MDHL Evaluation Process
There have been many questions regarding the try out evaluation process so I will try to explain the process we use.
First of all, the evaluation committee consists of high school coaches, MDHL league coaches and junior scouts.
We are always looking to get more coaches involved in the process. Each year when the tryout announcements go out to the high school coaches, we make it clear that all coaches are welcome to become evaluators and part of the evaluation process. On any given year the evaluation committee is made of approximately 8-12 people.
Players are rated in each game and given a numerical value of 1, 2 or 3 by each evaluator. Where 1 is the lowest rating and 3 is the highest rating. The numerical ratings are added together for each player and then divided by the number of evaluators to come up with an average composite score. This is done for each game and their final scores are posted giving each player a rank in order for selection.
Example: In the league there are a certain number of spots at each position – for defenseman, forwards and goalies. So if we needed 7 defenseman per team and we pick 5 teams, we would need a grand total of 35 defenseman. The top 35 composite scores go on the draft board and the MDHL league coaches draft defenseman until all 35 players are selected. So the defenseman that was ranked 36th or below in the rating order would not be eligible for the draft. The forwards and goalies are selected in the same manner.
We feel this is the most democratic and fairest way to evaluate the players. No one person can put a player in the draft or take a player out of the draft. The players are eligible for the draft based strictly on their ratings. There are no secrets about what goes on in the selection process.
We feel very fortunate to have so much interest in the program and try and do the best we can to select the best possible players. However, we realize that the process is not perfect and sometimes mistakes are made.
The results each year are impressive with number of MDHL players drafted to junior hockey and/or the large number of NCAA college scholarships.
On behalf of the MDHL staff, we appreciate your support of our program.