Frequently asked Questions
What are the Little Bruins?


The Boston Little Bruins are the organizations split season midget team. The team has had tremendous success since its inaugural season in 1999 winning league regular and playoff championships, prestigious midget tournaments and national rankings (as high as the # 3 ranked team in the 2002-2003 season). The Little Bruins practices and home games (along with two tournaments the team plays in) are all at the Bruins' home rink; the New England Sports Center in Marlborough, MA.

The genesis of the Little Bruins team was to provide a serious, developmental based split season midget option to those in the northeast. For those who play for their prep or high school team there were few options that provided players who were used to a six month, 50-60 game schedule and weekly practices once they entered their high school ages. For the most part there were only weekend based options that did not have practices and players were not able to fully develop their talent or get the exposure they need in the fall season when so many colleges are on the recruiting trail before their own seasons start. Too many players only option was skating for teams who play once per weekend (primarily on Sundays), had no practices, parental coaching and were not held accountable nor continued to be pushed to develop and at the same time be give the proper vehicle to showcase their talents.

Playing for the Little Bruins is a great way to supplement your winter prep/high school season. The 28-35 games players play with us in addition to their 20-25 game winter season allow them to get the ice time and games they are use to and need!

The Little Bruins season starts with its training camp in late August and ends in mid November prior to the start of the prep/high school season. The team will play a 28-35 game schedule and practices weekly throughout the fall.

The team currently plays in the Midget Division of the Eastern Hockey Federation and won the league's inaugural championship in 2005. The EHF league schedule is a limited one (approximately a 6-8 game league schedule) and is also "weighted" so that the Bruins only play the top teams in the EHF. The bulk of the Little B's schedule is tournament play.

The Little Bruins will play in four to five tournaments in the fall. The tournaments are among the best that midget aged players are offered throughout the fall. The first tournament is the Mass. Select League Labor Day Classic at the Bruins home rink, the New England Sports Center. The next tournament the Bruins participate in is the Junior Bruins Shoot-out which normally takes place in the third week in September. Another staple in the Little Bruins fall schedule is the Buffalo Saints tournament over Columbus Day weekend in October. The Saints' tournament draws a lot of the top midget teams from around the county such as the Pittsburgh hornets, Victory Honda, Honeybaked, Philly Jr. Flyers, Chicago Mission as well as the tournament hosts and others. The Little Bruins have also participated in the Top Gun Blue Chip Classic in Salem, NH in past years.

The Little Bruins also fill their schedule playing non-league games with other top midget teams in the area.

The Little Bruins practice schedule in the fall of 2005 was a Wednesday night practice from 7:40-9:00 PM at NESC (this is also the planned schedule for subsequent season). The Little Bruins also have optional practices with the Junior Bruins' Empire and EJHL junior teams so that the amount of ice time offered to the Little Bruins is endless. If Little Bruins players choose to skate 5-6 days a week they have that option. The Wednesday night practice is the one mandatory (see below for further details) and the team plays 1-2 times per weekend unless in a tournament.

The Junior Bruins are cognizant of the players' school schedule and academic requirements and Little Bruins players have not had to miss a day of school in over four season. That will continue as the only travel tournament is the Buffalo Saints tournament but the team leaves on Friday after school and returns on Monday (no school due to holiday). The staff also recognizes that there are certain days that they got an inordinate amount of homework or have a couple of big tests coming up and may need to miss an occasional practice.

The Junior Bruins (Empire) and Little Bruins teams are the first places the organization looks to recruit for our EJHL team. Our philosophy is to "promote from within" and there is an endless list of players that have come from our Little Bruins program and onto our Junior Bruins (EJHL) team. Stars such as Greg Mauldin (U-Mass Amherst), Bret Tyler (Maine) , Jarrett Sousa (Merrimack), Jason Lawrence (Boston University), Cody Wild (Providence), Ryan Ginand (Northeastern), Bobby Butler (UNH), Ben Smith (Boston College), Chris Rossi (Bowdoin) and Nevin Hamilton (U-Mass Lowell) to name a few.

The Little Bruins hold their tryouts in early April ( check calendar or tryouts links for details) and because they move players on to their junior teams and graduate players from their program there are always openings at tryouts. If interested in playing for the Little Bruins please send an email to Chris Masters with the following information and/or send in an Application(.pdf) to register for tryouts.

Name:
Date of Birth:
Position:
Hometown:
Current team playing for:
Previous teams you have played for:
Mailing address:
Email address:
Phone number: