UHL hockey (quality)

[ChampionOfSteel]

I saw Richmond take on Roanoke while on a business.

UHL is the worst paid-to-play hockey league I've ever seen.

Execution sucked. There's a noticeable difference comparing this league to the ECHL.

[adsco]

The ECHL, for the most part is for players on the way up. The UHL is for players who never got drafted, for good reasons perhaps, and are too old for the ECHL. You seldom see guys in the ECHL for very long. This is due to the fact that they never got another contract from the NHL team that drafted them, and they aren't likely to make it up to the AHL. In essence, the UHL is a "Senior A" league. No disrespect to the guys that play in it; but the UHL is also known as a league of last resorts - yah can't go any lower.

[Pounder]

Let's be honest...

The ECHL moves out older players because they demand larger salaries.

The UHL will hire the older players, and sometimes they mail it in. I know defenders of the league say that there's more continuity with teams because of the veterans... I've never seen a game.

Hard to say from an Idaho angle... the WCHL team started out badly, then almost skated into championship form... then won the Kelly Cup in their first year in the E. Many are complaining now that the WCHL was better (I know they're saying that in San Diego, who had a stranglehold on the W).

Perhaps it's six of one, half a dozen of the other.

[patmc16]

I saw Richmond take on Roanoke while on a business.

UHL is the worst paid-to-play hockey league I've ever seen.

Execution sucked. There's a noticeable difference comparing this league to the ECHL.

I guess everyone is entitled to their opinion, but it would be nice if this one one was based on more than 1 game played between a team that may squeak into the playoffs as an 8 seed (Richmond) and the worst team in the league (Roanoke). I can assure you that this match-up does not represent the league as a whole.

Without digging up the old argument of how leagues are ranked against one another, there are people who would argue that the UHL is on par with the ECHL. I don't happen to be one of them, but there are many who are. I put it equal or slightly above the the CHL and above the SPHL for sure. I base this mainly on the performance of the UHL players who have also played in the CHL and the UHL rejects who have moved on to the SPHL.

The UHL is for players who never got drafted

There are plenty of NHL drafted players on UHL rosters. My team, the Motor City Mechanics, currently has 3 players on their roster with (a little) NHL playing experience (Gretzky - Tampa Bay, Angelstad - Washington, and Vernarsky - Boston). We have also had 2 AHL call-ups this season (Smith & Ruggiero - Both to Cleveland). If the UHL is "the league of last resorts" why didn't Cleveland call on another league? To call the UHL a "Senior A" league IS to disrespect the players in it.

The ECHL moves out older players because they demand larger salaries. The UHL will hire the older players, and sometimes they mail it in.

This makes the UHL sound like a bunch of old men getting overpaid. Completely untrue. First of all, no one is getting overpaid in this league. I personally don't know how they survive on what they are paid. Prior to the NHL'ers coming on board there was only 1 player (Joe Burton) on last season's Mechanics roster that was older than me. I sure don't consider myself "older". The league has rules in place which require each roster to have no more than 7 vetern players. The league defines a veteran as anyone who has played more than 300 professional games at any level. It also requires a minimum of 4 rookies on each roster, which is defined as playing no more than 60 professional games. 12 out of 19 players on the active roster have to have played less than 300 games, and 4 of those less than 60. If you are an "older player" and have less than 300 pro games, your not going to make it in any league, even a league of "last resort". I don't want to speak for all of the teams, but I can tell you that there is no one one the Mechanics roster that "mails it in". Maybe Roanoke mailed it in in the game that started this thread, but they do not represent the league as a whole. They are so far down that there is nothing to play for. The team is not going to bring in higher quality players at this point. To base an opinion on the entire league on the worst team in it is just nonsense. If the game had been any combination of Muskegon (2X defending champions), Kalamazoo or Rockford, this thread would have probably gone in a completely different direction.

[Geoff]

The UHL is by no means the league of last resort. I see the UHL as slightly below the ECHL. The WCHL and ECHL always seemed to be neck and neck. Also, a lot of ex-WCHL teams signed former UHL, CHL, ECHL, and rookie players before their first season in the E so that kind of negates the argument of who's better.

