This first post lays out the approach YHH will use to rank teams.  Essentially, a junior A team is limited to players 16-20 years old but there are multiple different rules used in North America by different leagues to define their league's play.  YHH will use USA Hockey’s definitions (and lists) of junior A leagues as a base for ranking teams.  From the leagues ranked, teams will be chosen from the Tier I, II, and III teams listed by USA Hockey that share a "border" with Minnesota hockey.  For the 2015-2016 season, USA Hockey recognizes one Tier 1 league (USHL), one Tier 2 league (NAHL), and seven Tier 3 leagues.  YHH's consolidated junior A rankings will include teams from Tier 1 (USHL), Tier 2 (NAHL), and two Tier 3 leagues (NA3HL and USPHL).  All three tier levels form teams from 16-20 year old players but are usually ranked with Tier 1 as the best, Tier 2 the second best, and Tier 3 the third best.

What defines junior A hockey's three tiers?

If all junior A teams in the three tiers are defined as players 16-20 years old, what makes Tier 1 hockey better than Tier 3?  Simply money.  A Tier 1 team pays all the expenses for players on their team (except no wages).  A Tier 2 team pays most of the team related expenses for players, but not room and board.  A Tier 3 team charges the player to play on the team to off set all their expenses.  As a result, a system has evolved where the top players go to Tier 1 teams since they will have most of their expenses covered during the hockey season.  Those that don't make a Tier 1 team, tryout out for a Tier 2 team where the players will basically pay for room and board.  Those that don't make a Tier 1 or Tier 2 team tryout for Tier 3 where the players share all personal and team expenses.  A US based hockey structure has grown up around the USA Hockey's junior A tier approach.  Originally intended to provide USA borne players 16-20 years old competitive levels of play at differing stages of development, the structure has become a feeder of sorts for pro hockey acting like a filter allowing the best to "rise" through the tiers to Tier 1 and then on to college and the pros.  The structure consists mostly of organizations that are fluid, often starting up and then folding.  That structure operates differently than Minnesota Hockey (the organization's structure) which is community based, association based, and tied to Minnesota High School hockey.  For players and parents looking at playing junior hockey, the difference between Minnesota Hockey communities and junior A hockey organizations can be an eye opener. 

YHH Consolidated Junior A Ranking

The result of the USA hockey structure is that the most talented 16-20 year olds in Minnesota "centric" at the start of the 2015-2016 will be playing in the single Tier 1 league, the USHL, except for players playing in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and North Dakota high schools.  Tier 1 USHL is the top junior A league in the USA, the Tier 2 NAHL is the #2 league, and the multiple Tier 3 leagues have to fight for #3.

That is not necessarily true at the individual team level.  Could the NAHL champions last season (the Minnesota Wilderness) beat the USHL champions Sioux Falls?  Most would say not, but could the Wilderness beat the USHL last place teams Green Bay or Lincoln?  That would be a tough call for some, but not here.  They would.  Here at YHH, the Wilderness team last season could have finished in the middle of the either one of the two USHL leagues.  Another question along a similar thought; could the top Tier III team the North Iowa Bulls beat the NAHL’s Odessa team at the end of last season?  A tougher call here, but if the game was played in North Iowa, it would be a game worth seeing.

In each new post in the coming season, the top Minnesota "border" teams will be ranked by tier.  Then a Top 10 consolidated ranking will be made from the top ranked teams ignoring their level of play (Tier 1-3) and focusing on how well each team is doing.  Realistically, it is unlikely that the rankings will change the separation of the tiers but as the season progresses, who knows.  That’s why the game is played on ice.  Remember each team, regardless of tier, fields a team composed of players the same age-16-20 year old.

Regional Teams to be ranked

For the 2015-2016 season, all Tier 1 teams will play in the USHL and all Tier 2 teams will play in the NAHL.  Both leagues have teams that touch Minnesota "hockey borders" as do two Tier 3 leagues (the NA3HL and USPHL).  The USHL has no Minnesota based team, but has teams in Fargo ND, Souix Falls SD, and in Madison WI.  The USHL also has a number of Iowa based teams like the Waterloo Black Hawks that will be included.  Finally, it would be hard to ignore the USHL's Nebraska teams (Omaha and Lincoln).  All these teams have have ties to Minnesota hockey.  But some do not.

