“Should my son play Major Junior “A” or should he play University Hockey? “ Before your family chooses which route your son is going to take to the National Hockey League. I want your family to keep something in mind. Did you know that your hockey agent won’t see a single dollar until your son has signed his name to a Professional Hockey League contract.
When your agent tells your family that your son shouldn’t play University hockey, the truth of the matter is your son won’t sign his first NHL contract until he’s around the age of twenty-four. If your son is only sixteen years old now, your agent will have to wait eight years before he sees a single dollar from your son’s NHL contract. Even after you agent has waited eight years for his ship to sail in, chances are the hockey player he’s representing won’t even sign a NHL contract after his University hockey career is completed!
In most cases, agents want their hockey players playing Major Junior “A” Hockey. The reason being is that if by chance any of the agents hockey players go in the first round of the NHL entry draft, agents will then have the opportunity of getting paid after two years of representing their hockey players. Looking at it from the agents business point of view, it would be in his best interest for your son to play Major Junior “A” hockey instead of University hockey.
Remember parents, when it comes to the protecting your son from the business side of professional hockey, never let your guard down. This includes your agent’s advice too regarding which route your son should take to the National Hockey League.
During my hockey blog and manual chapter, I would like to give your family the opportunity to hear the pros and cons of both Major Junior “A” and University Hockey. As you know, there are millions of families in the hockey world, just like your family, who have the same dream of one day seeing their son play in the NHL. In reality, out of those thousands of kids, there might only be three hockey players on planet earth who are talented and mature enough to play in the NHL at the age of eighteen.
Right now as a gung –ho hockey family you’re saying to yourself. “My boy will be one of those three hockey players on planet earth that will be ready to step right in and play at the National Hockey League level at the age of eighteen years old… If your family decides to take the fastest route to the NHL and play Major Junior “A” hockey. Beware because there could be a price to pay at the end of your son’s career, and that price could be your son’s education.
First of all, as parents, why would you want to put your son’s life in jeopardy by trying to become one of those three hockey players who will play in the NHL at the age of eighteen years old? If your family wants to play that game with your son’s life I can’t stop you, I can wonder warn you. But a smart hockey family will look at the overall picture differently. I’m not saying that all Major Junior “A” hockey players don’t graduate from high school and go on to lead healthy lives.
What I’m saying here is it’s very easy to see how your son’s education will be on the back burner during his Major Junior “A” hockey career. Your family has to remember that your son is only sixteen years old when he leaves your family’s home to Major Junior “A” hockey. As parents, the distance between your family’s home and your son’s new hockey town will determine the amount of times your family will see your son during the eight month hockey season. At this time, I would like to give your family an example of what could happen to your son during his first year of Major Junior “A” hockey. This is what I mean when I say your son’s education could be in jeopardy if your family decides to play Major Junior “A” hockey.
During your son’s first year of Major Junior “A” hockey, your son will leave his family’s home and live at his new hockey land – parent’s home in his new hockey town. Your sixteen year old boy will now be hanging out with 17, 18, 19 and 20 year old boys at school, bars and of course, on the ice. During your son’s rookie season, he won’t be seeing a whole lot of ice time. His new hockey coach might only play our son three shifts a game because of the calibre of play of Major Junior “A” hockey.
As gung-ho hockey parents, this isn’t going to sit well with your family, especially when you start seeing NHL scouts in the crowd and your boy is sitting on the bench again. Your family’s frustration level will be at an all-time high as you watch your son sit on the bench game after game. Night after Night, you will be on the phone with your son’s agent trying to find out why the coach is always benching your son.
Your agent tells your family that the coach feels your son is making to many mistakes in his own zone. “Every time, I put that kid on the ice the other team scores a goal”. “Maybe when he’s eighteen years old, I’ll start playing him on a regular basis, no guarantees…..” After your agent’s phone call, your family now knows that for the next two years your boy will be sitting on the bench. Your family won’t even want to go to your son’s hockey games anymore due to the frustration it causes you to watch your boy sitting on the bench.
Your family will need deep pockets during your son’s Major Junior “A” hockey career too. It’ll cost your family $100.00 dollars in gas to travel five hours somewhere on a Wednesday night to watch your son sit on the bench. Let’s say you and your wife grab something before the game at McDonalds, that’s another 20.00 dollars. At the rink you and your wife pay for parking, coffees, that’s another $15 dollars gone…. By the time it’s over your family just spent $135.00 dollars plus your time to watch your son sit on the bench as his hockey team lost yet another hockey game 6-1.
