam teams are made up of a mix of first and second year bantam players. Player ability is how the teams get picked and determines their ranking once the season starts.

For example take a smaller town like mine. All of the kids bantam age get asked if they would like to try out for the top A team. Those that do not want to play that level of competition get grouped together and play in the bottom level. Those that want to try out for the top team will go through a series of try outs. Following those 4 or 5 tryouts the A level coaches will select the best players for the A team. The next 20 players will become the B team and so on. This year I believe Airdrie has 5 or 6 bantam teams so the A team is the top 20 players out of this group of 120 regardless of age within this group.

 

[icebaby]

!!!

Stats for juniors are available on their league websites, usually a main link on their front page. For stats of players who are out of hockey you can find them on the Hockey Database (The Internet Hockey Database -- Hockey Statistics, Logos, and Trading Cards)

Thank you very mach! It is very usefull link for me! I ll look throught.

Of course it is good, when all statistics of all teams are collected in one site, but why do you not place stats in personal teams sites?