The Boston Advantage will join the United States Premier Hockey League at the National Collegiate Development Conference and Premier junior levels, as well as 18-U, 16-U and 15-U Midget levels.
The new partnership will begin with the 2020-21 season. It’s a win-win for both the Boston Advantage and USPHL. The USPHL welcomes one of the best youth organizations in New England to its Midget and junior levels. The Boston Advantage has found a new home with less travel at the Midget level while being able to keep players in the organization for junior hockey.
The USPHL’s Midget levels are severely lacking right now. For full-season Midget teams in New England, Mount Saint Charles and South Kent Selects Academy both are far and away better than any Midget teams in the USPHL. Mount Saint Charles and South Kent Selects Academy joined forces with the North Jersey Avalanche, Buffalo Junior Sabres and Pittsburgh Penguins Elite to form the Northeast Pack. It provided great competition with very few games against watered-down competition.
Nationally, the High Performance Hockey League is clearly the best for Midget hockey, but the Northeast Pack is on pace to give it a run for its money. The T1EHL is behind both of those leagues, but still significantly better than the USPHL. While it will take more than the Boston Advantage leaving the T1EHL to join the USPHL for that to change, it is a step in the right direction.
The Junior Bruins and Islanders Hockey Club have done the best job of USPHL organizations in terms of producing talent from the Midget levels. The Northern Cyclones, New Hampshire Junior Monarchs, P.A.L. Islanders and Boston Bandits have a notable alum or two in recent years.
Until now, the Advantage hasn’t really gotten into the junior hockey business. There was some intermingling of parts with the NAHL’s Northeast Generals, but this will be the first two teams with the Advantage name.
The Boston Advantage has the built-in benefit of being able to funnel top players from the organization’s Mite, PeeWee and Bantam teams up to the Midget teams. Outside of the academy model teams, such as Mount Saint Charles and South Kent Selects Academy, the Boston Advantage has done the best job of any full-season team in New England when it comes to producing college hockey players.
The Boston Advantage might not be able to keep top talent from leaving for the USHL. Players like Ryan Healey, Timmy Lovell Jr., Stephen Davis, Matthew MacDonald, Ryan Corcoran and Nick Ring should leave and challenge themselves in the USHL.
However, there are plenty of other good players on the Advantage’s Midget teams who could contribute in the USPHL NCDC.
The USPHL NCDC has taken a huge step backward from the old Eastern Junior Hockey League, affectionately known as the “EJ.” Once the USPHL decided to go tuition-free, the hockey seemingly got worse.
There are a lot of issues with the current junior hockey model in the USPHL, but I don’t believe any of it is beyond repair. The league has been top heavy and has struggled to keep committed players from being decommitted.
The past couple of years has been dominated by the Jersey Hitmen and Junior Bruins. The Islanders Hockey Club has taken a step back but remain competitive. Outside of those three teams, the league has struggled.
The once-proud South Shore Kings haven’t produced players like it used to, and a few teams in the league can’t generate Division 1 talent. A lot of it is due to the top three teams having an almost unfair advantage when it comes to the league administration.
My hope is that the Boston Advantage will bring another respectable organization to the USPHL NCDC. While the USHL has become the undisputed dominant force in junior hockey in the United States, there is room for a good junior hockey league based in the East.
It would benefit college programs and hockey in general in New England.