To make things worse, your son can’t even ask the coach to trade him to another hockey team because, med way through the hockey season, you son’s stats are:
Games Goals Assists Points PIM
42 3 6 9 10
As parents, you’re running out of answers, your wife now on medication from her doctor and your son is an emotional mess because of his current hockey situation. As a hockey dad, your temper is at an all – time high and you’re about to blow a gasket on the coach the next time you see him.
When the game is over, you have fifteen minutes to visit with your son. He’s crying his head off to his mother telling her how much he hates his coach and teammates. He doesn’t know if he has the will power to finish the hockey season. During your family’s fifteen minute visit with your emotionally upset son, do you think either parent will mention your son’s grades in History and Science class?
As parents you will be trying to get your boy through another day of Major Junior “A” hockey. The Canadian Hockey League is all about surviving on a daily basis, it’s a cut throat business and your son has to deal with people who don’t always have his best interest in mind. Believe me, I know when your son is crying in front of you the last thing on your family’s mind will be your son’s failing grades at school.
This example above happens all the time during kids first year of Major Junior “A” hockey and this is the reason why your son’s education could suffer if your family decides to play Major Junior “A” hockey.
Let’s continue with our example of what could happen to your son during his first year of Major Junior “A” hockey. Let’s say, one night after your son’s hockey game someone in your family ended up yelling at the coach. Now the situation is beyond repair and your family has asked to be traded to a different hockey team. The coach immediately agrees that a trade is needed here.
Here’s some important information that your family needs to know about regarding hockey players being traded to different hockey teams.
When a trade occurs in Major Junior “A” hockey, NHL scouts want to know who’s to blame in the situation, the hockey player or the coach. The scout’s question will only be answered in time. Here’s the reason why, when a hockey player asks to be traded to a different hockey team, there’s never a winner between the coach and the hockey player. Both names will be tarnished in the professional hockey world.
Remember, it takes only five minutes to get a bad reputation in professional hockey and a lifetime to lose that bad reputation. I will tell your family right now that no NHL organization will touch a player who has a bad reputation. Think about it for a second, why would an NHL organization sink millions of dollars into a kid that has a bad reputation in the hockey world. In most cases what an NHL scout will do in a situation like this is write both names down in his scouting book and make a note of the disturbance. Since it was both the coach’s and the hockey player’s first disturbance in professional hockey, the scouts will give them both the benefit of the doubt the first time around.
After the trade if the same disturbance occurs to either the coach the hockey player, it will be clear to everyone in professional hockey that the coach or hockey player causes problems wherever he’s coaching or playing hockey. From that moment on, that particular hockey coach will never get a coaching job in professional hockey again.
Once again the same rule applies to the hockey player who was involved in the same trade. If that particular hockey player runs into the same on or off ice problems with his new hockey team then NHL scouts will now know that this player causes problems on every team he plays on. Moving forward this particular hockey player will have a black mark beside his name for the rest of his professional hockey career.
In professional hockey there’s always a chance of getting fired when the coach you employed didn’t work out or when the hockey player you drafted didn’t become superstars. Keeping this in mind, would you take a chance on hiring a coach or singing a hockey player who had a bad reputation in professional hockey? Or would you hire a coach or sign a hockey player who had a great reputation in professional hockey?
As a NHL GM, it’s like having an insurance policy with your NHL owners. When you sign coaches and hockey players to NHL contracts that have great reputations in professional hockey as opposed to bad reputations. The reason being is two years down the road if that particular coach or hockey player doesn’t work out. Chances are the owners will want to fire their General Manager. As a General Manager, your only chance of keeping your job at the end of the season will be by telling your owners that the coach or hockey player came to other organization with great recommendations from our NHL scouts and the rest of the hockey world. That’s why I signed that particular coach or hockey player to a NHL contract.
After the owners take all this information into consideration, they decide not to fire you as their General Manager for hiring that coach or signing that hockey player to a NHL contract.
The flipside to this situation is that GM’s won’t have that insurance policy with his owners when they sign a player or coach that had a bad reputation in the hockey world… They will be fired immediately. This theory and insurance policy applies to NHL scouts with their NHL General Managers as well.
Now if you were a NHL Scout would you draft a hockey player that has a bad reputation, of course you wouldn’t!!!
Here’s another situation your family should know about when you decide to let your son play Major Junior “A” hockey at the age of sixteen years old. There will be a good chance that your son will go through some sort of emotional breakdown after his Major Junior “A” hockey career is over and your son didn’t go on to the NHL.
When any child leaves their family home at such an early age, there always seems to be consequences later on in that person’s life one way or another. All parents who have older children who are now adults remember the growing pains each family member endured during their child’s teenage years. Sit back and remember how hard you were on your own parents were on you during your teenage years. Remember all those nights when you and your dad were butting heads and your mom always had to calm things down around the house. Then one day, when you were in your early twenties, you either went to school or you started working in the real world.
