On Aug. 23, 2002, the then-23-year-old United States Hockey League, and USA Hockey, the national governing body of the sport of ice hockey, unveiled an new and untested concept for junior hockey in the United States — a Tier 1 league and structure at the top of the USA Hockey development model, differentiated from all other levels of the sport and dedicated to providing a matchless quality of hockey development for the very best players in the United States.
The new USHL began that day, and enters the 2010-2011 season, its ninth, not only as USA Hockey's signature elite league, but as a premier provider of world-class hockey talent to the National Hockey League and NCAA Division I hockey, all the while reflecting the joint USAH-USHL commitment to excellence on the ice, in the classroom, and in the community.
USA Hockey, and the ownership and management of the USHL, shared a common vision for the future of American hockey, which the term "Tier 1" represented: to establish and provide a hockey experience for the country's top-tier players that cut no corners, and made no compromises, in creating the very best teaching, training, and growing experience possible.
The U.S. has always created athletes with extraordinary potential and promise. The purpose of Tier 1, and the mandate of the USHL, is to fulfill that potential, to keep that promise, in a sport with skill and training demands like no other on the American scene.
The task, as established in USA Hockey's Tier I regulations, mandate unique standards for every manageable aspect of the junior hockey experience — from the cities and markets in which the League operates, to the qualifications required of its coaches, to the standards demanded for all training and playing facilities, to the requirements for player housing and supervision, to the quality of player travel and equipment, to the standards observed by all the USHL in players' daily commitments to team, school, and community. The driving force for these mandates is common to both the league and its elite athletes: improvement, excellence — every shift, every game, every season.
The concept of a Tier I hockey league in the United States had been debated and questioned for several years; governing criteria for such a league were first drafted in 1996. The USHL, already recognized as the nation's top "Junior A" development league, brought the concept to reality, as former League President Gino Gasparini presented an edited version of the original criteria back to USA Hockey. Revised Tier 1 criteria were approved by USA Hockey's Junior Council in 1999, and published in USA Hockey's 2000 Annual Guide.
The USHL, as the only league capable of meeting all Tier I demands, was exclusively "re-classified" as a Tier 1 property. USA Hockey's Walter Bush noted that classification reflected "the culmination of a long-sought-after recognition by the United States Hockey League that has been well earned by its quality programming and player development."
To sustain USA Hockey's Tier 1 designation, the USHL must observe a compelling set of rules unique in hockey — in fact, unique in American sport:
In observing these standards, the USHL emphatically distinguishes itself from the Canadian Major Junior system. The USHL is not simply an American version of the Canadian Hockey League, and the contrast in what it will not allow is as significant as what it requires:
New USHL Commissioner and President Skip Prince, handed the reins of the league in late 2008, emphasizes that the USHL needs to continue to be both a standard-bearer, and a standard-setter, for USA Hockey and its uniquely American development model.
"For hockey players, USA Hockey provides a ladder of development that looks to provide every player of this most dynamic of sports the opportunity to become the best player he — or she — can be," said Prince. "Our responsibility at the USHL, the top of that ladder — our goal every day — is to provide the best experience and resources anywhere, for the best young players anywhere. That commitment extends both on and off the ice, so that every one of our alumni, whether they eventually play in the National Hockey League, at the college level, or anywhere in between, know that after being part of this League they can say with pride, 'I was given the opportunity, by the best, to be the best.'"
We stand for something. We're not just hockey — we're the USHL.
