Only a fraction of NCAA Division 1 College Hockey Players will make a verbal commitment to attend a certain college prior to their Junior year of high school.
Furthermore, only a slightly larger number make that commitment prior to the start of their Senior year in high school.
There are approximately 50 or so NCAA Division 1 college hockey teams and each team has approximately 7 players per birthyear on its roster; or roughly 350 players per birth year in the USA and Canada who advance on to play Division 1 College Hockey.
Currently, only 20 players in the USA and Canada who are 1991 birthdates have made a verbal commitment to play for a Division 1 College Hockey Team; so roughly 330 players (or 95%) of the future 1991 birthyear Division 1 College Hockey Players have yet to verbally commit to a college.
Verbal commitments to high school underclassmen are a relatively recent phenomenon, and an opportunity that may be presented to certain high end players that colleges have identified.
If a player receives an opportunity to verbally commit to a school prior to his senior year of high school, and happens to be 100% sure of the college he wants to attend, than making a verbal commitment to that college may be advisable.
However, as the numbers clearly indicate, roughly 95% of all the players in a given birthyear who are future Division 1 College Hockey Players either wont have the opportunity to, or wont want to, commit early to a college prior to their senior year of high school.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Thanksgiving At Home For 92's!!
For the 92's on our team, I am pleased to announce that the director of the International Silver Sticks has agreed to accomodate our request to change our game schedule so that we can have Thanksgiving at home in Michigan.
Our first game was slated to be played on Thanksgiving Day at 5:30 PM in Whitby, which would have ruined family meal plans for the holiday.
Now players can have a Thanksgiving day meal with family and head up to Whitby afterwards .... but please note that due to our first game of the tournament being at 9:00 AM on Friday we would like all players to be in their hotel room in Whitby by 11:00 PM so please make your holiday meal time and travel plans accordingly.
Our new schedule of games in the International Silver Sticks Tournament will be:
FRI 41 Iroq#1 9:00 AM NORTH CENTRAL
FRI 96 Iroq#1 8:15 PM ELGIN-MIDDLESEX
SAT 114 Iroq#2 7:50 AM HALTON
Our first game was slated to be played on Thanksgiving Day at 5:30 PM in Whitby, which would have ruined family meal plans for the holiday.
Now players can have a Thanksgiving day meal with family and head up to Whitby afterwards .... but please note that due to our first game of the tournament being at 9:00 AM on Friday we would like all players to be in their hotel room in Whitby by 11:00 PM so please make your holiday meal time and travel plans accordingly.
Our new schedule of games in the International Silver Sticks Tournament will be:
FRI 41 Iroq#1 9:00 AM NORTH CENTRAL
FRI 96 Iroq#1 8:15 PM ELGIN-MIDDLESEX
SAT 114 Iroq#2 7:50 AM HALTON
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Issued Challenge To Forwards...Is Still Not Met
Following a stretch of late September exhibition games the coaches issued a strong challenge to our Forwards as a whole unit to start going HARD to the net, with and without the puck, and be willing to pay the price that needs to be paid physically in order to score goals.
10 games have since passed ....
Unfortunately, at the Border City Cup (with only 13 goals in 5 games) and the first MWEHL Showcase (with only 11 goals in 5 games) our Forwards as a unit failed our coaches challenge miserably.
Lets just say that our forwards (to choose one of the more pleasant analogies I have heard) attack our opponents net, with and without the puck, as if we have a carton of eggs in our pants and want to keep them from breaking.
Hopefully our coaches will not have to wait any longer for our Forwards as a unit to finally get the message that Our team will not score goals consistently until our forwards go hard to the front of the net, with and without the puck, and are willing to pay the price that needs to be paid physically in order to score goals.
10 games have since passed ....
Unfortunately, at the Border City Cup (with only 13 goals in 5 games) and the first MWEHL Showcase (with only 11 goals in 5 games) our Forwards as a unit failed our coaches challenge miserably.
Lets just say that our forwards (to choose one of the more pleasant analogies I have heard) attack our opponents net, with and without the puck, as if we have a carton of eggs in our pants and want to keep them from breaking.
Hopefully our coaches will not have to wait any longer for our Forwards as a unit to finally get the message that Our team will not score goals consistently until our forwards go hard to the front of the net, with and without the puck, and are willing to pay the price that needs to be paid physically in order to score goals.
Thursday, October 18, 2007
LC Game Rescheduled
Tuesday's postponed game against Little Caesars has been rescheduled for Thursday, December 20th from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM at Joe Louis Arena.
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Team Members Check Emails
Attention Team Members:
Be sure to check your email today for important team related information on jersey nameplates, new pre-game dryland t-shirts, new scouts brochures, and the rescheduling of Tuesday's Little Caesars league game.
