I know there is little hope for most players AAA or AA going on to the OHL or NCAA, but that said, should AA players and families keep pushing for AAA or JRB after the MM year or is the deck totally stacked against us?

Please no BS - looking for a real, experienced response from people who've gone through this already. I want to be prepared and prepare my kid for the reality ahead...dreams are great but I don't want him getting his dreams shattered if there isn't really a hope of moving ahead in Midget year.

Thanks,

It will be tough to find a spot because Major Midget is two age groups, less those who have moved on to OHL or Jr A/B/C. There will be plenty of AAA kids who can't get a spot either.

He will be old enough to deal with either situation. Get into working for a shooting or hockey school to make some of that money back. Jr B is a possibility but most kids would rather turn their focus onto women and school

op, if your kid really loves playing the game then just keep him working really hard, and playing at the highest level he can.

anything can happen as an O undrafted AA mm player, James De Haas, just got drafted in the 6th round by the Red Wings. he only played 1 year of jr A and will be going to Clarkson, a D1 Ivy league engineering college, this fall.

Two teammates of my son a 94AA player stuck with it and cracked the Midget lineup after a summer of really hard work. They both grew, added a bunch of muscle and weight and had success and lots of fun playing midget. So it can for sure happen. Both are now off to University like everyone else, but they had continued success and fun playing competitive hockey.

My son was not drafted this past April as a 96. He was devastated. Once he had time to absorb it, I suggested he could quit or continue to work hard, but only if he continued to love the game and wanted to play.

He has dedicated himself to training hard this summer and is looking forward to his midget year.

We have both learned that there remains lots of hockey to play at a high level, but only if the player loves it and is committed to getting better.

Good luck but let the player decide when it is time to give it up, he'll know.

very good post.

Amen - dread having to make that speech post next April but very good example. Thanks

It was really tough, but I was extremely proud of him for bouncing back so quickly and getting on with it.

Life lessons, that is what minor sports are all about!

P.S. My biggest problem with the draft (I do think it should be moved back but appreciate why it won't) is the lack of feedback kids get. They are viewed 20-25 times minimum in a season by professional hockey people, but at the end of the day are told nothing about the good and bad re their game. Tough.

Play High School Hockey. He can still get looked at, if not, he will have the best hockey years of his life playing in front of peers instead of parents.

You forgot girls, the MOST important reas0on!

^^ amen

It does not matter till their 18 (all men) so stay strong, in A there are players better then AA players and in AA there are players better than AAA players.


A Men

My son just signed with a Midget AAA team after playing MM AA, and I know of a number of players who made the jump to AAA last year after playing a year of Midget AA. Not an uncommon jump (AA to AAA) in the second year of Midget. But you have to remember that at this age hockey becomes a grind (older players, more physical, skating all summer - a lot of time at the gym is a must). So your kid has to be highly, highly motivated. Otherwise, sign him up for a AA or A team or high school and let him have fun. No shame it that at all.

After a year of Midget AAA, rookie camp skates for JrA and JrB teams are the next step in May. 50 to 60 players to compete with. From there you have to get invited to a main camp in August. Then you have to make the team after the OHL cuts come down in September. All of this is scrimmaging with 18, 19, 20 year old players who are serious, fast and physical. Again, doable but not without a ton of desire, because there's no glamour, nobody watching and it's the middle of summer. Oh yeah, every year they have to put on 10 to 15 lbs of muscle in order to keep up.

And you can get cut at any time, or traded in Jr A or Jr B.

Plus, the Jr A league just contracted by another 3 (4?) teams, so there are 45 fewer spots.

If any of that turns your kid off, save your money. If it all sounds great to him, go for it. In my case, my kid never hesitated (not even for a second) about going to the rink, and looked forward to going to the gym, every single time. Even after I explained it all to him. That's what told me it was a reasonable idea.