Hockey Career Paths Pee Wee to Pro: AHL, CHL, ECHL, USHL, CJHL, NAHL, NCAA, USport, etc. 

Id like to share with you all my path. I played division 1 NCAA at Michigan State University. I graduated in 99, so my path was in the 90s. I am from New York. Not a hot bed for hockey at that time. I played youth hockey locally. I played local high school and JR.A in the EJHL (Eastern junior hockey league) which was the ONLY junior A League in the north east at the time. Equivalent to what the NAHL is now. I could have played in the USHL, but i did not have the family or financial support. In those days, scouts were not travelling south of connecticut to watch players. If you wanted to play college hockey, you had to either play in the USHL, minnesota high school, or New England Prep school like cushing, exeter, Avon (brian leetch.. who was from texas). So i had to really put myself out there. Cold calling coaches and scouts.. playing in as many tournaments as possible. My lucky break came when my NY HIgh school team (st.Marys) played at the hockey night in boston tournament. I got noticed, played in the empire state games (NYC was the worst team but i wad tourney MVP). I played 1 year for the springfield pics (mass.) An "independent" junior team. Spent the majority of my senior year playing tournaments, busted my ass 24/7. I played half a season my freshman year of college at Quinnipiac (which was still D3 at the time), and the coach from MSU said hey, wanna play here? I transfered and the rest is history. I remember being the kid for NYC nobody ever heard of. 4 best years of my life. I COULD have played pro. I wasnt drafted cuz my size, but i wanted to join the army anyway. I was a career officer (2nd bat, 75th ranger regiment). I recently retired. OH MY GOD how times have changed with USA hockey. Especially here in NYC. SO many opportunity for the kids now. The moral of my story boys, if me, an unknown kids from NYC can skate and run and shoot and lift and dangle skate and skate and skate (til i puke) my way onto an elite division college roster, ANYONE can! Dont worry so much about going here and going there and "oh i gotta play for this team or i have to be in that league". Itll come. The key to success.. if you really want the dream to come true.. BE-THE-BEST. Whatever you love and youre good at, always remember Youre never good ENOUGH. you HAVE to get better. Somebody out there wants it more than you. Bust your ass to be better than him. Never stop dreaming. Never quit working. Never settle for less than perfection. The more you sweat and puke and cry and bleed in practice, the less youll have to in a game. And one last thing.. if youve gotten this far, this advice is golden. ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS practice and play as if there is a scout in the stands watching you. Because.... there usually is. You can have 99 perfect shifts. You get in a fight with your mom, or your girl, you failed a test... leave that crap in the locker room. Get on the ice and turn that anger into a killer shift. Cuz that scout has your number. Good luck boys

Been there, done that. As a parent I can tell you it takes $$$, and lots of it.

The AHL is the minor league affiliate of the NHL. They are essentially part of the NHL

I actually play for the London Knights In NHL 19...

I played in the OHA Jr C for the Amherstview jets for a 6 month stent 06-07 season, then in 2007-08 the AJHL for the sprouce groove royals/regals Jr A and Jr B and finally played in the WSHL for the Long Beach Bombers. In 09 I hung up the skates, but landed a job as a stick locker room attendant for the LA Kings and went on to be apart of two Stanley Cup championships and earned two of my own rings. All is well that ends well. I miss hockey a lot but I have never stopped being a hockey player, the life sessions, and dedication and desire to finish what you start are with me forever. Thanks for the video!

I like how he included the SPHL, the league that has the team to me. I play for the U-18 Jr Ice Bears.

I play in Bloomington Illinois bantam AA and it was cool to see the flying aces on there knowing I practice on their ice all the time

Thanks for making these...finally me and family can figure out where to go from here! I'd love to see one on what opportunities exist in European hockey for a developing youth goalie.... We keep pulling them here on billet, why not go the other way...? Finland and Sweden make some awesome goalies.

I wish this information was available when I was coming up in the late 90's. I went and played high school varsity as a freshman in Michigan when I should have played juniors at 16. It was a dead end as we were not a winning team with any visibility.

