Jersey owned Junior Hockey in the 2021-2022 Season.
When the casual hockey fan thinks of hockey hotbeds their minds quickly turn to Minnesota, Michigan and Massachusetts. With only one NCAA team in the state, the state of New Jersey rarely gets spoken about as a hockey giant. However, that may have all changed after the 2021-2022 season as New Jersey took home four junior hockey trophies across 4 very reputable junior hockey leagues.
NAHL Champions : New Jersey Titans
NCDC Champions : Jersey Hitmen
EHL Champions : New Jersey 87's
USPHL Premier Champions : Rockets Hockey Club
Four leagues, four championships. All four clubs used a combination of home-grown talent, but also brought in players from those hockey hotbeds to compete. In addition to winning hockey games these four clubs have continued to be league leaders in NCAA commitments. So, what is the secret to the success and why is New Jersey a destination for the elite hockey player? We take a look.
Location
Being 2-4 hours from over 100 NCAA schools makes life easy for exposure. Given how close New Jersey is to New England makes Jersey an easy spot to get too. But what is overlooked is how close New Jersey is to Pittsburgh, Western New York, Ohio and even Michigan. All drivable distances for coaches and scouts.
Leagues Represented
Put yourself in a college coaches' shoes...you have one day a week to scout. Do you drive 5 hours for one game? Or do you drive 5 hours and catch multiple games? That is what New Jersey provides for Colleges. With two NAHL teams (Titans and now PHC), two NCDC teams (Rockets and Hitmen), NA3HL, EHL and USPHL Premier all in the state and separated by less than 90 minutes. Every weekend in New Jersey is a junior hockey showcase.
Talent
New Jersey has plenty of home grown talent in its immediate borders and in the Philadelphia/New York City metros. This last season at the USHL Phase 1 draft age, New Jersey and the Philly/NYC metro's saw 15 players selected to USHL rosters.
At the highest level of Junior hockey in the state, the New Jersey Titans featured 9 players that played youth hockey in the Philly/NYC/NJ area this past season, which accumulated to about 45 percent of their roster.
Home Grown Coaches
Craig Doremus NJ Titans - Queens, NY
Bobby Dirico NJ Titans - Queens, NY
Gary Biggs NJ Titans - Bridgewater, NJ
Kyle Shapiro NJ Titans - Ocean, NJ
Jason Kilcoyne Rockets Premier - Philadelphia, PA
Adam Houli NJ 87's EHL - Howell, NJ
Conall McNelis NJ 87's EHL - Colts Neck, NJ
Toby Harris Hitmen NCDC - Boston Native (20 year resident of New Jersey)
Majority of these coaches played their youth and junior hockey in the area, meaning there is a sense of pride and understanding of what these players go through. The connection they have to their local hockey community is strong and shows that the best players do not need to leave to make it to college hockey. The NJ hockey community rivals any of the hotbed areas in the country.
Resources
This is the big one. Hockey is expensive.
New Jersey and its surrounding areas are more financially stable than a large part of the country. Meaning the parents have more resources to devote to their athlete's development. New Jersey is top three in Ice Arena's per square mile, only behind Minnesota and Massachusetts. Combine resources with ice availability and the interest from 4 NHL franchise's in 90 minute drive; you will have a lot of kids playing hockey.
New Jersey/NYC/Philadelphia for a long time have been considered a sleeping giant in terms of talent. The success at the Junior level in New Jersey should not be shocking to anyone. These four programs will continue to have success at the junior level.
Included With Subscription
Full access to catalogue of articles on the TSA Scouting Journal
Full access to all TSA Player Portal reports and Data Packs
USHL, NAHL Draft prospect reports and draft analysis
College spotlights and analysis
Information from our team of family advisors