Here are some of the craziest posts, stories, info and articles I have seen this week in North American Junior Hockey.
- LinkedIn is a new recruiting platform for a Jr Hockey team (see below). LinkedIn describes itself as “LinkedIn’s primary purpose is to connect professionals worldwide, enhancing their productivity and success through networking, job opportunities, and professional development.” I guess in this case the Junior team fails to mention or realize that job candidates will have to PAY TO PLAY for them.
2. Canadian Based Jr team heralding advancement numbers and info that is not accurate. Shocking I know…. but here is the real data.
EHL has 137 commitments across 18 teams- NCAA Commitments
USPHL Premier- USPHL Premier 2024-25 Commitments • USPHL – United States Premier Hockey League
EHL ranked higher in both 2024 & 2025
2024 Rankings- Rating The Junior Hockey Leagues – 2024 Edition – Top Twenty Leagues At All Levels
2025 Rankings- Rating The Junior Hockey Leagues – Pay To Play Leagues
3. Teams already folding and/or transferring ownership without ever playing a game.
There are some great people in the game of hockey and in the Junior hockey space in particular. Folding your franchise and/or pivoting without ever dropping the puck is a real black eye on the Junior Hockey game and tarnishes the reputation of the Junior Hockey landscape. I wish upon no one, the struggles many of these teams are facing- financial loss, reputations hurt, and the negative impact on youth athletes and families.
I do not wish upon any operator the strife that franchise loss leads to. Financial and reputational loss aside, it impacts negatively towns, rinks and families, as well as most certainly the athletes involved.
There are some great leaders in this space who genuinely care about their athletes. One hates seeing them lumped in negatively with the rampant, unhinged expansion and recruiting that commonly takes place.
These last 14 months in Junior Hockey have been some of the most, if not the most, challenging and tumultuous months in memory. I hope through all this chaos, that we as operators, coaches, and administrators can take a step back and focus on our product and our customers- the PLAYERS, and ask “What works best for them?”. I dont know if many have done that in a long time.
By Andrew Trimble
Andrew is the GM/ Co- Owner of the New England Wolves- www.ne-wolveshockey.com
To purchase Andrew’s new book, follow this link here- The Hockey Planner: A Year by Year Plan to Assist You on Your Hockey Coaching Journey: From Learn to Play to Junior Hockey: Trimble, Andrew: 9781963743388: Amazon.com: Books
