The Secret Scrimmage

This is something that generally only occurs at the higher levels but I've noticed lately that a number of parents are still confused by it.

Most have even participated in a few of them without even realizing what's actually happening.

"Why wasn't Sunday's game posted on MHR?"

"Two 22 minute periods? That's kind of unusual, no?"

"How come we didn't switch sides?"

"Why are we wearing practice jerseys for the game?"

"Anyone have the code to unlock Live Barn?"

Let me set the stage...

So there are leagues in my region (New England / Atlantic) that are full season leagues where you're basically playing 50ish games against teams within your league.

Excluding tournaments -- that's your season and all of your opponents are within the same league you are.

They're "closed" leagues.

If you're not in the league, you're not going to get the opportunity to play one of those teams unless it's in a privately run tournament.

For most of my kids' hockey journey, we've played for teams that play in two or three leagues at the same time -- supplemental type leagues. Each one requires like 12-15 regular season games and then in February and March, we'd play in a different set of playoffs.

Here are the advantages of closed leagues.

I mean, it's easier to manage. And it's easier to schedule too.

NHL teams only play NHL teams. They don't need to coordinate getting games in with the AHL or college teams or European based teams. One league, one set of teams.

The other advantage of a closed league is that they have additional control over things like their MHR rating.

I know, I know...I'm a huge critic of MHR ratings but, stay with me here...

In our neck of the woods, there's a certain program that's a member of the EHF (or Fed, as it's colloquially called). The team markets itself as playing in the "best" youth league in the country and being the "top" program in our area.

They'd mention it so often...it was annoying. I will forever hear their salespitch in my head, it was so over-the-top...

But any green hockey parent hooked on their pitch doing their due diligence and checking out their MHR rating to verify their boast wouldn't raise their eyebrows and, instead, just think, "Yep, checks out."

Unless, of course, you happend to actually know a number of the players on that roster and put it all together.

Sure, they were the highest rated team around...but they lost every single game. Worst in their league...but some of their opponents were among the top teams in the country...so they were "supposed" to lose...but it greatly boosted their strength of schedule rating just having the opportunity to face those top teams within their closed league.

See how you can manipulate things a bit there? I mean, the spin is incredible.

I'm not knocking the top teams in those leagues -- they are outstanding.

It's the teams that aren't in the top 3-4 positions where things get out of whack.

The "Fed" has a rival league overlapping it regionally named the E9. The "E" stands for Elite. So obonoxious. I can't even roll my eyes as far as I really should regarding some of these leagues.

But they're another "closed" league -- they DO NOT FACE teams outside their league either so, again, you have another set of falsely bloated MHR ratings.

Seriously, you ever go on there and see a team with a 90+ rating but a record with three wins and seventeen losses.

This is how it happens.

The MHR website is supposed to provide an indication for how good a team is, over all, and not just within their league.

But when there aren't any (or many) common opponents across leagues...it gets tricky. Convoluted.

Murky?

Total BS?

Yeah, kinda...

It's for marketing -- this is how programs and even leagues can boast that they ARE the best -- and for the parents that haven't yet figured out the true hockey landscape, well, they're confidently able to walk around with their chests all puffed out as if they're raising a surefire NHL player.

It's those mid-season, non-league, tournaments that really get you a peek behind the curtain, though, where some MHR 85 team just rolls through an MHR 92 team.

That shouldn't happen, like, ever...but it does. Frequently.

Now, some programs will forever clutch to their good old boys network and stay within their well controlled pool...but others have figured out, "Hey, wait a minute...maybe we're not as good as we think we are...let's play those guys from the next town over."

Enter...the secret scrimmage.

I'll spill the beans.

Fed teams, the smart ones, play E9 teams.

Prep schools play against club teams.

Public high schools even play against full season club teams.

Split season teams play against full season teams.

But you're not going to see those games listed on MHR...cause, on paper, those "games" never happened.

So why would teams do this? Or not do this?

It's complicated.

I'm not going to claim I have all of the answers on this.

Part of it is for recruiting purposes, you know, showcasing that every MHR 90 ranked team is NOT equal.

More recently, I think part of it is the Black Bear effect -- leagues and programs know Black Bear is moving in and taking over with their THF and AHF leagues. Atlantic region leagues have been decimated by it already -- New England and the midwest are the next targets.

If you don't want to get absorbed -- you'd better find some additional scheduling partners.

Good ones. Competitive ones.

If you fail, you'll quickly find yourself surrounded by programs that won't agree to play you...cause their "owners" won't let it happen. Black Bear will squeeze you out.

The frequency with which these "secret scrimmages" occur has increased year over year noticably since Black Bear's rapid expansion started.

But the thing I like to hope is the actual reasoning is that parents, experienced hockey parents, have figured out that you can only claim to be the best team or the top program or the best development path in your region...if you prove it.

I suppose that goes back to the recruiting aspect.

But for guys like me -- league playoffs and plastic trophies are meaningless.

I'd rather watch my kids play in a competitive game against an opponent we've never seen before. No need for a banner or trophy at the conclusion.

That's still a tough sell for parents -- inexperienced parents -- that cling to those "championship" trinkets as a measure of success...but I think things are trending the right direction as I see more and more "secret scrimmages" pop up on the schedule.

They're not part of the problem -- they're part of the solution.

But, at the end of the day...the league doesn't matter.

The team doesn't matter, either.

I mean...if your kid has high end hockey goals, you should seek to play in the better leagues or for the better teams...but just being "there" shouldn't be end goal.

As a hockey parent -- get selfish.

How's the player?

I've watched my kids play in lopsided games over the years, secret scrimmages even, where they're getting absolutely dominated.

At the same time, evaluating the players individually, there have been times where the two best skaters on the ice, obviously so, are on the losing side.

My kids have been on the winning side before too -- one of the things I always ask on the car ride home is, "Who was the best player on that team?" and there have been dozens of times where the "best" player on the ice was on the wrong side of a 5-1 game.

And, as my oldest tip toes closer to junior hockey...it's those kids that we tend to still see over and over. Sure, number 27 played for that crap team but he was always their best player. Hardly shocked to still see him four or five times a season...or in a "secret scrimmage" on a Wednesday night in January.

And that's how it works.

Agree? Disagree? Let me know -- I love the feedback from all angles!

Chris Rutsch

Hockey Dad

Year round, I spend a significant amount of time and money transporting my three boys to and from freezing cold ice rinks. Not because I expect them to make it to the NHL but because I know the rigorous youth hockey experience will serve them well in the future.