Here's how I rank the leagues
AAAA
NHL

AAA
AHL

AA
ECHL
UHL
CHL

A
SPHL

[dgjordan]

The UHL is by no means the league of last resort. I see the UHL as slightly below the ECHL. The WCHL and ECHL always seemed to be neck and neck. Also, a lot of ex-WCHL teams signed former UHL, CHL, ECHL, and rookie players before their first season in the E so that kind of negates the argument of who's better.

Here's how I rank the leagues
AAAA
NHL

AAA
AHL

AA
ECHL
UHL
CHL

A
SPHL


Oh, gee, thanks, thanks for rating us dead last! Go SEALS!!!

[adsco]

I guess everyone is entitled to their opinion, but it would be nice if this one one was based on more than 1 game played between a team that may squeak into the playoffs as an 8 seed (Richmond) and the worst team in the league (Roanoke). I can assure you that this match-up does not represent the league as a whole.

Without digging up the old argument of how leagues are ranked against one another, there are people who would argue that the UHL is on par with the ECHL. I don't happen to be one of them, but there are many who are. I put it equal or slightly above the the CHL and above the SPHL for sure. I base this mainly on the performance of the UHL players who have also played in the CHL and the UHL rejects who have moved on to the SPHL.



There are plenty of NHL drafted players on UHL rosters. My team, the Motor City Mechanics, currently has 3 players on their roster with (a little) NHL playing experience (Gretzky - Tampa Bay, Angelstad - Washington, and Vernarsky - Boston). We have also had 2 AHL call-ups this season (Smith & Ruggiero - Both to Cleveland). If the UHL is "the league of last resorts" why didn't Cleveland call on another league? To call the UHL a "Senior A" league IS to disrespect the players in it.



This makes the UHL sound like a bunch of old men getting overpaid. Completely untrue. First of all, no one is getting overpaid in this league. I personally don't know how they survive on what they are paid. Prior to the NHL'ers coming on board there was only 1 player (Joe Burton) on last season's Mechanics roster that was older than me. I sure don't consider myself "older". The league has rules in place which require each roster to have no more than 7 vetern players. The league defines a veteran as anyone who has played more than 300 professional games at any level. It also requires a minimum of 4 rookies on each roster, which is defined as playing no more than 60 professional games. 12 out of 19 players on the active roster have to have played less than 300 games, and 4 of those less than 60. If you are an "older player" and have less than 300 pro games, your not going to make it in any league, even a league of "last resort". I don't want to speak for all of the teams, but I can tell you that there is no one one the Mechanics roster that "mails it in". Maybe Roanoke mailed it in in the game that started this thread, but they do not represent the league as a whole. They are so far down that there is nothing to play for. The team is not going to bring in higher quality players at this point. To base an opinion on the entire league on the worst team in it is just nonsense. If the game had been any combination of Muskegon (2X defending champions), Kalamazoo or Rockford, this thread would have probably gone in a completely different direction.

The UHL is a "graveyard"!

Ok guys got drafted by NHL teams, then they played in the ECHL, then they played in the CHL or whatever, and now they play in the UHL. NO DISRESPECT TO ANY OF THEM OR THIER FANS!

We have to realize that the schedules, and travel would burn out a robot. Some of these guys have spent the better part of their life on a bus! Particularly if they came out of the Western Hockey League, which has bus trips of three weeks, and some of these guys started when they were 15-16 years old. I don't know how may of you have taken a long bus ride - like Toronto to Edmonton - which is three days - and, we are talking three weeks here. And, how do you like even taking a city bus across town?

The point is, there is too much travel. You are supposed to be "developing"; but you are on a bus half your life. It is no wonder that most of these guys that get drafted, wind up in the ECHL, and never make it to the "bigs".

That is why an amalganation of the "AA" leagues makes sense. Geographical games, where, except in the West, you go for an away game, and you get back to sleep in you own bed the next morning. And get up to "practise", the next day, not ride a bus for 12 more hours.

The bottom line is, it is not the players I have direspect for, its the greedy leagues, that will take an expansion fee of 100K-250K plus, and have players traveling all over the map. The CHL expansion team in OH., or whatever it is - is the perfect example. What is the closest team to themt? 600 miles, plus or minus. Another 20 hours on a bus for 14 teams, three or four times a year. HAHAHA! That is why I say the UHL is a graveyard, and so is the CHL now too!

