Getting In on the Game

League Rules

Now in its 35th season overall and its 28th as a strictly amateur league, the USHL has proven to be a fertile training ground for National Hockey League talent. Many NHL players have their roots in the USHL, including current stars Thomas Vanek of the Buffalo Sabres and the Carolina Hurricanes’ Chad LaRose. Ranging in age from 16 to 20 years old, USHL players aren’t paid. Instead, they use the league to hone their skills, hoping to move on to either an NCAA hockey program (they’d lose their eligibility to compete in college athletics if they were paid) or the NHL. Playing in the USHL is a little like redshirting in college football. Many freshmen redshirt a season—that is, they practice with the college team, but don’t play in actual games, so they develop physically and mentally while not losing one of their four years of team eligibility. (Because eligibility lasts four years, players often stay an extra year in school to sharpen their talents and increase their chances of catching the eyes of pro scouts.)

Of the five hockey leagues classified as American Junior “A” leagues by USA Hockey (the governing body for amateur hockey in the United States), the USHL is the only one with Tier I status, putting it atop the U.S. developmental hockey ladder. Schoenborn and his colleagues sought out this exclusive status in 2000 in order to improve the quality and value of the league’s franchises. USA Hockey then established new Tier I rules mandating higher standards for coaching, facilities, and off-ice player support.

“We expect communities with at least 150,000 people, with 4,500-plus seat venues with state-of-the-art amenities—suites, video boards, and so on,” Schoenborn says. “We also expect the hockey team to be the primary tenant. Owners must meet minimum net-worth criteria and have experience in sports business. They must also have a competent, experienced staff and a business plan that is closely monitored by the USHL. All in all, I can see one or possibly two current USHL teams ever relocating. There are another six or so markets actively working to add venues and teams to the USHL.”

For now, the USHL has 12 teams, all of them in the Midwest. (Minnesota, which has had several teams over the years, has had none since the Rochester Mustangs folded in 2003.) Teams in independent leagues often come and go. But Schoenborn asserts that the USHL has more stability than other amateur or even minor professional leagues. The reason several USHL teams relocated in the early 2000s, he says, is that the league entered Tier I during that time. The new status required each team’s operating budget to grow from $500,000 or so a year to nearly $1 million a year. Additionally, Tier I rules require teams to average at least 2,000 fans a game and to play in well-maintained facilities. The USHL teams that could improve their operations and stay in their respective markets did—the ones that couldn’t, moved.

Because they’re not paid, USHL players are billeted with host families in their team’s home city, and have all equipment and miscellaneous expenses paid for by the team—to the tune of at least $40,000 per team per year. Most games are scheduled on weekends so as not to interfere with the studies of players who are still in high school. In return for offering fans a glimpse of a potential star in the making, a USHL player gets a valuable opportunity to attract recruiters from pro teams or top college programs. And even if that doesn’t happen, the experience brings a small measure of fame.