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: Erin Friesen, Andy Carpenter, Dave Wimmer, Karen Melnyk, Jason Delainey, Candice Davies, Roxanne Ross, Becky Clifford, Chrissy Gallimore, and everyone else who has given a few hours for the process. 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 over the next six months or longer, giving even more to our children by coaching them on the teams they are on. Of the eighteen evaluators I had in the stands on a regular basis, there were also six independent folks that were 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 just shy of 10,000 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 below their maximum skill level because of the unusually low number of goalies we have today. Sometimes the numbers dictate that a player’s placement (regardless of position) is lower than where they may deserve to play. In the end, players are ranked overall across the entire division and although it may come at the expense of certain players being able to move up a tier, or worse, playing lower this year than the previous season, and their placement is based on ranking overall.

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. 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.

There were dozens of emailed requests in the past 72 hours – certain players wish to play with their buddies, or be on a different team than others, they may wish to have a certain coach or not have a certain coach, etc. The requests are many. U18 does not accommodate friend requests – nor can we attempt to as it becomes a 4D games of tetris – your request may conflict with another family’s/player’s request. SPMHA also has an obligation to roster teams that are as balanced as we can make them based upon the evaluation data collected over the past two weeks, or in cases of injured players or players who could not join us for the entire evaluation period, based upon the data we have from partners or previous season placement.

Please remember when looking at the rosters, there will be many who agree with the rankings and placement of players, and some will not. There are also limited numbers of spots at each position. 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.

We are looking for a Coach for SP708. If your player is on this team, please contact me if you are interested in being the head coach or two Co-head coaches.

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 2025-26 Season U18 Preliminary Rosters (3 pages)

 

Posted in U18 Posts

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