NO DISRESPECT TO THE FANS AND PLAYERS, BUT................

[patmc16]

We have to realize that the schedules, and travel would burn out a robot. Some of these guys have spent the better part of their life on a bus! Particularly if they came out of the Western Hockey League, which has bus trips of three weeks, and some of these guys started when they were 15-16 years old. I don't know how may of you have taken a long bus ride - like Toronto to Edmonton - which is three days - and, we are talking three weeks here. And, how do you like even taking a city bus across town?

The point is, there is too much travel. You are supposed to be "developing"; but you are on a bus half your life. It is no wonder that most of these guys that get drafted, wind up in the ECHL, and never make it to the "bigs".

That is why an amalganation of the "AA" leagues makes sense. Geographical games, where, except in the West, you go for an away game, and you get back to sleep in you own bed the next morning. And get up to "practise", the next day, not ride a bus for 12 more hours.

After reading this, I've got to ask, did you even bother to look at the UHL map or schedule before making such a comment?

http://www.theuhl.com/uhlmap.aspx

The vast majority of games in the U are played on the weekend. The majority of overnight road trips are no longer than Friday - Monday. No UHL team is on the road for weeks. There are 5 teams located in Michigan and 1 in Indiana not too far outside of Michigan. Next season, there will be 4 teams in Illinois and 1 in Missouri not to far out of Illinois. The U plays an unbalanced schedule, so the majority of the games are against teams that are geopraphically closer. 3 of the teams in Michigan: Motor City, Flint & Port Huron are 1 hour apart from each other by bus. How much more regional can you get without moving into another team's fan base? Actually, I was a Port Huron fan until Motor City came along. This weekend, Motor City plays a home, road, and home game on Fri, Sat & Sun, but will sleep in thir own beds each night. Also, they travel by chartered bus, or one that the team owns. Sure it's not the luxury that you get in the bigs, but its a far cry from a city bus. If things stay on schedule, Williamsport PA will be added in 07/08 to give another opponent for Adirondack, Elmira & Danbury. Richmond & Roanoke are the only outsiders. Richmond will amost certainly be gone after this year. If the Dixons run Roanoke as poorly as they did when the franchise was the Port Huron Beacons (and all indications are that they do), I am sure they will be gone before long as well. In terms of geography, the UHL is like the IHL was 30 years ago. Hopefully the league has learned from the IHL and will not suffer the same fate.

I do agree with you 100% on the Youngstown issue. It makes no sense at all. I'm not exactly sure how, but I know there is some connection between the league and the arena Youngstown plays in. That is the only reason they are in the CHL intead of the UHL or ECHL, which would make much more sense. I expect it won't be too long before someone realizes that and the connection is broken and the team ends up in the U or E. Actually, It would make perfect sense for the U as the teams will pass right by Youngstown on the way to Williamsport and NY/CT.

[MsHockeyFan]

The ECHL, for the most part is for players on the way up. The UHL is for players who never got drafted, for good reasons perhaps, and are too old for the ECHL. You seldom see guys in the ECHL for very long. This is due to the fact that they never got another contract from the NHL team that drafted them, and they aren't likely to make it up to the AHL. In essence, the UHL is a "Senior A" league. No disrespect to the guys that play in it; but the UHL is also known as a league of last resorts - yah can't go any lower.
You obviously don't know much about the UHL as they have plenty of NHL Drafted players playing in the UHL and also have working agreements with AHL teams to train and give experience to players who are on thier way up to the AHL and NHL. Get your facts straight before spewing your garbage talk about a league you obviously don't know much about.

[#1 Guard Fan]

Don't mess with a lady that loves hockey might lose a few teeth:)

[ChampionOfSteel]

I guess everyone is entitled to their opinion, but it would be nice if this one one was based on more than 1 game played between a team that may squeak into the playoffs as an 8 seed (Richmond) and the worst team in the league (Roanoke). I can assure you that this match-up does not represent the league as a whole.

Without digging up the old argument of how leagues are ranked against one another, there are people who would argue that the UHL is on par with the ECHL. I don't happen to be one of them, but there are many who are. I put it equal or slightly above the the CHL and above the SPHL for sure. I base this mainly on the performance of the UHL players who have also played in the CHL and the UHL rejects who have moved on to the SPHL.



