Junior Spotlight - NCDC
Junior Spotlight – National Collegiate Development Conference (NCDC)
The NCDC is one of two Tier 2 tuition-free junior hockey leagues in the United States. It falls under the umbrella of the United States Premier Hockey League (USPHL) and this past year had 13 teams playing in the Northeast from Maine in the North to Utica on the western edge of the footprint, south into New Jersey. Next year the Rochester Monarchs franchise will go dormant and not compete, while the Boston Bandits will move to Hollydell in the southern part of New Jersey and be taken over by Philadelphia Hockey Club.
Considered Tier 2 because it is tuition-free, the NCDC is not recognized officially as a Tier 2 league by USA Hockey. The tuition-free United States Hockey League (USHL) is the only USA Hockey-recognized Tier 1 league, and the tuition-free North American Hockey League (NAHL) is the only USA Hockey-recognized Tier 2 league.
In addition to the NCDC, there are two Tier 3 pay-to-play leagues under the USPHL umbrella – the USPHL Premier and USPHL Elite. The NCDC was created as a higher-level junior league located within driving distance of the many hockey-playing colleges in the Northeast with the hopes of keeping more of the top players who were leaving the region to play in the USHL and NAHL home and becoming an NCAA Division I feeder league.
During the NCDC’s first three years of existence, several Division I hockey-playing colleges in the Northeast allowed or even recommended that some of their younger commits play in the league so that they could monitor their progress or as a stepping stone to a higher-level junior league.
The presence of those commits, who traditionally number 30 or more spread throughout the league – with the heaviest concentration playing for the Jersey Hitmen, Islanders Hockey Club and Boston Jr. Bruins – has raised the level of play to a point that is above the EHL and close to the NAHL The best teams in the NCDC would be do well in the NAHL, many of the teams would likely be competitive – but likely not in the top half of the league – and the bottom teams would really struggle. Every junior league has its haves and have-nots, and the NCDC is no different.
In addition to the players who have committed to Division I programs before joining the league, several players make D1 commitments while playing in the NCDC each year. The total number of players playing in the NCDC in a given year that end up on Division I rosters usually is about 40.
For the most part, the rest of the players in the NCDC who age out or who choose to attend college and play hockey before aging out, go on to play at the NCAA Division II and III levels. For the 2019-20 college hockey season, 67 Division II and III freshmen came from NCDC teams, which was 9.9 percent of all first-year players at that level.
The NCDC has limited the number of age-outs that each team can roster. That number initially was eight and has fluctuated the past two years. In general, the NAHL and EHL tend to have more age-outs because there is no roster limit in those leagues.
While the EHL and USPHL Premier send more players to play at the Division II and III levels most years, the NCDC has one of the highest ratios of commits per team since it has 13 teams (5.15 commits per team last year), compared to 19 in the EHL (5.93 per team) and 52 in the USPHL Premier (2.30). That, of course, is in addition to the NCDC players who go on to play at the Division I level.
There is a lot of player movement in the NCDC. In 2019-20 teams used an average of 45.23 players during the season. That number was 42.92 for 2018-19.
CLICK HERE for a breakdown of all USPHL college commitments from 2015-19 at all levels.
CLICK HERE to find a listing of all NCAA Division II and III freshmen, the leagues they came from and their college teams for the 2019-20 season.
Below you will find a listing of each NCDC team, it’s record over the past two years, the number of players who appeared in games each year and the number of age-out players on their final rosters this season.
Boston Bandits
Location: moving to Sewell, N.J. for 2020-21
2019-20: 25-17-4 (7th out of 13) – 44 players used (21F, 10D, 3G)
2018-19: 26-18-2 (7th out of 12) – 35 players used (19F, 11 D, 5G)
1-99 D, 3-99 F, 2-99 G on final roster
Boston Jr. Bruins
Location: Marlboro, Mass.
2019-20: 39-8-1 (2nd out of 13) – 43 players used (24F, 17D, 2G)
2018-19: 32-15-2 (2nd out of 12) – 45 players used (26F, 17D, 2G)
0-99 D, 6-99 F, 0-99 G on final roster
Connecticut Jr. Rangers
Location: Stamford, Conn.
2019-20: 27-14-8 (3rd out of 13) – 45 players used (24F, 17D, 4G)
2018-19: 30-17-1 (3rd out of 13) – 47 players used (29G, 13D, 5G)
2-99 D, 3-99 F, 1-99 G on final roster
Jersey Hitmen
Location: Wayne, N.J.
2019-20: 42-5-1 (1st out of 13) – 39 players used (21F, 15D, 3G)
2018-19: 43-7-0 (1st out of 12) – 33 players used (19F, 9D, 5G)
0-99 D, 5-99 F, 3-99 G on final roster
Islanders Hockey Club
Location: Tewksbury, Mass.
2019-20: 29-17-3 (4th out of 13) – 35 players used (19F, 14D, 2G)
2018-19: 27-18-4 (4th out of 12) – 41 players used (25F, 14D, 2G)
2-99 D, 2-99 F, 1-99 G on final roster
New Hampshire Monarchs
Location: Hookset, N.H.
2019-20: 24-20-2 (9th out of 13) – 44 players used (23F, 15D, 6G)
2018-19: 27-18-2 (5th out of 13) – 43 players used (24F, 14D, 5G)
2-99 D, 2-99 F, 0-99 G on final roster
Northern Cyclones
Location: Hudson. N.H.
2019-20: 28-16-5 (5th out of 13) – 48 players used (29F, 12D, 7G)
2018-19: 26-20-3 (8th out of 12) – 42 players used (26F, 11D, 5G)
3-99 D, 3-99 F, 0-99 G on final roster
PAL Islanders
Location: East Meadow, N.Y.
2019-20: 28-16-3 (5th out of 13) – 33 players used (18F, 10D, 5G)
2018-19: 14-31-4 (10th out of 12) – 45 players used (25F, 17D, 3G)
1-99 D, 4-99 F, 0-99 G on final roster
New Jersey Rockets
Location: Bridgewater, N.J.
2019-20: 15-28-5 (12th out of 13) – 52 players used (30F, 14D, 8G)
2018-19: 19-24-5 (9th out of 12) – 38 players used (24F, 11D, 3G)
1-99 D, 1-99 F, 0-99 G on final roster
Rochester Monarchs – not playing 2020-21
Location: Rochester, N.Y.
2019-20: 3-44-3 (13th out of 13) – 52 players used (31F, 15D, 6G)
2018-19: 19-24-5 (11th out of 12) – 43 players used (24F, 14D, 5G)
0-99 D, 3-99 F, 2-99 G on final roster
South Shore Kings
Location: Foxboro, Mass.
2019-20: 17-27-3 (11th out of 13) – 59 players used (35F, 21D, 3G)
2018-19: 14-34-1 (12th out of 12) – 60 players used (38F, 16D, 6G)
1-99 D, 4-99 F, 0-99 G on final roster
Twin City Thunder
Location: Auburn, Maine
2019-20: 26-22-2 (8th out of 13) – 44 players used (27F, 14D, 3G)
2018-19: N/A
3-99 D, 2-99 F, 1-99 G on final roster
Utica Comets
Location: Utica, N.Y.
2019-20: 22-24-4 (10th out of 13) – 54 players used (34F, 11D, 9G)
2018-19: as Syracuse Stars 27-19-3 (6th out of 12) – 42 players used (24F, 16D, G)
1-99 D, 3-99 F, 0-99 G on final roster