Be sure to check your email today for important team related information on jersey nameplates, new pre-game dryland t-shirts, new scouts brochures, and the rescheduling of Tuesday's Little Caesars league game.
Monday, October 15, 2007
Science of Our Success
Funny how sports resemble science ... its all about formulas.
Like the winning formula that resulted in our big wins in a span of seven days over two of the top ten teams in the United States, the Rochester Alliance and the Chicago Mission. Disciplined Play (DP) + Puck Movement (PM) = Win (W).
or
Like the losing formula that resulted in our disappointing ties and losses against Team Ohio, Cleveland, Windsor, and the Chicago Fury. Undisciplined Play (UDP) + No Puck Movement (NPM)= Loss (L).
With the winning formula we yield a bit of our physicality for a more disciplined style of play and stay out of the penalty box; and we think pass first, carry the puck second to maximize the creativity and skill of the whole team.
but
With the losing formula we try to deliver big (often out of control) hits on every occasion and get careless with our sticks which result in way too many penalties; and we think carry the puck first, pass second which stifles the creativity and skill of the whole team.
(DP + PM = W)
Enough Said!
Like the winning formula that resulted in our big wins in a span of seven days over two of the top ten teams in the United States, the Rochester Alliance and the Chicago Mission. Disciplined Play (DP) + Puck Movement (PM) = Win (W).
or
Like the losing formula that resulted in our disappointing ties and losses against Team Ohio, Cleveland, Windsor, and the Chicago Fury. Undisciplined Play (UDP) + No Puck Movement (NPM)= Loss (L).
With the winning formula we yield a bit of our physicality for a more disciplined style of play and stay out of the penalty box; and we think pass first, carry the puck second to maximize the creativity and skill of the whole team.
but
With the losing formula we try to deliver big (often out of control) hits on every occasion and get careless with our sticks which result in way too many penalties; and we think carry the puck first, pass second which stifles the creativity and skill of the whole team.
(DP + PM = W)
Enough Said!
Thursday, October 11, 2007
And So It Begins......
Two intense weeks of training camp, two tournament semi-final appearances, and a 10-3-4 overall preseason record is officially in the books .....
..... now on to Act 3.
Before we enter the first-half of the regular season, its a good time to reflect on what we know, what we've accomplished, and what we expect.
What We Know: Our team "fabric" has all six of the "fibers" necessary to become a championship team: Skill, Speed, Toughness, Character, Chemistry, and Depth.
What We've Accomplished: Our team has put itself on the scouting community's radar and established itself as a true force to be reckoned with at the U-16 age level in the 2007-2008 season.
What We Expect: The U-16 age level in Michigan is very strong; perhaps stronger than ever. Early returns from games already played show that all five MWEHL Michigan teams are very good and every game this season is going to be a battle.
..... now on to Act 3.
Before we enter the first-half of the regular season, its a good time to reflect on what we know, what we've accomplished, and what we expect.
What We Know: Our team "fabric" has all six of the "fibers" necessary to become a championship team: Skill, Speed, Toughness, Character, Chemistry, and Depth.
What We've Accomplished: Our team has put itself on the scouting community's radar and established itself as a true force to be reckoned with at the U-16 age level in the 2007-2008 season.
What We Expect: The U-16 age level in Michigan is very strong; perhaps stronger than ever. Early returns from games already played show that all five MWEHL Michigan teams are very good and every game this season is going to be a battle.
Monday, October 8, 2007
Eclipse Sports Management Launches Website
Press Release:
Scott Greenspun, Michael Deutsch, and Brian Feldman are longtime National Hockey League Players Association (NHLPA) Certifed Player-Agents who advise and represent professional athletes together as Eclipse Sports Management (ESM), a boutique player representation firm with its home office on Madison Avenue in Manhattan, New York.
Today ESM launched its one-of-a-kind website located at esmhockey.com
Scott Greenspun, Michael Deutsch, and Brian Feldman are longtime National Hockey League Players Association (NHLPA) Certifed Player-Agents who advise and represent professional athletes together as Eclipse Sports Management (ESM), a boutique player representation firm with its home office on Madison Avenue in Manhattan, New York.
Today ESM launched its one-of-a-kind website located at esmhockey.com
Border City Cup Notes
When the Border City Cup Tournament schedule was announced last month we instantly pointed towards the Saturday afternoon matchup against the Rochester Alliance as a watershed game.
Playing Rochester, considered the premiere team in the State of New York this season and the #6 ranked Midget Minor team in North America by The Scouting News, was considered a measuring stick game for assessing our team at this point in the season.
The results were, needless to say, very encouraging as we crushed Rochester 6-2 in a lopsided game that virtually cemented our team's place on the national landscape as one of the best teams in the United States.
