Tier I Tryouts

[Crash]

I read this entire thread. The drama never ends. I only just started to look ahead as my kid is just starting his 2nd year of Bantam, but I was shocked to learn that there is no College Division 1 hockey west of Colorado except Phoenix.

He wants to go to Stanford, and they have Div 2 hockey but you have to pay. No hockey scholarships but they have 500 other athletic scholarships. He can probably get a swimming or WP scholarship but then have no time to play hockey which is his first sport.


Does anyone else find this shocking, that there is no college hockey in the west above D2? And that I have to worry about it when he's 14! Yikes.

[SDHockeyDad]

Alaska Anchorage and Fairbanks have D1 Programs

[Nowhearthis]

Don't sweat it Crash.  You have to sit out college and play juniors for 2 years before D1 anyway.  Stanford will look much better on his resume, guaranteed, and he will graduate 2 years earlier.

[The Hun]

The ideal "fair way" to run tryouts would be, to be 100% transparent. But to be that way, a lot of things from the players side would have to be transparent too. In the end, there is no such thing. Some tryouts are more fair than others, but none of them are totally fair. The coach has to look out for his team's interest. If he has a kid in mind, but the kid decides to go somewhere else, then he needs to  have a plan B. But if tells the kid from plan B what's really going on, then the kid may not show up either. So, he has to play both sides sometimes. He also needs to compare his top picks to others, who are close enough, but not quite there. Just in case he needs to change his mind. So, he needs more kids at the tryout, than just the 20 that he picks. The ideal would be to have at least 50% more, so he can make comparisons. But he can't tell you "hey, your kid is just cannon fodder, I just need him on the ice as an extra".


This is why, a parent needs to do the leg-work before the tryout. Talk to the coaches. Ask the right questions, so that, if they are not 100% committed to you, you can still read them "between the lines". Do that with several teams, and then play the numbers game, to give yourself a good chance. We are talking about kids who are not "super-stars", of course, they are in a different category.


I was lucky in this regard, my kid never had to "really" try out, because I always got the "Yes" from the coaches before the tryouts happened. In fact, more often than not the coach called me before I called him. I guess, he is a good enough player to rise to the top 10% among his peers. Not quite a "stud", but not too far from them either. But I've been around all kinds of tryouts and combines (including the USHL combine), and talked to enough coaches, from AAA to A, to see how it works. If you go to a tryout without having a solid talk with the coach, then your kid better be one of the top ones. Otherwise, it's your fault if you get blind-sided.
I am also aware that if your son is a goalie, that's an entirely different universe. Almost like a "twilight zone". My comments are about skaters, not goalies.

[cog254]

Tryouts for goalies suck plain and simple....goalies are almost ALWAYS picked before tryouts and that's why the skates and clinics are so important.

[The Hun]

It kind of makes sense....imagine a great team, where the coach is relying on the goalies that show up on the day of the tryout. It could easily end up in a disaster. A potentially great team wasted a season, because the coach didn't secure a good goalie ahead of time, and all the good goalies signed with teams that secured them a spot.


So, yes, one must get the goalies before the tryout. You make a great point, it's all about the clinics and private lessons.

[The Hun]

Does anyone else find this shocking, that there is no college hockey in the west above D2? And that I have to worry about it when he's 14! Yikes.

Very simple: travel costs.
It's not about how much hockey talent is born in California, or the entire west coast. If there were D1 teams around here, players could come here from other parts of the country. Plenty of people would love to live in this climate and play hockey here. And we have two NHL teams in LA alone, so it's not like there is no market for hockey down here.  But there must be a conglomerate of colleges located within driving distance, all of them having D1 teams. So, that the teams don't have to board a plane for every game.


I asked the same question from a scout at the USHL combine in Chicago, last month. All the 17 USHL teams are within driving distance, so they don't waste time traveling.


At some point, californians need to bite the bullet and start D1 college teams, by giving them a generous endowment to cover travel costs. Once we have a few teams close to each-other, it will be easier to add more and more to the group.

[CahaMama]

It kind of makes sense....imagine a great team, where the coach is relying on the goalies that show up on the day of the tryout. It could easily end up in a disaster. A potentially great team wasted a season, because the coach didn't secure a good goalie ahead of time, and all the good goalies signed with teams that secured them a spot.


So, yes, one must get the goalies before the tryout. You make a great point, it's all about the clinics and private lessons.

We learned that valuable lesson trying out for 15UAAA this year. We got a great lead on a great team with a great coach who needed an 02 goalie. We didn't get an offer at tryouts because the coach had never heard of my son. As he succinctly put it "I don't even know if he can skate or not." OK. Definitely a lesson learned. Do all the clinics you can. Do all of the 3 on 3s you can. Build a resume with accomplishments (this is big on the east coast I am told). Get in front of the coach early and often. My poor kid lost a valuable year at AAA, but he can be that much more impressive (I hope) next year. Lesson learned.

[DustyBender]

Private lessons! Buy his attention the old fashion CAHA way. Line the coache's pocket a few times a week, and promise to continue after he makes the team.


"60% of the time, it works every time"*




*Bonus points if you can name the movie!!!!

[1hockeydad]

Private lessons! Buy his attention the old fashion CAHA way. Line the coache's pocket a few times a week, and promise to continue after he makes the team.


"60% of the time, it works every time"*




*Bonus points if you can name the movie!!!!

No guarantees here either.   My son has skated with a coach for years.  He was always complimentary and good with him, until the last skates before tryouts. Then it started to change.  Ultimately,  the team has another handler who didn't care to have my son on the team.  Guess what happened.