Thank you for your interest in the MN Elite Prep Development High School Hockey League. MEPDL is cooperatively sponsored by the Minnesota Hockey Coaches Association and Minnesota Hockey along with the support of USA Hockey which has designated the league as an Olympic Development event. The league is designed to give players an opportunity to develop their skills by playing a competitive 18 - 20 game schedule in preparation for the high school hockey season. The MN High School Hockey Coaches Association wanted to give underclassmen the same great opportunity that the Upper Midwest Elite League provides. This year the MEPDL will be an affiliate of the Upper Midwest Elite League as we share the same goals of developing hockey players and keeping our state's best high school players here in MN. The league has been very successful in each of its first seven years allowing players to play with and against some of the best players in Minnesota, North Dakota and Wisconsin and we believe the affiliation with the Elite League will make this season even more successful . Last year the Elite League called up over two dozen players from the league to participate in their games. This year the league will also have games against a team from Norway during their annual trip to Minnesota..
This season the league will consist of seven MN based teams - Metro SE, Metro NE, Metro NW, Metro SW, West, South and North. Player nominations are being received from high school coaches and members of the Elite Leauge staff. The cost for tryouts will be $65 for the tryout plus $40 for the 2011 - 2012 USA Hockey registration fee. Tryouts will be held the first weekend in August and additional detail regarding the tryouts will be posted soon. Players selected to participate in the tryout will receive tryout registration information in the mail or via email during June and July.
Players that are still eligible to play at the Bantam level (Birth dates 7/1/96 - 6/30/98) during the 2011 - 2012 season who did not play at the high school level during the 2010- 2011 season ARE NOT eligible to participate in the league (by MN Hockey rule).
For those selected to play in the league the final weekend in August will be a pre-season training weekend for all MN teams that will include practice sessions, team meetings (players & parents) and games on Sunday. Attendance at this weekend is expected by all players selected to be in the league. The season game weekends will begin the weekend after Labor Day. Teams will play two or three games per weekend during the season and some teams will have a couple of weeknight games during the season. Cost of playing in the league is $600 and includes jersey, socks, practice time and all games. Team roster size will consist of 20 players and teams will also select 4 or 5 Alternates which will practice with the team and play in games when needed. The league fee for alternates has not yet been finalized.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me either by phone or email. My contact information is listed below.
We are looking forward to another great fall season and I hope that you will join us.
Sincerely,
Charlie Graves
Director, MEPDL14605 Harrington Place
Apple Valley, MN 55124
(612)-280-7637 (evening) or (952) 853-6260 (day)
Email addresses: cagravesjr@gmail.com or charles.a.graves@ceridian.com