What I’m getting at here is you made it through your teenage years in your parents’ house. Your parents were watching your every move then, and when it was all said and done, you are now a well-adjusted adult with morals and values. Capable of dealing with everyday life, when your son is playing Major Junior “A” hockey he misses that hard love that parents provide during teenage years.
Your son will be living with strangers better known as land parents. Your son’s new hockey family won’t provide that hard love that your son needs during his teenage years. Here’s the reason why before these people were land parents of hockey players, they were just hockey fans who enjoyed watching Major Junior “A” hockey games. One day the hockey fans decided it would be fun to have a hockey player live with them on a daily basis. The last thing your son’s new Land Parents want to do is upset their new hockey player. The Land Parents will let your son come and go as he pleases. They will treat your son like he’s an adult during his teenage years.
As parents, I want you to hold yourselves responsible right now for your son’s future. Yes, your family can decide to play Major Junior “A” hockey and take a chance of trying to be one of those three hockey players who’ll play in the NHL at the age of eighteen years old. Or you can make sure your son takes the safest and smartest route to the NHL by playing University Hockey. While your son is playing University hockey, he’ll receive a University Degree for free… That way your son’s eggs aren’t all in one basket, it’s not all or nothing like it is for hockey players that choose the Major Junior “A” route to the NHL.
If your son plays MJA hockey and he doesn’t make enough money to retire after his hockey career is over and your son doesn’t have at least a Grade 12 education, guess where your son will be headed after his professional hockey career is over? Who knows? This is where the mental breakdown occurs with hockey players. It will take a couple years for your son to get his life back on track.
Remember your son is accustomed to working two hours a day in front of 20,000 people. After the game, he’ll sign some autographs before heading down to the team’s local bar in town. While he’s drinking beer and chasing women into the early hours of the morning, he’ll then sleep all day and get up to do it all over again.
As parents you now know what could happen to your boy if he plays MJA hockey. Yes, MJA hockey is the fastest route to the NHL. But there’s a safer way to the NHL and that route is University Hockey. Even after being a First Round Draft Choice, if I could do it all over again, without hesitation, I would choose University Hockey over MJA reroute to the NHL. No matter what I say about MJA hockey, I know there will be hockey families out there that will play MJA hockey instead of playing University hockey.
When your agent tells your family that your son shouldn’t play University hockey, the truth of the matter is your son won’t sign his first NHL contract until he’s around the age of twenty-four. If your son is only sixteen years old now, your agent will have to wait eight years before he sees a single dollar from your son’s NHL contract. Even after you agent has waited eight years for his ship to sail in, chances are the hockey player he’s representing won’t even sign a NHL contract after his University hockey career is completed!
In most cases, agents want their hockey players playing Major Junior “A” Hockey. The reason being is that if by chance any of the agents hockey players go in the first round of the NHL entry draft, agents will then have the opportunity of getting paid after two years of representing their hockey players. Looking at it from the agents business point of view, it would be in his best interest for your son to play Major Junior “A” hockey instead of University hockey.
Remember parents, when it comes to the protecting your son from the business side of professional hockey, never let your guard down. This includes your agent’s advice too regarding which route your son should take to the National Hockey League.
During my hockey blog and manual chapter, I would like to give your family the opportunity to hear the pros and cons of both Major Junior “A” and University Hockey. As you know, there are millions of families in the hockey world, just like your family, who have the same dream of one day seeing their son play in the NHL. In reality, out of those thousands of kids, there might only be three hockey players on planet earth who are talented and mature enough to play in the NHL at the age of eighteen.
Right now as a gung –ho hockey family you’re saying to yourself. “My boy will be one of those three hockey players on planet earth that will be ready to step right in and play at the National Hockey League level at the age of eighteen years old… If your family decides to take the fastest route to the NHL and play Major Junior “A” hockey. Beware because there could be a price to pay at the end of your son’s career, and that price could be your son’s education.
First of all, as parents, why would you want to put your son’s life in jeopardy by trying to become one of those three hockey players who will play in the NHL at the age of eighteen years old? If your family wants to play that game with your son’s life I can’t stop you, I can wonder warn you. But a smart hockey family will look at the overall picture differently. I’m not saying that all Major Junior “A” hockey players don’t graduate from high school and go on to lead healthy lives.
