OWATONNA, MN - DU recruit Dusty Jackson (Omaha, NE) had difficulty deciding where to play his final season of junior hockey this season. After two years in Billings, the Bulls’ (NAHL) leading scorer had the luxury of choosing from multiple opportunities when the franchise ceased operations in the summer of 2006. In the end, he opted for the Southern Minnesota Express, a decision he has not regretted.
“I was struggling over the summer but I feel like I made the right decision to come here,” Jackson told the Owatonna (MN) People’s Press. “I couldn’t be happier.”
Neither could his Express teammates, who recently voted the 20-year-old forward the team’s Most Valuable Player. With 16 goals and 47 points in 61 games, Jackson led Southern Minnesota’s incredibly balanced attack. Jackson has committed to play college hockey at University of Denver in WCHA.
3 comments:
What kind of league is the NAHL in terms of competitiveness? I'm assuming it's a step or two below the USHL.
It is a step below the USHL but some pretty good players have come out of it. Ben Bishop of Maine immediately comes to mind.
To briefly summarize the USHL is a "Tier 1" league and the NAHL is "Tier 2."
Generally, the top players in the USHL go to the best collegiate programs, while most NAHL players go to "middle of the road" collegiate programs.
Like du78 mentioned, thats not to say that you can't find a diamond in the rough or a late bloomer in the NAHL.
It gets a little more complicated when you start talking about the Canadian leagues, because Tier 1 players in Canada can't play college hockey as they are deemed to be "professionals" by the NCAA.
All NCAA recruits from Canada came from the Tier 2 leagues up there such as the BCHL, ACHL etc.
If you want to see where players go from Junior hockey check out Hisenberg's website listed in the Links Section of the Blog.
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