League to expand for 2009 Season
Thank you for your interest in the Elite II High School Hockey League. Elite II is cooperatively sponsored by the Minnesota Hockey Coaches Association, Minnesota Hockey and the Herb Brooks Foundation along with the support of USA Hockey which has designated the league as an Olympic Development event. The league is designed to give players an opportunity to develop their skills by playing a competitive 16 - 20 game schedule in preparation for the high school hockey season. The State High School Hockey Coaches Association wanted to give underclassmen the same great opportunity that the Upper Midwest Elite League provides. Although the Elite II League has no alliliation with the Upper Midwest Elite League we do have the same goals of developing hockey players and keeping our state's best high school players here in MN. Even though the league is designed for players who are not seniors, each team is allowed to have a maximum of 4 senior skaters and 1 goalie play each game. The league has been very successful in each of its first five years allowing players to play with and against some of the best players in Minnesota, North Dakota and Wisconsin. This year the league will also have teams from Omaha, Nebraska and Norway participating during some of the weekends.
This season the league expands by two teams, one located in the Southwest portion of the state (Mankato, Owatonna, etc.) and the other located in Grand Rapids. This brings the total number of Minnesota teams to 11 arranged by geographical location. Check the "Team Composition" page to determine which team your school is part of. The cost for tryouts will be $45 for the tryout plus $40 for the 2009 - 2010 USA Hockey registration fee. If you are interested in trying out for the league please fill out the Player Profile Registration form and send it to me along with your $45 payment to confirm that we should include you on the tryout list. Tryouts will consist of 6 hours ice time, with player cuts allowed after the first 4 hours are completed. Should you end up playing in the Upper Midwest Elite League your payment will be returned to you and you will be removed from the tryout list.
Players that are still eligible to play at the Bantam level (Birth dates 7/1/94 - 6/30/96) during the 2009 - 2010 season who did not play at the high school level during the 2008 - 2009 season ARE NOT eligible to participate in the league (by MN Hockey rule) and should not register for the tryouts.
For those selected to play in the league, games will begin the weekend after Labor Day. Teams will play a minimum of two games per weekend during the season. Games are held primarily on Saturdays and Sundays but teams do have the option to schedule a weeknight game if it is agreed to by both teams involved. We are also planning on scheduling each team for a "Bye" weekend during the season this year. Games will be hosted at different sites around the state each week, with the league being split into two divisions, north and south to help reduce some of the travel burden for everyone. During at least two weekends the entire league will play at one site in the metro area. Cost of playing in the league is $575 and includes jersey, socks, practice time and all games. The maximum roster size is 25 players and teams can elect to offer "practice squad" spots to players which would be at a lesser fee and would not include game participation.
Also, as part of the season this year we are planning to enter teams into a U-18 and U-16 AAA Midget tournament. Selections to these teams will be made from league players who attend a tryout to be held in August . Last fall we had a team participate in the Nike Bauer U-16 tournament in Chicago and found that to be a highly competitive event that was enjoyed by all who participated. Further details will be provided as soon as plans are finalized.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me either by phone or email. My contact information is listed below.
We are looking forward to another great fall season and I hope that you will join us.
Sincerely,
Charlie Graves
Director, Elite II
14605 Harrington Place
Apple Valley, MN 55124
(612)-280-7637 (evening) or (952) 853-6260 (day)
Email addresses: elite2hockey@gmail.com or charles.a.graves@ceridian.com
Website: www.EliteIIHockey.com
