USHL In Talks With Tier 1 Elite League

According to the Sioux City Journal, the USHL is in talks with Tier 1 Elite Hockey League about a national affiliation. The Tier 1 League is home to 19 "triple A" (AAA) teams, including the Chicago Fury. The USHL is the premiere junior league for those players who do not want to head off to Canada.

What does this mean for the newly minted, unfortunately named High Performance Hockey League?

From the article:

In Tuesday's USHL Futures Draft, a total of 20 players -- 22 percent of the 90 drafted -- were selected from Tier I Elite League teams, none of whom were selected by the Sioux City Musketeers, according to the team's coach, Luke Strand.

"It's a work of progress and while we're not there yet, we've been exploring the possibility of a closer relationship with this group of elite organizations for the past 12 months," USHL Commissioner Skip Prince said.

The terms of the proposed agreement could recognize the Tier I Elite League as the USHL's official developmental league. The parties have discussed re-branding the league to better reflect its affiliation within the USHL.

And from the Fury's website:

The Tier 1 League will prove to be THE exciting example of cooperation among organizations and competitive ice hockey in the United States. 

The Tier 1 Elite Hockey League is pleased to announce the successful completion of the League-Wide Meeting recently hosted by the Chicago Fury in Orland Park, Illinois.

 The League meeting resulted in the confirmation of participating organizations from Boston in the East to Los Angeles in the West and all areas of the country in between.

Throughout the weekend, a cooperative effort was achieved among all League partners. Here are someof the League highlights for the coming season:

• Establishment of a solid League structure among all organizations;

• Establishment of a Board of Governors with representatives from all aspects of theLeague – including Girls, Boys & Midgets specific Board Members;

• Proposed Alignment and Scheduling keeping travel and costs to a minimum while enhancing player development and exposure;

• Establishment of Standing and Ad Hoc Committees and Committee Members and Chairs;

• Establishment of Playing Division Representatives (Girls, Boys & Midgets);

• Continued discussions and completion of a Letter of Intent with the United States HockeyLeague (USHL) recognizing Tier 1 as the Developmental League to the USHL.

Each participating organization was represented during the meeting and cast their votes in order to accomplish the above and more.

The Tier 1 Elite Hockey League is excited to move forward with the upcoming season and will make further announcements as schedules are confirmed. 

Consequently, the USHL combine is in Orland Park this weekend.





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