The NAHL has three Minnesota teams to be ranked (Austin, MN Magicians, and the MN Wilderness) plus a number of North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin teams.  The NAHL will re-align their divisions for the next season.  Austin and the Magicians will move from the Midwest Division to the Central Division playing with teams from North and South Dakota.  Those teams will be included.  Janesville WI and Springfield Jr. Blues (Illinois) will move into the Midwest Divison with the Wilderness and the Coulee Region.  Teams from outside those two NAHL divisions will not be ranked, but for hockey fans one team that will be interesting to include are the USA Hockey U17 and U18 teams.  The two USA teams are considered the top of their age group and play in the USHL sharing a regular season schedule.  The two teams will be included and will be ranked separately.  

The consolidated ranking will include teams from two Tier 3 leagues, the NA3HL Central and West Divisions and the United States Premier Hockey League (USPHL) Mid-West.  North Iowa won the NA3HL West Division last season, lost to Granite City in the NA3HL playoff championship, and won USA Hockey's Tier 3 Division 1 title.  North Iowa plays out of Mason City and Granite City plays out of Sauk Rapids MN.  Both teams will be part of the consolidated rankings.

The USPHL will be in it's second season of play.  Their first season had 11 east coast junior A teams playing 50 games each in regular season.  The Mid-West Division is new and adds 24 junior A teams to the Premier Division including a number of Minnesota teams from the now defunct MnJHL.  The Mid-West Division will be divided into an East Conference and a West Conference.  Most of the Tier 3 teams in the Minnesota area and included in the consolidated rankings will be in the West Conference.

This section will be used to highlight game action or to provide general comment on the USHL season (for example showcases, special events, etc).  Below are the USHL regular season standings at the end of 2014-2015.  The teams highlighted in the standings are the teams that will be used in the consolidated rankings.  Souix Falls won the playoffs (and the Clark Cup) after finishing fourth in the Western Conference.  Their fourth place finish is shown on the left.  On the right, are the Tier 1 consolidated rankings.  In our Tier 1 rankings, Sioux Falls finished first among teams with "Minnesota hockey borders" because of their strong play in the playoffs and that the point separation in regular season between the top four Western Conference teams was narrow.

Also, note the comment on Fargo in the standings table.  The comment points out the Fargo moves in the off season in detailed and that the moves look good. However, there is reservation in how Fargo is ranked in the Tier 1 consolidated rankings.  Where the Sioux Falls comment in the rankings table shows status at the end of the season, the Fargo comment starts to look at what the next season could look like.  This standings table comment area focuses on each team whereas the comment area in the Tier 1 rankings will usually reflect how a team is doing relative to the others ranked.  As a result, the rankings comment points out, the Fargo team has to implement their moves in September for the coming season and in junior A hockey, that can be tough.  Hence there is not much movement up for Fargo in the Tier 1 rankings. 

This section will be used to highlight game action or to provide general comment on the NAHL season.  On this site, the NAHL Showcase event at the Blaine Super Rink will be one key events for kicking off the 2014-2015 season (the other two are the conclusion of the UMHSEL season and playoffs around November 1 and the start of Girls and Boys Minnesota High School hockey in mid-November).

Below are the NAHL regular season standings at the end of 2014-2015.  The teams highlighted in the standings are the teams that will be used in the consolidated rankings.  The Minnesota Wilderness won the playoffs (and the Robertson Cup) after finishing second in NAHL's Midwest Conference.  The Wilderness' second place finish is shown on the left.  On the right, are the Tier 1 consolidated rankings and show the Wilderness as the top ranked Tier 2 team.  One of the principle reasons for being #1 is the Wilderness coach, Corey Millen.  Millen has proven to be an excellent coach and judge of junior A talent and always seems to have a game plan with a plan B.  The Cloquet native and former NHLer (drafted #57 by the New York Rangers) is one good reason the Wilderness would do well in the USHL.  As bonus, under Millen's tutelage, nine players on last season's Wilderness team committed to Division 1 colleges. 

The NA3HL last season consisted of 31 Junior A teams divided into five divisions.  Teams that touch the "Minnesota hockey borders" played in the Central and West Divisions.  Two teams, Wisconsin and La Crosse play in the Central.  For the 2015-2016 season, the Rochester Ice Hawks will join the NA3HL and play in the Central with Wisconsin and La Crosse.  The Ice Hawks won the MnJHL last season.  Six teams with Minnesota "hockey borders" play in the NA3HL West.  All six West Division teams are included in these consolidated rankings.