The opportunity to be a founding member of a league was too good for Maine Nordiques Academy to pass up.
Earlier this month, the Nordiques academy and seven other hockey organizations across North America formed the Power Prep Hockey League, a Tier I showcase-based AAA league that will begin play in the fall.
“These are really strong foundation-bearing academy programs starting to form this league,” Eric Soltys, general manager of the Maine Nordiques organization, said. “This is a real good thing for everybody involved. It’s going to be gigantic for junior programs and NCAA schools to have all these teams under the same roof for the weekend showcase series. It’s going to magnify the recruiting possibilities for the kids.”
The other seven organizations in the PPHL are Bishop’s College School (Sherbrooke, Quebec), Ridley College School (St. Catharines, Ontario), Boston Hockey Academy at the Matignon School (Medford, Massachusetts), Elite Hockey Academy (Northford, Connecticut), Gilmour Academy (Gates Mills, Ohio), Ontario Hockey Academy (Cornwall, Ontario), and Mount Academy (Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island).
The league will have four showcases for the 18U and 16U teams: Columbus Day Classic (Oct. 6-8), Thanksgiving Showcase (Nov. 18-20), Holiday Festival (Dec. 9-11), and the Winter Classic (Feb. 3-5). Locations for these events have yet to be determined.
The showcases also will include teams from outside the league.
“A lot of these teams in high-end leagues have already made commitments to be guest teams in these showcase events within our league. That’s very exciting,” Soltys said. “It also goes to show you that we have formed something very strong with the guest teams of high-caliber that want to come in and participate in the showcase weekends. They know they can come in and play against three or four teams that are going be highly ranked in the MyHockey Ranking system.”
MyHockey Ranking is a website site that ranks the top AAA hockey teams by age group across North America.
The Maine Nordiques Academy included two full-season 18U teams and a full-season 16U team in 2021-22. The teams will continue to play in other leagues like the Beast Series, East Coast Elite League and North American Prospects Hockey.
“We will still participate in a bunch of these different leagues,” Soltys said. “We formed our own league, which we think will be a super foundation for our schedule, and will be in these other showcase leagues as well. We are trying to decide if it’s as a guest to the events or as an affiliate to these events, or as a league member. (We currently are) kind of in that time (of the year) where everybody is jockeying for positioning to see who is going (to which league). Once that’s kind of determined, you look and see how strong (a particular league) is.”
The Maine Nordiques’ junior hockey team will remain in the North American Hockey League.
Soltys said the Maine Nordiques Academy’s plans for next season include full-season Tier I 14U and 15U teams. However, the academy is also a member of the Maine Amateur Hockey Association (MEAHA), and therefore must receive approval from MEAHA to add Tier I teams.
The Maine Nordiques Academy has declared to MEAHA its intention to add 14U and 15U teams, and has already held tryouts for the potential teams. Tryouts for 18U and 16U teams also were held at the beginning of the month.
The Nordiques academy will learn if its request to start 14U and 15U teams is approved, at MEAHA’s annual meeting on May 1.
“At that annual meeting, we will find out a lot more about the younger teams and the process for (those teams),” Soltys said. “We have had a great response, and we have had good solid numbers at our tryouts. We had a tremendous response from our recruiting links on the Maine Nordiques website. So many 2008 (14U players) and 2007 (15U players) birth years have come through.
“It’s moving in the right direction.”
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