Schedules will be e-mailed to the team contact(s), no later than the
Friday proceeding the event. Our experience indicates that having a
single contact per team tends to avoid confusion. However, we prefer to have the e-mail address for both the manager and head coach in the event there is a problem with one e-mail. Parents
should address their concerns to one of these contacts.
Special considerations, (i.e. coaches behind the bench for multiple teams, wishing to attend a college or pro game the weekend of your tournament, or any other request) outside the realm of the tournament you plan to attend should be in writing and attached to your application. Sending an e-mail or calling and telling a staff member is playing with fate. Any special requests should be discussed in detail at least six weeks prior to your tournament to ensure our understanding and your satisfaction.
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The biggest challenge in bring together teams from all over North America
lies in the reality that very few USA Hockey affiliates or Canadian Hockey
programs use the same guidelines. Our goal is to determine, as best
we can, where each team actually belongs for the best competition. We
rely a great deal on your input to bring this about. No one want to travel
great distances to either win or lose a game by 10 goals. While it is
extremely difficult to always create the perfect match-ups, we do pledge
to each Big Bear participant that we will never knowingly put teams of
different skill levels in a division just to fill a slot. When you've
decided to attend one of our tournaments, you will be asked several questions
to help us with the process. We thank you for your cooperation. |
Michigan is still the only place in the universe, to our knowledge,
where the A & AA classification are age groups and not skill levels.
Ohio is growing their hockey programs rapidly, but there are not the
concentrations of players you'll find in Michigan or Illinois and therefore
the talent is also spread out. Each season we see additional ice arenas
being built, added to, or renovated in Ohio. With the addition of the
Blue Jackets in Columbus, it's only a matter of time.
Indiana like Ohio, suffers from a lack of ice arenas. Again there are
several programs across the state and new arenas are being built each
season. House program teams in Indiana do not travel to tournaments. Programs in Indiana typically form an All Star team from their house programs which either compete in the B or A brackets of our events.
Florida also has an interesting way of organizing youth hockey. A & AA teams are typically designated as such depending on the league you choose. For instance, teams playing in the Central Florida Hockey League are all designated A teams with those teams playing in the statewide league designated as AA teams. In addition, a team can be formed in Florida for the sole purpose of attending a tournament and these teams are rostered as tournament teams.
Ontario has many more skill classification, per calendar year age grouping,
than any USA Hockey affiliate. These include AAA, AA, A, BB, B, AE (additional
entry) and House. Many governing bodies within Ontario also permits
Select or All-Star teams to form for the sole purpose of competing in
events.
New York has areas that use both the two year USA Hockey age window
and the single calendar year to determine the make-up of their teams.
There are also teams that travel from New York who are rostered as B/travel.
Please don't let the terminology get in the way of your tournament experience.
While some are overly concerned about the labeling of teams,
please remember almost every designation from 2 different USA Hockey affiliate that is identical in its symbol, is different in its meaning.
Illinois has many levels of travel hockey depending on the size, strength
and affiliation of the club. This could include a Central States team,
as well as, Elite, Gold, Silver, and Bronze teams.
It is our policy in most circumstances to group Illinois teams competing
in NIHL in the following manner: CSDHL teams with Little Caesars ranked
division teams, Elite and Gold teams with AA teams, Silver teams with A teams
and Bronze teams with B teams. While Bronze teams are not drafted in
the same manner as most Michigan teams these teams provide a fair match
up for most Michigan B teams.
It should be noted that Bronze teams are established in the following
manner. A number of players in a single USA Hockey age group go to an
evaluation. This includes players from both years of that 2 year age
window (i.e. minor & major). Instead of the serpentine system
used to draft most Michigan teams, Illinois teams are chosen a team
at a time. For example if there are 45 players on the ice to be evaluated
the first 15 players picked would be placed on the Elite or Gold team. The next
15 players would be placed on the clubs Silver team with the next 15 being
placed on the Silver team. The last 15 players remaining are placed
on the Bronze team. These players are chosen based on skill level only
so it is possible that players from both the 1st and 2nd year USA Hockey
age window could be on any of these teams. Finally, once these teams
are chosen they must play in a seeding round to further ensure that
they belong at the level specified by the process just described. If
they either overwhelm their opponents or failed to do well they are
then moved to the appropriate spot for the start of league play.
If Michigan B teams are concerned with playing teams chosen by this
process, they should make us aware of those concerns prior to entering
any of our events.
High School J.V. teams in Illinois are not always chosen by the same
criteria as Michigan teams either. Frequently these teams are made up
of all players wishing to play hockey for their school who did not make
the varsity team. Because of this difference, J.V. teams from Illinois
may have both seniors and juniors on the team. Please also note
that players in most USA Hockey affiliates are able to double roster
during the fall season. Michigan does not permit this practice. |
Predicting results of opposing teams and therefore establishing competitive
groups of teams from various areas requires a great deal of communication
and a general understanding of how different USA Hockey affiliates manage
their hockey programs. We can assure you that there are not 2 identical
systems that we have found to date. This is more than likely the result
of the density of a hockey population in a given affiliate and their precise
method of creating programs that effectively meet the needs of their players.
While our methods are not full proof, we give you our pledge that we take
our jobs very seriously. By choice, we have created an atmosphere where
children athletes can participate and experience the joy of this sport.
We will never intentionally place teams together that don't belong.
At the same time, we like you to think of the best team in your area
in any given classification and imagine the result of that team playing
the least skilled team in the same identical classification in your
area and what the result of that game might be. We don't offer this
example as a prelude to an excuse, but you should keep in mind that
even within an affiliate where the rules and criteria for establishing
teams is identical there is a wide range of talent from top to bottom.
We do have an anecdote that I'd like to share pertaining to this subject
of placing teams together for competition. Several years ago 2 teams
entered an 87 AAA division, 1 from Wisconsin and the other from New
York. The coach from Wisconsin called one evening to enquire about the
competition. "How do you think we'll do against the New York team?",
he asked.
This was our reply. Depending on who arrives first, I'd pick the team
who has had the opportunity to spend as much time out of their cars
to win the first game, I'd pick the team that goes to bed the earliest
in the 2nd, and the one that doesn't play in the hotel swimming pool
for 3 straight hours in the 3rd. At some point you just need to get on
the ice and play.
Frankly folks, we love great competition as much as anyone and of course
there's a time to take the years experience and skills developed and
put all the marbles on the table. I'm just not so sure it's at every
game all year long. Winning is fun but please don't make it the only
fun.
At the end of the day, our goal is to have as many 1 goal games as possible with divisions where all of the teams are tied after their second game of the tournament. Unfortunately this doesn't always occur. But developing hockey players and teaching them to compete, like running a tournament company, is a process with some days and events being better than others.
I'm always reminded of the day the Detroit Red Wings beat the Montreal Canadien by 10 goals and Patrick Roy asked to be traded the next day. If lopsided games can occur at the pro level, they most certainly will also happen in youth hockey.
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