Hello U18 – Thank you for your patience and understanding today as we all awaited the U18 rosters release. This was the toughest day in the eight years that I have been the U18 Division Director as there were so many moving parts over the last 96 hours – players coming back into the system from AA level tryouts, players withdrawing from hockey, having to shuffle the entire division multiple times due to player attrition, rosters made (multiple times) and then having to be adjusted (multiple times). It was truly a very difficult juggling act to perform, but we are through to the other side now. 

 

I’d like to start by taking a moment to thank all the people who helped make this season’s evaluations run as smoothly as they did – between the numerous volunteers who helped swing gates, perform timekeeping duties, assisting with checking in players and collecting the wretched-smelling jerseys at the end of games, this is not a one-man show and there is no hope that I could have done this without all of you.

Special mention goes to a few familiar faces who you will have seen at multiple games: Shawna Knowles, Scott Bremner, Roxanne Ross, David Vrabcenak, John White, Brad Buechler, Becky Clifford, Frazer McLean, Trish Sadoway, Derek Singbeil, Bill Clark, Dallas Will, Blair Rayfield, Ryan Rosin, and Tara Lamabe (our SPMHA Volunteer of the Year last season!) My sincere gratitude to you all!

A MASSIVE thank you to all the evaluators that sat and watched all these players for as many hours as they did. Many of these people are the same ones who will now spend hundreds of hours giving even more to our children by coaching them on the teams they are on. There were also three independent folks that I had out during almost all of these sessions who provided invaluable feedback as they did not have players in the division, and in some cases, not in the Association at all. These independent reviews are gold as there are no biases from past experiences with players, no rumours they’ve heard, or impressions made upon them. They are hockey guys who evaluated the talent and skills of the players on the ice and nothing more. All of these folks have huge amounts of volunteer DNA and I appreciate the efforts of all of them.

There have been over 7,000 data points taken over the last two weeks, hundreds of hours in the summer and fall spent preparing for and executing these evaluations, and many dozens of hours spent analyzing the data and feedback. I am confident that the rosters posted represent the best possible configuration for players into teams that we can present, and which will allow for them to be both challenged and playing at a level appropriate to their skill for the most part. There are a few exceptions this season, for example we have several goaltenders playing well below their maximum skill level because of the unusually high number of goalies we had stick around in hockey the last couple of years – this is a great problem to have – my goal is to help foster a life-long love for the game and while that is being accomplished, sometimes it comes a the expense of some players not being able to move up a level where they deserve to because of the sheer numbers of players who continue to play the game whereas in previous years we have seen more of an attrition rate.

Please don’t get caught up in the “my kid made Tier X when he played Tier Z last season” game, especially if you have just moved up from U15 to U18. U18 is already a very difficult age group with three years of players to spread out across the teams but the lack of upward tier slots this season made it infinitely much more difficult to place all players where we want them to be. If you have questions about the Evaluation Process, or questions about how your payer arrived at the tiering they are at, please review this post, it has a lot of pertinent information. I wish every player could play at the level they, and you, feel they are at. The reality is that sometimes it is a numbers game – players sometimes are forced into a bit of a lower placement because of the numbers above them. it doesn’t mean they are not good hockey players – but chances are  if your son is there, look around because many others in your age group/previous teams, etc are as well.

This has been a very difficult season for players looking to move up as there has been very little upward movement because of the return of so many players in the tier 1 team and about a half dozen who decided to no longer play with SPKAC when they were very much capable of making either the 18AAA or 18AA teams – the result of this is that the tier 2s don’t get to move up from 2 to 1 and 3s don’t get to move to 2. Frustrating to me as an administrator because I know so many more players are capable of playing higher than where they rank out in the end this year… it simply becomes a game of numbers.

I’m expecting better chances for upwards mobility next season as there are a LOT of 2007s that will age out after this season. The entire tier one team is going to age out except for four players. Tier 2 will also see a bunch of players age out, so there should be plenty of upward mobility next season.

Please remember when looking at the rosters, there will be many who agree with the rankings and placement of players, and some will not. We have examined each player’s evaluation scores from a variety of angles, especially for players who joined us early in the process, and solicited appropriate input from our partners where needed, in order to place players on the team that best fits them in terms of the  overall picture of the entire U18 Division. The SPMHA Evaluation Committee was convened to determine the most appropriate placement for any players who were injured from the outset of Evaluations or away and could not participate in the evaluation games themselves. These players were assigned to teams based upon several articles in the SPMHA Evaluation Policy, specifically section 2.16. Injured, Sick and Absent Players and in the case of several other players that were subject to very late release dates from SPKAC or Second Tryouts from other AA Associations, we use Policy 2.5. Evaluation of Players Released from SPKAC.

Lastly, there may be some disappointment when viewing these lists if tier placement doesn’t match your or your child’s expectations for this season. Strathcona County has created a video to help us when coping with disappointment and dealing with adversity. Please remember we do our best to place your player where they can be successful this season and can continue to grow and love the sport. We have a lot of excellent hockey players in Sherwood Park and just because your player does not make the level they were hoping for does not mean they are not a great player.

  • If you are unhappy with your player’s placement, please feel free to review the SPMHA Evaluation Policy & Procedures document, section 4.3 – Tiering Disputes.
  • If you believe our Evaluation Policy Procedure has been breached and wish to file a grievance, please review section 4.4 – Grievance Process. The link to the Evaluation Grievance Form is located within.

It is important to note that there may still be players tracking around out there in various stages of Junior, U18-AA or U16-AA tryouts who may end up filtering back into our system which could potentially cause changes to these rosters, so nothing is set in stone until November 15, but any changes henceforth will be accompanied by an email or call to the player/family.

Without further delay, here are the 2024-25 Season U18 Preliminary Rosters

Please note – there are several teams practicing tonight. Apologies for the last minute notice, however it could not be helped.

SP701 – SP Shell 8:45 – 9:45 PM

SP707 – SP Shell 10:00 – 11:00 PM

SP702 – MP Powerade 8:15 – 9:15 PM

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