Minor hockey - goalies - Is it all about the $$ ?

[jtnce]

My question...Is it possible for a minor hockey goalie U15 (Bantam age) to get noticed by Junior teams and or WHL teams if they can't afford to play on an academy team or zone team? My son is 13 yrs old (first year Bantam), playing at the highest level Bantam A1 or (AAA). It was mentioned to me that unless he moves to a zone team or an academy team, that he will not get noticed by junior or WHL scouts. For $$ reference, minor hockey all in costs are $2-$4k/yr; zone team costs are $12k/yr and academy team costs are $16 - $20k/yr.

Thoughts?

[RichMan]

In the wise words of Steve "Keeks" Mckickan: "If your goalie is that good, he will get noticed somewhere down the line"

Even the top tier, wealthy, connected parents can't guarantee a junior spot or else for their kid. In saying that, it is true that money talks to certain people and dirty politics is rampant in all hockey at any level anywhere.

[ThatCarGuy]

I got noticed in Texas to play junior hockey in Wisconsin. It’s possible. Especially playing games like this

[Charlie T]

7 hours ago, jtnce said:

My question...Is it possible for a minor hockey goalie U15 (Bantam age) to get noticed by Junior teams and or WHL teams if they can't afford to play on an academy team or zone team? My son is 13 yrs old (first year Bantam), playing at the highest level Bantam A1 or (AAA). It was mentioned to me that unless he moves to a zone team or an academy team, that he will not get noticed by junior or WHL scouts. For $$ reference, minor hockey all in costs are $2-$4k/yr; zone team costs are $12k/yr and academy team costs are $16 - $20k/yr.

Thoughts?

Where in Canada are you from? I play Academy in BC and depending on region it may be tough to get noticed. For example, in BC, its extremely tough to get noticed even playing Association. However in Alberta its about 50/50 between academy an Bantam AAA.

[BendyTendy33]

On 1/28/2021 at 11:22 AM, jtnce said:

My question...Is it possible for a minor hockey goalie U15 (Bantam age) to get noticed by Junior teams and or WHL teams if they can't afford to play on an academy team or zone team? My son is 13 yrs old (first year Bantam), playing at the highest level Bantam A1 or (AAA). It was mentioned to me that unless he moves to a zone team or an academy team, that he will not get noticed by junior or WHL scouts. For $$ reference, minor hockey all in costs are $2-$4k/yr; zone team costs are $12k/yr and academy team costs are $16 - $20k/yr.

Thoughts?

First year bantam has no effect on scouting so you just want to have your child get the best devlopment possible. For second year Bantam if your son is serious about hockey looking into one of the two elite programs is definetly worthwhile. While a minor hockey team might get seen by a few scouts most academy teams attend tournaments where there are more scouts in the stands than parents. If you do decide to go to an academy or zone team make sure to do research into how much goalie training is offered by each program.

[DL42]

if u r good u will get noticed, its 2021, youtube, instagram, and any other social media outlet  will pick it up.

competition is not just in the local area its global now and more competitive then before.

[BendyTendy33]

15 hours ago, DL42 said:

if u r good u will get noticed, its 2021, youtube, instagram, and any other social media outlet  will pick it up.

 

I disagree about this, the majority of BCHL and WHL are older men and aren't exactly the type of people to be scouting from clips. I know that nowadays many teams scout using remote video feeds installed at local rinks but as far as I know most minor hockey teams dont have that.

[Naz]

On 1/30/2021 at 12:19 AM, DL42 said:

if u r good u will get noticed, its 2021, youtube, instagram, and any other social media outlet  will pick it up.

competition is not just in the local area its global now and more competitive then before.

 

On 1/30/2021 at 3:41 PM, BendyTendy33 said:

I disagree about this, the majority of BCHL and WHL are older men and aren't exactly the type of people to be scouting from clips. I know that nowadays many teams scout using remote video feeds installed at local rinks but as far as I know most minor hockey teams dont have that.

I'm 49.. you calling me old???  LOL .  I know many scouts in their 40's and early 50's.

But you are right, there is ZERO scouting done on Youtube and Instagram or any social media.  Anyone, hell even an old beer leaguer like me could make a clip of some great saves.  Scouts are looking at how a goalie bounces back from letting in a goal.  They are looking for TIMELY saves.  Does the goalie control their game, or does the game control the goalie.  Plus so many more intangibles that just can't be seen on Highlight reels.

[ULTIMA]

This may be somewhat off topic - I do recall a goalie and his father coming into the store wanting to purchase gear before tryouts. The father was convinced his kid didn't make a specific team he tried out for last year as a result of having unmatched branded and colored gear. Was triple A hockey so the kid needed pro level gear, dad couldn't care less about the grade or whether to choose battlefly or butterfly pads, didn't care about the different types of glove angles etc. Kid was big so unfortunately I didn't have a matching glove, blocker and stick to go with the 36" pads that he liked. Trouble was they wanted stuff by the end of that day and whatever pads I did have, he wanted me to call around my competitors to see if they had the matching gloves or stick in color or brand.

After about 2 hours of trying on and talking and such, they left with no purchases as a result of not having a matching set. The father was REALLY adamant about matching, he was even willing to take colors that didn't match the team uniforms so long as they all matched in brand and color. Sure you wana look good going into tryouts but I found it difficult to believe that a goalie wasn't chose because of the cosmetics of his gear.

[Colander]

^^ This always hits home with me. I hear a lot of talk about gear and appearances as it seems to be the most important aspect to a lot of goalies (and as it appears from the previous story, their parents). But every time I hear someone going off on how important gear appearance it reminds me of a goalie I played against in midget. He was hands-down the best goalie I have ever seen to this day. He also had the most rag-tag, dilapidated set of mismatched gear you could imagine. This was the kind of stuff that if you found it in a kit bag somewhere would just assume it was packed up to go tot the dump as it wasn't worth the gas you would need to burn it.

Apparently he was a golden glove short-stop as well.

[coopaloop1234]

So you guys are telling me that the goalie mantra of "Look good, play good" isn't true?

I've been lied to.

[ThatCarGuy]

My next set will be white and silver in preparation for the unpredictable world that is junior hockey. Kind of a match every team sort of set (while avoiding all white gear). I don’t believe matching gear is an issue as I tried out for a black green and yellow team with an all black set and didn’t make the team. My understanding was that the goalies were picked before anyone even signed up for the tryout camps unfortunately.