I play for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms youth and a lot of the times we either practice with riley cote or some AHL players

Saginaw Spirit, ah my home town, but now i live in everblades country so i guess i should go to a game

All my friends are going to the ushl or prep and I’m stuck still playing aaa.😂

Fort Wayne Komets, since 1952. Doc Emrick grew up listening to the Komets play on WOWO radio, announced by Bob Chase. Also, pronounced "Sue" Saint Marie lol.

Great video....as a beer leaguer I'd say that's the route for an enforcer

Where does the naphl rank on these or even the usphl

The MHL made me a hockey fan again. CJHL Junior A. It’s fast fun hockey! A lot of the young men play college (U Sport or NCAA) or pro in Europe.

What an amazing video, such good work put into this one. Awesome job man!

I play in the na3hl for the Danbury Colonials! This is our inaugural season so wish us luck!!

For the Muskegon Lumberjacks, it’s pronounced ‘Musk-eegan’

Yeah good vid but learn the city names I’ll bet a bunch of us canucks aren’t too pleased

Where did the list of U Sports teams go. U of A Golden bears. Greatest collegiate team there is!

in the nahl map it is missing the Maryland black bears also loved the video, keep it up!

i laughed hard at "keh-lown-yah"

OMG!! How I like to see Mike as a Coach. He has good speaking voice. And seeing himself Coach excites me. I haven't seen him at Michigan State. I'm anxious to see him. I am sorry but I am difficulty my phone .

Thanks for the video. My son plays for the Fairbanks Hockey Club 6U Ice Puppies.

My big problem is I want to get to at least OHL level but my parents aren’t big on me getting good at hockey so while I want to try out for AA or AAA my parents won’t fund it. Cuz it’s expensive to be on a travel team

Well I’m going into first year bantam in Florida and I’m Considered one of the best defensemen for the level but I’m A and AA plus the occasional call up to help out a AAA open team as a decent 4th line the only path I see is playing college

This man said “OOO”tica Comets.😂 It’s one of those words that’s actually pronounced how it looks bro. I know it’s a bit odd but you actually pronounce it the way it sounds, with the U. “YOU”tica Comets. I’m picky about grammar, but love the content man. Grew up loving hockey, but never knew how the system worked because it was so complex. Thanks for breaking it down

You forgot about Northern Michigan in the Division 1 American college hockey

In other words for the USHL More than half of the teams play in Iowa and Illinois

Great video! one thing though payers are allowed a 36 hour pto before if they choose to stay junior then they are ineligible for ncaa

You should do a video on the MN HS Hockey

PlayStation Platinum Cup. Hosted by the Toronto Maple Leafs & the GTHL. Hosting 24 teams across (3)U11 divisions: U11A,U11AA,and U11AAA. Open to any OHF or USA teams.

The pronunciations were great: Pedo-bury Petes, Soodbury Wolves, Gelf Storm, Salt Saint Marie Greyhounds,

Roll Saint Paul academy hockey glad to see we made the video

Hello Culturama. Really like your videos, particularly about the Prep Schools and this video. Wanted to ask though about another league the KHL, which some people say is just under the NHL. Will you make a video about the KHL and players coming over from that league to the NHL like you did with this video about these leagues. Thanks again.

What a video! Wow! It makes so much more sense now!

EHL? USPHL?

Go T-Birds!

Patrick Kane also played in the NAHL

We really dont need you to list off all of the teams one by one, please.

I’m from Ontario so it enjoyable

Thanks for the video. Good content. IMO though ditch the listing of the teams and stick to the title "Career Paths". The teams are easy enough to lookup.

Salt saint greyhouds, Gelph storm

The FHL and SPHL are truly more independent unlike the AHL and ECHL whose teams are all minor league affiliates of NHL teams. Both the FHL and SPHL are long shots at developing anyone for the NHL. Many DI NCAA college players who cannot crack NHL lineups will start in the AHL or ECHL. Over 80% of American born players in the NHL played DI college hockey. I would like to see the USHL expand more, especially eastward, and down south.

You forgot about the LNAH, it is the same level as the SPHL and the FHL

I used to live in a town and there team was Iroquois Falls Eskimos and they were in the northern ontario league

im 21 and i just wish i could play timbits, thats the level im at, and that the kind of hockey id want to join

So basically this guy just mentioned the top non professional teams....Sick vid

it is 2019 and the most direct way to get to the NHL is NCAA but nice video gave me a good idea of the levels

My team is Minot minotauros

Are you with sno king? Like in renton

There is also the European hockey route. Very good professional hockey.