The Good: Team defense (defensemen and forwards) and goaltending this past weekend were outstanding as we surrendered only 6 total goals against in 5 games. Every team we played struggled to generate quality scoring chances and shots against us. Even in our 1-0 semifinal loss to Little Caesars we counted only 4 even strength shots on our net for the entire game with all of those shots coming from outside our defensize zone or just inside our blueline. Our penalty killing continues to be phenomenal ...... which leads to ....
The Bad: While the officiating in the tournament was by every team's account "utterly horrific", we are taking way, way to many penalties, many of which are of the undisciplined or unintelligent variety. While its nice to have a great penalty killing unit, it would be alot nicer not to have to use it so darn often each game. COUNT ON THIS BEING ADDRESSED BEFORE THE WEEKEND.
and
The Ugly: In 17 games this season no team (other Compuware at the Joe Maire) has come close to matching us in shots on goal or scoring chances. However, lack of finishing those shots and scoring chances continues to be our teams #1 achilles heel (note: see "The Bad" above for our #2 achilles heel). We managed only 13 goals scored in 5 games in the Border City Cup with half of those goals coming in the Rochester game. Hopefully its just a matter of time before we start breaking through and finding the back of the net.
Playing Rochester, considered the premiere team in the State of New York this season and the #6 ranked Midget Minor team in North America by The Scouting News, was considered a measuring stick game for assessing our team at this point in the season.
The results were, needless to say, very encouraging as we crushed Rochester 6-2 in a lopsided game that virtually cemented our team's place on the national landscape as one of the best teams in the United States.
The Good: Team defense (defensemen and forwards) and goaltending this past weekend were outstanding as we surrendered only 6 total goals against in 5 games. Every team we played struggled to generate quality scoring chances and shots against us. Even in our 1-0 semifinal loss to Little Caesars we counted only 4 even strength shots on our net for the entire game with all of those shots coming from outside our defensize zone or just inside our blueline. Our penalty killing continues to be phenomenal ...... which leads to ....
The Bad: While the officiating in the tournament was by every team's account "utterly horrific", we are taking way, way to many penalties, many of which are of the undisciplined or unintelligent variety. While its nice to have a great penalty killing unit, it would be alot nicer not to have to use it so darn often each game. COUNT ON THIS BEING ADDRESSED BEFORE THE WEEKEND.
and
The Ugly: In 17 games this season no team (other Compuware at the Joe Maire) has come close to matching us in shots on goal or scoring chances. However, lack of finishing those shots and scoring chances continues to be our teams #1 achilles heel (note: see "The Bad" above for our #2 achilles heel). We managed only 13 goals scored in 5 games in the Border City Cup with half of those goals coming in the Rochester game. Hopefully its just a matter of time before we start breaking through and finding the back of the net.
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Announcing: First Ontario Hockey League Seminar Event
Since the Joe Maire Tournament our team has become one of the most talked about in the scouting community. Some juinor scouting experts have went so far as to suggest to our coaching staff that our U-16 team could have as many players selected in the 2008 Ontario Hockey League (OHL) draft as any USA based-team.
On Thursday, November 15th at 5:00 PM prior to the Windsor Spitfires game at Windsor Arena, we will be attending a seminar held for our team by Joe Birch the Director of Recruitment and Education Services for the Ontario Hockey League. Also expected to speak at the seminar are Warren Rychel, Owner and General Manger of the Windsor Spitfires, and Bob Boughner, Head Coach of the Windsor Spitfires.
The seminar will feature important information regarding the Ontario Hockey League including the entry draft process and the hockey and educational opportunities available to players who elect to play in the OHL.
After the seminar players and their families would be welcome to stay for the game which features the Windsor Spitfires vs. the Brampton Battalion. Tickets would be $10 each for the game.
Similar seminars and events will be arranged throughout the season as several teams have inquired about bringing our players to tour their facilities and meet with their coaching and management staffs.
On Thursday, November 15th at 5:00 PM prior to the Windsor Spitfires game at Windsor Arena, we will be attending a seminar held for our team by Joe Birch the Director of Recruitment and Education Services for the Ontario Hockey League. Also expected to speak at the seminar are Warren Rychel, Owner and General Manger of the Windsor Spitfires, and Bob Boughner, Head Coach of the Windsor Spitfires.
The seminar will feature important information regarding the Ontario Hockey League including the entry draft process and the hockey and educational opportunities available to players who elect to play in the OHL.
After the seminar players and their families would be welcome to stay for the game which features the Windsor Spitfires vs. the Brampton Battalion. Tickets would be $10 each for the game.
Similar seminars and events will be arranged throughout the season as several teams have inquired about bringing our players to tour their facilities and meet with their coaching and management staffs.
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