Try-outs

Question
Hey Martial, I have watched hockey since the Colorado Avalanche came to Colorado. Because they came I started to play hockey. I was 6 at the time. I am now 21 and definitely not eligible for the draft. I've only played two seasons of high school ice hockey spending my other time on inline hockey teams. Recently I started hitting the ice again to get my legs back and hopefully try out to go pro. I understand it'll take time to get my legs back under me. With that being said, where should I start when I do get my legs back?

Answer
Hi David...

Most of the tryouts are typically in late summer... though some leagues will run some screening skates at the end of their seasons in  the spring.  

You can write to the team's scouts and managers that you are interested in, sending in your resume, and most will let you know when their open tryouts are!

The hockey news will advertise exposure camps during the summer months.  There is usually very little TRYOUT recruiting during the season.   

Sending in your resume COULD get you a call though!  If for some reason a team suffers alot of injuries -- I've heard stories that some teams have had to call up (men's league) players in a road town to see if they could come out and SUB...  and some guys have even stayed on after the game!!!


So if you are looking for minor pro - there are several leagues you can look up --  SPHL (http://www.thesphl.com/), UHL (http://www.theuhl.com/) and CHL (http://www.centralhockeyleague.com/)to name three, or if you want to go to Europe - you can check out the Elite League (http://www.eliteleague.co.uk/) -- if you really want to aim higher you can try ECHL or AHL as well.  They usually have their open tryouts a little later in the year.

As I said you can also buy the Hockey News or maybe look up their site - they will occasionally have an ad or two in there about OPEN FREE AGENT CAMPS http://www.pointswestinc.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=frontpage&Itemid=... for Minor Pro players who want to get scouted and maybe get an "agent".  These camps will get you exposure and from there you may get a tryout...  be prepared as sometimes it is in Europe...  It pays decent in Europe -- but it can be a trek if you are not used to it!

Again know that there are alot of "players" on the market --  so what will make it tougher for you is if you don't have a track record...  i.e. recent stats? references.  However, some coaches are more open to 'risking' than others - you may have to PR yourself for that.

Notwithstanding -- if you can stand OUT each and every game they watch you play -- you may get a shot somewhere and the key will be for you to keep the same level of play (or higher) going.

Feel free to follow up with anything if I missed something or if you wish that I elaborate.

Thanks and good luck with the puck!

Martial

PS - Here is info on a team needing players from Latvia - in case you want to contact them:
English speaking player: Stan
Email 1: [email protected]
Email 2: [email protected]
Coach: Sergey Nekrasov
Email: [email protected]