There are plenty of NHL drafted players on UHL rosters. My team, the Motor City Mechanics, currently has 3 players on their roster with (a little) NHL playing experience (Gretzky - Tampa Bay, Angelstad - Washington, and Vernarsky - Boston). We have also had 2 AHL call-ups this season (Smith & Ruggiero - Both to Cleveland). If the UHL is "the league of last resorts" why didn't Cleveland call on another league? To call the UHL a "Senior A" league IS to disrespect the players in it.



This makes the UHL sound like a bunch of old men getting overpaid. Completely untrue. First of all, no one is getting overpaid in this league. I personally don't know how they survive on what they are paid. Prior to the NHL'ers coming on board there was only 1 player (Joe Burton) on last season's Mechanics roster that was older than me. I sure don't consider myself "older". The league has rules in place which require each roster to have no more than 7 vetern players. The league defines a veteran as anyone who has played more than 300 professional games at any level. It also requires a minimum of 4 rookies on each roster, which is defined as playing no more than 60 professional games. 12 out of 19 players on the active roster have to have played less than 300 games, and 4 of those less than 60. If you are an "older player" and have less than 300 pro games, your not going to make it in any league, even a league of "last resort". I don't want to speak for all of the teams, but I can tell you that there is no one one the Mechanics roster that "mails it in". Maybe Roanoke mailed it in in the game that started this thread, but they do not represent the league as a whole. They are so far down that there is nothing to play for. The team is not going to bring in higher quality players at this point. To base an opinion on the entire league on the worst team in it is just nonsense. If the game had been any combination of Muskegon (2X defending champions), Kalamazoo or Rockford, this thread would have probably gone in a completely different direction.

I saw the Columbus Stars multiple times (folded in midseason), the Richmond RiverDogs, and Roanoke Valley Vipers. I listened to the Dayton Ice Bandits on radio.

Columbus was a ECHL playoff candidate that would challenge for the Riley Cup it they were in the ECHL.


RiverDogs sucked.

Roanoke sucked.

And from what I read about in the paper and heard on the radio, the teams the Dayton Ice Bandits played sucked too.

The teams playing the Columbus Stars really sucked. It looked like adult league hockey.

The league is about as financially responsible as the National Indoor Football League -- stiffing its season ticket holders, players and coaches without having sufficient startup capital.

This league is the WFL of hockey, except their players are mostly downright s----y. At least the WFL had NFL quality players.

[rams80]

I saw the Columbus Stars multiple times (folded in midseason), the Richmond RiverDogs, and Roanoke Valley Vipers. I listened to the Dayton Ice Bandits on radio.

Columbus was a ECHL playoff candidate that would challenge for the Riley Cup it they were in the ECHL.


RiverDogs sucked.

Roanoke sucked.

And from what I read about in the paper and heard on the radio, the teams the Dayton Ice Bandits played sucked too.

The teams playing the Columbus Stars really sucked. It looked like adult league hockey.

The league is about as financially responsible as the National Indoor Football League -- stiffing its season ticket holders, players and coaches without having sufficient startup capital.

This league is the WFL of hockey, except their players are mostly downright s----y. At least the WFL had NFL quality players.

You quite possibly picked the worst teams possible to see in the UHL. Those operations were poorly run (something about Ohio and this league.) Give them some credit, teams don't go belly up nearly as often as NIFL teams, and the league champion never had its equipment repoed as the team was celebrating in the locker room (The WFL's enduring image).

[#1 Guard Fan]

I think all minor leagues have their bads teams in them. Just a fact of dealing with at this level. I wish good luck to all the minor league teams because it can not be easy thats for sure

[MsHockeyFan]

Don't mess with a lady that loves hockey might lose a few teeth:)
Nawwwwwww no teeth but doesn't sound much like he has any marbles left. And that goes for championsofsteel as well. You cannot set your viewpoints of an entire league on one or two teams. I have been watching pro hockey for years and the United Hockey League is not much below the old IHL or the current AHL in quality of players and teams. (that is IF you leave out the quality of officiating in the UHL :-) ... )
and yes guard I DO LOVE HOCKEY!!!

[killer kaminski]

I personally don't know how they survive on what they are paid.
If you can't survive on 500 to 1200 dollars a week, you have a problem.