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Anonymous (no login)
Posted Jul 1, 2009 12:59 PM
in the vast majority of cases, the credit then goes to boys hockey for their development. If you look at Team Ontario rosters as an example, most of these girls spent a good part of their years in boys hockey. Kudos to the OMHA, GTHL, etc. Well done. Thank you for giving them all these opportunities. You happy now?
You actually really don't get it.
What do you think it is that university coaches are looking for? Skilled players are frankly a dime a dozen. Tons of them in the US too. Most skilled players did a lot outside of their teams anyway to develop these skills via power skating, shooting clinics, hockey camps, off-ice training centers, etc.
To be successful at the next level, what separates skilled players is their commitment and discipline to daily conditioning, plus their hockey IQ, the understanding and ability to execute a variety of systems and be strong in team play as well as individual skills. It is this second component that often can give players from here an advantage over players from elsewhere, and it is this aspect that is developed mostly in the later years by top coaches, and/or in top organizations having the benefit of a more consistently higher calibre of players on the team.
The reputations of various Int AA coaches/organizations, their track record in selecting and further training players who will be/have been successful at the next level, and their relationships with D1 coaches to help evaluate potential prospects, are key in achieving high rates of placement. D1 coaches can spend very little time scouting. When they do, they focus mostly on teams where the greatest number of top prospects are. When they are not scouting, they rely to some extent on the assessments of Int AA coaches/ organizations they have existing relationships with, for assessing players.
Of course, if you are a Team Canada-type candidate, you will find D1 opportunities regardless of where you happen to play. It is for the much larger number of "bubble players", that playing for one of the top organizations makes a very big difference, because of these relationships and their track records.
That's why, often a third line player from a top organization will have more D1 opportunities than a first line player from a middle of the pack organization will have. That first line player may well be at least as skilled, if not more so.
So, it's not usually the team that someone played for the longest along the way that accounts most for the placement. Of course, every organization along the way did contribute, and should be justifiably proud of their role in helping a player ultimately reach their goals.
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