Great video! Thank you

I play bantam b and is it simply too late to get into a league like the ushl or is there even still a chance that I can go farther in my hockey career? What I got from this video is that if you aren't the best of the best you won't go anywhere. Is that true or is that just the way that it seems?

The Halifax Mooseheads, Cape Breton Screaming Eagles, Moncton Wildcats, Charlottetown Islanders and the Saint John Sea Dogs are in the Q but they have English names.

Will you still get a good chance to get on the radar if you start playing AAA at the midget level 16u?

Just curious how does D 1 NCAA compare go the ECHL or other lower farm leagues?

Long story short, the most IDEAL pathway for an "elite" North American player is: 1. Play AAA (Canada) or Tier 1 (USA) from age 8 or 9-15 2. Play CHL (Canada) or USHL (USA) from age 16-17 3. Play NHL at age 18

I think the most overlooked league is the AUS !

great job! Greetings from Germany (from a Russian;)!

Haha funny hearing him say the ohl names

CHL is the best league for development from age 16-20

Great Video.... Tks

Fort Wayne Komets ECHL fan right here

I like how he says kelowna. Not supposed to make an ow sound saying it lol

College hockey in my oppinion it best option but it’s hard to get into

I play A as a bantam minor do you think there is still a chance for me to play pro or semi pro?

That explains why crosby went to Minnesota for high school

Guelph not gelph

great video.

great video

I’ve wanted to make a lot of teams but I just can’t make it. They cut me every time so what’s the point of playing. My dreams of the nhl are officially over

Great video

I just want to play goalie and win my game ;-) It's that simply

muhs-kee-guh n Lumberjacks

Actually only one ECHL team in Canada. Brampton but it appears that St. John's Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada is getting an ECHL team, affiliate for the Maple Leafs.

I have a game against Honeybake today

Well i don’t play in any of theese leagues but i play im the SHL, Europes probably best hockeyleague. I’m 18 and i play for Brynäs IF, i am being scouted at the moment by first of all the Chicago Blackhawks since i played with Adam Boqvist for a while and we had a really good chemistry and assisted each other and got a pretty good ammount of points together, obviously Adam got more since he got drafted hahah. I can’t tell you who i am since privacy and so on with Brynäs and Chicago, I’m trying to get more playing time so i can get myself noticed by the NHL.

Every football fans brain melted and poured out of the ear. Hahahaha

"Hockey options for women..." Playing games in front of 30 people for bus fare. I can't wait for the video.

I thought the Eagles were in ahl

You did mention that collegiate hockey goes after more older athletes

im a second year peewee and i want to make the nhl and college hockey and stuff like that, so im not sure what i should do for highschool hockey to get scouted for college hockey so i dont know if i should play for a highschool team, aa team, or aaa team or if im able to do jr hockey but i dont really understand that. I would like if you could help me with that

RMJHL ceases operationd this year and now I don’t have a team to play for sadly

I play for the Elite AAA Jr. coyotes 13u

Salt sainte Marie lol... its soooo ste. Marie

Dude you forgot the beer league tiers

It blows my mind how many leagues there are

Laval rockets 🔥

Apologies, but this is the second vid from you guys where Muskegon was mispronounced. Respectfully, mus-KEY-gun.

Fun fact. The Calgary Hitmen were owned by WWE Legend Bret "The Hitman" Hart

Did I miss the Providence Bruins in the AHL somehow?

Hi there I have a few questions. i was wondering if you knew how a person would and would not be eligible to play for an Olympic hockey team. For example. someone who plays semi pro ECHL vs someone who has no team at the moment. I did look up team Canada. Largest PDF file EVERRRRR LOL Thank you for your time >;-)

I play for Grand valley stars bantam AA😂

What sucks is all illinois AAA teams are in the city

I would prob go to echl cause my home team is in that league

Ok, I started playing organized house leauge hockey at 12, I'm decent. Is there anyway I can get better, to get to these elite levels, or is my dream too late?

Where do the US national under 18s place in this?

and the henderson silver knights