What I’m saying here is it’s very easy to see how your son’s education will be on the back burner during his Major Junior “A” hockey career. Your family has to remember that your son is only sixteen years old when he leaves your family’s home to Major Junior “A” hockey. As parents, the distance between your family’s home and your son’s new hockey town will determine the amount of times your family will see your son during the eight month hockey season. At this time, I would like to give your family an example of what could happen to your son during his first year of Major Junior “A” hockey. This is what I mean when I say your son’s education could be in jeopardy if your family decides to play Major Junior “A” hockey.
During your son’s first year of Major Junior “A” hockey, your son will leave his family’s home and live at his new hockey land – parent’s home in his new hockey town. Your sixteen year old boy will now be hanging out with 17, 18, 19 and 20 year old boys at school, bars and of course, on the ice. During your son’s rookie season, he won’t be seeing a whole lot of ice time. His new hockey coach might only play our son three shifts a game because of the calibre of play of Major Junior “A” hockey.
As gung-ho hockey parents, this isn’t going to sit well with your family, especially when you start seeing NHL scouts in the crowd and your boy is sitting on the bench again. Your family’s frustration level will be at an all-time high as you watch your son sit on the bench game after game. Night after Night, you will be on the phone with your son’s agent trying to find out why the coach is always benching your son.
Your agent tells your family that the coach feels your son is making to many mistakes in his own zone. “Every time, I put that kid on the ice the other team scores a goal”. “Maybe when he’s eighteen years old, I’ll start playing him on a regular basis, no guarantees…..” After your agent’s phone call, your family now knows that for the next two years your boy will be sitting on the bench. Your family won’t even want to go to your son’s hockey games anymore due to the frustration it causes you to watch your boy sitting on the bench.
Your family will need deep pockets during your son’s Major Junior “A” hockey career too. It’ll cost your family $100.00 dollars in gas to travel five hours somewhere on a Wednesday night to watch your son sit on the bench. Let’s say you and your wife grab something before the game at McDonalds, that’s another 20.00 dollars. At the rink you and your wife pay for parking, coffees, that’s another $15 dollars gone…. By the time it’s over your family just spent $135.00 dollars plus your time to watch your son sit on the bench as his hockey team lost yet another hockey game 6-1.
To make things worse, your son can’t even ask the coach to trade him to another hockey team because, med way through the hockey season, you son’s stats are:
Games Goals Assists Points PIM
42 3 6 9 10
As parents, you’re running out of answers, your wife now on medication from her doctor and your son is an emotional mess because of his current hockey situation. As a hockey dad, your temper is at an all – time high and you’re about to blow a gasket on the coach the next time you see him.
When the game is over, you have fifteen minutes to visit with your son. He’s crying his head off to his mother telling her how much he hates his coach and teammates. He doesn’t know if he has the will power to finish the hockey season. During your family’s fifteen minute visit with your emotionally upset son, do you think either parent will mention your son’s grades in History and Science class?
As parents you will be trying to get your boy through another day of Major Junior “A” hockey. The Canadian Hockey League is all about surviving on a daily basis, it’s a cut throat business and your son has to deal with people who don’t always have his best interest in mind. Believe me, I know when your son is crying in front of you the last thing on your family’s mind will be your son’s failing grades at school.
This example above happens all the time during kids first year of Major Junior “A” hockey and this is the reason why your son’s education could suffer if your family decides to play Major Junior “A” hockey.
Let’s continue with our example of what could happen to your son during his first year of Major Junior “A” hockey. Let’s say, one night after your son’s hockey game someone in your family ended up yelling at the coach. Now the situation is beyond repair and your family has asked to be traded to a different hockey team. The coach immediately agrees that a trade is needed here.
Here’s some important information that your family needs to know about regarding hockey players being traded to different hockey teams.
When a trade occurs in Major Junior “A” hockey, NHL scouts want to know who’s to blame in the situation, the hockey player or the coach. The scout’s question will only be answered in time. Here’s the reason why, when a hockey player asks to be traded to a different hockey team, there’s never a winner between the coach and the hockey player. Both names will be tarnished in the professional hockey world.
Remember, it takes only five minutes to get a bad reputation in professional hockey and a lifetime to lose that bad reputation. I will tell your family right now that no NHL organization will touch a player who has a bad reputation. Think about it for a second, why would an NHL organization sink millions of dollars into a kid that has a bad reputation in the hockey world. In most cases what an NHL scout will do in a situation like this is write both names down in his scouting book and make a note of the disturbance. Since it was both the coach’s and the hockey player’s first disturbance in professional hockey, the scouts will give them both the benefit of the doubt the first time around.
After the trade if the same disturbance occurs to either the coach the hockey player, it will be clear to everyone in professional hockey that the coach or hockey player causes problems wherever he’s coaching or playing hockey. From that moment on, that particular hockey coach will never get a coaching job in professional hockey again.
