Suffolk Juniors lose no ground in CHA, switching from defunct C to B Division

The Suffolk PAL Ice Hockey organization saw this coming from a mile away.

Suffolk Juniors GM Ron Kinnear and his staff wasted no time in realigning the organization with the Continental Hockey Association’s only division to take the ice in 2010-11, an expanded Jr. B circuit.

Suffolk had previously only played in the CHA’s now-defunct Jr. C division, but the league eliminated that division, in step with a national trend of steering away from Jr. C.

“We had success at Jr. C, having won the league last year and reached the Jr. C Nationals,” said Kinnear, whose Jr. C team lost in the national final to the Atlanta Jr. Knights. “The league asked us if we would be interested in moving up a division. Having the opportunity to play up another level and the opportunity to move ahead with this league, we looked at it as a no-brainer to make this move.”

One major point that Suffolk took under consideration was travel. Under the Jr. C banner, the Suffolk PAL (“Pride in Athletics for Life”) team traveled as far as Michigan, the Pittsburgh, Pa., region, Buffalo, N.Y. and Frederick, Md., for its regular season games.

Their new division will likely keep them closer to the metropolitan New York City area, seeing them travel for most of their games to closer locales like Long Beach, N. Y. (home of the Apple Core Young Guns), Staten Island (Metro Fighting Moose) and Wharton, N.J. (Jersey Wildcats).

“We’ll build up new rivalries against these teams,” said Kinnear.

That said, they still have to travel for divisional games to Pittsburgh, Washington, D. C., Philadelphia, Frederick and Brewster, N. Y.

Also, the two-team system (in conjunction with Suffolk of the Metropolitan Jr. B League) allows them to continue with a developmental ladder system. The team will keep its top players with the Metropolitan team, which won the 2009 Jr. B National Championship, and will develop players for the “Met” team in the CHA.

“We don’t look at it as one league being better than the other, but we will go with the older players in the Met and the CHA will be for players trying to move up,” said Kinnear. “That said, each team will practice and train just as much as the other and both teams will have a quality coaching staff.”

The Met League team will continue to be run by Alexei Nikiforov, while John Agliato moves up from the Jr. C level to continue as Suffolk’s Jr. C head coach. Agliato brings eight years of experience with Suffolk to the new Jr. B team, having coached in Suffolk’s youth organization before taking over at the Jr. C level.

Along with two to three two-hour on-ice practice sessions per week, there will also be training time with an Athletic Republic training facility for the CHA players.

There is already a player flow from the CHA to the Met for the PAL squad. At least five players from last year’s Jr. C national finalist will play with the Met team this year.

“We look at this as an investment in the future for us,” said Kinnear. “Five of last year’s Jr. C players are moving up a level, and we’ll have another eight to 10 returning from that team, but with the new Jr. B team in the CHA. If we get five or six players moving up every year, then the system is working for us.”

Kinnear said there will be player movement going both ways between the two teams, all depending on player performance during the 2010-11 season.

“Players who play well at the CHA level will have the opportunity to move up, while players not quite ready for the Met League team will play games with the CHA team,” Kinnear said. “Both leagues are very good and have their benefits.”

The CHA’s expansion, featuring 15 teams at the Jr. B level (up from 12 last year), is a show of strength for the league and the PAL are proud to be part of the upward progression.

“The CHA has a history of being a fine league, and we’re happy to be part of this expansion,” Kinnear added.