Once again the same rule applies to the hockey player who was involved in the same trade. If that particular hockey player runs into the same on or off ice problems with his new hockey team then NHL scouts will now know that this player causes problems on every team he plays on. Moving forward this particular hockey player will have a black mark beside his name for the rest of his professional hockey career.
In professional hockey there’s always a chance of getting fired when the coach you employed didn’t work out or when the hockey player you drafted didn’t become superstars. Keeping this in mind, would you take a chance on hiring a coach or singing a hockey player who had a bad reputation in professional hockey? Or would you hire a coach or sign a hockey player who had a great reputation in professional hockey?
As a NHL GM, it’s like having an insurance policy with your NHL owners. When you sign coaches and hockey players to NHL contracts that have great reputations in professional hockey as opposed to bad reputations. The reason being is two years down the road if that particular coach or hockey player doesn’t work out. Chances are the owners will want to fire their General Manager. As a General Manager, your only chance of keeping your job at the end of the season will be by telling your owners that the coach or hockey player came to other organization with great recommendations from our NHL scouts and the rest of the hockey world. That’s why I signed that particular coach or hockey player to a NHL contract.
After the owners take all this information into consideration, they decide not to fire you as their General Manager for hiring that coach or signing that hockey player to a NHL contract.
The flipside to this situation is that GM’s won’t have that insurance policy with his owners when they sign a player or coach that had a bad reputation in the hockey world… They will be fired immediately. This theory and insurance policy applies to NHL scouts with their NHL General Managers as well.
Now if you were a NHL Scout would you draft a hockey player that has a bad reputation, of course you wouldn’t!!!
Here’s another situation your family should know about when you decide to let your son play Major Junior “A” hockey at the age of sixteen years old. There will be a good chance that your son will go through some sort of emotional breakdown after his Major Junior “A” hockey career is over and your son didn’t go on to the NHL.
When any child leaves their family home at such an early age, there always seems to be consequences later on in that person’s life one way or another. All parents who have older children who are now adults remember the growing pains each family member endured during their child’s teenage years. Sit back and remember how hard you were on your own parents were on you during your teenage years. Remember all those nights when you and your dad were butting heads and your mom always had to calm things down around the house. Then one day, when you were in your early twenties, you either went to school or you started working in the real world.
What I’m getting at here is you made it through your teenage years in your parents’ house. Your parents were watching your every move then, and when it was all said and done, you are now a well-adjusted adult with morals and values. Capable of dealing with everyday life, when your son is playing Major Junior “A” hockey he misses that hard love that parents provide during teenage years.
Your son will be living with strangers better known as land parents. Your son’s new hockey family won’t provide that hard love that your son needs during his teenage years. Here’s the reason why before these people were land parents of hockey players, they were just hockey fans who enjoyed watching Major Junior “A” hockey games. One day the hockey fans decided it would be fun to have a hockey player live with them on a daily basis. The last thing your son’s new Land Parents want to do is upset their new hockey player. The Land Parents will let your son come and go as he pleases. They will treat your son like he’s an adult during his teenage years.
As parents, I want you to hold yourselves responsible right now for your son’s future. Yes, your family can decide to play Major Junior “A” hockey and take a chance of trying to be one of those three hockey players who’ll play in the NHL at the age of eighteen years old. Or you can make sure your son takes the safest and smartest route to the NHL by playing University Hockey. While your son is playing University hockey, he’ll receive a University Degree for free… That way your son’s eggs aren’t all in one basket, it’s not all or nothing like it is for hockey players that choose the Major Junior “A” route to the NHL.
If your son plays MJA hockey and he doesn’t make enough money to retire after his hockey career is over and your son doesn’t have at least a Grade 12 education, guess where your son will be headed after his professional hockey career is over? Who knows? This is where the mental breakdown occurs with hockey players. It will take a couple years for your son to get his life back on track.
Remember your son is accustomed to working two hours a day in front of 20,000 people. After the game, he’ll sign some autographs before heading down to the team’s local bar in town. While he’s drinking beer and chasing women into the early hours of the morning, he’ll then sleep all day and get up to do it all over again.
As parents you now know what could happen to your boy if he plays MJA hockey. Yes, MJA hockey is the fastest route to the NHL. But there’s a safer way to the NHL and that route is University Hockey. Even after being a First Round Draft Choice, if I could do it all over again, without hesitation, I would choose University Hockey over MJA reroute to the NHL. No matter what I say about MJA hockey, I know there will be hockey families out there that will play MJA hockey instead of playing University hockey.
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